If anything, I commend the upcoming presidential election hustle bustle for the discourse in economy that currently runs rampant. We don't get that very often. At least, we are exposed to something more substantial than just candidate imaging-marketing stunts.

Too bad, though… some campaign teams dumb down the by-play by dismissing us, voters, as mere “laypersons,” unqualified to question the practices and policies we have endured.

Do we really need foreigners to spell out what’s been going on?

There is a very wealthy class here and it is growing, but so is the gap between rich and poor.

While the top 2% are swanning around the brand name stores, more than half the country's workforce earn hardly enough to feed themselves.

(“Falling down Indonesia's social ladder,” by former BBC Indonesia correspondent Claire Bolderson.)

I recalled a conversation my brother and I had when he drove me to work at 5.20 am, a year ago. We went pass couple of morning markets that were so lively in the wee hours.

bro, “There's got to be something wrong about our economy...”

moi, quoting the Murphy's Law, “... if anything can go wrong, it will...”

bro, “Look at these, I challenge whoever says our people are lazy to come and see these, and think again!… They are hard workers. They are just being denied opportunities and systematically impoverished.”

Hmm…