Jakarta (H5N1, skulls, sex, demonstrasi, religion, politics)

 

At the Citayam rail crossing

Whatever is said about Jakarta NEVER let it be said that it is not an interesting place.  I have returned from three weeks of walking and driving the streets of Jakarta.  I have been busy with jet lag and reverse culture shock. That is MORE shocked to be home than to be in Jakarta. Odd, I know. I must be part Jakartan. I take that with a bit of pride and a bit of insanity. So it is.

It is time to turn to the news.  This week has been busy and there is a lot which can slip by so there is some catching up to do.

 From Reuters, April 29, 2008

Idonesian Boy Dies of Bird Flu

JAKARTA, April 29 (Reuters) - A three-year-old boy from Indonesia’s main island of Java has died from bird flu, pushing the country’s total confirmed human cases to 108, a health ministry official said on Tuesday…  …The national bird flu commission said the virus had infected poultry in 31 out of 33 provinces in Indonesia. It said five provinces had not reported new cases in the past six months.

Experts say the danger is the virus might mutate into a form that people easily catch and pass to one another, in which case the transmission rate would soar, causing a pandemic in which millions of people could die.

Since the virus resurfaced in Asia in late 2003, it has killed 240 people in a dozen countries, the World Health Organisation says. Indonesia has the highest toll of any nation. (Reporting by Mita Valina Liem; Editing by David Fogarty) …> go to article

 This was just three days after this…

From AFP…

Indonesia runs massive bird flu drill
Apr 25, 2008

TUKADDAYA, Indonesia (AFP) - Hundreds of Indonesian villagers and health workers took part in a massive drill here Friday to prepare for a potentially devastating outbreak of human-to-human bird flu.

The largest bird flu drill ever held in Indonesia, the country worst hit by the virus, involved the simulated outbreak of a pandemic which experts say could rapidly spread across the globe killing millions of people.

“This is the biggest drill in Indonesia. The objective is to test the preparedness of bird flu officials to manage an outbreak in case it happens,” health ministry disease control chief I Nyoman Kandun told reporters. …> go to article

 According to this article the first thing which would be done in a major outbreak of H5N1 would be to “seal off” the area. This probably would have to done with the army. The second thing which would happen (not mentioned in the article) is that people would run.  This is a losing game. It is potentially one of the most serious issues Indonesia faces.

Last month the United Nations FAO issued the following, as reported by Reuters.

FAO says Indonesia needs help fighting bird flu 19 Mar 2008 02:27:59 GMT

MILAN, March 18 (Reuters) - Major efforts have done little to control H5N1 avian influenza in Indonesia and the country needs more help in controlling the virus, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Tuesday.

Surveillance and response teams are working in 193 out of 448 districts in Indonesia, yet birds in 31 out of 33 provinces are affected, FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech said in a statement.

By June 2008, more than 2,000 surveillance and response teams will be active in more than 300 districts in disease-endemic areas of the country, he said.

But that may not be enough.

“Indonesia is facing an uphill battle against a virus that is difficult to contain. Major human and financial resources, stronger political commitment and strengthened coordination between the central, provincial and district authorities are required to improve surveillance and control measures,” Domenech said. …> go to article

 Skulls

Skulls. They keep showing up in the oddest places and god knows that there are plenty of skulls knocking about Indonesia.

From the AP comes this…

Indonesian customs officers seize 3 human skulls at airport

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Three humans skulls being sent to Britain were seized at Indonesia’s international airport, a customs officer said Thursday.

The sponge-wrapped skulls were packed in separate boxes and labeled as handicrafts, said Eko Darmanto, chief of customs at Jakarta’s airport. Two were intricately carved or decorated and the third remained in its original form.

“Police are investigating a possible crime,” he told reporters, adding that the skulls originated from Bali island and were destined for Yorkshire via air courier.

Indonesia’s criminal code says anyone who intentionally digs or moves human remains from a grave for sale or collection faces up to 14 months in jail. …> go to article

 SEX

Yes, of course, SEX. It is one of the major themes of my new Urban Studies Theory.

From ABC News…

Nude Casinos: All in a Night’s Work
Nightlife Is Racier Than You Might Think in This Muslim City
Reporter’s Notebook By MARGARET CONLEY
JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 2, 2008 

 Sashimi sex and nude casinos: It’s hardly what you’d expect to witness after the sun goes down in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

But best-selling author Moammar Emka, known as Emka, knows otherwise. He’s been tracking the steamy nightlife scene in Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta, for the last six years.

