THE three of them sat at the round, marble dinner table. Nurmahmudi Ismail sat nearest to the wall. His wife Nurazizah, sat to his left. Joining them across the table was Abiir Mahmudi, their youngest child. Plates and glasses were set on the table, along with a container of rice and several plastic containers filled with shrimp crackers.

Such was Nurmahmudis morning just before being sworn in to office as the new Mayor of Depok, a city bordering