Jakarta (W.S. Rendra – Burung Merak)

W.S. Rendra, 1969

The Jakarta Post notes today the passing of  W.S. Rendra.

Friday, August 7, 2009 3:07 AM

WS Rendra dies at 74

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 08/06/2009 11:04 PM | National

” WS Rendra, a famous poet and artist, died Thursday in Depok, West Java. He was 74.

Rendra’s daughter Clara Shinta said her father passed away around 8.30 p.m. at her home in Pesona Kayangan Depok, kompas.com reported.

He had been treated at several hospitals recently for coronary heart disease.”

POEM

The wet twilight calms the burning forest.

Vampire bats descend

from the dark grey sky.

Smell of munitions in the air.

Smell of corpses. And horseshit.

A pack of wild dogs

eat hundreds and thousands of human bodies

the dead and the half dead.

And among the scorched trees of the forest

puddles of blood form into a pool.

Wide and calm. Ginger in colour.

Twenty angels come down from heaven

to purify those in their death throes

but on earth

are ambushed by the giant vampires

and raped.

A vital breeze which travels gently on

moves away the ringlet curls of the corpses

makes circles on the lake of blood

and impassions the lust of angels and bats.

Yes, my brothers,

I know this is a view which satisfies you

for you have worked so intently

to create it.

In the 1970s Rendra was imprisoned without trial and his books banned by the Soeharto government.

My wife’s uncle, who lived in Banjarmasin, Kalimantan, was close friends with Rendra.

Hearing the news of his passing she told me of the several occasions  when she performed her songs for him at his large house in Depok where poets, musicians, and playwrights lived and worked together.

She remembers attending his poetry readings.

From:

In pursuit of the Good Life Susan Abeyasekere, The New Internationalist, November 1980, Issue 093

“In his satire The Struggle of the Naga Tribe, controversial Indonesian poet and playwright W.S. Rendra suggests this conversation between the ‘Queen of Astinapuram’ (a caricature of Madame Suharto, the president’s wife) and her prime minister, both of whom are suffering from ‘diseases of affluence’ – high blood pressure and piles:

Queen: Our nation must not be leftbehind in developing modern medical science.

Prime Minister: No need to worry, Your Majesty. Happily there are many foreign companies who want to invest here and build pharmaceutical factories.

Queen: Their requests must be given prior­ity – providing, ofcourse, they show sufficient understanding

Prime Minister: Their ‘understanding’ is quite large. They are going to keep aside 10 per cent of the capital forunforeseen matters, the use of which will be entirely up to Your Majesty, and will be directly deposited in Your Majesty’s bank account in Hong Kong.

Queen: Excellent!

Prime Minister: Moreover, the Wijaya Kusuma Hospital Project is ready to begin. Queen: Have my latest suggestions been implemented yet?

Prime Minister: Yes, Your Majesty. Every cell and room will be air-conditioned and all the toilets will be of porcelain, and every patient, in line with advanced societies, will be taught to use toilet paper. In every room there will be a telephone.

Queen: Are the laboratories good?

Prime Minister: Excellent! Don’t worry, it will be the most modern hospital in all South­east Asia. It will be able to cater for plastic surgery, will have enough heart pump machines, lots of medicines, the largest blood storage facilities, and also artificial lung machines … Everything as it should be!”

…The conversation conveys much about the. current elite in Jakarta: its dependence on outside investment, its corruption and its one­-eyed worship of Western consumerism in a society lacking the basic necessities for the mass of its people.”

More on W.S. Rendra HERE.

Jakarta (Manohara Odelia Pinot part 2, CRUSH MALAYSIA! and An Indonesian Con)

Teenage US-Indonesian model Manohara Odelia Pino, seen here, has returned to her family in Indonesia. Photo: AFP

It appears that Indonesian – Malyasian relations are falling on hard times. No since the good old bad old days of CONFRONTASI! and CRUSH MALYASIA! have things been at such a low ebb.

First, there is the Manohara Odelia Pinot case. If any of it turns out to be true (and there is no reason to think it is not true) then the Malaysian government (and the Indonesian government as well) has much to account for regarding this case.

As you may remember or not Ms. Pinot was whisked away in the private jet of her husband while visiting Saudi Arabia. Kidnapped, in other words, and taken back to Malaysia where AFP reports she  was drugged, raped, and viciously abused.

“JAKARTA (AFP) — A teenage US-Indonesian model has returned to her family in Indonesia with tales of abuse, rape and torture at the hands of a Malaysian prince, after her dramatic escape with the help of Singapore police.

Manohara Odelia Pinot, 17, told reporters she was treated like a sex slave after her marriage to Tengku Temenggong Mohammad Fakhry, the prince of Malaysia’s Kelantan state, last year.

Her mother, Daisy Fajarina, said she would press charges against the 31-year-old prince, and blamed the Malaysian and Indonesian governments for trying to cover up the alleged abuse.

“The things I’ve been afraid of were revealed to be true. Manohara has suffered physical abuse. She’s got several razor cuts on her chest,” Fajarina told AFP on Monday.

“No parent could be silent if their child was treated in such a barbaric way.”

The Malaysian government had ignored her pleas for access to her daughter and had blocked her from entering the country, she said, while the Indonesian embassy had said that Manohara was fine with her new husband. go to article…>

Apparently the Singpore polic helped her to escape this madness. Hopefully her Prince of a husband will find himself  locked up in a Malaysian jail.