“It was unusual because the sashimi, a Japanese delicacy of sliced raw seafood, was not served on a tray with chopsticks, but presented on the naked body of a beautiful, sensual girl,” Emka writes in his first book.

Today, as he continues prowling the seedy underground for its latest trends, the former reporter is most surprised by the basic concept of sex as entertainment.

“You can find anything at anytime here,” the East Java native says over the pumping music in his black BMW, heading out for a night of research.

Clubs with sex menus, invite-only swingers parties and orgies at people’s private homes are detailed in Emka’s little black books.

 Arriving at the night’s chosen venue, Emka doesn’t need to wait in line. Well-known in nightlife circles, the doorman greets him and waves him through security.
Once inside, a scantily clad, pale-skinned beauty on stage makes eye contact with Emka. Recognizing him, she breaks into a smile and points.

They share a dance from a distance, and it’s clear why Emka fans remain curious about whether he’s an observer or a participant.

Emka, who is Muslim and studied at schools with strong Islamic backgrounds, including the Government Institute for Islamic Studies in Jakarta, makes a point of omitting graphically explicit material when he writes about “after-lunch stripteases,” “midnight lesbian packages” and “drive-thru sex.” …> go to article

 I am almost certain this article will increase the tourist arrivals at Soekarno-Hatta.

On the flip side…

From ANTARA

I am posting the entire article here.  You can read between the lines. It is more than obvious.

News Focus: Workers must not commit anarchism on May Day rally
By Bustanuddin

Jakarta (ANTARA News)- Some ten thousand workers are expected to launch rallies to mark international workers day or May Day on Thursday (May 1) in Jakarta and in its satellite towns of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.

Although the workers have the right to stage rallies after getting permission but Manpower Affairs Minister Erman Suparno asked them not to create anarchism during the rallies.

In Jakarta an organization called Revolutionary Workers Command (Kobar) said on Tuesday it was preparing to mobilize about 10,000 workers for a rally to mark international workers day.

“The main gathering point for Kobar`s workers will be the West Irian Freedom Monument Square (Banteng Square),” Kobar spokesman Syahganda said.

He said the thousands of workers of Kobar would come from at least 21 labor unions in Jakarta and in its satellite towns.

The the labor unions include SP Pelindo II, SRBIINDO, SPOI, Gaspermindo, PPMI-98, Sarbumusi, FSPSI, SBNMI and KSPSI Bekasi.

To hold the rally, workers would converge on Banteng Square between 10 - 12 a.m, where the rally would be filled with orations by labor leaders voicing their demands, stage performances of street musicians, and the reading of an “Indonesian Labor Manifesto.”

“The manifesto will focus on criticizing national development which does not benefit the workers,” Syahganda said adding that the theme of the manifesto would be “Redirecting the Aim of Indonesia`s Development.”

After the orations at the Banteng Square, the Kobar mass would march to the State Palace to join about 40,000 other workers, he said.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Metropolitan police chief Insp.Gen. Adang Firman said his office would mobilize 15 thousand security personnel and the military to control the mass rallies.

Adang made the remark after meeting with Jakarta Vice Governor Prijanto here on Tuesday.

Prijanto said some groups of workers including the National Labor Union (SPN) had asked permission to launch a demonstration.

Police chief Adang Firman also said his men will take stern action against any one trying to disrupt peace.

“Those who broke the parliamentary building gate two years ago have been brought to justice,” the police chief said.

Vice Governor Prijanto on the occasion also appreciated some groups of workers who intended to perform an art show including singing “Dangdut” songs to highlight May Day instead of launching rallies.

May Day in Bandung, West Java province to be observed by 2,000 industrial workers, will be commemorated in the People`s Struggle Monument (MPRJB) on Jalan Dipati Ukur.

Although May Day will fall on Thursdy (May 1) but it could also be observe on Wednesday.
Not scarred by rallies

Despite many demonstrations will happen in the country foreign investors also from China remained interested in doing business in Indonesia.

Some 70 Chinese investors have expressed keen interests in investment in different business fields in Indonesia, Deputy Chief of the Indonesian Mission in Beijing, Mohamad Oemar, said in Beijing recently.

