Hot On The HeelsThe Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club arranges for all kinds of folk to come to a posh nosh in five star surroundings in the hope that selected 'special guests' will spill a few beans which the correspondents can write up for their paymasters.
The next luncheon is, as the emailed invitation below points out, next Wednesday. Unfortunately, I'll be otherwise engaged but maybe a few of you, dear readers, can manage to drag yourselves out of bed and get yourselves along to ask some deep and meaningful, or meaningless - its up to you, lah - questions of the Minister for His Family's Welfare.
My comments box is open for suggested, or even suggestive, ideas and topics.
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-----Original Message-----
From:
JFCCSent: 08 August 2008 15:25
To:
office@jfcc.infoSubject: Change of location: Luncheon with Aburizal Bakrie
Dear Friends and Members,
Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare, Aburizal Bakrie, is one of the most powerful figures in the government. He is responsible for ensuring that services across the nation are delivered on time and, with millions living below the poverty line, that's no simple task.
Join the JFCC for a fascinating discussion with Mr. Bakrie as he lays open his expectations for social development in the final year of this administration and beyond.
Day/date : Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Time : 12 - 2 PM
Venue : Portovenere Italian Restaurant, Lower Lobby Level, The Ritz-Carlton, Jl. Lingkar Mega Kuningan
Cost : Rp. 180,000 for members
--------- Rp. 320,000 for non-members
Please confirm your attendance by Tuesday, August 12 to
office@jfcc.info.
See you there!
Regards,
The JFCC Executive Committee
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I keep a bank of news cuttings and I somehow overlooked this one from the Jakarta Post entitled
Suspected money politics keeps candidates quiet on mudflow.
You see, in the recent East Java gubernatorial election,
none of the five pairs of candidates had Sidoarjo in their manifesto, in spite of the commitment by at least one pair to do so.
"The news that the candidates have received funds from Lapindo is no longer a secret, but it is difficult to prove the flow of money from the Bakrie family," Bambang Sulistomo, Movement to Shut Down the Lapindo Mudflow secretary, told The Jakarta Post on Monday, 21st July.
A similar statement was made by a member of a special committee on the mudflow at the East Java legislative council, who declined to be named.
The councilor did not rule out the possibility that some candidates had received campaign donations from Lapindo or the Bakrie family.
Activists fighting for the rights of the mudflow victims said they had also received unconfirmed reports that all the gubernatorial candidates may have received funds from Lapindo.If you do go to the JFCC lunch, please ask the Abhorrent Bastard for a comment on this.
Please do drop me a line afterwards. I'd love to know his reaction and we'd all like to know what he's going to do for the welfare of the Sidoarjo refugees.
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