The Liberals May Be Attacking

[fastpitch17]

Watch out, water and toothpaste will be your downfall.

Ahmad, a politician with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said several aspects of community life in Indonesia had been compromised by liberalism, without people realizing it.
He cited examples of water, mobile phones and toothpaste, which are commonly used by society, as having been colonized by foreign nations.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/09/27/mpr-warns-teachers-on-dangers-of-liberalism.html

 

[Puspawarna]

I think he should set an example by personally eliminating all use of handphones, toothpaste, and water.

 

[fastpitch17]

I think he should set an example by personally eliminating all use of handphones, toothpaste, and water.

I think there is a long list that may need to be added.

Tissue, female sanitary products, cars, motor bikes, many tools, and computers.

 

[Dan]

So is he saying that foreigners own the companies and distribution of those products and thus Indonesia should have local alternatives or that they are foreign ideas pushed by colonial invaders? I mean, c'mon, the foreign invention of WATER? The article is very unclear.

I can empathize with taking a stand against foreign ownership of water rights if that's what he's talking about, but the global toothpaste consortium? Indonesia's lone obsession with Blackberry? C'mon. That's just nuts.

 

[fastpitch17]

So is he saying that foreigners own the companies and distribution of those products and thus Indonesia should have local alternatives or that they are foreign ideas pushed by colonial invaders? I mean, c'mon, the foreign invention of WATER? The article is very unclear.

I can empathize with taking a stand against foreign ownership of water rights if that's what he's talking about, but the global toothpaste consortium? Indonesia's lone obsession with Blackberry? C'mon. That's just nuts.

I get that he is indirectly saying no to liberalism and yes to conservatism. While he fails to define just what he means by liberalism while pointing out the use and influence of products from the West, he may mean the influence from the Middle east is OK and would fit into a conservative influence. I think he is attempting to talk smarter then what he actually is and therefore just creating confusion by avoiding or not knowing what he really wants to say.

 

[Scooterindo]

Well Indonesia does produce their own toothpaste. Pepsodent is produced in Indonesia by Unilever.

 

[dafluff]

Well Indonesia does produce their own toothpaste. Pepsodent is produced in Indonesia by Unilever.

But Unilever is Dutch! Colonials! Penjajah! Herp derp...just brush your teeth with chalk or something.

 

[Nimbus]

This is the coverage in Indonesian.

http://m.antaranews.com/berita/586687/mpr-ingatkan-guru-tentang-bahaya-liberalisme

In the old days Sukarno called it Nekolim, neo kolonialisme & imperialisme (neo colonialism & imperialism). Today it's known in USA as libertarianism, and in the rest of the world as neoliberalism. Since PDI-P claims to carry Sukarno's torch, I'm not surprised that he says these things.

His examples are ignorant, just sounding off. He rails against "air mineral", which is the fancy name for bottled water. Well, nobody's stopping you from getting your water out of the sumur and carry it around in a kendi, sir. As for cell phones, basically the market is dominated by USA, Korea, China, and Japan. Virtually all the phones are made in China. If technological heavyweights like Germany and Russia don't make their own phones, why should Indonesia?

 

[fastpitch17]

This is the coverage in Indonesian.

http://m.antaranews.com/berita/586687/mpr-ingatkan-guru-tentang-bahaya-liberalisme

In the old days Sukarno called it Nekolim, neo kolonialisme & imperialisme (neo colonialism & imperialism). Today it's known in USA as libertarianism, and in the rest of the world as neoliberalism. Since PDI-P claims to carry Sukarno's torch, I'm not surprised that he says these things.

His examples are ignorant, just sounding off. He rails against "air mineral", which is the fancy name for bottled water. Well, nobody's stopping you from getting your water out of the sumur and carry it around in a kendi, sir. As for cell phones, basically the market is dominated by USA, Korea, China, and Japan. Virtually all the phones are made in China. If technological heavyweights like Germany and Russia don't make their own phones, why should Indonesia?

Then he shouldn't get in a car or on a motor. He should refrain from using tissue for anything. His female family members should be running around in sarongs and topless since the early tops were brought in by the Dutch including the Kabaya. No more using any type of electronic devise incuding loud speakers at his rallies and his local Mosque.

 

[Puspawarna]

Then he shouldn't get in a car or on a motor. He should refrain from using tissue for anything. His female family members should be running around in sarongs and topless since the early tops were brought in by the Dutch including the Kabaya. No more using any type of electronic devise incuding loud speakers at his rallies and his local Mosque.

Berdikari! Isn't that the portmanteau Sukarno coined for "stand on your own two feet/berdiri kaki sendiri?" (Or am I mixing up my Indonesian history tidbits? Nimbus can set me straight.)

 

[fastpitch17]

Berdikari! Isn't that the portmanteau Sukarno coined for "stand on your own two feet/berdiri kaki sendiri?" (Or am I mixing up my Indonesian history tidbits? Nimbus can set me straight.)

Looking it up, that seems to be exactly what the word means. Looking through the link Nimbus posted above it seems the guy is also blaming democracy as a not so good thing because of the expense to get elected. He also seems to be leaning towards socialism and relates that to the constitution.

 

[mauricio]

Well Indonesia does produce their own toothpaste. Pepsodent is produced in Indonesia by Unilever.

Indonesia has a local brand called Antiplaque, and it's more expensive (but better) than the multinational brands.

 

[Scooterindo]

This whole thing just smacks of more xenophobic nationalism - Sure get rid of all foreign products and companies and use only Indonesian businesses and products, I am sure Indonesia would be so much better off for it.
Look what a fantastic service PLN provides for example.

 

[Nimbus]

Berdikari! Isn't that the portmanteau Sukarno coined for "stand on your own two feet/berdiri kaki sendiri?" (Or am I mixing up my Indonesian history tidbits? Nimbus can set me straight.)

Yup, Berdikari is berdiri di atas kaki sendiri. In short it's self-sufficiency, no doubt influenced by Indian swadeshi movement.

While I'm not a fan of laissez faire capitalism, berdikari isolationism a la Sukarno just plain didn't work. When Suharto took over Indonesia was in a bad shape due to Sukarno's idealistic mismanagement. Suharto liberalized the economy enough and started accepting foreign loans to fund development.