Second, is the Asia Sentinel reports:

A research-rich Celebes Sea block spurs a confrontation between two navies

“An unlikely naval confrontation has broken out between Indonesia and Malaysia, with warships from the two nations challenging each other repeatedly in the disputed oil-rich waters of the Celebes Sea east of the island of Borneo this week.

Indonesian navy officials told local media their ships were minutes away from firing on Malaysian warships, which they charged were 12 nautical miles inside Indonesia’s territory. However, they said, they called off the attack when the Malaysian ships pulled back.”  go to article…>

All of this action took place before the Pinot escape.  But it IS an odd priority (or not) that Indonesia would lock and load over a potentially rich gas and oil field rather than for the sake of one its citizens who was kidnapped and tortured.  Such is t he way of the world these days. I would expect as much from my own government.

However, the recent news that is really striking and apparently not well reported is the Indonesian con of the Sultan of Brunei.

As reported by the Straits Times…

Brunei ruler is con victim

“Jakarta – The Brunei Sultan has lost 20 billion rupiah (S$2.8 billion) to a group of Indonesian con men posing as officials from Indonesia’s presidential palace, according to police here.

Commissioner General Susno Duadji, the chief of the National Police criminal investigation unit, put an end to days of speculation by confirming over the weekend that the victim was indeed Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

Gen Susno added at the media briefing that the con men did not speak directly to Sultan Bolkiah. ‘They talked only with the Sultan’s adjutant, who was called from Jakarta,’ he said.

Officials at the Brunei Embassy in Indonesia could not be reached for confirmation, as their offices were closed yesterday.

At least 32 foreign and Indonesian officials fell victim to the gang, said Inspector-General Hadiatmoko, Gen Susno’s deputy.

The local media, including The Jakarta Globe newspaper, said the con men pretended to be presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng and even President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself when they asked for money, ostensibly to help fund election campaigns.

The victims were asked to deposit the funds into various bank accounts opened under the name of the public figures to make the scam look convincing. The funds had been frozen and would be returned to the victims, said Gen Susno.

So far, 13 people had been arrested, but two, including the mastermind, were still on the run. go to article…>

Who says we do not live in interesting, it not entirely frivolous and wholly ridiculous, times?

Apparently it all has worked out. Ms. Pinot is damaged for life but free, Indonesian warships held their fire (this time), and the master mind is still at large with the Sultan of Brunei’s pocket money.

Jakarta (Manohara Odelia Pinot)

 Manohara Odelia Pinot (Photo: Jakarta Social Blog)

What!? A few days after Kartini Day, which marks the birth of Indonesia’s most famous  and celebrated advocate of women’s rights, the blogs are burning up with the news of Manohara Odelia Pinot. So sensitive is the case that today reporters were banned from asking questions about Ms. Pinot during a joint press conference held in Jakarta by SBY and the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib.

From Singapore to Sabah to Tokyo to Rio to Paris the story of her apparent kidnapping and the mystery of her whereabouts is the news of the day.

As AsiaOne reports today:

M’sian royalty allegedly kidnapped top model

KELANTAN, Malaysia – A member of the Kelantan royalty has hit the news in Indonesia for allegedly kidnapping and torturing his model wife, reported Kosmo!

Manohara Odelia Pinot, 17, from Indonesia was said to have been tortured by her husband, 31, including suffering cuts on her chest.

She had married him in a rushed wedding on Aug 26 last year.

A report by the Indonesian daily Surya said a local online news portal carried the story quoting an inside source from the palace, who notified Manohara’s mother.

The mother claimed that Manohara was taken by force in a private jet from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last month after completing the umrah.

Mother Daisy Fajarina, 44, told Surya newspaper in Surabaya: “My child has been tortured, her chest has been cut with a razor. This is what people in the palace who were sympathetic with our plight have told me.”

In a report, Tempo newspaper said that in an email secretly sent by Ms Manohara, she recounted how she was sexually abused by her husband. “I had to obey him for my own safety,” she said.

Surya reported that the model’s whereabouts were unknown.

 The Straits Times also reported via AFP wire today:

Najib dodges queries on model

JAKARTA – MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Najib Razak dodged questions about the alleged abduction of a young model by a Malaysian prince as he met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Thursday.

Reporters covering the press conference after the leaders met at the presidential palace were refused permission to ask about the case of 17-year-old Indonesian-American model Manohara Odelia Pinot.

As they fielded approved questions about closer bilateral relations and economic cooperation, Miss Manohara’s mother held an emotional press conference of her own to plead with Mr Najib for help in finding her socialite daughter.

Miss Manohara married last year to Tengku Temenggong Mohammad Fakhry, the prince of Malaysia’s Kelantan state.

Her mother, Daisy Fajarina, said her daughter had suffered ‘emotional and physical abuse’ at the hands of her husband, who was holding her against her will in Malaysia.

She said she had been refused entry to Malaysia to see her daughter, who was crying and distraught when she last spoke to her Indonesian family by phone from Malaysia on March 21.

‘As the new prime minister of Malaysia I urge Najib to investigate to defend our rights and the truth,’ Mdm Fajarina told reporters at the offices of the national human rights commission.

‘I just want my daughter to be set free… As a mother I have a right to see my daughter.’

