The Jakarta Post News Channel
Updated: 39 min 2 sec ago
Rupiah depreciates to 11,915 in final trade
The rupiah traded among banks in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon weakened by 52
basis points to 11,915 per US dollar from the previous 11,863 per dollar.
"Recently released data by the State Statistics Agency has caused various sentiments in the market. Low export performance has given investors reason to worry that the trade balance surplus in May will not continue in the future," Monex Investindo Futures analyst Zulfirman Basir said in Jakarta on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
"This condition has put pressure on the rupiah."
On the other hand, he said that investors were being careful in making decisions with the presidential election approaching.
Surveys showing fierce competition between Joko "Jokowi" Widodo-Jusuf Kalla and Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa have caused investors to go into wait-and-see mode.
However, he said that lower inflation and improvements in Indonesia's manufacturing activities created some hope among market players that the Indonesian economy would continue to improve.
Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia (BI)'s mid rate data showed that the rupiah was traded at 11,854 per US dollar, down from the previous 11,798 per dollar. (nfo)
"Recently released data by the State Statistics Agency has caused various sentiments in the market. Low export performance has given investors reason to worry that the trade balance surplus in May will not continue in the future," Monex Investindo Futures analyst Zulfirman Basir said in Jakarta on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
"This condition has put pressure on the rupiah."
On the other hand, he said that investors were being careful in making decisions with the presidential election approaching.
Surveys showing fierce competition between Joko "Jokowi" Widodo-Jusuf Kalla and Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa have caused investors to go into wait-and-see mode.
However, he said that lower inflation and improvements in Indonesia's manufacturing activities created some hope among market players that the Indonesian economy would continue to improve.
Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia (BI)'s mid rate data showed that the rupiah was traded at 11,854 per US dollar, down from the previous 11,798 per dollar. (nfo)
Categories: Indonesian News
Komnas HAM invites presidential candidates to talk human rights
The National
Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has invited presidential candidates
Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Prabowo Subianto to convey their stances on
human rights at Komnas HAM headquarters in Jakarta on Thursday.
"We've been analyzing their mission statements based on the Constitution, laws on human rights, the law on human rights trials and even the law on eradicating racial discrimination," Komnas HAM presidential elections monitoring coordinator Maneger Nasution said in Jakarta on Wednesday, as reported by kompas.com.
The meeting is scheduled to be held at Komnas HAM headquarters in Central Jakarta at 2 p.m. on Thursday.
Maneger said the commission would quiz the candidates on seven issues that had been decided in their previous plenary sessions, namely past human rights violations, agrarian conflict, violence and conflict in Papua, protecting the rights of minority groups, the death penalty, accelerating police reform, mining cooperation and the agricultural sector, local administrations and guaranteeing the economic, social and cultural rights of the people.
"We will ask both presidential tickets about their knowledge, perception and commitment to these seven areas," he said.
Maneger added that the format of the meeting would be a question-and-answer session with Komnas HAM commissioners and experts in the field.
Further, Maneger noted that Komnas HAM would take its own stance should the candidates fail to fulfill the invitation.
According to Komnas HAM chairperson Hafid Abbas, there is a chance the Jokowi-Kalla will not be able to attend the meeting as they already have a scheduled agenda outside of Jakarta. (fss)
"We've been analyzing their mission statements based on the Constitution, laws on human rights, the law on human rights trials and even the law on eradicating racial discrimination," Komnas HAM presidential elections monitoring coordinator Maneger Nasution said in Jakarta on Wednesday, as reported by kompas.com.
The meeting is scheduled to be held at Komnas HAM headquarters in Central Jakarta at 2 p.m. on Thursday.
Maneger said the commission would quiz the candidates on seven issues that had been decided in their previous plenary sessions, namely past human rights violations, agrarian conflict, violence and conflict in Papua, protecting the rights of minority groups, the death penalty, accelerating police reform, mining cooperation and the agricultural sector, local administrations and guaranteeing the economic, social and cultural rights of the people.
"We will ask both presidential tickets about their knowledge, perception and commitment to these seven areas," he said.
Maneger added that the format of the meeting would be a question-and-answer session with Komnas HAM commissioners and experts in the field.
Further, Maneger noted that Komnas HAM would take its own stance should the candidates fail to fulfill the invitation.
According to Komnas HAM chairperson Hafid Abbas, there is a chance the Jokowi-Kalla will not be able to attend the meeting as they already have a scheduled agenda outside of Jakarta. (fss)
Categories: Indonesian News
Jokowi-Kalla pictures missing on Hong Kong ballot paper
A campaign team
official of the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Jusuf Kalla presidential ticket says a
volunteer in Hong Kong has reported that ballots sent there for overseas voters
did not include a picture of the Jokowi-Kalla ticket.
“Our volunteer opened the ballots but only found the picture of Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa,” Eva Kusuma Sundari said as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.
The news was widely circulated on the Internet as Zuhairi Misrawi, another campaign team member, posted a picture showing the invalid ballot paper on his Twitter account.
“Our team is checking whether similar cases have also occurred elsewhere,” Eva said.
She acknowledged that the Hong Kong incident was part of problems relating to fairness and the prevention of violations during overseas polling days, which will be held from July 4 to 6.
Eva said her team had filed a complaint with the General Elections Commission (KPU) regarding the difficulties faced by campaign team members and volunteers in registering as witnesses during overseas polling days.
“The KPU has not yet answered the letter, which had been signed by Tjahjo Kumolo [Jokowi-Kalla campaign team chairman]. Instead the KPU Hong Kong branch has asked for Anies Baswedan’s [Jokowi-Kalla campaign team spokesperson] signature. That is strange because Anies doesn’t have this responsibility,” she said.
The Jokowi- Kalla ticket is supported by a coalition led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) that includes the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Hanura Party and the NasDem Party. The coalition secured 207 or 39.97 percent of the 560 seats at the House of Representatives during the legislative election on April 9. (dic)
“Our volunteer opened the ballots but only found the picture of Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa,” Eva Kusuma Sundari said as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.
The news was widely circulated on the Internet as Zuhairi Misrawi, another campaign team member, posted a picture showing the invalid ballot paper on his Twitter account.
“Our team is checking whether similar cases have also occurred elsewhere,” Eva said.
She acknowledged that the Hong Kong incident was part of problems relating to fairness and the prevention of violations during overseas polling days, which will be held from July 4 to 6.
Eva said her team had filed a complaint with the General Elections Commission (KPU) regarding the difficulties faced by campaign team members and volunteers in registering as witnesses during overseas polling days.
“The KPU has not yet answered the letter, which had been signed by Tjahjo Kumolo [Jokowi-Kalla campaign team chairman]. Instead the KPU Hong Kong branch has asked for Anies Baswedan’s [Jokowi-Kalla campaign team spokesperson] signature. That is strange because Anies doesn’t have this responsibility,” she said.
The Jokowi- Kalla ticket is supported by a coalition led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) that includes the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Hanura Party and the NasDem Party. The coalition secured 207 or 39.97 percent of the 560 seats at the House of Representatives during the legislative election on April 9. (dic)
Categories: Indonesian News
China bans Ramadan fast in Muslim northwest
Students and civil servants in China's Muslim northwest, where
Beijing is enforcing a security crackdown following deadly unrest, have
been ordered to avoid taking part in traditional fasting during the
Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Statements posted Wednesday on websites of schools, government agencies and local party organizations in the Xinjiang region said the ban was aimed at protecting students' wellbeing and preventing use of schools and government offices to promote religion. Statements on the websites of local party organizations said members of the officially atheist ruling party also should avoid fasting.
