RESHAPE THE WORLD IN CHINA’S IMAGE

Chinese President Xi Jinping stands by national flags at the Schloss Bellevue presidential residency in Berlin on March 28, 2014. Chinese President Xi Jinping begins a landmark visit to fellow export powerhouse Germany Friday, the third leg of his European tour, expected to cement flourishing trade ties and focus on the Crimea crisis.

 AFP PHOTO / JOHANNES EISELE (Photo credit should read JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)

BEIJING – China is one of the few countries in the world today with money to spend, and Xi Jinping is ready to write some checks.

China’s president will host some 28 world leaders in Beijing on Sunday at the first Belt and Road Forum, the centerpiece of a soft-power push backed by hundreds of billions of dollars for infrastructure projects. More than 100 countries on five continents have signed up, showing the demand for global economic cooperation despite rising protectionism in the US and Europe.



For Xi, the initiative is designed to solidify his image as one of the world’s leading advocates of globalisation while US President Donald Trump cuts overseas funds in the name of “America First.”

The summit aims to ease concerns about China’s rise and boost Xi’s profile at home, where he’s become the most powerful leader since Deng Xiaoping died in 1997.

The Belt and Road Initiative “will likely be Xi’s most lasting legacy,” said Trey McArver, the London-based director of China research for TS Lombard, an investment research company. “It has the potential to remake global — particularly Asian — trade and economic patterns.”

The strategy also carries risks. The initiative is so far little more than a marketing slogan that encompasses all sorts of projects that China had initiated overseas for years, and major world leaders like Trump, Angela Merkel and Shinzo Abe are staying away. How Xi answers a range of outstanding questions will go a long way in determining its success.

Key to reducing uncertainty will be addressing the concerns of strategic rivals like India, Russia and the US, particularly as China’s growing military prowess lets it be more assertive over disputed territory. Chinese moves to spend more than US$50 billion (RM217 billion) on an economic corridor in Pakistan, build a port in Djibouti and construct oil pipelines in central Asia are all creating infrastructure that could be used to challenge traditional powers.

“China needs to recognise that the way it perceives the Belt and Road Initiative is not necessarily the same way others will,” said Paul Haenle, a former China director on the US National Security Council who now heads the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing.

For countries like the US, he said, “it’s impossible not to view the BRI through a geopolitical lens — a Chinese effort to build a sphere of influence.”

Excess capacity

In September 2013, when Xi first pitched the plan at an obscure Kazakhstan university, he focused on the Eurasia landmass. Since then, it has repeatedly changed names and expanded to include the entire world, with the main goal of rebuilding the ancient trading routes from China to Europe overland and by sea.

One key driver was economic: China wants to spur growth in underdeveloped hinterlands and find more markets for excess industrial capacity. With more than US$3 trillion in international reserves — more than a quarter of the world’s total — China has more resources than developed economies struggling to hit budget targets.

The plan gained steam last year when populist movements spurred a backlash against trade and immigration in the US and Europe. Brexit raised questions about the European Union’s viability, while Trump’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership gutted the biggest US push to shape global economic rules.

Trade champion

“It was very disappointing, and it makes us feel that there is a big vacuum that Belt and Road can help to fill,” Cheah Cheng Hye, chairman and co-chief investment officer at the Hong Kong-based Value Partners Group. “So all of sudden, we begin to appreciate this Chinese initiative.”

Xi wasted no time filling the void. With exporting nations looking for a free-trade champion, he told the global elite in Davos, Switzerland, to resist protectionism and join China in boosting global commerce.

The US and Europe “almost unwittingly” created space for Xi to push China’s interests, according to Peter Cai, research fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy.

“China is offering an alternative to the US version of globalization,” Cai said. “In the Chinese case, it’s globalisation paved by concrete: Railways, highways, pipelines, ports.”

Draft communique

This year, five European countries — Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, France and Italy — openly voiced support for the initiative. On trips to China in February, Italian President Sergio Mattarella proposed plans for the ports of Genoa and Trieste, while French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve attended the arrival ceremony of a freight train from Lyon.

The summit will feature the likes of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Greece’s Alexis Tsipras and the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte. The US and most Western countries are expected to send lower-level representatives.

A draft communique circulated before the event combined a commitment to open markets with endorsements of China’s diplomatic goals, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the document. It also generated some controversy among Beijing-based diplomats who said they didn’t have enough time to vet the document, underscoring the initiative’s potential to cause conflict.

US$500 billion

China has invested more than US$50 billion in Belt and Road countries since 2013, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Credit Suisse Group AG said this month that China could pour more than US$500 billion into 62 countries over five years.

China’s state-run companies like China National Petroleum Corp. and China Mobile Ltd — the world’s largest wireless carrier — are positioned to reap the rewards. Executives from six of China’s largest state-run firms sought to reassure the public this week that the risks were manageable.

China’s three development banks, its Silk Road Fund and China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank were involved in US$143 billion of lending outside of the country last year, up more than 140 per cent from 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Still, financial hurdles are starting to appear. China’s slowing economic growth has left fewer resources to spend overseas. Its international reserves have fallen about 6 percent over the past year, and China needs a healthy amount to defend the yuan.