She fainted when she was mobbed by journalists from Indonesia’s celebrity press, who have written extensively about Miss Manohara’s plight. — AFP

This is a nasty and sensational case with all the nasty sensational elements of beauty, sex, wealth, violence, status, and cross-border international relations all thrown together in a blogging frenzied gado-gado.  It is now turning the heads of the world press. I am sure that this is not at all what Kartini had in mind.

And the world, as someone once said, is a place stranger than what we can even imagine.

 

Jakarta (you can’t fool all the people all of the time)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow Padang: Golkar Party chairman Jusuf Kalla speaks to thousands of party supporters at Imam Bonjol square in Padang, West Sumatra, on Sunday. Antara/Saptono

As the old saying goes – You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time.

That GOLKAR still even exists as a politcal party in Indonesia is rather amazing given that it was an invention of Soeharto and company to pretend that there was a semblance of credibility to his regime.  GOLKAR was (is) a tool, like a hammer is a tool. Given that, the article below from The Jakarta Post is rather (politically) stunning.

Kalla: Golkar to continue Soeharto’s ideals
The Jakarta Post | Sat, 04/04/2009 9:27 PM | National

Golkar Party Chairman Jusuf Kalla said his party would continue to strive towards the realization of the goals of the party’s founders, as well those of the late Soeharto, to developing the country.

“The Golkar Party will continue the ideals of its founders including the late Soeharto so that the country will progress,” he said at a campaign rally in Sukoharjo, Central Java, state news agency Antara has reported.

This was the first time Kalla, who is also the vice president, mentioned the name of the former Indonesian president in campaigning.

The thousands of people attending the rally applauded upon hearing Soeharto’s name mentioned.

On the occasion Kalla assured that if Golkar wins the majority of votes in the election it would meet all the needs of the people including for roads, basic necessaries and free education.

“Golkar always wants to improve the welfare of the nation,” he said.

He said Indonesia must be more advanced in the future, meaning that all its people’s needs could be met. “With Golkar, Indonesia certainly will be better,” he said in his campaign speech.”

What would that exactly mean? Repression of opponents, corruption, nepotism, political power to the generals, graft, embezzlement, larceny, murder.  Kalla has shown  his hand.

Jakarta (Secretary Clinton and the U.S.Peace Corp)

Underconstruction by jupriphoto

That Indonesia is high on the agenda of President Obama is not surprising and is a welcome change to see it so.  I fully expect that he will make a visit to Jakarta at some point during his administration.

Such is the priority of Indonesia to the new adminstration that is has been announced that Secretary of State Clinton will visit Jakarta on February 18-19. What really got me excited was the prospect that she is considering resuming  U.S. Peace Corp programs in Indonesia. 

She probably does not read The Jakarta – Indonesia – Urban Blog, but Madam Secretary, if you are out there I would like to strongly suggest that the U.S. Peace Corps be resumed in Indonesia and that if the U.S. Peace Corp is resumed that programs addressing urban issues be developed as a priority. 

I would be first in line to sign up.

I hope this happens as I see the potential of these programs as being extremely positive.

The Brunei Times 2/8/2009:

Clinton to consider resumption of US Peace Corps in Indonesia

Sunday, February 8, 2009

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will look into the possibility of reopening the US Peace Corps programme in Indonesia during her upcoming visit in Jakarta, a government spokesman said.

Clinton, during her visit in Indonesia February 18-19, would assess the possibility of resuming the US Peace Corps programme in Indonesia after it was discontinued in the mid-1960s, the US State Department’s deputy spokesman, Robert Wood, said at a recent press briefing in Washington DC, according to a US government press statement received by Antara yesterday.

Clinton would also hold consultations with senior Indonesian officials to discuss the growing partnership with Indonesia and common interests in Southeast Asia.

“Indonesia is an important country for the United States. The secretary feels it’s important that we need to reach out and reach out early to Indonesia,” Wood said.

Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation in the world.

Clinton would make her first overseas mission as US secretary of state to East Asia in an eight-day trip which will include stops in Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, and China.

She would address a broad range of issues, from economics to climate change, during an eight-day, four-nation trip through East Asia, departing Washington on February 15, Wood said.

She chose to make Asia her first stop because of its strategic importance and the ever-increasing role it plays across the US foreign policy spectrum, Wood said.

“In all capitals, the secretary will be discussing common approaches to the challenges facing the international community, including the financial markets turmoil, humanitarian issues, security and climate change,” he said. Bernama

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Jakarta (the city that ate Java and other news)

Truly Indonesia by ~realunwinged

Anyone who writes, studies, reads about, or lives in Jakarta invariably runs into acronyms. Just check out the Jakarta Post page of the list of acronyms and you will see what I mean. Bahasa Indonesia lends itself well to shortening otherwise lengthy and boring names of places and institutions and you name it… …not to mention all the Jakartan, Surabayan, and Bandungese slang.

One acronym which is likely well known is JABOTABEK. This is derived from taking the first two letters of the cities which comprise the greater Jakarta metropolitan area. JA: Jakarta, BO: Bogor, TA: Tangerang, and BEK: Bekasi (getting three letters for good measure). I have no idea who thought this up or used this acronym first but it might have appeared as early as the 1980s. Certainly by the 1990s a DE, for Depok, was thrown in the midst of all this. And recently I saw in the Jakarta Post an added CI, for Cianjur (it is also appearing in blogs, just Google it).  Next up to add will be BA, for Bandung, say by the end of the decade, and SU, for Surabaya is certainly on the horizon.

Jabotabek: Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Bekasi.

Jabodetabek : Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi.

