04 June 2014

Indonesia a democracy? Nope! Here's why...

Turn on the TV or go to the cinema and there's bound to be a comedian plying her craft. Break open a pack of cards, and out falls the fool, the joker, the jester.

Nearly every society since prehistoric times seems to have employed jesters. They entertain, but more importantly, they criticize. They criticize their society, the rulers and, yes - the King himself. 

Wise kings and rulers throughout history have prized the biting humor because it was a much-needed counterweight to the fawning, sycophantic Yes-men that surrounded them.

The jester's criticism allowed them to see things they might otherwise miss. To consider other ways of looking at things that could make them stronger. Ultimately, it helped them rule better and longer.

Fast forward to today. 
Wise leaders allow -- and even encourage -- the blogger, the journalist and myriad other critics to hold a light to their folly. 

There's an old saying about those who know they don't know and those who don't know that they don't know. And of course, there's no hope for those who don't even realize they are ignorant.

Such is the case with the so called "leaders" of Indonesia.

Why?
Well, today I ran into a roadblock while trying to work. A roadblock erected by said "leaders" that shows crystal-clear why Indonesia is no democracy.

What happened?
So, today I'm looking at a number of different service options I need for my work.
One of them has a demo video I want to look at.
It's blocked!
Even with a proxy, I access it.

Now, for those who don't live on this set of islands, a while back a certain minister of the government got angry at videos people had put up on Vimeo, so he had the censors block all access to Vimeo. Now nobody here can access Vimeo!

These videos showed the party this minister belongs to on the campaign trail.
So where's the problem - right?

Well, it just so happens Indonesia is a place where religious campaigning goes over well. And this party is a very pharisaical about "morality". They constantly harp about what people should and shouldn't do, Soooo, when they were caught out on the campaign trail doing some, well...let's just call it, not so white, not so moral acts, people rightfully took videos and posted them.

This is what's supposed to happen in a democracy. There are watchdogs to scrutinize the government. After all, governments for the most part are incapable of policing themselves.

What does all this have to do with me and today?

Well, see, said unnamed government minister (oh, it's not hard to figure out who I'm referring to. He's also the one that said in answer to a question about increasing the speed of the internet in Indonesia in essence: 'What do you need fast internet for'? Yep. That's the same person.

I bet if we probed further, he'd ask why we even need internet to begin with..?? And this is the guy Indonesians allow to be their minister of technology. Haaa!)

This is the individual who shut down Vimeo.
Seriously.
Does he really think he can control the internet and thereby do whatever the hell he wants?
Does he really think he can use such tactics to silence his critics?

Yep! And he can. Because the people of Indonesia don't have the balls to throw the bum out; don't have the cajones to take to the streets or do anything more than make lame jokes.

To put it another way, the fact that he ever reached that office in the first place, and worse yet, that he's still in power is proof positive this country is no democracy.

If this were real a democracy, the bum would be on the street looking for another job and productive people could get on with their work.

And it is because of this institutional backwardness at the highest levels that Indonesia will continue to function primarily as a source of raw materials (that intelligent foreigners then process and sell to the world), maids and factory workers.

An embarrassing Example? Even though Indonesia exports some really great coffees, the only place in Indonesia I can find really good coffee (beans) -  is Starbucks. And one of Starbucks' more popular blends - is Sumatra (from Indonesia).

Sidebar.............
Unfortunately, most coffee sold in Indonesia is either three-in-one instant or full of fillers such as corn. To put this into perspective, imagine that Starbucks were the only place in Bogota, Columbia where you could get a decent cup of java. Heck, even our slang for coffee - java - comes from Indonesia. It's the name of the main island. But I digress...
Sidebar..............

When Indonesia finally wakes up to these facts and demands better, their potential will be.... well ... the sky will be the limit. Until then, they will continue to live and work well below their potential... continue to be hobbled because of their tolerance of fools like this!

