The Risky Journal

News Giant Battle Credit: Pulsk.com As the presidential election draws closer, observing some major media in Indonesia has become a very interesting activity to do. By doing such a thing, one can really learn how media actively engages in the nation’s political environment. This post was written as a simple result of observation in some online media. I observed the twitter accounts of television stations Metro TV and TVone. Metro TV belongs to the Media Group owned by businessman Surya Paloh, who happens to be the chairman of the National Democratic Party (NasDem). In this presidential election, the party sides with presidential and vice presidential candidate Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jusuf Kalla, or known as JK. Meanwhile, TV One belongs to the Viva News group owned by businessman Aburizal Bakrie, who chairs the Golkar Party. The party chooses to support presidential and vice presidential candidate Prabowo and Hatta Rajasa. I once wrote in this blog about m...

Credit: Todayonline.com It has been a week since the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) announced that instead of nominating its chairperson as it used to do, the party would endorse its most famous member, Jakarta Governor Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, as a presidential candidate in the upcoming election. Public is split into two: those who support the nomination and who are against it. The supporters deem that Jokowi, who won the second runner up in the 2012 World Mayor Prize, needs to join the race to reach the nation’s top office because he represents a fresh figure and a young leader. Public also deem him worthy enough to grace all people of Indonesia with his humble characteristic, a rare trait among many nation’s contemporary political elites. However, Jokowi's participation is met with lots of criticisms. Jokowi, who was elected as the Jakarta Governor in 2012, still has three more years until the end of his term at the capital city. His participation i...

Akil Mochtar A shocking news surprised me when I woke up in the morning today. Akil Mohtar, the Constitutional Court’s Chief Justice, was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in a raid early on Thursday morning. Akil, who was elected as Chief Justice in August 2013, allegedly received briberies to settle election dispute in Gunung Mas regency.  Former Golkar Party politician Akil was arrested along with Golkar Party lawmaker Chairun Nisa and businessman CHN at the chief’s official house in South Jakarta. Shortly, Gunung Mas regent Hambit Bintih and another businessman DH was apprehended in a hotel in Central Jakarta. The anti-graft body’s investigators confiscated money worthy of SGD 324,000 (IDR 3 billion) from Akil’s house. The Constitutional Court, so far, has always been considered as the cleanest body in the judicial branch in Indonesia. This highest court deals with constitutional disputes and those about regional, local or national election disp...

Beberapa hari yang lalu saya menemani salah seorang penerima beasiswa Fulbright dari Amerika untuk mengurus surat keterangan jalan di Markas Besar Kepolisian Republik Indonesia di Jakarta Selatan. Kolom demi kolom dia isi dengan seksama hingga pada akhirnya dia berhenti di suatu kolom dan bertanya kepada saya.  “Why do they ask me to mention my religion?” kata Megan, sang penerima beasiswa tersebut. Welcome to Indonesia Megan! Anda baru saja mengalami sedikit cultural shock. Megan berasal dari Amerika, sebuah negeri yang terkenal akan prinsip pemerintahan yang memisahkan agama dari urusan pemerintahan. Bagi pemerintah Amerika, agama benar-benar menjadi urusan yang sangat sacral antara seorang individu manusia. Seorang manusia boleh saja tidak beragama apabila dia merasa hal itu benar baginya. Dia tidak akan mendapatkan sanksi dari siapapun – baik dari Negara ataupun dari masyarakat – karena memilih untuk tidak beragama. Agama benar benar menjadi urusan masing masing indi...

The political tension in the country is heating up ahead of the 2014 general elections. The General Elections Commission (KPU) has recently announced a list of legislative candidates that have been registered by the 13 political parties competing in the election next year. Singer Irwansyah runs as legislative candidates for the Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra According to a report by The Jakarta Post , the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is the only political party that does not have celebrity figures in its list. The report says that there are 44 celebrities registered in the list of 12 other political parties. There is actually nothing wrong with celebrities trying their lucks in politics. They, as much as you and I, have constitutional rights to join the political race in this country. But, wait … is there really really nothing wrong with that?   I lied. Do I really want to be led by celebrities? Do I want celebrities to sit in the parliament to d...