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.