Elections Preparations

The Parliamentary Election (9 April 09) is still two months away yet rivalry among candidates is heating day after day.

Faces of the candidates appeared on street banners, TV, newspapers/magazines, etc. making big promises which are often confusing and boring. For example last Thursday evening, Laksamana Sukardi of Partai Demokrasi Pembaruan/PDP (Democratic Reform Party) told the audience of MetroTV about his plans, while actually the audience asked him about his achievements.
And there was the polemic between Megawati and President SBY regarding the latter’s decision to decrease fuel several times as reported by Kompas.
The latest one is the uproar caused by President SBY’s allegation that some Army and Police generals are waging Anti S campaign as reported by Detik.
Moreover, there is the verdict of the Constitutional Court which ruled that the election would be determined by majority votes, which according to The Jakarta Globe is protested by female activists who feared would lessened their chances to be elected.

This year's election is troublesome because there are 34 political parties competing, but only those which win 20% of the vote can name a candidate for the presidential election next July. Thus, although there are many people who want to be president, incl. 4 retired generals, only 2 will have a chance i.e. President SBY and former President Megawati.
On top of that, the elections would costs more than Rp 3 Trillions according to Nielsen as quoted by Kompas, which is too much to waste at a time when we are facing a global economic crisis.

As a conclusion I felt that the election candidates should do their very best to win the hearts of the people in order to be elected, and to keep their promises after they are elected.

The Obama Dolls

Many parents would be happy if their children become models for dolls, but many others would be unhappy like the U.S First Lady Michelle Obama.

According to Law.com Mrs. Obama was unhappy when Ty Inc sells the “Marvelous Malia” and “Sweet Sasha” dolls which resembled her two daughters Malia and Sasha. Mrs. Obama's Press Secretary stated that “it is inappropriate to use young citizens for marketing purposes”.
People has given mixed reaction on this matter, some say that the Obamas can take legal action to stop the sales, but others doubt it because the Obama family are public figures.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that TY Inc.'s spokesperson Tania Lundeen insists that the dolls have nothing to do with the Obama kids.

What happened to the Obamas in this case shows that public figures, especially the top ones, should be willing to sacrifice some of their privacy. In this regards, I hope that our present & futures leaders would be willing to sacrifice their thoughts, energy and time for the happiness of our people.

Image:TyInc.

Fatwa about Voting

" A Moslem who does not vote during the election day, is committing a Sinful act(Haram) ", according to the decision (Fatwa) of the Indonesian Moslem Cleric Council (MUI) last Monday, 26 January 2009.

The Jakarta Globe reported that the Speaker of the National Parliament (DPR) Agung Laksono described that MUI has went too far in this case because voting is a political matter, not a religious matter. And our constitution has stipulated that voting is a political right that cannot be forced. However, the said Fatwa was welcomed by the Speaker of the People’s Consultative Council (MPR) Hidayat Nurwahid, who hoped that it will improve the performances of the government, the General Election Committee (KPU), the legislative candidates and the political parties participating in the election.
Meanwhile, Kompas reported that said Fatwa has been supported by the General Election Committee and the People‘s Development Party (PPP) but criticized by two non profit organizations i.e. Lingkar Madani and Setara Institute who both described that the Fatwa would not be useful, because it cannot be enforced legally.

In conclusion, I say that although according to our legal system a Fatwa of MUI is not part of our positive law, therefore could not be enforced legally, however considering MUI is the highest Moslem religious authority said Fatwa will surely have moral impact especially among people living in rural area.

Happy Chinese New Year

Image:Greetings123

Obama & Ilham Anas

Last night hundreds of millions of people around the world focused their attention on the TV live report of inauguration of the new President of the United States of America Barack Obama.

