New Faeces - A Jakartan Quiz Show

And the first questions are as follows:

How much shit do you drink?
Do you keep your mouth shut when you shower?
Bottled water for brushing teeth?
How are your dishes and cutlery washed?
Rinsing fruit or salad, is it under the tap?

Sanitation in this country, pfftt, it simply does not exist (with the possible exception of Lippo Karawaci where an acquaintance of mine ensured that the sewers and water mains went in before the buildings went up), and worse, the government does not seem to be interested despite the fact that it is a danger to public health and as a result, actually costs money through lost work days, illness, flood damage and, unfortunately death. 

Here, waste is carelessly disposed off, dig a drainage ditch to alleviate flooding, it becomes a rubbish bin,  river nearby, it becomes the municipal skip, flood control channels, why not rename them as waste control centers.

Poor planning (quite possibly since the city was founded) ensures that roads are built with no regard to drainage, the ubiquitous poly bags are slowly but surely choking the city, yet, there is another, deadlier problem lurking just beneath the surface.

I get a water bill every month, funny that, I do not get mains water, the well in the garden supplies all the H2O we use.! Hold on, it could be for the sewers….emm, no, I have a septic tank!

The same is true of possibly 90% off Jakarta and in the poorer areas, there is quite plainly inadequate sewerage facilities. Building a house, (or upgrading ones squat) there will be a septic tank, which, thanks to an oversight committee, there are no standards for, both in design and construction.

More often than not they leak and more often than not the lie directly on top of the households water source.

A recent survey (I am actually amazed that a survey was commissioned and conducted) indicated that 70 percent of wells in Jakarta are contaminated by faeces. Got the shits, bad luck, it was probably your own shit that caused it.

The monetary value assigned to losses from Sanitation problems was estimated by the World Bank in 2006 as being US$6 billion (Rp 56 trillions).

Seems to me that could build a whole lot off shitters that work properly.

Got to dash, I forgot to buy my weekly dose of Immodium!

Mass Knob Chopping in Suburbia

Remember this....(Last paragraph)



Well it took place this morning and I think it will be going on for a while. Being inquisitive and having been invited I decided to walk the 200 metres to the park and find out what it was all about!

The park had a number of tents erected (no pun intended)and the parents waited until it was their kids turn and watched the entertainment.



For most Indonesians, (Musim or Non Muslim) circumcision is a very important tradition. In terms of tradition, for most Javanese boys, 11-12 years old is the time for the circumcision but, for others, such as the Sundanese boys are circumcised younger than the Javanese boys, at about 5-6 years old.

For the waiting kids, clowns and ballon twisters provided a distraction....



Some of the kids present were not quite aware of why they were there, almost in an "Are we there yet" way, unsure of what was coming next!


My Indonesian friends at work informed me that for the kids it's the happiest time because they think that they'll soon be "big boys".

First thing required is to check the timetable to know when the chopping will take place...



Traditionally parents give their newly-circumcised sons a party on the day the boys are circumcised. Their relatives, friends and, neighbors come to the party with presents or gifts for the boy. This collective knob chopping was a way to defray the overall expense to the families.



Sanitary arrengements were in my opinion a little on the "low side" especialy considering that one's best friend is about to get mutilated!



Some of the kids looked allright after the ordeal...



While others were not so lucky and needed a bit of help!



To be honest, it looked as though only the parents and adults were happy bout the whole deal.



Once the cutting was over, it was back to the entertainment area and then the kids were called up to get a "goody box" the contents of which I am unaware but the participants seemed happy enough!



Again, my workmates told me that young boys regularly ask their parents repeatedly about the day they will be circumcised. They hope it will soon come so they can be big boys and get many presents.

When it was all over, the remnants were disposed off in the same area where the surgical instruments were being prepared



I cannot say that it was a pleasant experience for me, I felt a bit like a voyeur, watching something I should not have been, but the Indonesians present were happy about the whole affair, it seemed to be a Grand Day Out for the family.

On the negative side, the music was quite loud, had to be really because over in the cutting tents there was a fair bit off squealing and crying going on.....

The alternatve is to go private and, as I discovered Circumcision is big business here in Jakarta, as this website testifies (NSFW, some of the pictures are less than palatable)

http://www.rumahsunatan.com/_galerifoto.php

Will I be going next year....dont think so!

Spa.......

Something very unfortunate about the choice of name....