Some previous Chinese ventures abroad have turned sour. While China’s no-strings-attached approach to investment is generally welcomed by developing countries, they often have poor credit ratings and questionable governance. China has struggled to recoup loans in Venezuela and Africa, and several projects in Central Asia have spurred protests. Announcements with big dollar signs often fail to materialise.

Nonetheless, Chinese scholars see the sum of Xi’s plan as bigger than any individual project. It represents a “profound change” in how China interacts with the world, according to Wang Yiwei, director of at Renmin University’s Institute of International Affairs in Beijing, who has written three books on the initiative.

“China has moved from a participant of globalisation to a main leader,” he said. “It’s Globalisation 2.0.”

— Bloomberg

PAS forgets who helped PAS in GE12 and GE13

‘DON’T FORGET YOU WON ONLY ONE SEAT WITHOUT DAP’S HELP’ – MAHATHIR WARNS ‘LONE WOLF’ PAS IT WILL PERFORM BADLY IN GE14

Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad has warned PAS that it will perform badly if it decides to contest alone in the 14th general election.

Commenting on the decision by the party’s syura council yesterday to sever political ties with PKR, the former prime minister described the Islamist party as “confused”.

“Well I do not know, I think it is very confusing for PAS, as on one hand they do not want to work with anybody, and on another hand they want to work with somebody. I do not know their policy.

“On their own, PAS never performed well. If they go for the election on their own, without working with others, for example with the DAP in particular, their performance will be very bad,” he said when met at the Jalan Duta court complex in Kuala Lumpur today.

Mahathir recalled that PAS won just one seat when it contested alone.

However, when the Islamic party contested with the DAP, he added, it once had 27 parliamentary seats.

“That was their highest score and obviously (if they contest alone) they cannot form the government.”

Mahathir was referring to the general election in 1986 when PAS won only one parliamentary seat.

Yesterday, the PAS syura council officially announced that it was severing ties with PKR.

PAS, PKR and DAP were formerly members of the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat.

Following the collapse of Pakatan Rakyat, DAP and PKR formed Pakatan Harapan, together with Amanah. Bersatu later joined the coalition.

Asked to comment on the prospect of not having a one-on-one contest in the 14th general election following PAS’ decision, Mahathir said three or four-cornered fights are part of the democratic system.

“My opinion is that the third contestant (a party contesting against the opposition) will only be helping the BN. They will cause a split in the opposition (votes) and so indirectly, they are helping BN,” he said.

Mahathir who returned from Muscat, Oman, last night, came to the court to attend the proceedings of the financial sabotage case against Khairuddin Abu Hassan and Matthias Chang.

– M’kini

Video of blind man stopping Bangsar traffic goes viral

PETALING JAYA: An elderly blind man forced traffic along a Bangsar street to come to a standstill on Wednesday afternoon and refused to budge unless he was given RM20.

In a video recorded by radio presenter Matthew Ong, which has now gone viral, the man is seen standing in the middle of the street on Jalan Telawi 4, with a line of cars in front of him.

Ong said he first noticed the man when a passer-by attempted to help him but he still did not move.

"Thinking it was a language issue, I went up to him to help, but then I realised that he wasn't clueless.

"He knew exactly what he was doing and wouldn't budge unless I gave him some money," he wrote in a Facebook post.


Ong said he handed the man RM1, but the man still refused to move off the road.

"He took the cash and then continued standing there after berating me that it wasn't enough. He wanted RM10 or RM20. That's when I took this video," he said.

In the video, Ong can be heard telling the man in Hokkien that he is holding up traffic and verbally offers him RM5.

However, the man refuses to accept and replies "don't make me angry or I will hit you".

The camera then pans to a car blocked by the elderly man.

The driver, who appears frustrated, hands RM10 to Ong to pass to the man to get him to move away.

The man accepts the money and slowly ambles off to the side of the road, allowing traffic to pass.

The video has been viewed more than 150,000 times, received 2,000 shares and has garnered comments from the public who claimed to have encountered the same man with the same modus operandi.

They say he has been spotted in various areas such as Desa Sri Hartamas, Kota Damansara, Mont Kiara and USJ Subang Jaya.

"Seen him in Hartamas before too. He was standing at the roadside calling for help to bring him across. I did. But after that, he asked me to buy his magazine. I said I'll pass," posted Facebook user Candy Han.

"Then he rudely asked me, are you working here or are you just a poor student? He then scolded me saying I was heartless for not buying from a blind uncle. Speechless," said Han.

Yaacob Khan, another Facebook user, said he had encountered the man in Kota Damansara and Mont Kiara.

"He yells tolong (help) to the point where his voice breaks ... either he asks for money or a ride elsewhere " he said, adding that he was taking advantage of the kindness of others.

Muslims rally to help distressed Chinese lady driver

FMT Reporters | May 12, 2017

Muslim men attending Friday prayers push stalled car out of the way as it was blocking traffic.

PETALING JAYA: A group of civic-minded Muslim men rallied together to help push a stalled car belonging to a Chinese woman, away from a busy street as it was blocking traffic.
The incident, believed to have occurred in Penang, was captured on video and posted by Muhammad Bakhtiar on his Facebook page today.

“We live in (a) multicultural society. A car driven by a Chinese lady broke down in the middle of the road, and cause(d) slow traffic at Jalan Kelawai. A group of Muslim worshippers that were attending Friday prayers moved the car to the side,” he said in the online message accompanying the video.
Penang state assemblyman for Seri Delima, RSN Rayer, who spotted the video, posted a message saying, “I Love Penang di Pulau Pinang kita semua adik beradik tak kira Melayu Cina India saling membantu diantara satu sama lain !!!”