Jabodetabekci: Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi, Cianjur.

Jabodetebekciba: Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi, Cianjur, Bandung.

Jabodetabekcibasu: Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi, Cianjur, Bandung, Surabaya.

Jakarta: the city that ate Java or perhaps the island will be renamed Javarkta…? Hmmm? The Javarkta – Indonesia – Urban Blog?

Under the category of  “they have no real jobs so they have to make up something to do” (this is what my wife says) is : MUI (yet another acronym for: Indonesian Ulema Council).

MUI edicts condemned as ‘pointless’

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb and Erwida Maulia , THE JAKARTA POST , PADANG/JAKARTA | Tue, 01/27/2009 9:52 AM

“The country’s highest Islamic authority has come under fire for bans on vote abstention, smoking and yoga.

Edicts on the bans were issued by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) during its two-day national meeting in Padangpanjang, West Sumatra, which ended on Sunday.

Some 700 clerics from the council agreed Muslims were forbidden to abstain from voting in elections if “qualified” candidates existed.

“Islam obliges Muslims to elect their leaders if the latter meet certain criteria,” Gusrizal Gazahar, MUI West Sumatra head, said after the meeting.

The criteria include “being Muslim, honest, brilliant and ready to fight for the people“, the council added.

It also forbade smoking by children and pregnant women, and smoking in public places.

Outside these conditions, smoking was still deemed makruh (blameworthy) for Muslims, it said.

Muslims are also banned from practicing certain aspects of yoga that contained Hindu elements such as chanting and meditation, it said…”

go to article…>

 Last but not least…

Today is the one year anniversary of the death of Soeharto. 1/26/2008.

As reported by Reuters here are some of the high points…

Indonesia struggles to cast off Suharto’s shadow
Sun Jan 25, 2009

By Sara Webb – Analysis

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s former president Suharto has been dead for a year, but the country he ruled for three decades until his ouster in a populist uprising in 1998, is still dealing with his legacy…

Yet even today, Indonesia is struggling to recover from the Suharto regime’s culture of corruption, economic mismanagement, and human rights abuses, in order to attract much-needed foreign and domestic investment for infrastructure and other parts of the economy that are starved of funds…

“Yes, Indonesia has made some reforms over the past decade. But the pace of reform has been disappointing,” said Prakriti Sofat, economist at HSBC in Singapore…

…the acquittal of a top military intelligence official in the murder of Indonesia’s leading human rights activist in December shows the armed forces remain untouchable, political analysts say…

…Indonesia’s democracy is immature, and its parliament is plagued by corruption, raising concerns about the way legislation is passed…

Few of Indonesia’s political parties are distinguished by clear policies, ideologies, or reform agendas…

Some are built around personalities. Golkar is still associated with the Suharto clan, while PDI-P is based around former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno…

Wiranto and Prabowo Subianto, two Suharto-era ex-generals associated with human rights violations, each have their own political parties…

Yudhoyono has delivered on several of his promises, but one of his main achievements has been to serve his full elected term, bringing a sense of stability to a country which had three different presidents in the period between Suharto’s fall in 1998 and Yudhoyono’s election in 2004…

Under Yudhoyono, Indonesia’s anti-corruption agency has brought several high-ranking officials to justice, including central bankers and government officials, while the notoriously corrupt tax and customs departments have been the focus of a huge clean-up as part of government efforts to improve revenues [ID:nJAK363913].

TOP KLEPTOCRAT

Yet despite the convictions and crackdowns, graft remains a widespread problem and many of the worst offenders have proved untouchable…

Suharto, who Transparency International ranked as the world’s top kleptocrat, with a fortune estimated at $15-35 billion, was deemed too ill to stand trial, while many of his family, inner circle, and close business associates have escaped justice…

Indonesia has failed to fully investigate and account for the billions of dollars that the central bank used to bail out well-connected banks during the 1997-98 financial crisis, while attempts to bring those responsible for human rights abuses have largely faltered…

Indonesia still ranks among the world’s most corrupt countries, and its judiciary, civil service, and police are regarded by many Indonesians and foreigners as ripe for massive overhaul…

Indonesia’s unpredictable courts make it impossible for businesses to operate effectively, while a recent survey by Transparency International found that one out of every two encounters with the police involved a bribe.

(Additional reporting by Telly Nathalia; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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Jakarta (Fauzi Bowo and the Moscow connection)

Fauzi Bowo, Governor of Jakarta

UPDATE: 10/6/2008

Reuters has two reports today on Jakarta (well worth reading):

Jakarta governor takes on floods, transport by Sara Webb …> go to article

JAKARTA (Reuters) – “Indonesia’s capital needs huge investment in infrastructure to fix problems including flooding and poor public transport, and will seek funds from international agencies and possibly the bond market, the governor said.

Fauzi Bowo, who was elected governor of Jakarta last year, has a Herculean task ahead of him.

Two-fifths of Jakarta is prone to flooding during the rainy season, which typically lasts several months. Traffic congestion grows worse by the day as more and more Jakartans buy cars and motorcycles given the lack of an adequate mass-transport system.

A steady influx of job-seekers, estimated at 260,000 in the past two years (2006-2007), has swelled the city’s population of 10 million. Many of these newcomers have no access to proper housing, piped water or sanitation. Compounding the problems, law enforcement is often a matter of money.

“We’re constrained financially. I need a lot of money to catch up with the infrastructure,” said Bowo in an interview for Reuters’ global environment summit.