In Indonesia, Obama is very popular because he has spent 4 years of his childhood living in Jakarta with his American mom, Indonesian step father and a sister. His popularity is so high here that the mass media continuously gave reports about him. Some has even sought and found men who looked like Obama. The most similar one being Ilham Anas, photographer of HAI teen magazine, who appeared in last night’s TransTV show Bukan Empat Mata hosted by Tukul Arwana. Ilham told viewers that his friends at the magazine have distributed his photograph in mailing lists, soon after his photo appeared in Singapore, Australia, and the Philippines. The audience who attended the show looks happy to know and see Ilham Anas who looked similar to Obama. According to Tempo, due to similarity with Obama, Ilham has been reported by international press such as AFP, Reuters, The Daily Express, Fox News, etc. A Filipino Pharmaceutical company has bind him with a one year contract to pose as a model for their commercials. In one TV commercial he appeared with look alike President Arroyo. Ilham is popular there that a Filipino website Pinoy Chronicles called him 'Pinoy Obama'.

In conclusion, I felt very happy that we have Ilham Anas who has been able to make people, in Indonesia & abroad, laugh to see that his face is similar to Obama. I hope that the 'real' Obama would also be able to bring happiness to people around the world, especially in Indonesia.

Pic:NEWS.com.au

Israeli Internet Offensive

Israel is launching offensives on the Internet to support its war against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, that’s whats the new media said and what I have personally experienced.

The MNC News reported last Thursday that Israel is using the Internet as part of its strategy in the war against the Palestinian people, though its website/blog/e-mail.
And this morning the website Gulf News wrote an article titled: Israel wages a public relations offensive reporting about Israeli’s efforts to use the news media to improve their image.
Beside that, I have my own experience being victimized by Israeli Internet offensive when I placed Google’s Advertisement (Adsense) on the right side of this blog. I agreed to do so because Adsense mentioned that the Advertisements would be suitable with the contents of this blog i.e. things related to the Indonesian Laws, therefore 2 weeks ago I placed 3 display boxes each with a size of 200 x 200 promoting 2 different offers for services/goods, totaling 6 offers. But to my surprise, 3 of the offers were regarding Israel, only 2 regarding Indonesia and another one from other country. Therefore, I changed the display boxes into size: 200x90 as can be seen on the right side of this blog, each box showing 5 offers mostly about Indonesia.

The above experience surprised me because I am neither ANTI nor PRO any party in the Gaza Strip War, as shown in my previous postings in this blog which is specifically about things related to Indonesia. But I am against any acts of Injustice & Violence.

Carlos Slim Helu

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“An Indonesian man black mailed World's No. 2 billionaire?”

That’s the question that I asked myself after reading The Jakarta Globe about Ahmad Rusli who demanded Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim Helu to pay US$ 55,000,000.00 for the website www.carlosslimhelu.com.

Ahmad Rusli, who operates the website: ahmadrusli.com, has told an Arbitrator for Website Disputes by e-mail that he registered the site to protect it for Carlos Slim Helu, and he made the demand so as to get the billionaire’s attention. In this connection, last Wednesday, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has ruled that the registration was based on Bad Faith therefore should be transferred to the billionaire.

This case is very interesting for me because I never imagine that a fellow Indonesian could ever do such a bad thing to a top international businessman. In order to know more about Ahmad Rusli, I tried to open the above mentioned websites but failed to do so. It seems that he has vanished into the thin air.

Pic:CarlosSlim

Roy Suryo

In the last few years, Roy Suryo has claimed himself as a Telecommunication expert, and as such he has frequently made high profile statements regarding the photos/ videos of well known public figures in the news media. This has made Roy as famous as his victims.

But considering that his statements were often premature yet arrogant, his victims would release counter statements to defend themselves. His disclosure of photos of the torture of Agung Setiawan has caused Ananda Mikola and Marcella Zalianty very angry. And his statement regarding the use of our Red & White Flag by the band Dewa, has angered Ahmad Dhani. As a result, lawyers of Roy's victims have initiated legal actions against him.

While his feuds with Ananda Nikola and Ahmad Dhani are still unsettled, Roy has angered two sexy actresses Sarah and Rahma Azhari by stating that the photo of their nude photo is real, which imply that both women deliberately let their photo taken. Due to this fact, their lawyer Farhat Abbas accused Roy of violating information ethic, and on 31 December 2008 Rahma Azhari filed a complaint with the National Police Headquarters. Angered by this action, on 8 January Roy reported Farhat to the General Election Supervision Board (Bawaslu), saying that Farhat as a Candidate for Member of Parliament has violated the Election Law by keep on practicing as a Lawyer.

