Jakarta the Big Durian - 2013

The city of Jakarta, officially known as the Special Capital Region of Jakarta headed by a Governor, is Indonesia's political, economical and cultural center.

Jakarta is located on the northwest coast of the island of Java, with a population of more than 10 million people, it is the most populous city in Indonesia and in South East Asia, with a land area of 661 Square Kilometers.

Together with the neighboring towns of Bogor, Depok, Tanggerang and Bekasi, Jakarta formed the metropolis of JABODETABEK (JAkarta BOgor DEpok TAnggerang, BEKasi) with a total population of around 28 million people living on a total land area of 6,392 Square Kilometers.

The city has a terrible traffic jam from early morning to late evening not just during work days, but some times during holidays too. Lack of mass rapid transportation has forced most citizens to use their own vehicles i.e. auto cars and/or motor cycles.
An effort has been made to set up a mass public transportation i.e the Transjakarta busway system however considering that it was operated on existing road and limited bus units therefore it failed, so people keep on using their personal vehicle and the roads are getting more and more crowded every day.
The Jakarta government and the central government have planned to develop a mass rapid transportation  (MRT), and a Monorail system.

Further, many parts of the city are heavily  inundated by floods during rainy season, because the level of many parts of the city's land area, especially the northern part, is lower than the sea level, decreasing water reservoir area and clogged waterways.  Although an anti-flood control canal has been built on the eastern part of the city, but it failed to reduce the area effected by the flood.
In every five years, the rain falls much heavier in Jakarta and surrounding area, therefore causing much more devastating floods. The last terrible flood happened in 2007.

Furthermore, the city has so many slum area where the low income citizens i.e. majority of citizens live. beggars/tramps at traffic lights, food hawkers scattered in so many parts of the city, trashes, etc.

Because of the above reasons Jakarta has been given the nick name The Big Durian i.e the name of tropical fruit (picture above) which is full of thorn on the outer skin but contain delicious fruit inside and has a very strong odor which is loved by most Indonesians but probably not by Westerners.

Jakarta can be described as quite similar to the Durian i.e. it does not look good/friendly on the outside but has lots of good things on the inside especially because Jakarta is a Melting Pot of the various people in the country. Most of its citizens come from other parts of Indonesia, they bring along their cultures, languages, foods, etc. to the city.

I have visited many places and I still think Jakarta as the best place for me.

Jakarta in State of Emergency

                        Downtown Jakarta inundated by flood (The Jakarta Globe)

In the last three days the rain falls heavily in Jakarta and neighboring towns of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.

             President SBY (blue shirt) inspecting flooded Palace (The Jakarta Globe)

And today, Thursday 17 January, the heavy rainfall has caused severe flooding in most parts of the city forcing many government and business offices to close because their staffs cannot come to work.
The media reported that thousands of people in Jakarta and vicinity have been forced to leave their homes, the Presidential Palace was flooded that President SBY (the above photo) has to rescheduled his meeting with Argentinian President from morning to afternoon. The Busway transportation network has to stop its operation at 9.15 am, and trains from out of town must stop at certain train stations that are not flooded, cannot reach the city's downtown.

                                          Flooded residential area (Kompas)

According to an official of the Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysical Agency the rainfall could get worse in the next few days.

Considering the above facts, the Governor of Jakarta Joko Widodo a.k.a Jokowi, has placed the capital city under state of emergency starting today until 27 January 2013. The announcement was made after he discussed with the Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare and the Head of National Disaster Mitigation Agency at his office earlier today.

Under this emergency status, the municipality government to take extraordinary actions to respond to the flooding crisis. According to Jokowi, this is a short term solution for the flood which enable the government to purchase necessary things like toilets, blankets and other needs without going through a tender.

Meanwhile, the Police and the Army has send their men to help victims of the flood. 

The Dirty Candidate Judge

I always think that Judges of the Courts of Law are high quality people who would always think, talk and act fairly, wisely and extra careful based on the Laws, Tradition and Moral Standard.

These requirements are very important so that Court Judges can be expected to pass fair and non-biased verdicts.
For that reason, the recruitment and selection of new Court Judges should always be doe extra careful by a team of high quality and reliable public figures. 

Unfortunately, the above mentioned requirements seemed to be difficult for certain Candidate Judges to fulfil,

The Jakarta Globe reported that during a fit and proper test of new Supreme Court Judges by the national Parliament on Monday 14 January, a Candidate Judge i.e. Daming Sunusi, gave a very shocking and insensitive statement when he was asked about Death Penalty for Rapist.

Daming Sunusi, a senior Judge with the High Court of South Kalimantan, said :
“Both the rapist and the victim enjoy it. So, [we] have to think again about death sentence.”

This crazy comment caused mixed reaction among members of Parliament, some of them think that it is a joke, others protested. However, in the end the members of Parliament urged that Daming Sunusi should not be selected.

I hope that the Parliament would reject Daming Sunisi, and the Supreme Court would reconsider his eligibility and qualification as a High Court Judge.

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).

Indonesian Maids for Sale

News about female Indonesian citizens working as Maids/Housekeepers in Malaysia always seems to attract news reporters in indonesia.

Desi Anwar: ‘Indon’ Maids for Sale
Desi Anwar | November 03, 2012

Unlike some of my friends, who are more than ready to take up arms against neighboring Malaysia over some little flyer advertising “Indonesian maids for sale,” I’m inclined to view the offending material with a less uncharitable spirit. After all, it was not a product of diplomatic correspondence, nor was it aired as a 30-second spot commercial on national TV. It was just a piece of paper most likely produced by someone who probably copied the idea from an ad selling vacuum cleaners.

