All The President’s Men: Jokowi’s Need for a Cabinet Reshuffle

By N Mark Castro

As the country awaits the much-need cabinet reshuffle, let’s look at some of the controversial statements of our beloved public servants.

Let’s start with the very wealthy Minister of Trade Rachmat Gobel who, prior to his appointment, was the local partner and franchise owner of PT. Panasonic Gobel. According to reports, he would divest himself from ownership.

So far, so good.

During the earlier part of his appointment, Rachmat revealed that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transportation should be governed by the Ministry of Industry. With the unification, according to him, progress in Indonesia can be guaranteed.

That’s how gung-ho he was. He wasn’t satisfied with one Ministry, he wanted two more.

Now, Ministers are supposed to be the representative of the president. They can engage and debate the president, argue each issue, but they are there to convey the message of the president, not theirs. They are there to stand for the president who could not be in all places at the same time.

Which brings the controversy about Minister Gobel quite, how shall we say it, peculiar.

The Dumbing of Indonesia

By N. Mark Castro

In one of the most perplexing education policies ever proposed on earth — next to Taliban’s strict refusal to allow girls to study, Deputy Education and Culture Minister Musliar Kaslim supports the omission of English, Mathematics, and Science in elementary schools across the over 17,000 islands of the Republic of Indonesia.

According to reports, the Deputy Minister said:

Elementary schools won’t have English lessons because [students] haven’t even learned to understand the Indonesian language yet … Now, even some kindergarten students take English courses. [That’s haram [prohibited by Islamic law]. I pity the kids.

The Never-Ending Political Saga of Senator Tito Sotto, Plagiarist

By N. Mark Castro

Riding high on his misplaced righteousness that God Himself, in His Infinite Wisdom, depends solely on the magnitude of the Senator’s crusade against the controversial RH Bill.

It is a proposition so powerful all the priests and bishops and pastors of the Christian persuasion are screaming of infinite doom. It is a proposition so abominable it has divided a nation, rocked its politics, subverted the truth and, more importantly, catapulted one Senator Tito Sotto in the global spectrum of folly. Whereas in his former TV show, he boasted of being seen “Mula Aparri Hanggang Jolo” which, according to Philippine geography, is the length and breadth of the country. Whereas in the once august halls of the Philippine Senate, he can boast of being seen, heard, and read all over the world as plagiarist that refuses to bow; and, worse, a recidivist that sees nothing but his innocence.

How can he ask for forgiveness when, in his privileged mind, he is right. He has always been right.

And in his pursuit for local recognition, he received global recognition instead.

 

Signs of the Times

My Plab B, in case my job doesn’t take off, at the very least.