Welcome to February, it’s a Bit Weird
Presidential admission, vaccine expansion, witchcraft, and more
Bad news, good news, and weird news, we have them all in this first February edition of the Nuiceletter. After a very tough January, February is looking to be a very different month with the formation of a witch doctor association, an American citizen elected to public office in Indonesia, a follow up to the hijab controversy, and the President saying contradictory things just days from each other. We tried to keep it brief but it’s just been that kind of week. Read on!
Restriction Measures Ineffective
President Jokowi admitted that the public activity restriction measures have been ineffective in suppressing the rate of Covid-19 infections across the country. Between 11-25 January, the country added more than 162,000 new cases, contributing to 38,000 new active cases. The restrictions were implemented across several key provinces with high numbers of new cases including all of Java and Bali where more than 70% of the cases are located.
The President said on the 25th that the country had managed to get the pandemic under control, a claim disputed by anyone with the capacity to think critically based on actual evidence rather than rhetoric.
In the 12 days since the end of the original restriction period, the average daily number of new cases from the Ministry of Health’s daily reports had actually gone up by more than 2,200. And this is before the Chinese New Year holiday period next week.
Vaccines for the Elderly
BPOM, the Indonesian food and drug agency, has authorized the Sinovac vaccine to be administered to the elderly, allowing more people to be vaccinated when it becomes available for the public.
The decision came soon after Chinese regulators gave the green light for Sinovac to be used on the general public. Earlier, Sinovac was limited to people like medical workers and employees of state-owned firms.
These decisions indicate that Sinovac is safe for high risk people who, according to the government’s plan, will be inoculated starting April.
But the government seems to be moving at a snail’s pace to meet their short-term target of vaccinating 1.6 million health workers and 17 million cops, soldiers and public workers by the end of March. This week, our best efforts saw only 56,000 first time vaccinations in one day. On Sunday, the number of people getting the jab was… wait for it… 7,000. *Drum fill*
Covid Numbers Out of Sync
West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil for the second time in two weeks pointed out that the Health Ministry data on Covid-19 had omitted a large portion of regional numbers from their daily reports. In his first criticism in January he said that there were more than 10,000 data points unreported by the Ministry. This time he claimed that there are 20,000 unreported data points. While all other governors have been quiet about their own numbers, His Highness Lord Luhut revealed that there are actually more than 2 million data points left off the daily reports and the Health Ministry needs to synchronize those numbers with the regional governments.
Fallout of the Hijab Hooey
Regional leaders can no longer require public school students and teachers to wear religious outfits, under a joint decree issued by the Ministers of Education, Home Affairs, and Religious Affairs.
The decree was enacted on Feb 3 and will come into effect next month. During the period, cities, regencies, and provinces which mandate female Muslim students to wear headscarves must repeal their respective regulations.
Aceh, where Sharia-inspired bylaws are adopted, will be exempted from the new decree.
The decree came after the mother of a Christian student in Padang, West Sumatra posted a Facebook video complaining that her daughter was forced to wear the hijab by her school. You can check out more of the story in our previous Nuiceletter.
An American Regent
Last month we sent two American citizens home for causing unrest in Bali. This month we found out that the residents of Sabu Raijua, East Nusa Tenggara unknowingly voted for an American citizen to be their regent in last year’s regional elections.
Orient Patriot Riwu Kore, who won the election with 48% of the votes, was found to hold an American citizenship after the US Embassy confirmed his status recently. That he holds dual citizenship is a matter for the Elections Oversight Agency and the Elections Commission to decide soon as he is to be inaugurated this month.
This is the second time an American citizen had gained a high level position in the Indonesian government. Arcandra Tahar, who was appointed Energy and Mineral Resources Minister in July 2016 was also found to have held an American citizenship, leading to his removal from the post one month later. Tahar however relinquished his US citizenship and eventually became Deputy Energy Minister until 2019.
Not Quite Hogwarts
No, we’re not going to see a Ministry of Magic anytime soon or even a school of witchcraft and wizardry, but the witch doctors of Banyuwangi, East Java have banded together to form a professional association and plan to hold a witch doctor festival to educate the public on witchcraft as well as run tours at haunted forests and other spirited sites in Banyuwangi. Keen to attend?
Until Next Week
What a week, eh? Well, not much else to say other than 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 let us know what you want to see more or less of in this weekly. Have a safe week, mask up and maintain a distance if you have to meet people.