"No teacher can participate in religious activities, instill religious thoughts in students or coerce students into religious activities," said a statement on the website of the No. 3 Grade School in Ruoqiang County in Xinjiang.
Similar bans have been imposed in the past on fasting for Ramadan, which began at sundown Saturday. But this year is unusually sensitive because Xinjiang is under tight security following attacks that the government blames on Muslim extremists with foreign terrorist ties.
Violence has escalated in recent years in Xinjiang. The ruling party blames violent extremists that it says want independence, while members of the region's Uighur ethnic group complain that discrimination and restrictions on religion, such as a ban on taking children to mosques, are fueling anger at the ethnic Han Chinese majority.
An attack on May 22 in the regional capital of Urumqi by four people who threw bombs in a vegetable market killed 43 people. On June 22, police in Kashgar in the far west said they killed 13 assailants who drove into a police building and set off explosives, injuring three officers. Authorities have blamed two other attacks at train stations in Urumqi and in China's southwest on Muslim extremists.
The government responded with a crackdown that resulted in more than 380 arrests in one month and public rallies to announce sentences.
The ruling party is wary of religious activities it worries might serve as a rallying point for opposition to one-party rule. Controls on worship are especially sensitive in Xinjiang and in neighboring Tibet, where religious faith plays a large role in local cultures.
On Tuesday, authorities in some communities in Xinjiang held celebrations of the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party and served food to test whether Muslim guests were fasting, according to Dilxat Raxit, spokesman in Germany for the rights group World Uyghur Congress.
"This will lead to more conflicts if China uses coercive measures to rule and to challenge Uighur beliefs," said Dilxat Raxit in an email.
The ruling party says religion and education should be kept separate and students should not be subject to religious influences. That rule is rarely enforced for children of Han Chinese, who, if they have a religion, are mostly Buddhist, Daoist or Christian.
"Students shall not participate in religious activities; they shall not study scripts or read poems at script and choir classes; they shall not wear any religious emblems; and no parent or others can force students to have religious beliefs or partake in religious activities," said the statement on the website of the grade school in Ruoqiang County.
A news portal run by the government of Yili in the northern reaches of Xinjiang said fasting is detrimental to the physical wellbeing of young students, who should eat regularly.
In the city of Bole, retired teachers from the Wutubulage Middle School were called in to stand guard at mosques and prevent students from entering, according to a statement on the municipal party committee website.
Also in Bole, the Bozhou University of Radio and Television said on its website it held a meeting with working and retired minority teachers on the first day of the Ramadan to remind them of the fasting ban.
The forestry bureau in Xinjiang's Zhaosu county held an event the day before Ramadan at which party cadres signed a pledge they and their relatives would "firmly resist fasting," according to a statement on the website of the local party committee.
The Moyu Weather Bureau in the Hotan area said on its website that Muslim employees, both active and retired, were required to sign a letter promising not to fast.
The commercial bureau for Turpan, an oasis town in the Taklamakan Desert, said in a statement that civil servants are "strictly forbidden" to fast or perform the Salat prayer ritual in a mosque. (**)
Statements posted Wednesday on websites of schools, government agencies and local party organizations in the Xinjiang region said the ban was aimed at protecting students' wellbeing and preventing use of schools and government offices to promote religion. Statements on the websites of local party organizations said members of the officially atheist ruling party also should avoid fasting.
"No teacher can participate in religious activities, instill religious thoughts in students or coerce students into religious activities," said a statement on the website of the No. 3 Grade School in Ruoqiang County in Xinjiang.
Similar bans have been imposed in the past on fasting for Ramadan, which began at sundown Saturday. But this year is unusually sensitive because Xinjiang is under tight security following attacks that the government blames on Muslim extremists with foreign terrorist ties.
Violence has escalated in recent years in Xinjiang. The ruling party blames violent extremists that it says want independence, while members of the region's Uighur ethnic group complain that discrimination and restrictions on religion, such as a ban on taking children to mosques, are fueling anger at the ethnic Han Chinese majority.
An attack on May 22 in the regional capital of Urumqi by four people who threw bombs in a vegetable market killed 43 people. On June 22, police in Kashgar in the far west said they killed 13 assailants who drove into a police building and set off explosives, injuring three officers. Authorities have blamed two other attacks at train stations in Urumqi and in China's southwest on Muslim extremists.
The government responded with a crackdown that resulted in more than 380 arrests in one month and public rallies to announce sentences.
The ruling party is wary of religious activities it worries might serve as a rallying point for opposition to one-party rule. Controls on worship are especially sensitive in Xinjiang and in neighboring Tibet, where religious faith plays a large role in local cultures.
On Tuesday, authorities in some communities in Xinjiang held celebrations of the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party and served food to test whether Muslim guests were fasting, according to Dilxat Raxit, spokesman in Germany for the rights group World Uyghur Congress.
"This will lead to more conflicts if China uses coercive measures to rule and to challenge Uighur beliefs," said Dilxat Raxit in an email.
The ruling party says religion and education should be kept separate and students should not be subject to religious influences. That rule is rarely enforced for children of Han Chinese, who, if they have a religion, are mostly Buddhist, Daoist or Christian.
"Students shall not participate in religious activities; they shall not study scripts or read poems at script and choir classes; they shall not wear any religious emblems; and no parent or others can force students to have religious beliefs or partake in religious activities," said the statement on the website of the grade school in Ruoqiang County.
A news portal run by the government of Yili in the northern reaches of Xinjiang said fasting is detrimental to the physical wellbeing of young students, who should eat regularly.
In the city of Bole, retired teachers from the Wutubulage Middle School were called in to stand guard at mosques and prevent students from entering, according to a statement on the municipal party committee website.
Also in Bole, the Bozhou University of Radio and Television said on its website it held a meeting with working and retired minority teachers on the first day of the Ramadan to remind them of the fasting ban.
The forestry bureau in Xinjiang's Zhaosu county held an event the day before Ramadan at which party cadres signed a pledge they and their relatives would "firmly resist fasting," according to a statement on the website of the local party committee.
The Moyu Weather Bureau in the Hotan area said on its website that Muslim employees, both active and retired, were required to sign a letter promising not to fast.
The commercial bureau for Turpan, an oasis town in the Taklamakan Desert, said in a statement that civil servants are "strictly forbidden" to fast or perform the Salat prayer ritual in a mosque. (**)
Categories: Indonesian News
HK police arrest 511 after big democracy rally
Hong Kong police arrested more than 500 people who refused to
leave a street in the city's financial district on Wednesday, a day
after tens of thousands of people joined a massive march to demand
democracy that is free from China's interference.
The march has become an annual affair held on the anniversary of the day China took over Hong Kong from Britain on July 1, 1997, with the promise to give the city a high degree of autonomy for 50 years. But there is growing unease among its residents — especially the youth — that the Western-style civil liberties they've know all their lives are being eroded as Beijing has increasingly tried to impose its authority over the freewheeling capitalist enclave.
The fears are only going to be heightened following the pre-dawn crackdown by the Hong Kong police, who normally do not have an antagonistic relationship with the people, unlike the security forces in mainland China.
Police said 511 people were arrested for unlawful assembly in the Central business district and preventing police from carrying out their duties. After warnings failed to dislodge them, the police moved in to remove the protesters, who lay down on the street with arms locked, taking them away one by one. The protesters had vowed to stay until 8 a.m., just before the height of rush hour begins, but the police started moving in to evict them at about 3 a.m.
Some left willingly but others were forcibly removed, taken away by officers on both arms or carried away off the ground. One officer stood behind a protester and put an arm around the man's neck as he and other officers tried to pull his hands free, knocking off the eyeglasses of the demonstrator he was clinging to.