Oemar was responding to a plan to organize an investment forum at the Indonesian Industry Ministry in Jakarta from May 15 to 16. The two-day meeting will serve as a forum between Chinese investors and Indonesian state officials and businessmen.

The forum was the fruit of efforts made by the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing to attract as many Chinese investors as possible to invest in Indonesia, he said.

He said Chinese investors had a high motivation to attend the forum. They would attend it not merely to get first hand information on investment opportunities but also to confirm their plan to invest in different business sectors in a number of regions in Indonesia.

“They will come not merely to get first hand information. They have expressed their seriousness to invest in Indonesia,” he said.

Judging by the Chinese investors` seriousness, he expressed hope the central government as a regulator and private companies as business partners would prepare themselves for the inflow of Chinese investments.

The Chinese investors include oil company PetroChina and Bank of China.

According to a report from the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, some of the Chinese investors have been operating in Indonesia.

Indonesia and China launched a strategic partnership in 2005 aimed among others at enhancing investment cooperation by increasing mutual understanding and networking among investment authorities, including the private sectors, and by creating more conducive eco-socio-political and legal climate for the flow of investments.

Indonesia hopes to raise its trade volume with China to 30 billion U.S. dollars by 2010.

It is of course expected that the rallies will not scare the would be investors. (*) …> go to article

But here is something worth watching and something I am in total agreement with IF it could be done in a transparent manner and for the benefit of the people of Indonesia.

From People’s Weekly World come this…

Indonesia: No free ride for international corporations

Protests involving unionists, students and women’s groups have engulfed Indonesia. Demands center on sovereignty over natural resources, food and access to education.

Workers demonstrated outside Exxon’s Jakarta offices March 12 for nationalization of oil production.

In the eastern city of Ternat, labor activists joined the Coalition for Women’s Concerns in rallying for state control of mines. Five students were wounded.

In Makassar in Sulawesi, students confronted the PT Inco Company, notorious for land evictions and pollution of land and waters.

Hundreds demonstrated in North Sumatra, Maumere, and Palu City during March. The Reuters report attributes a leading role in the protests to the National Liberation Party of Unity and the National Student League for Democracy. …>go to article

 Finally we get to religion and politics…

From Spero News

Playing with fire in Indonesia
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

By Walter Lohman

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is Indonesia’s version of the Muslim Brotherhood. It is focused, like no other party, on the battle of ideas. And it is on a roll. In the 2004 national elections, it won 45 out of 550 seats in the Indonesian lower house (DPR), captured the speakership of the joint assembly (MPR), and joined the government with three cabinet seats. At the local level, largely out of the national and international spotlight, it has won 88 out of 149 elections.

Gambling with Indonesia’s Future

The Indonesian political elite know who they are dealing with. They are simply gambling. They believe they can turn the PKS’s success to their own advantage-whether ultimately to the good of the national interest or their own personal interests-while simultaneously containing their aims. One cannot help but imagine comparisons to Sukarno’s effort 40 years ago to balance the advantages and influence of the communists. His manipulations ended in epic disaster for the country.

Rather than jockeying for partnership with the PKS, mainline politicians would be better advised to spend their time addressing the real grievances that fuel support for radical opposition: corruption, poor public services, poverty, and the perceived lack of real political choice. And the United States should do what it can to help, whether with resources, economic opportunity, or just honest advice.

Where Indonesia may be headed in the long term is of concern to the United States for many reasons. Americans are not opposed to a role for religion in the public square, as any perusal of American history will attest. There is no reason that faith and liberty cannot flourish together. This matters to Americans because, in a world that accepts this as truism, we are all safer and our rights are more secure. By the same token, we know that religious intolerance and government coercion on behalf of one particular set of religious beliefs are precursors of a wider tyranny and, ultimately, insecurity. …> go to article

At this point I think it would be proper to end with something from Jakartass regarding the increasingly volatile situation with Ahmadiyah.  But first one might want to consider the words below after checking  this link to Indonesian Matters.

“I am now witnessing a darkening intolerance going hand-in-hand with the deepening of Indonesian democracy is sad. Although some, such as Rima Fauzi argue that the alarming increase of intolerance among people of different groups and religions … could be the beginning of Indonesia’s journey into medieval times, I tend to disagree.

