One Guy Among Hundreds Unknown

Opinions

pemilu_2009OK. Here’s the deal, we’re going to have a national general election on April 9th,; it’s going to be big and is already scandalous. The thing is: we are all about to be given an enormous A2-sized A0-sized paper with approximately one hundred names on it; and among those one hundred unknowns, we are obliged to pick a name. What’s the point of that?

I am totally not a politician or even near to being a future politician. I never study politics or any related social sciences whatsoever. But for some reasons, I feel that there are so many weird phenomenons happened as the consequences of this so-called democratic system. Hail to those politicians and our delegates who designed this system; seriously, I am not posing any disagreement here. I believe you have your own arguments and I am not questioning you. I always try to be a good citizen, I say a BIG no to being abstain, and I am just hereby delivering things I have seen.

Ah, you’re so damn gorgeous. Young, sexy, and white, with a shimmering smile. How on earth you can be that cute and good-looking? Uh, baby, you’re always there through my days, looking at me with a warm welcoming face, standing there at the side of the road in such an inevitably gigantic size that I can’t stand to not look at you whenever I’m on my way everywhere, everyday.

That might sound extremely exaggerated but at I believe that you got my points. With everyone being given the right to vote for one out of, let’s say, eight delegates from a party, all those activists will try everything it takes to be as popular as possible, practically in any possible way. They all have their super-gigantic portraits parading throughout cities in Indonesia, congesting the sidewalks and pedestrians. Did I mention portraits? Yes, portraits: a representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. And funnily, some people end up affirmatively saying, “Wah, kok caleg sekarang ganteng-ganteng dan cantik-cantik ya?” or even “Eh, loe tau caleg yang namanya X gak? Cantik banget deh!”

To me, it is ironic. But, had I been them, I would not have come up with any other way of promotion either. It’s simple and it just works. Let’s say you have ten cutting-edge programs for our beloved country and then what? You’re going to write it all on those big “baligo” of yours? I would be shocked if there were anyone stops to read the details thoroughly. And let’s suppose that those 100 delegates were “responsible” enough that they give us comprehensive explanations about their programs. How many pages that would be?

What happens to “Pemilih cerdas memilih pemimpin yang berkualitas”? How can we even know their qualities? Or perhaps, their looks? That’s what you meant?

Salah calegnya, salah pemilihnya, atau salah sistemnya?

I might be wrong but I prefer the Pemilu system, where we were only obliged to vote for ONE party and let the parties do their works. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t yet 17 year-old that time to feel the simplicity of a national general election. Unfortunately for all the citizens of Indonesia, there are way too many things happening in this country that just can’t make a national general election that simple, again.

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  • Yes, choosing from hundreds unknown, so I’m choosing like play a lucky draw.

  • banyak caleg yang “mekso” dalam pemilu legislatif kemarin.. bisa dilihat banyak yang frustasi bahkan sampe stres. Bahkan bapak kost ku aja kulkasnya sekarang dicabut dan dikunci, biar hemat listrik.. wes, ga melu-melu aku.. semoga bisa menjadi cerminan buat masa yang akan datang…

  • If you want to see a reader’s feedback :) , I rate this post for 4/5. Decent info, but I just have to go to that damn google to find the missed bits. Thanks, anyway!

  • I don’t believe that you from East Java, for the first time I donlud your theme, I gust you’re foreign but, I know you’are Indonesian or blaster by your last name: Batakness..

  • that sucks man, I hardly know any of the calegs dirtying trees, fences and walls around my house. I won’t put the checkmark in their names, I’ll just simply choose the party

    here I wan’na share one funny website where you can find hundreds of funny caleg’s posters http://www.janganbikinmalu2009.com/web/galeri.php

    • I’ve seen that site before! Seriously, all those politicians are seriously in a need of medical sanity shoot. Hahaha..

  • but given the sad fact,
    do you think that we’ll ever get a good decent parliament member from such a ridiculous tasteless un-intelect political campaign?

    highly unlikely i’d say.

    well, if it was me yah bel, i’ll put a big portrait of me, but a la truman show (the mosaic pictures composed of many pictures), and the many pictures shows me doing some deeds: nyangkul bareng petani, bantu orang kebanjiran, apalah yang bagus bagus.

    and put asterisks: don’t just take my words for that, seek the truth for yourself, with links where you could find THE cutting-edge program and real details about me.
    *links doesn’t entirely means internet site, could be places where you could grab a sheet containing details.

    or better yet, why don’t the election committee make some sort of site/information center and force all the caleg to put all their detailed program in there.

    ever seen the janganbikinmalu2009.com section where they ask for caleg’s program? that’s the idea.

    that way, at least there is a place where we could REALLY know who’s the one that we’re gonna vote, not voting blindfolded like this.

    • Atau mungkin, aktivis politik itu kenal benar bagaimana kondisi marketnya. Berapa persen sih warga Indonesia yang punya akses akan informasi yang memadai? Banyak sih, di perkotaan. Hehehe. Sisanya?

  • long time no visiting :)

    to me, watching Partai Demokrat commecials’ popular tag “LANJUTKAN” does not remind me to general election itself or pick Partai Demokrat…but means doing my more to come homeworks (indvidual and group) and take home exams*

    *I’m taking master of law school now and feel like master of drunken day by day :mrgreen:

    • LANJUTKAN tugas (dan ujian-ujian) Anda. :)

      Btw ngambil master di mana, Yonna?

    • di UI salemba, hukum ekonomi… :)

  • this year’s election is really royal battle of anonymous

    • agreed. royal, indeed. hehe..

  • Pokokna.. tong khilaff… contreng… tong golput.. wokke? he..he..

    eh..eh.. dimana link gw di blogroll om? padahal udah gw pasang punya ente nih… hiiiii… sok atuh di cek di

    namanya Michael Hutagalung cuy… he..he..

  • “But, had I been them, I would not have come up with any other way of promotion either.”

    I didn’t mean to add any inherent meaning behind that statement. Hahahaha..

    • mia

      let’s TRY to be a good citizen by electing ‘the best’ from options we have :)

    • sebagian besar poster kampanye mereka bel, imho, nyaris mendekati batas ‘gak bisa lebih ancur lagi’

      dan mengingat performa lo jaman dulu
      rasanya lu mah bisa membuat sesuatu yang jauh kemana-mana dari itu bates…
      wanna try? :p

    • @mia: Yup, I have just voted today.

      @linda: hah? gak bakal! hahahaha. anti gua ama yang gitu2 hahaha..