The Sarijaya Case

People tend to be blind whenever they have lots of money in their hands.
That’s what I thought when I read the news about the misuse of public fund amounting to Rp 245 Billion in PT Sarijaya Permana Sekuritas (SPS) by the Owner and President Commissioner of said company Herman Ramli.

Here are the highlights:
Tempo reported that 9,000 Customers demanded the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) to give full protection of their fund and expedite their payment. In this regards, JSX President Director Erry Firmansyah promised that the funds shall be protected, for which purpose it is now verifying the asset of SPS. However, according to SPS’s Marketing Director Zulfian Alamsyah, the Cash Fund is still unprotected because since 6 January 2009, the sales of SPS Stocks have been temporarily suspended. Meanwhile, on 24 December 2008 the Police have arrested Herman Ramli so as to facilitate investigation of this case.
Kompas quoted Erry Firmansyah as saying that SPS has given the assets of three companies owned by Herman Ramli to guarantee the fund in SPS, however their value is very much lower than the above mentioned embezzled amount. Further, Kompas reported that the Customers may submit their claim starting Monday, 12 January 2009.
According to Detik the JSX was shocked by this case, because Herman Ramli was known as a man of integrity and has no criminal record, no one think that he would face a similar experience like his brother Rudy Ramli, former President Director of Bank Bali, who was imprisoned in the year 2000 for embezzlement of fund and violation of bank transaction regulations amounting to Rp 589 Billion.

Considering that any misuse of funds in a financial institution would affect public trust on the said institution and other financial institutions as well, therefore this case should be settled immediately & justifiably, otherwise the economy would be affected.

The Astro TV Case

The Indonesian Ministry of Communication & Information has warned PT Direct Vision, local provider of ASTRO TV, that its broadcasting license may be terminated if it does not resume operation by 20 January 2009.

Kompas quoted the Ministry's Director of Communication & Information Facilities Freddy Tulung as saying that according to the Broadcasting Law, License of a TV broadcasting company that has not operating for three consecutive months may be requested for termination with a District Court. Whereas, PT Direct Vision has stopped broadcasting since 20 October 2008. The Ministry has asked PT Direct Vision several times about the cessation of broadcast and about three matters that concerns public interests: its Customers, its Employee and provider of Broadcasting Contents.
But, PT Direct Vision only replied with their letter 6 January 2009 to inform about their conflict with the Malaysian providers of its broadcasting contents i.e MEASAT Broadcast Network Sdn, Bhd, All Asia Multimedia Networks, and Astro All Asia Network plc. In a letter dated 20 October 2008, PT. Direct Vision mentioned that they have to stop broadcasting because ASTRO Malaysia refused to extend the ASTRO Trademark Agreement and also stopped the Satellite Transmission of their TV Programs.
Meanwhile, Tempo reported that when it stopped broadcasting, PT. Direct Vision has 270,000 Customers and 5,000 employees.

Considering the above, I hope that the Ministry of Communication & Information would make sure that any decision would not inflict losses to the former Customers and Employees of PT. Direct Vision.

Image:AstroTV

The "Unsafe" Deposit Box

As normal people, many of us keep our valuable things among others very important Documents Jewelries, and other precious things in the Safe Deposit Box of a Bank where we keep our money.

It is obvious for us to keep them there, because banks are used to keep our money, therefore should be trusted to safeguard our valuable possessions. This perception and the fact that we paid for the Safe Deposit Box, make us forget about the bank’s written warning that they would not be responsible for any loss of things that we placed in the Safe Deposit Box.

Apparently, this perception is also shared by other people who kept their valuables in the banks, one of which is Ivonne Santoso who has been reported by GlobalTV News last Friday that she has lost Rp 5 Billion worth of Jewelry that she kept in a Safe Deposit Box at the BII Bank in Jalan Thamrin, Central Jakarta.
Due to this fact, Ivonne, accompanied by her husband and Lawyer, has reported this case to the Police of Central Jakarta who immediately conducted investigation at BII Bank, Thamrin Branch. In an interview with Suara Pembaruan, the Head of Investigation of the Central Jakarta Police i.e. Commissioner Suwono Nainggolan said that there is a possibility that this robbery involves some one working at BII. He further said that this is the second time Valuables has been missing from Safe Deposit Box of BII Thamrin Branch.

The above news has opened my eyes to the fact that when it comes to Safe Deposit Box a Bank would treat its Customer as taken for granted. Although the Customer pay the rental of the Safety Box, however the bank would not be responsible for any loss. Thus, in this case the function of a bank is similar to that of a Car Parking Management Companies who accept money but refuse to be responsible for any lost. Especially that this incident has happened before in the same bank.

Pic:BigFoto

27 Toxic Cosmetics

Many women would do anything to look and feel beautiful, that's a well known fact. They would consume almost anything at any price that would make their skin looks better. The fact also shows that some men want to change the color of their skin too, Pop Singer Michael Jackson is one of them. That is why there are so many Cosmetic Brands produced by many different companies circulating in the markets. But, unfortunately, not all of the products are good for usage by human beings, many of them are even contain Chemical elements which are Hazardous for human beings.

