THE evening prayer call had just been heard at the Manggala Wanabakti building, South Jakarta, Wednesday last week. Accompanied by his staff, Forestry Minister Malem Sambat Kaban looked relaxed. “We’re just laughing,” he said.

In fact, three days earlier, Kaban was irritated. “The letter was about forest conversion, so why did they want other documents?” he said after the Indonesian Independence Day ceremony at the Presidential Palace