Below are a collection of pictures I have taken so far of the members of the Batik-clad members of the Indonesian Delegation in Bangkok.

Ira (Pelangi). Definitely knows style. style. Ira is a researcher, working with Pelangi, an environmental think tank in Jakarta. She serves as Press Officer for the delegation.

Fitrian, working away (or chatting away, most likely). Fitrian works for WWF Indonesia as Climate Change Program Director.

The men. Notice yours truly on your right-handside most, seated.

The ladies. The tougher negotiators.

(Almost) the entire team (except those who have left or camera-shy)

Meet Joko Anwar (@jokoanwar).  On a quiet Tuesday afternoon, he tweeted this:

If I got my 3000th follower today, I’ll go into a Circle K naked (1:56 pm)

(Circle K is a chain of 24-hour convenience store that is quite ubiquitous in Jakarta.)  I was not sure what got into him that afternoon tweeting that.  Whether he is serious or not, I didn’t know either.  At the time, I think he had something like 1,000 followers.  But what follows was hilarious, to say the least.  Iwet Ramadhan (@iwetramadhan), a Hard Rock FM announcer, retweeted Joko’s tweet, encouraging his followers (by now amounting about 7,000) to follow him to get the desired number of followers.

Let’s follow him!!! RT@jokoanwar: If I got my 3000th follower today, I’ll go into a Circle K naked.

Almost immediately, Iwet’s tweet and those that followed spread globally, may be worse that the worst epidemy.  The retweets spread virally and it might give Joko a cold feet.  Indeed, he would need to swallow his words if he could get that many followers that night.

Please God, I’ll be a good moslem, christian, buddhist, scientologist, whatever. Just don’t let me flash my flabby flesh in Circle K (2:54 pm)

By then Joko might be sweating like mad.  Soon enough, a couple of tweets came in from him, sounding desperate and hopeless.

Ok. It looks like it’s gonna happen. Damn youuuu…!!! I’ll do it at night, ok?? Happy????? (2:56 pm)

Have mercy. Let me do it at night. You’ll get the pics when you wake up tomorrow. Promise. *crying while doing push-up*

I hope you all will puke to see the pics tomorrow. )) (2:57 pm)

That’s when he and everyone else were convinced that he reached (or would reach in no time) 3,000 followers as he desired.  He got the desired additional followers in exactly one hour (1:56 – 2:56).

* * *

Thirty-years young, Joko Anwar has already been an extremely well-accomplished film maker.  Born on January 3, 1976, he went to engineering school “because his family couldn’t afford to send him to a film school,” as cited in his Wikipedia page.  His filmography includes Indonesian box offices such as “Janji Joni” (Joni’s Promise, 2005, writer / director), Arisan (2003, writer), Jakarta Undercover (2007, writer), Kala (2007, writer / director), Quickie Express (2007, writer), and Fiksi (Fiction, 2008, writer), and Pintu Terlarang (the Forbidden Door, 2009, writer / director).  His films have been screened in various international film festivals, and they won raves from critics.  He also has witty sense of humor, as he tweeted on like this.

Damn.  It’s so hard to get people to watch my movies, yet it’s so easy to make people want to see me naked. Just wait for pics tonight. (3:13 pm)

So later in the afternoon, he gathered his friends, among others Nitta Noer (@tigerlilybubu).  They devised a plan, which includes finding the right Circle K to go naked to.  They visited a number of them.  Rumor had it that he would do it at the Circle K on Jalan Panglima Polim in Kebayoran, Jakarta.  He ended up eventually in Bintaro.

Meeting @zekekhaseli @tigerlilybubu and @leonardoringo tonight for the execution. *damn damn damn* (3:37 pm)

It’s gonna happen you tweeps. No worry. (4:19 pm)

Be patient. Looking for the right Circle K. (6:17 pm)

With @zekekhaseli @tigerlilybubu @leonardoringo making a battle plan. (7:49 pm)

Please guys, I’m otw to a Circle K now. Be patient. Live reports from @tigerlilybubu @culapo @leonardoringo @zekekhaseli @molskee @ramaadi (9:55 pm)

From here on, very few tweets actually came from Joko.  The live-tweeting was taken over by Nitta.  Joko ensured everybody that, yes, he was going to do it.  He was going to walk into a Circle K naked.

