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278
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LEGISLATION
Lawmakers fail to break
deadlock on election bill p3
Welcome to Jakarta: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (left) talks to French President François Hollande during the welcoming ceremony
at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.
STATE VISIT
RI, France broaden bilateral ties, tackle terrorism
Haeril Halim,
Liza Yosephine and
Margareth S. Aritonang
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
Bonded by the shared experi-
ence of being victims of terrorism
over the past two years, the his-
toric one-day state visit of French
President François Hollande to
Jakarta has opened up a stron-
ger chapter of relations between
the two countries with him inking
agreements with his Indonesian
counterpart to expand the scope of
the existing bilateral cooperation.
The visit of outgoing President
Hollande on Wednesday was seen
as vital to boost the bilateral and
economic ties between the two
countries that have been weak-
ening in the past decade since no
French President had visited In-
donesia for 31 years.
“This is a historic visit. I appre-
ciated the signing of five agree-
ments. I also welcome the initia-
tive to open up the new focuses on
our bilateral cooperation in the
NATIONAL FILM DAY
Homegrown movies gain wider audience
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
This year’s commemoration
of National Film Day has the ul-
timate goal of encouraging Indo-
nesians to do something simple:
Watch Indonesian movies.
An orchestrated initiative from
the government, filmmakers and
the film industry has given people
living in far-flung regions with-
out a theater the chance to watch
movies for free by sending mobile
cinemas or setting up makeshift
outdoor theaters in the weeks
leading up to March 30.
While the movies screened na-
tionwide were selected to fit in
with the main theme of “Celebrat-
ing Indonesian Diversity,” some
film communities have also held
free screenings of arthouse works
by homegrown talents or clas-
sics such as Sjuman Djaya’s 1982
film  RA Kartini  at Kineforum on
Wednesday and the digitalized Bu-
lan di Atas Kuburan  (Moon over
the Graveyard), a 1973 film direct-
ed by Asrul Sani, at selected movie
theaters in Jakarta on Thursday.
President Joko “Jokowi”
Widodo will open the Film and
Art Celebration (FILARTC) ex-
hibition and bazaar on Thursday,
the main event of the day. Until
April 1, an exhibition will be open
at the State Film Company (PFN)
building in East Jakarta, show-
Inside
CITY | p4
City struggles to dismantle
out of control billboards
maritime and creative economy
fields,” President Joko “Jokowi”
Widodo said during a joint press
conference with Hollande at the
State Palace.
In a move to reenergize ties, Ja-
karta and Paris produced a total of
16 agreements worth $2.6 billion.
Eleven of the commitments were
signed by business players from
both countries in various places
in Jakarta.
Meanwhile, five remaining
agreements on the economy, de-
fense, research, technology, sus-
tainable urban developments, in-
novation and higher education
and tourism were secured during
a meeting between Hollande and
Jokowi.
Indonesia was the last country
visited by Hollande, who brought
along a delegation of about 50 busi-
ness people, during his week-long
Southeast Asian trip. He earlier
went to Singapore and Malaysia.
Wednesday’s meeting was not
all about bilateral relations as
Jokowi and Hollande also dis-
Courtesy of Hakim Satriyo
Joko Anwar
casing the history of Indonesian
films and the industry as well as
holding free screenings.
The annual month-long cel-
ebrations seem to have had some
level of success, as last year In-
donesia recorded 34.5 million
people going to cinemas to watch
Indonesian movies, a jump from
16.2 million in 2015.
For the first time last year there
were nine movies with over 1 mil-
lion viewers each, and the mar-
ket share of homegrown movies
increased to 33 percent from 20
percent in 2015. Although local
film’s market share was 56 per-
cent in 2008 and 44 percent in
2009, with two to three new mov-
ies released every week so far this
year, this upward trend is show-
ing no sign of slowing down.
“Last year the government also
completely opened access for for-
eign investment in film produc-
tion, distribution and exhibition.
With these positive developments,
EDITORIAL | p6
Cleaner but not good
enough
WORLD CUP
Bolivia beats Messi-less
Argentina 2-0 in qualifier p9
cussed solutions for world issues
like Palestinian independence and
global peacekeeping missions, as
well as international counterter-
rorism and extremism.
“The two countries agreed to
step up efforts to achieve peace be-
tween Palestine and Israel through
a two-state solution,” Jokowi said.
He asked Hollande to spread the
message of tolerance to the world
and join efforts to eliminate xeno-
phobia as part of a global campaign
to curb terrorism and extremism.
