T A B L E_T A L K Which are your favorite travel books? Discuss them in the Wanderlust area of Table Talk R E C E N T L Y Are we the world? By Andrew O'Hehir Despite our uneasy place on Planet Soccer, the United States will be one of 32 nations vying for glory as the globe's most passionately watched sporting event begins (06/10/98) The Internet comes to the Outback By Simon Winchester A 7-year-old boy's life changes forever (06/09/98) Mondo Weirdo Slow boat to Thailand Temptations and tribulations on the Mekong River (06/08/98) Ramadan By Mona Simpson Taking a lover: An erotic journey from Cairo to Alexandria (06/05/98) Hot tix! By Don George Cathay offers super-low fares to Hong Kong, Bali, Bangkok (06/05/98) Browse the Wanderlust Postmark archives		LETTER FROM JAKARTA: AFTER THE SKY FALLS . | . PAGE 1, 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3.) Things you don't need become really cheap Walking to an appointment last week, I felt a hand settle on my wrist. I plucked it off. Its owner hove into view. "Handphone," he said. I nodded and smiled. He followed me. "Do you want to buy a handphone?" "Saya sudah punya." I already have one, thanks. I turned to go. He stood in front of me and opened his long coat. I had always thought those stories about watch salesmen with watches hanging from chest to knees were jokes, but no -- this guy had about 15 cellular phones inside his coat. Low overhead is the secret to business success. I will not buy stolen goods, I thought to myself. Buying looted goods is wrong. They represent another person's hard-earned -- hey, is that a Nokia Communicator, the one with the keyboard that Val Kilmer had in "The Saint"? I reached for it. I caressed it, flipped it open, its amazing features revealing themselves like a coy maiden in a Merchant-Ivory film. "Duaratus Ribu," the salesman whispered, smiling, sure I was now in his larcenous clutches. Eighteen bucks. Then eight years of Catholic catechism kicked in and I handed it back and left. Guess what Dewi bought a few days ago? 4.) Things you need become really expensive "Best Foods mayo?" "Tidak ada, coba minggu depan." No luck, honky, try next week. "French ham?" "Tidak ada, coba minggu depan." "Country Time lemonade?" The store manager just smirks and turns away, ready to disappoint another expat on a "shopping for home" trip. 5.) Local people find that riots are not fun I cruised through the market area near my house today. In three kilometers, exactly four businesses are left standing. Robinson's Department Store -- it used to be four floors of everything. People from outlying villages would come and just gawk at all the shoes and medicine and VCRs for sale. Now it's four floors of ash, four floors of falling scorched awnings, the huge neon sign melted into a Daliesque lava-flow. As I try to frame a photo of the gutted building, a young woman comes over. She's wearing the uniform she wore when she worked in Robinson's, perhaps the only connection she has left to remind her of when she had a job in an air-conditioned building. "You worked there?" She nods. We both look up at the building. "They stole everything before they burned it, and now I have no job." "What will you do now?" "Pulang kampung." Back to the village. Any jobs in the village? Another smirk, a shake of the head. She asks me about jobs. Do I know of anyone who's hiring -- do I need a secretary? I try to cheer her up by saying that at least she'll get to see her family. Jakarta is becoming the land of smirks. 6.) Everybody reinvents history All of the political cronies of ex-President Suharto now boldly proclaim that they knew that he and his family were corrupt -- heck, they knew it all the time! This is, of course, much easier now that you don't risk a bullet for saying so. Kwik Kian Gie, the Chinese-Indonesian economist, has invented a new term for these people: pahlawan kesiangan -- tardy heroes. Every day, the paper lists new groups setting up political parties. Labor groups, women's groups, Chinese groups -- I have a feeling the next election is going to be a lot like the Philippine elections. That's not a bad thing -- it's a very good show, sort of chaos married to a block party with a few speeches thrown in for good measure. People are fired up by the fact that they might have choices after 30-odd years. Bajaj drivers -- they drive the little three-wheeled death-traps, kind of a moped with a passenger compartment -- argue and wave newspapers, lauding their personal favorites. Democracy is suddenly not some foreign concept. It's this: guys who make $10 a month having spirited discussions about why Emil Salim is going to save the day. I personally am amazed that B.J. Habibie has done so much so fast. You didn't hear about Suharto's son-in-law, Gen. Prabowo, going to the presidential building wearing a pistol and being followed by several trucks of marines in full battle gear? He tried to trade his own pistol for a meeting with the president -- a negotiating gambit you probably don't learn at Harvard Business School. Ex-President Suharto announced that he would hold a press conference today, to explain where he got the $40 billion in assets his family controls. Oh, we were excited! The possible stories -- "I found it on a bus ... No, it was in a credenza ... No, I cashed in all those gift certificates I get every year for my birthday ..." His official salary was only about $1,000 a month at today's exchange rate. Alas, his kids talked him out of it. They are keeping a very low profile. Tommy, perhaps the most reviled of the Suharto offspring, rolled up to a press conference a few months ago in his purple Rolls Royce. The press conference was to announce that he hadn't used his father's influence to import the South Korean cars he was selling. He failed to explain why the cars weren't saddled with the 300 percent tax usually set on imported cars. He also failed to explain why he hadn't imported any spare parts for the cars (the idea was the cars would never break down, I guess). But the most important question wasn't even asked -- "Why purple?" We don't see that car driving around much anymore. You can imagine why. The truth is, despite what you saw on CNN, most of the country is still standing, the people still love to see a friendly smile, people here still fall in love and get married and cry at Indian movies. It's actually safe to come here, the food is still great and the jungle still holds jewels of opportunity. But, please, before you come -- lose the Birkenstocks. SALON | June 11, 1998 Jeff Pulice has been living in Jakarta for seven years. He has written two previous letters from Jakarta for Wanderlust. Discuss post-Suharto Indonesia in the International Issues area of Table Talk. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - R E L A T E D_.S A L O N_.S T O R I E S Letter from Jakarta, Part Two Expats drink, rumors run amok and Habibie has an amazing first week. By Jeff Pulice May 29, 1998 Letter From Jakarta When all hell breaks lose, what's an expat to do? By Jeff Pulice May 22, 1998