Indonesia rejects loans with commitment fee

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said Indonesia will not take overseas loans requiring Indonesia to pay commitment fees.

"Since 2004, Bappenas (National Development Planning Board) has formulated readiness criteria for project loans to be taken by Indonesia," Sri Mulyani Indrawati, said here on Monday, when speaking at a working meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR)`s Commission XI to discuss the country`s loan position and fiscal sustainability.

Among those attending the meeting were the House`s Commission XI chairman, A. Hafiz Zawawi, Development Planning State Minister/Head of Bappenas Paskah Suzetta, and BI Deputy Governor Hartadi A. Sarwono.

"Bappenas has applied project preparedness criteria. If the projects are not ready, we don`t take the loans and won`t go to the State Budget, so that there is no more commitment fee," the finance minister said.

According to her, the government (Bappenas and the finance ministry) has conducted disciplinary measure in the local management, including when meeting creditors.

"We will not sign a loan agreement unless there is a project preparation for its implementation, so there will be no longer commitment fee charge," she said.

The finance minister regretted misunderstandings that as if the past practices in loan management was still going on until now.

"We affirm that the loan management policy has completely changed since the reform era, with the existence of the laws on state financial sector," the minister said.

Minister Sri Mulyani said that thanks to the current loan management system, the government could no longer take overseas loans like they used to in the past where there had been no transparency and it had been done outside the State Budget (APBN).

Commenting on a criticism from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that there was quite long commitment free for project loans, the minister said it had happened in the past.

"It happened in the past when the loan policy was so complicated administratively which disadvantaged Indonesia," she said.

Elite Indonesia troops tortured Papuans - group

Members of Indonesia's elite military special forces, Kopassus, have acted with legal impunity in Papua to detain, torture and beat up ordinary citizens, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Thursday.

The New York-based rights watchdog urged the Indonesian government to investigate alleged abuses, and to discipline or prosecute offenders and their commanding officers.

It also called on countries such as the United States, Australia and Britain to cut training ties with Kopassus until the matter had been investigated.

"The long history of political tensions and abuses by the Indonesian security forces in Papua have created a climate of fear in the province," it said, adding "violence thrives when a culture of impunity persists in the heart of what is supposed to be one of Indonesia's best trained fighting units."

Resource-rich Papua on the western half of New Guinea island is one of Indonesia's most politically sensitive regions.

Indonesia has maintained a heavy military presence in Papua in an attempt to crush a decades-long secessionist movement, and there have been frequent reports of abuses by security forces over the years.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said he could not respond to the allegations until he had read the report.

Papua military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Soesilo also said that he was not aware of the allegations.

PLAIN-CLOTHED TROOPS

Kopassus, which has been accused of rights abuses in secessionist hot spots such as Aceh, Papua and East Timor in the past, is currently headed by Major-General Pramono Edhie Wibowo, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's brother-in-law.

It was previously headed by Prabowo Subianto, a former general who is now former President Megawati Sukarnoputri's running mate in the July 8 presidential election.

The rights group alleged that plain-clothed Kopassus troops picked Papuans up off the street or from their homes in Merauke, a city in the easternmost part of Papua, even though they were not involved in the secessionist movement.

The report quoted testimony from several Papuans who said they had been beaten and forced to eat very hot raw chillies when their mouths were bleeding, causing severe pain.

Australia stopped conducting joint training exercises with Kopassus after accusations of abuses in East Timor in 1999, but

has since resumed them, citing a desire to cooperate in counter-terrorism.

According to Human Rights Watch, Britain plans a training session with Kopassus this year.

To read the HRW report, click here: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/06/25/what-did-i-do-wrong

Indonesian court frees Facebook mum

An Indonesian mother-of-two was cleared of defamation charges after emails she wrote about poor treatment at a local hospital appeared on social networking website Facebook.

In a case that provoked outrage across the mainly Muslim nation, Prita Mulyasari, 32, was facing six years' jail for defamation under the criminal code and had already spent three weeks in a police cell.

