Saturday Titbits
No folks, this headline is nothing to do with today's news that Indonesia's Artika Sari Devi,
winner of Putri Indonesia (Miss Indonesia) in 2004, is joining the Miss Universe Contest.
The Soeharto government banned Indonesian women from competing in the international contest because the swimsuit competition in particular was cited as being against Indonesian culture and religious values. Criticism has somewhat faded - and Artika says she plans to join the swimsuit session.It's also nothing to do with the Reveller's penchant for describing
the lasses of Blok M.
No, Jakartass is nothing if not serious, but today there are other things to do such as ripping CDs, tidying up what I euphemistically call 'my office' and working out the odds of Charlton actually winning their
all-important last match of the season against local rivals Crystal Palace, thus consigning them to the nether regions of the so-called Championship.
These are some important headlines worth reading:
Tommy Suharto's Appeal Drags OnSupreme Court chief justice Bagir Manan has placed himself in charge of a panel of judges considering former president Suharto's youngest son Hutomo 'Tommy' Mandala Putra's request for a judicial review of his murder conviction.
Manan said yesterday he was taking over the leadership of the panel and replacing all of its members because of rumours the judges had received threats or been offered bribes to exonerate Tommy.
"This has disrupted the integrity of the judges, because whatever decision is eventually reached, it will spark various assumptions."
New Police Chief Expected to Combat GraftThe next National Police chief must be an honest and influential leader, in order to combat the rampant internal corruption within the force, a legislator said yesterday.
"The police force needs a strong and problem-free leader. A figure with too many problems will not be able to improve the institution's performance," said Akil Mochtar, deputy head of parliament's Commission III on law, legislation, human rights and security.
He said incumbent National Police chief General Dai Bachtiar, who has held the position since November 2001 and is expected to be replaced in July, had failed to deal with internal corruption, collusion and nepotism.
Aceh Killings Continue Ahead of Status ChangeOn Thursday, the government announced it would end Aceh's one-year state of civil emergency on May 18, but said military operations against the rebels would continue.
Agence France-Presse quoted an unnamed military officer as saying seven members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were killed in two separate clashes in Bireuen and North Aceh districts on Thursday.
It is suggested that the failure to withdraw the military and hand over security and order maintenance to the police indicates that SBY is not fully in charge of the TNI.
|