Epilogue: 24 hours has passed since writing and posting this. I just ran into another blocked site. This time a foreign business site. At least I was able to get around it with a proxy this time. Nevertheless, it might be time to invest in a more robust solution.

24 March 2014

Wine for the soul and because it tastes good!

Some friends have been asking for my recipe for the recent photo my wife posted of my apple wine...which is delightful.

Frankly, I was a bit hesitant to write it all down. Not for all the reasons you might suspect, but because this batch was experimental.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The back story: Why am I experimenting if I already know how to do this?

Well, that takes us back to my time in the Sandbox, what the expats called Saudi Arabia. A lot of people complained, but really I liked it.

Anyway, since they don't allow alcohol in any form to be bought or sold...well... what shall I say. People take matters into their own hands. Creativity being the mother of invention and all.

Long story short, learning how to make your own home brew is almost a rite of passage or a necessary survival skill. Now - mind you, while many make their own moonshine, just like back in the days of prohibition, most is decidedly NOT good. Some will even make you sick.

I learned from a fellow who had perfected his recipe and made a bottle that was as good as many of the wines I've tasted in France.

Now, the reason I'm experimenting is because -- when I first got back here from the sandbox, I just fired up a batch without considering how the different conditions would affect the outcome... and BOY did they.


It's a bit embarrassing to say, but that first batch was a total bust. While it was delicious at first, it went off very quickly and I was stuck with more than a case of bad wine that had to be thrown out.

Why?
That's the reason for the experiment this time. 
Anybody who's ever cooked knows that the conditions like altitude can drastically alter cooking time etc...
And my suspicion is that humidity is at least one of the factors. 
So, I've made an ultra small batch.
Is it good?
Of course. It was delightful right after harvest. Now - I'm waiting to see how it holds up. Because wine should get better with time - not worse. 

Here's the recipe.
You'll need:

Ingredients:
  • PURE, 100% juice without any additives or preservatives. 
  • Bakers yeast.
  • Household sugar. (Nothing special, just the normal white stuff.)
  • 2-3 meters of small plastic hose with diameter small enough to fit into the neck of a wine bottle.
  • A plastic barrel or other pitcher-like container (depending on the size of batch you're making.)
  • Resealable wine bottles. They look like this.
http://mountainhomebrew.com/ProductImages/glassware/337.jpg

You'll also need a standard household pot or saucepan, cup and spoon.
That's it.
BUT, the devil is in the details.
First unless you want to stomp grapes (or apples or whatever), you need absolutely pure juice. And unfortunately, that has been hard to find outside Saudi.
There, strangely enough, they wouldn't sell alcohol, but they'd sure sell you everything you needed to make it yourself!

You need juice with no, sugar, no additives, chemicals, preservatives etc... etc... (That's because you only want one organism growing in your wine. And that's yeast. Any thing else will ruin your finest efforts.)

I've tried several. The only one I've found so far that works is a brand called RAUCH.

Here's what it looked like in Saudi,
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g292/mjmorse99/Rauch_PureRedGrape_Juice900ml.jpg
and here's what it looks like here:
http://img.21food.com/20110609/product/1306571312401.jpg


If someone else finds another brand that works, please let me know.
Next:
Sterilization:
You need to clean, scrub and get everything spotlessly spic and span. That includes  your barrel or pitcher, bottles and every utensil, pot and pan you'll use.

Exception. IF you are able to find the juice in the resealable bottles, no washing or sterilization is necessary. Just rinse in hot water and store upside down on a clean cloth to absorb all the water in a clean, dry place. 

But if you buy your resealable bottle from someplace like Ace Hardware (where I got mine recently), you definitely must wash and sterilize.

Barrel: Wash and sterilize every inch.
Ditto for your pot, cup and spoon.

Everything hospital clean?
Put your barrel elevated off the floor if possible, then pour all but one cup of juice into your barrel or pitcher. (You'll need it for your starter.)
Leave open to breathe.

