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[wailing_imam]

Many people in Indonesia must be questioning the source of the relentless waves of tragedy and death which keep on hitting the nation. I find it absolutely unbelievable, as I sit here in Shanghai, click on the net and hear about death, accident, disaster, flooding, bird flu, schoolgirl beheadings (no bombs for a while though) etc.

Are the Javanese thinking that the old gods are behind this, or is it Soeharto's dukuns playing with fate. Do the Christians say this is just karma on the Islamic fundamentalists. Who do the Muslims blame this on?

[basiltherat]

[voltaire]

The things that go on in Indonesia represent to me clear evidence of the truth of the ancient proverb known to all peoples from Germans to Australian aborigines (for example): "What comes around, goes around".

It is nothing but the old incontrovertible law of karma. You needn't be a Hindu or Buddhist to realize the truth of this law. Heck! All you have to do is search Google News for Indonesia!

All these years of corruption at high levels and rampant scoff-lawing among all the others has led to the inevitable.

There's nothing mystical or magical about it. One example: you build housing complexes in water catchment areas because you as a zoning official can personally benefit from the bribes - flooding will occur in places it never has before.

And if public transport minibuses drive in the wrong lane traffic jams will result; not to mention horrible head-on collisions.

[sidjameson]

But the guy who picks up the bribe is not the one who suffers Voltaire. In fact he is probably sitting very pretty.

Are you suggesting that karma works within nations?

[guruengerish]

I was amazed to find that there are now twenty private airline companies operating in Indonesia. One can't help but wonder where they find all those highly trained aircraft technicians.

One expert has been quoted as saying that as far as maintenance goes, Indonesia has a cultural and a technical problem.

I'm curious as to what cultural habits he may have meant.

Sadly of course, I can imagine many potential tourists changing their holiday plans, having just plucked up courage to travel to Indonesia, now that things seem to have settled.

Latest news here is that the cockpit voice recorder does not have any evidence of strong winds at Yogya airport, nor do the control tower tapes.

The bit 'bleeped out' of course is c-o-c-k pit.

[voltaire]

[Chester]

the news footage of the plane crash survivors says a lot about the indonesian acceptance of tragedy and accidental death. people just walking away from a burning plane and going home, a bit shaken and stirred, but otherwise as if nothing unusual had happened at all. the blind acceptance of accidental death AKA death by neglegence or recklessness, i find very disturbing.

[voltaire]

Sorry, I forgot to conclude in my above post that while we cannot know the karmic consequences of much that occurs, we can often, in other cases, see them quite plainly, like in the case of undiscplined drivers causing traffic jams in Jakarta. These instances thus prove my point that there is indeed a law of karmic cause and effect, and one needn't call themselves a Buddhist or Hindu to see it.

[basiltherat]

[Chester]

cruel irony is that REAL education is perceived as the route to real democracy and social justice. and so the masses are kept ignorant. and where does that leave the sincere ESL teacher who wants to do something worthwhile?

in australia, not teaching, as far as i am concerned.

[laughing_magpie06]

Education and technical knowledge have featured in this thread. I have taught many boys aged through their teenage years and found that most did not know how to use a hammer and / or most household tools. I find those who are lucky enough to be able to afford the better education options are basically not obliged to do anything creative or useful because there is always someone around they can pay peanuts to do the same job. Hence I think laziness and apathy also play a big role in this countries problems.

[gugelhupf]

I remember the looks of stunned amazement when I told the school 'teknisi' that I had already fixed the fault with my washing machine, having waited long enough for them to do it.

The thought that a non-teknisi could ever figure out how to take the back off an appliance and clip a hose back on was just too much for them.

[basiltherat]

Hi
Have a read of this. Very succinct, I'd say. Sums everything up really.

http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/2637.cfm

best
basil

[voltaire]

Too right, Basil. I could hardly stand to read until the end.

[guruengerish]

In response to gugelhupf, I should comment that I often think about writing a book on my two years in Eastern Indonesia, but it might sound a tad biased and or negative.

I could start with chapter 1 being 'send problem visitors on a tour of Toraja', chapter 2 would be "The keys have been left at home', (and therefore you will not be able to see what we don't want you to see).

There were amazing sights at times, such as three guys hanging off a pipe attached to a lever on a drill press, trying to drill into a piece of steel. Might have worked, but the drill was running in reverse. This was in a Mech Eng, dept.

The final chapter could be 'no-one fails our courses'. relating to an expat lecturer, who failed an economics class. The Uni staff advised him that no-one fails here, so they sent him on a short holiday, and when he returned, the exam had been run again - lo and behold - they had all passed.

Donated equipment which arrived with Aussie electrical plugs were mothballed, as staff were not sure how to handle a 3-wire plug and cable. The green/yellow earth wire threw them, as their standdard 2-pin plugs had no provision for an earth.

So, yes, maybe there is a 'culture' problem.