<$BlogRSDURL$>
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
  Plus ça change

For the time being I'll give SBY full marks for effort. Is there another president who would ask the public to send him an SMS. Of course, the system crashed, such was the public response.

"Most people sent the President reports on corruption, their hardships and even on lucky charms, such as keris and stones. The public response has been most encouraging," said presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng yesterday.

I didn't know that text messaging had transmutable powers ~ lucky charms??

Still, the opportunity was provided due to widespread complaints of red tape and officials' unresponsiveness to the people's problems.

Presumably these problems include the following:

1. Arrogant Generals Impede Reform and refuse "in a staggering display of the scornful arrogance that was prevalent during the era of former dictator Suharto" to co-operate with the fact-finding team investigating the murder of human rights campaigner Munir.

SBY will probably be asked to extend the term of office of the team, which is due to expire on June 23rd.

2. TNI Passes Buck on Missing Activists Case
Former Jakarta Military chief Lieutenant General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin, who is now secretary general of the Defence Ministry, last week failed to comply with an initial summons for questioning by a special team of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) over what happened to the 14 missing pro-democracy activists, who were allegedly kidnapped and killed by the military seven years ago.

3. Police Deny Engineering Bombing
A low-explosive bomb exploded early Wednesday (last week) in the front yard of Muslim cleric Abu Jibril's rented house in Pamulang. The explosion occurred while Jibril was at a nearby mosque and caused no injuries.

Police, who so far have no suspects in the case, questioned Jibril as a witness for four hours after the bombing. They also seized his laptop computer, as well as several documents, photos and films to investigate whether he has any links to terror groups.

Jibril and his associates have suggested the US might have carried out the bombing in an effort to discredit their struggle to implement Islamic law in Indonesia.

One of Jibril's lawyers from the Muslim Defence Team, Akhmad Cholid, has reportedly accused police of engineering the bombing in order to confiscate the cleric's personnel possessions.

National Police chief General Dai Bachtiar said police could not possibly have done something that would create public anxiety or confusion.

Of course not.

4. Jakarta Election Officials Held in Graft Probe
Three members of the Jakarta chapter of the General Elections Commission (KPU) have been detained on suspicion of involvement in the alleged embezzlement of Rp168 billion ($17 million) in funds intended for the 2004 elections.

5. Activist Gets 6 Months For Insulting President
A court in Bali has sentenced a political activist to six months in jail for burning a portrait of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The law on insulting the president was inherited from Indonesia's former Dutch colonial rulers. The original legislation was once used against ex-president Megawati Sukarnoputri's father, founding president Sukarno, during his fight for independence from the Dutch in the 1930s and 40s.

Human rights groups have long demanded the section of the Criminal Code on insulting the president be dropped, saying it is a shameful relic of Indonesia's colonial past and a direct contradiction of freedom of speech.

Yudhoyono had in March instructed authorities not to be heavy-handed in dealing with protests against the fuel price increases, but the instruction came too late for Gendo and other activists arrested prior to the order.

6. More soldiers fired for drugs
Two soldiers and a staff official with the province's Bukit Barisan Military Command (in Medan, North Sumatra) were dishonorably discharged from the military on Monday for their involvement in drug trafficking - believed to be cannabis.

Bukit Barisan military commander Maj. Gen. Tri Tamtomo presided over a special ceremony at the headquarters' compound in Medan to mark the dismissal of the three officers, none of whom will be reported to the police.

I doubt that Schapelle Corby reads Jakartass, but if she does ~ Howzyadoin, Sheila? ~ I bet that last news item will have seriously pissed you off.

And the following too.

My friend Indcoup is one of a number of bloggers who are getting a lot of mileage out of the Corby cause celebre. As he points out, there is a humorous side to it all, including the name of her new hotshot lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea.

On February 27th 2004, a month before I launched Jakartass, an article, republished with comments here, appeared in the Australian Financial Review which described him as the embodiment of Jakarta's filthy rich.

The podgy 44-year-old bankruptcy lawyer with the mullet haircut boasts he can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per case in Jakarta's corrupt commercial courts (less the 'thank-you money' he sends judges after a victory) and he wants everyone to know it.

