Why is it such a big deal? Because not only Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia, it is also a BIG melting pot of millions of Indonesian people who come from different places in the country, with various cultural backgrounds. I am not originally from Jakarta, but lived and made a living for about 2 years in the city. The capital faces so much problems that seemed eternal and impossible to solve. Floods, traffic/transportation, unemployment, pollution. The root of all that, in my opinion is population problem. Jakarta is way, way overpopulated. According to www.population-of.com, the population of Jakarta by the end of 2006 was 8,540,121. They should declare the city “closed” like they did in the 70s, but even if the government did that I don’t think it would be effective, as it’s getting easier and cheaper to get to the capital. Besides job opportunities are more in the capital. (more…)
Have you heard of “Tarif Listrik Multiguna”? This translates to “Multipurpose Electricity Tariff”. I don’t really understand the meaning of “multipurpose” in this term, but here’s how it works. For many years, PLN (Indonesian sole power company) has applied the monthly “subscription fee” scheme. Depending on the service you apply for, you will be charged a monthly subscription fee. But starting from February 2006 (pardon my ignorance), the rule has been changed. Every house applying eversince will be charged with a monthly minimum payment. This scheme used to be applied only to the industrial sector (companies, factories, etc), but not household consumers. (more…)
So here’s the top headlines in the indonesian media recently:
- The Adam Air Crash
- The Ferry disaster
Both news are about transportion-related accidents. The accidents occured almost 2 weeks ago, and the body of the plane nor the ship is yet to be found. SAR teams comprising of the National SAR, Police, Armed Forces are scouting everyday non-stop for the victims and the body of the craft.
Next up, the effect of Isobel Storm is felt in the eastern part of Indonesia, causing local fishermen to not set sail due to the rough seas (waves reaching 2-3 meters high). It also halts ships that supply basic needs, and consumer goods, causing isolated islands to face scarcity and price boom for rice, oil and other food supplies. (more…)
On Deep Throat and Indonesian History
It was (as usual) a very interesting session of Business Ethics on that Thursday evening. The main discussion roamed about GCG, which somehow lead to an interesting discussion of Deep Throat.
If you look up google for deep throat, you will find that the top two entries are both pages from wikipedia, but the two refer to different “deep throat”s.
Deep Throat is a pseudonym for a secret informant which provided information about the Scandal of Watergate, which lead to the resignation of former US President Richard Nixon, and jailed a number of high rank government officials. The scandal was revealed through several articles written by Washington Post journalists, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, based on information provided by Deep Throat. However the informant requested that they keep the secret identity. And that’s what the two journalists did.
Deep Throat himself finally revealed his identity in 2005, at the age of 91. He was Mark Felt, which was FBI’s high rank official. The two journalists confirmed about this the following days.
The reason I bring this topic up, is not to talk about how such a top-level initiated scandal was brought down, nor where the name “Deep Throat” was derived from (although I do encourage interested individuals to browse around a find out a little more about the topic). What amazes me is the fact that the two journalists were able to keep this secret to themselves (well, maybe they did tell to 2-3 of their inner circle). The identity of Deep Throat until now holds the record in american history as the longest keep secret/ mistery, for around 30 years.
I think Indonesia has much more kept secret in the history of the country. Secret behind the September 30th movement; what happened to the SUPERSEMAR, to name a few. The only problem is that no one really knows what has happened. Parts of the history of the country has been manipulated so badly that its literally impossible to recover it. Even if someone knew or witnessed the event, they would probably be too scared to reveal it. It’s very ironic that the National Department of Education is still facing controversy on how to put the Indonesian history (especially the September 30th movement) on the school curriculum.
If only the live witnesses had the courage to reveal what had happened, even under a secret identity, that the Indonesian journalists and historians are truly independent in providing unbiased truth, instead of “paid to publish” truth, my perception of the Indonesian history wouldn’t have been different to what they teach my cousins in junior high.