Prepare your sugar solution:

I use 1 cup of sugar for every 12 liters of juice.

For one cup of sugar, you'll need a couple liters of water.
Boil water and add the sugar while stirring so it dissolves.

Prepare you starter:
Take one cup of juice. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Heat mixture in microwave until it's hot to the touch. If it's too hot to touch - it's too hot. Let it cool down a little.
Add an 1/4 of a teaspoon of sugar for every 12 liters of juice.

It should start to react. Ideally you want to see it get very active. At least you should see
the yeast begin to move about.
Leave your starter...

Ready, Set....?
Pour your sugar solution into the barrel.
Do NOT stir.
After your starter solution has reacted and hopefully formed a foamy, frothy top, pour into the barrel.

Put the lid, loosely on. You want it to be on enough to keep any bugs or dust out, but allow enough room for air to pass in and out.

Leave for 6 weeks in a clean, dark, ventilated room. 
Do NOT move.

After 6 weeks, remove lid and check. It should not smell of yeast. And the foam should all be gone.
If it still smells of yeast, leave it for another 3-4 days and check again.


Ready for harvest - the bottling?
When it smells and looks right, clean and sterilize that plastic tube - inside and out.
Get out your bottles.
Remove the lid of the barrel.

You'll want to do the bottling where you don't mind spilling a little wine.
A spare bathroom with a floor drain is ideal.

Make sure the barrel is higher than the bottles. (Gravity to make the wine flow...)
Insert the tube a few inches down into the barrel.
Do NOT push it all the way to the bottom or you'll get all the dregs. Yuk!

You'll need to suck on the other end of the tube to start the flow.
Fill each bottle while watching the clarity of your wine.

STOP as soon as the color becomes the least bit cloudy. You're done.
That last bottle will be your table wine, not your best stuff.

What's left in the barrel should be a few inches of dregs. Toss it and savor your
first wine.


Back to the experiment:
So, I am trying to figure out what will work now that I'm somewhere very different than the Sandbox. There it was dry and hot. Here it is humid and hot.

There I was able to have constant temperature, excellent ventilation and total darkness through out the gestation period. 

Here the conditions are not quite as ideal. So, I want to find out
1. Does the humidity constitute a degrading factor I can't do anything about? or

2. Can I make adjustments in the gestation period that will produce a great wine.

It's already been a couple weeks since the I bottled my ultra small batch. (1.5 liters yield).

I will update this later with the results when it's been a month.

Thanks for reading.
Enjoy.


THE PROMISED UPDATE:
OK. It's been a little over a month. 33 days I think.
I am happy to report, the Apple Wine is holding up beautifully!
It has mellowed and become very smooth. It even has a hint of sweetness.
I'm very satisfied.

Now, here are a few details I left out above. 

Details:
In Saudi, the wine spent 6 weeks in a room with a constant ambient temperature of about 24C. Here, during the 6 weeks of gestation it was in a room that is air-conditioned about 21 hours a day. So - you can imagine the fluctuation. Not ideal.

And...

I found that once I had bottled it, it still needed more time before drinking. Anyway, I don't remember how, but I ended up putting that bottle in the kitchen -- which is not air conditioned and probably about 30C most of the time. But day-by-day and week by week it has improved.

My Conclusion?
The humidity slows down the gestation process while the heat speeds it up.
So, next batch, I will let the wine gestate in a non air-conditioned room. Then I will begin checking on it after about 3-4 weeks and bottle it when it smells and looks right.

If for some reason that doesn't work, I'll try go back to the air conditioned room on the next round and let it gestate 7 or 8 weeks before bottling.

And if that doesn't work -- I can always just go back to what worked this time -- essentially a
2 Step process of 6 weeks with AC and 1 month in the kitchen after bottling.

One last thing...

Tips: 
Yield: Whatever amount of grape juice you start with, the amount of wine you end up with will usually be about 80%.
So, if you start with 12 liters, don't expect more than 9 or 10 (1 liter) bottles of wine.

