Didn’t our ‘Viceroy’ Sir Stamford Raffles behave rather badly?
Mark Stahly
3 years ago
Having lived in Indonesia (Bali) now for 14 years its always heartwarming to see the new European arrivals wandering around like Dorothy in Munchkin land not believing how colorful, friendly and simply wonderful life can be. They almost immediately lose their learned caution about being among foreigners in a strange land surrounded by unknown cultures and do the stupidest things – that they would never consider doing at home. Like giving a taxi driver $200,000 to buy a plot of land they want to build a dream house on and he should meet them next Tuesday at XXX Bar with the deeds. Needless to say he doesn’t… It happens every year! Other than that Indonesia is fascinating and so multifaceted it’s almost daunting. I’ve managed to visit about 9 of the 17,000 islands personally and they are all different and individual but, of course Bali is the gem and worth any 10 of the rest. Come visit us and see for yourself but leave the house plans at home?
demona.pastime
3 years ago
Yes, Indonesia have so much potential. But the diversity, the corruption, the superstitious still in large. We most likely screw up it up our self with the nonstop fight over power and wealthy between groups.
Andrew Baldwin
3 years ago
This column is just all so wrong. In 2008, the world’s top 10 economies, based on IMF real GDP on a purchasing power parity (PPP) estimates, were: US, China, Japan, India, Germany, Russia, Brazil, France, UK and Italy. It is true that Indonesia was not part of the mix. In 2008, it was the world’s 12th largest economy, just after Mexico. Why you chose 2008 rather than the most recent year available I don’t understand. If you had looked at 2019 instead, the world’s ten largest economies would have been: China, US, India, Japan, Germany, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil,UK, France. So China is already the world’s largest economy, India has a place on the podium and Indonesia is in 7th place, ahead of the UK. The real GDP on a PPP basis forecasts for 2024 I could find (not necessarily the most recent, but I’m not paid to do this) did match yours except Germany was still ahead of Russia. This makes me think that you suddenly switched from nominal GDP estimates in 2008 to PPP measures in your 2024 forecasts, which will certainly get you dramatic changes in country rankings but doesn’t mean anything. There are other PPP estimates out there, from the World Bank and the CIA’s World Factbook. They will give different estimates and slightly different rankings. For 2019 the World Bank rankings are the same as the IMF’s for the top seven countries, so Indonesia’s ranking doesn’t change, but Brazil and France trade places, which means the UK’s 9th place ranking doesn’t change either. UnHerd is a repeat offender in its use of nominal GDP estimates for country rankings. You shouldn’t do this again. If you don’t understand, please contact me. I will explain.
Well, we did back in 1603, when James Lancaster set up the first English ‘factory’ at Bantam in Java, on behalf of the East India Company.
Sadly, we were subsequently pushed out of Java by the rapacious Dutch and resorted to plan B, India. A ‘blessing in disguise’, as we used to say.
We governed the country from 1815 approx for about 10 years following the European wars, and then handed it back to the Dutch.
Didn’t our ‘Viceroy’ Sir Stamford Raffles behave rather badly?
Having lived in Indonesia (Bali) now for 14 years its always heartwarming to see the new European arrivals wandering around like Dorothy in Munchkin land not believing how colorful, friendly and simply wonderful life can be. They almost immediately lose their learned caution about being among foreigners in a strange land surrounded by unknown cultures and do the stupidest things – that they would never consider doing at home. Like giving a taxi driver $200,000 to buy a plot of land they want to build a dream house on and he should meet them next Tuesday at XXX Bar with the deeds. Needless to say he doesn’t… It happens every year! Other than that Indonesia is fascinating and so multifaceted it’s almost daunting. I’ve managed to visit about 9 of the 17,000 islands personally and they are all different and individual but, of course Bali is the gem and worth any 10 of the rest. Come visit us and see for yourself but leave the house plans at home?
Yes, Indonesia have so much potential. But the diversity, the corruption, the superstitious still in large. We most likely screw up it up our self with the nonstop fight over power and wealthy between groups.
This column is just all so wrong. In 2008, the world’s top 10 economies, based on IMF real GDP on a purchasing power parity (PPP) estimates, were: US, China, Japan, India, Germany, Russia, Brazil, France, UK and Italy. It is true that Indonesia was not part of the mix. In 2008, it was the world’s 12th largest economy, just after Mexico. Why you chose 2008 rather than the most recent year available I don’t understand. If you had looked at 2019 instead, the world’s ten largest economies would have been: China, US, India, Japan, Germany, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil,UK, France. So China is already the world’s largest economy, India has a place on the podium and Indonesia is in 7th place, ahead of the UK. The real GDP on a PPP basis forecasts for 2024 I could find (not necessarily the most recent, but I’m not paid to do this) did match yours except Germany was still ahead of Russia. This makes me think that you suddenly switched from nominal GDP estimates in 2008 to PPP measures in your 2024 forecasts, which will certainly get you dramatic changes in country rankings but doesn’t mean anything. There are other PPP estimates out there, from the World Bank and the CIA’s World Factbook. They will give different estimates and slightly different rankings. For 2019 the World Bank rankings are the same as the IMF’s for the top seven countries, so Indonesia’s ranking doesn’t change, but Brazil and France trade places, which means the UK’s 9th place ranking doesn’t change either. UnHerd is a repeat offender in its use of nominal GDP estimates for country rankings. You shouldn’t do this again. If you don’t understand, please contact me. I will explain.