Her alleged crime was to complain in an email to friends about her treatment for dengue fever at Omni International Hospital outside Jakarta.

The hospital filed criminal charges after the emails were widely circulated on Facebook.

The courtroom erupted in applause and cheers when Judge Karel Tuffu threw out the case.

"We accept the objections filed by the defendant's lawyers and rule that the indictment is legally void," he told the court in announcing the ruling.

Mulyasari had committed no crime by complaining about public health services, he added.

Wearing a blue Muslim headscarf, Mulyasari thanked the judges and broke down in tears of joy as she left the court with her husband.

"All this has been arranged by God.... I'm grateful that there is still justice," she said.

Arrested on May 13, Mulyasari has already been fined 30,000 dollars under the civil code for defaming the hospital, which has refused to back off its pursuit of the bank worker.

She spent three weeks in custody without charge until public outrage at her detention forced authorities to release her on June 4 and bring her before the courts to face the harsher charges under the criminal code.

More than 100,000 people signed a Facebook support group demanding her immediate release, while President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- in the midst of an election campaign -- called on the courts to be lenient.

TNI soldiers involved in fatal shooting of Papuan teenager

Thirteen-year-old Isak Pesakot was shot and killed by Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers patrolling in the Keerom regency, Papua, on Monday.

Lt. Col. Susilo, spokesperson of the Papua Military Command, confirmed the incident on Tuesday.

“TNI soldiers at Bewan military post in Keerom were responsible for the shooting. The incident is now under investigation,” he said as quoted by Antara state news agency.

Servo Tuamis, a local tribal chief, said Isak was walking home from a visit to a relative in Skoscahu, Papua New Guinea (PNG), with his brothers when they met a patrol team of eight soldiers and dogs. The three children ran away after being chased by the dogs and two of them climbed a tree to escape while Isak stayed on the ground.

“The children in the tree heard two shots and shouted that they were Indonesians and to stop firing,” he said.

Keerom is a border area between Indonesia and PNG and Servo said local citizens frequently crossed the border to visit their relatives.

Last week an officer of the Jayapura Police was detained by PNG authorities for allegedly illegally crossing the border at Wutung Beach in Keerom.

What's so Indonesian about Indonesia anyway?

According to the judges, our newly-crowned Miss Indonesia, Karenina Sunny Halim, won her title largely because she amazed them with her fl uent English - mighty handy, of course, for representing Indonesia at international forums.

Unfortunately, there's just one big catch when she's not representing Indonesia at international forums: She doesn't speak Indonesian, nor does she know much about Indonesian culture.

She's half-American, uses English on a daily basis, and when she does give Indonesian a go, she does so haltingly and with an American accent.

This is all rather strange - another entry for my bulging "Only in Indonesia" fi le. I mean, can you imagine a Miss America who doesn't speak English, a Miss Brazil who doesn't speak Portuguese or a Miss Japan who doesn't speak Japanese?

Yes, Karenina's "Lost in Translation" victory is exactly the sort of thing guaranteed to send Presidential candidate Megawati and her running mate, Prabowo Subianto, into meltdown.

Their Tweedledum-Tweedledee campaign now seems to be pinning its slender hopes of victory on a protect-your-traditional-culture drive. Mega says "the fl ow of globalization into Indonesia is so fast . if we don't protect our culture, one day we'll fall on our faces".

Prabowo cites the number of foreign malls in Indonesia, saying that the Japanese prefer Japanese malls, and that Walmart closed there after fi ve years.

That's proof of Japanese nationalism, he said, and Indonesians should do likewise. (Of course! haven't we always striven to emulate our northern brother in the Asian co-prosperity sphere?)

Okay, so let's see if their fears are founded. What is Indonesian culture and is it being invaded by aliens?

