August 17, 2015 edition
Books
When Tim Hannigan first arrived in Indonesia in 2002 as an earnest backpacker with a passion for history, he headed for Bali's best bookshop in the tourist enclave of Kuta Beach. Among the bright shelves full of books about Indonesia were plenty of heavy tomes and weighty academic histories about the country, but not one pithy non-scholarly narrative history for the general reader.
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Interview
In the midst of an economic downturn, President Joko Widodo took the unusual step of restructuring his less than 10-month old cabinet. Five ministers were fired and one was sidelined to head a different department. That is former Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Sofyan Djalil, whose new job is to head the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas).
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Law
The message via WhatsApp interrupted Putri's (not her real name) preparation of soto ayam (chicken soup) last Monday. The message was sent by her attorney, who had just exited the court room at the South Jakarta District Court. The time difference between Putri's home in Europe and Jakarta was five hours.
Over the phone, Putri expressed her surprise. "Our lawsuit was rejected. What do you think?" she said, recalling the attorney's question when Tempo met her Tuesday last week. "We've got to file an appeal," Putri replied. "This case must not be forgotten."
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Column
Dewi Anggraeni*
What is nationalism?
Of the definitions offered in various online dictionaries, I relate most with that in merriam-webster.com, which specifies that nationalism is 'a feeling that people have of being loyal to and proud of their country often with the belief that it is better and more important than other countries'. Having stated that, this is not a sociological or even literary paper on nationalism. It is rather, a personal take on the concept by someone who has lived almost two-thirds of her lifetime in Australia, yet has not shed her Indonesian self.
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Indicator
THE defamation article was axed. The Constitutional Court removed it from the Criminal Code (KUHP) in 2006. According to the Court, the article constituted a legacy of the Netherlands East Indies law to protect the king and the queen. After being adopted, the term king and queen were changed to president and vice president.
Now this 'zombie' article will be revived through the KUHP revision which was put forward to the parliament two months ago. Teten Masduki, member of President Joko Widodo's communications staff, explained that the draft of the KUHP revision was inherited from the previous government. Not much was changed other than clarifiying the existing article.
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Letters
Pertamina Responds
REFERRING to the column entitled Below-Standard Fuel from Ahmad Safrudin, Executive Director of KPBB and Founder of The Thamrin School for Climate and Environment, in Tempo, August 9-16, 2015 edition, we thank you for the criticism and the input from the writer to Pertamina.
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National
After holding the position for 10 years, Hilmi Aminuddin has been replaced as chairman of the Majelis Syura (Consultative Council) of the Islamic Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS).After a vote held during a high-level PKS consultation meeting at the Mason Pine Hotel in Bandung, on Monday last week, the top position at the party went to Salim Segaf Al-Jufri.
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Economy
Taxation
New National Revenue Agency
THE Directorate-General of Taxation will become the National Revenue Agency and be put directly under the President. The agency, however, will continue to coordinate with the Finance Ministry. Discussions on the plan with the House of Representatives are expected to be completed in September next year. "In 2017, we will have changed," said Director General of Taxation Sigit Priadi Pramudito on Tuesday last week.
New National Revenue Agency