July 15, 2014 edition
Hundreds of people formed a long line at Hong Kong's Victoria Park, a favorite haunt of migrant workers. It was Sunday two weeks ago, and Indonesian nationals were arriving at the polling station set up there to cast their ballots.
Instead of receding, the line got longer as the day wore on. Seeing that, Syaiful Anas, a poll observer from the Migrant Care organization, took the initiative to suggest the Overseas Election Committee for Hong Kong open an alternative access to the station. "After negotiations, the committee availed another access on the right side of the main entrance," Syaiful recalled last week.
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More National articles in other editions
January 1, 1970 edition
July 1, 2014 edition
Having led Muhammadiyah's youth organization for the past two decades, Hajriyanto Thohari has become a magnet for young members of the Muslim organization, one of Indonesia's largest. The official residence of the deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has also become a favorite haunt for young people. Practically once a month, the speaker hosts a gathering to discuss trending issues including the upcoming presidential election.
The meeting participants, said Hajriyanto, the former chair of the Muhammadiyah Youth Center's Management Board, are mostly supporters of either Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo, while some shy away from expressly supporting either candidate. Prabowo supporters fly the flags of Surya Madani Indonesia (SMI) and Forum Matahari Indonesia Raya (Formasi), whereas members of pro-Jokowi-as Joko Widodo is commonly called-come together under the Relawan Matahari Indonesia (RMI) group.
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January 1, 1970 edition
It was 9pm at the Hotel Acacia in Central Jakarta last week when Biak Numfor Regent, Yesaya Sombuk, received a guest in his room. The visitor was Teddy Renyut, CEO of Papua Indah Perkasa.
Teddy, a construction businessman from Maluku, was escorted by Yunus Saflembolo, head of Biak Numfor's Natural Disaster Control, who picked him up at Promenade Cafe & Restaurant on the hotel's ground floor. Teddy and Yesaya had agreed to meet a week earlier.
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June 17, 2014 edition
Backstage at Sarbini Hall, Central Jakarta, Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo stretched his tired legs while talking with Jusuf Kalla, his running mate for the upcoming presidential elections. The first debate between the candidates had been paused momentarily, and on television advertisements filled the space, but at Sarbini Hall, the interlude was filled with slogans called out in support of the two tickets: Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa and Jokowi-JK, as the latter is known.
In the debate's final segment, moderator Zainal Arifin Mochtar, director of Gadjah Mada University's Corruption Studies Center, asked each candidate to give closing remarks. Prabowo orated, declaring he would work hard to conserve the national wealth. "So that the democracy we struggle for is a democracy that is productive and delivers prosperity, and not just some wani piro democracy," he said, using a Javanese term that refers to how much one has to pay to get something done.
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January 1, 1970 edition
The middle-aged man visited residents of Cideng in Gambir, Central Jakarta, on Sunday afternoon two weeks ago. He wore civilian clothes, carried a walkie-talkie and had a small notebook tucked in his shirt pocket. Most residents turned the man away, but one of them, Rifky, 50, invited him in.
The man said his name was Ruspanji and that he was a non-commissioned officer (NCO) village guidance (Babinsa) officer of the 0405 Gambir District Military Command. However, he displayed no identity card. Ruspanji told Rifky that his commanding officer had ordered him to collate voter data approaching the July 9th presidential elections. "Initially, he wanted to record data on my Chinese neighbor, but the neighbor refused," Rifky said on Friday last week.
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January 1, 1970 edition