Speaking after Jokowi, Hol-
lande described Indonesia and
France as two countries that
were part of the backbone of the
world’s democracy that would use
dialog as a means to reach peace
in any conflicts on the globe.
Indonesia has the biggest Mus-
lim population in the world and
Islam is the second largest reli-
gion in France. Consequently,
Hollande said that France would
study how Indonesia maintains
peace and unity among its diverse
religions and cultures.
this year marks a new era for the
Indonesian film industry. Now
is the most exciting time for film
people,” said Fauzan Zidni, the
chairman of the Association of In-
donesian Film Producers (Aprofi).
Not only are Indonesian mov-
ies reigning at home, but local
filmmakers have also received ac-
colades at international film festi-
vals and in foreign markets.
With most eyes now on home-
grown movies as the industry is
considered the backbone of the
creative economy, a question re-
mains: What exactly is an Indo-
nesian film?
“There is yet to be a grand strat-
egy agreed on by all stakeholders
in the industry, including the gov-
ernment, on whether the indus-
try will become a spearhead of the
national economy or a commod-
ity for the international market or
even an agent of change in how we
promote the country,” film direc-
tor Joko Anwar said.
He cited South Korea in the
1990s as an example of how the
government, filmmakers and big
capital owners were involved in
transforming the industry that
later became the driving force of
the worldwide Korean Wave.
“As a follow up, they incubated
talents to write strong scripts as the
basic element in film production.”
Acknowledging that the Indo-
nesian film industry was still in
ARCHIPELAGO | p8
Barges damage coral reefs
in Karimunjawa Islands
Reuters/Beawiharta
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Min-
ister Retno LP Marsudi said that
Hollande was aware that no coun-
try was immune to threats from
terrorists. Thus it was important
for Indonesia and France to step up
cooperation on counterterrorism,
especially in sharing intelligence.
Coordinating Political, Legal
and Security Affairs Minister Wi-
ranto said that France and Indo-
nesia also agreed to increase coop-
eration over fighting cybercrimes.
“We are both aware that terror-
ism grows in parallel with the in-
creasing use of cybertechnology.
That is why the focus of the coun-
terterrorism agreement is on cy-
bertechnology,” said Wiranto.
Earlier on Wednesday, the
House of Representatives also
held a legislature-to-parliament
meeting with representatives of
the French National Assembly led
by Jean Jacques Guillet to discuss
various issues around radicalism
and terrorism.
RELATED STORY p13
its infancy, Joko added that the
country’s pluralism and diversity
were unique factors that served
as a challenge for the industry to
find the right formula to create
“Indonesian-themed films.”
“That is the reason filmmak-
ers tend to produce films with
content the public is familiar
with, such as adaptions from nov-
els, comics, or remakes of past
blockbusters or biopics about re-
nowned figures.
“To ensure the variety of mov-
ies, the industry should not be
centralized in Jakarta but instead
should encourage regional pro-
ductions,” Joko said.
Fauzan said there were still
a lot of obstacles to realizing a
thriving national film industry,
including the revision of film tax-
ation regulations, which are con-
sidered a burden on filmmakers.
“The new regulation is expect-
ed to be passed this year, but we
haven’t touched on other issues
such as archiving and the regula-
tion on distribution and exhibi-
tion. There should be a system to
ensure that the government con-
ducts a thorough report of the in-
dustry annually at least. The lat-
est such report was issued in 2013.
Data is paramount to establishing
a sustainable ecosystem for our
film industry.”
MORE STORIES p24
WORLD | p11
Army assesses damage after
storm smashes northern Oz
Tax
amnesty
ends in a
whimper
Grace D. Amianti
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
In just two days, Indonesia will
end its flagship tax amnesty for
good, but the program has lost its
appeal since its early months as cer-
tain targets remain far from reach.
The tax amnesty, which will
conclude on Friday, managed to
raise much hype during the first
phase, when the government re-
ceived more than 370,000 asset
statement letters (SPH) in the
July to September period.
However, the SPH submission
plummeted by half, to 157,000 let-
ters, in the second stage from Oc-
tober to December and continued
its downward trend in January
and February.
The government claims that
its tax amnesty is the most suc-
cessful in the world compared to
similar programs carried out in
other countries, such as India and
Australia.
It attributes the success to
the amount of total declared as-
sets at more than Rp 4.7 quadril-
lion (US$352.77 billion), higher
than the original target of Rp 4
quadrillion.
