April 21, 2015 edition
Special Report
One of the biggest hurdle to achieving best practices in doing business is the problem of corruption. How can this major scourge be eliminated and how can the culture of transparency be taught? Yuli Ismartono from Tempo talked to Natalia Soebagjo of Transparency International Indonesia in Jakarta last week. Excerpts:
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Sidelines
Worms
Sidelines
Whenever someone says there is nothing universal in people of diverse backgrounds; whenever someone says once again that 'our values' differ from 'Western values' as far as the drive for justice and freedom is concerned, I reread Bung Karno's 1930s defense speech Indonesia Accuses! Then I read something else, for instance this time, Liao Yiwu.
One night in June 1989, Liao Yiwu, a Chinese poet from the Sichuan region, was startled to hear that thousands of students who had gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and who were demanding that the ruling Communist Party establish democracy, were fired upon by the army.
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Interview
YOUTH and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi was in Wollongong, Australia when the bad news hit him on April 10. The world football association FIFA, through its secretary-general Jerome Valcke, had sent Nahrawi a scorching letter. It asked the government not to interfere in the affairs of the All-Indonesia Football Association (PSSI).
FIFA sent the letter after an unending dispute about the participation of two football clubs which failed to pass the verification test of the Indonesian Professional Football Board (BOPI) to compete in the Qatar National Bank League 2015 (previously the Indonesian Super League). The clubs were Persebaya and Arema Cronus. According to FIFA, the government through BOPI forced the additional criteria so that the clubs could take part in the competition. FIFA said that was the authority of the PSSI, as the extended arm of that international association.
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Horizons
I will be in Jakarta onApril 18," was the short message Shamsi Ali sent, two weeks ago. He is part of a five-man delegation of American Muslim leaders who will be visiting Indonesia. "We want to forge communications and cooperation between Indonesians and American Muslims," said Shamsi.
This 47-year-old father of six is not just another member of the Indonesian diaspora. After residing in New York City for the past 18 years, he became director of the Jamaica Muslim Centerthe biggest in the citywatching over a flock of 20,000 Muslims. He is also president of the Nusantara Foundationwhich hosts a variety of activities such as discussions and cultural events. Most of all, he is an activist who goes around the world preaching about Islam.
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Travel
A few kilometers north of Lawang, on the road to Surabaya, we turned into the expansive 85-hectare botanical gardens and were immediately enveloped by its peace and serenity, a salve for city dwellers. Our original intention was just to shop for houseplants, but we ended up spending the whole afternoon in this beautifully landscaped enclave and came away with new-found respect and appreciation for the world of plants.
At 300 meters above sea level, with an average annual rainfall of 2,366 millimeters, living organisms do not have any trouble at all prospering in the limey soil of this sprawling live museum of dry habitats: a total of 11,429 specimens representing 3,000 plant species, including many that are endangered and seldom seen outside of Indonesia. Among the highlight is an Arecaceae collection of perennial lianas, shrubs and 80 different kinds of palms; 114 bamboo species; 15 species of rose apple (Syzygium); 80 species of fern; a legume, pea and bean family collection; 300 species of medicinal herbs.
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Word Watch
Jennifer Lindsay*
Personal names, like pronouns, are a minefield of sensitivity in written and spoken Indonesian. People usually put some kind of kinship term before a name, or use these terms instead of names. This poses quite a challenge when translating into English, as in a collection of stories by Leila Chudori that I have been translating and which makes extensive use of appellations.
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Law
Dozens of prison guards combed the Salemba Detention House in Central Jakarta, in the wee hours of last Tuesday. As inmates slept, the guards checked the interior of every block, and then scoured the penitentiary mosque and church. But, not all the prisoners were asleep.
When the guards searched Block G, one prisoner was caught heading for the wall behind the jail in a rush. Two guards caught the man as he tried to reenter the detention block carrying a black plastic bag. "He seemed to be trying to discard the bag," said Penitentiary Head Gun Gun Gunawan, recounting the operation to Tempo on Tuesday last week.