Let's start with food, something we all love. Here's a short list of Indonesia's most famous traditional dishes: Gado-gado (mixed boiled veggies in peanut sauce), satay (chicken, beef or lamb skewers in peanut sauce or soya-sauce with chili), rendang (tasty morsels of meat simmered for hours in coconut milk, spices and lots of chili), belado (sliced fried meat, shrimp or potatoes in a chili and tomato sauce), and lots and lots of tofu and tempe dishes. Yummy! Am I making your mouth water?

But stop! Are these dishes really "Indonesian"? Chili peppers are from the Americas; tomatoes are from South America; potatoes originated from the Andes; and peanuts are native to South America, Mexico and Central America.

Like it or not, without Christopher Columbus, that alien Western globalizer, our national cuisine wouldn't exist!

So what is left? Surely coconut milk, the basic ingredient of so many Indonesian dishes, is native? Guess again: Its origins are controversial, and some claim coconuts come from South Asia, but fossil records show that they're from New Zealand. And soybeans?

They are used to make the tempe and tofu so beloved of Indonesians that when the price of soybeans skyrocketed in 1997-1998 during the monetary crisis, and again as recently as 2008, Indonesians were screaming not for blood, but for beans. Well, sorry, soybeans are still primarily imported.

Yep, most of our "traditional" recipes are just a complex blend of cultural infl uences: Chinese, Indian, Arab, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and Anglo.

Even our world-famous Indonesian Rijsttafel (rice table), a banquet of many dishes, was a Dutch colonial creation. Do you think that the average "inlander" (native) would have had the time and money to enjoy such a luxury?

They say you are what you eat, but what about what comes out of our mouths? Bahasa Indonesia is also a product of imports, including Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, Tamil, Dutch, Portuguese and English.

In fact, there are so many loanwords from other languages (look up Wikipedia's entry on Loan words in Indonesian) that a book containing 20,000 of them, Russell Jones' Loan Words in Indonesian, was recently published.

What about what we believe? Hinduism and Buddhism, the two oldest religions in Indonesia, were brought in by Indian traders. Islam is from the Middle East, brought here by a host of ethnicities, including Gujarati traders and Chinese merchants.

The Portuguese brought Catholicism with them, and the Dutch Protestantism, while Confucianism came with Chinese merchants and immigrants. So, is there any native Indonesian belief system? Yes, animism, which everyone - from Muslims to Christians - has tried to marginalize.

How about clothing? Well, it's mainly Western, while traditional costumes have long been infl uenced by Chinese, Indian and (especially nowadays!) Arab cultures. Even the peci, the black cap that Sukarno and hundreds of others after him wear as a symbol of nationalism, is a take on the Turkish fez.

I could go on about theatre, dance, music, technology - and don't even get me started about our economic and political system - but it seems pretty clear that Indonesian cultures (yes, it's plural!) are a long-simmering stew of foreign infl uences.

And this is because Indonesia has always been a globalized society at a crossroads of nations, straddling as it does the sea lanes between India and China.

Our cities have thus always been entrepots, so it's hardly surprising that our communities are still syncretic and eclectic - a giant archipelagic bourse for cultures, religions and ideas.

Globalization is neither new nor scary, and certainly not a product of modernity. History, fi lled with conquests, commerce and (religious) conversions, has for centuries produced hugely successful globalized entrepots like Rome, Alexandria, Venice, Ottoman Istanbul ... and Jakarta.

Gado-gado without peanuts, sambal without chili, tempe without soybeans? Unimaginable right? In fact, without globalization and foreign infl uences, Indonesia itself is unimaginable.

We wouldn't have any of the offi cially-recognized religions, we wouldn't be speaking Bahasa Indonesia, and we'd have no coffee (from Ethiopia) or tea (from China) to chat over (our national pastime), and no stinky kreteks to smoke while doing so (tobacco is from America).

Even Balinese dancing girls would be unable to dance the (Indian) Ramayana or Mahabharata tales. And they couldn't even wear frangipani in their hair, either because that quintessentially tropical fl ower is - you guessed it! - another Latin America import.