(I love Penang. In Pulau Pinang we are all brothers and sisters. We are ready to help each other regardless of whether we are Malay, Chinese or Indian).
At the time of writing, the post has been liked by 344 Facebook users and shared 220 times.
This incident was in sharp contrast to last Friday’s case, in which a Chinese driver was assaulted by a group of Muslim men, who were enraged at his constant honking in front of the surau they were praying in.

Although the driver did apologise for honking continuously because his path was blocked by a number of parked cars, the incident left many at loggerheads with each other over the behaviour of both the driver and the men who assaulted him and vandalised his vehicle.

Super-Fit Mother Looks So Young People Think Her 22-Year-Old Son Is Her Boyfriend

Liu Yelin got her first job in 1985, aged 17.

More than three decades later, the ex-librarian, who has already retired, doesn't look much older.

With glowing skin, a super-toned body and not a single wrinkle in sight, China-born Ms Liu has stunned millions of people with her incredibly youthful looks.

Pic: InstagramPic: Instagram

Proud mother, Ms Liu said he son, 22, works as an assistant at a film production company.

'People are often shocked to find out I'm almost 50,' Liu Yelin, 49, told MailOnline.

'Whenever I went shopping and told people my real age, I often got mobbed by strangers who wanted to find out my secrets.'

Ms Liu then shared with us her motto: 'If you think you look rough, that's because you haven't sweated enough.'

She added: 'I feel like I'm still 15.'

Liu Yelin, who is also known by her screen name Ye Wen, was born in 1968 in Xinyang, central China's Henan Province.

Pic: InstagramPic: Instagram

The confident and energetic retiree said her age-defying appearance has caused her headache. People who don't know her often mistake her son, 22, for her boyfriend.

Ms Liu said once she went to attend a friend's wedding with her son, who works as an assistant at a film production company. She was pestered by many guests who wanted to find out if the 22-year-old was her new partner.

Pic: InstagramPic: Instagram

Although the active mother has enviable olive skin and flawless complexion, she claimed that she rarely uses cosmetics.

Instead, Ms Liu, a fitness fanatic, attributes her youthful looks to the regular exercise she's kept to for three decades.

Pic: InstagramPic: Instagram

'I swim in the lake and do weight training every day,' she said. 'My favourite thing is swimming outdoors in winter.

'When everyone was wearing down jackets, I had to strip down to my bikini and dive into freezing water. It's a test for

my will and perseverance. I often had to force myself to do it.'

Nevertheless, 30 years of sub-zero swimming has helped Ms Liu build a body even supermodels find hard to compete.

On Ms Liu's social media account, she flaunts her firm figure daily by updating photos which show her in bright sportswear or attractive bikinis.

They have not only attracted nearly 75,000 social media followers for Ms Liu, but also caught the attention of dozens of TV directors, who fought to get her on their programmes.

Pic: InstagramPic: Instagram

Above all, Ms Liu said her tough workout regime has sharpened her character and made her the strong, straightforward person she is today.

The mother has swum across the Yangtse River in China and the Han River in South Korea.

In March 2016, she set a challenge for herself: to swim across the sea for the first time. She successfully crossed the Strait of Malacca after setting out from the shores of Penang, Malaysia.

'It's probably the hardest thing I have done in my life so far. I was used to swimming in rivers and lakes, but I had never swum in the sea.

'I struggled because my goggles were leaking and my tongue hurt so much from touching seawater.

'I felt as if there were dozens of cuts on my tongue, and when the salty seawater flowed into my mouth, it was unbearably painful.'

Despite the ordeal, Ms Liu successfully crossed the choppy channel after swimming 12 kilometres (7.48 miles) non-stop. It took her four hours.

She was still excited when she described the life-changing experience: 'For me as an ordinary person, it was a big challenge and a great success.'

After conquering the hearts of the Chinese public, Ms Liu said her next goal is to travel around the world.

'I'm a spontaneous person, so I might pack up my bag and travel to Europe on a whim.'

She also said: 'I want to stay this beautiful when I'm 80 years old.'

The woman then concluded: 'I share my stories because I want to encourage more women to keep up exercising for a more beautiful and confident self.'

- Daily Mail

Great news for the whole world ! ! No it is not as oil is the blood of the world's economy

China, India plans for electric cars threaten to cut gasoline demand

Demand for gasoline in Asia may peak much earlier than expected 
millions in China, India buy electric vehicles over next decade
wrenching change for oil industry, oil and auto company executives warn

Gasoline will be much less of a cash cow

Policy moves in India and China
fast-growing green car market

China alternative fuel vehicles 20% of 35m annual vehicle sales by 2025

India electrifying all vehicles by 2032

Driven by legislation so electric cars are coming

Daimler electric vehicles 15%-20% of sales by 2025 
additional 10% sales coming from hybrids

Gasoline responsible for 45% of refinery output
slowdown or fall in demand will have far reaching implications

Choices made by China, India most relevant for future peak in oil demand

Carmakers Japan, South Korea sell significant volumes hybrids 
fuel efficiency gains will continue to cut gasoline consumption 

Asia main driver of future oil demand 
China sells > 2m new cars a month 
world's biggest oil consumer
India world's third-biggest oil importer, ahead of Japan.
> 1/3 of world's refineries in Asia, up from just 18% in 1990

Refiners mostly rely on gasoline consumption for revenue.