Those arrested were mostly students who had decided to occupy Chater Road after taking part in Tuesday's rally, which police said attracted 98,000 people at its peak. Organizers said 510,000 people turned out, the highest estimates in a decade. Hong Kong researchers put the number at between 154,000 and 172,000.
Whatever the numbers, the march and the vehemence of opposition is certain to raise the alarm in Beijing, which tried to keep the news away from people in mainland China.
The Chinese media predictably did not report it, and comments about the protests were deleted from microblogs and other social media. Some users posted comments saying friends' accounts were blocked after they discussed the protests.
A Hong Kong protester, Kennie Chan, lamented that Beijing was less restrained now in exerting its influence over Hong Kong.
"In the past, it seemed like they were doing it step by step, but now, it's obvious that they cannot stand Hong Kong people. We are not obedient anymore, and are resisting more and more," said the 30-year-old, who works as a stage manager.
China's Communist leaders have pledged to allow Hong Kong residents to vote for the leader by 2017. However, they've rejected calls to allow the public to name candidates, insisting instead that they be vetted by a Beijing-friendly committee like the one that has hand-picked all leaders since the handover.
Also, three weeks ago, the Chinese government released a so-called white paper that said Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy is not inherent but is authorized by the central government in Beijing.
Anger against those moves was on display during the march Tuesday when peaceful crowds carried banners and posters urging democracy. They steady throng of people walked in sweltering heat and occasional rain from Victoria Park, through a broad boulevard lined with skyscrapers to the financial district. Thousands of police kept watch and ordered the city's iconic trolleys to shut down along the boulevard to reduce overcrowding.
"After seeing the white paper's content, we should be worried," said Jeff Kwok, 28, an export firm employee at Victoria Park, where six soccer fields and surrounding areas were jammed with people. Beijing is "trying to tell the Hong Kong people that ... Hong Kong is just one of their regions. They're trying to tell us they have absolute power to rule us."
Kwok complained that Beijing doesn't respect the principle of "one country, two systems" under which Hong Kong is allowed to retain control over much of its own affairs.
Ahead of the rally, one group of protesters burned a copy of the white paper outside a ceremony attended by officials to mark the handover.
The protest comes days after nearly 800,000 residents voted in an informal referendum aimed at bolstering support for full democracy. Beijing denounced the referendum as a political farce.
Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader, tried to soothe tensions, saying in a speech that he'll do his "utmost to forge a consensus" on implementing universal suffrage on schedule. But the government later released a statement saying it is unlikely that public nominations will be allowed because it's legally "highly controversial."
___
Associated Press video journalists Stephanie Ip and Josie Wong contributed to this report.
___
Follow Kelvin Chan on Twitter at twitter.com/chanman (**)
The march has become an annual affair held on the anniversary of the day China took over Hong Kong from Britain on July 1, 1997, with the promise to give the city a high degree of autonomy for 50 years. But there is growing unease among its residents — especially the youth — that the Western-style civil liberties they've know all their lives are being eroded as Beijing has increasingly tried to impose its authority over the freewheeling capitalist enclave.
The fears are only going to be heightened following the pre-dawn crackdown by the Hong Kong police, who normally do not have an antagonistic relationship with the people, unlike the security forces in mainland China.
Police said 511 people were arrested for unlawful assembly in the Central business district and preventing police from carrying out their duties. After warnings failed to dislodge them, the police moved in to remove the protesters, who lay down on the street with arms locked, taking them away one by one. The protesters had vowed to stay until 8 a.m., just before the height of rush hour begins, but the police started moving in to evict them at about 3 a.m.
Some left willingly but others were forcibly removed, taken away by officers on both arms or carried away off the ground. One officer stood behind a protester and put an arm around the man's neck as he and other officers tried to pull his hands free, knocking off the eyeglasses of the demonstrator he was clinging to.
Those arrested were mostly students who had decided to occupy Chater Road after taking part in Tuesday's rally, which police said attracted 98,000 people at its peak. Organizers said 510,000 people turned out, the highest estimates in a decade. Hong Kong researchers put the number at between 154,000 and 172,000.
Whatever the numbers, the march and the vehemence of opposition is certain to raise the alarm in Beijing, which tried to keep the news away from people in mainland China.
The Chinese media predictably did not report it, and comments about the protests were deleted from microblogs and other social media. Some users posted comments saying friends' accounts were blocked after they discussed the protests.
A Hong Kong protester, Kennie Chan, lamented that Beijing was less restrained now in exerting its influence over Hong Kong.
"In the past, it seemed like they were doing it step by step, but now, it's obvious that they cannot stand Hong Kong people. We are not obedient anymore, and are resisting more and more," said the 30-year-old, who works as a stage manager.
China's Communist leaders have pledged to allow Hong Kong residents to vote for the leader by 2017. However, they've rejected calls to allow the public to name candidates, insisting instead that they be vetted by a Beijing-friendly committee like the one that has hand-picked all leaders since the handover.
Also, three weeks ago, the Chinese government released a so-called white paper that said Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy is not inherent but is authorized by the central government in Beijing.
Anger against those moves was on display during the march Tuesday when peaceful crowds carried banners and posters urging democracy. They steady throng of people walked in sweltering heat and occasional rain from Victoria Park, through a broad boulevard lined with skyscrapers to the financial district. Thousands of police kept watch and ordered the city's iconic trolleys to shut down along the boulevard to reduce overcrowding.
"After seeing the white paper's content, we should be worried," said Jeff Kwok, 28, an export firm employee at Victoria Park, where six soccer fields and surrounding areas were jammed with people. Beijing is "trying to tell the Hong Kong people that ... Hong Kong is just one of their regions. They're trying to tell us they have absolute power to rule us."
Kwok complained that Beijing doesn't respect the principle of "one country, two systems" under which Hong Kong is allowed to retain control over much of its own affairs.
Ahead of the rally, one group of protesters burned a copy of the white paper outside a ceremony attended by officials to mark the handover.
The protest comes days after nearly 800,000 residents voted in an informal referendum aimed at bolstering support for full democracy. Beijing denounced the referendum as a political farce.
Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader, tried to soothe tensions, saying in a speech that he'll do his "utmost to forge a consensus" on implementing universal suffrage on schedule. But the government later released a statement saying it is unlikely that public nominations will be allowed because it's legally "highly controversial."
___
Associated Press video journalists Stephanie Ip and Josie Wong contributed to this report.
___
Follow Kelvin Chan on Twitter at twitter.com/chanman (**)
Categories: Indonesian News
China calls for boosting economic ties with Manila
China's ambassador to the Philippines says economic ties between
the two countries are at disappointing levels and both must work to
advance their common prosperity.
Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines and Vietnam are embroiled in territorial rows with China over the South China Sea, where China claims most of the waterway that is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Relations between China and Japan have also been strained by disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Ambassador Zhao Jianhua did not refer to the territorial dispute but called the Philippines' share of the Chinese investment pie "too disappointing," with Philippine companies investing more in China than the other way around.
He told a business audience that the Philippines gets only 1.4 percent of China's outbound direct investment to 10 Southeast Asian countries, with Singapore receiving about 46 percent.
"It is imperative and essential that the two countries focus on things that can unite us, focus on things that can promote common prosperity," he said in a speech Tuesday evening before the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
There was no Philippine government reaction to the speech.
Zhao also said 426,000 Chinese tourists visited the country last year, a 70 percent increase from a year earlier "despite the difficulties we're having." But he compared that with 4 million Chinese that tourists go to Malaysia yearly and 3 million to Thailand.
