June 2, 2015 edition
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Sidelines
Naming
Sidelines
It was a ship's doctor who gave a name to Indonesia. In 1861, Adolf Bastian, from Bremen in Germany, was sailing in Southeast Asia. Later he wrote a few books. One of them became widely read: Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipels, 1884-1894. And it was from this book that 'Indonesia' began to be widely used to name the archipelago.
Bastian was influential because he was not merely a ship's doctor. He was a graduate of law and biology, and he was interested in the science that in his day was called 'ethnology'; but he was also a doctor. The fact that he became a ship's doctor shows that he wanted to explore other parts of the world. In 1873, he helped establish the Museum fr Vlkerkunde in Berlin, with its huge collection of man-made artifacts from all corners of the globe.
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Interview
FINALLY, people got what they clamored for. The government disbanded Pertamina Energy Trading Ltd (Petral) on May 13. This subsidiary company of state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina had been heavily criticized for abusing its mandate in supplying the nation with crude oil and other fuels.
Based in Singapore, Petral was tasked with buying and selling oil on behalf of Pertamina. Its recent dissolution will save Pertamina US$20 million in costs. The anti-oil and gas mafia task force had recommended that Petral's job be taken over by the Integrated Supply Chain (ISC), a unit of Pertamina.
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Horizons
Writer, independent researcher, election 'watcher' and general powerhouse Lily Yulianty Farid is once again back in Makassar, her hometown and place of birth, to attend the annual Makassar International Writers Festival, running on June 3-6.
The multi-feature event, which she organizes practically by remote control from her place of residence in down under Melbourne, is a yearly pilgrimage for her. "I have to go, because that's the activity that I've been most focused on these past four years," she said.
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Environment
In Indonesia's Palm Bomb, the latest episode of VICE, HBO's Emmy award-winning television series, correspondent Ben Anderson travels to northern Sumatra to focus world attention on the effects of the palm-oil industry on the forests and people of Indonesia.
That millions of hectares of forest have been illegally cleared to establish oil palm estates in tropical climes is widely decried. But in Indonesia, the favored land-clearing method is to burn forests, which releases massive quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, hampering efforts to reduce emissions and control climate change. Anderson sets out to discover why conservation laws in Indonesia are no match for powerful palm oil interests.
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Religion
Something was different about the Qur'an recital at the commemoration of Isra Miraj (Prophet Muhammad's Ascension Day) at the State Palace in Jakarta on Friday in mid-May. Qori (Qur'an reader) Muhammad Yasser opened the event by reading verses 1-15 of the An-Najm Surah (Book) in Javanese intonation.
The reading by the Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University professor recalled singing during a wayang kulit (shadow leather puppet) performance. Many present were taken aback by the reading. They questioned his choice of intonation, and whether it adhered to the tajwid rules on accentuation of words and syllables.
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Literature
By looking at his large, tall physique, one would not guess Horst Henry Geerken, author of Hitlers Griff nach Asien, will be 83 years old this coming August. His voice is firm and his mind very clear in his responses to Tempo's questions on his book, containing hundreds of pages which he completed in five years.
From 1963 to 1981, Geerken was an expert for AEG Telefunken in Jakarta. It was Geerken who set up the national radio station, the Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI). He was also asked by Navy Chief Adm. R.E Martadinata to build the Navy's radio transmissions. After this contract of work in Jakarta ended, Geerken went home to Germany and lived in Bonn. But he would come back every year to Indonesia with his wife, Anette Braker, an expert in Malay language at Bonn University.
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Law
The weekend party at Venue in Kemang, South Jakarta, usually ends around 3:30 in the morning, when the music is shut off, and the house lights flicked on. Such was the case when Jopi Teguh Lasmana Peranginangin, an environmental and rights-based activist, and a group of his friends left the club Saturday two weeks ago.
"As we began walking out, some people started shouting 'Finished. Out, out!' at us," said Mario Franklin Kossim, Jopi's friend, on Tuesday last week.
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News Capsule
New Probe Looms for Hadi
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)'s probe into former chief of the Supreme Audit Agency Hadi Poernomo suffered a huge setback after the South Jakarta District Court threw out his suspect status in a pre-trial decision last week. The KPK is mulling the issuance of a new warrant. "But first we must wait to see the final copy of the official verdict," said KPK deputy head Indriyanto Seno Adji Wednesday last week.