Comments : Well actually the amount of energy consumed will be about the same. The Laws of Physics say that whether your car is gasoline powered, electric powered or pulled by horses the same amount of energy will be needed to pull your say 2 ton car from Seremban to Kajang. That equation will never change.

So for electric powered vehicles, instead of putting one tank of gas in your car, someone must now put an extra tank of gas at some power station somewhere to generate the extra electricity that will be needed to charge up the batteries in your new electric cars.  You are shifting the burning of fossil fuel from your car's engine to the power station. More power stations will need to be built. 

Considering electricity transmission losses and energy change losses (oil to mechanical to electricity to chemical (vehicle battery) to electricity to mechanical)  I dont know how much total energy consumption will be saved.

But for certain the immediate environment will become cleaner because some far away power station is now the source of power for your electric car. No more smoke and oil fumes in the morning.

However electric vehicles are more efficient than gasoline fired vehicles.   And they will certainly have less moving parts so the entire landscape of the auto manufacturing industry will change.  

Even if there is a 10% drop in gasoline consumption there will be major reductions in oil prices. This is from the demand side.

From the supply side there will be a huge squeeze on margins for oil companies as the cost of production per barrel of shale oil continues to decrease. As it becomes cheaper to produce a barrel of shale oil, oil prices will continue to drop. If the margins are too thin then deep sea drillers will be the first to go kaput. Brazil's infant oil industry which is deep sea based will be at risk.

Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Yamani famously said, 'The stone age did not come to an end for a lack of stones.'

Similarly the oil age will not come to an end for a lack of oil.

What about Arch-Terrorist to India - How fast or delay delay

Shame on you, angry Turks react to top cop Khalid
FMT Reporters | May 12, 2017


Many say the trio, accused of terrorism by the Erdogan regime, now face torture in Turkey.

What about Terrorist mastermind who already have 2 arrests warrants issued by Indian government and Interpol Red notice on the way for Zakir Naik. So how fast will he be return to India to face justice? No need to get angry just asking only . Only halal to deport Muslim from one Muslim to another Muslim country and to to a Kafir country

PETALING JAYA: The Turkish Twitter community reacted with anger hours after police chief Khalid Abu Bakar announced that three Turkish citizens had been deported despite pleas from family members who fear for their safety in the wake of President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan’s clampdown on dissent.

Many also slammed Khalid for helping the Erdogan regime’s crackdown.
Khalid today said Turgay Karaman, Ismet Ozcelik and Ihsan Aslan were deported after their passports were cancelled by the Turkish goverment.

Turkey

Country in the Middle East

Turkey is a nation straddling eastern Europe and western Asia with cultural connections to ancient Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Cosmopolitan Istanbul, on the Bosphorus Strait, is home to the iconic Hagia Sophia, with its soaring dome and Christian mosaics, the massive 17th-century Blue Mosque and the circa-1460 Topkapı Palace, former home of sultans. Ankara is Turkey’s modern capital.

Capital: Ankara

President: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Population: 78.67 million (2015) World Bank

Currency: Turkish lira

Official language: Turkish

Dr. Zakir Naik you are telling lies. Prove it wrong - if you can {English} [Part 1 of 2]

He also said the trio were part of the so-called Fetullah Terrorist Organization or FETO, the label used by Ankara to describe the Gulen movement led by exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.
“What faith do you represent? You got yourself included in the league of tyrants in the guise of Muslims,” said Twitter user “foto selli”.

The user also drew comparisons from an anecdote from early Islamic history, when Prophet Muhammad who fled his hometown took refuge in then Ethiopia which was ruled by a Christian king.
Dr. Zakir Naik you are telling lies. Prove it wrong - if you can (English) [Part 2 of 2]

“Shame on you! King Najashi was not even a Muslim, but he did not hand over those who took refuge in his country and in his authority.”


“Shame on you. This is the reason why Muslims seek refuge in a non-Muslim country,” another rejoined.

Many warned that the trio would now face torture under Turkish custody.

“You’re a disgrace. Sending people to a country where they will likely be tortured or killed,” said Mahir Zeynalov, while Kudret Emin said deporting them “was a violation of international human rights”.

“International community will not be oblivious and look away from this atrocity! #freeTurgay,” he tweeted.

Abdullah Ademoglu‏ was more brash in his reaction, saying it was a blight on Malaysia: “Shame on those; who r not free, who r ignoring human rights, who r corrupted, who violate laws, whose hands are dirty. Shame on MALAYSIA.”
Rights groups have condemned the arrests of Turgay, 43, Ihsan, 39, and Ismet, 58, urging Putrajaya not to deport them for fear they could face torture or an unfair trial.
Following the failed coup by a group of soldiers last year, the Erdogan government has stepped up its clampdown on dissent, including closing down newspapers and sacking tens of thousands of civil servants.

Turkish authorities have investigated some 150,000 people, and arrested 49,000.
Erdogan has also stepped up pressure on the Turkish diaspora, especially those seen to be sympathisers of Gulen, whose movement runs some 2,000 educational establishments worldwide.
It is believed that Malaysia is among the few countries, which also include Saudi Arabia, that have complied with such requests.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi brushed off pleas from wives of the detainees to give their husbands political asylum.
“It’s not our responsibility. We must send them to their country of origin. Why should we bear the burden of another country?” Zahid asked.