By his own reckoning, Hotman owns 60 houses and 15 luxury cars, including a new-model Porsche, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz. Around his neck is a glistening diamond he bought for $US150,000 (nearly $200,000). Oversized opal rings adorn his fingers and a gold-encrusted watch and bracelet cover his wrists, though the pistol he keeps in a holster on his hip ("I even sleep with it") suggests his success has made him plenty of enemies.

Of his fleet of vehicles - which requires the services of six full-time personal drivers - Hotman says his favourite is a new SL500 silver Mercedes-Benz that set him back a cool Rp.3 billion ($470,000), and in which he claims to soar along Jakarta's main toll road at 200 kmh.

Hotman has accumulated almost all of his extraordinary wealth since 1999, when he left a leading city law firm to start his own practice, aiming to capitalise on the new legal framework set up after the 1997 financial crisis. "When Indonesia's new bankruptcy court opened [in 1998], all the big cases came to me. Yes, it's quite a good life," he smiles, sitting in his luxurious office on the 18th floor of the Summitmas Tower in central Jakarta.

All these recent news items demonstrate that SBY has a massive task in getting rid of the leeches and parasites prevalent in Indonesia.

Plus ça change, c'est toujours la même chose.

 

postID=111874400873880304

5:00 pm
|
Alien Thoughts from Home

Home Thoughts from Abroad

Interactive World Time

Indonesian Dictionary

Indonesian Acronyms

Indonesian Slang

Learn Indonesian

Currency Converter

Email Me

The WeatherPixie

5 Day Forecast

Get Firefox!




Disasters
  • West Sumatra Earthquake Aid Agencies
  • Sidoarjo Mud Volcano
  • Reports on Crashes and Sinkings

  • Living in Indonesia
  • Tempo
  • Bugils News
  • Jakarta Post
  • Jakarta Globe
  • Down To Earth
  • Loads of Advice
  • Inside Indonesia
  • Green Indonesia
  • Hobson's Choice
  • Gunung Bagging - New - clamber volcanoes
  • Indonesian Music
  • Indahnesia Online
  • Maps of Indonesia
  • Indonesia For Kids - blog
  • Green Group Links
  • Faces of Indonesia - blog
  • Photos of Indonesia
  • Indonesian Publications
  • International Crisis Group
  • Indonesian Engaged Travel - blog
  • Outside The Indonesian Box - blog
  • Indonesian Corruption Watch
  • News and Events Aggregators
  • Indonesia's Vegetarian Restaurants

  • Living in Jakarta
  • Culture Shock - Jakarta - 'my' book
  • Bataviase - loads of info in Indonesian
  • Rujak.org - for a sustainable Jakarta
  • Jakarta Kid - stories of street kids
  • Jakarta Events - as it says in the title
  • Map of Jakarta
  • Jakarta Nite Out
  • Jakarta Nite Out - for Francophiles
  • Jakarta 100 Bars - as it says in the title
  • Jakarta Java Kini - upmarket magazine
  • Jakarta Urban Blog- as it says in the title
  • Jakarta Green Map
  • Jakarta Daily Photo - as it says in the title
  • Jakarta? Been there!
  • Protecting Jakarta Bay
  • Nightlife - for single guys - check the forums
  • Jakarta Restaurant Reviews - as it says in the title

  • Living in Bali
  • Hector - at Bali Times
  • Bali Spirit
  • Bali Expat Forum
  • Nusa Lembongan News
  • I've Been To Bali Too Blog - defunct but still good stuff

  • Education Matters
  • Education 21
  • Performing Monkeys
  • Yayasan Goodwill International

  • Pre-Independence History
  • 1941-1942
  • A Family Tale

  • JAKARTASS ADS
  • Del Boy - my multi-talented co-author
  • Hotel Rimbo - a mate
  • Ethos Travel - Son No.1
  • Indo Fair Traders
  • Organic Vanilla
  • Merdeka Coffee
  • Pekerti Nusantara

