WRI

TING
PORTO
FOLIO

Yvette Tanamal
Hi there! I'm Yvette. Pol sci/ journalism contact
undergrad student. I love words and michigan, usa
playing with them, though not always [email protected]
what they mean. Freelance Writer/ +1 (269) 270 9195

Journalist for hire.

YVETTE TANAMAL // CONTENT PG.

CONTENT 
INTRODUCTION
i. Biography 2

COMMERCIAL/ SPONSORED
ARTICLES
i. Art, Craft, and Trash: Eko Nugroho recycles like no other. 4
ii. Jovi Adhiguna on Being True to Yourself, No Matter What 9

PHOTO JOURNALISM
i. Scavenging a tragedy, ocean deep. 15

EDITORIAL/ LONG FORMS

i. China's Gender Imbalance is Fueling a Market for Kidnapped
Indonesian Brides 21
ii. Lawmakers Just Banned Pedophiles From Elections, But Rapists
Are Still Welcome 26
iii. The Rupiah Is At '98 Crisis Levels, But Does Rp 15,000 Really
Mean The Same Thing Today? 30
iv. In Indonesia, Prison is a Life of Luxury, as Long as You Can
Afford It 34
v. Did China Just Sign the Death Warrant for Indonesia's Tigers and
Rhinos? 38

OPINION/ FUN STUFF :)

i. Living In The World's Worst Designed City Is As Frustrating As It
Sounds 41
YVETTE TANAMAL // CONTENT PG.

ii. Trying To Nail Down The Reason Why We Use Nails to Vote in
Indonesia 46

*last updated 5/16/19

YVETTE TANAMAL // 2
biography

hello.
hello.
I pitch stories, do research, Right now, I am based in
conduct interviews, write Michigan, USA for my degree.
articles both in short and long Previously I lived in Jakarta
forms. Academically, my field of (Indonesia), Singapore, and
expertise focuses on topics Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
relating to politics, economy,
social/ gender issues, and others Though i'm just starting out
alike-- especially in the as a freelance writer, I love
Southeast Asian/ Asian region. challenges and would never do
things half-heartedly. In
But as a writer, I love doing this Portfolio, I have
just about anything. Like many compiled some samples of my
other cliché writer origin works, including sponsored
stories, it all began with liking writing pieces and editorial
books a little too much as a kid; articles.
and later either asking or
speaking a little too much as an I hope you enjoy them!
adult.
- Yvette Tanamal
I have experiences with opinion
articles, casual & fun short-
forms, blog posts, commercial/
sponsored pieces, editorial
writing, and some others.
YVETTE TANAMAL // 3

COMMERCIAL/
SPONSORED ARTICLE
SAMPLES
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 4

"Art, Craft, And Trash:OtEkheor."

Nugroho Recycles Like No Eko has always been an artist. In his journey as

a creator, Eko often experimented with unique

ce.com/id_id
first appeared at visa mediums. His artworks gained recognition

(originally in Baha Indononenesia) worldwide-- from Singapore to Germany, and it

sponsored interview for Da wasn't long till he earned himself the reputation

of an 'artistic genius'.

#climatechange #recycling #profile #ad

Finally, in 2017, the thought of Code River

Eko Nugroho knew Indonesia was turning into came back to haunt him again. He remembered

a plastic hellhole when he re-visited Code River all the garbage with all its ugliness, and knew it

after many years. It was beautiful back then, he was time to finally experiment with his

remembered. He grew up right there, in nemesis: plastic waste. This was the beginning

Yogyakarta. He spent his sunny days of of a lot of trial and error, as Eko said, but in the

childhood basking in that very river. But it's same year, Eko successfully finished his first

different now. As a local, Eko can't help but to grand plastic installation in Bali. "Bouquet of

feel overwhelmed by the vast modernisation of Love", he named it. This massive colosseum-

his beloved city. It didn't make sense to him: like structure was built with 300 kilograms of

how could this "urban-lifestyle" people love plastic garbage, and was also a collaboration

glorifying so much be so toxic to the with Potato Head Club. The same vision also

environment? "These people call themselves drives Eko with his latest collaboration with

modern, yet they love throwing filthy waste Danone, the 'REFLECTIONS' series; where he

into the river," he said. explores the concept of clarity.

Eko can't help but to feel disappointed. He Eko's daring work in Bali inevitably caught

loved his city, but now it's turned ugly. He public attention. It was genius in provoking the

wondered if he could do something; anything to discussion of plastic use among its audience.

turn those ugliness into something inspiring, It's no exaggeration too-- according to the

somehow. Albeit, his vision was still hazy then. Jambeck survey, over a million plastic bags are

It was the 90's; and Eko's main gig revolved being used every minute in Indonesia, in which

around his legendary comics/ zines, Daging half are thrown after a single use.

Tumbuh.
YVETTE TANAMAL // 5

In addition to the excessive plastic use problem, It's these same people who call themselves

the waste management system in Indonesia is "modern" who seems to be finding it difficult

far from ideal. Only seven percent of all plastic tdisposing their trash properly.

waste are properly treated, meaning the

remaining ninety-three percent will end up There used to be scavengers who collected

stowing in landfills. A lot of times, these plastic these trash, but they don't go in the river

garbage will be sent away for some 'adventures' anymore. As a result, the river's absolutely

across the oceans. In 2016, Indonesia was listed clogged. That ugly scene inspired me to do

as the second biggest contributor to plastic something about it.

pollution in the world just after China.

Eko's works came in just the right time. His art

is not all about beauty; it's also about provoking

its beholders to actively act against this

environmental crisis. VICE chatted with Eko

Nugroho to dicuss about his plastic vision,

artistic ambitions, and his take on Indonesia's

environmental issues.

VICE: Hi Eko! Could you tell us about your

plastic beginnings?

Eko Nugroho: I grew up in this village named

Prawirodirjan, in Yogyakarta. It was a pretty

dense village, next to the Code River. At that

time, the river was still so pure. A lot of

greeneries, it was a good place to enjoy

yourself. Over time, the river started changing.

It's still here now, but it's been dead for a long

time. The water is shallow, and plastic

sediments constrict flow. The government tried

to pull some strings, but it wasn't enough.

 YVETTE TANAMAL // 6

Stationaries, cutleries, wrappers.. we modern

How important is it to turn plastic into art? people love everything hygienic, don't we? And

Plastic is plastic is plastic. And plastic is the truth is, plastic is the cheapest and fastest

problematic. It will always be a problem until way to do that. This is precisely why we're

we take it and reconstruct it into something stuck with the plastic problem. It's hard to

more valuable-- either economically, imagine life without it.

artistically, so on and so forth. From what I see,

my recycling efforts are just small steps; Truthfully, I feel like every person can help out

insignificant, even. But as an artist, I try my in accordance to their own capacity and

best to use my craft in redefining plastic use capabilities. For example, I'm an artist. As a

and turn it into something unique. way to actualise my ideas about reducing

plastic use, I experiment with garbage and turn

What's the biggest challenge in working with it into something valuable. True, it's still

plastic? Surely it's not easy! plastic, and it's still problematic. But there's no

Honestly, it takes a little bit of getting used to. way around that anyway. I simply hope that my

I started with small-scale projects, or indoor- efforts could turn something inherently

installations. The peak was, of course, Bouquet problematic into something more valuable.

of Love. But there are others, like 'Carnival Something that won't clog the environment.

