Talc and the finance minister

Mom used to tell me that pouring talc all over your itchy skin could help in reducing the rashes, but I don't think I'll take that age-old belief anymore.

And hey, such a belief has no scientific basis right? I don't have to google nerdy articles for my denial of such a belief, because my logic tells me so. Perhaps the only talcs that could help are Dettol and some other medical-sounding brands of powders, and not Johnson&Johnson's like I always use.

Oh well.

Last Saturday I read an article in The Jakarta Post by John McBeth (sounds like a Scot living in Singapore) about Sri Mulyani Indrawati who is the incumbent Finance minister of Indonesia. Long story cut short, it tells us of her achievements in transforming the Finance Ministry from a highly dodgy kind of gang into one with integrity.

It wasn't the first time I read an article lauding Indrawati's virtues. In a young age of 45, coupled with humbleness when it comes to interacting with her chums, she pretty much reminds me of Barack Obama.

It's just too bad that she is more of a technocrat than a politician that she's not a member of any political parties. If only the 2009 presidential elections allow independents to contest, I'm sure she would strike quite a figure among elites and plebeians alike.

Indrawati for President, anyone?

Count me in!