And this is in spite of such outrages as the burning of a mosque belonging to a supposedly heretical Muslim sect, Ahmadiyah, by a mob of presumably underemployed hooligans. That the government is being urged to ban the sect, founded over a hundred years ago, and that SBY should ignore Article 28 (1) of the Constitution which guarantees the right to worship the god (or gods?) of one’s choosing is an indication that there is currently little focus on the problems facing this country other than the here and now. The recent ‘anti-pornography’ bans on dangdut singers, the suggestion that masseuses should wear chastity belts, are surely just signs of sexual immaturity. (Those men who are so easily discomforted in the presence of women should be ones put under lock and key.)

Society has yet to learn how to make its way in the world following Suharto’s abdication ten years ago. Having been bottle-fed from birth, and punished, often brutally, by Suharto’s New Order, Indonesia’s emerging democracy is barely past the toddler stage. Children of just ten years old are rarely able to think beyond their immediate concerns and still tend to say still ‘gimme, gimme’. This accounts both for the gross consumerism and the lack of awareness that others have a right to personal space.

If you think about motorists with their shiny cars disregarding pedestrians and ignoring the white lines painted on the roads in order to rush into the next bottleneck, you get the picture. It’s just like children with toys which they won’t allow others to play with. Readers of the local news are well-aware that it is the so-called élite who are generally caught with their pants down and their hands outstretched. They are unable to offer true leadership because they have always been sheepish followers.

Yet it is the children, the next generation, that we have to look to for guidance. If they can see through the lies which their indoctrinated teachers and parents give them, and that older generations have shown little regard for the future well-being of their successors, then maybe, hopefully, the youth of today won’t fuck things up so much when it’s their turn to operate the levers of power.

I believe the world can be made a better place before it’s too late and that the majority of today’s children offer the hope and tolerance which Indonesia sorely needs.

But then, I remain an unashamed idealist.

And you?”

Sorry for such a long post.  Just pretend you were in a traffic jam of news.

Jakarta (on $2.00 a day)

 Gedde-Pangrango National Park

Jakarta on two dollars a day …>go to article

Boston Globe March 11, 2008 04:26 PM

Resources are meager, and clean water is scarce.

By Anita Bekenstein

Sunday March 9

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Two dollars a day! That, we are told, is what more than 40 percent of the residents of north Jakarta survive on. It is a figure that defies belief. How can people live with so little?

We are in north Jakarta, a neighborhood filled with migrants, to look in on a pilot Mercy Corps project that aims to convert household garbage into money-making compost.

The migrants’ tale is like that of many others in the developing world. Laborers leave their families behind in rural areas of Indonesia and come in search of work to the capital, where better economic opportunities exist. They work in local factories, in construction jobs paid by the day, in shops, as street vendors. They live a meager life so they can send money back home to support their loved ones.

So, what does $2 a day mean for the people here? For one thing, it means precious little clean water, which, we learn quickly, is in terribly short supply.

Cheap sources of water are the few public wells where residents can access shallow well water. But it is both salty and contaminated, and is not suitable for drinking. Nevertheless, this precious water is carried to homes for bathing and cleaning.

Fewer than half the homes here are attached to the public water supply. The majority of the people have to purchase their water from those with the supply, or resort to the even more expensive option of buying bottled water. The water from the public supply still has to be boiled before drinking it, a time-consuming process which also adds to its cost.Access to toilets is limited. Public toilets are available to adults for a fee. Children use the side of the road”.

The question is not Have You Washed Your Car Today but are you thinking outside of the Indonesian box?

As noted today is the United Nations sanctioned World Water Day.
 

What Jakarta needs… 
 

The Next Big ThingA Way To Produce Cheap, Clean Water …>go to article

CBS News

From inventor Dean Kamen comes his latest project: creating a machine that can produce clean water cheaply (I recently saw this demonstrated and not only is the idea quite remarkable it actually works. You can make drinkable water from raw sewage!).

“In the emerging world, in the under-developed world, a gallon of water is so precious that without it, you’re going to die,” says Kamen.

“In some places, the average amount of time per day spent looking for water that’s safe for their kids by women is four hours. And they carry this stuff, which weighs 62 pounds per cubic foot, four or five miles. And if it didn’t turn out to be the right stuff, or they put their hands in it and contaminated it, they spend the next day or two burying the babies.”

How did this fit into his work - his vision? He started by making a better energy source for his IBOT. Knowing that batteries weren’t going to be capable of carrying enough energy to do what fossil fuels do, he began experimenting with a Stirling engine.

