July 14, 2015 edition

ON June 30, Hercules C-130B plane crashed into the Jamin Ginting area of Medan. The airplane hit a Joy FM radio antenna located 3,200 meters away from the Soewondo Airport runway. The passengers consisted of 12 crew members (three were pilots), one navigator, 8 technicians, and 110 passengers. All died.
Just before the crash, pilot Captain Shandy Permana requested permission to return to base. The request is assumed to be an indication that a problem occurred two minutes after the plane took off. The definite cause of the accident is still under investigation. But something was clearly amiss: why were there so many civilians aboard the military aircraft?

Read More

More Indicator articles in other editions

July 10, 2015 edition

THE assumption that shopping online is unsafe was reinforced when the public recently heard of a person who ordered an iPhone 6 and was sent a bar of soap. In the middle of such news, last week's Tempo poll showed that of 466 readers, 54.1 percent felt that online shopping is susceptible to crimes.

Read More

July 7, 2015 edition

THE tradition of returning to one's native village at Lebaran or the Eid holiday essentially involves moving heavy traffic from big cities to different areas of the country. Last year, more than 30 million people went home almost all at once to their home villages. In Java, the exodus caused roads on the north and south coasts to be very congested. Eleven to 19 hours of traffic jam could not be avoided.

Read More

June 30, 2015 edition

Gambling is nothing new in the world of soccer. Gamblers, players and referees have worked together ever since the Galatama era to manipulate matches and earn a buck.
There is also what is called 'elephant soccer', which was on full display in October 2014, when two soccer teams, PSS Sleman and PSIS Semarang, each scored five 'suicide' goals during the Indonesian Super League Main Division Big Eight competition. The two soccer clubs were competing to lose and face off against a weaker club in the next match.

Read More

June 23, 2015 edition

DECIDING the start date for the fasting month of Ramadan went smoothly this year, unlike in previous years, when differences of opinion sowed division in the Muslim community. This time all Indonesian Muslims agreed on Thursday, June 18, as the start of the fasting month. The date was decreed by the Religious Affairs Ministry last Tuesday in a ratification session.

Read More

June 16, 2015 edition

When Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai security forces drove away boats filled with hundreds of ethnic Rohingya fleeing their home country of Myanmar, citizens of Simpang Tiga village in East Aceh accepted them with open arms.
These exiles, who sailed across the ocean for six months on wooden boats, were received by the Acehnese. They were given food, clothing, medicine and put in schools alongside local children. These Acehnese villagers have performed a humanitarian gesture that government and the highest international bodies are still harping about.

Read More

June 9, 2015 edition

THE Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) is waging a guerrilla war against Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi's decree, which has frozen its operations. PSSI Chairman La Nyalla Mattalitti filed a complaint with the House of Representatives (DPR) and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, and is lobbying the International Football Federation (FIFA) in Zurich, Switzerland, for support.

Read More

Independent journalism needs public support. By subscribing to Tempo, you will contribute to our ongoing efforts to produce accurate, in-depth and reliable information. We believe that you and everyone else can make all the right decisions if you receive correct and complete information. For this reason, since its establishment on March 6, 1971, Tempo has been and will always be committed to hard-hitting investigative journalism. For the public and the Republic.