The latest deportation brings to five the number of Turkish citizens being sought by Ankara from Malaysia. In October last year, two Turkish citizens were deported.
“The two you handed over last year were tortured in Turkey. The same fate awaits these three. Malaysia is a pawn state of #Erdogan,” reads a post by Twitter user Abdullah Bozkurt today, referring to Alettin Duman and Tamer Tibik who are still being detained without trial in Turkish prisons.

Indonesia's break up - Australia gives it 20 years - Timeline no more Indonesia in 2028

If Indonesia were to collapse and split up into new independent states, what might they be ? Because of Islam

1. Islamic Republic of Aceh, capital city: Banda Aceh

2. Batak Confederacy, with six nation-states: Karo, Toba, Pakpak, Simalungun, Angkola, Nias. Capital city: Medan

3. Republic of Minangkabau, capital city: Padang

4. The rest of Sumatera forms Malaka Republic, capital city: Pekanbaru/Palembang

5. Pasundan Republic, capital city: Bandung

6. Mataram Kingdom, capital city: Yogyakarta

7. Republic of Madura, capital city: Sumenep

8. Bali Republic, capital city: Denpasar

9. Banjar Sultanate, capital city: Balikpapan

10. Tanjungpura Republic, capital city: Pontianak

11. Dayak Federation, capital city: Samarinda

11. Bugis Republic, capital city: Makassar

12. Toraja Republic, capital city: Rantepao

13. Minahasa Republic, capital city: Manado City

14. Sulawesi Republic, capital city: Polewali Mandar

15. Nusa Tenggara Federation, capital city: Kupang

16. Maluku Republic, capital city: Ambon City

17. Free Papua Republic, capital city: Manokwari or Jayapura




At last Australia appears to be turning the corner of doting supporter of and accomplice in the illegal Indonesian state to one which realizes the break up of its neighbour is inevitable, within 20 years.

Unlike the Australian defence white papers of the past, the previous one being just ten short years ago, 2008's "Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030" makes four critical points regarding Indonesia. First, it no longer sees Indonesia as a military threat. Second, it openly debates the break up of Indonesia. Third, it predicts an increased Australian military role in "stabilisation", humanitarian and peace-keeping operations, like those in East Timor and the Solomon Islands. Forth, it discusses the potential for Indonesia to fragment either as a result of developing democratic transformation or from anarchy, revolution, Islamic militancy.

Clear then, Australia does not believe Indonesia, or what would be left of it, could be a major threat to western "civilization" one way or another. If Indonesia remains intact, which is unlikely given increasing discontent amongst its impoverished population forced to watch the world of plenty, it will continue to be a poor third world nation whose bloody military are stretched to their limits with the role of containing self-determination ambitions. If Indonesian Islamic Extremists come to power as is possible given the introduction of Sharia Law (AKA Anti-Pornography Law) and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's alignment with the radical Islamic Prosperous Justice Party (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera), then clearly Australia believes this would be the final straw for many Indonesians who would likely take to the streets in a popular uprising. If Indonesian democracy matures, then international legal rights such as self-determination will likely see all but Java and Southern Sumatra remain of the RI.

It is not announced in the political sense as Australia still tows the Jakarta line, officially supporting a "Unified Indonesia", though quite how unified the Papuans and others feel is another matter. It is simply part of the facts of strategic planning, which is a far more credible crystal ball then the rhetoric of any politician or federal officer. It is a fact a Unified Indonesia has three main beneficiaries; Jakarta, the USA and "Great" Britain. Australia would stand to clean up in a break-up of the RI, not least because of its strategic position, its expertise and fortunately, its willingness to put right previous wrongs, vis-a-vis peacekeepers in East Timor. OK, on that subject, East Timor is no paradise right now but why? Look closely and you will see the hand of Jakarta; another reason for wanting to see the back of Java as a substantial political centre.

I say "Bring it on, let's give it as many little legal pushes here and there as we can!". Let us boycott anything and everything Indonesian for starters. Wake up and smell the Java; who do you think you are financially supporting when you buy questionnably made or sourced Indonesian products? Whose pockets are you lining when you go on holiday to Bali; the Balinese slaves on minimum wage? If you claim to love the Balinese, help give them their island back. Hopefully then one day all the Australian and other "bule" foreign idiots who have sunk their life savings into properties they can never own (under Indonesian law) or even stay in their villas legally for any amount of time, hopefully Bali will gain independence from its historical adversary, vile Jakarta, and do what is right for the western money trees who are currently being ripped off.

Come on, think about it; making the world a better place, giving the regions of Indonesia their legal rights, telling Uncle Sam and its patsy British lapdog to go and stick it where to sun does not shine all in one foul stroke! Don't "Buy Buy Indonesia" say "Bye Bye, Good Ridance Indonesia"!

Posted by Bali Bollocks - don't sell out


Will Indonesia break up?


Written by Anne Booth

Edition 59: Jul-Sep 1999
Published:Sep 11, 2007

Indonesians in the resource-rich outer regions no longer accept the heavy hand of Jakarta.