The Stirling engine, named after its designer, Robert Stirling, a 19th Century Scottish minister, is a non-polluting device that plays heat against cold to create energy. It is a closed box with two chambers, one filled with gas. Once heated from the outside, with anything from burning wood chips to charcoal, the gas expands, creating pressure. That pressure drives a piston from the hot chamber into the cool chamber.

In Kamen’s design, that mechanical power achieves two goals: It creates electrical power - 300 continuous watts - enough to run a few electrical devices - and, as a bonus, creates enough heat to distill contaminated water, making it drinkable”.

More information here at CNN

Segway creator unveils his next act Inventor Dean Kamen wants to put entrepreneurs to work bringing water and electricity to the world’s poor. …>go to article

To install these machines in every kampung in Jakarta is doable right now.

 Some additional notes on H5N1…

For more on H5N1 I highly recommend Center for Infectous Disease and Research Policy (CIDRAP). They keep their site well updated and are not messing around. 

Many US and European cities have developed emergency plans for pandemic outbreak of H5N1. What of Jakarta? 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is another good site for up-to-date information and contingency planning regarding H5N1.

I have written a number of posts about H5N1 in Jakarta and Indonesia.  It is an issue not to be taken lightly and will have profound effects if (perhaps when) the virus mutates and becomes transmissable from human to human. Given the conditions in Jakarta you have to ask yourself what would ensue if this occurred.

Jakarta (trends and emergent properties again)

 Photo: Jakarta Daily Photo

Let’s start out with this, it’s a conversation I found on a web site called topix which has an Indonesian Forum.

Indonesia; The Most Sucks Place I Ever Visited …>go to discussion

This broadside begins with a post from Kore, who resides in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

“I must say that Indonesia is not a country worth visiting … sorry about this… For starter, Jakarta is very dirty, you’ll see trash and litter everywhere you go. I just can’t imagine a capital city with this poor level of cleanliness…  …you’ll feel like that you’re in some third-world country with poor people and trash everywhere (I think Indonesia is still considered a third-world?)…

…I was lucky I have a friend in Jakarta, otherwise I wouldn’t dare goind around in public transportation… …I certainly didn’t want to take the public busses. Wait until you see them yourselves, and I bet you wouldn’t want to ride in one either. The busses are so dirty, so packed with people and the vehicles themselves look as if they’re very poorly taken care of. I couldn’t even find a decent information of which bus should I take if I would want to go somewhere, and what is the fare… …Not to mention the streets from hell. The traffic in Jakarta beats the hell out of any traffic I’ve ever seen in the world. Traffic jams everywhere. People driving with only one or two inches away from each other. The worse of all is the motorcycles. I even said to my friend that they are like motorcycles from hell. They squeezed their way to very small gaps between cars, sometimes even hit our rearview mirrors. They constantly cut your way, so my friend always to be extra careful with them and sometime he even had to hit the brake brutely to avoid collisions. What an experience … I must say. I sometimes jumped from my seat when suddenly a motorcycle speeding through our side of the cars with just few inches away, in a traffic jam, with their loud noises …. a hell indeed. Andy even told me that be very careful not to hit a motorcycle, since even that you’re not the one causing the collision, the car driver would be the one blamed and they could go rough on you asking for money. I said “what the hell …. what kind of people are they … we’re not living in the dark ages are we?” … and Andy could just shrugged with bitter smile.

Another important thing … be careful of the food. I got stomachache for 3 days because Andy took me to this food stall that he said very delicious. Well the food was alright … but I got diarrhea the next day. Well, if you go to this food stall, you wouldn’t be surprised why I got the diarrhea. It was a very small food stall, on a pedestrian. Just next to the pedestrian was this open sewer, and guess what … people threw away trash into that sewer. Not to mention flies everywhere and I could have sworn a saw a cockroach running around…”

There are a few choice words in the discussion line which followed but SoRaYa from Jakarta sets everything right with this final post.

“Malaysian has no brain to be creative, they only can insulting Indonesian and stealing Indonesian’s traditionals.

Hey u, KORE…
If u don’t like Indonesia, why ur country steal Indonesian’s traditional dancer n many more?????

If u don’t have mirror @ur house, i suggest u to BUY IT!!!! N take a good damn look to ur ashamed UGLY FACE as they r UGLY MIND&SOUL u have indeed..”

