Corruption-collusion-nepotism, law enforcement, migrant workers beheaded, marginal...

Man: We’re not just going into the same room again are we?

Crowd: We won, we won...

Man: So when will we win against them? (jacket reads corruption)

Man: A monarchy? No way!

Kid: How right you are lord

Man: It’s not in accordance with the constitution!

Kid: It’s truly so your majesty

Man: It’s not in line with democracy!

Kid: Blessed be my lord

1st Man: Everything’s covered in dust...

2nd Man: But not the promises made to us, right?

Dentist: You’ll need lots of checkups Mr! So you don’t get toothless too quick and have them replaced by false teeth!

Government: It’s impossible to have a monarchy system

Man: What’s this, another ‘eruption’

Taxation, Politics, Funny business

Woman: We’ll be furnished with cell phones remember...

1st Man: And if the employer asks for them?

2nd Man: The legal protections don’t connect do they? (a play on tulalit, bad phone connection)

Gayus: Happy here, happy there, happy happy everywhere...

Bakso seller: Mr President! Was it in the interests of Indonesian-American relations or for the sake of... bakso!

Against a backdrop of humanitarian disasters and anti-US protests, President Obama’s first visit to Indonesia was overshadowed by the ‘handshakegate’ affair after Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring found himself at the centre of a media maelstrom for shaking hands with First Lady Michelle Obama after he swore he would not touch a woman to whom he was not related.

Rampant unregulated urban development, which environmentalists blame on widespread collusion between city officials and the business elite, has resulted in Jakarta loosing 28% of its green space over the last 25 years – much of it replaced by shopping malls, luxury apartments and government offices.

Kid: Perhaps the people’s representatives would be smarter and perform better if their new building and comparative studies were here (Sidoarjo), in Wasior, in Mentawai or Merapi, yeah Dad!

1st Man: We live in a disaster prone area so of course we have to be responsive to disasters...

2nd Man: Their response is just a comparative study...

Alie: It’s your own fault for living in Mentawai, why didn’t you just become the speaker of the House!

Man: Are you evacuating too Mr?

Legislator: A comparative study!

President: What, you want to overthrow me?!

Kid: Mr... the legs on your chair need fixing!

1st Man: We’ve been waiting a year already... how much longer?

2nd Man: There’s still four more years to go...

From an opinion piece in the Jakarta daily Kompas by Ikrar Nusa Bhakti on the first year of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s second term in office titled Before the Catastrophe.

Once upon a time in Wasior...