Trap'-- something I created for ArtJog in 2018.

The whole process exhausted my energy like no It's simply impossible to live plastic-free in

other, but it was so worth it. Indonesia. How do you respond to this

statement?

After dealing with so much plastic, what do I think this is a global phenomenon, not just in

you conclude about our habits regarding Indonesia. Only a minority of countries make

plastic use in Indonesia? practical changes to really eliminate plastic

The thing about plastic is, they never really from daily use-- and usually the can do that

disappear. They just keep adding up. And as the because they have alternative technologies or

world continues to modernise, the amount of solutions. On the other hand, plastic is still our

plastic trash we're stuck with will also keep best friend in Indonesia. It plagues every

increasing. Everything is made out of plastic. household; from the elites down to the low-

class. We love being hygiene so much, every

single grocery item is wrapped with plastic.

Because it's easy. But when we talk about

 YVETTE TANAMAL // 7

caring for the animals, the environment, climate This mindful-ness must be encouraged, but of

change, we struggle to find the balance between course we cannot force anyone to do anything.

efficiency and the damage we cause at its Anything done out of force will not last. It has

expense. It's very idealistic, yes, but at least it's to be sincere, and this sincerity will be reflected

something worthwhile talking about. in the outcome. This is way more important. I

think our generation is smart enough to help out

After spending two decades as an artist, why in their own ways.

do you think the issue of conservation is worth

speaking out about? Do you have any other fun recycling projects

As everything else, this Earth keeps ageing, and using different materials? Like, styrofoam

we can deny climate change all we want-- but that for example.

doesn't cancel it out. Visually, you can see the This experiment with garbage is something i've

melting ice caps in the Arctic, and ecosystem been focusing on for the past two years. There

changes in other places. This is going to be deadly was a lot of research and experiments done

if we don't conserve our environment and prior to that. I founded this trash-recycling

actively do something. We humans are such community where we collect, clean,

spoiled tenants of this earth.We want everything, reconstruct, and use thrown-away goods.

and the Earth has enough for all those wants, but Thanks to those experiences, my art will

we do it in such a way that we destroy everything hopefully continue to be experimental in the

without thinking much of the consequences. It's way it incorporate trash. For styrofoam, I

time that we educate people to be pro-active in haven't been exploring much with it. though it

saving the environment, especially to the younger doesn't mean I won't be experimenting with it

generations. in the future. I don't want to be confined to one

specific material either.

Do you personally think it's important for

other artists to start using eco-friendly The point is, as long as something is

mediums? problematic and polluting the Earth, I will be

Art is the independence and freedom to express interested to see what I can do with it. This is

yourself through craft and other mediums. Ideally the spirit that I want to embody in my artistic

speaking, it should go without saying that process. I've also been working on other

everyone, not just artists, be mindful of their projects, like currently the Batik project and

consumption habits. With technology and the Wayang project, with side educational art

internet, information could be easily found. programmes for kids. I'm someone who takes
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 8

my work seriously, and when I start something,

I try my best to be responsible in seeing it

grow. But for something as critical as climate

change and pollution, that's not enough. It's

important that young people start making the

conscious effort to change the way they live.

*this interview has been translated to English,

and edited for content and clarity.

YVETTE TANAMAL // 9

"Jovi Adhiguna on Bein g True to

Yourself, No Matter What"
ce.com/id_id
first appeared at visa
(originally in Baha Indone.IsiD a)
sponsored article for JD

#LGBTQ #realness #profile #JDID #ad

It can be hard to be "different," in Indonesia. But for Jovi Adhiguna, it's part of his brand. Jovi

is a rising lifestyle influencer known for his androgynous style. His Instagram already has

more than 325,000 followers, he is one of YouTube's Creators for Change, and he runs his

own fashion brand, Pour. He's a person who seems totally comfortable in his own skin, and

secure in the sartorial choices he makes, despite what others may say.

VICE's Yvette Tanamal, in partnership with JD.ID, spoke with Jovi to figure out what it takes

to be unapologetically original in a country where, so often, everyone else is telling you to be

the exact opposite.

VICE: So, you're a fashion influencer, right?

Jovi: Well, I’d say "lifestyle influencer," not just fashion. Lifestyle, in general.

I was thinking, a lot of people look down on influencers as basically human

advertisements. But it's more than that, right? 

Yeah, a lot of people under-estimate influencers. Personally, I think that’s because now there

are so many instagram influencers who are famous just because of their looks. Many people

don’t understand that influencers have power and a voice. I once received a Direct Message

from a young boy. He said he felt like he could be a transgender. “Kak, ever since I could

remember, I always felt different." I was so surprised! I mean, he’s so young, but he was

talking about issues like that. Look, I’m not that "normal" either , but even that shocked me. 
YVETTE TANAMAL // 10

So young! What did I know at that age? He told me that seeing my posts made him feel better,

and that he’s OK with being himself. "Thanks kak Jovi, I now feel like I’m not alone, like I’m

not weird." I was so touched. Things like that are what keeps me going. I don’t care about the

hate.

Do you ever get any blowback for being so openly yourself on social media? It’s not

exactly the easiest time for the LGBTQ community right now in Indonesia. 

When it comes to blowback, it happens a lot. I mean, I don’t think I have ever said anything

about myself specifically. I never declared anything on my social media. I simply post pictures

of myself— but strangers online use them to speculate about what I could be. ‘Oh, he’s this,

he’s that”. Even though I never actually said anything. Criticism? I get it a lot. But I don’t want

to listen to it. I really don’t care.

In a climate like this, how important is it for others to see people they can identify with in

the public sphere? 

People in the LGBTQ community are always mocked and persecuted. I feel like being able to

see people who you can identify with in the media or public sphere is important, so people who

are considered "different" won’t feel like they are alone.

How is it different today from when you were a child? 

I mean, I didn't have any role models to look up to. I’m just never the kind to watch TV or

anything like that, so I never had any role models that I identified with. But I did have a very

supportive family, and they are my biggest support system. They always helped me, along with

my friends. They are the people who give me strength, so even without role models I was able

to do OK. But not everybody is as lucky, you know? Not everyone has a strong support system

like accepting family or friends. I believe for them it’s really important to have a role model

that they can identify with so they don’t feel alone.

Can we talk a bit about your style? How would you describe it?

My style? I think it’s Hot Mess. [laughs] Well, I wear whatever clothes I like. I’m not tied to

any one specific gender. So, I wear female and male clothes. A lot of people like to point out,

“Oh, he’s a dude wearing female clothes!” but that’s not right either. I mix and match, there are
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 11

both female and male elements.