Moving on… 

Rising Food Prices in Indonesia Raise Security Concerns …>go to article
Voice of America

Nancy-Amelia Collins
Jarkata
19 March 2008

“…According to government statistics, in the past year cooking oil has risen nearly 40 percent, rice is up 25 percent and tofu, a staple of the Indonesian diet, has gone up by 50 percent.

Bayu Krisnamurti, the deputy minister for agriculture, says the government is concerned the high price of basic commodities has the capability of fueling social unrest, similar to the 1965 coup that led to the rise of the dictator Suharto and the 1998 protests that toppled the former president.

“We are worried. In 1965 we faced a very, very depressing situation to make social unrest,” said Krisnamurti. “Even in a more recent history, in 1998, it’s also a similar situation. We do hope that 2008 is not another situation like that because the cost to the economy is too high.”

Sensitive to price-related unrest, the government continues to spend about 35 percent of its entire budget on fuel and electricity subsidies to keep those commodities affordable for the poor.

The World Bank estimates about half of Indonesia’s population of 220 million lives in poverty, on around $2 a day.

The rising cost of food has raised concerns even more people will slip into poverty.

Agricultural analyst H.S. Dillon says this is a recipe for disaster.

“What is the prognosis? High food prices amidst poverty? I see nothing and I don’t have a crystal ball, I see nothing but social unrest,” said Dillon”.

If this was not bad enough…

Rice supplies set to fall to 25-year low …>go to article

Times On Line March 13, 2008

Rhys Blakely in Bombay

“World supplies of rice are reaching dangerously low levels after stores of South Asia’s staple food fell to a 25-year low and governments battled to stabilise domestic markets.

The US Department of Agriculture is predicting global rice stocks will fall to about 70 million tons this year, the lowest level since the early 1980s and half the level in 2000.

Earlier this week, the Philippines failed in an attempt to buy rice to boost its inventories.

Traders offered to sell the country only 325,000 tonnes when it wanted to buy 550,000 tonnes. The average offered price, of nearly $680 a tonne was up more than 40 per cent from January…

…Despite a tenfold hike in rice prices in some local markets over the past year, social unrest has been kept at bay partly because most of the increases have been gradual, analysts say.

However, most of the world’s rice crops are consumed by the countries that produce them, which means the global market in rice is relatively thin and prone to violent swings.

Jonathan Pincus, the UN Development Programme’s chief economist in Vietnam, said: “One big increase in imports from a large country such as India could lead to a big spike in prices. This is the danger.”

He said: “Historically, every Asian government has shown it is very aware of the close relationship between political stability and the stability of the rice market.”

Then one more incremental click foward…

Bird flu in Indonesia could mutate into human form: UN agency …>go to article
From AFP 4 days ago

ROME (AFP) - The bird flu situation is “critical” in Indonesia, where the virus could mutate and cause a human pandemic, the UN food agency warned on Tuesday.

“The prevalence of avian influenza in Indonesia remains serious despite (national and international) containment efforts,” the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a statement.

The FAO’s chief veterinary officer, Joseph Domenech, said he was “deeply concerned that the high level of virus circulation in birds in the country could create conditions for the virus to mutate and to finally cause a human influenza pandemic.”

UN: Indonesia Failing in Bird Flu Fight …>go to article
AP 3 days ago

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - “Efforts to contain bird flu are failing in Indonesia, increasing the possibility that the virus may mutate into a deadlier form, the leading U.N. veterinary health body warned.

The H5N1 bird flu virus is entrenched in 31 of the country’s 33 provinces and will cause more human deaths, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in a statement released late Tuesday.

“I am deeply concerned that the high level of virus circulation in birds in the country could create conditions for the virus to mutate and to finally cause a human influenza pandemic,” FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech said.

Indonesia “has not succeeded in containing the spread of avian influenza,” Domenech said, adding that there must be “major human and financial resources, stronger political commitment and strengthened coordination.”

The H5N1 virus has killed at least 236 people in a dozen countries worldwide since it began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003. It has been found in birds in more than 60 countries, but Indonesia has recorded 105 deaths, almost half the global tally, according to the World Health Organization”.

