Saudi Arabia Beheads an Indonesian Worker

The authoritarian regime of Saudi Arabia has carried out a death execution on an Indonesian female worker namely Ruyati on Saturday in the country's western Province of Mecca.

The execution was carried out by using a barbaric middle-age-method i.e cutting-off the head of Ruyati with a sword.

The SPA news agency quoted an official of the Saudi Interior Ministry as saying that Ruyati was found guilty of murdering Khairiya binti Hamid Mijid by hitting her in the head with a meat chopper and stabbing her in the neck.

A spokesman of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry i.e. Michael Tene criticized that the execution was done  without observing international practices related to consular protection. He said that the Ministry was aware of the case and Ruyati has confessed to the murder, but was not informed of the timing of the execution.

Meanwhile, according to his spokesman, President SBY expressed his condolence over the death of Ruyati.

I would like to expressed my deepest sympathy and condolence on the death of Ruyati. I hope that her family would be given the strength to live without her.

I also hope that our government would show much stronger reaction toward the Saudi government and try its very best to stop more beheading of our workers in the future.

Sources :
-  Saudi Beheads Indonesian Woman Convicted of Murder (Kompas)
-  Indonesia Criticized Beheading of Maid (The Jakarta Globe)
-  President saddened by Ruyati execution: spokesman (The Jakarta Post)

Kartini Day 2011

Today, 21 April, is the Kartini Day i.e. a day that people of Indonesia celebrate Kartini's struggles for woman's emancipation.

I have not written a special article on this topic, so I will share with you articles related to Kartini that I have read on the blogs of fellow bloggers.

Blogger Triesti's article (http://osculate.blogspot.com) titled "Kartini Day" described that the celebration is now reduced to a day of wearing Kebaya i.e. traditional dress that women usually wear to celebrate the day. 

Blogger Sawali's article (http://sawali.info) titled "Semangat Kartini dan Nasib Tragis TKW" which means : "Kartini's Spirit and the Tragic Faith of Women Workers", talked about women working in countries like Saudi Arabia who were treated very badly by their employers, some even died. One of them is Darsem, from Subang, West Java, who is facing death penalty in Saudi Arabia. 

The terrible thing was that the Speaker of the House of Representatives i.e. Marzuki Alie said that Darsem's faith is bad for our country's image. He also said that Darsem was treated violently because she was foolish.

I hope that the celebration of the Kartini Day would not only be just a tradition, but should be more than that. For which purpose state officials and other public figures must have more respect on women's rights, that they are equal to men. The government must make sure that every women who wish to work abroad must be given enough trainings and will be well protected. The House of Representatives must supervise the implementation.  .

International Women's Day

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the International Women's Day.

According to Women Watch, the day was commemorated for the first time on 19 March 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, following its establishment during the Socialist International meeting the prior year. More than one million women and men attended rallies on that first commemoration.

During International Women's Year in 1975, the United Nations Organization began celebrating 8 March as International Women's Day. Two years later, in December 1977, the U.N General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions


According  to Wikipedia, in different countries the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.

In many countries, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the original political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

According to the site International Women's Day 2011,  the United Nations Organization has declared the theme for this year's is :  Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women.

In this connection I wish every women in the world a happy International Women's Day.

A Maid Brutally Tourtured in Saudi Arabia

Many Indonesian women have been working in countries like Saudi Arabia where women are discriminated by men, therefore legal protection is limited.

Due to that country's closed society, many of those women have been treated very badly by their employers but cannot do anything.

One of those unfortunate women is Sumiati (23) who just worked there for three months but has frequently been inhumanely tortured by her Saudi masters using hot iron, scissors and other tool until almost paralysed.

The Indonesian government has strongly protested this brutality, and will dispatch a fact finding team headed by the Minister of Empowerment of Women Linda Agum Gumelar to Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Ambassador to Indonesia has call on the Indonesian government not to over react and asked them to trust his government's efforts to handle the case.