You've described your style as "androgynous." A lot of people might not be unfamiliar

with this term. How do you explain it to them?

This is my definition, not the literal definition of it. But I think androgynous people are anyone

who is not tied to one specific gender when it comes to what they wear. So, you could wear

female and/or male garments. A lot of people have asked me “How come you’re so pretty but

so handsome at the same time?” There you go! I think that’s androgynous. It's not being tied to

a specific gender, I mix it up.

In the West, we seem to be reaching a moment when androgynous and trans men and

women are breaking into mainstream acceptance. Trans actresses, like Nicole Maines,

are securing roles in series like Supergirl. Do you think we'll ever reach this point here in

Indonesia?

Wow, really? I haven’t heard of the Supergirl thing! Well, we live in Indonesia, a Muslim-

majority nation. And when seen from a religious perspective, it’s wrong. But I believe that

slowly, with tolerance, we can get to something. I mean, even if you don’t agree with my ways,

you can at least be quiet about it. You don’t have to say anything. I think tolerance is going to

help a lot, but if some people disagree then they should just keep to themselves. I’m not

touching them, am I?

Do you think tolerance is easy? Is it just a matter of getting to know people better?

I get that a lot! A lot of people have commented on my page, “I used to be skeptical of you. A

guy wearing female clothes! But now after seeing your videos, I actually like you a lot!” But

sometimes there are negative connotations to their comments. For example, many have said,

“You’re not like the others." Doesn’t that mean that they're still not accepting of others? But I
YVETTE TANAMAL // 12

Do you think tolerance is easy? Is it just a matter of getting to know people better?

I get that a lot! A lot of people have commented on my page, “I used to be skeptical of you. A

guy wearing female clothes! But now after seeing your videos, I actually like you a lot!” But

sometimes there are negative connotations to their comments. For example, many have said,

“You’re not like the others." Doesn’t that mean that they're still not accepting of others? But I

guess that’s just the way it is, especially lately, when there’s that really viral transgender drama

that’s going on. Cases like these shine a negative light on the LGBTQ community. But that’s

just the way it is. I believe that people need to know each other first, because when you make

the effort to know someone you understand them better. If you don’t make the effort, then it’s

not easy to being tolerant.

We’ve done stories in the past about how brands want to use queer influencers for their

reach, but only if they hide who they really are and, basically, butch up. Have you

experienced anything similar? 

Praise the Lord, I’ve never experienced anything like that. Thank God, all the brands that I’ve

worked with never requested such thing. But if there were any, I would never do it! No matter

how much they offered me, I would never do it.

I think it’s really good if they want to hire LGBTQ talent, because that shows that they don’t

really care about the differences and they treat us as equals. But if they ask the talent to hide, or

"butch up" or "lady up," then no! I think that defeats the purpose of having LGBTQ individuals

in the mainstream media. Why would I want to butch up? I’d rather not, there is no point to

that?

Has being so open cost you anything?

I lost a lot of people. I was bullied too in high school, people talked negatively about me. Yeah,

the normal hate-sy stuff. Interestingly now, a lot of those bullies would go around claiming

they knew me really well. When I was younger, my mom once said to me, “Jovi, when you’re

older, you have to be successful. Otherwise they’d keep ridiculing you." I’m not saying I’m

successful now, that’s not what I mean, but still, there are a lot of people from my past who

used to mock me but now pretend to be my good friends. Even those who refused to say hi to

me in high school!
YVETTE TANAMAL // 13

If you can say anything to younger kids who feel "different" and are still struggling, what

would you say to them? 

If I could, I would advise them to look for a strong support system. Friends, or whoever. Look

for it, they’re always there. And that eventually it’s going to be OK. Yeah, that. Eventually, it’s

going to be OK.

*this interview has been translated to English, and edited

for content and clarity.

YVETTE TANAMAL // 14

photo
journalism
sample
YVETTE TANAMAL // 15

scavenging a tragedy,
ocean deep
On October 29th, Lion Air Flight 610 scheduled for Pangkal Pinang crashed
thirteen minutes after its departure from Jakarta. This accident marked the first
major Boeing 737 Max 8 failure, with total fatalities of 189 deaths. This photo
series follows BASARNAS, Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, in
their efforts to scavenge remaining plane debris and victim bodies two days after
the accident. Their main aim was to find the plane's black box.
YVETTE TANAMAL // 16
YVETTE TANAMAL // 17
YVETTE TANAMAL // 18
YVETTE TANAMAL // 19
YVETTE TANAMAL // 20

editorial / long forms

 YVETTE TANAMAL // 21

China's Gender Titin looked scared, and way too young

to be married, in the video. She held
Imbalance Is the phone close to her face throughout
the call, biting her thumbnail between
Fueling a Market sentences. A blanket was pressed
against her face. She appeared to be in
for Kidnapped her room, but said that she still had to
be really quiet.
Indonesian Brides
27 Sept 2018 Most of the women said the same
thing. They were only free to call home
It's been five months since Titin when they were in the bathroom or
Agustin vanished into China. locked in their bedrooms. They all
spoke softly out of fear that any loud
The teenage girl, one of sixteen who
conversation would draw the men into
have gone missing in recent months,
the room and get their phones taken
was sold-off to a marriage broker in
away.
mainland China, where her new
"husband," locked her in a
Some only knew the region of China
windowless room. She can't speak
they were in, listing off provinces of
Chinese, can't read it either, and,
millions of people like Hainan and
today, as far as we know, she's still
Anhui. But others, at least five of the
there—locked in a room somewhere
women, didn't even know that. All they
in China desperately calling her
knew was that they were trapped
family back home to plead for help.
somewhere in China—and that the
feeling of having no idea where you are
“It’s so terrible down here,” Titin said
was absolutely terrifying.
in a recording of one of these calls
sent to VICE. "My husband, he feeds
me through the window. I just want to "Their condition is
go home.” concerning," said Grace Natalie, the
chairwoman of the Indonesia Solidarity
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 22

Party (PSI) in a press conference This story, sadly, is far too common in
about the missing girls. "They're Indonesia, a country where, officially,
locked up, and fed through the 4.7 million work abroad, often as
windows. There are pictures of head domestic helpers or laborers in the
injuries. It's very concerning and construction and agricultural industries.
they're trapped in a remote place." Unofficially, that number can more than
double, according to some estimates.
It was Grace and PSI who sent us
these videos. She's been lobbying Stories about women being abused by
for the government to provide help their employers or trapped in their
for the 16 women and spoke to many homes and forced to work without
of them over video chat. So far, all pay hit the national press with startling
sixteen remain in China. frequency here. Each one is another
chapter in a heartbreakingly common
Their families reported the cases to story where the risks of working abroad
the police, but human trafficking outweigh the rewards.
cases are notoriously difficult to
investigate, especially when they But these cases are somehow even
cross borders and end in countries worse. These women were promised
as large as China. Once Titin's family jobs, mostly as domestic helpers or
realized that there was little cosmetics saleswomen, only to be sold
movement in the investigation,
off as brides in a hidden human
they reached out to Grace and PSI
trafficking industry that has stolen
for help.
young women from across Southeast
Asia for more than a decade.
It's a deeply unsettling case. How
could sixteen women just vanish? On
In the past, this industry was focused
the outside, it looks like another
on the impoverished provinces of
instance of shady employment
northern Vietnam, near the Chinese
recruiters making promises to young,
border.
poor women they never intended to
keep.
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 23