And so it goes… 

 

Back to Jakarta (back to the future)

Trends and Emergent Properties

Giant Rat of the Foja Mountains    (five times bigger than common city rat)

Gong Xi Fat Chai - Year of the Rat

Asia Times

New year bonus for Indonesia’s Chinese

 By Kalinga Seneviratne

During the authoritarian regime of president Suharto (1967-98), public displays of Chinese culture were banned, and many Chinese were asked to change their names to Indonesian ones if they wished to be eventually considered for citizenship. “Suharto’s government saw Chinese characters and culture as political. We were not even allowed to make candles,” said Yu Le, a member of a Buddhist temple.

He said he now prefers to use his Chinese name rather than his adopted Indonesian one of Suherman. “Around the temple there were always police and military. We could not celebrate Imlek here. People were afraid to come. We had to do it at home, hiding.” …>go to article

At the start of the Chinese lunar new year it is tradtional to make predictions about the character of the coming year.  In this Year of the Rat it appears CAUTION will be the watchword as Chinese fortune tellers predict financial and political rumblings, tsunamis and epidemics in the year ahead…

“The mounts of Anak Krakatau, Merapi and Kelud, which last year did not generate a relatively huge explosion, may spew their infernal lava this year,” Jakarta-based feng shui expert Master Tan told The Jakarta Post, placing the eruptions between March and August. “To tell you the truth, I am so worried about these three volcanos… I hope this time my prediction misses.” While mainstream Chinese astrology lists this year as an “Earth” year, Master Tan says it is a fire year, combining the sky element with its positive soil and the earth element with its positive water, producing “fire thunder”. Surabaya-based feng shui practitioner Putri Wong Kam Fu has had the same vision of the three volcanoes. “I don’t know when they will erupt. But if we all repent, they will not explode as a volcanic eruption is actually an admonition of us humans,” she said. …>go to article

One does not necessarily need to be a feng shui practitioner to make predictions regarding the coming year for Jakarta. A close review of the news will do.  As per Indonesia: volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis are a sure thing. No difficulty there. 

I offer a few of my own predictions here:

Soeharto’s “hero status”.  Not going to happen.

The oddest (perhaps not) scandal relating to that came at the conference of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption held on Bali on Februrary 2, 2008. Delegates were asked to bow their heads in a minute of silence to observe the passing of Indonesian dictator Soeharto. SBY jetted off to attend the funeral. The Sydney Morning Hearald reported that, “Dismayed by the irony of the conference’s condolences for Soeharto, Filipino activist Vincent Lazatan took the stage on Wednesday to present civil society groups call for stronger, quicker action to combat corruption - demanding a transparent, effective review mechanism”.  First, he asked all delegates to stand for a second time. “Please, a minute’s silence for all those who have died fighting corruption,” Mr Lazatan demanded. They stood”.  The whole thing seemed simply and utterly strange.

Another interesting development which may tarnish the hero status thing is reported by TempoInteraktif.

“Cendana” Family’s Wealth May be Confiscated as Guarantee
Tuesday, 05 February, 2008

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The state attorney team from the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) is of the opinion that the assets of Suharto’s beneficiaries can be included in the list of guaranteed confiscation in the Supersemar Foundation civil case. According to Yoseph Suardi Sabda, one of the attorneys from the AGO, it can be the responsibility if the foundation’s assets are insufficient to meet the claim’s value. “The AGO can include it by a request during the trial,” he said in Jakarta last Saturday (2/2). …>go to article

If the family moves assets the AGO can move to confiscate them.  Nice.

While the Golkar Party proposes Soeharto as a hero of Indonesia the people dispose. The voices of his victims still live, the historical record too concrete for this to ever happen, now or later.  Of interest is the recent annoucement by the Univerity of Westminster to fund Innovative film project to document Indonesia’s hidden genocide …>go to article

Floods.  There will be more.

Haven’t we been here before? As Jakartass has recently written, “Jeez”.  My comment there was, “welcome to the new Jakarta (or old Jakarta as the case may be). Soon some enterprising individual will start a water taxi service. Jakarta will be the Venice of the Java Sea”. 

Miko added, “already happened Thomas, when Jalan Thamrin turned into a tributary of the Ciliwung river I watched as several enterprising individuals rowed boats down along the Busway picking up passengers and dropping them off at the nearest dry spot. The most ingenious chap for me was the sampah man (scavenger) who used his cart to take people across the flooded car park of Sarinah to the relative dryness of the overpass, for a small fee I hope.

