Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Joko Widodo: The Untold Stories

A Real Simple or just an Act?

Many Western Mass Media such as The New York Times, Washington Post, Time, etc describe the new Indonesia President, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) as a very good person. He is very smart, clean, honest, and very simple. Is that true?

Well, let's see what Indonesian people, at least me as a Jakarta citizen talk the truth about Joko Widodo. I will quote news from Indonesian National Mass Media and also my experience as a Jakarta and Indonesia citizen. You could see the pictures here.

Joko Widodo (Jokowi) become president at October 20th 2014. At November 18th he raises Gasoline Price (Octane 88) from Rp 6500 to Rp 8500 per liter. 1 dollar = Rp 12,000. It means the gasoline price raise from US$ 0.54/liter to US$ 0.71/liter. Almost the same price with gasoline price on Gulf Coast USA which around US$ 0.72. But remember, minimum wage in Jakarta is Rp 2,400,000 per month ( US$ 200 per month) while in US around US$ 1,500 per month.

No wonder there are riots in Indonesia after Jokowi announced the raise of Gasoline and Diesel Price.