But in recent years, there's evidence But there's another factor adding to the
that the practice has spread across demand for foreign women—the "bride
Southeast Asia, with women price."
vanishing from countries like Laos,
Cambodia, and, now, Indonesia. “From 1984, there was a leniency for
the policy. In some rural areas, couples
"It’s a really shady business," said are allowed to have a second child if
Mimi Vu, the director of advocacy at their first one was a girl,” said Stuart
the Pacific Links Foundation, an Gietel-Basten, a social sciences and
NGO that works to combat bride public policy professor at the Hong
trafficking in Southeast Asia. Kong University of Science and
"Because they usually take those Technology. “So it’s not just the
who are ethnically minorities or policy... there’s [also] the economic
impoverished, there aren't any factor. There’s something called the
statistics that we are confident bride price."
enough to share. We only know of
the girls who made it back home, we A "bride price," is exactly what it
don’t know how many girls are still in sounds like—an amount of money men
China. It’s absolutely bleak." need to pay to get married. It's a form
of dowry and, nationwide, it's only
Demand for brides in rural China is going up. In a rural area like Qingyang,
the main driver behind this illegal
where men far outnumber women, the
industry. China has a serious
bride price can cost as much as
demographic problem, decades of
150,000 yuan, or about $21,800 USD.
the One-Child Policy left the country
with a dramatic gender imbalance.
Add in the fact that Chinese
relationships are often socially and
Today, there are 34 million more
financially imbalanced—most women
men than women in China—a figure
prefer to marry up—and you end up
that means that for millions of men,
with a country full of dissatisfied
marriage, especially to a local
"leftover men," explained Gietel-
Chinese woman, is nearly
Basten.
impossible.
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 24

"Chances are, these men are likely “It’s almost impossible to get and rely
to be the ones who would struggle to on any existing data,” Brosowski said.
marry anyway, generally coming “Anyone telling you statistics is
from low-economic backgrounds, at probably making them up."
the countryside,” he said. “They can’t
afford to go to Ukraine, let’s say, to But just because there are few reliable
find a wife. It is hard to see where statistics doesn't mean it's not a
they would get the money from to serious problem.
engage agencies legally or illegally.
But they are going to get by. They’re "It could be that young women have
not going to ‘explode’ because they been trafficked from Indonesia to China
don’t have wives. They will likely for a long time already, but it is only
make do with being single, having now being uncovered," Brosowski said.
some relationships, possibly "Although it is logistically more complex
engaging sex workers, maybe even [to transport brides] from Indonesia, I
emigrating,” imagine it is still financially worthwhile
for the traffickers."
But those with a little bit more money
to spend have more options, he said. The traffickers' shift to countries farther
Human traffickers saw this afield might also be a sign that the
population crisis as a golden efforts of NGOs to curb the practice in
opportunity for the trafficking of
Vietnam were having an effect,
brides, so they began to kidnap and
Brosowski explained.
sell girls from nearby Vietnam.
“It may also be that getting Vietnamese
Between 2011 and 2017, there
brides has become more difficult, so
were some 6,000 reported cases of
alternatives are being sought," he said.
bride trafficking in Vietnam,
"One advantage for the traffickers of
according to police statistics. But
getting women from Indonesia would
these figures likely far under-
be that it is very difficult for the victims
estimate the actual extent of the
to escape and return home. It’s difficult
problem, said Michael Brosowski,
enough to escape to neighboring
the founder of Blue Dragon
countries, let alone across the sea.”
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 25

Most experts said that the hopes of But for the women themselves, just
rescue for these sixteen women surviving taking everything they have.
were slim. Once the women end up
in China, everything starts to work "Please help," read a message sent by
against them, explained Vu, of the one of the women, 23-year-old Eno
Pacific Links Foundation. The Chandra, to her family. "I can't bear this
language is unfamiliar, the streets anymore. He keeps force-feeding me
and communities are strange, the drugs, and forcing me to satisfy his
men are often violent and callous. needs. I can only contact you now
because I'm in the bathroom. Please,
"Most of the time, they will be ma, don't let me kill myself and die
unlucky, and be married to abusive here."
families,” she said. “They would be
raped and beaten. I’ve seen cases
where the ‘husband’ would
impregnate the girl, and after she
gives birth to a boy, she would be
sold to another ‘husband’ as a
second hand item. Or she would be
send to factories and have her
wages taken away. The only way to
escape is by learning Chinese."

So what will happen to the 16

missing women? Only time will tell.
Hopefully, the authorities will be able
to find them and pull them out of
China, but it might take a long time.
Or, according to some experts, not
happen at all. PSI plans to continue
to raise awareness of the missing
women.
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 26

Lawmakers Just And that’s pretty much spot on. So

when KPU activated this new rule,
Banned Pedophiles most of the attention was centered on
the candidates with corruption records,
From Elections, But and not so much on the other two

Rapists are Still crimes. So how does KPU really deal

with them?
Welcome As the current administration continues
13 September 2018
its war on drugs, it's less likely that
anyone with drug-related charges
What does the word “progressive”
would have the nerve to apply for a
mean when you live in a highly
government position like Pablo
religious and conservative country
Escobar did in the 1980s. The other
like Indonesia? Sometimes, it’s not
part of the rule, the one on pedophilia,
really what you expect it to be. But
is where things get more complicated.
progress is relative, so any step
This new “progressive” rule, after all, is
forward no matter how small, must
anything but.
be celebrated. 2018 is a political year
for Indonesia, with the presidential
Heri Kadja is a legislative hopeful from
and legislative elections just around
the Democratic Party, who's currently
the corner.
the party’s branch leader in Kupang,
East Nusa Tenggara. Upon his
In light of this happenings, the
application to be part of the Regional
Elections Commissions (KPU)
applied a new rule that’s been House of Representatives (DPRD), his
celebrated as a progressive one: criminal past resurfaced. Heri, 46, was
people with records of corruptions, previously found guilty of raping a 15-
drug connections, and pedophilia are year-old girl.
forbidden to run for legislative
positions. Ask anybody on the street “We are firm with our stances,” Wahyu
what the biggest problem is with the Setiawan, a Kupang KPU
Indonesian government, commissioner told local media.
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 27

