THIS thrilling news blew in from Singapore when the December 13 issue of Forbes Asia magazine was published. The contents, as in previous years, unfurled a list of the richest people in Indonesia. And what made it all the more thrilling was that topping the list this year was the businessman and politician Aburizal Bakrie, who was buried in the economic crisis one decade ago.

Many people were surprised. How on earth could Ical—Aburizal’s nic