By then, Circle K was already number one trending topic on Twitter (it went to number two long after, i.e., when active twitteratis from the rest of the world woke up.  Not bad for an Indonesian topic, given the number of Twitter users in the country), and his and Nitta’s tweets were among the most retweeted in the world (Joko’s number one, and Nitta’s number five).

Nitta and other eye-witness then reported the proceeding blow-by-blow.  The suspense and the emotions were reported.  Hundreds, maybe thousands, observed their Twitter timelines without blinking.  I had to write a report and instead of writing it, I actually observed my Twitter timeline and tweeted some comments.  My friend Amir Sidharta (@senirupa) even said, at 0:23 pm on his tweet, “Video killed the radio star. Twitter killed the TV star. Who would have guessed?”  At the time, indeed, TV felt so last-era.  Tweeteratis observed diligently.  All the suspense.  With many ROTFLs and LOLs.

For a while the tweets stopped, and everyone started sending comments asking what happened next.  Nitta might have her battery died because she eventually emerged “fully charged.”  Then, the time comes.

We’re here. I’m going in… (0:07 am, Wednesday already)

In he went, buck naked.  A tweet mentioned something about two police cars passing by.  And the Circle K guy were so shocked that he dropped his coffee, but Joko went in calmly.  He did his dues.

* * *

He came out of the Circle K probably as a new guy.  A new guy?  Yes.  A hero to many of his new and old followers for “walking his talk.”  For being responsible for what he said he would do.  My favorite among his last tweets was this one.  And I believe this was also the one most retweeted afterwards.  The tweet came with a photograph of himself, buck naked inside the Circle K.  This was my favorite tweet because he mocked the politicians for not walking their talks.  (Context: the country just went through two general elections this year where apparently the elected politicians didn’t keep their promises.)

A promise is a promise, Mr. Politicians! . http://pic.gd/3c6e2c (00:32 am)

By now, at 3:45 am on Wednesday morning, Joko Anwar has more than 16,000 followers.  At least three articles including in detik.com and the Examiner were written of this saga.  I certainly look forward to the promised YouTube “behind the scene” uploads, and not to the long nights and days I had to keep awake for finishing my reports that didn’t get finished because I was too busy following my timeline and writing this article.  Oh well.

In the enrollment year of 2004/5, more than 50 million students enrolled in more than 270,000 schools in the country, almost 60 percent of which are in preschool and primary education levels.  In 2005, enrollment rates were 93 percent, 75 percent, and 42 percent in primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary levels respectively.  But access and quality differ from one region to another (The World Bank).

Indeed, Indonesia has increased its spending on education recently, making it on par with most other developing countries in terms of its percentage of government spending.  In 2006, public expenditure for education was close to Rp 80 trillion (about US$8 billion) per year with continuous upward trends in the years that follow.  But compared to some neighboring countries, this expenditure is still considered low.  According to the data cited by the World Bank, Public expenditure on education compared to total public expenditure was 14.2, compared to 16 percent in the Philippines, and 27 percent in Malaysia and Thailand.  Similarly, public expenditure on education compared to gross domestic product (GDP) was a mere 2.8 percent, compared to the Philippines (3.1 percent), Thailand (4.6 percent), let alone Malaysia (8.1 percent) (The World Bank).

On a per student basis, Indonesia is among the lowest in allocating government budget to education.  For primary level, Indonesia spends $110 per student per year, compared to $396 in India, $491 in the Philippines, $1,897 in Malaysia, or $4,294 in the rich countries.  For secondary level, Indonesia spends $315 per student per year, compared to $452 in the Philippines, $712 in India, $2,923 in Malaysia, or $7,002 in the rich countries (The World Bank).

This may explain the different characteristics of economic development between that of Indonesia and its neighboring countries.  Reportedly, it is very difficult to fill semi-skill- and skill-intensive job openings in Indonesia even when the unemployment rate is still high.  Moreover, the constitutional target of allocating public spending on education (excluding salaries of teachers and the like) at 20 percent is deemed unrealistic.

