Pandemic-fuelled baby boom has many Indonesians worried

Nostradamus of Bali major

 COVID - 19 predictions come true.

I was once called the "Nostradamus of Bali" by a newsletter competitor.

At first I took offence, then I jokingly used it from time to time on my former radio programs, in seminars, blogs, F.B. Posts Ect.

I always state that I do not make predictions like Nostradamus, using astrological signals etc.

I make my predictions based on the experience I have gained from many decades living on this earth and five decades of owning my own business. Over two decades of that has been in Bali.

I remember back to the early stages of coronavirus after my family and I returned from skiing in Europe and we were attending our friends Chinese new year celebration at their magnificent villa on Bali's West Coast.

When I talked about coronavirus to the guests in attendance they looked at me like I was weird. Few even knew about it at the time.

 I predicted this was going to be disastrous. 

Now with over 10 million cases worldwide and 500,000 deaths I no longer have to warn people.

A few other predictions I made at the time were

1. There would be a new baby boom as a result of everybody being locked down and more sexual activity. Today's news confirms that prediction has come true. See "Pandemic-fuelled baby boom has many Indonesians worried" below.

2. About a month later when China's lockdown finally started to work, the curve flattened and started to fall I predicted that China would become the economic power of the world. 

I reasoned that while the rest of the world is locked down and getting worse China is coming out of lockdown. Therefore their factories would be back to work. They are providing energy to those factories by purchasing $25 a barrel oil. Nobody will be able to compete with them except maybe Indonesia in the near term.

3. I also predicted that Americans wouldn't be locked down and that Trump's followers would be pulling out their guns and their M-16s challenging lockdown rules. 

In the last couple months there has been protesters standing on the very stairs that represent American Law with their M-16s and guns aggressively shown.

Just a few days ago an American couple in St Louis pointed automatic weapons and a pistol at black protesters.

I'm having another Nostradamus moment right now.

 With today's news of very positive results from Pfizer and more than 100 other companies working feverishly on vaccines and drugs I feel very positive that several will prove positive in the very near future. 

I also predict once any vaccine shows any sign of successfully containing this virus from a peer observed trial that they will forgo the usually year to two year process it takes to distribute  it to the public.

Especially in America where Trump's poll numbers are collapsing daily. He will use any power he has to circumvent normal testing rules.

World Tired of Coronavirus:

I also believe that the world is really tired of coronavirus and they will be willing to live with the chance of a 2% to 5% death rate to be able to get back to normal.

I also feel there's going to be a lot of pressure on the Bali government to loosen up as soon as possible and be willing to accept the three deaths per million population we have now as opposed to many suicides and an economic depression that will last for years.

I also predict that experienced real estate investors will be biting at the bit to buy Bali hotels, villas and land at 20% to 50% discounts from January 1st. prices.

 I predict that those that do buy now may earn extraordinary profits the next 24 to 48 months.

This is why I've started a new section on our Best Asia Real Estate website called Bali Distressed Properties.

http://bestasiarealestate.com/label/distress-bali-property/

There are only a few properties on there at this very point as I just started it a few days ago.

In the coming weeks and months I expect to have dozens if not hundreds of properties selling at 20% to 50% below January 1st. prices.

Frankly I feel quite comfortable by helping people sell or lease their properties at distressed price. In most cases we will be helping many families to avoid total despair during these trying times

Let's see if my crystal ball is right.

Pandemic-fuelled baby boom has many Indonesians worried

Dessy Sagita

Agence France-Presse
Jakarta, Indonesia / Wed, July 1, 2020 / 05:15 pmLife shield: A nurse puts a face shield on a newborn baby at RSIA Tambak Hospital in Central Jakarta on April 16. To slow the spread of COVID-19, medical workers are following strict health protocol.Indonesian authorities believe there could be 400,000 more births than usual next year as lockdowns keep couples at home and cut access to contraception, prompting fears of an increase in abortions and stunting of children in poorer families. (JP/Seto Wardhana)

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With her husband left jobless by the pandemic, the last thing Indonesian mother Juarsih needed was to get pregnant, but now she's expecting a third child -- one of many in the country anxiously preparing for a COVID-fuelled baby boom.

Indonesian authorities believe there could be 400,000 more births than usual next year as lockdowns keep couples at home and cut access to contraception, prompting fears of an increase in abortions and stunting of children in poorer families.

Juarsih, 41, says her birth control ran out as clinics closed or slashed hours and overwhelmed hospitals struggled to keep up with mounting coronavirus infections in the world's fourth most populous country.


The mother of two teenagers is now too scared of the deadly respiratory disease to risk going out for a pregnancy checkup in her hometown Bandung, on Java island.

"At first I was shocked when I found out that I was pregnant," she said.

"I started feeling happy later although there's still some sadness... I should be grateful but this is happening at a difficult time."

Contraception use has "dropped drastically" since the pandemic took hold across the sprawling archipelago in early March, Hasto Wardoyo, head of Indonesia's national population and family planning board, told AFP.

Health authorities are worried increasing numbers of expectant parents will turn to abortions and push up maternal mortality rates.

"We're also worried about stunting -- not all families can afford proper nutrition," he said.



'Dads, please control yourself'

With access to hospitals and contraceptives difficult, health authorities have been forced to get creative.

One campaign saw health workers in government vehicles rolling through communities to announce that now wasn't the time to have a baby.

"You can have sex," one message blared out as workers trundled through a village.

"You can get married. But don't get pregnant."

"Dads, please control yourself... You can have sex as long as you use contraception."

Birth control has been a key plank of a family planning push launched by Indonesia's late dictator Suharto half a century ago.

The program was later applauded for population control measures that saw in a big drop in the then developing nation's fertility rates.

This week authorities launched a one-day blitz that aimed to give away contraceptives to one million citizens.

Condoms are not popular in Indonesia, where some 98 percent of contraceptive users are women, mainly of hormone injections and birth-control pills.

The family planning agency also enlisted the help of celebrities with huge social media followings to get the word out to the country's nearly 270 million people.



'Corona baby'

At a health clinic in the capital Jakarta Monday, mother-of-two Rahma took advantage of the handouts, admitting that there was more romance in her household since the virus struck.

"My husband has spent a lot more time at home," she laughed.

"But since I'm using this program I'm not worried about having more babies."

Still, infection fears are keeping many at home like Ratna Dewi Nur Amalia, who has decided to rely on charting her menstrual cycle in the hopes of avoiding pregnancy.

"I wanted to go to the gynecologist for my birth control, but then the pandemic happened," said the 39-year-old Amalia.

"I'm too scared to go anywhere near a hospital."

Nearly 3,000 people have died of COVID-19 in Indonesia, according to an official tally, but independent researchers say the real toll could be several times higher.

Budget cuts and a decentralized political structure across the huge country already made it tough to educate the public about family planning.

"Now health workers are too busy focusing on handling corona patients so birth-control services have been pushed aside," said Kusmana, the head of West Java's family planning agency, who goes by one name.

But the pandemic's work-from-home orders were an unexpected blessing for Arie Novarina and her husband after the busy couple's nearly two years of fruitless efforts to conceive.

The 38-year-old is now pregnant with her first child.

"Maybe it was because we were healthier and not exhausted anymore, and we had lots of quality time together at home," said Novarina, a state-owned firm employee.

"My husband and I joke that this is a corona baby."