Coming back from Bontotiro, and the whole Tanjung Bira area is a total change in gears. Spending my first full day since I have got back to Makassar waiting to meet with people was not how I envisaged my hyperproductive week in the city to start. Having been up in Batang for the past few days, I think my whole being slowed down to the relaxed country lifestyle I so enjoy. Sitting around on porches, taking advantage of the brownout to go and catch up with neighbours, and being able to pick a half decent meal out of the trees surrounding Kiky’s cousin’s house definitely keep me in touch with what I love about being here in Indonesia. Coming back to the city makes me miss Canada all the more. However, it also sheds a lot of light on why this country has been stuck in its current predicament.
Upon return I was told that there may be a chance for me to do a little web development work for the government. Kiky’s eldest brother works in the government offices, and so has the right connections to get these things started up. My first night in Makassar was spent thinking how I would price my services, what I should do to make it more appealing, and if there was an inkling of a chance to get a job here after all.
The next morning we set out the customary hour behind schedule. While we could have left earlier since the guys who make the national ID cards were not able to proces Kiky’s application, we bade our time and left when we felt we needed to. It was a fairly long trip down to Goa from our house, taking us through most of the city in the process.
When we finally got there, I was not surprised to see that many of the government workers were as busy as other times I have been to their offices, namely, not at all. Our trio made our way confidently to the house of the guy we would present to. I had been told that regardless of what they job may consist of, keep the price high. The government, budgets generously, and then if the money is not spent it goes as a bonus to the employees in that department. I was skeptical if this was all above the table, but went along with it anyways. As far as I could tell, I would not be getting involved in any corrupt activities, but would rather just offer my services and be rewarded for the work completed.
Seeing where government employees live in this country makes me understand why they are relatively irresponsive to the public. They generally live in the top percentile of the population, and own many of the services that the government is trying to regulate. Far from being a banana republic style setup, it brought me immediately back to Dick Cheney, who led a double life as both a master of the corporatocracy and one who was voted in to regulate people like himself.
The butterflies in my stomach soon settled down, and started to slowly rescend into their cocoons, as the minutes of waiting for the representative turned into hours. Soon those butterflies were replaced by canine growling sounds as lunch approached. We had been told by all that our man was inside, but where inside his own home was the big question. I would not have been surprised in the least to find out that he took a wrong turn and ended up in a wing of his house that he had yet to discover. Leaving and coming back from lunch did little good except to add to the cue of people waiting on the head honcho’s front porch. In our newly fed and restless moods, we started to prod around the house until an envoy came out, explaining that he had been sleeping. He was apparently feeling ill, and would not be able to make any meetings today. While I am a strong proponent of taking sick leave, I was skeptical of what kind of infection made it impossible to get this information to us 4 hours earlier, so that we could carry on with our days.
Walking back down to the minibus taxi, Kiky’s brother pointed to all the acquisitions this man had in a tone of awe. A block away from our failed meeting, we passed by the Sultan of Goa’s residence. The huge traditonal building dwarfed the surrounding homes, a memory of a great past for this bygone kingdom. However, I wonder if the kingdom ever dissolved, but rather evolved into a shabby imitator of democracy, where votes are bought through t-shirts and free meals.
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