A number of other low-lying Asian cities, for example Bangkok, Shanghai and Singapore, have improved infrastructure and created a more attractive environment for residents and tourists.

But tactics that work well in orderly Singapore, such as on-the-spot fines for littering and spitting, and hefty taxes or charges for car-owners, would prove ineffective in a place like Jakarta where, as any motorist will tell you, the police are easily bribed and public transport remains unreliable…”

 

and

Jakarta sinks as citizens tap groundwater by Sugita Katyal …> go to article

JAKARTA (Reuters) – “It’s one of the fastest-growing megacities in Asia. But some doomsters predict large parts of Indonesia’s coastal capital could be under water by 2025.

The reason? Unchecked groundwater mining.

“Goundwater extraction is unparalleled for a city of this size,” Almud Weitz, regional team leader of the World Bank’s water and sanitation programme, said in an interview for Reuters Environment Summit.

“It’s like Swiss cheese. People are digging deeper and deeper and so the city is slowly, slowly sinking. That is why tidal floods are occurring in poor areas on the coast.”

Jakarta is one of Asia’s more densely populated cities, but experts say it has one of the least developed piped water networks, pushing many residents as well as mushrooming megamalls and skyscrapers to increasingly suck out groundwater.

According to some estimates, Jakarta has a water deficit of about 36 million cubic meters (1.28 billion cubic feet) a year and much of the groundwater is contaminated with faecal matter because of leaky septic tanks…”

From RIA Novosti, 10/2/2008

By RIA Novosti’s Ekaterina Kuznetsova in Jakarta

The Moscow – Jakarta connection.

Below are the answers from RIA Novosti interview of Governor Bowo. I have highlighted a number of phrases and terms to empasize some of the priorities that Governor Bowo is obviously concerned about vis-a-vis Jakarta.

The Jakarta governor discusses his plans for his upcoming visit to Moscow, potential areas of cooperation between the cities, and his meeting with Yury Luzhkov.

“Both our capitals are seeking inter-city cooperation. Last year we signed a memorandum of understanding on partnership between Moscow and Jakarta, and now we have to draft a close cooperation program for the next three years. This is what I will sign with Mayor Luzhkov during my visit to Moscow.

We don’t want to just continue discussions, we want things to become reality, and we want to take practical steps. I think that Mayor Luzhkov is also a man of action.

I am very pleased to be able to respond to his invitation to come to Moscow. I certainly hope that my visit will be of benefit not only to both our cities, but also to both our countries.

We are thinking of developing an extensive exchange in the cultural and sports spheres. We also know that Russia has a very advanced program of preservation management for the cultural heritage of its old cities, and we would like to learn more about this.

The partner city of Moscow has also a very extensive program for emergency response to any disasters. So this is one more area in which we should learn from Moscow.

Besides this, we will also focus on small and medium business improvement activities. We know that many things have been transformed to meet the electronic era in Moscow. And we are about to start this in Jakarta. So we will also learn from Moscow’s experience in this field.

Public transport is another area. We really admire those beautiful Metro stations that you have in Moscow. And not only the Metro – it also applies to some aspects of rail and bus transport.

One more area is open-space town planning. Moscow has been enjoying tremendous growth in the past few years due to the economic boom. We want to learn more about how to control the negative impacts of this urban growth.

This is a basic program we had agreed upon, and we are going to sign what we call a Program of Cooperation between the city of Jakarta and the city of Moscow for 2009-2010.

The most important thing for us is a disaster management plan. Jakarta, whose population is so large, lacks a strong plan on how to react if a disaster were to hit the city. And Moscow is very good at this, so we want to learn more.

The second point is that as we plan to start the construction of our subway next year, I think we can learn from Moscow’s experience in this as well. I will ask Mayor Luzhkov for some experts to assist us in planning our subway.

We would also like to conduct an exchange in the sports and education sphere, as to how to build a system to recruit talented sportsmen at a very young age. In Russia this is done systematically, and the result is very positive.

These are the areas in which we want to start cooperation immediately.

…water purification is also a subject for discussion, in addition to those I’ve mentioned, although it is not included in the official agenda.

Another thing is that we want to know is how Mayor Luzhkov deals with the problem of housing for low-income residents.

We will be talking about participating next year in the ‘Moscow days’ – these big festivities in Moscow. And we would also appreciate it if Moscow’s basketball team were to join our inter-city tournament during Jakarta’s anniversary celebrations.

We also believe that since Moscow is the financial capital of Russia and Jakarta is the financial capital of Indonesia, there are plenty of areas – economically speaking – in which we can boost ties.

One day I would like to send a group of people to improve cooperation between the chambers of commerce and business in Moscow and Jakarta, because once you give them the facilities they will be able to grow by themselves. And I hope that business relations between Moscow and Jakarta will grow in the future.

Also, we definitely need to talk about having direct flights between Moscow and Indonesia.

I was informed that Mayor Luzhkov will be playing soccer on the Saturday morning and I will try to join him. This will be a challenge for me, because the temperature in Moscow is already very low. I will present Mayor Luzhkov with my local team’s T-shirt with his name on it – Luzhkov.

My time is very limited, but there are so many things to be seen in Moscow, and I am also very excited about visiting some of the main sights in Moscow.

