Hi World,
As you all know, today is the D-day. Or E-day to be exact. Election Day! Everyone seems restless as to who is going to win: Jokowi or Prabowo. After the whole debates and campaign to win voters’ hearts, now it is the time to get to know the reality.
6.00 am
And here I am, live blogging for you. I won’t tell you what you can find in serious journalism sites out there so I will share what I feel and experience as a citizen and voter who is lucky enough to be eligible to cast my ballot. Some friends of mine are not. Somehow anyhow some glitches in the central database of voters happened, causing their names and data undiscovered. Even if they are found, the validity is questionable. For example, a pal said his name is found but his unique residential number is different. Either it is the fault of someone in the committe or whatever, we have no clear idea.
6.17 am
This is the first time I witness so much enthusiasm amongst the youngsters and the erudite who adopt progressive, optimistic mindset towards politics and the future of the nation. And I am quite stunned when I found several world-calibre artists like Sting and Jason Mraz were urged to have something to say about this presidential election. They endorse Jokowi (Joko Widodo – actively tweeting on @jokowi_do2), a cleaner civilian candidate when it comes to track records involving human rights and pro-grass roots policies and down-to-earth approach. As opposed to him, the other candidate is Prabowo Subianto, someone with some “scars” in the past, I can say. He is the old-minded chap with no social media interest before, until he acknowledged the power of social media right before and poof! He has got a Twitter account and a Facebook fan page. He tweets on @prabowo08. Some of his past deeds and track records are said to be “bloody”. He was the part of Suharto’s regime and Indonesians are now torn apart whether they have to choose Jokowi, the future with uncertainty and stability, or Prabowo, the past with certainty and stability. As we know, Jokowi is a civilian and pluralism endorser by nature. In military and defense aspect, he has nothing to brag about. At all. 
I wonder why Facebook cares so much about our election. Is Indonesia that influential in the world? I guess so. 
Even our yogi cum singer Sting showcased the hashtag of Jokowi. 
Excluding Ahmad Dhani and several singers featured on his Nazi-flavored endorsement video clip (intended to show political and moral support for Prabowo Subianto), nearly all creative people, artists, celebrities support Joko Widodo, who is also known for his being a rock music avid listener. He even got his guitar from Metallica.
7.13 am I just heard the committee of the nearby TPS (tempat pemungutan suara – a place arranged to be where voters can come and cast their ballots) taking vows. “… We pledge to be working honestly..,”a man’s voice read the vows printed on a sheet of paper,”regardless of our personal or group interests.” I too got involved in the committe like this at a nearby TPS in my hometown (I now live in Jakarta) in 2004. I recall that time, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won over Megawati, Amin Rais, if I am not mistaken. 
9.30 am Along with some friends in the boarding house, I am going to the nearby TPS. It is TPS 20, fewer than 100 meters from my bedroom. Awesomely close, I tell you. Yet, we are not allowed to vote because according to the rules, non-residents like us (we are domestic ‘immigrants’ in fact, coming from provinces other than Jakarta Special Territory in the country) may vote after 12 pm, when all the residents have cast their ballots. So hopefully, we still have quite many ballots left.
10.32 am So I have much spare time right now to spend. And blogging and getting online is just the best way to spend time. By the way, I should tell you that these recent days I heard some helicopters flying here and there at night. And just yesterday, when I was at work typing, suddenly the noise of an aircraft was heard approaching my office which is located on 39th floor of DBS Bank Tower, South Jakarta. And that was in the daylight. A coworker jokingly commented,”SBY is showing off his forces to let people know he is still the man in charge.” But SBY cannot be biased. The reason why it is so is that he is the father in-law of Hatta Rajasa’s daughter. Hatta runs as the candidate of vice president with Prabowo Subianto. Aliya Rajasa is married to the second son of SBY, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono. They, therefore, are connected to each other. And we cannot be surprised when SBY accepted Prabowo in Istana Merdeka, Jakarta. This is deemed as an unethical act because as a president, he ought to show neutrality. It won’t hurt if he met Prabowo at his own residence but at the presidential palace? Shame on him.
10.50 am
Academicians like Anis Baswedan (who previously was also a presidential candidate but failed along the way and decided to work as an endorser of Jokowi) tend to vote for Jokowi. Another moslem academician voting for Jokowi is Komarudin Hidayat, a rector of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta since 2006. These people are the representation of moderate moslem groups, contrary to the hard-liners who promise to support Jokowi whole-heartedly such as Front Pembela Islam which is known for their agressive, savage and brutal approach while claiming that it is done for the sake of Islam. Too bad not all Indonesian moslems are in favor of FPI’s intolerant attitude, which proves to be toxic in the diverse Indonesia people.
11.08 am
Jokowi is lucky to have an ideal family. He has a wife, a son and a daughter. Happy and harmonious. In the family aspect, Prabowo is not as lucky. He is a widower, having only a son. And the son is said to be gay.
12.00 pm
I cannot believe they tell us they run out of ballots! One of the committee says we have to get to one of the nearby TPSs to vote. That said, the holders of A5 form, me included, should find one TPS with unused ballots left. It didn’t make sense as it is said that every TPS has 12 extra ballots aside from 600 ballots for the permanent residents.
But we definitely will not go down without a fight. This election draws more attention from Indonesians than any previous elections ever. I can see from the overflowing enthusiasm of voters. They want to vote no matter what.
Here some people are confused as to which mass media they have to trust because every news outlet seems to have its own version of quick count. Some others simply ignore what is said by the news anchors of major national TV stations and news sites owned by political figures. TV One is owned by Abu Rizal Bakrie — investor of Path and supporter of Prabowo — and thus it is no wonder they keep telling Prabowo is leading. Metro TV on the other hand is owned by Surya Paloh, a staunch supporter of Jokowi, so they show the public that Jokowi is getting closer to victory.
But anyway we made it! We did vote!
May the best man win!!!
15.09 pm
In this hot humid afternoon, what is better than taking a nap to save energy while fasting is watching the committee tallying the ballots! As he opens up each ballot taken from te ballot box, we gasp and wait,”Jokowi!!!” It goes on and on and interrupted a while by,”Prabowo!!!”
The final result we have got here in TPS 20, Karet Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan is:
H. Prabowo Subianto- Ir. H. M. Hatta Rajasa ===>>> 148 ballots
Ir. H. Joko Widodo – Drs. H.M. Jusuf Kalla ===>> 238 ballots
Invalid ballots ====>>> 5 ballots
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