Remembering Indonesia’s First Ever Presidential Candidate Debates

 

It was the year 2004, and Indonesia was going through its first direct presidential elections in the history of its modern politics. I had been a witness to the step by step transition of Indonesia’s political environment, from pre-Suharto days up until where we are today in 2024.

At that time, I was the CEO of the Swara Channel, a part of the media company Jaring Data Interaktif, owned by Peter Gontha, James Castle and myself. Swara (the voice) was Indonesia’s parliamentary television channel, based on C-SPAN. Swara Channel was set up in 1999 with help of funding from USAID and other institutions, and our goal was to promote transparency in the proceedings of the Indonesian Parliament and encourage media savviness for emerging politicians through all kinds of media training programs.

Just a couple of years before this point, President B J Habibie, then Indonesia’s 3rd president, had put in place several major democratic reforms, which eventually led to Indonesia holding direct presidential elections in 2004 with a two term limit. This transition encouraged the creation of many new political parties, and as a result, the first direct presidential election had an unprecedented 5 presidential candidate pairs, Wiranto- Salahuddin Wahid, Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi, Amien Rais-Siswono Yudo Husodo, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla, and Hamzah Haz-Agum Gumelar.

Being at the helm of Swara channel gave me the opportunity to be involved in several impactful media programs that today is considered to be of historical significance. One such program was the first ever Presidential Candidate Debates. Since the inception of Swara Channel, we had been working closely with Hank Valentino of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the Indonesian Parliament (MPR & DPR) and the Indonesian Election Commission (KPU).

One day, Hank asked me to come over to his office and told me he was discussing with KPU for producing a presidential candidate debate, which was something very new to the Indonesian political environment at that time. He had the US model in mind and wanted my help to explore how to adapt the format to the cultural sensitivities of Indonesia. We met with the Election Commission officials (KPU) and presented a concept, and after much internal discussion, it was accepted.

We then went about preparing for this massive production, as we needed a large studio that could broadcast the program live. We scouted around from large hangars to existing film production facilities, but in the end we decided to go with a television studio. To avoid any partisan affiliations with privately owned stations, we chose the state television TVRI’s studios in Senayan. While KPU contacted the candidate pairs and informed them about the upcoming debates, my team went and met all the tv stations to try and encourage some of them to carry the program live on air. We decided to give a live broadcast feed free of cost to all participating stations and they were allowed to sell advertising.

There was a perceived security risk of having all 5 candidate pairs in one room and hence it was decided to split them into two groups, on two consecutive days. We appointed Ira Koesno to be the moderator and on 30th June 2004, the first day, we presented two pairs Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi and  Amien Rais-Siswono Yudo Husodo, followed by on 1st July, the second day with three pairs, Hamzah Haz-Agum Gumelar, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla, and Wiranto- Salahuddin Wahid.

Surprisingly, all male candidates agreed to appear in full  suits and tie, which ended up creating an awkward and stiff atmosphere. Many criticized the first debates to be non confrontational,  and more of a discussion with panelists, since arguments did not occur. There seemed to be a cultural boundary quite difficult to cross. However, by and large, all appreciated the effort as a historical precedence had been created.

The elections eventually went into the second round with the leading two pairs Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla, and this required for another debate to be held for the second round. However, the format got changed with no interaction at all between the two candidates, instead, they answered questions from chosen panelists, making the debate sound more like a monologue. Whatever be the criticism, it ended up creating a record of its kind, with all of the tv stations carrying the debates Live on air.

The debates were largely considered a success and became a topic of hot discussion and varied opinions throughout the elections, which was eventually won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla with a 61% majority. Now in 2023-24, twenty years and four elections later, it has become a much awaited moment of the election. From 2009 onwards, KPU took over the process and awarded the hosting of the debates in turn to the large media conglomerates who were vying for the opportunity to bring it into their studios. Swara Channel ended up handing over the baton to KPU and we have seen many interesting editions of the debates during each election. However, one thing has remained consistent, the format has continuously been tinkered with, with no clear format in place, even as we speak.

Thanks to Swara Channel, QTV and Beritasatu TV, I have had the privilege to be the executive producer of exclusive TV interviews with President B J Habibie, President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Nur), Megawati Soekarnoputri, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo as well as former President A.P.J Abdul Kalam from India and former Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad from Malaysia. At a personal level, it has been a privilege to have the opportunity to be up close to the leaders of our times who have changed the political and democratic history of the region.

