Friday, 07 April 2006 @ 1:36pm. I had a very nice interview last Tuesday afternoon with the Editor of Kompas, which is the largest paper in Indonesia. He was really helpful. On my way out, I also ran into a former language teacher from Yogyakarta. What a small world! She’s working at Kompas now. I appreciated these two good things since taxis to and from the Kompas office took longer than needed. The drivers were not familar with the streets unfortunately.
I forgot to mention a strange thing that happened last Saturday… As I was walking home, I heard this loud noise. I thought it sounded like it might be thunder or construction, but it turned out to be a huge branch that was about to fall. It cleared the sidewalk just a bit in front of me and landed in the street. I was completely startled and scared, but a guy across the street started laughing. I don’t know if it was nervous laughter or what. In any case, I quickly left the area, but kept thinking that not only do I have to worry about traffic or other persons, but now I have to worry about nature! I might also add that it didn’t help my spirits that a black cat crossed my path earlier in the week, too! I noticed that the cat had a white patch on his chest, so perhaps I won’t have bad luck. 
Perhaps you have heard the news about the labor protests that took place last Wednesday. The workers marched (on foot, motorbike, and by bus) from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to the State Palace. There were similar rallies in other parts of Java and Sumatra. I witnessed part of the march in the morning and came across it again later in the day. Reports indicate that nearly 50,000 people took to the streets. The protests were against the proposed revisions to the 2003 Labor Law, which is supposedly pro-business and diminishes workers’ rights. Traffic was at a standstill for the whole day. I actually had to walk quite a distance to get back to the office from a meeting since it was faster. Even the ojek (motorcyclists for hire) didn’t want to take any passengers. The bajai (small three-wheeled covered buggy/bike) also couldn’t get through because of the logjam. Many businesses were closed since workers did not show up. They were either in support of the rally or couldn’t get to work because of the bad traffic.
The following picture is of labor marchers near the end of the day:
There are better images at Kompas. After clicking on the link, scroll down and then click on the image for a better view.
This next picture is of graffiti that caught my attention on the walk back to the office because (1) it’s in English and (2) it’s usually a phrase associated with the Philippines, not Indonesia. It was hard to tell how recent someone spraypainted these words, though:
Graffiti with political messages usually say “TOLAK [insert issue here].” “Tolak” or “menolak” means “to reject, refuse, prevent, or push aside.”