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Opinion
THE proposal of the board of directors of state-owned Telekomunikasi Indoneia (Telkom) must be sharply and intensively reviewed. They are recommending that certain functions involving the budget and share transactions should not require the approval of the commissioners. The government, as the majority shareholder of Telkom, must reject these proposals.
The intention to initiate these changes was revealed during a joint meeting between the board of directors and the commissioners or governing board last March 23. The directors want certain restrictions on executive action be eased, not requiring the board of commissioners' approval, to a minimum of 20 percent of the value of corporate shares, or Rp17 trillion.
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Indicator
THE public refuses to accept Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as deputy chief of police. Of the 5,000-plus respondents in last week's Tempo poll, 79.9 percent do not believe the current head of the Police Academy should become deputy chief of police.
Budi is considered to have too many flaws to be the head commander of the police force. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named Budi a graft suspect for bribes he accepted during his time as head of the National Police's Career Development Bureau from 2003 to 2006. Due to this situation, President Joko Widodo withdrew Budi's candidacy as police chief, even though judge Sarpin Rizaldi granted Budi a pretrial suit against the decision. Instead, one-time deputy chief of police, Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, will fill the position.
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Letters
Samudra Energy Objects
I REFER to Tempo magazine's April 6-12, 2015 edition with the title Gas Vegas which stated Samudra Energy is connected to the Kalla Group and has interests in the Mahakam Block. I herewith exercise my right of response and right to correct your incorrect mention of Samudra Energy's name, in a manner which is inappropriate and not in accordance with the facts.
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Outreach
Clean and potable water do not come easily to Indonesians. So far, according to the Mineral and Natural Resources Ministry, only 68.9 percent of the population have access to clean water while only 20 percent get potable water. Given the government's inability to provide water supply, the poor are usually the worst off. "To meet basic needs, the government is able to provide the poor with rice, but with water? No such program exists," Roh Santoso Budi Waspodo, 52, who teaches hydrology at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture's Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environment told Tempo English.
Roh is quite familiar with problems relating to clean water supply. In the 2000s, he initiated a clean water project in Banten. He assisted the Public Works Ministry to supply potable water in coastal areas and small islands from 2004 to 2005. Besides teaching, one of his activities is to map out water sources for a private company. According to Roh, there are alternative ways to access clean and potable water. "We should not be dependent on the state-run water supply company," he urged. Contributor Lina Wulandari interviewed Roh two weeks ago.
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National
A team hurriedly exited the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building on Wednesday evening two weeks ago. From Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said, they headed towards Senayan in South Jakarta. The team was after a businessman who was about to hand over money to a member of the House of Representatives (DPR), who was later found to be Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician, Adriansyah.
The businessman they were looking for was Andrew Hidayat, a Director of Mitra Maju Sukses. A law enforcement officer within the KPK said, a phone conversation between the two indicated that Andrew was planning to hand over the cash to Adriansyah. "But [the politician] had asked that the money be taken over to Bali as he was there at the time," he said last Tuesday. The Member of House Commission IV covering Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Maritime matters, and Foodstuff had also asked for the money to be in dollars and various rupiah denominations.
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Economy
AFTER observing the situation from a helicopter for 25 minutes, Vice President Jusuf Kalla two weeks ago decided toditch the planned development of Cilamaya port in West Java. He thinks the project would endanger the existing network of pipes and would interfere with the activities of Pertamina's nearby offshore oil and gas platform.
Although it has had the results of a study carried out by Japan's International Corporation Agency (JICA) since 2012, stating that building a project would be quite safe, the Transportation Ministry has had to accept the Vice President's recommendation to seek anoter site. During a relaxed chat with Tempo reporter Gustidha Budiartie on the Parahyangan train from Bandung to Jakarta last week, the Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan expressed both disappointment and hope over the Cilamaya port project.
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Cover Story
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Tempo Talks
Improving Connectivity, Boosting Cooperation
This year, Indonesia and India mark 75 years of diplomatic relations. However, the ties between the two nations have existed much longer, predating the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of India. These connections span social, cultural, religious, economic, and trade aspects. But do those close ties of the past have any bearing on the present relationship? Why is there no direct flight between the capitals of the two countries?
Indian Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste, Sandeep Chakravorty, shares his views on this matter at TEMPO TALKS.
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