As we put out the last issue of the Jakarta Globe for the year, we take a customary look back on the 12 months gone by and reflect on how the drama, tragedy and comedy of 2009 reveal the state of our nation.

Yes, there have been heart-wrenching disasters, unequivocal disappointments, gloriously nationalistic undertakings, as well as enthralling political power struggles. But we at the Globe's Life & Times section like to keep our focus firmly on what matters most to our readers – a wacky hullabaloo of scandal – and it is to models and starlets we first turn our attention.

At midyear, there was no doubt that model Manohara Odelia Pinot would be in the spotlight for some time. Marrying a Malaysian prince at 16, she allegedly suffered sexual abuse before managing a daring escape in Singapore with the help of police there.

But sceptics questioned the veracity of her claims of abuse and accused her of pulling a publicity stunt.

The sensational news and its aftermath of cross-border accusation and counter-accusation was followed quickly – lest the moment be lost – by an attempt at sinetron stardom in a pseudoreligious, tearjerker soap opera, a local specialty creatively named "Manohara."

Her inability to portray any emotion, other than what looked like an attempt at concern by the subtle lifting of one eyebrow, eventually led to the show being canceled.

But that didn't stop the resourceful young lass, still only 17, from reforming her image to that of a political activist. The starlet attended a Golkar Party conference and took part in public anticorruption protests, culminating in an opinion piece on the matter in this very paper. No doubt there will more from Manohara in the year to come. Perhaps she could switch parties and form a ticket with actress Ayu Azhari – famous for stripping off in the low-budget Hollywood potboiler "Without Mercy" – who is apparently running for deputy head of Sukabumi district in West Java on behalf of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) next year. Or maybe we can dare dream of a titanic "Clash of the Starlets" as Manohara and Ayu bash it out in some future legislative election.

The appeal of Manohara's crash-burn-resurrection story, in terms of celebrity drama, didn't have a thick or saucy enough plot to hold our attention for too long, however.

That credit goes to the alleged love triangle between the now 23-year-old golf caddie Rani Juliani; her husband, businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen; and former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) head Antasari Azhar, now on trial for Nasrudin's murder.

The murder trial heated up when Rani's detailed account of an encounter in a hotel room with Antasari was broadcast on national television.

The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission reprimanded local media for the broadcast, saying Rani and Antasari's sexual exploits should have been edited out of the coverage. The rest of us were merely offended by the mental image of Antasari in the sack.

Some people were also offended, it seemed, by the thought of a Japanese star who makes her living in the sack. "The Curious Case of Miyabi" made headlines when it was announced the porn star would take part in a local comedy movie, "Kidnapping Miyabi."

Of course, her plans triggered both excitement among a certain breed and disgust by certain religious groups, and surely enough the film was over before it even began.

Imagine if Maria "Miyabi" Ozawa had made it to Indonesia. She would be stuck on talk shows with Dr. Phil-type psychologists, religious leaders and a droopy-eyed sociologists taking turns to blame Western culture for her breast job. She'd giggle like a schoolgirl as her awkward translator gives her a heavily-accented, off-beam translation of a question: "They ask why you like balloons."

Perhaps to add comical insult to injury, Miyabi's translator could be Kerenina Sunny Halim, who won the Miss Indonesia pageant in June. The beauty queen's fluency in English was as surprising as her inability to speak Indonesian. She admitted to the Globe that she was a member of The Family International, which has been called an American religious cult. The group has been investigated for prostitution, abuse and kidnapping in other countries, and it has also has been accused of encouraging women to use sex to proselytize.

Of course, it's not always models and porn stars that have us all a-Twitter. Such was the case when Prita Mulyasari was sued for defamation by Omni International Hospital in Tangerang for what most sensible people would agree was a fairly innocent e-mail to friends and relatives complaining about her treatment at the health facility.

Prita was held in jail for three weeks as she awaited trial, but support from the public and media exposure of the case forced police to release her ahead of her first criminal defamation trial. She went to court and her case was thrown out, but prosecutors successfully refiled the charges. The cavalry arrived in the form of public protests, Facebook groups, media and blog editorials, and charity events – which may go to prove that it is not only natural disasters that bring out the best in our nation. She was acquitted on Tuesday, but the Attorney General's Office says it will appeal the verdict up to the Supreme Court.

Similar public support was shown for the so-called shoeshine boys, who in May were detained by local authorities for "gambling" in their area of operation at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng. The schoolboys were betting Rp 1,000 (10 cents) a throw on the outcome of a coin-toss game. Though the support was less visible than in Prita's case, there was similarly no shortage of criticism toward the authorities' cretinous sense of judgment.

But the public is not always on target with its support. Well, not when they're schoolgirls with a penchant for perverts. Serial killer Verry Idham Henyansyah, better known Ryan, was apprehended in 2008 after confessing to the bloody murders of 11 people. In April, Ryan was found guilty of stabbing to death a man who showed interest in his boyfriend. He cut the victim's body into pieces and skewered him with a 51-centimeter crowbar.

Somehow, this got a bunch of schoolgirls excited, and a savage murderer was transformed into a ladies' man.

The Globe reported that the girls wrote him letters, sent him text messages, took pictures with him and even asked him for photographs. Perhaps his love songs were what won their hearts. As Ryan explained to Antara: "I've composed 12 Javanese songs and 10 pop songs. [My upcoming] album talks about love."

At least one of the killer's groupies clung to a shred of rationality, saying that she was initially scared of him, but that her fear soon faded because "it's not like he would strangle us in front of so many people." Well, you can't argue with teenage logic.

Perhaps Ryan could, as some idols of teens have done, achieve broader success by incorporating social issues into his songs, somewhat like a Bob Dylan gone wrong. Perhaps he could sing about the Indonesia-Malaysia row over ownership of cultural heritage.

No doubt a Ryan-warbled ballad would quickly become an anthem for the anti-Malaysia vigilantes Bendera, who worked hard at trying to convince us they were going to invade our neighbor and declare war on our cousins, breaking bricks with their heads and limbs at every convenient photo opportunity.

The group reportedly had more than 1,200 members, 40 of whom were deaf, 10 with limb deformities and 10 confined to wheelchairs. Somehow, Operation Kill Thy Neighbor never happened. Logistics, perhaps?

No matter how many serious issues were at hand over the last 12 months, for many, 2009 will be remembered as the year actress and model Luna Maya likened infotainment journalists to prostitutes and murderers, or maybe as the year that taking up golf as a sport seemed like a good way to get fit.

We can only hope that next year will bless us with as much shame and scandal.