  • Indonesian Blogs in English
  • Top Blogs
  • Merdeka - aggregator
  • Elyani - good stuff
  • Therry - good stuff
  • Om'Bak - group thoughts
  • Yosef Ardi - business gossip
  • Treespotter - his serious blog
  • Milk Tea Girl - poems and stuff
  • Bitching Babe - another slice
  • Café Salemba - ekonomi +
  • Enda Nasution - The Guv'nor
  • Aroeng Binang - a neighbour
  • Harry Nizam H. - legal practitioner
  • Ethereal Shards - youthful ponderings
  • Muli's Commune - defunct but good links
  • Isman H. Suryaman - not a 'Fool'
  • Rasyad A. Parinduri - ekonomi
  • Tasa Nugraza Barley - returned from the USA
  • Indonesia Anonymus - infrequent but always good

  • Indonesian Expats
  • Naz - a "12.5% Indonesian" in Norway
  • Bleu - in Malaysia
  • Anita - in Scotland
  • Maya - in Antibes
  • The Writer - in Denmark
  • Spew-It-All - in Australia
  • Jennie Bev - in SF
  • Rima Fauzi - in Belgium
  • Nadia Febina - in Angola
  • Society of Spectacle - in Berlin
  • Overseas Think Tank - for Indonesia
  • Indonesians Living Abroad Forum - as it says in the title

  • Expat Bloggers in Indonesia
  • PJ Bali - oil worker
  • Mat Solo - Malaysian oil worker
  • Jenny Q - an expat wife
  • Dr Bruce - retired teacher in Bali
  • Spruiked - Brett's take on things
  • Indoprism - an expat family
  • Java Jive - original photoblog (now in the Phillipines)
  • Amor Fati - good links
  • Metro Mad - Jakarta Globe columnist
  • Rob Baiton - back in Oz
  • Jakarta Kid - about street kids
  • Green Stump - in Kalimantan
  • Most Curious - née Betty Loves Blogging
  • The Mad Rotter - Henk loves Indonesian music
  • Duncan Graham - journo archives
  • Hardship Posting - more wtf
  • Indonesia Matters - loads of stuff
  • The Opinionated Diner - and NZ music
  • Patrick Guntensperger - has opinions on current issues

  • Selected Aseanist Blogs
  • SARAwho? - Southeast Asia Aggregator
  • Pelf-ism is Contagious
  • Brommel - usually in Indonesia
  • Friskodude - SF travel writer
  • Klong Walking - an Addick in Bangkok
  • Agam's Gecko - musings from Thailand

  • London Blogs
  • Diamond Geezer
  • London Daily Nature Photo
  • London Bloggers Tube Map

  • Other Fave Blogs
  • Aangirfan - who is s/he?
  • Ad Busters - ecological economic sense
  • Samizdata.net
  • Strange Games
  • The J-Walk Blog
  • Environmental Graffiti

  • Charlton
  • Doctor Kish
  • Inspector Sands
  • Forever Charlton
  • Official Charlton site
  • Addickted to Blogs
  • Ex-Charlton forward in Belize

  • I'm an Aging Hippie
  • Man
  • XTC
  • World Changing
  • MoonJune Records
  • Canterbury Sounds

  • My Youth
  • Blackheath
  • Charlton Lido
  • Charlton House
  • Woolwich Ferry
  • Greenwich Park
  • Severndroog Castle
  • Overlapping Memories
  • More Overlapping Memories
  • Map of My Stomping Ground

  • Put Your Feet Up
  • Biscuit of the week
  • 50's British TV Nostalgia
  • Hello Children, Everywhere

  • Enter your Email

    Subscribe with Bloglines

    Locations of visitors to this page

    Blog

    eXTReMe Tracker



    Listed on BlogShares

    Personal Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

    ARCHIVES
  • May 1998
  • March 2004
  • April 2004
  • May 2004
  • June 2004
  • July 2004
  • August 2004
  • September 2004
  • October 2004
  • November 2004
  • December 2004
  • January 2005
  • February 2005
  • March 2005
  • April 2005
  • May 2005
  • June 2005
  • July 2005
  • August 2005
  • September 2005
  • October 2005
  • November 2005
  • December 2005
  • January 2006
  • February 2006
  • March 2006
  • April 2006
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • July 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • March 2008
  • April 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2008
  • July 2008
  • August 2008
  • September 2008
  • October 2008
  • November 2008
  • December 2008
  • January 2009
  • February 2009
  • March 2009
  • April 2009
  • May 2009
  • June 2009
  • July 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • October 2009
  • November 2009
  • December 2009
  • December 2013
  • Creative Commons Licence