[Animal Law Simulation] Eating Soon-to-be-Euthanized Dogs?

It's pretty funny how things you hate the most usually being the thing that you end up paying attention the most. Like my experience with the animal law, the more subject I object, the more productive I write about that matter - even in fact those writings might be rebuttal.

We had an interesting simulation in one of the class: Dog for Livestock Bill debate simulation. Yes, what I mean by simulation was a FAKE bill, fake opponents and sure, fake proponents. I was acting as one of the proponents of this bill, specifically, my role was a dog meat consumer, and during our work we collected some interesting materials. I summed that up in a 5 minutes speech which I'll just post in here, but I recommend you to read some more interesting articles in here. Anyway, here is the fake bill:

And, here is my *evil* but *rationale* speech! ENJOY!

DISCLAIMER: Please bring in mind that this is an argument for a simulation. It does not represent my personal opinion about eating dog meats, and even I do LOVE dog meats, I eliminate health concerns in here since my role (which is fake) was to advocate the bill. Consuming dog meats in the US is highly related to the vaccines and medications received by the dogs, and very possibly unsafe for human consumption.

Let me begin this with one question: What is the most delicious meat that you ever taste? Pork? Beef? Chicken? Turkey? Lamb?

What about meat that is as fatty as pork that it has a little taste of bacon; juicy as beef but inherit the same unique texture as lamb, and capable of warming up your body like wine?

“After eating dog meats, beef seems tasteless” – Mark Wiens, a famous food blogger confessed. What he said has repeatedly been spoken by many people who dared to step outside of their culinary comfort zone and eat dogs.

Source: toughtcatalog.com (2013)

Dog meats are exotic delicacy. And it is exactly the central reason why legalizing abandoned dogs as livestock can be a promising solution of our overarching problem with dogs overpopulation, dogs euthanasia and disposal of euthanized dogs.

There are three reasons why we believe this law is important for Otagon society as a whole, and dog meat consumers in particular: (1) We have enormous problems related to abandoned dogs and their euthanasia, which require an innovative solution; (2) There is an increasing consumer demands over dog meats in Otagon, making dog meats business a promising market – and a solution; (3) The scheme offered in this bill will force dog meats market to ensure dog welfare and hygienic practice.

But before proceeding further, I need to ensure that everyone in here departs from the same page to see the practice of eating dogs with rational, rather than emotional, considerations. Looking at this issue, we tend to react emotionally from our cultural bias. But let us think about this: Is it acceptable for Moslems or Jewish folks pointing their finger to us and saying that we are immoral because we eat pork? And is it justified for Indians to believe that everyone who eat beef is less civilized than them? Then do we really have strong reason, aside from our own cultural bias, to put a social prejudice upon people who is performing his personal dietary choice? This country, since our Declaration of Independence, has put a solid foundation and eventually succeeded in building a society who respects personal choices.

And yet, as a dog-loving society, we have successfully abandoned 6 millions of dogs and sent them to animal shelter; and eventually killed 3-4 millions of them with a method we call humane. It happens every single year. Department of Agriculture’s data shows that even organizations like PETA has euthanized more than 95% of the animals it rescued. And about 2 billion dollars of public money are being spent every year to maintain the shelter operations, the euthanasia, and the disposal of our dear friends’ dead bodies. The disposal itself also troubles the ecology and poses an environmental justice problem to the low-income community. Our problem is not resolved – it evolved.

Ladies and gentlemen, as I mentioned in my second point, the creative solution that we’re looking for is always there. The market demand is growing. Dog meats are considered delicacy in many parts of the world, including China, Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, some parts of Africa, even in Canada, and the list goes on. Top 5 countries of origin of the 17.3 millions of Asian Americans are actually dog-eating countries; and some of these folks brought their dietary culture with them, even influencing Americans to also try this delicacy. Overbrook, a town in Kansas, has been hosting more than 21 annual dog-eating festivals, a perfect example of American-Vietnam acculturation in terms of culinary preferences. As this bill is debated, at least one point of contact of every municipality in Otagon has let me know their support.

But as I mentioned in my third point, the current situation of the emerging dog meat market is terrible – both for the dogs and for the consumers. We might not know – but it’s there. Just like Philadelphia case, Otagon dog butchers using the available legal loophole, behind their closed doors – breeding, raising, and slaughtering dogs. It’s legal to do so, without any standards available, without any provisions to prosecute, without any inspections. I’ve been observing for 15 years how the sanitary standard is lacking, and how the traditional method of killing the dog is far behind our standard of ‘humane’. By having no inspected processor, the consumers lack certainty and information of safety level of the dog meat, posing themselves with the risk of trichinellosis or excessive level of chemicals within the dog’s flesh. By having no inspected processor, we let more dogs beaten to death under the silence of the law. The most suitable answer for this is law and regulation.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘What are you doing for others?’ - Martin Luther King, Jr. said. We, the dog meat consumers, are offering to voluntarily bear the social stigma of eating dog meats so that it can compensate society’s burden caused by America’s excessive abandonment of our lovely friends. Think about it”

Some other interesting sources:

1. Slate, Wok the Dog (2002)
2. Earth Island, Why Environmentalists Should Care about Pet Euthanasia (2012)
3. CNN, The Argument of Eating Dogs (2014)
4. Mark Wiends, What Does Dog and Cats Meats Taste Like (2013)

In the matter of Answering "I Don't Know"

The deeper I know about a matter, the more I realized I have addressed many wrong questions in the past - which has been answered in a really wrong sense. Yap, I'm talking about those questions which sounds smart and challenging that the person who's been asked have no idea that that questions contained serious flaws. And they, in the light of their expertise, will rather pretending to be able to answer that 'wrong questions' than honestly answer 'I have no idea' or 'I must look it up first'.

This is one of the most true example of how many people will answer wrong questions:

"What do you think about the new rules issued by Ministry of Transportation to impose different gas prince for people based on their monthly income?" SMART! Beside the fact that I just made that issue up, the more important flaw is that there is NO Ministry of Transportation in Indonesia. And yet, people keep answering.

It makes me remember of one of the questions addressed by an interviewer during my Fulbright interview back home. When I mentioned how I wanted to learn more about EPA, and when I mentioned some amazing programs EPA administered and how I want to research about possibility of applying that in Indonesia, he asked me:

"Do you know that EPA will be dissolved soon?"