So maybe Karenina is just another expression of our gloriously globalized and diverse community, and not so "un-Indonesian" after all? As for Mega-Pro, would someone be so kind as to give them a free lesson in globalization and the cultural history of our not-so traditional country?

Shoeshine boys face more jail time, cops get heavy-handed

“Dear Bapak Bambang, I do not like it here, I would rather be at home, pak, I want to go to school again, pak; I miss my parents, I promise I will not do what I did again, pak...”

The words from a short letter, scrawled in broken Indonesian, were written by 10-year-old Saripudin bin Basar.

He was trying to convince a high-ranking police officer at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to free him and his nine friends from the children’s penitentiary in Tangerang, after they were arrested on May 29 for allegedly gambling in the area and working as shoeshine boys, deemed a disturbance to the airport’s orderliness.

All 10 children sent similar letters to Iptu Bambang Hermanto, the deputy head of the airport’s crime unit, responsible for their arrest.

Like a believing child addressing Santa, the words painted Bambang as a savior who would grant their wishes.

The letters were officially handed to Bambang on June 16, two days before the boys were scheduled for release.

However, their plight fell on deaf ears, when on June 18, the police decided to keep them locked up longer, until June 28.

The arrest has deprived those children, all under 18 years old, with an average age of 13, of their chance to take their exams, which fell in the first week of June.

“We often catch [shoeshine boys and other informal sector workers], and they keep loitering in the airport area,” said Taufik Hidayat, head of the airport police’s crime unit.

“So we’re now rounding them up as a form of shock therapy to deter other workers at the airport.”
Dhoho A. Sastro, director of the Public Legal Aid Institute (LBHM), disagreed.

“The children say this is their first time being rounded up,” he said Friday.

“So clearly this isn’t a last-resort tactic by the police.”

Magdalena Sitorus, of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), said the police should use detention as a last resort, citing an article from the 2002 child protection law.

“Article 16 says the arrest of a minor may only be carried out according to the regulations and as a last resort,” she said.

The LBHM also said the allegation that the detained boys had been gambling was unsubstantiated.

“The kids were only playing a game in which they decide which side a coin lands on after it’s flicked into the air, and the bets only went up to around Rp 1,000 [10 US cents],” Dhoho said.

“They shouldn’t be detained for such a petty crime.”

The state-owned airport operator last year launched its Clean Airport Action campaign to upgrade the airport, which serves 32 million passengers a year.

The campaign includes improving the airport’s toilets, a better parking system, and raids on hawkers, including shoeshine boys like Saripudin and his friends.

The KPAI’s M. Rizki Nasution said the police post been interpreting the regulations on child arrest dismally.

“The National Police already has rules concerning juvenile delinquents, which includes the limited use of arrest. However, the knowledge has not been properly channeled to the regional level,” he said.

Airport police officers were not immediately available for further comment on the matter.

Candidates for president debate

Presidential candidates debate the Election Commission, criticized the event as a debate without debate. Observers this is a sign of social failure holds the education process because the leaders always want to think without a uniform can give an alternative.

"Earlier tonight is koor, like performers, all mengamini. My fear is also a product of Indonesian education. Education we produce leaders who think the same"

For example, the time to speak concerning the protection of Indonesian workers abroad. "Protection must be provided by us in the country," said Megawati Sukarnoputri. Mega Food diamini two other presidential candidates, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla.

Imam opinion also seems to represent some people who do not see the ability Capres. "Determining the quality, I think not".

As scheduled events are still two debates Capres and two more vice-presidential candidate debate. Hopefully the event can give you a better quality of prospective leaders of this nation

There are half a million Unemployment in Jakarta

You may include people who have experienced strict competition to get a job in Jakarta? Of course. Jakarta is settled no less than 10 million people during the day and almost half in the night, also diramaikan by the large number of the unemployed who live in the capital city of this country.