Worse yet, the quality of government-run schools are rather abysmal.  Many have turned to private schools for alternatives.  But here, too, the options are also limited.  The choices are either low-quality private schools (sometimes even of lower quality compared to the state-run ones), religion-based private schools (with mixed quality, sometimes poor sometimes so-so), or very good but very expensive international schools.

The number above shows that it is difficult to rely on the government to increase access to and quality of education for the Indonesian poor.  Outside the government, a number of initiatives have also been carried out.  The World Bank has poured $830 million towards supporting the National Education’s Strategic Plan (World Bank).  The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) poured $157 million under the Presidential Education Initiative.  This initiative has reportedly helped 1,272 schools, 21,069 educators, and 345,983 students.  By 2010, the initiative is expected to reach 9,000 schools (USAID).  The Australia – Indonesia Basic Education Program aims to raise the rates of enrollment in junior secondary schools from 75 percent to 95 percent by 2010 (DFAT)

Corporate funding has also been poured.  Coca-Cola Foundation assisted through its Learning Center Program Initiative while ConocoPhilips and Chevron teamed up with USAID to support USAID’s program.  ConocoPhilips accounced the completion of the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 35 public schools and other facilities in Central Jawa and Yogyakarta Provinces destroyed during the earthquake of 2006 (Examiner).

But are these enough?  Not yet, I guess.  The accessibility, affordability, and quality of the school system in the country remains quite appalling.  The quality and availability of good teachers are also of concern.  An awful lot needs to be done.  What?  I am not sure yet.  Gimme ideas.  But let’s see what I can come up below.

Prioritize on the junior secondary level.  It appears that the priorities should be to increase access to junior secondary schools while continue making elementary schools being accessible, affordable, and of reasonable quality.  Almost every kid can go to primary school now, with primary education reportedly already close to being universal in Indonesia.  But enrollment rates in junior secondary school are low.  Ninety-two percent of primary school students graduated, but only 60 percent of them continued on to junior secondary school as reported by USAID.  According to the Central Agency for Statistics, only slightly more than half of the Indonesian population older than 10 years old attain junior secondary schools (BPS).

Moreover, the social return to education for junior secondary schools, at 25 percent, is significantly higher than that of primary schools at 4 percent, and only slightly lower than that of senior secondary school of 28 percent.  The World Bank reports that allocation of education budget for junior and senior secondary schools are 15 percent each, much lower than 56 percent for primary level.  The Australian initiative that I mentioned above targets junior secondary level.  But a lot more needs to be done.

Prioritize on the poor.  Even when educational facilities exist, the poor may not be able to afford it.  This may be the cause of the low enrollment rates in the junior secondary schools.  As such, the 2000 Indonesian Poverty Map (Peta penduduk miskin Indonesia) is very useful.  The map shows the poorest regions in Indonesia to the level of the kabupatens (districts).  Additionally, there are also pockets of poverty even in rich areas.  In Jakarta, for example, where in general it is a rich region, there are pockets of poor slums for which citizens education is unreachable.

Increase educational quality, including the quality of the teachers.  Teachers are key to the education system.  Getting high-quality teacher comes at a cost, obviously.  These teachers need to be well-trained, and they need to be well-paid.  It is unfortunate, however, that teachers in Indonesia are very underpaid.  Moreover, corruption in this sector is quite rampant that often the low salaries of the teachers made even lower by “voluntary cuts” to pay many things involuntarily.  Often, these cuts are misused.

For more information regarding Indonesian Education: Indonesian Education Network http://www.pendidikan.net/eindex.html.

I rarely watch TV (nothing much, really, except some Breaking News from Metro TV, TV One, BBC, or the likes) or listen to the radio (only when I am driving), and in my new pod I have yet to subscribe to any newspaper.  Immediately afterwards, numerous tweets came in droves about the bomb blast events.  I am amused by how fast news spreads — much more in the social network than anywhere else.  I wrote once on the redefinition of the media (and the death of TV).  But this is at least one order of magnitude larger in scope.