If the country can attract 1 or 2 million Chinese tourists, it will be a huge boost to the local tourism industry, he said.
Mainland China is the Philippines' third largest trading partner, with two-way trade at $14.62 billion last year. But the diplomat said if Hong Kong and Macau are included, China would be the Philippines' top trading partner with total trade at $38 billion last year.
"You are importing more from China than you are exporting to China so we need to do something about it," he said. (**)
Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines and Vietnam are embroiled in territorial rows with China over the South China Sea, where China claims most of the waterway that is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Relations between China and Japan have also been strained by disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Ambassador Zhao Jianhua did not refer to the territorial dispute but called the Philippines' share of the Chinese investment pie "too disappointing," with Philippine companies investing more in China than the other way around.
He told a business audience that the Philippines gets only 1.4 percent of China's outbound direct investment to 10 Southeast Asian countries, with Singapore receiving about 46 percent.
"It is imperative and essential that the two countries focus on things that can unite us, focus on things that can promote common prosperity," he said in a speech Tuesday evening before the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
There was no Philippine government reaction to the speech.
Zhao also said 426,000 Chinese tourists visited the country last year, a 70 percent increase from a year earlier "despite the difficulties we're having." But he compared that with 4 million Chinese that tourists go to Malaysia yearly and 3 million to Thailand.
If the country can attract 1 or 2 million Chinese tourists, it will be a huge boost to the local tourism industry, he said.
Mainland China is the Philippines' third largest trading partner, with two-way trade at $14.62 billion last year. But the diplomat said if Hong Kong and Macau are included, China would be the Philippines' top trading partner with total trade at $38 billion last year.
"You are importing more from China than you are exporting to China so we need to do something about it," he said. (**)
Categories: Indonesian News
Police fire shots to stop Buddhist mob in Myanmar
Police fired warning shots to stop a Buddhist mob that damaged a
mosque and tried to set fire to several Muslim-owned shops in Myanmar's
second-largest city, authorities said Wednesday.
At least four people were injured Tuesday evening in Mandalay, mostly from stones thrown by the mob or from rubber bullets fired by police, said Khin Maung Oo, secretary of the city's Myanmar Muslim Youth Religious Convention Center.
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation, has been grappling with sectarian violence since 2012 that has left up to 280 people dead and another 140,000 left homeless, most of them Muslims attacked by extremist Buddhists.
The violence in Mandalay, in central Myanmar, followed rumors that the Muslim owner of a teashop had raped a Buddhist woman, said Khin Maung Oo. Police did not immediately confirm or deny the alleged rape but said they were tipped off that the teashop might be attacked and told the owner to close early.
Authorities deployed hundreds of police after a crowd of more than 300 Buddhists marched to the teashop, singing the national anthem, according to Khin Maung Oo and several residents. Police fired rubber bullets to try to disperse the crowd, which scattered into groups that held cat-and-mouse chases with police for several hours.
Rioters threw stones at a mosque, causing minor damage to its exterior and front doors, and others ransacked a few Muslim-owned shops, said Khin Maung Oo. Several cars were set on fire or had windows shattered by stones and bricks.
Myanmar emerged from a half-century of military rule in 2011, but its transition to democracy has been marred by the sectarian violence.
Muslims account for about 4 percent of Myanmar's roughly 60 million people. (**)
At least four people were injured Tuesday evening in Mandalay, mostly from stones thrown by the mob or from rubber bullets fired by police, said Khin Maung Oo, secretary of the city's Myanmar Muslim Youth Religious Convention Center.
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation, has been grappling with sectarian violence since 2012 that has left up to 280 people dead and another 140,000 left homeless, most of them Muslims attacked by extremist Buddhists.
The violence in Mandalay, in central Myanmar, followed rumors that the Muslim owner of a teashop had raped a Buddhist woman, said Khin Maung Oo. Police did not immediately confirm or deny the alleged rape but said they were tipped off that the teashop might be attacked and told the owner to close early.
Authorities deployed hundreds of police after a crowd of more than 300 Buddhists marched to the teashop, singing the national anthem, according to Khin Maung Oo and several residents. Police fired rubber bullets to try to disperse the crowd, which scattered into groups that held cat-and-mouse chases with police for several hours.
Rioters threw stones at a mosque, causing minor damage to its exterior and front doors, and others ransacked a few Muslim-owned shops, said Khin Maung Oo. Several cars were set on fire or had windows shattered by stones and bricks.
Myanmar emerged from a half-century of military rule in 2011, but its transition to democracy has been marred by the sectarian violence.
Muslims account for about 4 percent of Myanmar's roughly 60 million people. (**)
Categories: Indonesian News
Harsh orientation part of school tradition, say police
Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Rikwanto says that “mental
orientation”, which is part of the tradition of senior state high school
SMA 3 Jakarta's mountaineering club Sabhawana, may have caused the
death of 16-year-old Arfiand Caesar Al Irhami.
Rikwanto said that the police came to the conclusion based on statements by five suspects that were detained on Tuesday, as reported by kompas.com.
“Based on statements by the five suspects, the motive was that it [the orientation] was a tradition that has been conducted for ages," he said on Wednesday.
However, Rikwanto said that the suspects, consisting of four male students and one female student, did not seem to understand the concept of mental orientation, which led them to allegedly assault Arfiand during their mountaineering trip to the Tangkuban Perahu area in West Java.
According to the police, Arfiand was hit, slapped, punched and had his backpack thrown at him by his upperclassmen.
Previously, the police said that Arfiand's death was the result of unnatural causes, and said he was probably assaulted prior to his death. Arfiand was treated at the Metropolitan Medical Center (MMC) Hospital in Kuningan, South Jakarta, before he died.
Currently, the male suspects are being held at the Salemba detention center and the female suspect at the Pondok Bambu detention center, both in Jakarta.
On Tuesday, Rikwanto said that other members of the mountaineering club may soon be named suspects. He did not elaborate. (fss)
Rikwanto said that the police came to the conclusion based on statements by five suspects that were detained on Tuesday, as reported by kompas.com.
“Based on statements by the five suspects, the motive was that it [the orientation] was a tradition that has been conducted for ages," he said on Wednesday.
However, Rikwanto said that the suspects, consisting of four male students and one female student, did not seem to understand the concept of mental orientation, which led them to allegedly assault Arfiand during their mountaineering trip to the Tangkuban Perahu area in West Java.
According to the police, Arfiand was hit, slapped, punched and had his backpack thrown at him by his upperclassmen.
Previously, the police said that Arfiand's death was the result of unnatural causes, and said he was probably assaulted prior to his death. Arfiand was treated at the Metropolitan Medical Center (MMC) Hospital in Kuningan, South Jakarta, before he died.
Currently, the male suspects are being held at the Salemba detention center and the female suspect at the Pondok Bambu detention center, both in Jakarta.
On Tuesday, Rikwanto said that other members of the mountaineering club may soon be named suspects. He did not elaborate. (fss)
Categories: Indonesian News
With Seoul visit, China leader sends message north
Xi Jinping's first visit to the Korean Peninsula as China's
president is to Seoul, not Pyongyang, meaning that North Korea's best
friend has snubbed it for its most bitter rival. A flurry of recent
rocket and missile tests, the latest on Wednesday, has made the North's
displeasure crystal clear.
Xi's choice to meet Thursday with South Korean President Park Geun-hye over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un upends past practice — ever since Beijing and Seoul forged diplomatic ties in 1992 — to make Pyongyang first. It highlights Beijing's interest in nurturing booming economic ties with Seoul, while sending Pyongyang a message about its destabilizing pursuit of nuclear weapons.