I hope that our government would make sure that this case would be investigated properly, anyone who are  responsible would be tried in Court and punished accordingly, so that our workers can work peacefully abroad.

Sources :
- Housemaid viciously abused, says Indonesian diplomat (The Saudi Gazette)
-  President demands ‘all-out’ action in maid abuse case (The Jakarta Post)
-  Saudi Arabia Asks Indonesia Not to Overreact (Kompas)


Photo :  Courtesy of The Saudi Gazette

Train Wagon for Women

Last Thursday, the state owned train company PT KA introduced the first women only wagon.

Please find below an article that I have quoted from Kompas.

I wonder whether this will be followed by special wagons for other sexes i.e. men, bisex, homo/lesbians.

Harassed or Touched by Men during Rush Hours

Jumat, 20 Agustus 2010 | 14:06 WIB

Reuters

Women board a women-only carriage of a commuter train in Jakarta August 19, 2010. Two men entered the carriage by mistake and eventually got out. The Indonesian train operator launched women-only carriages to protect women from sexual harassment on public transportation, a local television reported on Thursday. 

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — As the train rattled into Indonesia’s capital, 19-year-old Wiwit Wahyuningsih plopped down on a soft, pink-cushioned seat in a carriage newly designated exclusively for women.  It was a great feeling, the university student said, knowing she didn’t have to worry about being ogled at, pinched or even groped.

“The trains are always so packed, there are thousands of people crammed up against one another,” she said as she arrived at her station, books tucked beneath her arm. “Especially during morning and evening rush hours, it’s very common to be harassed or touched by men, intentional or not.”

Indonesia, a secular nation home to the world’s largest Muslim population, is often held up as a beacon of modernity. Women wearing headscarves — for religious reasons, fashion or in some cases to avoid unwanted attention — can be seen walking alongside friends in shorts and tank tops in glitzy shopping malls. Flirtatious teens fill coffee shops and male and female co-workers sit side-by-side at outdoor food stalls.

Except in mosques or religious schools, segregation between the sexes is rare.  But the state-run train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia decided to set aside two cars in an eight-coach commuter train that runs between the capital and outlying suburbs after being flooded by letters of complaint from women.

As they increasingly enter the work force, women now account for half the 500,000 passengers riding the train in the greater Jakarta area every day.  The new train service for women had a soft launch on Thursday and went into full swing Friday.

“We need to protect them,” said Makmur Syaheran, a spokesman for the company, adding that if the service is a success, it could eventually be expanded to other trains in the sprawling archipelagic nation.

Stories about sexual harassment have made headlines in local papers in recent months and have filled up commentary pages. They also have become popular topics on blogs and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Coincidentally, the controversy peaked just as two high school students posted a video on YouTube showing themselves singing to “Keong Racun,” which translates as “Poisonous Snail,” about a slimy old man who relentlessly pursues a completely uninterested young girl. With more than 3.6 million views, the teens, and the song, became an overnight sensation.

Women packed into the train, quickly filling up the 58 seats in each of the two male-free cars. Many reached in their bags for mobile phones and immediately started sending text messages or making calls.

Others, who couldn’t find a seat, crouched down in front of their friends to chat, or grabbed onto the swinging ceiling handles.   Asmawati, an acupuncturist who for 15 years has traveled into Jakarta daily to treat private clients, said she was impressed.

“It feels so relaxed, I love it,” said the 41-year-old who, like many Indonesians, goes by only one name. “Clean, air conditioned, no one bothers you ... I hope they keep it up.”
      
Yanti Sumarni, 28, agreed, describing how a man once pressed up against her and then leaned his head on her shoulder.  “I hated it,” she said as her friend Helena, added: “If anything, two cars isn’t enough. Look! There are more than 200 women here. It’s a good start, but we really need more.”
      
Government officials were quick to point out that it is not obligatory for women to use the carriages. They’re free to ride with men in the other six cars if they so choose.       

Imam Prasodjo, a sociologist from the University of Indonesia, said any form of segregation, especially in public places, can be viewed as a setback in a modern, newly democratic society. But the women-only carriages should be considered in the context of the country’s strong tradition of  egalitarianism.