I thought hard if I ever heard of that before, and innocently answered "Really?" with a super dumb face. I decided pretending to know will possibly more risky because I really had no idea whether he's asking a true question or he merely tricked me. Later on after I started my courses in the US, his question made more sense to me. He probably was referring to the war on coal, of which the republicans started highlight more and more EPA's costly programs and policies, and framing EPA as 'killing capitalism'. And it become clear to me that such question is inherently wrong, and it could be really good test on how well a person knows, or pretend to know, EPA. If I were at the state of my knowledge right now, the most possible answer was "I know that Republicans have tried so hard to frame that for years - yet to my knowledge, there is no success effort in dissolving it. EPA has successfully nailed Republican efforts to stay away from US' duty in climate change so far"

Be careful with experts. Sometimes they don't realize that intentional mislead is a big academic sin.

Travel SOS: Trapped in Remote Island

Trouble loves me so, so much; and it seems to entail me anywhere I go - some of them can be totally hilarious if you have the right attitude, but knowing objective facts on the practical solutions are always helpful no matter how low your EQ is. Please be aware that some things are written in local perspective and might be different in one place and another.

I always love Flores. I love its scenery, I love the way people smile at me, I love the drunk grandmothers, I love their spirituality, and so on. But traveling in Indonesia, you have to be aware that this is the land of surprise. And now, it's Flores turn to remind me that anything can happen in this land. Yes, I mean, something like THIS.

I stole the image from Daily Mail, by the way. Hint: volcano eruption (SURE!)

It was a long holiday in May 2014, where we had too many national holidays in a row (sometimes Indonesian holidays are completely nonsense) that I only need to take a three days leave from my office to obtain a total 10 days vacation. And I was alone, a lucky soloist with no itinerary and ended up alone in Ende, waiting for my flight back to Kupang for a night transit to Jakarta.

Everything went so smooth, there was a nice carnival at the town and I arrived on time at the airport, checked in, dropped my baggage, and sat nicely waiting for my boarding call.

By then, I already got a message from my friend in Labuan Bajo that they couldn't flew due to a volcano eruption, Mt. Sangeang, an island near Bima, which just happened to erupt that day. But hey, the airport and everyone in there was so chill that I worry nothing will actually happen. I even asked some airport officials whether the flight will be cancelled, and they confidently answered that no, it is on schedule. And there the announcement speaker bring the jinx... It says something like this (of course in polite version)

"Dude, your flight is cancelled due to the volcano eruption. If you dropped your baggage, take it back from the baggage counter. You can clarify what's going on and what's next in our office" and the office further clarified, "Dude, we're screwed. There's no way we can fly today and I have no idea when we can resume. We have two solutions for your tickets, we'll reimburse it completely, including your connecting flights; or, you can stay in our waitlist to keep flying with us, which the fastest is about 4 days from now, and we have no idea what the worst scenario can be"

Okay. So, if it's ever happen to you, DON'T PANIC. Even if you're completely remote and geographically impossible to get out by anything other than plane, don't panic. Even if you have no idea when you can get a seat, don't panic! Here are some tips:

ONE: Find people who are suffering the same fate with you.

Unless you're traveling to super off-the beaten path places, there's a huge possibility that you're not the only one who wants to go home soon. I ended up meet 13 new amazing friends in Flores and I found people are really valuable resources in solving your case. Why are people useful? (1) You're looking for solution of the same problem. In my Flores case, we shared information about available flights, price comparison, possible alternative route, other possible means of transportation, etc; (2) You'll probably stay overnight for an unknown period, means you'll need cheapest (but humane) accommodation; (3) Companion! You'll need cool people to stay with and keep you sane. And usually, random travelers are the best sources!

Here's the gang:

TWO: Don't be in the waitlist.

Being in waitlist during disaster is a BIG bet. It's tricky and risky, and you don't have active control on your own fate. The best you can do is asking the airline about your waitlist progress. DON'T.

THREE: Just take your reimbursement, and know the trick!

Small cities like Ende won't have much ready cash in their office. There's a huge possibility that they will offer you wire transfer - which will come within 2 weeks at maximum (if it's not stuck somewhere). It can be a problem if you don't have money left to buy another ticket. You can try to demand cash reimbursement, but it can be tricky too. Right after the flight cancellation, the small office will be really crowded. By this time, the officer will definitely say that they have limited cash and they will try to reimburse everyone by wire transfer. They even can say that their cash is dried already. Negotiating anything at this point will less likely success. So, you can wait until everyone is done with their business - but don't wait to be the last person! When it's 4-5 people left, check if the officer still actually have cash. If they do (I bet!), you can take your cash reimbursement when everyone else get wire transfer. In my Flores case, I didn't get in the line (not for the reimbursement reason, I had no idea of this by then) and among the last persons to get reimbursed. People who get their reimbursement before me just got envious with the result.

FOUR: Search for another flight (or, another route - if possible)

This is the most difficult part, and totally case by case. I can only suggest: (1) Know the other available airlines in that city and in cities nearby; (2) Know the stuck point of the cancelled airlines and understand the causation (where do your flight comes from? why is it stuck? is there any other routes?); (3) Get updates from another accessible cities (which one have normal air traffic, etc); (4) Survey the alternative airlines! Ask them when is the next available flight, and how many seats left. Take a note of it. Make a comparison.

This process takes a long time - we spent the whole evening just figuring out our situation and surveying the alternatives.

*** Just so you understand the travel complication in my case, I'll give you a map. Flores is quite a remote area in the eastern part of Indonesia, and only three airlines fly to and from Ende (Garuda, Lion / Wings Air, Trans Nusa), and the flight route of each airlines are different. Each airlines basically fly once a day. My airline, Lion, had to fly from Denpasar, Bali (green route); which means passing by the thick dust of Sangeang madness and stop by Labuan Bajo, Ende, and Maumere before departing to Kupang. So when the plane stuck in Bali, there's no way subsequent flights can happen. All flights from Ende had similar problem. So we looked to other big cities, and the closest one is Maumere, three hours away. After surveying some time, we found out that Sriwijaya Air were operating normally because of the route and the flight altitude, so we decided to leave Ende and took our flight from Maumere.

Green line: my cancelled flight route. Yellow line: the 'solution' flight route.