The same success, however,
cannot be said in terms of penalty
payment and repatriation.
With the remaining two days,
the government is facing the im-
possible in its penalty payment
target of Rp 165 trillion and repa-
triation target of Rp 1 quadrillion.
As of Wednesday, the penalty
payment amounted to 66 percent
of the target, while committed
repatriation reached a mere 14.6
percent.
Moreover, the program is un-
likely to attract 2 million partici-
pants as hoped for by the govern-
ment, with data from the Taxation
Directorate General showing
only 832,631 participants having
joined the tax amnesty.
The Taxation Directorate Gen-
eral has instructed its offices to
remain open until March 31, even
during Nyepi, or the Hindu Day of
Silence, on Tuesday.
“I call all taxpayers to take the
chance [to join the tax amnesty]
in the days remaining,” said Fi-
nance Ministry’s expert staff on
tax compliance Suryo Utomo
on Wednesday.
The tax authority has even
pushed back the deadline of the
annual tax return form (SPT) sub-
mission to April 21 from March
31, so that the SPT will not “inter-
fere” with the tax amnesty.
The SPT deadline extension
was to accommodate taxpayers
participating in the tax amnes-
Asset composition
based on asset
statement letters (SPH)
Rp 1,030t
Rp 4,702t
Rp 3,526t Rp 146t
Repatriation
Onshore declaration
Offshore declaration
Source: Taxation Directorate General
BUSINESS | p13
Bankers compete for OJK
chairmanship in the latest round
THAILAND
Junta seeks law to bring more
order to Buddhism p10
Repatriation equals 14.6%
of target
Tax offices will remain
open until March 31
ty, tax office spokesperson Hestu
Yoga Saksama said, adding that a
technical glitch in the e-filing sys-
tem on Tuesday was also a factor
in the decision.
As it is becoming clear that
several important targets in the
tax amnesty will be missed, the
government is now preparing a
backup plan to secure its tax rev-
enue target of Rp 1.31 quadrillion
this year, an 18 percent increase
from 2016.
Yoga said the tax office was for-
mulating measures for disobedi-
ent taxpayers who still owned un-
declared assets, but decided not
to join the program.
Article 18 of the Tax Amnes-
ty Law stipulates that any unde-
clared asset owned between Jan.
1, 1985, and Dec. 31, 2015, will be
considered as additional income
and subject to a costly penalty,
even three years after the pro-
gram has concluded.
The government will also reac-
tivate a previous Finance Minis-
ter’s Regulation (PMK) on credit
card transaction data transpar-
ency that was signed by former fi-
nance minister Bambang Brodjo-
negoro in March 2016.
The mandatory monthly re-
porting of the transactions by
banks to the tax authority will be-
come extra ammunition to boost
tax compliance.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani
Indrawati has put pressure on her
officials as well.
“I want the tax revenue tar-
get this year to be achieved, thus
you need to work harder for that.
I’m convinced we can achieve the
target working strategically with
good systems and databases,” she
said when inducting several new
officials recently.
Meanwhile, the Center for
Indonesia Taxation Analysis
(CITA) executive director Yus-
tinus Prastowo said there re-
mained a lack of coordination
between the central and regional
administrations to ensure tax-
payers’ participation in the pro-
gram, especially small and me-
dium enterprises (SMEs) that
account for more than 90 percent
of the economy.
“It’s not merely the central gov-
ernment’s fault because region-
al administrations played bigger
roles in mobilizing SMEs in their
regions,” he said.
Penalty payment Realization based on tax
composition payment letters (SSP)
Rp 88.6t Rp 13.4t Rp 111t Rp 13t
Rp 110t Rp 125t
Rp 7.18t Rp 531b Rp 1.15t
SME individuals Non-SME individuals Penalty payment
SME institutions Arrear payment
Non-SME institutions Early evidence payment
2 | HEADLINES
‘Young people can steer family planning program to success’
Melinda Gates is the most powerful woman in the world of philan-
thropy. Named the richest couple on Earth, Microsoft co-founder Bill
Gates and Melinda Gates are pouring billions of dollars through their
charity foundation into their causes. On the sidelines of the National
Adolescents Summit in Yogyakarta from March 21-23, Melinda Gates
shared her views on family planning in an exclusive interview with Rita
Widiadana for The Jakarta Post.
Question: How do you view In-
donesia’s implementation of its
family planning program?
