“How come the ‘bule’ men like to go out with black girls ?” A question I often hear from female friends who are interested in foreign men. (you can find legions of them on Tagged or Facebook – looking for Mr. Right – ‘preferably rich, preferably white’). Well for me, your fairly average Australian bear, skin colour has never been high on the priority list for qualities to look for when choosing a life partner. Call me old fashioned, but I was attracted to my wife because of her personality. She may well have been green or purple for all I care.

Many indonesian women find it extrodinary. ‘How could he choose a black girl, over a white princess like me ?’ Being dark skinned it seems has connotations with working outside ; dirty, lower class, un-educated – ‘Kuno’ (from the village) as they like to sum it up over here. So for many of the girls who are born on the browner side of the spectrum – and it’s a whole lot of many – there is a great desire to change their colour and thus distance themselves from the ‘poor person’s’ stereo-type.

Amrozi goes to hell

Domestic politics or rather crafty fishing by police intelligence ?

The execution of the three Bali bombers has been perpetually postponed in a fashion rather similar to the trial of Soeharto. It’s a sensitive issue. The many millions of Indonesians who live in remote villages, far from television, many of whom are illiterate may have a different spin on the Amrozi case compared to someone who has Googled the topic on the net and stumbled upon this blog.