Thanks Hank and Peter...

- Sachin V Gopalan

24 Dec 2023, Jakarta Indonesia

Never Forget the Undisputed King of IPL T20

If a boundary being hit for four runs is the signature shot of Test Cricket, then it is logical to award the signature shot of T20 cricket to the maximum shot, the exhilarating Sixer.

Akin to Sir Don Bradman the undisputed King of Test Cricket, there is only one King of IPL who has achieved seemingly impossible records that will take forever to break.

In IPL T20, he has the enviable career record of 357 sixes in 120 matches at a strike rate of 149. What makes this extra special is how far away the second position is, with AB Devilliers getting 251 sixes in 184 matches at a strike rate of 152. Yes, this is a humongous gap of 106, and our King has hit 43% more sixes than another God of IPL.

Our champion of the world also holds the record for the highest IPL score of 175 not out, with Brendon McCullum in second position with 158 not out. And to top it all, he has 6 hundreds, which happens to be the highest record for IPL tons. Its ironic that because of his superpower for hitting the maximum, he has achieved a much lower number of 4's (only 405, putting him at a low #11) and even lower 50's (just 31 where David Warner holds the record with 58). No time or inclination for small records here.

In T20 World Cup, he holds the record for the fastest 100 in 47 balls, with the second position also going to him in 50 balls.

For the very unlikely few of you haven't already guessed who we are talking about, it only but the Universe Boss, Christopher Henry Gayle, or Chris Gayle who was born on 21 September 1979 in Kingston, Jamaica. Standing tall at 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) he is also known as Gayle Force, the left handed powerhouse who entertained us over the years. 

An interesting fact that many of you may not remember about Gayle is that in 2005, during a series against Australia, Gayle complained of dizziness and shortness of breath during his innings, and after the match was sent to hospital where he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect causing a cardiac dysrhythmia, requiring him to undergo heart surgery to correct the defect. 

Now, if you remember, IPL started only in the year 2008 and therefore, all his records and feats are the result of a new reinforced cardiovascular system. Let this be a lesson to all of us that timely medical diagnosis and intervention is so very important, and something all of us should be concerned about and not be given second priority over other things in life.

Post Gayle's retirement, his absence now on the field is felt, especially when watching the dramatic performances of those he inspired. It makes us remember all the good times the Universe Boss has given us over the years.

Let us not forget Chris Gayle, the Undisputed King of IPL T20

 

- Sachin V Gopalan

Sibling Rivalry Gone Crazy

When two brothers in a family get into a fight and pick up a knife or a gun, at what point does the entire village join in? Rarely or probably never. Village elders have always known when to stay away from a fight that is not theirs in the first place.

Aggression only creates more aggression. 

Its day 6 today. The daily updates by Ukrainian politicians and citizens is only making things worse and not helping to diffuse the fast degrading situation. Every response seems to be making an already crazed Putin progressively more mad and more angry. Common sense and survival instinct should tell us that this is not the right time or right way to provoke so that everyone can give finding peace a real chance.

I was looking at what Ukranians are circulating on social media. A pictorial scorecard in particular, of how many tanks destroyed, soldiers killed, planes downed on their enemy side, in a convincing attempt to show that they are winning. Tactical propaganda for sure, but perhaps only some of them realize that provoking further consequences will only invite the full wrath of the evil side of Putin, to be unleashed on them.

Chest thumping of any nature always has a multitude of consequences. Managing complex narratives are like walking a fine line, it can go either way. In this case, an already wounded lion can get even more mad, and then onward, things cannot de-escalate even if they may be willing to do so. On the other hand, demoralizing the opposition may trigger insider actions that may create change from within. What actually happens, one can only know by going forward in a time machine and looking back. Yes, quite often, it takes that long to fully understand the  implications of the outcomes of war.

A sad consequence is that, beyond a point, all of this is making Ukraine into a hot potato that nobody will want to touch, since the hard fact is that they are neither in NATO or EU at the moment. And in an ongoing war situation, it is unlikely that they will get admitted into either, as there is a process behind such things, not to forget that it will bring the war to everyone's doorstep. This is a point of no return for many and there is no way of turning back once you get here.