Answer: Indonesian family
planning is a success story and it
continues to be one of the most
exemplary programs in Southeast
Asian countries. It succeeded in
cutting the national total fertility
rate by more than half, from an
average of 5.6 children per wom-
an to 2.6 per woman, although it
still lags behind the target of 2.1
per woman.
I think stories of progress in
family planning are stories of in-
novative partnership with gov-
ernments, civil societies, service
providers and the private sector.
Indonesia has been successful in
forging combined efforts of the
public and private sectors.
I have visited a local health
clinic in Klaten (near Yogyakarta)
to see how family planning ser-
vice is being delivered. I have talk-
ed to health providers, to women
Strong wave takes teachers’
lives in Papuan hinterland
Nethy Dharma Somba
THE JAKARTA POST/JAYAPURA
Lilis Setiawati, 23, an elemen-
tary school teacher assigned to
Bayun, Pantai Kasuari district,
Asmat regency, can no longer
fulfill her service to teach chil-
dren in Papua’s hinterland, be-
cause the 15-horsepower fiber-
glass boat she was on with several
other teachers in the Bayun Riv-
er estuary was hit and sunk by a
strong wave.
Seven passengers of the boat,
including Lilis, were killed in
the accident, while four survived
by swimming and were saved
by locals.
Lilis was a contract teacher as-
signed to elementary school SD
YPPK Bayun. She was undertak-
ing the trip to Bayun on Monday
to assume her duties as a teacher.
“The victim had just signed the
contract with the local adminis-
tration on Saturday,” the secretary
of the Asmat regency Education
Agency, Jacobus Gedu, told re-
porters in Asmat.
Lilis was a graduate of the
Teacher Training College’s (KPG)
undergraduate program in Me-
rauke. Her assignment to Bayun
was her first as a teacher.
As a contract teacher, Lilis
was to have received a salary of
Rp 2.85 million (US$214) per
month. Before departing for Ba-
yun she had already received
her salary for January and
February,
Fredi, a friend of Lilis’, recalled
that on the morning before de-
parting for Bayun she was in high
spirits and looked very happy af-
ter officially becoming a contract
teacher.
FOSSIL FUEL
New emission standard sparks concerns of fuel shortages
Moses Ompusunggu
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
A new emission standard re-
cently issued by the government
has raised concerns of future fuel
shortages as it requires vehicles
to use high octane gasoline that is
scarce in the country.
After a three-year prolonged
negotiation due to resistance
from state oil firm Pertamina,
the Environment and Forestry
Ministry issued a regulation that
adopts the EURO IV emission
level standard, an international
standard on emissions from mo-
tor vehicles requiring automo-
biles use fuel with a sulfur con-
tent no higher than 50 parts per
million (ppm).
The regulation has been issued
despite the oil firm’s inability to
produce high octane fuel locally.
“The government does not
have to ask [all stakeholders] one
by one before creating a neces-
sary law like this,” Environment
and Forestry Ministry’s air pollu-
WEATHER FORECAST: MARCH 30, 2017
Sunny Banda Aceh
Rainy 23 - 31 °C
Medan
Cloudy
22 - 33 °C
Pekanbaru
Source:
Meteorology, Climatology
And Geophysics Agency
23 - 29 °C
DISCOURSE
and to community leaders on
how family planning affects their
lives. I have seen the tremendous
roles of midwives in making the Bloomberg
program successful. A lot of good Melinda Gates
things are happening here, but
the most important thing is to de- and employment opportunities,
cide what to do next. unintended pregnancy and teen
You talked with Indonesian marriage that put their future and
youths at the summit. How do you their health at risk. Young peo-
view them? ple must be given wide access to
I feel their great energy and information and knowledge on
an incredible opportunity for In- reproductive health and family
donesia. The country has a 62 planning services.
million youth population who We have to involve youth from
are entering and are already in the very beginning as problem
their reproductive years. What solvers and architects of solu-
seems to be missing in the In- tions, rather than just as benefi-
donesian family planning pro- ciaries. With that, Indonesia will
gram is involvement of young have healthy, well-educated and
people in formulating and imple- well-informed youth and the eco-
menting programs that suit their nomic returns will be huge. In-
unique needs. donesia will be able to reap its
Young people have the energy demographic dividend in the
to drive change in their communi- coming years.
ties, yet they face huge challenges, Only after the Family Planning
which include limited education Summit in London (FP2020) in
Ill-fated boat: Search and Rescue (SAR) team members carry the bodies of victims of a boating accident
onto Agats Port in Asmat, Papua, on Wednesday. A longboat carrying 11 people capsized around the
estuary of Bayun River in Asmat on Tuesday morning, killing seven people.