Office of the Secretary of Manpower and Transmigration Jakarta, the number of unemployment in Jakarta until 2008 to reach half a million more people (580,511). They are the job seekers. Meanwhile, the number of labor force in 2008 to reach 4,772,477 people and those who have been working to reach 4,196,463 people.

"Every year, new job seekers continue to grow, but we prioritize the settlement of the job seekers for up to 2008," said Sugiono as quoted BETWEEN.

Strategies that local governments do to deal with job seekers are making training to improve skills, make the cooperation with private companies and to develop entrepreneurship.

Siti Hajar's Employer Denies Torture Charges

Malaysian Hau Yuan Tyng denied Thursday accusations that she had tortured her Indonesian maid Siti Hajar at her apartment in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, Antara state news agency reported Thursday.

Prosecutor Lee King Fatt told a Malaysian court Hua or Michelle had tormented Siti three times in February and June and was facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

Michelle's lawyer Manoharan asked Judge SK Komanthy to release his client from detention put her under city arrest.

“My client is cooperative and has two kids, one of them is physically handicapped, and need attention from their mother,” Manoharan said.

Judge Komanthy said Michelle would have to pay RM 15,000 (US$ 4,200) in bail, hand over her passport and report to the nearby police office each month for her release from prison.

Siti, who hails from Garut in West Java, was hired by Michelle in 2006 but had not received her salaries for the last 34 months.Michelle also stands trial on charges of violating immigration law for illegally employing Siti and did not extend her work permit.

Polls Watchdog Interrupts Wiranto's Speech

The Blora Election Supervision Committee (Panwaslu) interrupted on Thursday a speech by vice presidential candidate Wiranto during a meeting with executives and supporters of Golkar Party in the Central Java regency.

Chairman of the regional polls watchdog Wahono said the local police had notified organizers of the event to close the meeting at 8 p.m. in accordance with the police permit.

“We had already given additional 10 minutes. If the gathering continued, we would dissolve it,” Wahono was quoted by kompas.com. Wiranto stopped his speech three minutes past 8 p.m.

He said Panwaslu had found the organizers violated the election law for involving children in the event.

Local chairman of presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto campaign team, Maulana Kusnanto, said he was not aware of the breach of the election law, but said he would be responsible for it.

Aqua to pay dividends in July

The annual shareholders' meeting of the country's largest bottled mineral water company PT Aqua Golden Mississippi approved Friday the allocation of 19.17 percent of last year's net profit, or Rp 15.8 billion (US$1.5 million) as dividends.

is amounts to Rp 1,200 for each share.

Aqua president director Parmaningsih said the company would distribute the dividends on July 31. The company's net profit rose 24.92 percent last year to Rp 82.33 billion.

The company will use the remaining cash from the net profit, or Rp 66.54 billion, as reserves.

Nearly 2,000 Foreign Migrants Enter Indonesia

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said 1,928 foreign migrants had streamed into Indonesia as of June, mostly on their way to countries where they can seek asylum.

“Among the migrants, 441 are refugees and the rest are asylum seekers,” UNHCR representative office staff Nurul Qoiriah told a seminar held in conjunction with the International Day of Refugees on Thursday.

UNHCR data revealed that around 1,200 migrants came from strife-torn Afghanistan, some 300 from Myanmar and 282 from conflict-ridden Iraq.

“They stay at refugee shelters across the country, but most of them in Jakarta,” she said. Other shelters are located in Aceh, Bogor in West Java and Mataram in West Nusa Tenggara.

Nurul said the world body had secured the migrants’ daily needs and were interviewing them as part of the procedure to declare them asylum seekers.

Miss Indonesia's first plan is to learn Indonesian

The newly crowned Miss Indonesia Kerenina Sunny Halim might have amazed people with her fluent English, but surprised just as many with her poor ability to speak Indonesian.

On the final night of the Miss Indonesia pageant last week, Kerenina needed a translator to help her understand the judges' questions. Kerenina admits this is a weakness but has promised to improve her Indonesian language skills.

