Do we need the Ministry of Youth & Sports?

Last December, the Minister of Youth & Sports Andi Malarangeng resigned from his position because the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named him a Suspect in the Hambalang Sport Center project Corruption Case.

Due to this fact, President SBY has named the Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare Agung Laksono as interim Minister of Youth & Sport.

And last Friday afternoon, President SBY announced a controversial Democratic Party lawmaker, the self proclaimed IT Expert Roy Suryo as the new Minister.

When Andi Malarangeng was Minister (October 2009-December 2012) the development of Youth and . Sports in Indonesia was not running well. In Sports, especially the never ending conflict between leaders of the All Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) which has been divided into two parts.

And the condition of Youth in Indonesia can be described as not good considering so many fighting among students of schools in Jakarta and other cities.

The worst thing about the Ministry of Youth & Sports was the fact that so many corruption cases happened.

Due to the above, President SBY has tasked Roy Suryo with supporting Indonesian athletes in the upcoming South East Asia Games, eliminating Corruption in the Ministry, and working to re-unite the divided All Indonesian Football Association.

Roy Suryo acknowledged that this would not be an easy job for him considering that he does not have back ground as an athlete or as a famous youth figure.

I hope that Roy Suryo would be successful in doing the above mentioned tasks, otherwise what's the use of  having a Youth and Sports Ministry, much better if it become a subordinate of the Ministry of Education as in the past (during Soeharto era).

Farewell Professor Widjajono

Yesterday afternoon I was shocked when the news media reported that the Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Widjajono Partowidagdo (60) has passed away while he was climbing Mount Tambora (2,851 m), West Nusa Tenggara province.

The Jakarta Post quoted the province's official as saying that Widjajono was exhausted and fainted during the climb.

His body was evacuated and taken back by airplane to Jakarta yesterday evening, and buried at the San Diego Hills Cemetery in Karawang, West Java this morning.

Widjajono was known for his passion for mountain climbing, a sport he started while he was still in high school. He had climbed several mountains in Indonesia including Mount Kerinci, Mount Rinjani and Mount Semeru.

Among the ministers in President SBY's Cabinet, Widjajono can be easily recognized due to his long hair. He quickly received media attention for his down to earth attire, wearing mostly denim pants, batik shirts.

Born in Magelang, Central Java, he was a professor at the Bandung Institute of Technology, and member of National Energy Council and has no political background before he became Deputy Minister.

Before he died. Widjajono argued in many occasions that the government must increase the price of subsidized fuel from present Rp 4.500 (US$ 0.49) per liter to at least 33% to prevent overspending of the state budget.
In spite of this fact, many people are beginning to like him because of his "no nonsense approach" whenever he discussed Indonesia's energy policy in public.

I remember watching Indonesia lawyer's Club on TVOne two weeks ago in which Widjajono outsmarted two politicians/critics of government policies i.e. former Ministers Kwik Kian Gie and Fuad Bawasir.

For me the demise of Widjojono is a big loss for Indonesia. Among the present Cabinet Ministers, I felt that only the Minister of State Owned Enterprises namely Dahlan Iskan who is a non politician, no nonsense and down to earth man. I really hope that more of them would show up very soon.

 Farewell Prof. Widjajono, may you rest in peace.

Photo : Courtesy of Antara

Muslim Preachers to Help Fight Deforestration

The Indonesian government has been trying hard to fight forest destruction for many years with little success.

Due to this fact, the government plan to recruit 5,000 Muslim Preachers (Juru Dakwah) to help the campaign to preserve our forrest.

According to The Jakarta Post, during a meeting of Indonesia's second largest Muslim organization i.e Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta last Sunday, Forestry Ministry Zulkifly Hasan has called Muslim scholars to support the campaign against forest burning and to promote forest preservation and reforestation efforts.

The Muslim Preachers will be recruited from a number of Muslim organizations. They will be given relevant trainings and will be paid about Rp 2 million (US$234) per month. And the program will start later this year until 2012.