Today's #indonesiaunite tweets

In no time other Twitteratis jump the bandwagon and report, analyze, or opinionize on what happened.  This phenomenon of digital activism is, of course, not new and is greatly expected.  But to experience it myself here in Indonesia is still quite something.  The droves of incoming twitters have something in common eventually, a “hashtag” of #indonesiaunite (“hashtag” is a tag to identify a twitter entry with similar ones so that they all can be identified together as a group).  At some point, I forgot when, #indonesiaunite became the number one “trending topic.” in twitter (this means that twitter entries with #indonesiaunite hashtag had the highest number of twitter entries in the world).  Even higher than Paula Abdul!  What a great achievement considering the relatively small number of Twitter users in Indonesia.

Aku Tidak Takut.  We Are Not Afraid

Meet Pandji Pragiwaksono (www.pandji.com, twitter handle: @pandji). He is a radio announcer and a rapper.  At least on my UberTwitter, Pandji is among, if not the, most active Twitterati.  One of his rap number, “Kami Tidak Takut,” (We Are Not Afraid) had immediately become elevated into the most referred to in the Indonesian Twitter universe.  The Youtube video of this number had probably become the most downloaded, and so might its mashup (btw, I had my face showed up a bit in it).  “Kami tidak takut” immediately became the unifying theme for the emotional representation for the #indonesiaunite “movement” against terrorism.

Pandji Pragiwaksono, picture taken from http://id.wiki.detik.com/mediawiki/images/5/5c/Pandji_hardrockfm_com.jpg

Indeed, the Stock Market Index dipped insignificantly on the day of the bomb, but immediately rebound upwards, showing market’s continuous entusiasm on Indonesia’s buoyant economy amidst the recent economic crisis.  Some analysts theorize that people may have been desensitized given the frequency of the terrorist attack in Indonesia.  Regardless, #indonesiaunite, with its “kami tidak takut” tenet has become the defiant force against the intimidation of terrorism.

And the effect of this euphoria, so to speak, has been quite strong.  Metro TV, a notable TV news channel in Indonesia, aired a special program in which #indonesiaunite and “kami tidak takut” were the unifying theme.  I was tucked amongst the audience in the studio and could feel the euphoria fired up by music played by Slank and, of course, the “kami tidak takut” rap song by Pandji.  Among the audience are the members of the so-called Jakarta Twitter Community, who, like me, came to the studio through open invitations by Metro TV presenters who are also avid Twitterati, among others are Kania Sutisnawinata and Najwa Shihab.

Manchester United, the popular football club from the Great Britain, was to play against the Indonesia All Star.  The members of the club were supposed to stay at one of the hotels, and in the wake of the blast, decided to cancel the entire match, leaving their supporters greatly disappointed and the promoter and organizer in great loss.  The movement went on to pick up the pieces by transforming the MU t-shirts into a “kami tidak takut” t-shirt.  These t-shirts went out like hot cakes!

When the Breaking News about the raid over the alleged Noordin M. Top’s hiding place and the raid over alleged terrorist headquarters in Bekasi appeared on TV, again Twitter has become the most actively used medium for exchanging comments on them.  Those that stayed awake throughout the course of the Temanggung raid operation exchanged views and information throughout the night.

Eventually, this internet-based social interaction has gone physical when Hardrock FM, the radio station where Pandji is, sponsored a “Twitter Party” yesterday in IndoChine, a cafe Jakarta.  Finally people can put faces to twitter handles and hashtags.  New friends are made, old friends are reunited.  News are spread.  #indonesiaunite becomes a movement beyond the social network.

The Power of the Social Network Media

In one of my older blog (as a Note on my Facebook profile), I wrote about change.org, a website that is so popular among political activist.  In that article, I theorize about what I would call the “environmentalism 2.0,” while today I would coin as “digital activism.”  Already, Indonesia has housed the fastest-growing Facebook usage in the world.  The continuous spread of the popularity of social network media such as Facebook, Twitter, and the blogging community has given rise to a new playground for activism.  And this is of no surprise as that is what community is for.

What’s next?  I think the use of social network media to foster political activism has shown its power as shown by the #indonesiaunite movement.  Already, #indonesiaunite has a home in the internet universe at www.indonesiaunite.com.  And there is a Manifesto being wiki-drafted by a collosal number of online contributors, at IndonesiaUnite Wiki.  There are many other “causes” that will make use of the new medium.  And with the internet universe being flat, the social network media will also become the democratizing means for Indonesia, and for the world.  The tenet “one person one vote” will be closer to your heart, and your Blackberry.