Jonas Jonasson had never been to Indonesia as he himself stated at goo.gl/VNTVqb. His first wife Alex Tjoa, goo.gl/ouvuQW, a Chinese-Indonesian from Palembang, Sumatera, Indonesia, supplied him many stories for his first book. However Jonas Jonasson does not want the public to know about his first wife's substantial contribution to his first book.
He even purposefully omitted "Tjoa," the legal last name of their son Jonatan Jonasson Tjoa, that their son's name becomes "Jonatan Jonasson" even though "Jonasson" is the middle name so that the public cannot trace any link to his first wife, Alex Tjoa, who has been separated from Jonatan since 2009 without any contact whatsoever. Jonas Jonasson also spreads vicious slanders about Alex Tjoa in Stern, Telegraph, and various global media, goo.gl/q9yAek, to destroy her life.
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This is the partial translation of Drg. Gustaaf Kusno's review of Jonas Jonasson's first book. The Indonesian dentist Gustaaf Kusno has no relationship with #SaveJonatan. This review is purely his independent opinion. His original article in Indonesian can be found here: goo.gl/3Nw9Gv.
"In the novel “The 100-Year-Old Man,” Indonesia is mocked unreservedly
What is it that especially caught my attention when reading novels in English? It is when Indonesia is mentioned in the novels. It is not necessary that the word "Indonesia" is EXPLICITLY mentioned in these novels, but all matters relating to Indonesian culture, customs, and stereotypes (expressed explicitly or implicitly) simply make my heart flower.
...
In the novel "The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" that I mentioned above, I encounter a lot of scents of Indonesia. Even in one chapter, the writer dedicates the whole chapter to insinuate Indonesia (using Bali as the background). I will try to give an overview of the Indonesian scents in this novel, even though it is very short, given the limited space in this newspaper. In one part of this novel, a naughty businessman from a criminal syndicate imported food which was preserved by formalin so that the food could last for weeks. This is the quote:
"There was a problem with the Boss’s partner – his conscience wasn’t sufficiently flexible. The Boss wanted to diversify into more radical schemes such as soaking food in formaldehyde. He had heard that was how they did things in some parts of Asia and the Boss had the idea of importing Swedish meatballs from the Philippines, cheap and by sea. With the right amount of formaldehyde the meatballs would stay fresh for three months if necessary, even at 100°C. They would be so cheap that the partners wouldn’t even have to label them as ‘Swedish’ to sell them at a profit. ‘Danish’ would suffice, thought the Boss, but his partner said no. In his opinion, formaldehyde was fine for embalming corpses, but not for giving eternal life to meatballs."
When reading this part, I am reminded of the naughty practice of the butchers at the markets in our country Indonesia who until now still like to soak meat in formalin. Had the author ever lived in Indonesia and saw this typical Indonesian phenomenon?
[Jonas Jonasson had never been to Indonesia. His first wife, a Chinese-Indonesian from Palembang, Indonesia, supplied him many stories for his first book]
In a different part of this funny novel, I also found a typical Indonesian phenomenon, adding sugar to watermelons. This is the quote from the naughty business of an another boss:
"Bosse said that he had done something similar with the watermelons he also imported, although not from Poland. They came from Spain or Morocco. He preferred to call them Spanish because nobody would believe that they came from Skövde in the middle of Sweden. But before he sold them, he injected half a litre of sugar solution into each melon."
But the most exciting and striking mockery to Indonesia is in chapter 20 which narrates the adventure of young Allan from China to the island of Bali. In Bali, the two friends Allan and Herbert, fanatics of vodka drinks, ordered vodka mixed with Coca Cola, but were given a bright green banana liqueur called "Pisang Ambon" by a waitress who had a slightly low IQ named Ni Wayan Laksmi.
Long story short, even though Ni Wayan Laksmi was difficult to find a match because she had a frog brain ("...she was about as intelligent as a kodok, Balinese for frog"), she was finally married to Herbert, Allan's best friend. Since Herbert had trouble uttering his wife's name, her name was changed to Amanda. Amanda taught Herbert that "in Indonesia everything was for sale". Because Herbert still did not understand what it was meant, Amanda told him: "‘Dear Herbert, tell me something that you would like for yourself.’" Herbert answered that he would like to able to drive a car.
Amanda left and three hours later she returned home with a driver's licence plus a certificate that showed Herbert as certified driving instructor and a proof of payment that Herbert had bought a local driving school.
The wive had proved that in Indonesia everything was for sale. The couple's business thrived, and Amanda, whose IQ is lacking, feels that she need to have a bachelor's degree. It didn't matter as long as there was money. She studied only for a few weeks, then a bachelor's degree in economics from a famous university was issued with the highest score ("It had taken a few weeks and had cost quite a lot, but in the end she had the certificate in her hand. Top grades too, from one of the better universities in Java").
Next Amanda wanted to enter the politics and had the ambition to be the governor of Bali. It didn't matter as long as there was money. Since Amanda had a rival, the incumbent governor, Amanda presented her strategy to her bule (Caucasian) husband.
"'Great' said Amanda. 'Then we use one third of our capital for my election campaign, one third for bribes for the election district, one for muddying the reputation of playing opponent, and then we'll keep one third to live on if things don't work out. What do you think?'"
Amanda finally won the election with 80 percent of the votes, while her opponent gained 22 percent of the vote. Although the total number of both of them was more than 100 percent and for the opponent this indicated cheating, the protest to the court was dismissed.
In a different paragraph, Governor Amanda declared "Bali was ranked by human rights organisations as the least corrupt region in the country. That, in turn, was because Amanda had bribed the entire investigating committee."
There are still many fun satires about Indonesia in this novel, but I think it is enough here. My advice is that it is better if you read the novel in English, even though the translated version is already available in bookstores. The satire is more biting if read in English. That is my opinion (not because I want to show off that I am good in English). The end."
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Jolondon:
"Hello! Loved your book, what I found intriguing but delightful is Alan resting for so many years on the beach in Bali..;) could think of so many better beaches but so many other things to do in Bali, any reasons for which you picked it? Also, any reason for you living still in Sweden?"
jonasjonasson:
"The Indonesian corruption was something I wanted to put light on. Bali just became a tool. I'VE NEVER BEEN THERE. Why Sweden? We'll it's beautiful in summer. Why Sweden in november? No idea :-)"
— Reddit, goo.gl/VNTVqb
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