“In this case, it really has nothing to do with discrimination,” he said, noting that, while sexism undoubtedly exists, men and women do work alongside one another in rice fields and in tall office buildings. “It’s about making their journey safer. I think most people will welcome that.”

Indonesia is not the first Asian country to offer same-sex carriages. Neighboring Malaysia recently reserved several pink coaches for women. Japan has offered the service during morning rush hour for years. And in India, female passengers have entire trains to themselves.

Females and Cigarettes in Jakarta

The survey of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that in 2004 there was a very sharp increase in the  numbers of females smoking cigarettes in Jakarta compared to the year 2001.

Perhaps that was the reason why in 2005 the provincial government of Jakarta introduced an Anti-Smoking by-law which require Smoking Area to be located separately from Non-Smoking Area. It seems that this was not effective that on 6 May 2010 the government completely banned smoking in buildings.

More details are available on the article of The Jakarta Post that I have quoted below. Happy reading.

Anti-smoking campaign targets women, girls

Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 05/30/2010 9:58 AM | Headlines

Tobacco doesn’t discriminate by gender or age. People who smoke cigarettes — men or women, young or old — will suffer the negative impacts.

This view was shared during the “No Tobacco Show”, a one-day event organized by the National Commission on Tobacco Control on Saturday in Kuningan, South Jakarta. The event drew 1,500 people from 22 schools in Greater Jakarta.

The event was set up to disseminate information to young people and women on the dangers of smoking ahead of World No Tobacco Day, which falls on May 31.

Committee chairwoman Laks-miati A. Hanafiah said the commission organized the event in response to the rise in the number of women and teenage smokers in Jakarta.

The latest data from the Central Statistics Agency show the prevalence of smoking among women
in Indonesia had tripled to 4.5 percent in 2004, with the highest increase among teenage girls aged 15 to 19.

The number of teenage smokers has grown almost tenfold from 0.2 percent in 2001 to 1.9 percent in 2004.
Laksmiati said that this worrying trend was caused by ubiquitous cigarette advertising in media and public places that conveyed false information.

“All those ads are misleading. There is no safe limit for cigarettes. The only thing that is safe is to stop smoking,” Laksmiati said, referring to commercials offering cigarette products claiming to have lower amounts of nicotine.

She added the event would help people find the real message behind the advertisements.
At the event, students from different schools displayed their own anti-smoking campaigns to help get the real message across to the public.


A participants coming from state vocational high school SMKN 8 in Pejaten, South Jakarta, exhibited a ghost house to demonstrate the dangers of smoking.


Some of the students dressed up as ghosts with heavy mascara and pale makeup standing in front of a poster with information on cigarettes.


“We want to warn people that this is the result you meet when you smoke,” said 10th grader Leni Nuraini, who was dressed as an angel of death.


Laksmiati acknowledged the importance of involving the youth as well as women in the war against tobacco because they were the next target for cigarette companies.


The commission plans to hold a seminar to raise awareness among women to contribute to the war against tobacco, she added.
This commission believes personal initiatives from individuals were important for the success of the anti-tobacco movement, especially in light of the failure of the local government to enforce regulations prohibiting smoking in the capital.


The Jakarta administration introduced the first anti-smoking bylaw in 2005, but its implementation is seen as a failure. The bylaw required smoking areas to be separated from non-smoking areas.


The administration has tightened the rule since May 6 this year by banning smoking completely in buildings. 

The public, as well as authorities, have questioned the effectiveness of this policy. Indonesia is the world’s third-largest tobacco consumer.

A Man detained at a Women's Prison

Alterina Hofan, a married man, is being tried at the District Court of South Jakarta for allegedly falsifying his birth certificate.

The strange thing about this case is that the Prosecutor has suspected that Alterina was born as a female, therefore he was detained at the Pondok Bambu Women's Prison.

Please find below an article in The Jakarta Globe for more details on this case..