Elementary school been traveling with their wives
teacher assigned to Papua and children.
hinterland dies in boat The boat was to have gone to
accident Pirimapun village in Sarfan dis-
trict as its final destination, but it
Asmat regency has no was first to have stopped at Bayun
roads, only access by village to drop Lilis off.
“Lilis was assigned to Bayun,
water transportation so the boat was to have stopped in
Bayun to drop her off,” the head
“That morning at the pier, Li- of Agats Police’s operations divi-
lis was several times willing to sion, Bernadus Saya, told The Ja-
have pictures taken with her karta Post.
friends. We never expected that When the boat was hit by the
it was our last meeting with her,” wave, all the passengers fell into
Fredi said. the river.
The boat sank on Monday in It was not the first time that the
the Bayun River estuary. Eleven fierceness of the southern waters
people were on board of the boat, had claimed lives.
four of whom were teachers. Lilis In February this year, a boat-
was single, but other teachers had load of pastors and nuns from Ba-
tion control director Dasrul Cha- mentation of the new standard,
niago told The Jakarta Post on he declined to say that the com-
Wednesday. pany would import to meet the
Signed by Siti on March 10, the demand of motor vehicles.
regulation will be implemented “It is not easy to decide whether
for new vehicles in the next 1.5 or not to import oil and that Per-
years to give car makers time to tamina will always comply with the
assemble new vehicles that use government’s standards,” he said.
EURO IV compliant technology. Dasrul said the government is
It is expected that the full im- aware that Pertamina might not
plementation of the new regu- be ready to produce high-octane
lation will come in the next four gasoline by the time of the stan-
years after manufacturers are dard’s implementation.
ready to produce diesel vehicles He said that at that time, the
equipped with the technology. country might have to rely on the
Pertamina spokesperson Adi- supply from private fuel retailers.
atma Sardjito said the company “If Pertamina cannot provide
would gradually move to a EURO the oil from its refineries, it has to
V standard, claiming Southeast import,” Dasril added.
Asia’s largest oil firm was opti- Association of Indonesian Au-
mistic that a new refinery in Tu- tomotive Manufacturers (Gaikin-
ban, West Java, and two refineries do) executive Jongkie Sugiarto
under its Refinery Development said the industry welcomed Siti’s
Masterplan Program (RDMP) move, but emphasized the impor-
in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, tance of fuel availability.
and Cilacap, Central Java, would Indonesia is the only country in
start producing higher octane the world to still use RON 88 gas-
fuel by 2023. oline, which is low in quality and
Commenting on the imple- high in sulfur, partially because of
Batam Semarang Denpasar
25 - 31 °C 25 - 32 °C 24 - 31 °C
Jakarta Yogyakarta Samarinda
25 - 32 °C 24 - 32 °C 23 - 26 °C
Bandung Surabaya Palangkaraya
21 - 30 °C 25 - 33 °C 24 - 32 °C
2012 did the world consider family
planning a top priority of the glob-
al development agenda. Why did it
take so long?
Family planning was slowing
down because of shifts of priori-
ties at both national and glob-
al levels. The program stalled in
many parts of the world, in the
developing world in particular,
because of a lack of funding, a lack
of sufficient donors. Social and
political controversy, cultural and
traditional barriers have also kept
the world from this issue. And at
the same time, women around
the world are dying in child-
birth because they have child af-
ter child, and their children also
are dying.
There are over 225 million
women around the world who
still don’t have access to the mod-
ern contraceptives they need to
make these decisions for them-
selves. In FP2020, together with
world leaders, we made a promise
to women around the world. And
I saw stronger commitments
from signatory countries, includ-
ing Indonesia.
How do you link family plan-
ning with the global development
agenda?  ernments up to $6 that can be
For me, voluntary family plan-
Courtesy of Abdul Syah
yun village heading to Agats was
also hit by a strong wave, causing
the speedboat they were on to be
washed ashore and stranded.
A nun, Cecilia Kelbulan, died
after drifting in the middle of the
sea for three days.
Bayun is one of 35 villages in
Pantai Kasuari district. Locat-
ed in the southern part of Asmat
facing the Arafura Sea, it takes a
three-hour journey by speedboat
and four to five hours by a low-
er horsepower boat to get there
from the town of Agats in Asmat
regency.
