The Blue Are Coming

Rant and Rave

I don’t like people who judge or dismiss others. That sort of behavior either starts with – or leads to – racism, supremacism, and a shitload of other -isms meant to diminish our fellow humans. We have enough of that garbage in the world today.

My personal philosophy is not to judge people. However, this space is my court and I’m the judge. There’s a comment section below so you can judge me back. Even so, bigotry or incitement to violence will not be tolerated. You’ll need to wait for me to approve your post coz the spambots already have my number.

I’m going to get political from time to time. I hate that it’s come to this, but everything is political now. Yet If you expect me to hop on the mean-is-the-new-cool bandwagon, you can seriously fuck off.

Don’t think this is some sort of safe space, either. My opinion will sometimes anger or offend – if I’m doing it right, anyway.

I won’t only be bitching – this is “Rant and Rave“, after all. Hopefully there are enough raves to balance out the rants.

I’ll be crossposting some of these to my author blog on Litopia. There are lots of good writers there. I hope this counts as a rave.

I do not authorize AI or any sort of LLM to scrape my site for content. They can fuck off with the mean humans.

*****

We Can’t Have Nice Things

20 April 2026 – Jakarta

Today’s rant is about a specific kind of hostile architecture.

Usually the term refers to deliberate design choices made specifically to discourage certain behaviors in the public space. Putting spikes beneath bridges to prevent the homeless from sleeping there, for example.*

However, not all forms of hostile architecture are deliberate. Yet they are no less hostile.

Indonesia is not very wheelchair accessible. Here’s a typical crosswalk in Central Jakarta…

Bollards are fucking everywhere in the city. They prevent motorcycles and small, three-wheel taxis called bajaj (pronounced baa-jai ) from driving on the sidewalk to bypass traffic jams. In places where they’ve been removed, you get this…

My friend photographed this dumbass in March 2026. The pedestrian walkway is in Pancoran – a working-class, largely ethnic-Chinese neighborhood in Central Jakarta. The city left some space between bollards to improve wheelchair access. Yet because of idiots like this, they put a concrete barrier into the gap. Plonking it across a tactile paved strip was the chef’s kiss.

The motorbike rider forgot to smile for the photo. I don’t think she was prepared for the obstacle – although sourpuss eventually snaked her way to the other side. I hope she appreciates my effort to cover her license plate. FYI… bego is a contraction of bener goblok – true idiot.

Here’s another bit of hostile architecture, and it’s a doozy…

The ramp fronts a pedestrian walkway through a city block near the Olimo bus stop. There are a few tiny homes, a small apartment complex, and a night owl noodle house further in. The severe slope discourages motorcycles from taking the shortcut. Unfortunately, anyone craving a late-night noodle nosh with less than full mobility is SOL.

I asked an Indonesian acquaintance what she thought could be done about the systemic accessibility problems. Her response was immediate and direct. “Tear it all down.”

I was like, “Wow. You live in Indonesia, you know. And you’ll probably live here for a while. You really don’t think there’s a solution?”

She thought a moment and replied. “It’s just broken. I don’t think it can be saved.”

The passive statement aligns with her defeated outlook, but I totally get it. She was born in Indonesia and spent most of her life there. Yet she cannot help but draw comparisons to other Asian countries where she has lived and worked. She’s witnessed the positive impact on quality of life when people simply follow the rules. She understands local attitudes need to change, yet knows deep down not enough people care to change them. It’s frustrating.

Here’s my take. More Indonesians must be willing to accept a bit of individual inconvenience for the common good. Otherwise, accessibility will not be there for those who really need it.

Scofflaws are why Indonesians can’t have nice things.

   *Bonus rant:

     I've heard a lot about why some public restrooms switch to blue lighting after the motion sensor times out. Many people say the blue is there to make it difficult for intravenous drug users to find a vein. Advocates for drug addicts claim this endangers users and is just plain mean.

     Bullshit. The blue light is merely a disinfectant. The same lighting scheme is used in aircraft bathrooms for that reason. Violet and ultra-violet would work better, but the LEDs are more expensive and shorter wavelengths fade plastic or painted surfaces over time.

     So, no... blue lighting isn't there to punish addicts; it's to kill germs. While it may hide veins in a user's arm, that was never the intended purpose.