RootsAir From Costa Rica, joined Feb 2005, 4179 posts, RR: 45 Posted (6 years 2 months 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 761 times:
I have the impression that every week i hear something new about Indonesia having some sort of transportation accident, natural disaster or some sort of terrorist attack !
Its starts with bombings like the one in Bali back in 2002 and 2005. Other places like sumatra have regions with ongoing armed conflict.
At the end of 2004, there was the Tsunami and Indonesia was one of the most severely affected countries!
Then there's this other ferry at the end of last year which sunk off borneo coast killing hundreds of people !
And of the three recent plane crashes. Adam air where the a/c took a long time before being foud, another Adam air who's fuselage broke into 2 on landing, and the more recent Garuda crash.
The letter happened just after a terrible earthquake in sumatra which killed like 72. Between this earthquake and the tsunami we don't count anymore the number of Earthquakes in Indonesia.
We musn't forget all the floods there has been there recently !
With this can we say the country is cursed?
Regards
BM
A man without the knowledge of his past history,culture and origins is like a tree without roots
Access-Air From United States of America, joined Sep 2000, 1939 posts, RR: 15 Reply 1, posted (6 years 2 months 1 week 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 742 times:
I'd love to respond to your thread with my theory but I might be swatted like a fly for stirring up a hornets nest.....Its too bad we have to do the eggshell walk in here and simply cannot convey ideas freely. Im not saying be obnoxious about it, buty in a civil manner....
Lets just say that its not a Curse, but you are very close.....
Baroque From Australia, joined Apr 2006, 15380 posts, RR: 60 Reply 3, posted (6 years 2 months 1 week 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 728 times:
Indonesia does lie on the ring of fire and so has an abundance of active volcanoes and it is very active in seismic terms. Being tropical, it also has abundant rain. This linked with the volcanic soils makes Jawa and Sumatera have incredibly fertile soils. So that is on balance a huge positive and Indonesians do not (apart from the dukuns) have much control over it - like none at all.
It is true that better volcano and tsunami warning systems should be in place. Probably a bit more basic engineering input to home and office building design to lower earthquake damage would cut casualties, but costs are a major factor.
Better regulation and safety standards. Less corruption, all desirable. Some of these might be a product of the colonial history that causes some bureaucrats (and some others) to be too proud to accept assistance. But Indonesia has immense human capital and overall a pretty good education system. There are weaknesses in the education system but there are also considerable strengths.
So far increased democracy has not been an unmitigated blessing. A prohibition of criticising Suharto has, shall we say, its current counterparts.
Arguably, the insularity of Indonesians has its counterparts in some countries that like to think of themselves as more advanced. And do not underestimate their knowledge of international matters that interest them
The comment about minimal regard for public safety has to be qualified. Commit a mistake in driving in most western countries, and the drivers "not at fault" will crash into you. They "know" that when the police arrive they will be pronounced as not being at fault.
Do a similar thing on an Indonesian road, and the other drivers will do their level best not to hit you. This really is a major difference. OK, it is partly due to the fact that nobody is insured and partly because the police are still distrusted, but it does suggest that we should not blithely take all our assumptions and modes of operation across and expect that everything that is different is inferior. Some things are better.
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From Costa Rica, joined Feb 2005, 4179 posts, 
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