This is a very good idea. I hope that it would be successful.

Please Take Action Against Violence

The Minister of Education Muhammad Nuh said in Jogyakarta today that the government is considering plans to include tolerance class as an effort to avoid conflicts among people of different religion, race, tradition in Indonesia.

The Jakarta Globe quoted the Minister as saying that schools were in the “front lines” in the battle against intolerance, which he said was a serious threat to national unity.  He cited deadly attacks against Ahmadiyah, a minority Muslim sect, as well as riots against Christian communities perpetrated by hard-liners.

Frankly speaking, I believe that Indonesian school students have already been fully fed with indoctrination. 

We already have the Pendidikan Moral Pancasila (Pancasila Moral Education) which teaches about the Pancasila as our five national principles i.e. Believe in God, Humanity, Unity, Democracy and Social Justice. But considering the various intolerance that often exists,  I often heard people ask what's the use of having such lesson.

In my opinion what is urgent right now is to start taking actions against anyone or organization that adopted violence. President SBY should be consistent with his promise to take action against such organizations. He must not tolerate Cabinet minister who speak and act differently, like the Minister of Interior Gumawan Fauzi who met and talked friendly with the leader of violent organization FPI soon after SBY threatened to ban violent organizations. This sign of weakness has made FPI reacted by threatening to overthrow the government, which is simply a nonsense.

By taking serious legal actions against anyone or organization that adopt violence it would make others hesitate before using violence. It would therefore make the society feel secured.

The New Finance Minister & his Deputy

This evening President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) appointment Agus Martowardoyo (54), President Director of Bank Mandiri (state owned bank), as Finance Minister to replace Sri Mulyani who will become Managing Director of the World Bank this June.

Further, SBY also appointed Anny Ratnawati (48), currently Director General of Budget of the Department of Finance, as Deputy Finance Minister.

Both top officials can be regarded as suitable choice i.e combination of Agus as a professional banker who successfully led Bank Mandiri (merger of 4 state owned banks) since 2005, and Anny as a carreer employee of the Dept. of Finance. They will be inducted by the President tomorrow.

Nevertheless, Agus needs more than his professional skills to do his new job i.e. serve the people and country.  He must also be able to satisfy the wishes of various political powers in this country if he wants to keep his job until 2014. Otherwise he would only be a victim of circumstances and coincidence like his predecessor.

Media reports related to the above post::
- Banker Who Can Work Miracle (The Jakarta Globe)
- Agus has the Managerial skill as Finance Minister, Analysts says (The Jakarta Post) 
- Anny Ratnawati Dipercayai Jabat Wakil Menteri Keuangan (Antara News) 

Photo: Courtesy of Kompas.

The New Minister of Health

Of the 34 Cabinet Ministers inducted by President SBY yesterday, there is one who is now a focus of media reports i.e. the Minister of Health Endang Rahayu Seyaningsih.

There are two reasons for this controversy, first Endang suddenly replaced President SBY's first choice for the job i.e. Nila Moeloek, wife of former Minister of Health Moeloek.
Secondly, her relationship with her predecessor, former Minister of Health Siti Fadillah Sapari was reported not good.

Endang worked at the Department of Health since 1990, but in 2008, Siti Fadillah dismissed from her position as head of the Department's Research & Development. It was rumored that she was being punished for carrying a virus specimen overseas without informing her boss. Her close relationship with US Naval Laboratory facility (Namru) in Jakarta has made her being suspected as a spy for the said lab.

After the induction ceremony, Endang told reporters that the allegation is not true. She said she will maintain relationship with the US government but not with Namru.
Later, Siti Fadilah also denied that she has accused Endang of selling the vaccine to Namru. However, she hoped that the new Minister would not change the agreement regarding Virus that Indonesia has concluded with the World Health Organization.

For detailed media reports on the above, please click here, here, here and here.

I hope that this matter would be clarified soonest possible, so that the new Minister can fully concentrate on her job.

Photo: Courtesy of Kilas Berita