Four weeks into the year and it doesn’t look like things are slowing down in the year where 2020 has won. Get it? It’s twenty twenty… never mind. Read on, it’s an interesting one this week with yet another internet outrage (YAIO - no not yaoi, you weebs) and don’t miss the last one at the bottom.
The Hijab Incident
The mother of a Christian student in Padang, West Sumatra has exposed an illegal dress code enforcement at a public school. For the past 16 years public schools in Padang have required the hijab to be worn by female students after the city’s then Mayor in 2005 made it a local regulation.
It wasn’t until this month that the rule was openly challenged when Elianu Hia posted a video on Facebook of her exchange with a school representative who forced her and her daughter to sign a statement saying that her daughter defy school regulations and will not wear a hijab. Once the public caught wind of the situation, it became a hotly debated issue on social media for several days with the school initially defending the decision saying it’s not actually compulsory for non-Muslims but it is part of the school’s rules.
Education Minister Nadiem Makarim published a stern warning to the school saying that the enforcement goes against the rights of the student and violates freedom of religion. He also threatened to remove school officials involved in the matter if necessary.
The school’s principal ended up apologizing for the matter and the province’s Education Office will be reviewing the dress codes, saying that it was never compulsory for non-Muslim female students to wear the hijab but nobody had made it an issue until now.
Quote of the week goes to Padang’s former mayor Fauzi Bahar.
After the hijab rule the number of dengue cases among children drastically fell because there were no more spots for mosquitos to bite.
Choosing the GeNose side
From 5 February, train stations across Indonesia will begin to screen passengers for Covid-19 by using GeNose, a locally developed breath testing device which is claimed to have 95% accuracy and cost Rp 20,000 or less than US$ 1.5.
Indonesian epidemiologists have warned against using the GeNose devices for anything more than basic screening as its accuracy, sensitivity, and reliability are still well below that of the PCR swab tests. According to GeNose project’s lead Dr. Kuwat Triyana, despite its accuracy, subjects must not have bad breath, smoked tobacco, or consumed alcohol or anything with a strong smell such as durian, at least one hour prior to testing. Sorry jengkol lovers, you have to sit this one out.
One Million Cases
Indonesia became the first country in Southeast Asia, 4th in Asia, and 19th in the world to surpass ONE. MILLION DOLLA… *ahem* we mean, one million Covid-19 cases. We also had back to back new daily deaths records this past week, reaching almost 500 deaths on 28 January.
Throughout the month of January Indonesia added more than 327,000 new Covid-19 cases and more than 7600 new deaths, while more than 255,000 people recovered. We closed the month with more than 175,000 active cases, 64,000 more than at the beginning of the year, and positive testing rates hovering in the 25-33% range. That’s roughly 1 in 4 to 1 in 3 tests being Covid-19 positive.
The total numbers at the end of the month are: 1,078,314 new cases , 873,221 recoveries, 175,095 active cases, and 29,998 deaths.
The Health Minister said it’s time to mourn and reflect, probably at what his predecessor had (not) done. It’s hard to know what’s happening at the top of the government with the President saying that he’s always wanted to implement localized quarantine for a while, according to Coordinating Minister for Human Development Muhadjir Effendy, but even throughout the acronym salad of restrictive measures dating back to April 2020, no actual enforcement for violators had been properly implemented on the field, leading to this month’s Gold Play button achievement.
Cozying up to MLFF Next Year
Lastly, don’t misread that, because MLFF stands for Multi Lane Free Flow. Toll roads across Indonesia are expected to have this new system implemented from January 2022 to increase the flow of traffic by eliminating toll gates. In short, people driving through toll roads will be paying for their trips via physical or phone-based on board units or by purchasing single pass tickets ahead of the trip. Hopefully we’ll eventually be able to say goodbye to traffic bottlenecks caused by people trying to tap their electronic cash cards at toll booths (yeah right).
Until Next Week
OMG, we’re one month into 2021! that means we have 11 months to go this year. What fresh hell awaits … Oh hang on to that thought, Chinese New Year is coming up and it’s gonna be the year of the metal ox, so get your ang paos ready but keep your visits to a minimum, okay, you don’t want to spread or get Covid from family celebrations, do you?
Catch y’all in the next edition. Give us a follow on Twitter or subscribe to this Nuiceletter if you haven’t, share it to your friends if you love what we do, and send us feedback if you have any. Have a safe week, mask up and maintain a distance if you have to meet people.