Incumbent governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (centre) gestures as he meets his supporters and the media after voting in local elections in Jakarta. - AFP
“BEFORE there was flooding here. After Ahok became Jakarta governor, there’s no flooding,” a 40-something Chinese woman said in Indonesian to a local journalist on Wednesday in north Jakarta.
She and her Chinese friends had just voted in Jakarta’s gubernatorial election. They were waiting for the arrival of Ahok, the Hakka nickname of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the Jakarta governor.