As a person who believe that everyone in this world is born with a purpose, I have a strange feeling that actually a man like Roy Suryo is needed at a time when our country is facing financial crisis i.e. to distract people's attention from the miseries caused by frequent rise in prices of basic living necessities. That way peace and order can be maintained. Only God knows the truth.

Pic:KapanLagi

Abducted by the CIA

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a Rolling Stone
That's the ending lyric of Bob Dylan's Song Like A Rolling Stone which tells about a person who is alone and lost.

I haven't heard that song for more than 10 years, but yesterday I suddenly start to hum the song once again after reading an article in The Jakarta Globe about the release of Muhammad Saat Iqbal after being detained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for seven years without any Court Trial.
Iqbal, a Pakistani, was suspected by the CIA as member of Al Qaeda capable of making a Shoe Bomb. He was arrested in a joint operation between the CIA and Indonesia's State Intelligence Board (BIN) during his visit to Jakarta on 9 January 2002. Two days later, he was flown to Egypt, then Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay where he was detained for five years. During all those time Iqbal was badly tortured but no criminal charges was made against him. And when he was released in August 2008 he had difficulty walking, his left ear was severely infected and he was dependent on antibiotics and antidepressants. Due to these facts, Iqbal's American Lawyer Richard L. Cys of Davis Wright Tremaine, who visited him in Guantanamo, planned to sue the American government for the unlawful detention of Iqbal.

What happened to Iqbal is terribly awful. No human being can be treated so cruel by another human being, no matter what he/she has done, especially if he/she has never been proven guilty of any crime. I sincerely hope that it would never happen again to anybody else in the future.

Image:AnimationLibrary

Gaza Strip Tragedy

In 1948 the state of Israel was establised in teritory regarded by the Arabian people as belonging to Palestinians. Since then Arab countries have declared several wars against Israel, and every time the Indonesian government and people, including news media, would always take side on the Arabs.

In order to know the reason for such 'blind' support, we need to take a look at our country's historical & religious backgrounds:
1)The religion of the majority of Indonesian people is Islam which originated in Saudi Arabia
2)The basis of Islam is the Holy Qur’an which is (legitimately) written in Arabic
3)Many Indonesian Arabs become leaders of Islamic groups/ institutions in Indonesia
4)Our Constitution recommend our country's participation in preserving world peace
Such support is clearly shown when the Gaza Strip fighting between Palestine and Israel fighting broke almost two weeks ago, whereby according to The Jakarta Post the Chairman of the Indonesian Moslem Cleric (MUI) has urged Indonesian to boycott products Made in U.S.A as the supporter of Israel. Further, many radical Moslems has volunteered to go to the Gaza Strip to join the fight against Israel.

However, when fighting between both parties escalates from Rocket fire exchange to ground offensive by the Israeli causing more than 500 Palestinian dead, I noticed that there has been a shift in opinion. In this regards The Jakarta Globe has quoted the Chairman of the Indonesian Press Unity (PWI) Ichnasul Amal as saying that our news media were biased against Israel and “clearly siding” with the Palestinians. Further, the Chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Nezar Patria was quoted as saying that our media should include peaceful perspective in their reporting, and it would not trigger religious tension.

In conclusion, I felt that although our historical & religious back grounds have placed Arabs as favorites, and we do not condone killing of innocent people, however we must also remember that the wars/fighting between Arab & Israel is caused by Territorial dispute over the Land of Palestine, thus not a religious dispute, which can only be settled through negotiations. On the contrary, radical emotional support would not not end the suffering of the Palestinians.