“If we can prove that he raped a 15- “Sexual violence for minors is an
year-old, then according to KPU’s extraordinary crime,” she told Detik.
standard, it’s a form of sexual “Children who are victims of sexual
violence against a minor. His assaults have high tendencies to
application would be deemed commit other crimes in the future. Like
invalid.” pornography and drug abuse. Children
makes up a third of the country’s
Sounds straightforward enough, population, so they must be protected.”
right? Well, not really. Heri defended
himself by saying that he girl he Her statement is true. But the point
assaulted wasn't 15 years old, but here is that violence against children
18. So he’s not technically a and violence against anyone above the
pedophile, he’s "just" a rapist. Surely, age of consent should be seen as just
the ever-so-progressive KPU won't as bad, and the government obviously
let him and his flawed argument run doesn't think so. So this leaves us with
for a public office, right? Don't be so one question: how progressive can our
hopeful. progressive laws ever be? As long as
they're vague as this one, then
KPU said it will investigate the matter probably not so much, according to
further. If Heri's victim was indeed 18 Erasmus Napitupulu, the program
when the rape took place, then he director at the Institute of Criminal
will qualify to run in the legislative
Justice Reform (ICJR).
race just fine. You may ask, when a
country is socially aware enough to
“The term used was 'sexual violence
consider pedophilia a big no-no, how
against under-aged children,'" Erasmus
could it treat rape so casually? Child
told VICE. "That’s really ambiguous,
Protection Commission secretary,
because our laws can’t even define
Rita Pranawi, once explained to
what sexual violence is. And the fact
Detik why the crime of pedophilia is
that cases like this is being handled by
considered as serious as drug
a commission and not a judicial body is
smuggling and corruption.
odd. Everything becomes very
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 28

administrative, each candidate is not The double standard here is enraging

being judged case-by-case." as it is unsurprising. In Indonesia,
sexism is clear as day. From the way
The effect to this is not only cases women are represented in the media to
like Heri's, but also others."Even the their limited rights to health care,
rule on drug connections isn't clear," Indonesians have a long way to go
Erasmus said. "Drug addicts are before women can be truly equal to
incriminated as dealers all the time men. And the country has definitely a
because they sometimes help actual lot to work on when it comes to sexual
dealers courier packages. The rule is violence against women and how it
not even made by KPU. They copy- treats victims. In 2016, there were
pasted the whole thing from the nearly 260,000 rape cases, nearly 90
constitution without altering it to fit percent of which are not reported to
their context." authorities. Heri's case is just another
proof that we're fooling no one but
So far, there isn't an official list of the ourselves when we say we're
crimes considered serious enough to progressive.
stop someone from trying to be an
elected official. But from the way this Political parties in Indonesia have a
case is being handled, it's clear that reputation of nominating problematic
rape isn't one of them. candidates. Even after signing an
integrity pact to not nominate ex-
“ICJR obviously disagrees with this. corruptors to run in an election, almost
Rape is one of the most evil of every political parties broke the
crimes you could ever commit to pact this year. It’s a complicated
somebody else,” Erasmus said political landscape equipped with
firmly. “But legally speaking, there is flawed laws, and Erasmus said
no clear clause against it for political unfortunately, Heri won't be the last
candidates. It’s not that easy,
rapist sitting in office.
because some might argue that
discriminating [against rapists] is a
violation of someone's political
rights."
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 29

“It’s understandable that political

parties can’t ever find the perfect
candidate,” he told me. "But, then
again, if you someone you know in
your party is a rapist, why would you
still nominate them?"
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 30

The Rupiah Is at '98 But here's the thing, this is nothing like
the crisis. While the reasons behind the
Crisis Levels, But rupiah's fall might be similar to 1998,
Does Rp 15,000 Really the country isn't anything like it was
back then. The Indonesian economy is
Mean the Same Thing far better at bouncing back from these
kinds of monetary hits today long
Today? before it teeters on the brink of a new
in collaboration with Dan Dharmawan
crisis.
06 September 2018
I know, I know. Just saying it doesn't
For many Indonesians, the worst
mean people are going to freak
economic crisis in history feels like
out less. So we are going to try to
it's only yesterday. In 1998, the
break it down for you to let you know
rupiah weakened to 16,800 against
that, while Rp 15,000 on the US dollar
the US dollar as the Asian Financial
definitely sucks, it's not going to bring
Crisis hit Indonesia. That near-
the economy to its knees. Here's why:
collapse of the national economy,
called Krismon, still hangs heavy in
It's not entirely our fault
the national consciousness.
It’s important to understand the roots of
today’s rupiah problem. Firmanzah, the
Now, the steady decline of the
ex-president of the Economic Advisory
rupiah's purchasing power has some
board of the University of Indonesia
worrying that it's about to happen all
over again. The rupiah recently
explained that, simply put, the trade
hit Rp 15,000 on the US dollar, war initiated by the United States are
it's weakest point since the crisis causing interest rates and taxes to
days. The last time the rupiah fell this skyrocket, hurting several so-called
far, the country erupted into riots that "emerging market economies," like
continue to haunt the nation to this Indonesia, India, and Mexico. As a
day. result, foreign investors lose
confidence in these economies and
they begin to invest elsewhere.
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 31

This current economic crisis didn’t it was only Rp 3,000 just six months
begin in Indonesia’s backyard either, prior. It was, by all accounts, a total
said Bhima Yudhistira Adinegara, an shock.
economist at Indonesia’s Institute for
Development and Finance (INDEF). In contrast, today’s shitty exchange
But it does hold a good lesson for all rate has been a long time coming. The
developing nations—too much currency has steadily dropped in
foreign debt by one or more valuation over the last five years, briefly
developing nations may trigger a reaching Rp 14,800 against the US
wider contagion. dollar in August 2015 ,only drop back
down to a more palatable Rp 13,000
“The ‘98 crisis happened because over the next few months.
foreign debt grew uncontrollably due
to wild speculation," Bhima said. But as much as the rupiah has been
"Turkey and Argentina’s massive declining over the years, there’s also
foreign debt have become a crisis for no real proof that young people of
them in 2018. The similarities today productive age today are earning less
are that the ‘98 crisis began in than their parents did, say, 25 years
developing countries like Thailand ago.“Nominally speaking, of course
and Indonesia. The current downturn now people make more," Firmanzah
is the same, but it began in said. "But that’s a nominal figure, with
Argentina, South Africa, Turkey, and
inflation it’s not so easy to tell.”
Venezuela.”
The Rp 15,000 fear is a
The weakening rupiah isn't all that
psychological one for the most part
surprising
It’s reasonable to be concerned about
Everyone, no matter their socio-
Indonesia’s economic health,
economic class, will feel the brunt of
Firmanzah told VICE. But, he also said
crisis-level inflation, Bhima said. But
that the fear towards the Rp 15,000
that doesn’t mean we’ll actually fall
figure is mostly psychological. “Rp
off that cliff. The last time the rupiah
15,000 is an emotional figure,” he said.
hit Rp 15,000 against the US dollar,
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 32