Curiously I couldn’t help but notice the complete lack of Jakarta’s finest money earners who normally populate Jalan Thamrin in large numbers but who seemed to have disappeared completely.

Traffic was directed by street boys, the old and infirm were assisted by passers-by but nary a peeler was to be seen”.

This, of course, jogged my memory of the Jakarta floods of February 2007, where I saw on MetroTV vegetable sellers using rafts to bring their produce to flooded upscale neigborhoods.

Perhaps SBY will have to tow a boat behind his Mercy Benz so he does not get his feet wet (again).

Still, Jakarta as the Venice of the Java Sea has quite a ring to it. I can see the tourist brochures even now.  As the Official Indonesian Tourism web site quotes Frieda Pinto from India, “Everything in Indonesia are great, I never thought about it the moment I came here…“   Or Wai Lok from Hongkong, “I’ll tell them, that the negative thing we heard about Indonesia is a fake news”.

Thought about what? Fake news? Am I missing something here?

In any event flooding is a trend and emergent property which is here to stay.

More ominously…

H5N1. I have written on this subject before below. 

Flu burung, bird flu. It is out there in Jakarta stewing and brewing.  The virus is extremely lethal and while only 103 people have died from it so far there remains a huge uncertainty of where this is all going, except that it is not going away.  This is yet another trend and emergent propety of Jakarta living.

AFP 2.6.2008

‘Mysterious’ bird flu baffles Indonesian scientists

JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesian scientists and officials said they were baffled by the “mysterious” behaviour of the bird flu virus here, which has already claimed nine lives this year in the world’s worst-hit nation.Indonesia has reported 126 cases of H5N1 bird flu, 103 of them fatal, since 2005. This year’s victims have all come from the capital Jakarta and its satellite cities. …>go to article

Traffic.  I predict there will be a traffic jam in Jakarta in 2008.

Barack Obama.  Jakarta’s favorite son polls 75% of the 100 expat votes cast. 

Reuters 2.6.08

Many Indonesians cheer Obama in Democrat race …>go to article

If you cannot predict you can hope…

How am I doing so far?  When it comes to Jakarta it is not difficult to end up talking or writing in circles. 

As the novelist Haruki Murakami has written, “On the flip side of everything we think we absolutely understand lurks an equal amount of the unknown. Understanding is but the sum of our misunderstandings. In the world we live in, what we know and what we don’t know are like Siamese twins, inseparable, existing in a state of confusion”.  

Here at Jakarta Urban Blog there are many of things to see and do.  Look for a new review of Helmond and Michiels Jakarta Megalopis: Horizontal and Verticle Observations and new edits to Selamat Jakarta.

H5N1 Jakarta

 

Sometimes, when it comes to Jakarta, it is useful to remember that the city was once Batavia. Abayasekere in Jakarta: A History writes: “…visitors to Batavia in the second half of the eighteenth century were astounded at the way in which the inhabitants had hardened themselves to the death of their acquaintances…”. She also notes Cook’s famous remark that, “The unwholesome air of Batavia is the death of more Europeans than any other place upon the globe…”.   This period of Batavia actually marks a time when the health conditions of the walled city the Dutch had themselves couped up in became so intolarable that they moved the town up the Ciliwung a bit. There they would build the “Queen of the East“.

 H5N1  Jakarta

A quick search at  Reuters  of ”Jakarta bird flu” will return a series of dated reports numbering, currently, 354.  It is of interest to read down the list of report titles  …> go to site 

The AFP reports:

Indonesia confirms 115th human bird flu infection

JAKARTA (AFP) — A 47-year-old Indonesian man has been confirmed as the 115th bird flu case in the nation worst hit by the virus, the health ministry said Wednesday.

The man is being treated in a Jakarta hospital for the disease, which has claimed 92 lives in Indonesia.

Two laboratory tests on the man showed that he was infected with the highly pathogenic virus, a statement from the ministry’s bird flu centre said.

Two positive results of tests on blood and tissue samples are needed before Indonesian authorities can confirm a human bird flu infection.

The man, who is from the Jakarta satellite city of Tangerang, was first admitted to a private hospital there on December 5, three days after he began to feel ill. He was referred to the Jakarta hospital on December 10.

Four bird flu deaths have been reported in Tangerang since October, including Indonesia’s latest death on Monday