As of today (2nd March 2022), the situation is dire. 

The Kyiv-headed 40-mile long military convoy has a crazed world leader at one end and fiery patriots at the other, and one can only imagine how this is going to end. If history were to repeat itself, the Ukranian and Russian pride will dictate what comes next, as one of them are known to be from the land of the braves.

As for the world Nations being accused of voyeurism on the side of the stage, some are keeping quiet, others are showing sympathy, some outrage. And many are announcing future sanctions. Yet they all know that all of this mainly helps to contain the problem in one place, till it eventually goes away, which is just a matter of time.

Ukraine therefore has now become collateral damage. In my view.

Regardless of what the outcomes are going to be, the conflict will end one day, but what remains to be seen is, at what cost? Economic devastation and loss of human life are on the cards for decades to come. 

In a mud fight everybody gets messy, and you cannot expect to walk away clean unless u bring a pistol. And let us not forget that fight ends best when both sides can walk away feeling they got some wins. It is indeed a pity that there are no adults in the room on either side to cool the tempers and diffuse the situation. Some social behaviors are cultural and deeply embedded in history. One only has to look at the past 1,000 years of both nations to see a pattern that helps you understand what one can expect in the future.

Pacifism has a reason why it works, because if you can find a way to survive, you can live to fight another day in another way.

Our thoughts today are with the oppressed, we pray for precious human lives to be spared from the egos of the leaders at both ends. 

May tomorrow bring better news.

Covid 2.0

It's all playing out now as we speak. 

Last year covid was controllable with masks, social distancing and sanitizing. Lockdowns helped create this awareness at a mass scale. Many countries with smaller population managed it well. 

And then people started to think it's not so deadly (asymptomatic majority), it's an old person's disease (mainly comorbitidity deaths), social rebelliousness (no virus can change my life) and that it's just a conspiracy (numbers were low, did not happen to them, perceived economic exploitation by hospitals, testing, pharma) some of these seemed like valid reasoning to even the well educated. 

Thanks to all this, the virus went berserk in certain countries (UK, Brazil, S. Africa, India) and its variants are now airborne, bypasses immune system, goes straight to the lungs and sometimes doesn't show up in RT PCR tests. It's more infectious, affects any age group and this makes it a new pandemic at a completely different level altogether, that is very difficult to comprehend, let alone control.

What brought us to this juncture in India and Brazil? And will the same thing happen elsewhere? 

Many things to think about, as we contemplate our actions going forward.

For all the Jim Morrison fans out there.

For all the Jim Morrison fans out there. 

Jim Morrison, a saggitarian born on 8 Dec 1943 was only 27 years old when he died in July 1971. Just 27!!! If he was alive today, he would have been 78 years old, alongside Paul McCartney, Barbara Streisand, Harrison Ford, Calvin Clien and even Joe Biden.

So, after founding The Doors in 1965, all that he achieved was done over a span of a mere 6 years. In six years, the first two of which were spent in obscurity, they went from small time band to international fame in 1967 and all the great music we hear today was composed between 1967-1970.

The fame of Doors shot up even higher after his death of an alleged heroin overdose after which he was found in his bathtub (ala sridevi). Others who died at 27yrs in that same year were Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, just within months of each other.

It still took years for The Doors to be known worldwide, mostly posthumously, due to the cult following they generated and the 21 compilation albums that followed. We are still listening to them today.

Just think about it, what did all of us do from the age of 21 to 27 to make such an impression on the world?

How much amazing music has the world been deprived of, due to the untimely death of awesome singers due to overdosing on drugs and related stuff. 

Imagine what a rich music world this would be if Jim Morrison had lived on longer, like Frank Zappa who made over 100 studio albums in another wild career spanning 30 years, until he too died at age of 52. Or Elvis Presley releasing over 60 albums before dying at age of 42. The Doors only released a total of 9 studio albums and 5 Live albums, in a span of 5 years. And thats it. We are missing more than 50 albums, gone from a world that never happened for Jim Morrison.