“In the past, the Financial Services "But if the question is whether there’s
Authority did an analysis about already a global economic crisis, then
whether Indonesia could survive if the answer is yes. The rupiah has
the rupiah hits Rp 15,000 against the already weakened 10 percent since the
dollar. This figure then becomes the start of the year.”
benchmark [of a worrying exchange
rate]”While it’s true that Indonesia’s Still, the rupiah will be just fine... at
current economy isn't in the best least until Rp 47,241
shape, experts like Firmanzah are Central bank data shows that a more
still fairly confident that Krismon-level realistic benchmark for a Krismon-level
chaos won’t be happening anytime crisis is Rp 47,241 against the dollar.
soon, thanks to all the changes that And Bhima pointed out that the BI's
took place in post-Suharto Reformasi massively increased capacity to
period. stabilize the currency will get the
country through rough waters.
“The 1998 crisis was also worsened
by the New Order’s social climate," “In 1998 our foreign exchange reserves
Firmanzah told VICE. "There wasn’t were only $23 billion USD, in
any democracy, and the politics comparison to the latest data we have
caused everything to be tense." from July 2018, when we had $118
billion USD worth of reserves," he said.
But now, with the help of
"This massive jump means that our
autonomous economic institutions
capacity to stabilize the rupiah’s value
like Financial Services Authority
is much better compared to in ‘98.”
(OJK), things aren't as bad. Bhima,
however, is less optimistic. He
Despite this optimism, he admits that a
believes that Indonesia is in a
possible leap past Rp 15,000 will still
transitionary period and that the
affect people’s livelihoods, maybe in
rupiah will drop to an even lower
even worse ways than '98. And the
point before the end of the year.
country's current addiction to
convenient LPG canisters as a fuel
“Hopefully it won’t be as bad as ‘98,"
source could be one of the reasons.
he said.
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 33

“Back in ‘98 small and medium-sized Firmanzah believes that while things
businesses in the villages could still are much better today, no country is
survive," Bhima said. "When the immune from a massive monetary
crisis hit and the price of fuel crisis.“
skyrocketed, a lot of small
businesses were still using firewood It’s like a flu," he said. "It’s not lethal
as an alternative energy source. and at first you’re only going to feel
slight headaches and discomfort. But
"Now, if the global cost of oil goes just like flu, if you don’t treat it
up, the government won’t have any immediately there’s a real potential that
other choice but to raise prices. And it will kill you.”
if the fuel price goes up while
purchasing power goes down… well,
that translates into a more complex
situation than ‘98. If a 2018 crisis
hits, it might be worse because even
the lowest levels of society will
immediately feel the shock.”

Rising fuel prices aside, Indonesians

will also have to sacrifice the things
we've taken for granted, like the
foreign electronics, the 11 million
tons of wheat, and the 2 million tons
of rice we import every year if
another crisis hits.

The bottom line is we’re not as

doomed as many people think, but
we're also not totally in the clear
either.
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 34

In Indonesia, Prison The scandalous details went as

follows: inmates who wanted to
Is a Life of Luxury, upgrade their prison lifestyle could give
as Long as You Can the warden and his staff expensive
"gifts"—cash, cars, so on—in exchange
Afford It for all the luxuries they could fit inside
27 July 2018 their cell. For the stuff that couldn't fit,
they can always spend their afternoons
When is a prison no longer a prison? on the other side of the prison walls,
Maybe when the inmates have their just as long as they promised to return.
own keys? Sukamiskin Penitentiary,
a prison in Bandung, West Java, that Now keep in mind both of these men
holds corrupt public officials was in weren't jailed for a simple bribery case.
the headlines once again for Both were part of a graft case of quite
affording cash-rich inmates perks literally astronomical proportions—
that sort of undermine the whole the corruptionof a tender for a new
point of doing time. observation satellite purchased by the
Indonesian Navy that cost the state Rp
Investigators with the anti-graft 222 billion ($15.3 million USD) in
agency (KPK) found inmates Fahmi losses. That case brought downseveral
Darmawansyah and Andri Rahmat powerful businessmen, public officials,
living in what could only be described and a military man.
as well-appointed apartments inside
the prison. The pair each had a flat Even in a country where most people
screen TV, a water heater, a
aren't all that interested in politics, the
microwave, and air conditioners for
story struck a nerve. And how couldn't
those hot jailhouse days. Even in a
it? Elected officials who were
country as woefully corrupt as
previously convicted of corruption
Indonesia (37 out of 100 on
have run in even the most-recent
the "corruption free" scale), the case
elections and now the public is all
was seen as shocking. But was it
hearing that even behind bars, these
really?
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 35

officials are living lavish lifestyles. Especially when you consider how
often this actually happens. The drug
It just was another confirmation of kingpin Freddy Budiman, before his
what everyone has known all along death by firing squad in 2016,
—that the system is rigged in favor of rehabbed his prison cell and was even
the rich and corrupt. The deputy given a "ruang asmara," or a "love
chief of the KPK, the agency behind room," so he could sleep with models
in this most-recent raid that caught and get high.
all these prisoners living large,
admitted to knowing about this "Every time he had a sexual urge, he
problem for a long time. The typical had the money to make it
cost for a "cell renovation," typically happen," said Arswendo, a fellow
costs between Rp 200 million and Rp inmate at Cipinang Penitentiary. "It
500 million ($13,800 USD to $34,500 wasn't a secret."Freddy also continued
USD). to run his drug empire from behind
bars, once successfully brokering the
And this isn't the kind of problem a import of more than one million Ecstasy
few raids are going to fix. It's pills before he was caught and
systemic and likely goes all they way sentenced to death.
to the top of the criminal justice
system, explained Muhammad The son of ousted authoritarian ruler
Syafii, a lawmaker in the House of Gen. Suharto also outfitted his prison
Representatives. cell with flat-screen TVs, wall-to-wall
carpeting, and a plush L-shaped sofa.
"Building a prison cell that's more like Tommy Suharto, the "Cendana Prince,"
a hotel room isn't a one-day, one- was briefly jailed for ordering the
man job," Syafii told the local media. murder of a judge who ruled against
"It's impossible that the [Ministry of him in a previous case. He was sent to
Justice and Human Rights] and the Nusakambangan, a prison island that's
prison directorate generals were supposed to be Indonesia's most
ignorant of the practices."
secure facility, but those high
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 36

walls don't really mean a thing when when you're dead. Others said the
you're one of the most-powerful country should freeze and confiscate
people in the country. all their bank accounts so they can't
afford to bribe prison staff.
Similar stories have leaked out of
prisons in Jakarta, Banda Aceh, and Indonesia's top security minister
elsewhere. Sigit Priambodo, Wiranto weighed in as well.
who served time in a Bandung prison He suggested moving corruption
on pornography charges, explained suspects to a remote island prison
that corruption and bribery was just a somewhere, arguing that moving the
normal part of life behind bars, even prisoners far away from the businesses
down to little things like getting that support this corruption would
access to your favorite foods or a hot lessen it.
shower.
But Nusakambangan is already on an
"In prison, money is king," island and corruption and bribes still
he wrote in a blog about his time in found their way across the water. And
prison. "So many illegal collections of then there's the troubling fact that
money take place. Everyday, we putting all these corrupt officials on an
would give the guards few hundred island somewhere would make it even
thousand rupiah for some perks. harder to check-up on them, and
They would provide us with hot potentially catch instances of luxury jail
water, and also allow items like cells.
cellphones. We can buy food from
outside, too." Then there's Sri Puguh Budi Utami, the
head of Indonesia's department of
It's enough that, after the recent corrections, who promised that this
scandal, a lot of Indonesians were scandal would be the last one to
demanding a change. Some happen under her watch.
suggested instituting the death She promised to resign if it happens
penalty for corrupt officials, arguing
again.
that you can't build a lux. prison cell
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 37

