Indonesian president, Prabowo Subianto, fired back at countries he said were "insulting" Indonesia over the raging haze crisis. He stated that "Indonesia is a polite and patient nation. Our country is often insulted, but believe me, our nation does not want to be insulted all the time."
Here's a tip: if you don't want to be insulted then stop burning your forests.
But that appears to be too much to ask.
Instead, it appears to have started a campaign against Singapore, with ex-minister Muhammad Lutfi first accusing the city-state of protecting Indonesian millionaires and now floating an accusation that Singapore officials pressured a ratings provider MSCI to downgrade Indonesia's stock market classification, as supposed punishment.
It's remarkable how quickly the barely literate third-worlders, who burn rainforests down for money (because they lack the cognitive ability to undertake more productive endeavours) try to blame the cleanest, best governed country in the region for their crimes.
If only they expended this much energy trying to identify, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of what Prabowo himself called "crimes against humanity".
It's funny how, Mr. Lutfi, the former Jokowi minister, attacked Singapore for not walking its talk, when subsequent Indonesian governments have done little to solve the criminal problem of the forest fires, which end up killing thousands of people.
And despite all the current talk, the indolent Indonesian government continues to refuse international help in putting the fires out.
Let's be blunt here: Indonesia is perpetrating mass murder – not only of wildlife, but people too. That's why it deserves to be insulted with every word in the English dictionary.
Frankly speaking, Indonesians can call themselves lucky that they are by far the largest and most populous nation in Southeast Asia. If a smaller country was regularly suffocating its neighbours with deadly fires, then even a kinetic action would not be off the table.
As it is, Indonesian crooks continue feeling quite safe, knowing that – like in the past – the government is going to shield them from personal responsibility, while running a crude cover campaign blaming Indonesia's neighbours instead.
