September 15, 2015 edition
Indicator
JAPANESE and Chinese investors are competing to be chosen to build the Jakarta-Bandung bullet train project. The train would be able to travel up to 300 kilometers per hour.
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Letters
Letters
Environment
Keeping Tamarind Trees Alive
Sidelines
That Photo
Letters
Objection from KPK Commissioners Selection TeamREGARDING the Red Carpet Candidate Controversy article published in the September 7-13, 2015, issue of Tempo magazine, we hereby express our objection towards the said article due to numerous inaccuracies contained therein. Moreover, the article wrongly mentioned a member of the selection team as its source of information.
The following sentences are incorrect and did not come from a member of the selection team.
REGARDING the Red Carpet Candidate Controversy article published in the September 7-13, 2015, issue of Tempo magazine, we hereby express our objection towards the said article due to numerous inaccuracies contained therein. Moreover, the article wrongly mentioned a member of the selection team as its source of information.
The following sentences are incorrect and did not come from a member of the selection team.
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Environment
For the first time in its life, the old tamarind tree near Jalan Raya Wringinanom in Gresik, East Java, received special attention. After workers dug up the soil around its roots, the tree was pruned, wrapped in plastic placed on a truck and driven 300 meters to be planted in its new home. All the work was done with manual tools like shovels and saws. "Using heavy machinery would have ruined the roots," Budiyono said when Tempo met him on site in Sumber Rame village, Wringinanom District, Thursday two weeks ago.
Since last June, Budiyono and five men have relocated 20 tamarind trees, each thought to be over 100 years old. It was Prigi Arisandi, Director of Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation Institution (Ecoton), who asked Budiyono to help save the trees from a government road-building project.
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Sidelines
...and the grave
Proves the child ephemeral...
-W.H. Auden
That photo-that shocking photo, the one we can't bear to look at, the one we worry will make sensitive people the world over have nightmares-has quickly become the symbol of our current anxiety. The body of a small three-year-old boy lying facedown on the shore. His tiny, fragile forehead dipped in the waves that washed his body back up on Turkish soil. The blue of his shorts and the red of his t-shirt seem to be calling out to the entire Bodrum Peninsula.
Proves the child ephemeral...
-W.H. Auden
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Books
Ten women spanning three generations gather for a pre-wedding dinner at a Chinese restaurant; an eight-course meal rife with deathly cynical banter (or is it perhaps genuinely well-intentioned sisterly advice?); divorces, disappointments, marital strife-an all-female cast version of Munro's Labor Day Dinner, anyone? Or, place a large family in one room in a story and one almost can't help but think of the titillating slow terror leading up to Gabriel's speech in Joyce's The Dead. But if you embark on Clara Ng's chapbook expecting realist family drama, her collection may just surprise you.
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Scene & Heard
Rizal Sukma
Back To Alma Mater Land
IT will be like strolling down memory lane for Rizal Sukma and his wife Hana Satriyo when they leave for the bright lights of London soon. Rizal, who is executive director of the Center for Strategic International Studies and presidential advisor on foreign policy, was recently appointed the Indonesian ambassador for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Rizal got his PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics, while Hana, who is currently director for environmental governance and the gender focal point at the Asia Foundation in Jakarta, got her Masters degree at the School for Oriental and Asian Studies in international politics of Asia. But it will be a far cry from their carefree student days in the late 1900s. This time around, there will be more diplomatic duties filled with protocol. For sure, they will not need too much briefing or orientation on life in London, recalling well the ins and outs of the city. So, we bid them selamat jalan and selamat bertugas.
Back To Alma Mater Land
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Asean & Beyond
In a snap election that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called last year, the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has cemented its dominance of Singapore politics for the next five years. Lee's decision to take advantage of the country's 50th anniversary celebrations paid off handsomely. His party won 83 out of 89 seats in parliament and its share of votes rose to 69.9 percent from 60.1 percent at the previous election in 2011.
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International
Chayma Mehssen looked tired. The 24-year-old Iraqi was minding the kids chatting at Maximilian Park in Brussels, Belgium. The park is now a sea of tents.
Mehssen is just one of the thousands of refugees who are living in tents at the park right behind Noord train station. Last August, the refugees started coming to Brussels by bus or train. Until last week, 325 tents stood in the park, giving shelter to refugees from Middle East.
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Law
THE late August meeting at the vice-presidential secretariat office was supposed to be about the government's low budget uptake. Oddly, however, most of those present were law enforcers, including officials from the National Police, the Attorney General's Office (AGO), the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). A fair number of activists were also in attendance.
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National
Hasrul Azwar's name repeatedly appears in the charges lodged against Suryadharma Ali, a former minister of religious affairs. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has also named the United Development Party (PPP) politician a graft co-conspirator, together with Suryadharma. Both are said to have hatched a plot to speed up deliberations on the 2011 haj costs (BPIH). In return, the House of Representatives' (DPR) Commission VIII, which oversees matters related to the pilgrimage, would receive a kickback from the pilgrims' accommodation project. Hasrul talked about accusations of his involvement in the case with Tempo's Sunudyantoro, Jobpie Sugiharto, and Wayan Agus Purnomo at his House office in Senayan, Jakarta, last Friday.
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Interview
The last time former Bank Indonesia governor Darmin Nasution involved himself with the government was in 2013. Yet when he did rejoin, it was straight towards an economic morass. This time around, he was made coordinating minister for the economy, replacing Sofyan Djalil. Darmin is new in the cabinet, yet he faces a daunting task: to ensure that Indonesia gets away from the global economic storm.
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Cover Story
TWO weeks ago, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Darmin Nasution, heard loud noises from his office. A number of businessmen from the mining industry, in the building to attend a meeting had yelled in protest when they discovered the government planned to lift restrictions on exporting mineral ore.
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Opinion
Nothing seems sacred enough to deter corruptors, as time and again, the haj pilgrimage falls prey to the avarice and greed of some legislators.
Suspected corruption involving former Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali clearly shows that something is amiss in the Indonesian government's management of the haj pilgrimage. The trial of Suryadharma reconfirms the loopholes that can easily be manipulated by criminals aiming to profit from this most sacred of Muslim pillars.
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Outreach
AS an endocrinologist, Sidartawan Soegono, 71, has been dealing with diabetes for more than 20 years. Decades ago, the disease was often associated with the rich because of the common impression of it being linked to unhealthy diets and lifestyle. But today, even the poor are susceptible to diabetes. "There are many people in villages who also suffer from the disease. In 2007, the prevalence rate in North Maluku was more than 11 percent, as well as in West Kalimantan, larger than in Jakarta. So it can happen to anyone," said Sidartawan.
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Economy
One thing businessmen, policymakers, and investors hate most is uncertainty. Unfortunately, for these past few months, that very uncertainty has reigned supreme.
Its main source is the US Federal Reserve (Fed), which will decide at its September 17 monthly meeting, whether to raise interest rates or postpone it until later this year. The Fed's leaders are still debating their position, divided between two camps: the aggressive hawks vs the amenable doves.
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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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