July 5, 2016 edition
Books
PROUST is in the middle of the city of Essen.
The name of the French writer is honored at a bookstore in Essen, a small town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, not far from Dusseldorf, Germany. One evening in early autumn last year, the Essen bookstore was filled with visitors for a book discussion.
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Cartoon
Cartoon
Cover Story
Peaceful Verses
Weekly Business
Weekly Business
Cover Story
Gazing at the dozens of students gathered, Gus Reza told the story of a blind Jewish woman who reviled the Prophet Muhammad on a daily basis. Gus Reza, whose full name is Kiai Haji Reza Ahmad Zahid, was sitting cross-legged on the mosque's porch area at the Al-Mahrusiyah Islamic boarding school in Kediri, East Java, on the second day of the Ramadan fasting month. Whenever someone approached, said Reza continuing the story, the blind beggar woman who lived in a corner of the market in Medina spread hatred so that people would not believe in Muhammad's message. "Muhammad is a liar, a magician," said the woman, as told by Reza.
The Prophet was aware of all this. Yet, every morning he brought the elderly Jewish woman food and fed her by hand. He did not say a word when he did this. One day, Muhammad went away and the elderly woman felt the loss of the person who had always given her food. It was only after missing him for several days that the woman found out from Abu Bakar Ash-Shiddiq, a friend of the Prophet, that the despised Muhammad had been the one feeding her all along. "This teaches us that Muhammad respected his haters, as well as people of different faiths," said Reza.
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Weekly Business
TRANSPORTATION
Five Toll Roads To Open Temporarily
Herry Trisaputra Zuna, head of the toll roads agency, announced that five toll roads would open three days before Idul Fitri holiday to cope with the expected surge in traffic. The five are Bawen-Salatiga, Solo-Ngawi, Kertosono-Mojokerto, Gempol-Pasuruan and Bakauheni-Terbanggi Besar. "Work on them will continue until the final minute," he said on Monday.
Five Toll Roads To Open Temporarily
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Economy
AN 18-meter-high Garuda statue is planned to reach skywards at the entrance to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at Tangerang, Banten. Created by sculptor I Nyoman Nuarta, the work was shown to airport operator Angkasa Pura II's CEO Budi Karya Sumadi in early June.
"It symbolizes our national airport because our nation's symbol is an eagle," Nuarta said at Tugu Kunstkring Paleis Restaurant, Jakarta. He is one of the artists Angkasa Pura II appointed to beautify the airport. The sculpture is part of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's Terminal 3 expansion project.
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Law
Sri Purwanti has been harassed by a barrage of calls from unknown callers for weeks. Claiming to be bank officers, the callers tell her credit card limit is maxed out and she needed to start making payments immediately.
Sri, a resident of Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, is the victim of a credit card ring recently exposed by the Jakarta Police. Sr. Comr. Fadil Imran, the special crimes director, announced the arrest of the rings members on Wednesday last week. "I hope the bank won't keep demanding settlement. The criminals involved must be punished," said Sri. According to police estimates, the gang took control of credit cards of 1,600 customers and inflicted losses of some Rp5 billion. "The 1,600 customers and Rp5 billion figures may still increase," Fadil said. He suspects the crimes began in 2014.
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Outreach
The Chinese Muslim community in several areas in Indonesia promote integration and tolerance by building mosques and holding public events.
The building with the red-and-green faade looks striking in the middle of an elite residential area at Jakabaring, Palembang, South Sumatra. At first glimpse, people could mistake it for a Confucian temple, where Chinese Indonesians go for prayers. Most eye-catching is the Chinese calligraphy written on the outside of the building.
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Indicator
Tito's career in the police force has proceeded at high speed. President Joko Widodo has recommended Comr. Gen. Tito Karnavian, 51, as the sole candidate for the National Police chief. The nomination was approved by the House of Representatives (DPR) last week.
Tito graduated at the top of his class from the Police Academy in 1987 and received a PhD in 2013 from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He once led the hunt for Tommy Suharto, son of former President Suharto, who was involved in the Supreme Court Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita's murder. He also rooted out the terrorist group led by Dr. Azhari and captured another wanted terrorist, Noor Din M. Top.
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International
The fallout from Britain's European Union (EU) referendum was nothing short of unexpected. The pound plummeted to its lowest level in the past 31 years while investor sentiment soured on the uncertainties, battering the global market.
But whether voters worried about these effects, the referendum on the EU exit was what it was: a ringing indictment of surging immigration and the sense that EU institutions were intruding on British sovereignty.
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Interlude
Take a stroll down Jalan Lada in Old Town Jakarta, and you will find a three-story building sure to catch your eye. Painted white with a symmetrical faade, this building's Art Deco style stands out even from a distance.
A year ago, the walls were dull and moldy, with plant tendrils climbing up the sides. Its windows were shattered. The grounds inside, long layered over by dirt, were being used to park food vendor pushcarts. Garbage pickers used the second floor to take their mid-day siestas.
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Opinion
Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan has a well-grounded reason to delay the opening of the new Terminal 3 Ultimate at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport: It has failed to meet safety standards.
The delay has dashed the hopes of people who wanted to see a new terminal completed before the Lebaran holidays. At a glance, the magnificent structure adorned with traditional ornaments from across the archipelago looks quite immaculate. Containing 28 domestic and international gates, the terminal is even touted as being on par with Singapore's Changi Airport. Having the capacity to accommodate 25 million passengers a year, the Rp7 trillion terminal will become a significant alternative to the Soekarno-Hatta terminals that these days cater to an overwhelming 60 million travelers. This is perhaps the reason behind Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Rizal Ramli's insistence that President Joko Widodo launch the terminal's opening before Lebaran.
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Interview
Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan has issued specific instructions to public transportation companies and departments for the Lebaran holidays. He has ordered that all safety features of all modes of transportation-buses, trains, ships and airlines-be strictly and carefully checked. "I don't want to take any risks with safety," he said.
He said vehicles that fail to meet the safety criteria will be prohibited from operating during the Lebaran exodus that will carry people back to their hometowns and villages. Jonan, 53, said he was dead serious about all public transportation complying with regulations involving passenger safety. "In this sector, there's the principle of 'No Go Item', meaning if one item is malfunctioning, well, it will not go," said Jonan, who was previously CEO of the state-owned railway company, Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI).
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Sidelines
'The builder of Batavia' who is buried there was a man with a motto, as quoted in 1618: "Despair not, spare your enemies not, for God is with us."
He was certainly a strict Christian, an administrator who upheld discipline and of course pursued VOC (Dutch East India Company) ambitions to monopolize trade in Asia in the 17th century.
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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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