Heroin has single-handedly killed off amazing talent from the music world, followed only by plane crashes that also caused similar shock untimely departures. But on the other hand, could heroin have been the very reason for unlocking so much talent, creativity and perspective, and therefore, the ultimate price to pay for all the fame that followed. Perhaps these super talented musicians end up living life on the edge only to please their fans, to give them more and more of their talent until one day it just goes dry, and the overdose happens when they push the limits a bit too far.

If all these singers went early and unwillingly to the big happy stage in the sky, today its the Cloud that is taking them to fans across time, across generations.

Jim's dying at 27 has however kept him young, we never got to see an old version of him, he was always the youthful Lizard King and it's perhaps the only way to stay forever young, by dying young.

I raise my single malt glass to great musicians who have made our days and evenings memorable.

My Dear Kamala Aunty

 

MY DEAR KAMALA AUNTY

 

When Kamala Harris became Vice President elect of USA, Indians all over the universe (Yes there is one selling tea on the Moon and looking to open a StarMusk chain on Mars) got very excited. Everyone dug deep and excavated their relationships, scrambling fervently to find a connection.  How could we own a piece of history for ourselves.

 

In fact, it was just within minutes of the nomination that furtive searches started taking place up and down family trees, as our elders are known to do whenever something significant happens to someone we heard about. A discovered uncle here, a forgotten aunt there, a long lost cousin and all sorts of other family connects get thrown up for scrutiny, even if they are difficult to prove. For all we know she could be my maternal uncle’s second cousin’s third niece. It’s really quite that simple.

 

That particular HARRIS family tree grew a few thousand new branches overnight. If one could not find oneself up that tree, one was quite content to be a nearby plant or a weed, settling for a relation-by-association.

 

Let me tell you how that works. Whatsapp was abuzz with chats on who had a connection to the Harris Gopalan Family from Chennai, India. More specifically, Besant Nagar’s Elliots beach that was home to her grandparents and the annual family holiday destination.  A famous man himself, her grandfather P.V. Gopalan was not unknown to the neighbors. Even my mother, who lives 300 meters away and shares the same initials and name but obviously from the opposite gender, was enquired on if Kamala was her grand-daughter. I got messages enquiring if we were related, having the same family name.

 

Upon getting our disappointing answer, many of the enquirers resorted to their own relation-by-association, often delivered with an air of superiority. “I passed by them every morning when she used to take a walk with her grandfather, I saw him shape her thinking during those walks whenever I passed by”. Or, “I used to have coffee in the same place where they had coffee after their long formative morning walks”. And even “I passed by their house every week and I got a good look inside and i saw him talking to her on the portico”. Not wanting to miss the party, all I could smugly say was “My dog and their dog sniffed each other’s backsides as we passed by them on their daily walks.” Ok, you wont get that unless you visualize it.

 

In India, Kamala Aunty is what she would be called, with our penchant for making everyone older into a relative. If she dared to visit now, she would be garlanded at the airport, received by truckloads of new found relatives and friends, chanting “Long live Kamala aunty, may you prosper and bring good name to our country, our city, our street and our village.” 

 

And that actually, is quite a good new year’s wish, for my favorite "relative" of the year, My Dear Kamala Aunty.

 

 

Trumped Up Charges

 

Trumped Up Charges

and other unforgettable tales from the swamp.

 

The Mickey & Donald show is finally slated to end in its first season, after a dramatic run of 1461 days. It’s one of those reality web series where waiting for a potential Season 2 has been a mixed bag of emotions for people from both sides of the proverbial fence. A one-hit wonder it should turn out to be. Stand-up comics and late night shows have suddenly woken up to the realization that they have not only lost their favorite daily impersonation act but also the will to live. Nevertheless, this development is akin to the burning of libraries in the medieval ages, so much comic material that was to come our way is now going to remain unwritten, and lost to civilization for good. What a pity!

 

But, let’s go back a few years, when the saga started. In a world filled with sophisticated conmen, all the proverbial glib-talking snake-oil salesmen were put to shame by the world’s most successful conman, who was officially crowned the king of them all when he became the the Conman-der-in-Chief of a nation that had over the years become a role model for the world. Take a guess who put him there. Yes, its Kellyanne Con-way, who, living true to her name, helped him con his way to the top-dog spot. Somewhere along the line, she also coined the new word “alternative facts” into the English dictionary. Not to be outdone by a lesser minion, the Donald responded almost immediately and copyrighted the word “Fake News”. That was the beginning, and the world lived on those two words, day by day, minute by minute, for over four long agonizing years.