It could be the start of the kind of

reform Indonesia's prison system
needs. But once you hand the
prisoners the keys to the prison, it's
kind of hard to get them back.
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 38

Did China Just Sign the Green groups were quick to slam the
decision, warning that it would only hurt
Death Warrant for efforts to save creatures that are,
Indonesia's Tigers and today, critically endangered. There are
less than 4,000 tigers left in the wild in
Rhinos? Asia. In Indonesia, where only one
09 November 2018 species of native tiger still exists, there
are only 400 of them left. Asian rhinos
What if you could ace your next test are in an even worse position, with
with some monkey brains? Or around 3,500 left in total, and less than
"upgrade" your willpower with a shot 70 of some species like the Javan
of tiger's blood? Have a better sex rhino.
life with some of the tiger's penis? In
our crazy world, where thing's rarely There's now a very real concern that
make sense anymore, quick fixes legalization in China is going to reduce
like these are still insanely popular those numbers even further.
across Southeast and East Asia,
where a thriving black market in “China’s decision is as backwards as it
illegal animal parts has, for years,
is shocking,” said Sunarto, a tiger
resisted crackdowns and pressure
specialist at WWF Indonesia. "The ban
from conservationist groups.
didn’t stop poaching, no. But it made it
a little easier for us to supervise
Now, efforts to curb the trade in
potential poachers. Now, it’s going to
endangered animal parts hit another
get worse."
setback, this time from its biggest
market—China. The Chinese
Chinese officials say that all tiger
government recently overturned a
bones will be taken from tigers raised
25-year-old ban on the sale of tiger
in captivity, but Sunarto believes that
and rhino bones, opening the door to
the mere presence of a legal
the use of endangered animal parts
marketplace for endangered animal
under "special circumstances," like
products makes it more difficult to track
medical and pharmaceutical use.
and police black market sales.
 YVETTE TANAMAL // 39

"China has a tiger farm to meet their "I mean, even wild spottings are
demand, but this encourages people becoming rarer by each day. But based
to keep buying products derived from on our estimation, there too are 60
endangered animals,” he explained. Javanese rhinos left, and we have no
“And, people prefer wild Tigers. It’s idea for Sumatran rhinos. But it’s
cheaper anyway [to kill a wild tiger] definitely less than 100.”
than [it is] to raise a cub.
You need at least 500 of a species to
It seems like a lot to put such a focus have what conservations call a "healthy
on China, but the country is so big, population," he explained. With so few
and the market for products made rhinos and tigers left in Indonesia, any
from rare and endangered animals increase in poaching could be enough
so massive, that a lot of to knock the species off the map
experts argue that our ability to save entirely.
these animals depends entirely on
efforts to reduce the demand in Illegal poaching brings in
China. an estimated $213 billion USD a year,
globally. Conservations efforts, by
As many as 1,000 South African comparison, are significantly
rhinos were killed in a single year to underfunded in Indonesia. During a
meet demand in China, according a visit to one national park in Sumatra a
study by Save the Rhino. In Asian
few years back, a VICE staffer learned
countries, where there are already
that the animal protection officers were
far fewer rhinoceros than there are in
making their own bullets by harvesting
Africa, it can be hard to get a real
powder from fireworks.
handle on how many are poached
each year because it's hard to even
“Keeping track of illegal poachers was
figure out how many are actually left
already difficult," Sunarto said. "This
alive, Sunarto explained.
makes everything even worse.”
"It’s difficult to get an accurate
number," he said.
YVETTE TANAMAL // 40

OPINI O N P I E C E S /
FUN STUFF!
YVETTE TANAMAL // 41

LIVING IN THE WORLD'S

WORST-DESIGNED CITY
IS AS FRUSTRATING AS IT
SOUNDS
No city is perfect. Jakarta, for example, is chronically congested,
literally sinking, and choking on harmful fumes. Decades of poor
city planning have left millions of people who live and work here to
deal with what is not only the worst city in Indonesia, but also
the worst-designed place on Earth.

And now, the upcoming Asian Games are highlighting just how
bad the city really is at planning. Even the city's best efforts—if
we're calling a sun-scorched patch of grass our "best" these days
—at making this place beautiful aren't working—and, umm, people
are starting to notice.
YVETTE TANAMAL // 42

It's almost like the city's government can't help but miss the mark.
It can't get other countries' flags right, its new paint job for the
city's curbs has be be painted over, and its new bicycle path,
which is really just a sidewalk, leads riders straight into some
poles. (It's almost like whoever designed this had no idea how
bicycles work.)

It's these kinds of infrastructural fuck-ups that make for great

comedy, but a terrible quality of life. So how did this city get so
bad? Mohammad Danisworo, who is the head of the Center for
Urban Design Studies (PSUD), told Kompas that this all started as
small stuff, that then quickly added up to one big mess.

"Small things, like parks, garbage cans, and directional or traffic

signs are not even adequately provided by the city, making it
confusing for residents," Danisworo said. "The city has become
devastated by all of these small problems."
YVETTE TANAMAL // 43

Here's an example: the city recently tried to put an end to a long-

standing criticism that it's basically hell for anyone with a disability
by adding tactile pavement that can be easily followed by the
blind. But the problem is that anyone actually following the raised
pathways runs ends up at scenes like this:

Now, no doubt, this isn't the easiest city to manage. Jakarta

is nearly the size of Singapore, but with twice its population, and a
fraction of its wealth.
YVETTE TANAMAL // 44

But is it the city's size that makes it so hard to manage, or does its
terrible management make its size so overwhelming?Let's, for
example, take a look at our traffic.

Sure, the city's traffic is terrible because we have so many people,

but it's real fault lies in a series of poor decisions that only made it
worse. We built the entire place for cars. Take a look around the
next time you're stuck in traffic for two hours and notice how few
actual sidewalks the city has. It's no wonder no one walks here.

So for most of us, the choice is either getting in a vehicle or

staying home. This causes traffic.Then there's the fact that we still
don't have an MRT. Mass-transit reduces traffic.

But instead of focusing on a rail line, like, say Bangkok did in the
90s, our former governor Sutiyoso decided that the solution to the
city's worsening traffic problems was buses. Buses that drive on
the road. On the road that are currently gridlocked. Big buses...
On gridlocked roads... You get where I'm going with this.

