Last year there were rolling blackouts of two hours duration and sometimes twice per day across the province. This year the blackouts are three to four or even up to five or six hours two or three times a day usually averaging eight to nine hours in daily total.

The difference? Apart from the normal increases with new housing developments there is one major added user of electricity in the region, Trans-Kalla studios. Hailed at its opening in the local news as the worlds largest indoor attraction the entire place is air conditioned.

I asked a local PLN office how much effect the studio had on the current crisis and he was quick to point out that the theme park had its own generators which were used at night, when the air conditioners would need less power. While dressmakers, photocopying businesses, internet cafes and tailors sit waiting for the power to come back on and  so that they can go about earning their livelihoods the tills at the Trans-Kalla money machine are filled to overflowing.

Another strange thing is that Bosowa (owned by a Kalla in-law) is one of the largest power users at its cement plant and is also a power supplier. I can’t understand why they would not generate their own power for the cement plant and cut out the middleman, unless of course there is a dodgy deal going on with subsidized power pricing to this obviously industrial user.

The other cement plant is the Tonasa plant which is a milk cow for local government figures. Several years ago when the Philippines exported cement to Sulawesi at a price 40% lower than the two locals would sell their own products the government stepped in and banned further importation when the locals squealed about being unable to compete. Consumers be damned, take care of the rich cronies.

What is most disgusting about the current crisis is how it clearly shows that the man who made a bid for the presidency seems to have no qualms whatever about getting richer on the suffering of the ordinary people.

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia – A Malaysian court charged six Muslims with sedition Wednesday for parading a severed cow head to protest the construction of a Hindu temple in a case that has stoked religious and racial tensions in this multiethnic country.

Perhaps this is part of the reason that Noordin M. Top is in Indonesia; Malaysian authorities are not afraid of groups of people who think that their religion gives them an excuse for anarchy. Instead of accusing Malaysia of being the cause of the Noordin M. Top problem Indonesia needs some introspection.

When you look at the differences between how Malaysia treated this group and the way Indonesia pandered to the FPI and FUI which along with other Islamic groups when they attacked the Islamic moderates and the Ahmadiyah people.

Seeing this it is no surprise that Noordin thinks it is safer for himself and others of his ilk in Indonesia than in Malaysia. It is high time that the Islamic parties in indonesia were asked to explain whey they chose to be based on Islamic values rather than Pancasila values. Exactly what is it that they object to in Pancasila?

All of them fall over themselves to claim that they have no problem with other religions and that their religion is tolerant but there must be an explanation for their decision to base their parties on Islam rather than the national ideology.

It could be interesting if they were forced to give honest answers to the question.

Malaysia court charges 6 Muslims with sedition – Yahoo! News

Only nine parties managed to get more than the 2.5 percent electoral threshold which means that the rest either have to disband the party or merge with other parties to achieve the threshold. Of course the next elections will again have a large number of parties because it is profitable to do so. It would be a good idea if the KPU made a rule whereby those party officials who already failed in one election were not allowed to hold similar positions in a new party but I would not try holding my breath until that happens.

With ballot papers sometimes larger than broadsheet newspapers it will take some time before the final tally can be made as simply unfolding and refolding the paper takes a considerable amount of time. The reason that the papers are so large is that there were so many parties and each party fielded as many candidates as possible so that the campaign funds would be easier to raise. In at least one district the party funds were generally less than two hundred dollars per party but many of the candidates contributed from their own pockets in the hope of securing themselves a seat.

One of the weird things about the way that seats are allocated is that a party can get less than one percent of the vote in every district and still get seats in the house. This is, ostensibly, to ensure that all of the people are represented in the government. This is a noble intention but does not work out in practice as those elected generally do not represent anything but their own interests.

A preferential voting system with seats allocated by district would do much to ensure that the people knew who was supposed to be representing them and had somebody they could contact with their aspirations and grievances. The current system puts the political parties above the voters which is not how a healthy democracy works.