Image:Mideastweb

Welcome 2009

Happy new year, Happy new year .....
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbor is a friend
Happy new year, Happy new year ......
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I
(Refrain of the song Happy New Year by ABBA)

Many things that have Happened and Finalized in 2008 will become memories, and many others which are not yet finalized will become our Home Work for 2009. In Indonesia, there are so many works which have not been completed in 2008, therefore should be finalized in 2009, included therein matters related to the Laws & Regulations, a.o. as follows:
1)Judicial Reviews of many existing Laws a.o Anti Porn Law;BHP
2)Corruption Cases a.o Sisminbakum;Consulate in Malaysia;
3)Celebrity cases a.o Marcella;Roy Suryo etc.
4)Lapindo Mudflow in East Java, which is still unsettled
5)Illegal Logging in many parts of Indonesia
6)Disputes over election results, a.o. in East Java
Beside that, in 2009 we will have two Extremely Important National Agenda i.e. the Parliamentary Election and Presidential Election.
All the above will be carried out amid the worsening impact of the Global Financial Crisis.

In this regards, I would like to quote the words of famous Fortune Teller Mama Lauren in Trans7 show Bukan Empat Mata last night that our country's economic condition will become worst this year. Therefore it would be advisable for each and everyone of us, especially leaders, to be very careful in whatever we do, so that stability can be maintained.

As a conclusion, I felt that in spite of all the challenges that we and our country will face in 2009, as long as we remain cool, keep our hopes high, stick together and work extra hard, we will be able to survive successfully.

Pic:BigFoto

Happy New Year 2009

Image:123Greetings

Merry Christmas

Microchips for Aids Patients

HIV/AIDS Virus has been spreading very rapidly in our easternmost province of Papua.
In this regards,Info Papua has quoted the Head of Papua AIDS Prevention Commission i.e. Constant Karma, as saying that there are an estimate of more than 14,000 people in Papua who have been infected by the virus, more than 2,000 of which are positively infected. But, various mass media reported that the actual number of people who has been positively infected by the virus totals 5,000 which is 15 times higher than our National average.

According to some experts, the main cause of the HIV/AIDS explosion in the province is very poor Education, lack of Condoms and Traditional Promiscuity related to Tribal Rituals of exchanging sexual partner. Efforts have been made by the provincial government and non profit organizations to socialize information regarding the danger of HIV/AIDS and ways to prevent it but the spread of the Virus doesn't seem to slow down. Some agencies predicted that if more serious efforts is not made to stop the spread, as many as 7 percent of the population could be infected within the next two decades.

Panicked by this devastating effect, a member of the province's parliament (DPRD), i.e John Manangsang, last week has suggested the controversial measure of implanting Microchips on "Sexually Aggressive" HIV/AIDS patients, so that their behavior can be monitored. The Jakarta Post quoted him as saying: "I've been researching it and found online that microchips can be used in humans, so I'm convinced this can help us detect the spread of HIV in society,"

The proposal prompted an angry response from Papuans and from human rights groups.
Considering this fact, the Province's Parliament has dropped the idea, "We have agreed today to drop it," Komarudin Watubun, a deputy speaker in the local parliament, told Reuters. But he said Papua would go ahead with plans to pass legislation aimed at fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Experts in other countries have implanted Microchips on animals, and few cases in human beings, however, many research shows that it would be dangerous if they are implanted on human beings. Therefore, although very serious efforts should be made to prevent and eliminate HIV/AIDS Virus however we should always bear in mind that we are dealing with human beings whose body components are sensitive to foreign objects like Microchips.

Pic:Javno.

Weekly Highlights

Farewell Pak Ali Alatas
Indonesia has lost one of its best diplomat Ali Alatas who passed away last Thursday, 11 December 2008, at the age of 76, because of a heart attack at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital. His body was flown to Jakarta in the evening and buried with military ceremony lead by President SBY at the Kalibata National Heroes Cemetery.

Reduction of Fuel Prices
In the wake of the worsening Gas shortage, the Special Session of Cabinet meeting lead by President SBY on Sunday 14 December 2008, has decided to reduce the prices of Fuels i.e. Premium from Rp 5.500/liter to Rp 5.000/liter, and Kerosene from Rp 5.000/liter to Rp 4.800/liter. These new prices will be effective on midnight of Monday, 15 December 2008.

