THE factory three times the size of the Monas (National Monument) area by Jalan Soekarno-Hatta, Bandung, was nearly empty on Thursday of last week. From outside there was only a group of policemen camping out in the factory owned by PT Omedata Electronics.

Since Friday the week before, the company producing electronic components had laid off around 1,500 of its employees. On an announcement posted at the gate of the factory, head of the company