FIVE: Be patient, don't buy your ticket replacement during the 'panic time'

So you got the itinerary that you want, and the only thing that you want to do is securing it. Normal people will possibly book it really quick, and pay it right away. But from my Flores experience, waiting and gambling a bit can give you way cheaper price. I booked and paid my ticket about three hours after the cancellation happened. That was the 'panic time' - the time when everyone book the ticket, but haven't really paid it yet. By that time (about 1-12 hours after the cancellation, presumably), the seats are very competitive, causing the price getting so high. And people actually can book more than one flight, but certainly ended up buying only one. After several hours, the unpaid tickets will be available again - this is the cool down period. Best bet: wake up at 3am in the morning and keep checking. Some seats will magically available, with a much, much lower price! (My friends who didn't get the ticket during the day woke up at three and bought their tickets half price of mine)

SIX: You're set!

Okay, ready for some disaster? :)

 

Tips Membaca Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi

Mungkin buat anak hukum yang kuliah di Indonesia, baca putusan itu sesuatu yang jarang-jarang kadang lah ya. Kalau diwajibkan baca buat keperluan tugas, ya hayok (dengan catatan tugas FH di Indonesia senantiasa terlalu sedikit, apa lagi tugas bacaannya). Kalau nggak diwajibkan, ah kerajinan lo liat-liat putusan!

Namun, sebenarnya skill mencari dan membaca putusan ini merupakan skill yang penting ketika sudah beranjak ke dunia kerja, atau sekedar tambahan pengetahuan deh sebagai jurist. Apalagi, sekarang putusan pengadilan sudah jauh lebih mudah diakses, baik melalui website putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi maupun Mahkamah Agung. Tapi, kalau teman-teman pernah baca putusan MK maupun MA, rata-rata langsung malas dan komplain "Putusannya panjang banget, bok! Ratusan halaman!". Yap, memang! Misalnya, putusan judicial review UU Sumber Daya Air (2005) berjumlah 523 halaman; putusan UU Migas (2003) berjumlah 233 halaman; pengujian hutan adat di UU Kehutanan (2013) 188 halaman. Walaupun spasinya ganda dan hurufnya gede-gede, tetep aja sih bacanya bikin malas.

Nah, sebenarnya, nggak segitunya kok! Asal tahu tips dan triknya, kita bias menghemat waktu untuk mengambil inti sari putusan dan signifikansinya. Untuk kali ini, kita bahas putusan MK dulu ya.

1. Cari tahu garis besar kasusnya lewat berita

Sekalipun putusan sudah di tangan, langsung membaca putusan tanpa tahu garis besarnya bisa membuat kita ribet sendiri. Dari berita, kita bisa memahami: (1) Pihak yang menggugat; (2) Inti dari pasal-pasal yang diujikan; (3) Prioritas pasal-pasal yang diujikan (mana yang dianggap paling signifikan); (4) Kaleidoskop kasusnya (kapan dimasukkan, kapan diputus); (5) Inti putusan hakim. Kalau putusan belum di tangan, berita juga bisa menginformasikan nomor putusan, yang akan sangat berguna dalam pencarian di website MK (jangan kira urusan cari putusan gampang ya buat beginner). Untuk satu UU, bisa jadi pengujiannya lebih dari 1 perkara. Misalnya, pengujian UU Pilkada (UU No. 22/2014 sejauh ini sudah menghasilkan 10 putusan, semuanya diajukan oleh pihak yang berbeda dan menguji pasal yang berbeda-beda. Pastikan putusan yang kita baca memang putusan untuk perkara dimaksud, untuk pengujian pasal yang dimaksud.

2. Pastikan kamu tahu apa yang kamu cari

Fokus! Sebagian besar perkara MK adalah pengujian UU terhadap UUD, jadi langkah pertama, kamu harus tahu persis pasal mana di UUD yang sedang kamu cari tahu tafsirnya. Langkah kedua, langsung saja loncat ke bagian pasal-pasal yang diujikan dan periksalah pasal-pasal mana saja dalam permohonan pengujian tersebut yang relevan dengan tafsir pasal yang sedang kamu cari.

Misalnya, kamu sedang mencari tahu tafsir atas pasal 33 ayat (3) UUD 1945, pastikan kamu tahu pasal-pasal mana saja yang diujikan dan kira-kira relevan dengan batu ujinya. Jadi, nantinya ketika kamu membaca lebih lanjut, hal-hal yang tidak relevan cukup dibaca cepat.

3. Langsung cari bagian 'PERTIMBANGAN HUKUM'

Ini tips yang paling penting. Dari sekian ratus halaman yang ada, sebenarnya substansi putusannya paling hanya 10-20% bagian akhir dari keseluruhan dokumen. Selalu ingat bahwa postur putusan adalah: (1) Para pihak; (2) Duduk perkara (fakta-fakta); (3) Dalil-dalil para pihak (termasuk eksepsi, jawab-menjawab dan pembuktian) dan pada akhirnya (4) Putusan (pertimbangan hakim dan amar putusan).

Pertimbangan hakim hanya akan ditemukan di bagian keempat. Jadi, hal pertama yang sebaiknya dilihat dari putusan justru adalah bagian terakhirnya. Pertama, lihat amar putusan (apa yang diputus). Kedua, baru baca substansi pertimbangan hakim. Ketika membaca substansi pertimbangan hakim, pastikan kembali merujuk pada 'apa yang kamu cari' (Poin 2)

4. Kalau masih punya waktu, baru baca dari awal. Tapi, skimming aja!

Jangan habiskan waktu untuk membaca secara teliti dan bersungguh-sungguh hal yang sebenarnya belum berguna. Memahami konteks itu penting. Tahu apa yang didalilkan penggugat dan tergugat itu keharusan. Tapi, biasanya intisarinya sudah termuat di pertimbangan hukum. Jadi, membaca 80% bagian awal putusan sebenarnya bukan prioritas.

Oke deh, selamat mencoba! Kalau ada sanggahan atau tips yang lebih praktis, silakan loh! :)

Zuckenberg's "Only Eat what I Killed", Animal Rights v. Animal Welfare

Getting too bored with too many Indonesian cases (and too few high-quality opinions from the Court), I decided to browse around and somehow suddenly stumbled with this interesting random article: Mark Zuckerberg's new challenge: Eating only what he kills (and yes, we do mean literally...)