Raids on Illegal Teachers
The Tangerang Regency government will launch an operation to look for foreigners who who work with Tourist Visa. In an interview with The Jakarta Post, the Chief of Supervision of Tangerang Statistic & Demography Agency i.e. Gatot Gunapria said that there are at least 15 foreigners who overstayed their tourist visa and work as teachers at the British International School, the Japanese School Jakarta and Global Jaya school located at Bintaro Jaya, Tangerang. This information was confirmed by the Chief of the Pondok Aren District i.e. Chaeruddin who said that he knew about schools that employ teachers without work permit.
This article has been commented by Petruk who said that Foreign Teachers working using tourist visas has been and still is the normal practice in many foreign language schools in Indonesia. They enter using a tourist visa, go for a day trip to Singapore and come back in on Kitas. He also said it is the employer who should be punished and asked to provide a Tax Payer Number (NPWP) for those foreign teachers.

Detention of Website Developer
Last Friday, the Attorney General Office has arrested the owner & director of PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD) i.e, Yohanes Waworunto for alleged embezzlement of fees paid through the website: www.sisminbakum.com for setting up New Legal Entities with the Dept. of Law & Human Rights which caused state loss of Rp 400 Billion.
The Jakarta Post quoted Yohanes as saying that the AGO blamed him for having signed a cooperative agreement between SRD and the ministry representatives in 2000. And after questioning Yohanes for 7 hours, the AGO placed him at the South Jakarta District Attorney Detention center.

Enactment of the Anti Porn Law
The Jakarta Post wrote that President SBY has enacted the Anti Porn Law No. 44 Year 2008, in spite of the fact that said Law has been widely protested by many people from across Indonesia, among others KomNas Perempuan, Balinese Governor, who plan to submit a Judicial Review against said Law with the Constitutional Court. According to the President’s special staff for legal affair i.e. Denny Indrayana, the government is not preparing a regulation to implement said Law.

Afganistan Heroin Dealers
The Police has revealed that after investigating for the last few years, they have found the Afganistan Drug Network in Indonesia which is allegedly controlled by a Prisonner at the Pondok Bambu Prison in East Jakarta.
Kompas wrote that the Police has arrested two dealers with 6,119 Kg of Heroin which is the largest quantity of drug they found in 2008. According to the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency i.e. General Susno Duadji, in the last 5 months the dealers have sold 30 Kg of Heroin which worth around Rp 42 Billion based on the calculation that the price per Kg is Rp 1,4 Million. Those Heroin were placed in a biscuit can originated from Afganistan.

Anti Voting Fatwa
The Indonesian Muslim Clerics/Ulama (MUI) may not issue an Anti Voting Fatwa which has been requested by the Chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) i.e. Hidayat Nurwahid.
Persda Network has quoted the Chairman of MUI i.e. Amidhan as saying that such Fatwa is not necessary because those who don’t vote cannot be regarded as committing as Sin.

The Tax Sunset Policy
The period for getting Penalty Free Incentive provided by the Sunset Policy will end on 31 December 2008. There is no news yet about possibility of extension. Therefore better be hurry!

Pic:WorldAtlas

A Lesson from Mumbai

Mumbai a.k.a Bombay is a memorable city for my family, because it was the second diplomatic post that my father was assigned to in his forty years career with the Department of Foreign Affairs. Beside that, Mumbai was the birth place of my late kid brother Dody Lesmana, and also the place where I have spent three years of my infancy.

Due to these reasons, we were saddened by last week’s terrorists’ attack that has brutally killed more than one hundred and ninety innocent people and injured many more others. At the time I type this article, the Indian security agencies are still investigating this matter, but their government has pointed out that the terrorists originated from Pakistan. And the terrorists themselves claimed that they belong to an unknown Moslem organization called Deccan Mujahiddin that struggles for the unification of the Indian region of Kashmir with Pakistan. Meanwhile, according to the BBC reported that some of the terrorists hold certain British papers, although it is still unclear whether those papers are passports or other ID cards.