Moscow is a big city and the capital of a very powerful country. And we have good relations between the Republic of Indonesia and the Russian Federation. I think we both see this inter-city cooperation meeting as a channel to increase understanding between the governments of the two countries. We will be moving to practical things for the benefit of our people, which on the whole can bring us closer to achieving more important things for both our countries.” …> go to article

These are the points:

1. inter-city cooperation.

2. preservation management for the cultural heritage of its old cities.

3. program for emergency response to any disasters.

4. focus on small and medium business improvement activities.

5. public transport.

6. disaster management plan (mentioned twice)

7. construction of our subway.

6. open-space town planning.

7. water purification

8. housing for low-income residents.

9. cultural exchange.

10. a game of soccor.

From Jakartass 9/12/2008:

Who Runs Jakarta?

“There’s Governor Fuddy Bozo and a deputy governor whose picture can be seen on peeling stickers around town dating from FB’s election a couple of years ago. (If you can honestly name his DG* without using a search engine, do let me know.)

Then there’s a bunch of councillors. There are 75 of them and unlike FB and his DG, they were not elected directly but gained their sinecures based on the numbers of votes cast for the various political parties they belonged to. Thus they were not elected to represent the electorate but the interests of these political parties: Golkar (only 6 councillors but with the Speaker as an ‘extra’), PKS (19, inc. a Deputy Speaker), P-Dem (16, inc. a Deputy Speaker), PDI-P (11, inc. a Deputy Speaker), PPP (7), PAN (6), PDS (4), PKB (4), PBR (2). There are also 10 non-elected councillors who supposedly represent the ‘regions’. I cannot recall how they got their seats

I’m not actually sure what the role of the councillors is, although when elected they did mouth all the right platitudes about their priorities in combatting corruption, improving transport, dealing with garbage disposal and the economy. Theirs presumably.

Can anyone honestly say that things have got better in the nearly four years since they were elected? And who is your ‘regional’ councillor?

Whoever they are, they are expected to run this city.

Occasionally we get to hear about various initiatives. For example, we have been informed recently that the city administration is considering investing in the state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api.

“We see the importance of investing in the company because we plan to integrate spatial planning around train stations, railway-road junctions, underpasses and overpasses,” Governor Fauzi Bowo said Tuesday.

So, what’s new?

The JP archives going back at least 5 years have articles extolling the virtues of an integrated transport system, and all we have is yet more talk.

‘Plans’, ”targets’, ‘considering’, ‘proposed’: these are all fine words which mask prevarication.

In 2003, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) showed that commuters from Jakarta’s adjacent cities took one-and-a-half-hours on average to reach their workplace in Jakarta due to traffic congestion.

A JICA team under the leadership of Tomokazu Wachi prepared a study on a proposed integrated transportation plan for Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (SITRAMP) aimed at producing to solve traffic problems in the city.

Wachi said, “Regional administrations in Greater Jakarta should increase their coordination to tackle traffic problems in the area. A clear identification of role-sharing is also needed between the central government and regional administrations at the provincial, municipal and regency levels.”

Also in 2003, Lalu A. Damanhuri of Infrastructure Planning & Development Specialist Committee for Infrastructure Development Policy (KKPPI), said it best.

Building new roads, flyovers and underpasses in the absence of measures to limit transportation demand and improve traffic flow may simply result in more roads full of traffic jams.

Similarly, strengthening public transport will be ineffective in the absence of transportation demand management to discourage car and motorcycle use, and traffic engineering to give priority to public transportation vehicles.

Planning should encourage urban forms which minimize transport needs, encourage non-motorized transport (cycling, walking) and allow for efficient public transportation service.

An integrated infrastructure? Wow.

Unfortunately, all we seem to get are various limited initiatives. For example, Jakarta transportation agency head Muhammad Tauchid has suggested that working hours should be adjusted for the private sector in accordance with the working hours of civil servants.

“There will be a timing difference between the two that is expected to help reduce traffic congestions,” he said.

Do private working hours really need regulating by an inefficient City Hall? Why not offer incentives (such as reduced fares in non-peak hours) to encourage companies to operate flexitime for their staff? And why not adjust the working hours of the bloated bureaucrats instead?

Another worrying problem is that the number of motorcycles in Jakarta has quadrupled by 300 percent (eh?) within the last four years – a worrying development if left unchecked, transportation officials and experts said Friday.

Sure is: bureaucrats who don’t understand basic mathematics should certainly be checked.

Jakarta transportation agency head Muhammad Tauchid concurred, adding that the phenomenon is not only a contributing factor to the city’s worsening traffic, but also a hazard to other motorists.

He added that the city administration and transportation agency would be implementing several measures to anticipate the rapid increase of motorcycles in the city, which had reportedly grown by 3.5 million units this year alone.

One of the initiatives to be introduced early next year is a designated road lane for motorcycles.

“The decision is deemed a step forward in attempting to alleviate traffic congestion,” Tauchid said. “The other measure is to increase vehicle tax.”

That’s what is needed – decisive thinking. Maybe.

SBY has also had a few ideas about making Jakarta a better place for all. He is a commuter from his weekend spread on the road to Bogor to his presidential pad in Central Jakarta and gets to see, but not experience, the regular gridlock. (Traffic is held up so he can pass witrh his outriders and entourage.)

So what are we to make of Presidential Decree No.54/2008 which actually regulates spatial planning on Jabodetabekpunjur (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi, Puncak and Cianjur), focusing on issues such as drainage, waste water, transport, and garbage disposal. Has it really taken more than five years to gestate?