 

Within seconds, I can't hold my brain to relate what he thinks with my recent reading assignment from Animal Law class - four articles, on an ethical and philosophical approach of that movement, which have a really, really important significance in shaping and draw the direction of what can be done through the legal means.

My first impression of Animal Law class has not been good. In the first meeting, a girl in my class suggested veganism as the solution of animal cruelty problems in the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO). Put simply, CAFOs are huge, capitalistic corporation version of farms, which mainly supply daily meats for Americans. CAFOs are so well-structured, usually monopolizing all related meat business, including slaughter house and distribution - excluding smaller farms from the preference list of the meat supply chain. Driven by profit, they do whatever most efficient in producing those meats, consequently care almost nothing about how bad they treat the animals. If you type CAFO in Google, you can experience the horrible image yourself - many, way too many animals with way too little space.

To my Indonesian brain, it has nothing to do with veganism. It is a problem of big corporations being too greedy for profit, casting away small farms from the market, and using the consumer demands to legitimize their cruelty action. I had no idea how this girl conclude that telling everyone that they must be vegan because the meats they eat are produced cruelly can possibly be a practical solution - since some comments from vegan fellow just make me feeling totally antipathy to them. Majority of that class, instead of discussing how a legal solution can be achieved for CAFOs, got really distracted with sharing one another how they feel about their vegan life. Another girl even says, "I feel environmental advocates who still eats meats are no more than hypocrite"; and another one says, "While I was younger and more naïve, I feel like everyone would easily stop eating meats when they know this kind of truth, but those stupid, horrible people does not..." Honestly, I can't remember that we reached any conclusion about that.

One important lesson I learn from that discussion: If you want to advocate something and persuade people to be on your side, do not make people hate you at the first sight.

The four articles I mentioned in the beginning of this post came weeks later after that first horrible class. Those articles turns to give explanation for me to understand that veganism as a solution is not a new idea - someone named Francione had proposed it before, and thank God, the girl who mentioned veganism as CAFOs cruelty solution now amend her opinion - strongly oppose Francione's veganism proposal. But, well, I'm trying not to be biased: Francione attacked so many successful legal cases as false conception of victory. Winning legal battle in court, passing a legislation in humane treatment of animals, influencing regulations to increase their standards animal welfare - in his opinion, these were never victories, but merely compromise which draws the ultimate goal of respecting animal's intrinsic rights further. He offered a fascinating (though flawed) and revolutionary theory on how animals should be respected for their own sake - not for human's sake, and how 'unnecessary killings' (including eating their meats) must be abolished. This first approach called abolitionist. And my Professor, with most of the other famous animal organizations, stands in a different approach - a slow and compromise, but have real impact in creating tangible changes. They criticize the abolitionist approach, by using sharp words, saying that it offers no more than revolutionary idea - and while failed to realizing it, more and more animals died of cruel treatment. This approach known as welfarist. The more popular one: sure, the welfarist. And what's the abolitionist doing? Well, there are some non-violent approach which is basically telling people to go vegan; but to the extreme, there even some groups categorized as terrorists - for example, Animal Liberation Front. By the end of that class, we reach the conclusion that most people feel more comfortable in pursuing career with the welfarist school of taught.

By the way, you might be questioning "So why did you mention Zuckenberg? Where are you going?". Well, as a meat eater, it's easy for me to put myself in a position of common people who categorize animal rights / animal welfare advocates outside my normal sphere. One of my objection is that vegan advocates usually put too much objection in killings. Killing is killing and it can't be right - they say. But, hey, isn't killing supposedly be an inseparable part of our nature in survival of the fittest? The mess that we've seen today is not caused by people killing animals - it is because too many people are alienated from that killing process - yet still be able to enjoy the benefit. We put the burden to kill only to very few percentage of people who work in the slaughter houses, which unfortunately usually targeted by animal rights advocacy group, and again, victimized by their action. And it is absolutely true of what Zuckenberg says: we need to fully understand how our meals is actually at cost of other's life by confronting the horror of killing. Both approaches, abolitionist and welfarist, have failed to recognize this fact. Welfarist, demanding 'humane' treatment of slaughter, only drawing people further from the natural process of survival - and strengthen the huge corporations who already dominating the meat market. The more 'humane' treatment it demands (using anesthetic and complicated tools), the less possibility smaller farms can afford it. Abolitionist create nothing more than hatred, it is nothing more than religious extremist for me - forcing other people to belief precisely what they believe as the truth.

In the end, no ideal solution is complete if it is not seen holistically within the context of human-nature relation. The devil is in our economic system and artificial life, and the furthest we can get will always be compromise. So, eat meats! Eat happy and healthy meats.

PS. One day I'll try this Zuckenberg's goal.

Being Fat and Happy? Wait, It Can be Dangerous.

Okay, first thing first, I am not impressed by supermodel's body or biased media conception about beauty. I am against it and to some extreme it is horrible. But following that, I am in a position of seriously thinking how the counter-movement illustrated in this picture, telling big people that they are deserve to be happy despite of their size, contains a dangerous fallacy.

There are some ways to interpret this illustration, and the more positive one says "Stop being so stressed out of the body image! The standard of beauty created by media are so hyper-real and they have used so many wrong perception in our innocent eyes. Don't let yourself obsessed with what media says about beauty or size!"

But it can also be read as saying: "That's the way Whitney! You love ice cream and cakes and all those mass-produced sugary thing and you eat a lot because that's the way you grow up and you have no idea how to eat less and the society (I mean food corporations) does not let you to have any other perception, besides they have turn to be the things that you love! And you love to stay in home, being lazy and watch TV all day and hate workout and that's fine!"

What I'm gonna write is for the second interpretation. I cannot claim myself as neutral in responding this image, since I have no idea how it feels to be obese and how difficult it is to start the habit those healthy people normally do. But I know how it feels to have more fatty flesh compared to your country's girl medium size, despite how much you think you have put diet attempts. But hey, is diet attempts ever necessary if your daily habit is good enough to let your body do its normal, humane mechanism of calories balancing? No. Hell no.

I grow up believing that our living system have been so altered to what our body naturally designed. Some parents spoiled their children with too much sugar: excessive milk, chocolate and candies, many cakes, so much proteins, and much more. When they grow up, a cup of frappucino slipped in their habit, altogether with alcohol and beers and so many unnecessary, but available, dishes you will find in meetings. And hey, there are way too many ways how the market dictating people's behavior to be physically lazier without realizing it. We work on office, no longer using your body as the typical jobs decades ago. We drive or biking in motorcycle, or using public transport, losing our opportunity to move when transporting. And that's the reason why people starts going to gym and put extra efforts to work out - to keep their body demand to release calories reasonable.