Sutiyoso loved buses, so he decided to model our bus system off

one he once saw in Bogota, but his team made one crucial
mistake—they added the bus lanes, but forgot to make the roads
any wider. So now we have buses sitting in traffic, next to cars
idling in even less lanes than they had before. And the traffic, big
surprise, got worse. The craziest part is everyone seems to have
known this would happen—but they still didn't care.

"Just let the congestion happen, it must be done," Andri Yansah,

the head of the city's transportation agency, told Detik when asked
if they would correct the bus lane caused traffic jams."If we don’t
cause the congestion and enforce it then nobody would want to
switch to using public transportation."
YVETTE TANAMAL // 45

The most recent effort to reduce the number of cars on the streets
in time for the Asian Games is the expansion of an odd-even rule,
which is also slowly creeping into the rest of Greater Jakarta. This
bans cars with certain license plates from driving on a large
number of major roads in the city. Elsewhere it would be a way to
push people to public transit, but here, we can only ask what
public transit?

The aforementioned bus system, called TransJakarta, is

overcrowded during peak times, plagued by delays, and poorly
designed. There's a "wheelchair corner," on every bus for those
with disabilities, but the platforms aren't a uniform height or
distance from the bus doors, so at a lot of them there's a wide gap
of dangerous empty air between the two.

When I think about all the stuff I have to deal with on my commute
home (despite my complaints, I'm a TransJakarta commuter),
Danisworo's words make a lot of sense. It is the small things. The
millions, and millions, and millions of small things that just weigh
you down.

Maybe things will get better. Maybe this Asian Games mess will
finally make the city hold a mirror to itself and say, it's time to get
my act together. But then I worry that, once the spotlight is gone,
that no one is even going to care anymore. Are we ever going to
get the city we deserve? Only time will tell, I guess.
YVETTE TANAMAL // 46

TRYING TO NAIL DOWN

THE REASON WHY WE
USE NAILS TO VOTE IN
INDONESIA
You know those weird little rituals all Indonesians do that don't feel
weird at all when you're here because everyone's done them, for
like, forever? I mean rituals like throwing eggs at someone on their
birthday. Or stepping on someone's new shoes so your old shoes
could "befriend" their new ones? Then one day, out of the blue,
ever catch yourself wondering "wait a minute, why are we doing
this?"

I had one of those moments during a Southeast Asian Studies

class at my Malaysian university. My Portuguese lecturer was
telling the class about his experiences in my own country, when
he suddenly said, "do you know they vote with construction nails
down there? Like, they poke holes." The class went silent for a
moment, turned to me, and then burst into laughter. "Oh, no!" I
thought. This was an unforeseen surprise attack. I quickly tried to
think of an excuse, or ngeles, the most Indonesian of strategies.

"Don't you people have pens?" a Kenyan friend of mine laughed.

"Even in Africa we use pens!" I laughed too, like this wasn't a big
deal at all, like I wasn't secretly preparing an excuse to explain
away this seemingly bizarre behavior. But, honestly, I had no idea
why we used nails. "It's more eco-friendly," I blurted out. "You
know, pens are made from plastic. And you need to replace them
a lot. Construction nails are durable. They're better for the
environment."
YVETTE TANAMAL // 47

I thought I had just given a somewhat sensible answer. Sure we

used nails, because we cared about the environment. But my
classmates weren't buying it. Instead, they kept laughing at me,
like I was the one in charge of the KPU. Spoiler, I'm not.

But I still went home and read up on what the hell we use nails to
elect our leaders.Turns out, this peculiar choice of voting tools has
some pretty dark history (another spoiler: it has nothing to do with
the environment). It all started, like so many of these stories do,
with Suharto’s regime (hey, when you only had two presidents for
like 53 years, a lot of stuff starts with one or the other of them).

Well, like all of you already know, Suharto's New Order regime
was pretty authoritarian. Meaning it was just that, an authoritarian
military government. But all authoritarian governments like to
pretend they're democracies, so, of course, there were still
elections. Even presidential ones. But only Suharto won. Anyone
who dared to challenge him risked being kidnapped and subjected
to some harsh questioning... or worse.

So for 32 years, Suharto won every election. Meanwhile the rest

of us faced persecution and exile if we had the audacity to
challenge his rule. This distorted version of democracy, naturally,
distorted the elections as well. Between 1971 and 1997, only three
Suharto-approved participated in the elections, the United
Development Party (PPP), Democratic Party Indonesia (PDI), and
Suharto's own elections winning machine, the Golkar Party.

That elections machine used a wide range of tools to make sure

the votes always went one way. And one of their most-popular
tools was the nail.
YVETTE TANAMAL // 48

Here's how: nails were the favored way to run an election in the
New Order because they made it so easy to manipulate the polls.
If someone voted against Golkar, all a pollster had to do was take
a nail and poke a second hole, therefore invalidating the ballot
entirely. It wasn't a vote for Golkar, but it wasn't a vote for anyone
else either, so, of course, Golkar still won.

Our current Vice President Jusuf Kalla recently spoke out against
this method of voting, calling it "uncivilized," in the past. But the
nail lives on as a vital part of our elections system.

It's weird, but it's sort of like we're addicted to nails. Other
countries have switched to electronic polling systems to cast and
tally votes. But in Indonesia, we struggled to switch to pens. In
2004 and 2009, the government tried to use pens, but it didn't
work out too well. And the rate of invalid votes skyrocketed during
those years.

The government had to switch back from the check-mark to the

hole poke to make the elections run smoother. At the time, the
central government argued that too many people were illiterate,
and therefore couldn't understand the check-mark system.

But today, adult illiteracy rates are nearly non-existent (below 1

percent), making that argument pretty much invalid. Yet, we still
use nails. In 2014, they brought pens back, but said we had to use
them to poke a hole. So someone bought pens, so we could use
them like nails. Sometimes this stuff is so funny you can't help but
laugh.
YVETTE TANAMAL // 49

“We allow pens to be used for voting, in case the poll station ran
out of nails," Hadar Gumay, a commissioner with the KPU, said at
the time. "It’s OK as long as there is a hole in the correct place...
But making holes with a cigarette is not allowed.

"The real reason the 2004 and 2009 elections were so troubled
was because people weren't given enough information about how
to vote with a pen. Is it a check-mark? A circle? And where?

“We believe that there is insufficient socialization from KPU and

political parties on how to cast a valid vote”, said Wirdyaningsih, a
member of the elections supervisory commission Bawaslu. I
mean, people had voted with nails for decades, so of course a
sudden change is going to require a bit of time to catch on.

We've just wrapped the regional elections, and the presidential

race is right around the corner. I couldn't help but notice all the
campaign flyers showing candidates' faces being poked with a
nail. The flyers made me smile a bit. What would my classmates
back in Malaysia think?

The thing is, we might not be ready for pens, but we were ready
for democracy. Indonesia still has one of the strongest, and freest
democracies in Asia, placing it well ahead of our regional
neighbors, regardless of what they use to vote. And, at the end of
the day, it's not how we select our leaders, but the fact that we
actually do vote them into office, that matters most, isn't it?