Alterina Hofan with his wife, Jane Deviyant. He has been arrested for allegedly falsifying his birth certificate, with prosecutors saying he was born a woman. He is being detained at a women’s prison. (JG Photo/Zaky Pawas)

Gender Confusion Lands Suspect in Women’s Prison 

Although Alterina Hofan says he is a man, authorities think otherwise and have detained him at Pondok Bambu Women’s Penitentiary for allegedly falsifying his personal data.

Alter, as the 32-year-old is also known, said he was born a boy but because his male genitalia did not develop properly when he was a baby, his mother decided to registered him as female, even dressing and treating him as a girl. However, he says he grew up thinking he was a boy.

Only when he was in his teens did his penis finally develop, Alter added.

Doctors at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Central Jakarta, Alter said, had diagnosed him as suffering from Klinefelter’s syndrome, a sex chromosome disorder which reduces testicular hormone production and can result in abnormally small testes and underdeveloped genitalia.

Alter was reported to the police by the mother of Jane Deviyant, 23, a deaf girl he had married in Las Vegas in September 2008. The woman’s mother, who was a friend of Alter’s, believed he was a woman, not a man.

Alter said he had always felt he was a boy growing up, adding that when he was in elementary school, he would always ask to wear trousers and not skirts.

Alder said he was physiologically a man and could perform sexually as such. “Just ask my wife,” he said.

But law enforcers beg to differ, arguing that the results of a lab examination had showed that he was a woman.

Sugiyono, assistant for general crimes at the Jakarta prosecutors’ office, said that although Pondok Bambu initially declined to accept Alter because he appeared to be a man, its warden relented after being given an explanation by prosecutors.
“The rejection was because of misinformation,” Sugiono said, “she is really a woman.”

Mother-in-law Maria Grace, who opposed the marriage, reported Alter to the police in October for falsifying personal data on his birth certificate. Alter said it had been unofficially altered by his mother to rectify the initial mistake.

Sugiyono said the indictment had been forwarded to the South Jakarta District Court and a trial was imminent.

Alter said that as a result of his chromosome disorder, he had grown breasts. “My breasts grew but not big,” he said, adding that he had them surgically removed in Canada in 2006.

“Jane knows that I have undergone breast reconstruction,” he said.

The couple was introduced by Grace in Singapore, where Jane was visiting during holidays from her business administration studies in the United States. Despite Grace’s objections, Jane and Alter met in secret and, eventually, also married in secret.

When Jane finished her studies and returned home, however, Grace found out about the marriage and forbade her to contact Alter. In the end, Jane left her mother to join her husband.

Grace had initially reported Alter to the police for allegedly abducting Jane, but the investigation was later dropped because Jane said she had gone with him willingly.

Jane said she could not accept being separated from her husband. Although Alter was not detained during the police investigation, he was taken into custody on Thursday once his indictment was filed with the court.

“If he is detained I want to be detained with him,” Jane said.

“I am really happy. Please, mother and father, do not separate us. I know what I want.”

Happy Kartini Day

21 April 1879, was the birth date of Raden Ajeng Kartini, a woman who has been regarded as the pioneer of woman’s emancipation movement in Indonesia.

Kartini was born to a royal family in Jepara, Central Java, went to a Dutch school , but was forced to end formal education at 12 and “ secluded at home”, a practice among Javanese nobility at that time to prepare young girls for marriage. In spite of this fact, Kartini kept studying at home and corresponding with some intellectual people in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia at that time), and in the Netherlands, in which she wrote about her wishes and expectations for Indonesian women in the future.

In 1903, her parents forced her marry the Regent of Rembang, Central Java, who already have three wives. But luckily, her husband understood Kartini’s dreams and allowed her to set up a special school for girls. Kartini died after giving birth to a son in 1904.

Since Indonesia proclaimed its independence on 17 August 1945, many of our women have shown that they are professionally capable similar to men in government offices, as well as private entrepreneurs. We once had a woman president, cabinet ministers, governor, mayor, regent, members of parliament, et cetera.