And especially in North America, some 'designed eating habits' really scare me. Ice creams are sold in huge baskets with really cheap price. The cheapest foods you can find are fast food or hamburger or processed meats (sausage, nuggets, etc). Mutated vegetables are everywhere, and people's standard over good fruits or vegetables are the huge ones - yes, like the huge, flawless orange pumpkin for Halloween. If I compare to the tropical, naturally grown fruits from Indonesia, despite the fact that those natural fruits taste way more better, it looks much uglier. And that's the way natural things looks like: smaller and not flawless. Same things happen to poultry or meat products. The strict rule of animal slaughter in the US has been so tricky that small-scale farms are hardly exist, because those slaughterhouse prefer huge industries. And Americans rarely understand that those huge meat/poultry producers have manipulated the animals so badly with way too much antibiotics and hormones. What they know, as what's been propagated by the industries, that chickens are huge and small chickens are strange. Even when I taste the eggs and the milk, I don't think they taste like normal eggs or milk - it tastes like it contains too much drugs. And guess what the answer? Food labeling and veganism! Organic foods are labeled and sold in a much higher price, and there are many laws passed for the 'humane treatment of animal'.

Isn't it an irony that what the earth gave has been modified so badly, changing the human perception until they have no idea which ones are natural, and then reintroduced again as a 'solution' but with a much higher price?

Yes, Whitney, that might be one of the answer of your weight problem. And it's the nation's problem, not only yours, but I let you know so you might realize it. You absolutely can choose to be happy with your current lifestyle because the alternative might be a revolution against the whole system. It might be pricey, full of difficult efforts - because the evil has been rooted so deep in your perception of 'culture' which promoted by the market system.

But for other nations who still have choice to reject this kind of system in their home, please do so. I can see these kind of things arise in Jakarta and other big cities in developing nations. Realize this, you need to have some good role in eating habit - definitely not the US. However, I live in Portland, OR, and what they're doing with veganism, strong local market, food carts, other healthy stuffs, and sporty-outdoor habits sounds like a revolution against the system for me - a post-modern society inside the States itself. The result? Oregonians are typically slim.

Overweight is not normal and choosing to be happy without any effort to reduce such abnormality sounds like nothing more than hopelessness and denial. But it's up to you in the end.

Happy Birthday, TNI!

Military crafted its name really badly in Indonesia history. My childhood perception of Indonesian army was no more than a group  of disgusting dumb flirty guys who seemingly pedophile. When my campus finally sent me to Indonesia's remote frontier, I start to understand the hardships and complication within the individual troops locked in their posts. Indonesia, an archipelagic state with more than 13,000 islands, huge internal waters, deadly sea, frontiers off the beaten track, separatism, illicit trade, tough pirates, creative political frauds, indigenous people, and all those stuffs - not an easy beast to tame whether you're in land, water, or air. There are individual story in each of those troops, a humane story, and distrust towards the institution doesn't necessarily means bad individuals. However, military still have a huge task convincing common Indonesian perception towards them, that is a feeling of safety instead of threat.

Overall, we have seen progress throughout these years, and we do hope Indonesian military keep progressing, institutionally and in the name of defense itself. Happy birthday, Tentara Nasional Indonesia!

Mt. Hood Spoiler (Quick Glance, never mind)



Seen from one of the viewpoint, a fun long walk!

Life's been exciting in here and I owe so many updates, to say some: (1) the Bogota - Leticia update from Human Rights & Environmental Justice Workshop held by a cool latino organization calling themselves Dejusticia; (2) my awesome Portland experience and the cool non-academic experience in this weird city; (3) my awesome (and awful) academic experience in one of the most advance environmental law program in the State (and that's why it's awful - the deeper you know, the more you understand that your prior assumptions, which are mostly positive, are proven wrong); (4) some drama including my Atlanta baggage-4-days-delay, my hurry travel signature, my 5-hours-ago-my-roommate-got-a-job-in-Wyoming-and-moving-there - and surely another tips on facing trouble! I'm becoming more and more expert in troubleshooting.

Well, I'll try to find some time to write all those demanding stories, hopefully in Bahasa and maybe some politically correct article in English, but don't worry, you can start warming up your hatred on me from...

NOW!



Mt. Hood wilderness area, Paradise Trail



I'll save the detail for later! Anyway, if you ever come to Portland, GO TO MT. HOOD! Trust me it's easy, just go there and bring some trail mix, and you're good. Okay, I promise to save it for later, so keep your eye on my posts (or you'll miss my trail mix update!!)

Say dinosaaaaauuur!!!

Environmental Autonomy, The Toothless Tiger

Another side-writing from my data collection in Toba Samosir Regency. I don’t mean to insult or shaming anyone, just letting the fact flows a little more to some of us who haven’t known. It’s not an academic writing, and I don’t bring any normative proof or academic analysis, so don’t rely on this for citation in arguing. I make this so you can feel, see from another perspective, and hoping the following elaboration will help anyone who wishes to sense how the system goes in Indonesia, and not oversimplifying things when they deal with anything related to reform in this country.

This time the trophy goes to the local environmental agency of Toba Samosir, whose official name is ‘Local Environmental and Mining Board’. And yes, the miraculous autonomous regime of Toba Samosir mixes the two conflicting bodies – the environmental guardian and destroyer, into one; leaving some chaos and confusion in its internal management. But let’s not talk about it yet.

I must say that the people in this agency is really nice, making me feel bad of writing not-so-good-things about them. They are responsive in picking up the phone, better than some national level government who never picks up the phone or respond to inquiries in proper time. It’s not difficult to make appointment with them and they seem to schedule it well. They let me sneak into EIAs, some company reports on their environmental performance, taking photos of permits, and so on – no suspicion that I might be using those data against them.

However, considering their responsibility and professionalism, I must say they did a bad, really bad job.