Of course, it could all mean loads more meetings with officials from various bureaucracies, probably a foreign trip or two to see how others do integrate their shopping with ‘official business’, but that is cynical conjecture.

Integrated flood management is covered by Article 21 of the decree (which) stipulates that drainage and flood control systems must integrate river management with the current regional drainage system, in addition to prioritizing forest rehabilitation and revitalization of reservoirs and flood control dams.

Gadis Sri Haryani, director of the water resources department at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), suggested that communities in upstream areas should be educated about ecofriendly sources of income, such as ecotourist whitewater rafting.

Article 15 of the new decree sets out laws for the development of mass transit systems to connect Jakarta and surrounding areas.

It also stipulates that the administrations should improve the railway network in certain areas to serve commuters better.

Bambang Susantono of the Indonesian Transportation Society said the decree “would allow the monorail, mass rapid transit (MRT) system and busway networks to expand into surrounding cities”.

Until now, Jakarta administration has only been able to develop transportation systems within its administrative territory, even though each day the capital sees millions of commuters from neighboring cities.

Deputy Governor Prijanto* hadn’t heard about the issuance of the decree, but he did say that the new regulations would unite development in Jakarta and its greater areas.

“For me, it’s a good sign to start working together with adjacent regions, especially in spatial planning.”

Especially?”

Moral of the story: Don’t count your roubles before they’re hatched.

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Saya disini Jakarta

Posting will be a bit sporadic over the next three weeks.  I am in Jakarta (finally).  Hope to post new photos and some short commentary while I am here.   I am working on  Jakarta (fear of the street, part 2) which I hope to post soon. Thanks. Keep reading. Jakarta Urban Blog appreciates it.

Terima kasih…

Soeharto (the end)

Photo: Rizky Dinata

New York Times
Suharto, Former Indonesian Dictator, Dies at 86

Asia Times
OBITUARY 

Suharto leaves an iron-fist legacy

By Michael Vatikiotis

 

Financial Times of London 1.30.2008

Time-lag archipelago: Suharto casts a long shadow over Indonesia
By John Aglionby in Jakarta

…If everything is so rosy, then, why are so many Indonesians so loath to mourn their late president? After all, he reduced inflation from 650 per cent to single digits in a few years, lifted gross domestic product per capita from $50 to $1,000, won awards from the United Nations for his family planning programmes, made the country self-sufficient in rice and unified the peoples of 17,500 islands and 350 ethnic groups.

It is because several other, less savoury aspects of Suharto’s rule are so deep-rooted that the country has barely made inroads into tackling them, analysts say. Many Indonesians believe that it is only when the country has seriously tackled corruption, addressed the human rights abuses that saw anywhere between hundreds of thousands and 2m people killed and built properly functioning institutions that the nation can really claim to be developed. …>go to article   

AFP 1.30.2008
 US propped up Suharto despite rights abuses: documents

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States declassified documents Monday detailing how Washington propped up ex-Indonesian leader Suharto, who died at the weekend, at the expense of democracy and human rights.

The documents, declassified following requests under a freedom of information law, showed the US administration did not use its leverage to bring Suharto to account during his 32-year reign until his last months in office.

“One thing that is clear from the tens of thousands of pages of which we had declassified concerning US ties with Suharto from 1966 to 1998 — at no moment did US presidents ever exercise their maximum leverage over his regime to press for human rights or democratization,” Brad Simpson of the National Security Archive told AFP. …>go to article

Photo: Al Jazeera

Soeharto (again)

 The New Order

 

Some last notes on Soeharto.

This begins the third week since Soeharto entered the hospital, his condition critical, and his family by his side. His team of forty doctors gave him a 50/50 chance of recovery or not. Then reports appeared that his condition was critical, near certain death.

A stream of dignitaries followed to his bedside- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice president Joseph Kalla, then Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, followed by Matahir of Malaysia, and the third President of Indonesia, Habibie.

Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie educated in Germany, a technocrat in the Soeharto regime, and a very unlikely candidate to assume the role of President after the troubles of 1997-1998. He and Soeharto were close, like father and son. Habibie tells a story in his memoirs something like this: when Soeharto resigned the presidency he expected Habibie to follow and do the same. But he didn’t. Habibie assumed the role of president. The two have not spoken since those events of 1998.

Habibie recently flew out from Germany, where he has a home, to pay his respects and pray at Soeharto’s bedside. When he arrived at the hospital he was refused entry. It was said that he could not see Soeharto because of doctor’s orders. Perhaps the feud between the two lingers on.

What strikes me about this is that Habibie may be a true hero of Indonesia. If he had resigned in 1998 it would have left only the Army generals to contest for power. This would likely have led to yet another Indonesian bloodbath. Perhaps even the return of Soeharto to power. Maybe this is the situation Soeharto was aiming for but prevented from by a most loyal subject. As events transpired there was a peaceful transition of power under the rule of constitutional law. Elections followed and Indonesia has now emerged as one of the most democratic nations of the region. A thought almost impossible to think ten years ago.

This is just small side story but then there appears to be many small side stories as Soeharto lay dying (or not).

If you go to Google News and type in “Jakarta News” there are (as of this writing) some 275 news articles about Soeharto. It would take too long to link them all here. First there is his condition. He’s sick, near death, the doctors do not give him a chance, he’s recovering, he has a blood infection, his condition worsens, he’s getting better, doctors amazed that that he is hanging on, the military prepare his family crypt in Solo for burial, the funeral has been planned, the grave is being readied, passes have been issued to the media, preparations made for an influx of world leaders… and it goes on and on. This is just what I can gather from the internet sitting here at my desk.