Anne Booth

On 17 August 1998, the leading news magazine Forum Keadilan devoted its National Day edition to a discussion of national unity. According to a poll it conducted, over 90 per cent of respondents were worried about the danger of the country falling apart, over 80 per cent thought the emergence of political parties based on ethnicity and religion would increase the dangers of disintegration, and over 85 per cent thought the control of the economy by minorities increased these dangers.

The fact that a widely read magazine could openly conduct a poll about such a sensitive issue, and publish the results, indicated the extent to which press freedom had blossomed in the three months since Suharto's resignation. But the results of the poll could hardly have been gratifying to the new government of President Habibie. They were a clear indication of the extent of concern among middle class Indonesians about the fragility of their country.

In addition the poll reflected a widespread conviction that the regions must be given greater political and financial autonomy. In effect, the message of the poll seemed to be that the resource-rich regions would have to be permitted to keep a much higher proportion of the profits from resource exploitation. At the same time the electorate would have to have the power to vote in, and vote out, key provincial and local officials such as governors, regents, and mayors.

In the latter part of 1998 and early 1999 there were many manifestations of regional unrest. Some were violent and tragic, such as the events in Ambon and West Kalimantan. Some, such as student demonstrations in Caltex facilities in Riau, obviously intended to make a political point to both the national and the international media. The Habibie government's apparent promise, made at the end of January, of self-determination for the troubled province of East Timor, immediately provoked predictions of a domino effect in other parts of the archipelago, from Aceh to Irian Jaya.

By the end of April, press reports suggested there was a strong military backlash against any promise of ultimate independence for Timor, based in large part on the conviction that, once the Pandora's Box had been opened, several other provinces would want to escape as well. Increasingly, newspaper pundits in various parts of the world began to talk about 'another Yugoslavia' in Southeast Asia. To many, the world's fourth most populous country appeared to be unravelling in much the same way as the former USSR in the early 1990s.

To a number of observers of the Indonesian scene (myself included) it had seemed obvious for some years that the highly centralised system of government which Suharto and his key advisers had put in place in the 1970s was, by the 1990s, both politically unacceptable and, from an economic viewpoint, inefficient and inequitable. (My own views were expressed in a lecture I gave at SOAS in 1992: 'Can Indonesia survive as a unitary state?', Indonesia Circle no.58, June 1992.)

Oil
In the early 1970s, the establishment of firm central government control over revenues from natural resources (mainly of course oil) had seemed essential if the government was to provide infrastructure and improve the quality of life for populations in all parts of the country. After all, much of the oil was in fact located in two rather small and isolated provinces, both of which seemed to lack any strong sense of regional identity. Given the development needs in other parts of the country, it would have been very difficult to make a case in the 1970s for handing over a significant part of the oil revenues to either Riau or East Kalimantan.

When huge gas reserves were located in Aceh, a province which did have a long tradition of rebellion against outside control, some observers predicted that there could be trouble, although I cannot recall anyone in the 1970s forecasting the tragic events of the latter part of the 1980s and early 1990s in that province.

But as rapid economic growth and industrialisation transformed both the urban and the rural landscape in Indonesia, and especially in Java, over the 1980s and early 1990s, the whole nature of the 'regional problem' in Indonesia changed. In the 1970s the central government could claim to be playing the role of a benevolent Robin Hood, robbing the rich few to pay for improved living standards for the poor millions, especially but not exclusively in Java. But by the mid-1990s, it was clear that the incidence of poverty in Java was in fact lower than in a number of provinces outside Java, including some such as Irian Jaya with abundant mineral wealth.

Even in those provinces such as East Kalimantan and Aceh where poverty was lower than the national average, there was growing resentment at the differences in living standards between the local populations and those of neighbouring Malaysia. Per capita GDP in East Kalimantan in 1993 was about the same as in the neighbouring Malaysian state of Sarawak, and higher than in Sabah, but poverty incidence was much higher in East Kalimantan. Given the porous nature of the land borders and the widespread movement of labour from Indonesian Kalimantan into East Malaysia by the early 1990s, it was inevitable that local populations would make comparisons between their own living standards and those in adjacent regions of the neighbouring country.

In addition, by the early 1990s, the combination of rapid economic growth and over two decades of administrative centralisation had produced a situation where government ministries in Jakarta were handling huge budgets for both routine administration and development projects in all parts of the far-flung archipelago. Given the absence of effective audit procedures, and the demonstration effect of growing nepotism in the first family, there was inevitably a sharp increase in the magnitude of official corruption throughout the central government apparatus. Even those government ministries and agencies which had been considered 'clean' in the 1970s became increasingly blatant in the way they creamed off funds for the personal use of senior staff, including lavish housing and cars, foreign travel and foreign education for their children. Regional and local government officials often followed suit.

That there is now, with greater freedom in both the print and the electronic media, an explosion of public outrage against such manifestations of bureaucratic abuse is hardly surprising. The Habibie government has not been slow to sense the public mood. On April 23, the parliament (the same body which slavishly approved the centralist policies of President Suharto) passed a new law on inter-governmental fiscal relations which allows for a considerable amount of revenue-sharing between centre and province, especially for revenues from oil, gas, other mining, forestry and fisheries. The issues are complex and it is, as yet, far from clear how the law will operate in practice (see John McBeth in Far Eastern Economic Review, May 13, 1999). It is also possible that the new parliament, to be elected in June, will press for even more sweeping changes.