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National
Tensions were high on Monday two weeks ago during a meeting between Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders and KPK investigators. When KPK deputy head Adnan Pandu Praja suggested a moratorium on the investigation of corruption, they boiled over. "Investigators immediately protested Adnan's suggestion," a KPK employee told Tempo.
Adnan said a moratorium was needed to put a halt to the incessant attacks of corruption suspects towards the KPK. He pointed to the pre-trial hearings of seven corruption suspects lodged at the South Jakarta District Court in recent months. Of those seven, three won their hearings, and their suspect-statuses were invalidated.
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Opinion
THE theft of sand for the reclamation of Jakarta Bay is two crimes in one. Removing sand is forbidden because it can damage the coastal ecosystem, or even cause islands whose sand is dredged to disappear from the map. Piling up sand to create new islandsno matter whether or not this is backed up by a government decisionis wrong because it threatens the safety of Jakartans. The more than 5,000 hectares of new islands resulting from the reclamation will clog rivers, cause floods and damage the ecosystem.
The government must act fast. The report filed by Thousand Islands Regent Tri Djoko Sumargiono with the National Police about the theft of sand must be followed up. A wider-ranging investigation could then follow. If this case is solved, it could be a way to halt the Jakarta Bay reclamationan important decision that the administration of Joko Widodo should take.
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Indicator
President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has chosen nine women to select candidates for the position of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman. The real issue is not that they are all women, but that the selection of a KPK chairman is currently more difficult than it has ever been before.
Ever since the antigraft commission determined Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawannow Deputy National Police chiefas a suspect in a bribery case, the two institutions have been at loggerheads. Now, many corruption case suspects are lodging pretrial motions over their status. In the latest decision, a South Jakarta District Court judge threw out the suspect-status handed down to Hadi Poernomo by the KPK for his alleged involvement in a shady 1999 BCA tax case.
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Letters
Right of Reply from Raden Priyono
The article titled Top Energy Official Involved in TPPI Corruption as published on page 46 of the May 18-24, 2015, issue of Tempo magazine made reference to Raden Prijono, the former head of upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas, as a suspect in the case. This information is inaccurate. The correct name should be Ir R. Priyono. Raden Prijono was only a witness in the case of alleged corruption in the sale of the state's condensate quota commenced by Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indonesia (TPPI), whose investigation is carried out by the directorate of economic and special crimes of the Police's Criminal Investigation Unit, as per the inspection on May 20, 2015, which is further enforced by a letter of summons dated April 18, 2015.
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Outreach
TWO vintage looms sit in the center of a workshop at Jero Puspa, Sinduwati village in Karangasem, Bali. They are solid and shiny, despite being built over 30 years ago. Puspa, 44 years old, takes special care to keep them in tip-top shape. "One is used to weave plain cloth, the other to weave cloth for sacred ceremonies. The two should never be mixed," Puspa said, whose mother was also a weaver. In Sinduwati, weaving traditions are passed down from mother to daughter.
Puspa moved to one of the looms and sat down to work on a cloth, stitching in dark green butterfly patterns. It is an old decorative pattern with no special meaning. "This is unlike the traditional-ceremony cloths, which often have circular patterns, symbolizing the admonishment to refrain from lust," she toldTempo.
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Weekly Business
CORPORATE ACTION
Soetta Airport Runway 3 to Proceed
State-owned airport services company Angkasa Pura II will construct a third runway north of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten. "The acquisition of land will commence shortly," Budi Karya Sumadi, Angkasa Pura II CEO, told Tempo on Monday last week.
Soetta Airport Runway 3 to Proceed
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Economy
PRESIDENT Joko Widodo offered provincial governors and directors of Regional Development Banks (BPD) nationwide the chance to save Rp30 trillion at the State Palace in Jakarta, last Tuesday. All they needed to do was synchronize their banking systems.
During the meeting, Jokowi deplored the fact that regional banks still seemed reluctant to harmonize with each other, allowing private banks with far more capital to finance productive sector projects. "The BPDs, if they can't get their act together, could well end up just being observers. If they do unite, they could be fantastically strong," the President said.
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Cover Story
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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