Let’s limit this conversation to Asahan River to begin, minimizing your chance to confuse before we dig deeper. The Law delegates many (I mean maaaany) responsibilities to local level government on environmental protection (including permitting, monitoring and enforcement) and environmental management (let’s not talk about this one – it needs a whole book!). One of those is to take care of the water pollution. The local government must study thoroughly what are the conditions needed to ensure a business operation that dump waste into the river will not endanger the river condition and the organism whose life depends on the river – including human. Then, the study result to certain rights, obligation, and prohibition set into the permit – in this case, liquid waste dumping permit. Amongst the study, we must consider the class of the river and its carrying capacity.

“And I’m so curious whast is the class of Asahan river? Its designation, also the water pollution carrying capacity, I can’t find them on Google” – I asked. That man I interviewed, one of the head divisions; said lightly “It has not been determined, Miss,” He continued, “To date, we only have three industries having the liquid waste permit,” Yes, three huge industries, you mean. So, all permits went on without assessment of how bad the river condition was and not taking into account recovery. And all designation continues without counting the possible endangerment inside the river water such as hazardous substances, you mean?

And then, after having issued the permit, local authority surely must be the responsible body to monitor such rights, obligation, and prohibition. The law sets some weird, differing, up to anyone mechanism on this monitoring system (not literally like that but you don’t want hearing me talking about this) and trust it to the local government. Most of the time, the local government trust it solely to the company and keep their hands off this responsibility.

“And how do you publish the data of the ambient water quality?” I asked. And that’s a stupid question because I should’ve begun with “Do you even do the ambient water quality test regularly?” or “Have you determined the exact location (coordinate, I mean) to take samples of the ambient water quality?” or “What is the regular interval you take sample of the water?”. And all the answer is they don’t even do it. Really. They did it once or twice or whatever without any clue of what the law says, and don’t really do something about it (like communicating it to the people).

And what about the effluent control? “Most of the time, we wait for the report from the community if some chaos, like dead fishes, occur,” Oh, and I haven’t mentioned that they haven’t had any complaint and reporting desk, so they usually ‘hear’ it from somewhere. Anyway, they want to make the reporting facilities, they say. Okay, we'll see.

“So how the provincial level governments make the environmental status report? It contains this information and I assume it comes in a bottom-up scheme,” I continued. “Sometimes they involve us in taking the data, but most of the time we will assist them upon request,” the official said. And ‘assist’ actually means top-down coordination from the higher level government.

So, up to this sentence, I will let you guess what this agency does about enforcement. And this is what surprises me the most.

“Yes, that’s actually one of our weaknesses. We don’t have anyone in the law enforcement desk,” he mentioned. Cannot believe what I heard, I asked “But have you ever give any sanction to any company of its violations? Like, during your time serving in this board?” And he mentioned one letter being sent recently to one of the liquid waste dumping permit holder to temporarily stop its operation. I don’t know if he actually confuse between enforcement and temporary stop, because actually the latter is a part of administrative sanction according to our law – while he mentioned no enforcement has ever been conducted. It has made me a bit grateful, but he suddenly added “But we don’t really know if they comply or not, we have not received any follow-up regarding this case,”

And that’s when I think I won’t need any further confirmation on the teeth of environmental law in this country.

“We don’t have the power to supervise and enforce beyond our authority,” I recall what Ministry of Environment Deputy on Law Enforcement told me. And I feel like wanting to write him, “This ‘beyond your authority’ cannot do nothing because they don’t even clear about their structure and work division; nor can reform it since they suffer for amazing rotation of its leader like 7 (seven) changes since 2001; lacking capacity or when they have it they don’t have the budget; they don’t even aware of what are their responsibilities according to the massive amount of regulations at national level,”

No money. No people. No clarity over duty. No leadership.

“And when they have some good people in their structure whom might expose risk to the capital owner, the higher power will kick them straight away,” – simple line that explains everything. One activist told me the story of the Head of that local environmental board who spent 6 months doing really great job, ensuring all obligations met no matter how big the companies are, and readily prepare sanction to non-compliance. And within those 6 months, he was mutated to non-job by the Regent.

I know it has been written in many reports, academic papers, policy brief, etc. But some stories might help people to understand and attached better to these challenges we’re facing, sometimes better than those reports can do. So, here is our challenge, dear brightest stars. We can change it if we want to, but it needs lots of sacrifice. It will question you whether you want to make your feet dirty by stepping into the mud. It will question whether you are strong enough to not be drowned by the mud. It will question you to be creative enough to create a beautiful result of that dirty mud.

And yes, we can start small by demanding.

The Silence of the Victims

“Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.”
― Leonardo da Vinci 

When everyone who has studied environmental conflicts or victimology might describe this situation I’m trying to explain as ‘common’ – I take the liberty to tell this story from the point of view of mid-class city people who normally can speak boldly to anyone they think annoying their basic rights. It's fine for me to criticize my scholarship, my university, my parents, my employers, when I am equipped with proper argument on my side. And for me, speak what I think is common. Speaking the truth is common. And this is my common sense – as well as everyone else as you can see on people’s blog or opinion or social media.

But some days ago, I recognize that our common sense is not always common. Particularly, not to this people who have been fighting for their homeland; and their clean water and their clean air for decades.

Asahan River at Siruar Village, Toba Samosir

I visited Siruar, a village right at Toba Pulp Lestari’s liquid waste outfall (dumping point) at Asahan River – the place where fight against the gigantic industry has been recorded since early 80s. My goal is to get 50 respondents for my questionnaire, for a research purpose. But it is not only the power of the company that scares me. It is the silence of the people, that they are unwilling to tell their stories and keep it behind their own walls.

“Some month ago, one of the securities of TPL got interviewed by a researcher. Another TPL labor recorded it and gave the video to TPL management. That security who got interviewed was fired some days after,” one of my responded expressed his fears while he’s filling my questionnaire. With fake smile, I comforted him that this is merely for academic purpose and his identity will remain undisclosed. I condemn the company conduct in my head.

Dead fishes were strange. Now, people no longer question it.

The people in Siruar and Porsea have been in the heart of the Toba Pulp Lestari conflict in its prior operation, when the company is still known as Indorayon Inti Utama. The protest begun in 1988, when the persistent victims, who were very strong and solid within the Batak Toba identity, continued to struggled over 2 decades from the soft diplomacy backed by academics and politicians, to the mass and bleeding chaos that takes innocent souls. In this conflict, Professors and Doctors from universities come back to the street, to the indigenous people who lack academic back-ups compared to the huge company. Even mothers and children took part, and one of the most controversial nude protests in Indonesia held by Batak mothers occurred in the late 90s, hottest period of this enduring fight. Even when the legal efforts failed, it has left a strong legacy – the first recognized NGO legal standing in Indonesia was made during the IIU lawsuit conducted by WALHI. Sweet taste of temporary success only lasted a while when IIU operation is closed for by the central government. In Megawati era, the mill began operating again under new paradigm, with the name that those people recognize today with the same power of “you know who” – TPL.