In this regards, on Wednesday 26/11/08 the Drugs and Food Supervision Board (BPOM) has announced the prohibition of 27 brands of Cosmetics products that contain Hazardous Chemicals i.e. Mercury, Retinoic Acids & Coloring Agents used for Paper and Ink. According to BPOM's Chairperson Husniah Rubiana Thamrin, use of such Chemical Elements by human being is very dangerous: can lead to burns, black spots, skin cancer, permanent nerve damage, liver failure and even miscarriages. She said “The chemical ingredients found in the products, especially the coloring agents, are usually used for paper, fabrics and ink. They’re very dangerous to humans ”. For that reason BPOM has confiscated 3,555 of those products which are manufactured in 3 different countries i.e. 11 in Japan and China, 8 in Indonesia, and the last 8 not known yet, and most of them are not registered with BPOM. Here is the list of those Cosmetics products as mentioned by Kompas :
1. DOCTOR KAYAMA Night Cream
2. DOCTOR KAYAMA Day Cream
3. MRC PUTRI SALJU Cream
4. MRC PS Crystal cream
5. LOCOS anti-fleck vitamin E
6. BLOSSOM day cream
7. BLOSSOM night cream
8. CREAM MALAM
9. DAY CREAM VITAMIN E HERBAL
10. NIGHT CREAM VITAMIN E HERBAL
11. IBU SARI DAY CREAM
12. CREAM MALAM
13. MEEI YUNG (White)
14. MEEI YUNG (Yellow)
15. NEW RODY SPECIAL (White)
16. NEW RODY SPECIAL (Yellow)
17. SHEE NA Face Cream
18. AILLY CAKE Eye Shadow
19. BAOLISHI Eye Shadow
20. CAMEO Make Up Kit 3-in-1
21. CRESSIDA EYE SHADDOW
22. KAI Eye Shaddow & Blush On
23. MEIXUE YIZU eye shadow
24. NUOBEIER Blusher
25. NUOBEIER Blush On
26. NUOBEIER Pro-Make Up Blusher No.5
27. SYUTSU eye shadow
Those products are sold at various prices, some of them are even very expensive. According to The Jakarta Post, PUTRI SALJU, which is produced by Ngongoh cosmetics in Bekasi is priced at Rp 1.5 million (US$120). The BPOM had discovered it was being produced in a small beauty shop inside a chicken market. An employee of the company formerly known as Doctor Kayama said all its products had been withdrawn a few months ago, including from counters at its mall outlets. The clinic, on Jl. Barito, South Jakarta, has changed its name to GMT Gold Clinic and stopped producing all such products.
Nicole Rebecka, a 28-year-old consumer of Doctor Kayama cosmetics, said she had once had a bad reaction to one of the company’s creams.
Putri K. Wardani, Mustika Ratu vice president director and member of the Association of Cosmetic Companies in Indonesia (PERKOSMI), said many dangerous products were still in circulation in markets, even though the association and BPOM always consulted with the cosmetic industry on preventive measures.
From a legal point of view, those who are involved in the manufacturing, trading and distribution of those Hazardous Cosmetics violated the Health Law No. 23 Year 1992 Article 23, with a maximum punishment of 5 years imprisonment or maximum fine of Rp 100 Million. Beside that they also violated the Consumer Protection Law No. 8 Year 1999 with a max. punishment of 5 years imprisonment or Fine of Rp 2 Billion.

Considering the dangerous effect of those Chemical Elements in those banned Cosmetics products, it would be better if we, especially women, are extra careful when buying Cosmetics products. Beside that, we hope that BPOM and the law enforcement agencies would closely monitor the market so that would not be circulating anymore.

Image:Dreamstime

Dangerous Jamu

Male Vitality Supplement is the best selling product in Jakarta and vicinity, this can be seen from the fact that there are many advertisement of those products on the streets. Among them, are products categorized as Chemical Medicines like Viagra, Cialis etc. Besides, there are also products categorized as Traditional Medicine like Blue Moon, Tripoten, etc.