Red, White and Rose: This time I made apple wine because the shops simply haven't been stocking the grape juice lately.
But if you prefer red wine, just use the red grape juice. For white wine the white grape juice. And if you like rose - mix half and half.

That will be one of my next projects. The rose is actually one of my favorites.

Other than grape or apple? You might be wondering if any other juices will work. The answer is I think so...
You see, in theory, any fruit juice which has its own natural sugars should work, but once in Saudi I tried orange juice: A total disaster!

So, it MIGHT work. But my guess is, any kind of citrus will NOT work. There's simply too much acid.
On the other hand, I think almost any berry or pome (apples, pears) or drupe (peaches, plum, coconut) should produce a very satisfying wine.

I think I'll try making one of these...

How bout you?
You can send questions or comments to:sukkiri2000-wine@yahoo.com

Cheers,
Tj

25 February 2014

Why Indonesia Is A Poor Rich Country

I'm going to go a bit off topic today. (Actually I haven't published in a while because it got to be so much trouble doing all the editing and making things nice n pretty.) You see - there's the idea. Then there's actually getting it down on paper (screen) in a way that makes sense.

Well, from here on out --for a while at least-- I'm conducting and experiment. No massive editing. Just get the thoughts and ideas out there. Add to them later in another blog. Out with the perfectionism. In with the productivity and sharing what's on my mind (so my partner doesn't have to always listen to me repeat them...).

Today's subject is Indonesia.
Unless you live in Southeast Asia, most people don't know much about it. And for good reason. It's not militarily or economically very important on the world stage. You don't exactly have world class universities, tech cities or other great innovations.

And that's what pisses me off. (More on that in a minute.)

Indonesia has almost every resource imaginable. Everything. Minerals, timber, rich fertile land, ocean waters teaming with fish... And that's just the beginning.

In those ocean waters, you'll find some of the most pristine, breathtaking coral on the planet. As well as a diversity of sea life that is almost unparalleled. Think eco-tourism....

Then there is the fertile soil. You can grow almost anything here. And you often have year-round growing. In other words, you can often harvest a crop several times a year.

Oh, and before I forget, the population is 250 million. That's almost as many as the U.S. with 300 million.

So, I ask (rhetorically) with all that vast wealth, why isn't Indonesia a world power or at the very least an economic powerhouse?

To ask in another way: Why is Indonesia so poor and backward?

My opinion?

Because here religion, superstition and the mindless adherence to tradition are all powerful. Most people here simply do not ever reference science, logic or reason when making decisions.

Every major life decision of the vast majority of the population is dictated by the trifecta of religion, superstition and tradition.

Let me give you an example.

Superstition: Here, the belief in black magic is widespread. There was even a law passed recently which makes it possible to imprison someone who is suspected of putting curse on someone else.

Religion: Well, it goes without saying, religion holds an enormous sway over the population. Even those who consider themselves middle or upper class and educated.  And everybody kowtows to the caprice and prejudice of the majority because there is no protection under the law.

There are groups which regularly attack and intimidate anyone who attempts to express ideas they are opposed to. And doesn't just mean showing up and protesting peacefully with placards and bullhorns. No. This involves active threats --which are carried out if their demands are not met.

It's a bit like the unions of 100 years ago in the west that would threaten and then destroy property in order to get higher wages. And remember - Not Crossing The Picket Line?

Anyone who dared to go to work during a strike was assaulted and and sometimes killed. Well - it's still like that in Indonesia if you dare to express opinions that these fanatical groups don't approve of. They show up, like those strikers of old and demand that you "cease and distist or else.

Then there is the mindless tradition. Especially prevalent among the ethnic Chinese community. It often seems that no matter how much post-secondary training they receive, they return home to live like their father's father's father's ..... father ad infinity.

There you have it. I see SO much potential in Indonesia which is constantly and continually pissed away by their stubborn refusal to start thinking.