“The End. And Deep Throat to You All…. “ : )
Tobacco is Dangerous in Any Form! - WNTD 2006
To mark the World No Tobacco Day 2006 on May 31, 2006, with this posting, bloggers who are concerned of this issue intend to remind us all about the hazard and danger of tobacco:
1. Tobacco is HAZARDOUS IN ANY FORM. Cigarettes, cigars, snus, snuff, no-smoke cigars, etc. They are all dangerous.
2. Tobacco in any kind of taste or flavor is HAZARDOUS. Tobacco is DANGEROUS REGARDLESS THE FANCY NAMES THAT ARE ENTITLED TO THEM; Mild, Light, Low Tar, Full Flavor, Fruit Flavored, Chocolate Flavored, Natural, Additive Free, Organics Cigarette, PREPS (Potentially Reduced- Exposure Products), Harm Reduced, they are ALL DANGEROUS. They DO NOT prove to be safer than tobacco without the labels.
3. We call to the government of Indonesia to ratify the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for the health of future generations. Indonesia, right now, remains the only country in Asia that have not yet signed the international agreement.
Internet, 31 Mei 2006
Signed
Arief Prasetyo
Also referred to by media as the Java earthquake, struck on Saturday morning and devastated Jogja (especially Bantul) and Klaten. A few minutes ago, local TV news reported that death toll had surpassed 4,850, and thousands of casualties. Latest updates on tolls can be found here.
A blog has also been launched by Jogja students. motored by UGM students. This website is in Indonesian, and provides latest updates on evacuation and aid distribution. The blog spreads and publishes info sent via SMS to the blog administrator. The sites contains a list of bank accounts to which donors can donate their funds for the victims of the earthquake.
I myself have some relatives who resides in Jogja, and had their houses ruined, but fortunately they are all alive and well. My sincere condolences to the victim’s families, praying that things will be better soon for all of you. Hopefully this is the last in series of calamities that the country had to go through.
Indonesia’s National Education Day: Remembering Ki Hajar Dewantara
May 2, is Indonesia’s National Education Day. Why is this day special? May 2, 1889 was the birth of Ki Hajar Dewantara, a pioneer in Education for Indonesians. Back then Indonesia was occupied by the Dutch, and school (education) was a luxury limited to children and relatives of colonial officers. If a few Indonesians were able to study in these schools, they must have come from a very rich or influential family. Ki Hajar Dewantara was one of them, he was born with the name Raden Mas Soerjadi Soerjaningrat, from the Yogyakarta Palace. Later on in his life, he removed his royal title (Raden Mas) and changed his name to Ki Hajar Dewantara to be able to mingle more freely with local people.
Ki Hajar Dewantara was very well known for his critics to the Ducth colonial government. Exploitations of natural resources, human resources, inequalities, discrimination was mostly what his works was about. His writing “Als Ik Eens Nederlander Was” (If I were a Nederlander/ Dutch) was famous for his strong critics when the colonial government imposed tax and retribution fee on Indonesians, for the purpose of celebrating the Dutch Independence Day. His writing was published in a newspaper “De Express” by Douwes Dekker. Colonial responded by sending Ki Hajar Dewantoro to exile, without trial.
Douwes Dekker and Cipto Mangunkusumo, both Indonesian scholars and good friends of Ki Hajar Dewantoro, tried to fight the Colonial government with their writings, but were also sent to exile on the basis of provoking and manipulating Indonesians to fight against the Dutch Colony.
In 1913, still in exile, the colonial government granted their request to finish off their “punishment” in Holland (still in exile). In Holland they studied a lot about education and teachings. And in 1918, they all came back to Indonesia and established Indonesia’s first education institute, called “Nationaal Onderwijs Instituut Tamansiswa” (Tamansiswa National Institute). The institute focuses primarily on nationalism and struggle to fight for Indonesia’s independence. While teaching and “managing” the institute, Ki Hajar Dewantara continues to produce writings, but has slightly changed from political to educational issues.
When the Japanese came to take over Indonesia, Tamansiswa still continues to operate, because the Japanese allows education and nationalism to be given to Indonesians. And when Indonesia finally gained its Independence in 1945, Ki Hajar Dewantoro was appointed Minister of Education and Culture.
Ki Hajar Dewantoro passed away on April 28, 1959, and is attributed “National Hero” from the Indonesian government. Since then May 2nd has been marked as the National Education Day.
Hopefully, today, even though the Indonesian government (as well as the Indonesian people) are concerned with other issues, such as the huge May Day Labor Demonstration that occured yesterday, or the economy of the country, I do hope that education is still an issue that is close to the heart for many of us. Better schools, good books, cheaper (if not free) education remains an ongoing hope for many parents and students in Indonesia.