The producers of both category of products are competing to grab market share for their products. Each of them claiming their advantage compared to the other. The Traditional ones are very popular because the producer claimed that they only contain Traditional Ingredients such as Herbs, and do not contain Chemical Elements. And they are Freely sold at cheaper prices compared to the Chemical ones.
For many years, no one ever contradict the Chemical Free claim of the Traditional products. Then last Friday 14 November 2008, Media Konsumen reported announcement of the Board for Supervision of Medicines, Food and Beverage (BPOM) regarding the cancellation of registration of 22 brands of Male Vitality Supplement products. According to BPOM Chairman i.e Husniah Rubiana, the Traditional products contains Chemical elements i.e. Sildenafil Sirat and Tadalafil which would be Hazardous if mixed with Traditional elements. The 22 Traditional Supplements are :
1) TRIPOTEN, produced by PT Dexa Medica
2) BLUE MOON, produced by PT Pacific Healthcare Indonesia
3) CALIGULA KAPSUL, produced by PJ Air Madu
4) COBRA X CAPSUL, produced by PJ Ragil Sentosa
5) HWANG DI SHEN DAN, produced by Ruifeng Phamaceutical
6) KUAT TAHAN LAMA SERBUK, produced by PD Jamu Moro Sehat
7) LAK GAO 69, produced by PJ Jaya Sakti Mandiri
8) LAVARIA, produced by PT Rama Farma
9) MACCA GOLD, produced by PT Paramitra Media Perkasa
10) MANOVEL, produced by PT Sari Sehat
11) OKURA, produced by PT Herbalindo Sukses Makmur
12) OTOT MADU, produced by PT Rama Farma
13) RAMA STAMIN, produced by PT Rama Farma
14) SANOMALE, produced by PT Prydam Farma
15) SARI MADU CAPSUL, produced by PJ Sari Madu Murni
16) STANSON, produced by PT Rajawali Sukses
17) SUNNY ZANG WANG ZION YING DAN PILL, by PT Cahaya
18) SUNNY ZANG WANG ZION YING DAN CAPSUL
19) TERAZA, produced by PT Rama Farma
20) TOP ONE CAPSUL, produced by PT Taladipa
21) URAT PERKASA KAPSUL, produced by PT SM Jaya
22) ZU MEX, produced by CV Mega Maju Mekar
Husniah Rubiana gave an example that TRIPOTEN contains TADALAFIL which is a Chemical Element used in the Chemical Medicine CIALIS. Usage of which could cause body pains and even permanent loss of sex potential.

The above announcement is very surprising because all the Products bear Registration Numbers issued by BPOM and have been circulating in our market for a long time. Some of them are popularly known by people as VERY SAFE to use, such as BLUE MOON. Of course as normal persons, the people in BPOM can always make mistake when they issued the Registration Numbers. But 22 mistakes going on and on for a long time is very difficult to understand. Moreover, this announcement would mean that production of the products should be stopped and many workers should stop working, thus another Labor problem for the government to handle.
Let us hope that in the future BPOM would always be very careful whenever they want to grant registration for Medicines, Food & Beverage products.

Image:BigFoto

Anti Tobacco Lawsuit

We all know that cigarette smoking is very unhealthy, this fact is clearly mentioned on the warning on every package of cigarettes. And in the year 2003 the World Health Organization adopted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which urged for the limitation of Cigarette smoking, among others by imposing higher Tax. It has been ratified by 157 countries, except for Indonesia. This is an irony, because according to the National Economy and Social surveys conducted in 2003-2005, Cigarette is the Second biggest expenditure of poor families in Indonesia, after Rice. However, it is seemingly very difficult to control the sales-purchase of cigarettes, perhaps because Cigarettes contributes high revenue for the government, and its factories absorbs many workers. Maybe those are the reasons why the Tobacco Bill is still pending in Parliament (DPR) since 2005.
Sick and tired of the situation, on 19 July 2008, four Anti Tobacco NGOs i.e the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), the Jakarta Residents Forum (FAKTA), the Institute for Combatting Smoking (LM3) and the Coalition for a Healthy Indonesia (KUIS) filed a lawsuit against the government and 2 cigarette manufacturers, with the District Court of Central Jakarta. The objectives are to force the government and parliament to ratify the World Health Organization's FCTC, and to make the Parliament to finalize the Tobacco Bill by the year 2008/2009. As usual, the Court asked the disputing parties to settle the dispute amicably, but somehow mediation broke down at the end of August. Until 10 October, no progress has been made because the government representatives were not present.

Considering that cigarette smoking in Indonesia has reached a very alarming situation whereby we can easily see every day people from all walks of life, smoking cigarettes almost everywhere, it is about time to intensify the anti tobacco campaign. This doesn't mean that cigarettes should banned, only limitations should be more strict, for example by forbidding smoking in public places.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Made in Indonesia!

In the early '80s, our government launched a campaign in the mass media, advising citizens of our country to consume Made in Indonesia products. The effect was good in the sense that it has made us aware that we should prioritize buying and using products made by our fellow citizens. Unfortunately, this good effort ended in the mid '90. After that, not only that we have not been advised to use our own products but foreign products seemed to have been granted 'free entrance' to our country, especially after we actively participated in international organizations which foster free trade i.e WTO, AFTA, APEC etc. Our marketplace became full of seemingly good imported and cheap products. Slowly but surely our industries became weakened. For example the Textile industry is now very weak compared to 10 years ago, because their products cannot compete with imported Textiles, so in order to survive they have to a.o scrap their machinaries. I know this for sure because I worked with a Steel Manufacturing company whose raw material is Steel Scrap supplied a.o by those Textile companies. With the existence of Dangerous Melamined Milk products, it is about time that we all start buying and using Made in Indonesia products, whose prices are actually not so different but surely much safer than imported ones. Let us hope that our government will start campaigning Made in Indonesia products once again, and imposing strict policy on imports of goods that can be made here.