March 1, 2016 edition
Cover Story
The Masela refinery debate between Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Natural Resources Rizal Ramli and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said go on and on. After their differences of opinion over Freeport, this time the two cabinet ministers trade arguments over the construction of a liquid natural gas rig and refinery at the Abadi gas field in Masela, Maluku. Sudirman supports construction of an offshore refinery, while Ramli leans towards building it onshore.
The energy ministry had already approved a plan for a floating refinery provided by the Regulatory Agency for Downstream Oil and Gas (BPH Migas) in 2010. The Plan of Development (POD) had to be revised after the discovery of new liquid natural gas (LNG) reserves three years later. It was the approval of this revised POD that started a debate. Several ministers took sides in support of either offshore or onshore plans.
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Cartoon
Cartoon
Sidelines
Fayadh
Sidelines
Fayadh escaped the death sentence. The news came in early February: his sentence was commuted to eight years jail and 800 lashes.
Ashraf Fayadh, a 36-year-old poet, is an arts curator who published a collection of poems titled Instructions Within and was arrested by Syariah police in 2013. The Saudi Arabian judge thought him an apostate. He was sentenced to death by beheading or hanging.
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Interview
In the past two weeks, Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi felt like he was inside a rollercoaster. He was up one time and plunging down the next. Fresh from his success in ensuring that Rio Haryanto takes part in the 2016 Formula 1 car racing events, he must immediately carry out President Joko Widodo's instruction to review the freeze on the All-Indonesia Football Association (PSSI). After all, he was the one who disbanded the association because he had felt it needed reforming.
Imam's determination to help Rio began when he declared that the government would provide him with Rp100 billion from the amended state budget (APBN-N). It was an idea that led to sharp public debate. Critics felt that it was too big a price to support just one athlete. Imam went ahead anyway, even going to the House of Representatives (DPR) for approval, which is expected to happen this coming April.
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Word Watch
One of the first things we want to know when we learn another language is how to say 'thank you'. We are in a situation where we would say 'thank you' in English, and we want to know how to say it in the language of that situation. We check the translation app on the phone, or ask someone. We are probably given a word, and that's what we learn to say.
Usually it all works well. But there are potential problems. We don't know how else the word is used beyond that situation. Nor do we know if people say 'thank you' for the kind of situations that we do in English. We don't really know how equivalent the 'thank yous' are.
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Law
Edwin Hidayat Abdullah's appearance at the AGO complex last Monday lasted only about 10 minutes. "I wasn't questioned, so I'm going home right away," said the deputy of energy, logistics, area and tourism of the state-owned enterprises (SOE) ministry last Thursday.
Edwin was summoned in connection with an agreement struck between Hotel Indonesia Natouran SOEand Grand Indonesia, a subsidiary of the Djarum Group, over a decade ago. The district attorney asked Edwin to bring along the contract documents.
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National
THE surprisingly quick decision on the divorce case review requested by celebrity Venna Melinda surprised Petrus Bala Pattyona. The attorney for Ivan Fadilla, Venna's ex-husband, described the decision's release as astonishing, for taking just 71 days. "Normally, a case review decision only comes out after two years, or even more," Petrus said on Tuesday last week.
Petrus revealed that a binding decision regarding Venna's divorce from Ivan had in fact been decided by the South Jakarta Religious Court in March two years ago. In the case, the judicial panel judged that the couple's assets, including a house and several cars, would be split between them. Custody of children was also given to both parties.
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Special Report
Opinion
The skies will turn dark over 11 provinces soon after dawn breaks on March 9. There is no cause for fear of the total solar eclipse, unlike in 1983 when the government urged people to stay indoor to avoid blindness. Leave this embarrassing episode behind and let's go out and celebrate this special event.
A total solar eclipse is a rare, long-awaited event, particularly when some regions can only witness it once in every 55 years.
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Indicator
THE recent uproar over the morality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons was triggered by Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir's comment that people with such sexual orientations were dangerous influences on college campuses and should thus be barred. He later softened his stance.
Such non-hetero sexual orientations, which have existed since the beginning of time, have suddenly captured public attention. Scientists in the country have differing stances. Neurologists consider LGBT orientations to be a natural consequence of genetics that cannot be controlled by willpower. Indonesian psychiatrists, meanwhile, are divided between those who consider LGBT persons as suffering from a mental disorder and those who say the science says otherwise.
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Letters
On National Defense
RECENTLY the government announced a national defense program that recalls the former student military regiment training. However, there needs to be a new implementation system so that there will no longer be military activities followed by a military command post at campus.
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Outreach
ON Mondays, before the school bell rings, first-grade students at SD (state elementary school) 88 in Pekanbaru, Riau, walk single file, holding bags of trash.
SD 88 has been running a trash bank since 2012, after Sofia Seffen, the owner of Dalang Collection, a recycling craft group, visited the school and proposed the idea of starting one. Sofia herself is a recipient of the 2013 Kalpataru Award for environmental commitment. Dalang Collection, meanwhile, won the 2015 Paramakarya Award recognizing productivity for micro, small and medium-scale enterprises.
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Weekly Business
TRANSPORTATION
Jonan SEEKS LOWER Investment
Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan has asked Indonesia-China Fast Train (KCIC) to recalculate the cost of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project. He said the initial proposal of US$5.57 billion (Rp76 trillion) needed to be lowered, as the length of the project had since been reduced from 152.3 kilometers to 142.3 kilometers because of changes to the route. "The investment value should be corrected accordingly," he said at the House of Representatives in South Jakarta last Thursday.
Jonan SEEKS LOWER Investment
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Economy
When the 2008-2009 global financial crisis exploded, fingers were pointed at banks. Wall Street was identified as the glutinous giant, the harbinger of disasters. Now, that feeling of animosity is starting to infect Indonesia.
Indeed, banking here is very profitable. One simple yardstick is the net interest margin (NIM), the bank's profits from the difference between interest on deposits and interest on loans. In 2015, the NIM of Indonesian banking was 5.39 percent, almost triple the NIM of Singaporean banking which was lower than 2 percent. DBS, a Singaporean bank with the biggest assets in Southeast Asia, clocked a mere 1.94 percent NIM compared to BRI's 7.8 percent.
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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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