For Washington and the region, it also underlines China's growing influence on the southern side of the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Beijing, entangled in hostile territorial disputes across Asia, may see an opportunity to boost its influence with the rare neighbor that feels generally positive about China.
"In some ways the budding closeness between Xi and Park echoes much older patterns in East Asia, when China exercised a relatively benign hegemony over many of its neighbors," said John Delury, an expert on China and Korea at Seoul's Yonsei University.
In the week before Xi's visit, North Korea fired seven short-range projectiles, including two launched Wednesday into waters off its east coast. Analysts said they are a message of anger directed at Xi's choice of Seoul over Pyongyang.
The two-day summit will be Park's fifth meeting with Xi since she took office early last year.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang urged reporters not to "over-read" Xi's decision to visit South Korea before the North. But many in China see the visit as not only a remarkable departure from the past, but also a sign of a budding friendship between the leaders. Much has been made of Park's visit to Beijing last year and Xi's decision to send Park birthday wishes earlier this year.
Money has long been the focus of the relationship between China, the world's second-largest economy, and South Korea, the fourth-biggest economy in Asia.
They are in talks on a bilateral free trade agreement. China is South Korea's largest trading partner, and Seoul says two-way trade topped $220 billion last year. That's larger than the combined value of South Korea's trade with the United States and Japan.
"In economics, the relationship is as good as it gets," the Korea Times said in an editorial this week.
There's also a shared distaste for Japan's more assertive military ambitions, and for what Beijing and Seoul see as an attempt by Tokyo to obscure its brutal history in both countries in the last century.
Managing security matters, and more specifically North Korea's pursuit of nuclear bombs and the long-range missiles to carry them, has always been trickier.
China is seen as having unusual leverage with hard-to-read North Korea and is often pressed to do more to force change. They fought together in the 1950-53 Korean War against the United States, South Korea and their allies. More recently, North Korea has repeatedly looked to China for diplomatic cover when the United Nations has taken up North Korean nuclear and missile tests and its much-criticized human rights record.
Analysts don't think Xi will abandon North Korea entirely as long as Seoul remains loyal to an alliance with Washington that has shielded the South from North Korean aggression and allowed it to build its impressive economy. China also worries that too much pressure on Pyongyang could cause a North Korean collapse that would push swarms of refugees over the countries' shared border.
Bitterness still lingers in Seoul over Chinese reticence to criticize what a Seoul-led international investigation said was a North Korean torpedo sneak attack on a South Korean warship that killed 46 in 2010.
Still, the accretion of worries about North Korea has helped draw Seoul and Beijing together. Officials in Seoul now expect China to take strong action over future provocations, especially if Pyongyang conducts what would be its fourth nuclear test as it moves toward building an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that could reach the United States.
For its part, South Korea wants relief from the perpetual North Korean threat. Scott Snyder, an Asia specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote this week that there's also a desire for "Beijing's acquiescence to Seoul's leading role in shaping the parameters for Korea's reunification."
China wants stability and a unified stance against Japan. It also has pushed for a resumption of the six-nation North Korean nuclear disarmament talks that it hosted until their last session in late 2008.
Xi's visit tests close U.S. ties with South Korea and Japan that Beijing believes have been used to check its rise, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korea studies at Seoul's Dongguk University. It also tells Pyongyang that it could lose Chinese support if it sticks to its nuclear ambitions.
"They will not feel good about this," Koh said of North Korea's reaction to Xi choosing Seoul over Pyongyang.
___
Klug, Seoul's bureau chief, can be reached at https://twitter.com/APklug
___
AP writers Jung-yoon Choi in Seoul and Didi Tang in Beijing contributed to this story. (**)
Xi's choice to meet Thursday with South Korean President Park Geun-hye over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un upends past practice — ever since Beijing and Seoul forged diplomatic ties in 1992 — to make Pyongyang first. It highlights Beijing's interest in nurturing booming economic ties with Seoul, while sending Pyongyang a message about its destabilizing pursuit of nuclear weapons.
For Washington and the region, it also underlines China's growing influence on the southern side of the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Beijing, entangled in hostile territorial disputes across Asia, may see an opportunity to boost its influence with the rare neighbor that feels generally positive about China.
"In some ways the budding closeness between Xi and Park echoes much older patterns in East Asia, when China exercised a relatively benign hegemony over many of its neighbors," said John Delury, an expert on China and Korea at Seoul's Yonsei University.
In the week before Xi's visit, North Korea fired seven short-range projectiles, including two launched Wednesday into waters off its east coast. Analysts said they are a message of anger directed at Xi's choice of Seoul over Pyongyang.
The two-day summit will be Park's fifth meeting with Xi since she took office early last year.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang urged reporters not to "over-read" Xi's decision to visit South Korea before the North. But many in China see the visit as not only a remarkable departure from the past, but also a sign of a budding friendship between the leaders. Much has been made of Park's visit to Beijing last year and Xi's decision to send Park birthday wishes earlier this year.
Money has long been the focus of the relationship between China, the world's second-largest economy, and South Korea, the fourth-biggest economy in Asia.
They are in talks on a bilateral free trade agreement. China is South Korea's largest trading partner, and Seoul says two-way trade topped $220 billion last year. That's larger than the combined value of South Korea's trade with the United States and Japan.
"In economics, the relationship is as good as it gets," the Korea Times said in an editorial this week.
There's also a shared distaste for Japan's more assertive military ambitions, and for what Beijing and Seoul see as an attempt by Tokyo to obscure its brutal history in both countries in the last century.
Managing security matters, and more specifically North Korea's pursuit of nuclear bombs and the long-range missiles to carry them, has always been trickier.
China is seen as having unusual leverage with hard-to-read North Korea and is often pressed to do more to force change. They fought together in the 1950-53 Korean War against the United States, South Korea and their allies. More recently, North Korea has repeatedly looked to China for diplomatic cover when the United Nations has taken up North Korean nuclear and missile tests and its much-criticized human rights record.
Analysts don't think Xi will abandon North Korea entirely as long as Seoul remains loyal to an alliance with Washington that has shielded the South from North Korean aggression and allowed it to build its impressive economy. China also worries that too much pressure on Pyongyang could cause a North Korean collapse that would push swarms of refugees over the countries' shared border.
Bitterness still lingers in Seoul over Chinese reticence to criticize what a Seoul-led international investigation said was a North Korean torpedo sneak attack on a South Korean warship that killed 46 in 2010.
Still, the accretion of worries about North Korea has helped draw Seoul and Beijing together. Officials in Seoul now expect China to take strong action over future provocations, especially if Pyongyang conducts what would be its fourth nuclear test as it moves toward building an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that could reach the United States.
For its part, South Korea wants relief from the perpetual North Korean threat. Scott Snyder, an Asia specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote this week that there's also a desire for "Beijing's acquiescence to Seoul's leading role in shaping the parameters for Korea's reunification."
China wants stability and a unified stance against Japan. It also has pushed for a resumption of the six-nation North Korean nuclear disarmament talks that it hosted until their last session in late 2008.
Xi's visit tests close U.S. ties with South Korea and Japan that Beijing believes have been used to check its rise, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korea studies at Seoul's Dongguk University. It also tells Pyongyang that it could lose Chinese support if it sticks to its nuclear ambitions.
"They will not feel good about this," Koh said of North Korea's reaction to Xi choosing Seoul over Pyongyang.