Facts about India:
India is an industrial country that is also one of the few countries in the world bthat has developed nuclear armament. It has several world class businessmen such as Mittal the Steel King, and many of its educated and experienced people work abroad as expatriates. Due to India's huge population of 1,1 Billion, the economic wealth has not been distributed equally among its people. However, considering that it also has a large number of middle class society, India has been able to make development progress. Since its independence in 1948, India has been able to maintain its reputation as the largest democratic country in the world. One important factor that has made India able to maintain its existence as an independent nation is the ability its government and people to maintain the Rule of Law, whereby Law Enforcement officers are respected for their correct behaviors. Actually, India has similar characteristics like Indonesia i.e. diverse Tribes, Race and Religions. Although majority of its people are Hindus, however they have a minority of Moslems of 160 millions which is almost the same as the population of Pakistan. Due to which facts many problems faced by India are similar to the ones faced by Indonesia, such as regional separatist movements, never ending poverty, tribal and religious disputes, etc.

Considering the above mentioned facts, Indonesia can learn from the tragedy in Mumbai i.e by finding out what actually caused such attack, why can't it be prevented. In which case our Government, Courts of Justice and people should up held the Rule of Law principle i.e. Supremacy of Law, Equality before the Law, and Presumption of Innocence. For which purpose, the National Laws must be obeyed by every citizens no matter what their Religious, Tribal, Racial or Social backgrounds. Everyone must be treated equally, therefore Law Enforcement agencies i.e. the KPK, Attorney General Office the Police, and the Courts must show very strong integrity. Actually our existing Laws are quite good if implemented properly. Our amended Constitution (UUD1945)provides better protection for citizen's right, our Criminal Procedural Law No 8 Year 1981(KUHAP) adopted the Presumption of Innocence principle. We also have the Human Rights Law No. 39 Year 1999 and a National Human Rights Committee. In this regards, the current government has made a good start by making serious efforts to eliminate corruption, proven by the arrest of our President’s in law. Also by conducting close supervision on extreme religious fanatics, and sending their leaders to jail and executed some of them to death. Moreover, the government should also promote the importance of Religious, Tribal, Racial tollerance among our people. If these efforts could be maintained and improved continuously, we would be able to prevent terrorist attacks.

Pic.:BBC

Weekly Highlights

Illegal Aliens in Jakarta:
The operation to curb illegal foreign workers, which is supposed to be carried out on the 3rd and 4th of December, has been postponed by the Jakarta government without any reason. According to the Head of the Central Jakarta Population Section M. Hatta, the fixed date shall be notified later.

Maia Estiaty, an Icon of Toxic Cosmetic:
The famous singer Maia, who modelled for the banned Cosmetic: Doctor Kayama, said that she has been using the brand for 3 years and she has no complain at all. As a matter of fact Maia and other artists are very happy using said brand because it has made them look and feel beautiful.

Joint Decision of 4 Ministers:
Due to the very strong protests made by labors all over Indonesia, the Minister of Manpower & Transmigration, the Minister of Trade, the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Internal Affairs have revised their decision about the Regional Minimum Wage (UMR) increase.
Initially, the Provincial Governors were advised not to increase the UMR higher than the national economic growth. After the revision, they were advised that the increase of UMR should consider the inflation rate.

SISMINBAKUM:
During the Attorney General Office's investigation of the misapproppriate usage of money (Rp 400 billion) earned from management of the Online Administration System, the Chief of Workers Cooperative of the Department of Law & Human Right i.e Ali Amran Djanah has stated that he was forced to manage the system. Said Cooperative was formed by the Minister of Law & Human Rights in the year 2000.

Election Campaign Donators:
Those who donate Ro 20.000.000,- and above to candidatre of parliamentary election should mention their Tax Payer Number (NPWP).

The Tax Sunset Policy:
As the deadline for Tax Amnesty provided by the Sunset Policy Program will come to an end on 31 December 2008, the Directorate General of Taxation shall open its Tax Service Offices during holidays: Saturdays of 6, 13 & 20 December from 7.30 am to 5 pm. Beside that on Tuesday 30 December and Wednesday 31 December 2008, they shall be open until 7 pm.