“The beach in [Kampung Ba-
yun] is muddy during high tide and
mangroves could be seen along it,”
Jackson Umbara, the head of the
WWF office in Asmat, said.
the country’s old refineries.
Some 87 percent of distribut-
ed fuel in Indonesia is Premium,
which has a RON of 88. Pertam-
ina’s year-end 2016 data showed
that Premium consumption con-
tinued to decline, due to the rising
sales of better-quality fuel, like
Pertamax, which has a RON of 90.
Commission for Leaded Gaso-
line Eradication (KPBB) execu-
tive director Ahmad Safrudin said
even a number of gasoline types
with higher RON, like Pertamax,
sold by Pertamina had yet to be
EURO IV compliant.
Gasoline could be considered
as EURO IV compliant if its sulfur
content is no higher that 50 ppm.
Pertamax and Pertamax Turbo
have a sulfur content of 100 ppm,
while Pertalite and Perta-Dex
have sulfur content of 200 ppm
and 500 ppm, respectively.
“Since 2001, we have urged
Pertamina to upgrade its refin-
eries, as it could lower emissions
and increase efficiency in gasoline
consumption,” said Ahmad.
Makassar Ternate
24 - 31 °C 24 - 32 °C
Manado Ambon
22 - 32 °C 24 - 32 °C
Gorontalo Jayapura
24 - 33 °C 25 - 31 °C
THURSDAY March 30, 2017
ning is one of the great public
health advances of the past cen-
ing, water, sanitation and other
public services.
tury.  It is a smart, sensible and Male participation in family
vital component of global health planning has been so limited. How
and development. When women can we deal with this problem? 
are able to plan and to space their Globally, the vast majority of
pregnancies around their goals family planning programs are ori-
for themselves and their fami- ented toward women and girls. 
lies, they are also better able to One of the areas where we are
finish their education, earn an in- still falling short is male engage-
come and fully participate in their ment, that is, to get men and boys
communities. to actively participate in conver-
Their children are more edu- sations about family planning,
cated and better nourished. Fam- contraception, sexual and repro-
ilies are better off, because moth- ductive health and rights.
ers can work. Mothers tend to Male-oriented society, gender
reinvest their incomes back into inequality, cultural and religious
their families. When you multiply factors remain serious barriers
these effects around the world, that must be tackled to help drive
the results can be a gigantic eco- progress forward.
nomic development. In many countries, men are of-
If all women in the world could ten the primary decision-makers
work, global gross domestic prod- about family size, health services
uct would rise by US$13 trillion and family planning methods, yet
annually. It is the reason why in- there are only a few programs fo-
vesting in family planning is of cusing on male engagement. We
such great value.  It is crucial to need to expand dialogue and in-
make the case worldwide. volve men and adolescent boys as
Voluntary family planning is valuable and effective partners.
one of the most cost-effective in- We also need to design pro-
vestments any country can make grams with men and adolescent
in its future. Every dollar spent boys to address myths and mis-
on family planning can save gov- conceptions and help them get on
board to become champions, us-
spent on improving health, hous- ers and supportive partners.
BLASPHEMY TRIAL
NU hints Ahok’s case
politically motivated
Callistasia Anggun Wijaya edged non-Muslim leaders as
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA long as they upheld the principle
of fairness and were competent.
In his final bid to present ex- Citing a part of the book of Ibn
pert witnesses in his blasphemy Taymiyyah, Masdar said Allah
trial, Jakarta Governor Basuki would help a just state even if it
“Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama pre- was led by non-Muslims and with-
sented a noted Muslim scholar hold His help from an oppressive
from Indonesia’s largest Muslim state even if it was led by a Muslim.
organization Nahdlatul Ulama Masdar’s testimony was in line
(NU) on Wednesday, who defend- with another NU cleric, Ahmad
ed him before the judges by say- Ishomuddin, who testified for
ing the accusations against Ahok Ahok last week.
were politically motivated. Ahmad said Surah Al Maidah
NU consultative council mem- 51 was often used during election
ber Masdar Farid Mas’udi, who is seasons to discredit candidates
also the deputy head of the Indo- although it was not related with
nesia Mosque Council, said peo- gubernatorial elections at all.
ple often used Surah Al Maidah In the hearing, Ahok also pre-
51, which some interpret as an in- sented Muslim cleric Hamka Haq
struction for Muslims to not vote from Tarbiyah Islamiyah Associ-
for Christian or Jewish leaders, to ation (Perti), who said that it was
influence Muslim voters during irrelevant for people to refer to a
the election season. Quranic verse when discussing
“This verse has been used in the election because the country
a political context,” Masdar told had its own election law.
the judges. Hamka said Ahok’s comment
Masdar said that people often that Thousand Islands residents
read Surah Al Maidah 51 seper- were being lied to by those using
ately from Al-Mumtahanah verse Surah al-Maidah 51 was justified.