___
Klug, Seoul's bureau chief, can be reached at https://twitter.com/APklug
___
AP writers Jung-yoon Choi in Seoul and Didi Tang in Beijing contributed to this story. (**)
Categories: Indonesian News
Global stocks higher on US, China growth
World stocks were mostly higher Wednesday on improved U.S. and Chinese economic activity.
In Europe, Germany's DAX added 0.2 percent to 9,924.56 and France's CAC-40 was up 0.1 percent at 4,464.88. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent to 6,813.19.
Futures augured gains on Wall Street. Dow and S&P 500 futures were each up 0.1 percent.
Traders were encouraged by surveys showing China's manufacturing activity improved in June for the first time in six months. That came on top of the government's decision to expand credit by allowing banks to lend more relative to the size of their deposits.
Both developments "bode well for growth," said Credit Agricole CIB economist Dariusz Kowalczyk in a report.
In the United States, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity grew in June, though at a slower pace than in May.
"Markets saw this as a positive," said CMC Markets in a report.
Asia's heavyweight, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo, gained 0.3 percent to 15,369.97 while China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 percent to 2,059.42.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.5 percent at 23,549.62 and Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.5 percent to 9,484.96. Seoul's Kospi added 0.8 percent to 2,015.28 and Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.5 percent to 5,455.40.
India's Sensex was up 1.2 percent to 25,831.49. Southeast Asian markets also rose.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery added 7 cents to $105.41 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract shed 3 cents on Tuesday to close at $105.34.
In currencies, the dollar fell to 101.42 yen from 101.50 yen late Tuesday. The euro slipped to $1.3665 from $1.3682. (**)
In Europe, Germany's DAX added 0.2 percent to 9,924.56 and France's CAC-40 was up 0.1 percent at 4,464.88. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent to 6,813.19.
Futures augured gains on Wall Street. Dow and S&P 500 futures were each up 0.1 percent.
Traders were encouraged by surveys showing China's manufacturing activity improved in June for the first time in six months. That came on top of the government's decision to expand credit by allowing banks to lend more relative to the size of their deposits.
Both developments "bode well for growth," said Credit Agricole CIB economist Dariusz Kowalczyk in a report.
In the United States, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity grew in June, though at a slower pace than in May.
"Markets saw this as a positive," said CMC Markets in a report.
Asia's heavyweight, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo, gained 0.3 percent to 15,369.97 while China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 percent to 2,059.42.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.5 percent at 23,549.62 and Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.5 percent to 9,484.96. Seoul's Kospi added 0.8 percent to 2,015.28 and Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.5 percent to 5,455.40.
India's Sensex was up 1.2 percent to 25,831.49. Southeast Asian markets also rose.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery added 7 cents to $105.41 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract shed 3 cents on Tuesday to close at $105.34.
In currencies, the dollar fell to 101.42 yen from 101.50 yen late Tuesday. The euro slipped to $1.3665 from $1.3682. (**)
Categories: Indonesian News
Protection for witnesses who report election fraud: Bawaslu
Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) representative Nasrullah
has said that people who feel insecure about reporting election fraud to
authorities can request protection from the Witness and Victim
Protection Agency (LPSK).
“Bawaslu and the LPSK have signed an agreement aimed at providing protection to witnesses who wish to file reports on election fraud,” Nasrullah said at the agency’s headquarters in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
He said if anyone reporting fraud felt uncomfortable or faced intimidation when filing a report, the LPSK would give him or her protection because it was a constitutional right guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution for all Indonesian citizens to receive such protection.
“They can seek protection from the LPSK because it is a state institution that can [support] anyone in this country,” said Nasrullah.
He further said that efforts aimed at developing a better and more prosperous country were currently being undertaken. One of the measures used for improving people’s prosperity was to provide protection to people for information they gave.
Nasrullah went on to say that information was part of the rights of the public; therefore, anyone who felt terrorized for filing reports deserved protection from the LPSK.
“They can submit their requests in writing or come directly to the LPSK, and convey their constitutional rights in the election process, [if] he or she wants to report or has witnessed election fraud,” said Nasrullah. (fss/ebf)
“Bawaslu and the LPSK have signed an agreement aimed at providing protection to witnesses who wish to file reports on election fraud,” Nasrullah said at the agency’s headquarters in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
He said if anyone reporting fraud felt uncomfortable or faced intimidation when filing a report, the LPSK would give him or her protection because it was a constitutional right guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution for all Indonesian citizens to receive such protection.
“They can seek protection from the LPSK because it is a state institution that can [support] anyone in this country,” said Nasrullah.
He further said that efforts aimed at developing a better and more prosperous country were currently being undertaken. One of the measures used for improving people’s prosperity was to provide protection to people for information they gave.
Nasrullah went on to say that information was part of the rights of the public; therefore, anyone who felt terrorized for filing reports deserved protection from the LPSK.
“They can submit their requests in writing or come directly to the LPSK, and convey their constitutional rights in the election process, [if] he or she wants to report or has witnessed election fraud,” said Nasrullah. (fss/ebf)
Categories: Indonesian News
JCI up 0.48% at close
The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) closed on a positive note on Wednesday, increasing by 0.48 percent to 4,908.27.
Almost every index across the Asia-Pacific also made gains, kompas.com reported.
According to Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) data, 156 traded stocks strengthened in the afternoon while 101 stocks weakened and 108 stocks were unchanged.
The volume of transactions involved 3.77 billion shares worth Rp 3.6 trillion (US$302.4 million) during the closing session.
Big gainers on the JCI at 4 p.m. on Wednesday included PT Astra International, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, PT Bank Central Asia, PT Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur and PT Adaro Energy.
Meanwhile, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia, PT AGIS, PT Elnusa and PT London Sumatra Indonesia were the LQ45 index's biggest losers. (nfo)
Almost every index across the Asia-Pacific also made gains, kompas.com reported.
According to Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) data, 156 traded stocks strengthened in the afternoon while 101 stocks weakened and 108 stocks were unchanged.
The volume of transactions involved 3.77 billion shares worth Rp 3.6 trillion (US$302.4 million) during the closing session.
Big gainers on the JCI at 4 p.m. on Wednesday included PT Astra International, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, PT Bank Central Asia, PT Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur and PT Adaro Energy.
Meanwhile, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia, PT AGIS, PT Elnusa and PT London Sumatra Indonesia were the LQ45 index's biggest losers. (nfo)
Categories: Indonesian News
Sriwijaya delays introduction of new aircraft
Indonesia's third largest carrier, Sriwijaya Air, has decided to
delay plans to introduce 10 new aircraft into its fleet this year, as
the US dollar rate against the rupiah continues to strengthen.
"We are still waiting for the right moment to bring in and operate the aircraft," the airline’s senior manager for corporate communications, Agus Soedjono, said in Jakarta on Wednesday, as quoted by kontan.co.id.
He said that the firm had ordered 10 Boeing B737-800 Next Generation (NG)s in 2013, with the hope that the airplanes could help the company accommodate increased air travel demand.
He also said that the operation of new aircraft was aimed at increasing passenger traffic by 10 percent.
In addition, Sriwijaya plans to provide 28,750 extra seats in anticipation of the surge in air travel during the Idul Fitri festival, which are projected to fall on July 28.
"We have seen increasing demand for flying, especially for the seven days before Idul Fitri," he added.
Customers’ favorite destinations during the Lebaran holiday included Semarang, Central Java; Yogyakarta; Surabaya, East Java; Denpasar, Bali; Medan, North Sumatra; Padang, West Sumatra and Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Belitung. (nfo)
"We are still waiting for the right moment to bring in and operate the aircraft," the airline’s senior manager for corporate communications, Agus Soedjono, said in Jakarta on Wednesday, as quoted by kontan.co.id.