 

Being the POTUS that he was, Making America Grate Again was happening on a daily basis and the country very quickly became the laughing stock around the world. We all remember waking up every morning to the disbelief of a tweet from the twit, or twat, as you would prefer to call him, depending on which country you are from, and wincing unpleasantly at the thought of something smelly that he regurgitated at your breakfast table. What usually went down with great relief after a hearty breakfast was for the last four years being served well before your bowels were activated.

 

Let’s look at some of the things Mr. Maga did. First things first, he cleaned up the swamp. Ceremoniously. But when you clean up the swamp and fill it with monsters from your own world, you just get another swamp with a new name and address. That’s actually all what Trump did. And he did it bigly. At first, he filled it with beautiful women, which was definitely a pleasant change from the dowdy yet efficient politicians we are used to. For a while everybody was thrown off trail by the glitzy glamour of the Trump World. Even Fox news had become Foxy News. But, throw in a reluctant wife, a drop-dead gorgeous daughter, a slick son-in-law and a rabid talking mini-me, and then flavor it with a doting deputy, a dangerously-quiet world leader, a pet dictator, a storming porn star, a dodgy alt-newsman, a turncoat lawyer, a rogue FBI boss, a side-switching ambassador, a clueless educationist, a teen-stalking ex-mayor, fact-changing press handlers, and finally season generously with sprinkles of plainclothes members of the Klan emerging from the woodwork, you can start to see it all go downhill pretty quick.

 

Bizarre happenings like this are unthinkable anywhere except in the US of A which has always promised to entertain us every second of your day, especially while you are sleeping. Yes, you can’t make up this kind of stuff. For writers, inspiration and muses do come in different forms, and this time, orange.

 

Many strange things happened afterwards, but I won’t go there today. I would need to write a book for that, not an article. Let’s take a closer look at the more recent debacle of the election results being fiercely contested on the basis of Trumped-up charges of falsified elections. At the end of it all, POTUS realized that he has something un-flushable. From "Not being in it to lose", he rapidly turned into a very noisy sore loser. From being zealously win-eager, all his grapes were so sour that everything quickly turned into vinegar. Trump had campaigned “VOTUS, VOTUS” but people said “NOTUS, NOTUS”. Then, when he went to SCOTUS, they decided not play DOTUS, instead leaving him quite QUIXOTUS. So, off he went, back to FLOTUS, the only one who tolerates his BLOTUS EGOTUS, to scheme a new PLOTUS. Will they finally get his GOATUS? It remains to be seen with the season finale just a few days away.

 

Sometimes, I do wonder who really tried to rig the election. Only a Master of the Con would be able to understand what fraud is and how it can be orchestrated. The accusations were highly entertaining to a world that has never seen this before. It seems we had fake voters, dead voters, amnesiac voters, and god knows what other abominations tumbling out of the woodwork, quite like the fabled resurrection on judgement day. But let me tell you a thing about the Dead, if we were to let them vote, they would have probably voted for Trump. Perhaps they did. Maybe the Donald knew something more about the “rigged” elections that he called out three months before voting even began, because in all likelihood he himself was rigging it to get to his record number of votes, which by the way, his opponent still beat by a large margin. So, hey, who really rigged the election? We may never know.

 

It does look like finally Hollywood killed Trollywood, as the Trump White House should be known, for the record of posterity. When key states beat the Donald, allegedly “at his own game” and when the Collegiate finally validated the score-card, history was indeed created, for a while. 

 

However, let us be kind. To be the “Most Memorable First Term President” in the history of the world is not a poor title by any standards, especially when he is in the company of the punk band called Mugabe, Fat Kim and the Dislikables.

 

This presidential couple, Melania & Megalomania, The Beauty & the Orange-utan are definitely going to be missed. Sorely missed? Fondly missed? All this depends on how the Biharis will do, who are slated to take over soon. Well, that's what Biden-Haris are known as… only Indians will get this joke, or those who are aware of Indian ethnicity, because, hey, this time there is Indian DNA in-da-House, and we own that joke.