60 section 8, which says that Al- “If there are people who say that
lah does not forbid Muslims from Muslims cannot vote for Muslim
being righteous and just toward leaders, we can say ‘don’t lie to me
those who do not fight and expel because my choice is guaranteed
them because of their religion. under the Elections Law’. That
Muslims are only forbidden statement shouldn’t be deemed as
from voting for leaders who fight blasphemous,” he said.
them or expel them because of re- Meanwhile, the governor also
ligion, he said, adding that Surah presented language expert Bam-
Al Maidah 51 should not be read bang Kaswanti Purwo and Risa
separately from Al-Mumtahanah Permana Deli, a social psychol-
as both talk about leadership. ogy expert who is director of the
Masdar added that Indonesia Center for Social Representation
was a nation state, not an Islamic Studies and European Social Psy-
state, that enabled all of its resi- chology laboratory.
dents, regardless of their religion, Both experts agreed that some
to be leaders. people had misperceived Ahok’s
“As citizens, we have equal rights speech by taking it out of context.
so we aren’t allowed to discrimi- The governor’s speech was giv-
nate against other people by ex- en to promote a fish cultivation
ploiting ethnic, religious or racial program in the Thousand Islands
[SARA] tensions,” Masdar said. regency, however, some people
He added that in historical Is- had focused on the Al Maidah
lamic states it was right for Mus-
lims to have special rights to be-
part, which was not a crucial part
of his speech, they said.
come leaders, but such provisions As of time of writing, the hear-
were irrelevant in a modern state. ing was still ongoing and was ex-
As long as a country did not pected to be finished by midnight.
adopt Islamic law in its legisla- Next week, Ahok is sched-
tion, Islamic law only applied to uled to defend himself before the
its followers, he said. court. The judges expect to hand
Masdar said Islam acknowl- down their ruling in May.
THIS ODD WORLD
Police cite sixth-grader for trespassing
WEST HARWICH, MASSACHUSETTS: Police in Massachusetts served a
sixth-grader with no-trespass orders after neighbors grew wary of the girl
cutting through their properties to get to and from her school bus stop.
The mother of 11-year-old Autumn Blanchard told the Cape Cod Times
her daughter received three pink no-trespass notices from the Harwich
Police Department on March 2. Krystal Blanchard said she was unaware
neighbors had an issue until the police arrived at her door. She questioned
why she was not informed by the neighbors or school officials, who also
knew about the problem.
“I am beyond distressed by this situation,” she said. “I can’t imagine
why it had to go to this level. Someone should have spoken to me.”
Blanchard said she wonders if the fact her family is new to the area and
she and her daughter have brightly colored hair may be causing neighbors
to discriminate against them. The mother has pink hair and piercings while
her daughter’s hair has multiple colors.
“That’s the only thing I can think of, which I think is ridiculous,” said
Blanchard, who contends Autumn is a “nice, polite kid.”
Harwich Police Chief David Guillemette blamed a “breakdown in com-
munication” for the situation. He said police should have met first with the
mother to discuss her daughter’s trespassing.
“I would have preferred if it would have been handled with more tact,”
he said.
Autumn said the cut-through shortened her walk to and from the bus stop,
adding how she “just wanted to get home and be warm inside my house.”
But one neighbor said she was previously sued because a girl fell in her
yard and became concerned when she saw Autumn climbing over debris
from a fallen tree. — AP
THURSDAY March 30, 2017 NATIONAL | 3

Lawmakers fail to break NATIONAL SCENE

Protest greets First Lady in Pekanbaru

deadlock on election bill PEKANBARU: Five environmentalists staged a demonstration by ce-

Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and
Margareth S. Aritonang
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
A House of Representatives
committee tasked with deliber-
ating the election bill, which will
serve as the legal basis for the
2019 general elections, has failed
to reach an agreement on five
contentious issues in the bill.
With the House expected to
pass the bill into law on April 28,
the lawmakers have thus decided
to end the formal discussion on
the issues and begin backroom
deals to resolve them.