Unfortunately, we also have many women working abroad without sufficient legal protection from the government although they sent lots of money back home.
Besides, the largest Moslem organization in Indonesia i.e. Nahdatul Ulama( N.U), recently declared that girls are allowed to marry under the age of 16 which is the minimum age stipulated by the national Marriage Law.

Considering the above, I would like to wish all Indonesian women a Happy Kartini Day. I hope that all Indonesian women would have a better future.

Prison Cells for Rich Criminals

I used to think that prisons are places where criminals are punished for their crimes. And from stories that I read in the newspapers/magazines/books, and watched on TV/movies, I thought that that prison cells are bad places to live.

Due to this reason, I was shocked when the media reported about the existence of Prison Cells for rich criminals at the Pondok Bambu Women's Prison in Tangerang, Banten. Here is article that I quoted from The Jakarta Globe.

Artalyta in the middle of a beauty treatment in her cell's social room on Sunday night. (Photo courtesy of Media Indonesia)

Indonesian Prisons Pamper the Rich
Amid public outrage over the revelation that moneyed convicts could serve their prison sentence in luxury, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar on Monday promised quick action and sanctions, even as inmates and prison officials rushed to deny the reports.

On Sunday evening, the judicial mafia task force made a surprise visit to East Jakarta’s Pondok Bambu Women’s Detention Center on a tip-off.

The team discovered high-profile inmates such as Artalyta Suryani — who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 for bribing a top state prosecutors with $660,000 — enjoying special privileges, including a karaoke room, spa treatments, air conditioning and LCD televisions.

“There are special facilities, yes. I think we cannot deny that,” said Patrialis, adding that he had ordered a thorough investigation into the team’s findings. “I will take action against anyone responsible.”

He said prison officials would be rotated to prevent them from becoming “a little king with his little kingdom in a detention center.” Prison bosses would also be asked to report to him directly each week about their jurisdictions.

But Pondok Bambu’s director, Sarju Wibowo, denied that Artalyta and convicted drug dealer Limarita a k a Aling had special accommodations.
“This room is for our women’s organization [Dharma Wanita]. The women have been using this for karaoke practices, kasidah [Islamic music group] and Koranic recitals. This room is utilized by many people, not only by one,” he said, referring to a large room that was allegedly Aling’s. The so-called cell had an adjoining private karaoke room with dark wallpaper. Both rooms had wall-to-wall carpeting.

The karaoke room was almost bare on Monday, save for an LCD television. Boxes full of electronics, including a desktop computer, were outside the room along with a sofa, a refrigerator and another television.

Sarju claimed that 10 inmates were using the room daily, while staff held karaoke nights and singing practices.

“I am their karaoke coach,” Aling told the Jakarta Globe. “This is not my room. My room is the 2-by-3 [meter] one in Block E. This belongs to Dharma Wanita,” she said, pointing to the organization’s mission framed on the wall.

“Now all the equipment has to be taken away. We will have no more karaoke practices, and that’s sad,” said Muryani, an officer in charge of inmates’ activities. She said the room would now be restored to its original function: a coaching and handicraft room.

In Artalyta’s living room, where task force officials caught her having a facial with a laser, the bulky cosmetic equipment and several pieces of furniture were gone by Monday. A group of inmates instead focused on producing handicrafts there on a mat on the floor.

The room had a baby corner with a crib, a stroller and toys that Sarju claimed Artalyta had bought. Babies younger than 10 months old are allowed to be with their mothers in the prison.

Sarju denied the cosmetic treatments, saying the laser was to treat a “thick blood condition.” Sarju also said Artalyta had a doctor’s letter confirming her illness.

Artalyta shares a separate cell with another inmate, Asmiyati. It has a queen-size bed with a pink duvet, air conditioning, a TV and an exercise machine.

Elsewhere in the prison that was designed for 540 inmates, 1,160 detainees live in cramped quarters. Some cells, designed for eight, housed 25 inmates.