"It's been hard for me *to speak Indonesian*, because I use English every day," says the half-American woman. "But I will learn. Indonesian is an easy language, as long as we're willing to learn."

Kerenina's brother, actor Steve Emmanuel (now Yusuf Iman), reveals that his sister was not exposed to Indonesian as a child because she didn't go to a formal school. "She was with homeschooling," Steve says. "She barely uses Indonesian at home, and doesn't go out often *so she can't practice Indonesian*."

The 23-year-old has also promised to learn more about the local culture in preparing for this year's Miss World competition in Johannesburg, South Africa. "Currently, I don't know much *about Indonesian culture*," says the girlfriend of actor Nino Fernandez. "But within six months, I'm going to learn about it all, because I represent Indonesia at the international level."

Kerenina, who holds six diplomas - in public relations; sales and marketing; primary school teaching; economics; performing arts; and music and art - won the competition over the two other finalists, Viviane (from Bali) and Melati Putri Kusuma Dewi (West Sulawesi). Kerenina impressed the judges with her fluent English, and was considered to meet the contest's criteria of MISS (Manners, Impressive, Smart and Social).

Ready for war ?

Members of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) rally Tuesday in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta to protest Malaysia's violation of the Indonesian border in Ambalat waters. Participants of the rally, which included several Muslim youth groups, said they were ready to wage war against Malaysia over Ambalat

Government should not ‘underrate’ Ambalat issue

Observers support the diplomatic channel taken by the government to settle the dispute on Ambalat waters while at the same time urging the government to warn Malaysia over its provocative measures.

International relations expert from the University of Indonesia, Hikmahanto Juwono, said the maritime boundary issue should be handled separately from the “provocative maneuvers” of Malaysian warships in Ambalat.

He said Indonesia should firmly warn Malaysia that its provocative actions in Ambalat could be against the ASEAN Charter, signed by both Indonesia and Malaysia.

The charter stipulates that member countries should not settle their boundary disputes through violent means.

Hikmahanto criticized the government for merely sending a diplomatic note and approving lawmakers’ departing for Malaysia to settle the dispute.

“It is the government itself that should speak firmly to the Malaysian government over the case,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He was commenting on a four-day visit to Malaysia by six lawmakers of the House of Representatives’ Commission I, overseeing defense and foreign affairs.

Led by commission chairman Theo L. Sambuaga, the lawmakers will leave Monday to meet their counterparts.

The Malaysian lawmakers are then expected to help convince their government to cease its warship maneuvers in Ambalat.

“The provocative actions will worsen relations between the two countries, which we don’t want,” Theo said after meeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as quoted by presidensby.info.

Five other lawmakers are Yusron Ihza Mahendra, Djoko Susilo, Hepi Bone Zulkarnaen, Shidqi Wahab and Andreas Pairera.

While supporting diplomatic measures, a political expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Ikrar Nusa Bakti, warned that Indonesia should monitor the Ambalat territory.

“I am supportive of deploying Indonesian warships to Ambalat.

“We must learn from the Sipadan-Ligitan case and should not underestimate the Ambalat issue by saying there is only a small chance the dispute will be brought to the International Court of Justice.”

Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Sunday that the ministry had dispatched a diplomatic note concerning he dispute to the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

He said the note “firmly protests [Malaysian warships’ maneuvers in Ambalat] and reaffirms Indonesia’s rights of sovereignty”.

Faizasyah said both countries had met 13 times since 2005 to settle their maritime boundary issues.

“We are expecting another meeting immediately.”

The ministry’s director general for international law and agreement, Arif Havas Oegroseno, said that the border negotiation process was highly complicated and “much more difficult than forming political parties”.

“There are dozens of elements, for example law, geography, geology, hydrography, oceanography, tide calculations, cartography, mapmaking and jurisprudence, which have to be factored in,” he told the Post.

“They all have to be addressed. And to not address them all for the sake of quick negotiation is a rather unintelligent decision.”