“Indonesian maids now on SALE!!!” The modest flyer screams. “Fast & Easy Application. Now your housework and cooking come easy. You can rest and relax.” The offer also comes with an attractive 40 percent discount and a cute little cartoon drawing of a maid complete with knotted headscarf and mop and bucket, much like you would see on Tom and Jerry.

Obviously this was done by someone who, despite a limited knowledge of English, understands the market and has access to what seems to be an abundant supply of the commodity (maids) to satisfy an existing demand (homemakers who can’t wait to rest and relax and have their housework and cooking come easy).

The hefty discount can only mean that the supplier can’t wait to offload the goods as quickly as possible, probably the supplies were smuggled in or didn’t come with the necessary papers. Which makes me suspect that rather than the culprit being Malaysian, it might have been street savvy, creative Indon — how Indonesians are referred to next door. We know that only Indons have the guts and are crafty enough to bend the rules and fiddle with the system wherever they go. In Malaysia, Indons are notorious for being thieving, trouble-making illegal migrants. After all, the country is one crazy democracy ... and the purveyors of maids because we do produce a lot of maids.

Many firms specialize in making money from “selling” maids. They can almost be classified as headhunters or employment agencies placing professionals. Instead, they entice uneducated, unskilled young women from the poor parts of the country who need to make money for their families but with little chance of getting work in their hometowns, and offering them to households overseas who find elbow grease beneath them.

These maids don’t provide a service, in that they work for set hours and then go home, but they are bound to the house 24 hours a day, paid a minimal wage and if they’re unlucky enough to have horrible employers, vulnerable to all sorts of mental and physical abuse.

Many of these placement agencies, especially the shady ones, are little more than human traffickers, often extorting a huge amount of money from these women with the promise of paid employment. Or, they’ll take a few months’ salary out of their wages as payment for the placement. Often, these women are abandoned before they reach their destinations, or their lives are at risk in the hands of smugglers plying leaky boats.

Here, we call these workers “heroes” to mask the fact that the country can’t provide them with jobs at home and because their remittances bring needed income to their families who would otherwise increase the country’s poverty rate. We are proud of the foreign dollars they bring, though we’re ashamed of what they stand for: low-skilled, abject and doing tasks that no respectable person would.

For middle-class city-dwellers, however well we treat them, at the end of the day they come and go with the sole purpose of cleaning, washing, ironing, cooking, babysitting and serving us hand and foot. We house and feed them, give them a monthly retainer and keep them at the back of the house.

In developed countries, unless you live in “Downton Abbey,” these duties belong to us. That’s why it’s often hard when expats have to go back home. Here, they have plenty of opportunity to rest and relax, because cooking and cleaning come easy.

Desi Anwar, a senior anchor at Metro TV, can be reached at desianwar.com or dailyavocado.net.

Are We Serious in Fighting Illegal Drugs ?

I always think that the circulation of Illegal Drugs in Indonesia has reached a very dangerous level, that our country has been dubbed by some news media as a haven for illegal drugs.

Those who have members of families and/or friends who are Drug Addicts/Junkies would know for sure that they would would do anything to satisfy their needs for illegal drugs, including lie, steal or even kill.

For that reason I always hope that the Courts of Justice in Indonesia would pass heavy punishments to anyone involved in the trade of illegal drugs as stipulated  by the Anti Narcotics Law No 22/1997 Article 80 i.e maximum Death Sentence, and the Anti Psychoactive Drugs Law No. 5/1997 Article 60 i.e maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison. Please read here for details.

Unfortunately, the facts show that the above laws have not been implemented properly. Those who were involved in Illegal Drug trades have been punished lighter than they supposed to be.

For example, last Friday President Susilo Yudoyono (SBY) granted Clemency to an Indonesian drug trafficker that has been sentenced to death by the District Court of Tangerang, Banten, the High Court and the Supreme Court. And last May, President SBY trimmed five years off Australian drug convict Schapelle Corby's 2 years prison sentence. Please read here for details.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court revoked the punishment of an Illegal Drug Lord i.e. Hengky Gunawan, from Death Sentence into a 15 years Prison Sentence. Please read here for details.

The saddest thing is that the above lightening of punishments were done based on the reason to upheld human rights of those Drug Traders/Dealers. I wonder whether the human rights of the Drug Addicts/Junkies and their families and friends have been forgotten.

Deadly Student Fightings in Jakarta

On Monday 24 September, two groups of students from two neighboring high schools in South Jakarta, i.e. SMA 6 and SMA 70, fought against each other using knives and other sharp weapons, causing the death of a student of SMA 6, Alawy Yusianto Putra.

Two days later on Wednesday 26 September, two other groups of high school students i.e. SMA Yayasan Karya 66 and SMK Kartika Zeni in Manggarai, South Jakarta, causing the death of Deni Yanuar of SMA YK 66.

On the same day, Susilo, a student of SMK Mahardika, East Jakarta, was stabbed by two students of another high school, luckily he was able to be brought to the hospital on time so his life has been saved.

The above three fighting were parts of many decades of fighting among students of high schools in Jakarta that seemingly cannot be prevented by the schools' management, students' parents and the Police.

In this connection I would like to quote an interesting opinion of blogger Unspun as follows :

School violence has been around in Jakarta for the better part of at least the past 25 years. Each time there is an intensifying of violence, the Government and others make the appropriate concerned voices and vow to put it to an end.
Then the problem ebbs from the headlines and everyone forgets about it…until the next spate of violence. This is a big pity because the ways of combating the violence have been discovered and even applied to at least one school. The solution is there but it’s all forgotten.

Considering that the student fighting is getting more deadly and regular every day, I hope that the government, the school management and parents of students would be more serious in finding ways to end such fighting.