Breakup?
There seems to be little doubt that what James Mackie once termed the 'powerful centralising and integrating forces' of the New Order era have been halted and indeed thrown into reverse. But how far will the reverse process proceed, and will it inevitably lead to the breakup of Indonesia?

On this question, I can only give a personal view, based on my own observations over nearly three decades of study. It does seem to me that, after more than fifty years of independence from Dutch colonialism, most inhabitants of this vast archipelago do wish to be part of some entity called Indonesia. Understandable demands for greater autonomy from a corrupt and predatory central government apparatus should not be confused with a desire for outright independence. Indeed it was the repeated failure of both Suharto and the armed forces to comprehend this distinction which led to so many human rights abuses in places like Aceh and Irian Jaya.

While the East Timor problem may only be resolved ultimately by independence, it ought still to be possible for other regions to remain within the Indonesian state, but with different conditions of membership from those which were laid down in the Suharto era. New conditions of membership in effect mean constitutional change. Accommodating growing demands for such change while at the same time trying to restore confidence in both the economic and the administrative system will severely test the skills of whatever government assumes control in Indonesia in the post-Suharto era.

But one thing is clear: Suharto's New Order has gone, and with it the highly centralised political and economic system which he fashioned. There will be a very powerful group of losers from the changes now in progress in the central bureaucracy (both civilian and military), and especially in its upper echelons.

The logic of the decentralisation measures introduced in April will be that provincial and local governments will assume more direct responsibility for sectors such as health, education, family planning, women's affairs and environmental protection. Much economic and social planning will have to be done in the regions rather than at the centre. Many officials will thus have to move to the regions or find alternative employment.

To the extent that they will be forced to leave central departments, they will also be cut off from the extensive patronage networks which developed at the centre; indeed these networks will themselves wither as they are deprived of resources. Senior bureaucrats were among the most privileged people in Suharto's New Order and they can hardly be happy about the inevitable attenuation of their power which a genuine process of decentralisation will entail. What, if anything, they can do about the situation remains to be seen.

Professor Anne Booth teaches at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She has written numerous books and articles on the Indonesian economy.

Breaking up Indonesia

For my timline I'm planning on having Indonesia's independence movement splinter and result in several different states coming to be based on ethnic and religious lines.

The problem is, Indonesia has approximately 6,000,000,000 ethnic groups so I'm not sure how the breakdown would go. This map is a first draft; please criticize it, so I can get it right. Each color is one nation.

Some notes:

-I'm not sure where West Papuawould end up; would it go it alone or merge with New Guinea, which I have here.

- It seems like the Javanese would be able to dominate the Balinese and Madurese on Java but I think the Sundanese are too numerous to be absorbed into a Javanese state.

-Not sure what to do with Borneo, is there more than one group of Malays there? The ethnic map I found was fairly vague.

-The islands out east are all probably horribly wrong, can one of the Indonesians here help me out?

Also worth discussing is how the region's politics would play out. 

It strikes me that Java will not have the internal migration exit valve and so there will be plenty more people than OTL - immigration strikes me as likely, but to where? The US, Netherlands, and Australia are the likely targets, but they might immigrate to neighboring islands as well - causing ethnic tensions.


Depending on how the borders end up, there could be several regional flashpoints as well - you don't see much naval warfare done by 3rd world nations but here it would be a necessity - it gives me some interesting story ideas.

Indonesian Low Class Pest says ethnic Chinese wealth is next target - Indonesia is now going to breakup soon as a nation

In the interview, Nasir said "ethnic sentiment cannot be denied" when it comes to inequality, and the economic power of Chinese Indonesians needs to be addressed.

JAKARTA: The leader of a powerful Indonesian Islamist organization that led the push to jail Jakarta’s Christian governor has laid out plans for a new, racially charged campaign targeting economic inequality and foreign investment.

In a rare interview, Bachtiar Nasir said the wealth of Indonesia’s ethnic Chinese minority was a problem and advocated an affirmative action program for native Indonesians, comments that could stoke tensions already running high in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

“It seems they do not become more generous, more fair,” the cleric said, referring to Chinese Indonesians, in the interview in an Islamic center in South Jakarta. “That’s the biggest problem.”
Ethnic Chinese make up less than 5% of Indonesia’s population, but they control many of its large conglomerates and much of its wealth.

Nasir also said that foreign investment, especially investment from China, has not helped Indonesians in general.

Indonesia

Country in Asia

Indonesia, a Southeast Asian nation made up of thousands of volcanic islands, is home to hundreds of ethnic groups speaking many different languages. It’s known for beaches, volcanoes, Komodo dragons and jungles sheltering elephants, orangutans and tigers. On the island of Java lies Indonesia's vibrant, sprawling capital, Jakarta, and the city of Yogyakarta, known for gamelan music and traditional puppetry.

Capital: Jakarta

Capital and largest city: Jakarta; 6°10.5′S 106°49.7′E / 6.1750°S 106.8283°E

Population: 257.6 million (2015) World Bank

Currency: Indonesian rupiah

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, is a major destination for foreign investment in the mining and retail sectors. Jakarta is also trying to lure investors for a US$450 billion infrastructure drive to revive economic growth.