Pic:Google

World's AIDS Day 2008

20 years has passed since the International Minister of Health Conference declared the 1st of December as the World’s AIDS Day. And all of those time, many casualties has fallen very rapidly year after year, yet we still have not found the medicament which could cure the disease.

We are fully aware that the root of the disease is our own inability to control our own temptations i.e. Free Sex, Drug abuse, however many of us refused to resist those temptations. In our effort to stop or minimize the disease, we have alienated the victims of the disease, and treat potential victims i.e. drug addicts as Criminals, result of which is contradictory to what we planed.

The theme for World's AIDS Day 2007 and 2008 is TAKE THE LEAD. Therefore, let us start to take the lead to do anything that would minimize the spread of HIV/AIDS, as follows:
1) Boost our faith in God
2) Live & Love healthily
3) Avoid changing sexual partners
4) Practice safe sexual intercourse
5) Do not share the use of needle for drugs
Although these actions are much easier said than done, but we have to start now.

GOD BLESS INDONESIA!

Image:KomNasAids

The Abortion Pills

Yesterday evening, I watched a program on one of the local TV station which inform about the circulation of Abortion Pills in big cities of Indonesia that can be purchased online through website.

Considering that Offering Abortion to other people is ILLEGAL in Indonesia, I felt very curious about this news. So, on Sunday afternoon I visited Google and typed the words PIL ABORSI on the Search Box and found several websites offering such Pills, one of which mentioned that the pills can be used to abort pregnancy of up to five months old, with prices ranging from Rp 500.000,- up to Rp 2.000.000,- depending on the age of pregnancy. However, it is not mentioned whether the Pills are registered with our Drugs and Food Supervision Board (BPOM), therefore most likely their circulation is ILLEGAL.
The existence of such websites shocked me because according our Penal Code (KUHPidana) Article 535, Offering Abortion to other people can be punished up to Three Months Imprisonment. If the Consumer is under 17 years old, the punishment can be up to Nine Months Imprisonment (Art. 283). While a Female who commit Abortion can be punished up to Four Years Imprisonment (Art. 346). And the Executor of Abortion i.e Doctors, can be punished up to Five years and Six Months Imprisonment (Art. 348) Exception for Abortion can only be given if the abortion is carried out to save the life of the mother.

Due to the fact that the illegal Practice of Abortion is very dangerous for females, especially if done by unauthorized persons using unauthorized medicament, therefore the above mentioned Laws should be enforced accordingly. For which purpose the BPOM should investigate the medicament/drugs used for the Abortion, and coordinate with the Police to conduct further preventive and repressive actions such as banning the circulation of the Illegal Abortion Pills.

Image:Jasaumum

Ahmad Dhani & Flag

" Ahmad Dhani has done it once again ! " That's what I told myself when I watched this morning's infotainment on RCTV about the video clip advertisement for the new song of his band Dewa 19 "Perempuan Paling Cantik Dinegeriku Indonesia" that has been critized by historian Anhar Gonggong and Telematic Expert Roy Suryo.

Anhar Gongong protested the use of our country's Red & White National Flag as background for Dewa 19's symbol. He said that such inappropriate treatment of our National Flag is a clear humiliation of our National Symbol, therefore cannot be tollerated. In this connection, Telematic Expert Roy Suryo has reported Ahmad Dhani to the Indonesian Police Headquarters - Criminal Division last Friday, 28/11/08. He said that due to the humiliation of our National Red & White Flag, Dhani could be punnished with a maximum imprisonment of 3 months based on Article 21 of the Government Regulation No. 40 Year 1958.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Youth & Sports: Adyaksa Dault said that he has talked to Dhani about the matter and the latter promised to stop the video clip advertisement.
In an interview with Okezone, Dhani denied having humiliated our National Flag, he said that he did not use our National Flag in the video clip, what he use is a backdrop.

Considering that in the past, both Ahmad Dhani and Roy Suryo have been known for their controversial statements which tend to be sensational, it is difficult to tell whether or not right now they are not trying to be sensational again. Now that the case is being handled by our Police, let's wait for the result of investigation.

Image:Ahmaddhani