He said that the firm had ordered 10 Boeing B737-800 Next Generation (NG)s in 2013, with the hope that the airplanes could help the company accommodate increased air travel demand.
He also said that the operation of new aircraft was aimed at increasing passenger traffic by 10 percent.
In addition, Sriwijaya plans to provide 28,750 extra seats in anticipation of the surge in air travel during the Idul Fitri festival, which are projected to fall on July 28.
"We have seen increasing demand for flying, especially for the seven days before Idul Fitri," he added.
Customers’ favorite destinations during the Lebaran holiday included Semarang, Central Java; Yogyakarta; Surabaya, East Java; Denpasar, Bali; Medan, North Sumatra; Padang, West Sumatra and Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Belitung. (nfo)
Categories: Indonesian News
KPU Cianjur lost 107 C1 documents for vote recounts
The Cianjur regency General Elections Commission (KPUD) lost as
many as 107 C1 documents containing the voting records from the
legislative elections at their polling stations in Cianjur, West Java.
Cianjur KPUD chairperson Anggi Shofia Wardany said that the commission had previously separated the ballot papers and the C1 documents from the 344 polling stations currently being disputed. However, after they emptied the ballot boxes in preparation for the upcoming presidential elections, they discovered that the documents had vanished.
"We have still not found them," Anggi said during a plenary eeting regarding the Constitutional Court decision about voting recounts for the Democratic Party in 11 villages in Cianjur at the West Java KPUD headquarters in Bandung, on Wednesday.
Previously, West Java Legislative Council (DPRD I) candidate Hedi Permana Boy filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court against fellow Democratic Party candidate Wawan Setiawan, whom he claimed had marked up votes for himself.
The Court then asked the polling committee to recount the votes based on the C1 documents, which were the notes on the voting record at the polling stations.
However, due to the losses, the central KPU advised the committee to recount the votes. For the polling stations without the C1 documents, the KPU advised them to use either the C1 hologram or the voting records from the KPU.
KPU commissioner Ferry Rizki Kurniansyah said that they would continue to investigate the whereabouts of the documents to determine whether wrongdoing or negligence was responsible.
Separately, West Java Elections Monitoring Agency (Bawaslu) commissioner Wasikin said that the loss of the C1 documents was evidence of the poor performance of the KPU during the elections.
Wasikin claimed that the C1 documents were the size of a desk and could not have been lost easily.
"We are going to keep monitoring the recapitulation. We are also waiting for the conclusion of the plenary meeting so that we can issue recommendations to the DKPP [Election Organizers Ethics Council] because there are indications of a lack of discipline. People can be sanctioned for losing state documents," Wasikin said. (fss)
Cianjur KPUD chairperson Anggi Shofia Wardany said that the commission had previously separated the ballot papers and the C1 documents from the 344 polling stations currently being disputed. However, after they emptied the ballot boxes in preparation for the upcoming presidential elections, they discovered that the documents had vanished.
"We have still not found them," Anggi said during a plenary eeting regarding the Constitutional Court decision about voting recounts for the Democratic Party in 11 villages in Cianjur at the West Java KPUD headquarters in Bandung, on Wednesday.
Previously, West Java Legislative Council (DPRD I) candidate Hedi Permana Boy filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court against fellow Democratic Party candidate Wawan Setiawan, whom he claimed had marked up votes for himself.
The Court then asked the polling committee to recount the votes based on the C1 documents, which were the notes on the voting record at the polling stations.
However, due to the losses, the central KPU advised the committee to recount the votes. For the polling stations without the C1 documents, the KPU advised them to use either the C1 hologram or the voting records from the KPU.
KPU commissioner Ferry Rizki Kurniansyah said that they would continue to investigate the whereabouts of the documents to determine whether wrongdoing or negligence was responsible.
Separately, West Java Elections Monitoring Agency (Bawaslu) commissioner Wasikin said that the loss of the C1 documents was evidence of the poor performance of the KPU during the elections.
Wasikin claimed that the C1 documents were the size of a desk and could not have been lost easily.
"We are going to keep monitoring the recapitulation. We are also waiting for the conclusion of the plenary meeting so that we can issue recommendations to the DKPP [Election Organizers Ethics Council] because there are indications of a lack of discipline. People can be sanctioned for losing state documents," Wasikin said. (fss)
Categories: Indonesian News
Police continue questioning JIS teachers
Jakarta Police investigators questioned on Wednesday three staff
of the Jakarta International School (JIS) as witnesses in the case of
the rape of a 6-year-old kindergarten pupil by outsourced cleaners at
the school.
“They have been questioned before, but we will also investigate them more after we receive the medical examination of the victim. We will cross-check the medical examination with their answers during questioning,” Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said as quoted by Antara news agency.
The three questioned were JIS kindergarten and elementary school principal Elsa Donohue, curriculum development staff member Neil Bantleman and teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong. The three individuals are American, Canadian and Indonesian, respectively.
Previously, the police said that after receiving psychological counseling and treatment, the 6-year-old boy, who was allegedly raped by six outsourced cleaners, also claimed to have been raped by Donohue, Bantleman and Ferdinand in school restrooms and offices.
“We will make a public announcement of the case to decide their status, whether they will remain as witnesses or suspects. Just wait for further information,” he said.
So far, the parents of three JIS boys have come forward and filed police reports claiming their sons to be the victims of sexual assault. The six PT ISS cleaners who allegedly raped the 6-year-old boy who was the first to come forward have been arrested, with one having committed suicide while in police custody. The remaining five will stand trial soon. (gda)
“They have been questioned before, but we will also investigate them more after we receive the medical examination of the victim. We will cross-check the medical examination with their answers during questioning,” Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said as quoted by Antara news agency.
The three questioned were JIS kindergarten and elementary school principal Elsa Donohue, curriculum development staff member Neil Bantleman and teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong. The three individuals are American, Canadian and Indonesian, respectively.
Previously, the police said that after receiving psychological counseling and treatment, the 6-year-old boy, who was allegedly raped by six outsourced cleaners, also claimed to have been raped by Donohue, Bantleman and Ferdinand in school restrooms and offices.
“We will make a public announcement of the case to decide their status, whether they will remain as witnesses or suspects. Just wait for further information,” he said.
So far, the parents of three JIS boys have come forward and filed police reports claiming their sons to be the victims of sexual assault. The six PT ISS cleaners who allegedly raped the 6-year-old boy who was the first to come forward have been arrested, with one having committed suicide while in police custody. The remaining five will stand trial soon. (gda)
Categories: Indonesian News
RI food and beverages sell like hot cakes in KL
Various Indonesian food items and beverages are selling like hot
cakes during the 2014 Malaysia International Food and Beverages (MIFB)
exhibition as transactions exceed the target.
“Transactions for our products have reached US$750,000, exceeding the target we set," the trade attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Fajarini Puntodewi, said as quoted by Antara news agency on Wednesday.
She said that Indonesian tea, chocolates, coffee, bakpia (mung-bean pastries), rendang (beef in spicy coconut milk), fried chicken and diet food were favorites at the event.
She also said that buyers of Indonesian products included not only Malaysians but also Tunisians, Hong Kongers and Bengalis.
Even though the Malaysia market was not big, Indonesian products still had the potential to shine there. Tea, cocoa and coffee were promising commodities to promote in Malaysia, she added. (nfo)
“Transactions for our products have reached US$750,000, exceeding the target we set," the trade attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Fajarini Puntodewi, said as quoted by Antara news agency on Wednesday.