I am sure the Jakarta news is a daily Soeharto circus. It also must have put a crimp in some of the big news services as they have already written their Soeharto obituary and it now sits on a shelf somewhere ready to go to press but can’t go to press. Some stories I have seen appear to be edited obituaries which instead of speaking of Soeharto in the past tense must speak of him still in the present tense.

The kicker is that today the Associated Press header is “Doctor: Soeharto could recover”, Bloomberg, “Suharto is less Dependent on Respirator as Condition Improves”, Reuters, “Doctors treating Indonesia’s Soeharto more optimistic”.

Make of this what you will but apparently it is hard for Soeharto to die.

This leads me to yet other side stories.

When I told my wife about the news that Soeharto was about to die she told me not to say anything bad about him. It was not the Muslim way. Even if he did bad things you don’t readily trumpet the list of his evil deeds. You wait out of respect and then do it later after things have cooled down. Later, because it appears he can not readily die, either because he is plugged into all those medical machines or maybe for other reasons.  It seems this  state of affairs suggests that he has not lived a decent life, but rather has much to account for and that keeps him lingering on, dying this long death.

My wife had seen this before and tells the story of a local village leader who took advantage of his position, was corrupt, took land and money from the village, and enriched himself at the expense of others. When he lay dying he could not die. This was surely an indication that he had much to account for from his past and everyone in the village knew it and it bothered them. So, the village came together and discussed this problem and it was decided that they would just let it all go.  Not to forget. Not to forgive. But just let it go. The man quickly died soon after their meeting.

As much confusion as all this seems to have raised in the minds of Indonesians it would be a good bet that the idea of a long death as being representative of a life not so well lived is more than apparent to everyone. Whether or not this is stated openly is another thing altogether.

Then there is all the debate going on about to forgive and forget, forgive and not forget, not to forgive and not to forget, and not to forgive and to forget. Who remembers what and when? Who benefited from the Soeharto regime and who were its victims? Should Soeharto be held accountable or not? Should there be a trial or not? Lee Kuan Yew comes and says something stupid like “what’s a few billion looted from the Indonesian people when so much was done to modernize Indonesia and raise the standard of living” and blah, blah, blah. Piss on Lee Kwan Yew.

All manner of talk is going on. I think if Soeharto had come to the hospital and simply died on the spot we would not get to see and read something of what people are thinking and saying.  This discussion is valuable.  And very interesting.

The Indonesia blogs and press are full these sorts of articles. The Aroengbinang Project has a blog titled “Forgive and Forget” with 19 comments, Jakartass has a blog tilted “An addendum to an obituary (which I haven’t beem able to post yet), and Indonesia Matters has a blog titled “Forgiveness” with 83 comments. If you want to see how this debate is going go there to take a look.

In fact, yet another side story comes to mind from a comment posted on that article in Indonesia Matters from a reader named Jamma which, in passing, mentions the following,

 ”…my husband says he [Soeharto] can’t die so easily cause he’s got too much ilmu, some designated person will have to cross a river with Soeharto’s underpants on their head so he can die”.

According to my bahasa dictionary  ”ilmu” means “supernatural knowledge”, it may be a Javanese word, but I assume it can also mean something like “magic” or “power” or in Hawaii we say “mana”.

So, the side story is about “dukun”. I am surprised that “Culture Shock: Jakarta” has no mention of them. My dictionary defines “dukun” as an “indigenous medical practitioner, shaman”. But a dukun is far more than just that. Dukun can summon the essence of human beings, jinni, ghosts, demons, or any life force from a creature, natural or supernatural. They can borrow the souls of living people as they sleep. There are stories of disembodied heads floating through space or rolling along the ground, humans transforming into animals. Inanimate objects which speak.  You laugh, but I assure you this is serious business.

The Indonesian newspaper classifieds are full of advertisements for dukun offering love, wealth, power or protection from other dukun. Soeharto claimed that he himself was a dukun and there is real evidence that he studied under one. This was part of his mystique, a little more reason for him to be feared. This is not widely mentioned in the ongoing debate, but again, I am sure, this is yet another aspect which people are thinking about. Soeharto is the living dead, his magic so powerful as to be feared even from the grave. Another reason he cannot die a clean fast death.

A few last notes.

I am not Indonesian. I write as an outsider. From what I have seen there is nothing but good to be had by the ongoing discussions regarding Soeharto. Perhaps there may never be justice. Perhaps this will all be buried in some collective amnesia. I do not know. It is for Indonesians to decide and that is exactly the process they are in now. This will work itself out.

Through all this debate (an example is provided from 101 East video in the previous post below) there is no mention of the role the United States Central Intelligence Agency had in bringing Soeharto to power, their role in providing names of PKI, their continued role in supporting the Indonesia military. No mention of Henry Kissinger’s “realpolitik” and the rain of death which fell on the people of Timor. Soeharto is an amateur compared to Kissinger and his like (of which there are many).  Perhaps the Indonesians are too polite to mention this, perhaps now too inward looking.  So, I add this to the discussion.

I cannot speak for my government but as a citizen of the United States I wish to offer my most sincere and heartfelt apologies to the people of Indonesia for what these people have done.

At last, let’s see, just as an experiment of sorts, what would happen if we do not forget and do not forgive but simply let go.