“No one in this village will be willing to speak if you ask them question about TPL. Because we already know what the public officials in the sub-district will do. I will not speak either,” a former activist told me.

After more than 20 years, people at the closest proximity to the mill have finally silenced.

And this silence is scarier for me than the elaboration of the silence of nature that Rachel Carson documented in her monumental Silent Spring. This is the silence of the most distinguished creature on earth who has been gifted with reason, free will, intelligence and conscience. This is the silence of the long-lasting fight who have eventually been forced to give up. This is the silence for money, of the scary trade between sacrificing basic rights and the capitalistic point of necessary growth. This is the silence within the trauma from the entity that should’ve been protecting those individuals, but abusing their power.

And like the sub-disctrict secretary mentioned to us with confidence, “We can’t let just anyone in, even for academic purpose. I don’t dare to let those who wants to take the data regarding environment, or pollution, or anything that can annoy the company. The higher authority will scold. No, it will never be allowed,”

By writing this, I am fully aware that I am exposing myself to libel lawsuit that the company might threatening me with. And that’s the price that I have to pay, in this so-called free and democratic country, to speak of some truth. I’m just hoping this writing will reach out to you, but not to the company, so the people at the village will stay safe. Beware, this is not the authoritarian regime anymore. This is the regime of the capital.

Further readings:

Abdul Wahib Situmorang. 2005. The Toba Batak Fighting for Environmental Justice, 1988 to 2003: Environmental Movement in Indonesia. (Jakarta: WALHI)

PS. Too bad I can't upload more photos of people for safety reason.

Why Lecturers Better be Charming?

Have I told you that I am always a big fan of charming lecturers? And have I told you the correlation between charming (or hot) lecturers with my list of straight A subjects? If I haven't, let me tell you: although in absence of scientific support (ah I'm too lazy for this!), and although 'charming lecturer' is so ill-defined (if no definition at all), but please bear this as an immature hypotheses: When you do your teaching responsibility so boringly, with only lowest attainable standards of excitement and preparation, you are putting one or some of your students who are potential for A into the risk of getting C, or less. Why? Because some super small things that slip your attention can make your handsomely brainy charm faded. And it's just a turnoff. Really, a student can work so hard, happily, to get an A, if their lecturer are considered 'charming' - at least it's applicable to me :)

I am inviting you to view these two courses on Coursera: "The Global Student's Introduction to U.S. Law" by University of Florida and "Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy" by University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. This is a part of experiential learning, you decide whether my hypotheses is acceptable or not.

This whole thing is only comparing two men teaching hotness and the turnoffs. Or maybe their team. I don't know if it's applicable to female, but you can take it as a comparison and discover it yourself or quit my blog straight away. Let's see who are those lecturers:

This is Prof. Donald Hornstein of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. A handsome dude, no?

And here is Prof. Pedro A. Malavet from University of Florida. The photo is a lot better in quality. His appearance is okay, too, no? A teddy bear looking man, surely.

So, at this point, without assuming their scholarly work or academic approach or whatever substance they are mastering, I assume you, yes you kittens, still excited to go to school. No?

Now, let me take you to the beginning of the class: The Introduction Part. 

Okay, so now you can make your comments on which one looks more exciting to you.

As for me, I love Prof. Hornstein at the first place, and losing my appetite in University of Florida's course even from the introductory part. And now, although I hate so much to keep writing this, I am forcing myself to share what are the 'exernalities' that (I'm trying to be as objective as possible) influence me in loving or ignoring these lectures.

First: Ambience. Like when we're reading a book, before the materials we want to be attracted by the cover. Look at the backdrop of these two lecturers and now you can write up if one background makes you more comfortable to sit and watch compared to another. Well, to say, this is completely teamwork. To put it to yourself in a class, it can be a nice form of presentation (well it's comparable to backdrop!), a nice setting of the teaching venue, the lighting, sound-system, might be as simple as conducive whiteboard.

Second: Attire and look. Although I am not a supporter of nice attire and I myself a really bad example of it, but I must admit that this is the first time I really notice a few crumples on one's shirt can really make a difference! And also hair styling, and even oil on your face. I mean, come on, look at Prof. Malavet on the initial picture! We all loves him. But then, at the introduction part of the his course, the combination of the video quality and his... Oh my gosh now I must really ensure none of these universities are affiliated with me in the future! Damn freedom of expression!

But let me highlight another win of Prof. Hornstein. At least, for me (and most of environmental law addicts), a hiker. At one lecture, he explain the shirt he's wearing - a 25 years old of Appalachian Trail T-Shirt. It's old and dull and grey and no different than any T-Shirt. But, it is the story behind it that gives me a 'Whoaaaa!' - he completed the Appalachian Trail, the longest hiking trail in the East Coast, 25 years ago with his wife. Come on, kittens, isn't it a 'Whoaaaaa'? At this point, I hope I'm not losing objectivity to these two men. So, my dearest lecturer fellows, you can consider using this trick as well to your students! After this T-Shirt story, Prof. Hornstein definitely have my heart.

And now, back to the issue, we are moving on to the third externality.  

Third: Your presentation. Yes, I mean your power point presentation as well as the way you're delivering it. But let's focus on the first thing first. Look at this picture and tell me which one looks what:

While some Indonesian academics are so confident to maintain their boring, so last decades' approach in making presentation, you yourself can consider if one presentation makes you less excited that the other one. Some nice template, simplicity to navigate the points, elegant themes - that can be some minor things that counts a lot.

But hey, really I'm not writing here to being so insolent towards one of the most amazingly virtuous free-course program and all the hard works that the contributors given. What my point is: You probably can do much better by sacrificing just a little more on non-substantial matters. Some out-of-teaching materials things that can be a complete suicide in winning a student's enthusiasm can be prevented if you are aware and putting yourself on a student's perspective. Please bear in mind that some things are really subjective and of course your comments are most welcome!

And for Prof. Hornstein and Prof. Malavet, really I love you both and I adore your great works on these courses!