She said that Indonesian tea, chocolates, coffee, bakpia (mung-bean pastries), rendang (beef in spicy coconut milk), fried chicken and diet food were favorites at the event.
She also said that buyers of Indonesian products included not only Malaysians but also Tunisians, Hong Kongers and Bengalis.
Even though the Malaysia market was not big, Indonesian products still had the potential to shine there. Tea, cocoa and coffee were promising commodities to promote in Malaysia, she added. (nfo)
Categories: Indonesian News
Brimob officer was killed by trained men, says IPW
Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) says that Mobile Brigade agent Rizki Dwi Wicaksono died at the hands of trained killers.
Rizki was killed on Tuesday near the University of Indonesia train station, Depok, West Java.
"The murder was planned and was probably done by people who had been trained," IPW chairman Neta S. Pane said on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
According to Neta, one of the indications that the murder had been planned carefully and was carried out by professionals was that it was done extremely quickly.
Furthermore, the murder happened only 2 kilometers from the Mobile Brigade headquarters in Kelapa Dua.
"The killing of the mobile brigade officer at the University of Indonesia shows that there are people who have a grudge against the police and wish to taint their image," he said.
Due to this, Neta advised the police to take their time in solving the case for fear that more police officers would be murdered on the streets.
Previously, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said that Rizki was attacked while en route to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. He left the Mobile Brigade headquarters and was reportedly ambushed by a gang of motorcyclists.
According to Rikwanto, at 12:30 a.m., 10 people on five motorcycles blocked the road and smashed the rear window of Rizki’s taxi.
Rizki was attacked with a sharp object. Rikwanto said that Rizki's body was cut on the back and on the fingers and that his lips were bruised. Rizki also suffered a blow to the head.
The police suspect that Rizki had been targeted by the perpetrators because during their investigation they discovered that none of his belongings were missing. (fss)
Rizki was killed on Tuesday near the University of Indonesia train station, Depok, West Java.
"The murder was planned and was probably done by people who had been trained," IPW chairman Neta S. Pane said on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
According to Neta, one of the indications that the murder had been planned carefully and was carried out by professionals was that it was done extremely quickly.
Furthermore, the murder happened only 2 kilometers from the Mobile Brigade headquarters in Kelapa Dua.
"The killing of the mobile brigade officer at the University of Indonesia shows that there are people who have a grudge against the police and wish to taint their image," he said.
Due to this, Neta advised the police to take their time in solving the case for fear that more police officers would be murdered on the streets.
Previously, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said that Rizki was attacked while en route to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. He left the Mobile Brigade headquarters and was reportedly ambushed by a gang of motorcyclists.
According to Rikwanto, at 12:30 a.m., 10 people on five motorcycles blocked the road and smashed the rear window of Rizki’s taxi.
Rizki was attacked with a sharp object. Rikwanto said that Rizki's body was cut on the back and on the fingers and that his lips were bruised. Rizki also suffered a blow to the head.
The police suspect that Rizki had been targeted by the perpetrators because during their investigation they discovered that none of his belongings were missing. (fss)
Categories: Indonesian News
Mental revolution to help Indonesia surpass Singapore, Malaysia: Spokesperson
Presidential candidate Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and running mate
Jusuf Kalla's concept of a mental revolution would help Indonesia
surpass Singapore and Malaysia in development because the program is
focused not merely on education, but also on building character,
according to Jokowi-Kalla spokesperson Hasto Kristiyanto.
Hasto said that the mental revolution would create Indonesians of integrity, intelligence, and a sense of service to the nation, as reported by Antara news agency.
"The mental revolution is the solution to solve our deficiencies in human resource capacity, which puts us far behind Malaysia and Singapore," he said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
According to the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a worldwide study of students' scholastic performance in mathematics, science and reading, Indonesia currently ranks 64th out of 65 countries.
In contrast, Malaysia ranks 52nd, while Singapore is ranked 2nd after China.
Hasto said that one of the ways the presidential ticket would implement the mental revolution would be by prioritizing the quality of classroom instruction, setting educators up as one of the pillars of the state. Not only would doing so improve the welfare children with improved education, he said, but it would also aid in the country's development.
"The mental revolution must be created by a government clean of corruption. This program could not work with a Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa administration because they have several people embroiled in corruption cases," he said.
Suryadharma Ali, chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), which is a member Prabowo-Hatta coalition, was in May named a graft suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Despite his continual pledge to combat graft, presidential candidate Prabowo has yet to ask Suryadharma to resign from his campaign team and coalition.
Hasto added that the mental revolution would lead to more patriotic citizens who would condemn corruption, helping fight corruption. If that happened, he said, then the salary of civil servants could also be raised. (fss)
Hasto said that the mental revolution would create Indonesians of integrity, intelligence, and a sense of service to the nation, as reported by Antara news agency.
"The mental revolution is the solution to solve our deficiencies in human resource capacity, which puts us far behind Malaysia and Singapore," he said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
According to the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a worldwide study of students' scholastic performance in mathematics, science and reading, Indonesia currently ranks 64th out of 65 countries.
In contrast, Malaysia ranks 52nd, while Singapore is ranked 2nd after China.
Hasto said that one of the ways the presidential ticket would implement the mental revolution would be by prioritizing the quality of classroom instruction, setting educators up as one of the pillars of the state. Not only would doing so improve the welfare children with improved education, he said, but it would also aid in the country's development.
"The mental revolution must be created by a government clean of corruption. This program could not work with a Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa administration because they have several people embroiled in corruption cases," he said.
Suryadharma Ali, chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), which is a member Prabowo-Hatta coalition, was in May named a graft suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Despite his continual pledge to combat graft, presidential candidate Prabowo has yet to ask Suryadharma to resign from his campaign team and coalition.
Hasto added that the mental revolution would lead to more patriotic citizens who would condemn corruption, helping fight corruption. If that happened, he said, then the salary of civil servants could also be raised. (fss)
Categories: Indonesian News
Jokowi visits Islamic boarding school in W.Java
Presidential candidate Joko “Jokowi” Widodo visited Al-Hasaniyah
Islamic boarding school in Sukabumi, West Java, to meet Amang Muhamad,
the school’s religious teacher, as well as a number of his grassroots
supporters.
Jokowi arrived at the school, located in Babakan Kaum
village, on Wednesday morning. He met with locals at the village and
visited a small food stall where he bought and then distributed snacks
for residents to break-fast with later in the evening.
“I’m very glad to shake Pak
Jokowi’s hand, because I’ve only been able to see him on TV before. Now
I see that he is just like an Islamic student and far from what we have
been told in the Obor Rakyat tabloid,” said Babakan Kaum resident Enah on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Obor Rakyat
-- a libelous tabloid that was distributed free-of-charge to several
Islamic boarding schools across Java – recently published false claims
that Jokowi is a Christian of Chinese descent, not a Javanese Muslim.
Villagers
said that in a closed meeting between Jokowi and the schools’ clerics,
the presidential candidate asked for their prayers and support to win
the July 9 election.
It was not the first time Jokowi had visited
Islamic boarding schools in West Java. Previously, he visited schools in
Banjar, Ciamis, Cilacap and Tasikmalaya, as part of his effort to
repair the damage to his popularity inflicted by the tabloid.
West Java is one of the Java provinces where rival candidate Prabowo Subianto-Jusuf Kalla expects to win the most votes.
The
Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla ticket, designated number two on the election
ballots, is supported by a coalition led by the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Partner parties include the National
Awakening Party (PKB) the Hanura Party and the NasDem Party. The
coalition secured 207, or 39.97 percent of the total 560 seats at the
House of Representatives in the legislative election on April 9.
(gda/ebf)
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