Scam of the Century?

What is CenturyGate?
In 2008, Bank Century, a relatively small bank with a small profile went bust. Apparently some of their clientele were not small fry at all that the government agreed to pour Rp 1.3 trillion (USD 1 = IDR 9500) to keep it afloat although the bank remains effectively closed to public. One year later, the government has spent an astonishing Rp 6.7 trillion (more than USD 700 million) seemingly with little effect for no apparent reason.

You can read more here: Chronology, Media Indonesia, Liputan 6. All in Indonesian though
So, how much is 6.7 trillion rupiahs? Noted filmmaker and activist Joko Anwar asked the question earlier today. More precisely, what can you do with that amount of money. Here are answers from twitter, in Indonesian.

maddypertiwi: Bisa nyekolahin anak2 miskin sampe kuliah se-Indonesia tuh
sirohit: 837,500 iPhone 3G kapasitas 16GB
jokoanwar: Bisa beli Toyota Avanza sebanyak 55,880 biji. Kalo dijejerin lebih dari 100 km
jokoanwar: Bisa bikin 670 sekolah seharga Rp 10 milyar
jokoanwar: Bisa bikin 67 sekolah film seharga 100 milyar. Biar filmmaker Indonesia nggak bodoh-bodoh
sirohit: 1.116.666.666 Kg beras super
risantokilala: bisa beli 2,233,333 BlackBerry Gemini
maddypertiwi: Bisa nyekolahin anak2 miskin sampe kuliah se-Indonesia
anakcerdas: setiap orang di Indonesia bisa makan 2 piring nasi goreng kambing Kebon Sirih
ftnanda: Gak bakal ada yang namanya anak jalanan lagi di indonesia karena udah dibiayain sekolah
madegrazia: 67x bantuan gempa Sumbar dari pemerintah
Wow. 670 well funded schools. There are existing schools with no funding, unpaid teachers, insufficient facilities, some can’t even be called a school if not for students, teachers, and books since they have no building. 

1.1 billion Kilograms of rice. There are some unbelievably malnourished and underfed people in Indonesia. This would go a long way towards helping them
800 thousand iPhone 3Gs. Telkomsel would be ecstatic with that number. They can barely sell 20 thousand.

67 times the aid given to the West Sumatra earthquake recovery and rebuilding effort. That is astounding.
You’ll find more on Twitter search.

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15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee | The Oatmeal

15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee | The Oatmeal

Ever wonder why the heck it’s spelled lede?

It’s not in any dictionary you would normally refer to. It’s an insider’s word used initially for technical purposes.

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Formal dining

So it’s outside then in then top?

Sent from my iPhone

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Ryan Dunlavey: Comic strip mashups

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Interview: The Man Who Named the iMac and Wrote Think Different | Cult of Mac

Interview: The Man Who Named the iMac and Wrote Think Different | Cult of Mac

60% of Non-Mobile Marketers Plan to Buy Mobile Advertising in 2010 | Millennial Media

60% of Non-Mobile Marketers Plan to Buy Mobile Advertising in 2010 | Millennial Media

Twitter as news reader?

Smoking Apple’s Milind Alvares on using Twitter for news feed instead of RSS:“with the new ‘lists’ feature in Twitter (and especially so when major clients support it), you can pretty much have an RSS client right inside your twitter client.”

Goobi’s Soggy Tumblr : About RSS, Twitter RSS, and ‘the personal touch’

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Black shirt day

Please read this excellent collection of accounts to find out what’s all this fuss about the president, the police, and the anti-corruption commission. 
There is a call today to wear black to support the anti-corruption commission. Thank you @bolbal for the black T-shirt.

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License Plate Fail

Sent from my iPhone

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