Love,
A student who consistently adore charming Professors :)

Tips for Graduate Enrollment Abroad (Part 1: Medical Check-Up and Preparing Your Grant Contract)

DISCLAIMER: This is supposedly much easier considering I am, unfortunately, under specific unusual circumstances, cannot deny these facts: [...] (4) The fact that my spatial knowledge about Jakarta is really poor and I deliberately exclude buses and public transport to reach necessary agencies considering that it takes much longer than hiring ojek or taxi; (5) The fact that I tried so hard not to sacrifice office hours for all preparatory matters that will be explained below; (6) The fact that I live in Indonesia.

So my story is usual difficulties ++ but it causes the excitement and story behind also ++

Transitions are always tough, and these past few months before my departure to Portland have been really, really tough for me. Although you can ensure yourself and everyone that you're excited and happy and not under pressure, you can't deny the fact that stress symptoms will show itself frequently to you in this phase. Knowing all the things that you must prepare therefore important, and more importantly, knowing the timely manner to prioritize such complicated, never ending arrangements you have to do even for an-only 10 months LL.M. programs abroad.

For Fulbright grantee, this post will only useful for those who already confirm the school. Before it, you will need to prepare: (1) How to fundraise for shortfall (if any); and (2) How to create your Bank Statement and Letter of Guarantee. Although sometimes the two are not easy as well, I refuse to write them as well. Let the individual experience tell you.

Medical Check-up

Both for visa requirement (for US Student it will be J-1 Visa requirement) and the school requirement you have no choice but doing this. This thing will require sufficient amount of energy and time, and it is better for you not to push between office break times. I myself took 5 visits to 3 different institutions because the unavailability of vaccines or test required. The more visit you make, the more energy, time, and money wasted. So, to minimize it, here are some tips:

Fulbright Medical Form: Page 4 of 7

• Make sure what kind of medical things your visa require and what your school require. Some of them will differ, i.e. specific school will require Meningitis vaccines while your visa don't, and you must satisfy both requirements;
• In medical requirement, you will normally provided forms. Try to obtain both forms and compare it, ask first to your university whether it is possible to use IIE Forms and provide additional requirements separately;
• Research the availability of requirements in the Hospitals. Call first to check! Do not go show without knowing what the hospital has. Try to get the hospital with complete packages. It is usually require: (1) General medical check-up (including eye specialist, ear-nose-throat / THT specialis); (2) TB Skin Test; (3) MMR Vaccines (1-2 doses, vary to programs); (4) DPT Vaccines; and (5) Polio Vaccines.
• Medical check-up will usually consume 1 whole day. It usually opens until afternoon in Mo-Th, and close early in Friday. My suggestion will be: call the hospital first to attempt to make appointment (although sometimes it will not work!) and come very early (like 7.30 or 8am on your intended day). If during the check certain specialist is absent and you the hospital told you to come later, persist to be checked with other available doctor. They must have it so all you need is persistence.
• Do not assume to get all vaccines in one occasion. Your doctor will not give the permission, unless she/he is totally absent-minded. Injecting vaccines is injecting alien virus to your body, and it consequently will require specific reaction until the body form its antibody. MMR will require 3-4 weeks before you can inject another vaccines, although some doctors will consent with less weeks. You can take DPT and Polio altogether. Try to take TB Skin test in your neutral time, means do not take it altogether with any vaccines. Consult your doctor and try to make appointment in advance for all the subsequent requirements.
• In some hospital, vaccines are only given in by Pediatrician Clinic. And it's a shame that some administrator will confuse themselves in facing some adults asking for vaccines. If the administrator don't understand, educate them. Tell them that it is visa requirement, and it is confirmed that they can give such vaccines to adults.
• Price does matter! Do not go to expensive hospitals like Mayapada if you don't really have budget, they charge you ultra high. Ask the price precisely every time you call.
• You better use the hospital that have had experience to take care of such requirement. First, the form will be in English. Second, you don't have to waste your time too long with some stupid, confuse front desk / receptionist. Some good records including: Fatmawati Hospital (the administrative is chaos, but it's cheap and well-experienced) but they don't have TB Skin Test; another one is MH Thamrin which also cheap and have pretty doctor and hey, they're open in Saturdays! I took the TB Skin Test in Mayapada Hospital and regret it to hell, the indiscipline internist really waste my time and even the security and receptionist seems frustrated of her.
• Check it yourself and give the completed medical form to your supervisor. Sometimes, if something is incorrect, you have to come again!
• Keep all medical prove for you to bring abroad with you later. Ask the doctor to remove the vaccine and the mantoux (TB Skin) test stickers and stick it to your medical form.
• Cost: The price is vary. My fellow in Salatiga spent much less. But please not that higher price will not guarantee higher level of satisfaction. General check-up consumes approximately 550k. MMR can consume 350k, I got punked by Mayapada's 650k's TB Skin Test (the other are approximately 300-400k), and Polio about 50k while DPT vary, the one that makes your body react with fever only for 50k or a little bit more, but the 'good reaction' cost you 150k. Please bring in mind that the price is not only for the vaccine. The price above including the doctor service, which in many case, much higher than the price of the vaccine itself.

Preparing Your Grant Contract

In Fulbright, we call it Terms of Appointment: Academic Year (ToA AY). It should be easy, you will obtain it after or during Pre-Departure Orientation, before or after you give your medical form. But, from a contracting party perspective, you really really need to pay attention to this:

Fulbright ToA: Important Sections

• Your terms of installment (Grant payment date). This is holy important and is negotiable and indeed you must, must, pay special attention to this. Check your school Deadline for tuition payment and make sure IIE make such installment before the deadline! Make sure the conditions, whether you will charged with penalty if you're late, whether your account will be suspended, etc. And make sure such payment arrangement will not put you into trouble. In some cases when you don't have any shortfall, IIE will pay directly and your allowance will be supplied on monthly basis. If your on campus housing requirement require payment in advance (of each semester), ensure you let IIE knows about this, so they will provide you the money in advance as well.
• The health insurance is mandatory, and if your school accept Fulbright's insurance, then it's nice for you and you can proceed forward waiving the school insurance which will be replaced by Fulbright's. If not, then you have to find the insurance that meet your school requirement. Usually, you will end up taking your school insurance. It will be covered by your own expense.

Next: What If You Lose Your Passport? (when your departure date is approaching)