“Our next job is economic sovereignty, economic inequality,” said Nasir, an influential figure who chairs the National Movement to Safeguard the Fatwas of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (GNPF-MUI). “The state should ensure that it does not sell Indonesia to foreigners, especially China.”
His group organized protests by hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Jakarta late last year over a comment about the Quran made by the capital’s governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic-Chinese Christian.

Purnama was found guilty this week of blasphemy and sentenced to two years in prison, raising concerns that belligerent hardline Islamists are a growing threat to racial and religious harmony in this secular state.

Nasir, 49, used to have a late-night religious show on one of Indonesia’s biggest TV networks. His contract was ended under government pressure after his role in the first anti-Purnama rally was revealed.

He spoke calmly during the interview, identifying other religiously motivated objectives such as restricting alcohol to tourist areas, curbing prostitution and criminalizing adultery and sodomy. He insisted he believes in a pluralist Indonesia.

“Playing with fire”

Former President Suharto blocked Chinese Indonesians from many public posts and denied them cultural expression, forcing them to drop their Chinese names. Marginalized politically and socially, many turned to business and became wealthy.

The ethnic wealth gap has long fed resentment among poorer “pribumi”, Indonesia’s mostly ethnic-Malay indigenous people. During riots that led to the fall of Suharto in 1998, ethnic-Chinese and Chinese-owned businesses were targeted, and about 1,000 people were killed in the violence.
There has been no blood-letting on that scale since then, but tensions have remained. President Joko Widodo was the subject of a smear campaign on the campaign trail in 2014 that falsely claimed he was a Chinese descendant and a Christian.

Bonnie Triyana, a historian who has chronicled Chinese Indonesian experiences, said Nasir was “scapegoating” the Chinese.

“It’s very dangerous for our nation. It’s playing with fire,” said Triyana, who is an indigenous Indonesian. “They are spreading bad information to convince people that their role is to save the nation.”

In the interview, Nasir said “ethnic sentiment cannot be denied” when it comes to inequality, and the economic power of Chinese Indonesians needs to be addressed.

“The key is justice, and taking sides,” he said. “Justice can be applied if there is a preferential option for indigenous Indonesians from a regulation aspect and in terms of access to capital.”
Neighboring Malaysia, also a Muslim-majority nation with a wealthy Chinese minority, has long followed affirmative action policies that grant native Malays privileges, including job reservations in the civil service and discounts on property.

Johan Budi, a spokesman for Indonesian President Widodo – responding to Bachtiar’s comments – said in a statement to Reuters that income inequality is high on the government agenda and Indonesian Chinese get no special treatment.

“It is not true this allegation that President Jokowi gives wider space to ethnic Chinese in Indonesia,” Budi said, referring to Widodo by his nickname. He said Widodo’s focus is on the poor, including “indigenous people”.

According to the Credit Suisse Research Institute’s 2016 Global Wealth Report, the top 1% wealthiest Indonesians owned 49.3% of national wealth, making it among the most unequal nations in the world.

Link to politics?

A Saudi-trained cleric, Nasir formed the GNPF-MUI last year to target Purnama, the now-convicted Jakarta governor.

Although Nasir is not as visible as the firebrand radical cleric Habib Rizieq who led last year’s protests, his group carries significant clout because it brings under one umbrella Islamist organizations that have national reach and strong links with mosques and religious schools.
GNPF-MUI includes Salafist intellectuals like Nasir, Rizieq’s Islamic Defenders Front and their urban poor constituency, along with middle class and politically connected Islamic groups.
Nasir said GNPF-MUI is a “religions movement”, not political. However, he is widely seen as allied to opposition leader Prabowo Subianto, who lost to Widodo in the 2014 election and could be a candidate for the presidency in 2019.

Greg Fealy, an expert on Indonesian Islamic groups from the Australian National University, said GNPF-MUI is developing a national agenda following the Jakarta governor’s conviction.
“They are trying to harness that movement to link the Islamist agenda with inequality. It is, in effect, targeting Chinese non-Muslims,” he said. “This is all part of a pitched battle in the run-up to 2019

Dead Giant Squid Washes Up on Seram Island in Maluku

Jakarta. The remains of a giant squid washed up on the shores of Seram Island in Maluku province earlier this week.

According to a statement Beritasatu.com received on Wednesday (10/05), a resident, identified as Asrul Tuanakota (37), discovered the 15-meter-long squid on Tuesday evening.

Giant squid

Animal

The giant squid is a deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. Giant squid can grow to a tremendous size due to deep-sea gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at 13 m for females ... Wikipedia

Scientific name: Architeuthis

Phylum: Mollusca

Rank: Genus

Higher classification: Architeuthidae

Subclass: Coleoidea

Did you know: Sightings of giant squid over the centuries are undoubtedly responsible for the vast lore of sea monster tales.

In the darkness, Asrul initially mistook the giant sea creature for a stranded boat.

The unusual finding attracted scores of residents to Hulung Beach at Iha village in West Seram district.

The reason for the giant squid washing up on the shore is still unknown, but it is believed to have been dead for at least three days before it was found.

Residents have meanwhile asked the government to help them remove the remains of the squid as it already started to decay.

The remains of a giant squid that washed up on Hulung Beach on Seram Island, Maluku. (Photo courtesy of Pattimura Military Command) The remains of a giant squid that washed up on Hulung Beach on Seram Island, Maluku. (Photo courtesy of Pattimura Military Command)