The five contentious issues are
the voting system — whether it
should stay as an open-list or be
changed to a closed-list; the num-
ber of seats at each electoral dis-
trict (which will also affect the
number of seats at the House of
Representatives); the methods of
converting votes to seats; and the
thresholds for parties to enter the
House and to nominate and field a
presidential candidate.
Committee member Teuku
Taufiqulhadi said that political
factions at the House could no
longer have formal discussions to
reach a consensus because each
faction had refused to back down
from their position.
“We have reached a point
House ends formal
discussion on contentious
issues in election bill
Deadline for bill’s
deliberation April 28
where we can no longer talk about
it in formal discussions. We have
reached a deadlock. I guess we
can rely on lobbying,” Taufiqul-
hadi said Wednesday.
On the voting system, the Indo-
nesian Democratic Party of Strug-
gle (PDI-P) and Golkar Party, the
two biggest factions at the House,
insisted that it be changed into an
“open-limited” system, which is
closer to the closed-list system.
Under open-limited polling,
voters receive information about
the candidates they vote for,
but it is the political parties that
have the final say in determining
whether the candidates who meet
the quota get a seat in the House.
The rest of the factions still want
to maintain the current open-list
system, where voters vote for can-
didates whose names appear on
the ballot paper and candidates
are elected after meeting the re-
quired quota of votes needed to
win a seat. The system enables the
public to directly choose the indi-
viduals as their representation.
The PDI-P, Golkar and Nas-
Dem Party are fighting to raise
the legislative threshold to 5 per-
cent or 7 percent, from the cur-
rent 3.5 percent. They are of the
opinion that the fewer political
parties at the House, the more
stable the governance because a
government with too many par-
ties in the legislative body would
only result in political turmoil
due to different stances.
Other factions, particularly
middle and lower axis — United
Development Party (PPP), Ha-
nura Party, Prosperous Justice
Party (PKS) and National Man-
date Party (PAN) — rejected the
idea, which they consider as noth-
ing but an existential threat.
Major opposition, the Democrat-
ic Party and Gerindra Party, want
the threshold to stay at 3.5 percent,
while the National Awakening Party
(PKB) is open to all options.
Since the 2019 legislative and
presidential elections will be held
simultaneously, Gerindra Party,
Democratic Party, PAN and Ha-
nura consider that the presiden-
tial threshold was unnecessary,
thus proposing to erase the regu-
lation.
The presidential threshold is
requirement for political parties
to be able to propose presiden-
tial and vice presidential candi-
dates. The current law requires
parties to win 20 percent of seats
or 25 percent of the popular votes
in the legislative election before
proposing candidates.
“We should open the chance to
all parties to compete in the presi-
dential election. [All parties] have
the right [to propose their own
candidates],” Rufinus Hotmaula-
na Hutauruk of Hanura said.
Other parties — PDI-P, Gol-
kar, NasDem and PKS — rejected
the proposal as it would allow too
many people to run in the election,
“Each faction has a reasonable
argument, so we must listen and
consider all stances and work it
out together,” Taufiqulhadi said.
Yandri Susanto of PAN said
that the lawmakers must hold in-
formal meetings outside formal
meetings at the House.
“If we cannot reach decisions
from the discussions, we may
need to vote in a plenary session,”
Yandri said.
Special committee chairman
Lukman Edy of the PKB said he
doubted the lobbying process
would run smoothly. In the end,
he said, the lawmakers would
likely vote to reach decisions over
the crucial points.
“We will likely have to vote.
What can we do instead?” Luk-
man said.
menting their feet in front of the PON monument in Pekanbaru during
a visit of First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo to the provincial capital of Riau
on Wednesday.
Mufidah Jusuf Kalla, the wife of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, as well as
the wives of several other Cabinet members also took part in the visit.
The activists expressed their objection to the construction of a ce-
ment factory in Kendeng, Rembang regency, Central Java, which they
believe will harm the ecosystem in the area, especially the groundwa-
ter, and hence threaten the livelihoods of residents, most of whom are
farmers.
The act of protest was also an expression of solidarity with and
remembrance of Patmi, 48, a Kendeng farmer who passed away while
in Jakarta to participate in a demonstration in front of the State Palace,
where protesters also locked their feet in blocks of cement.
“The government is not pro-people,” said one of the activists, the
deputy director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi)
in Riau, Boy Jerry Even Sembiring. The protesters, mostly members of
Walhi Riau and the Pekanbaru Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Pekanbaru),
wore farmer hats and held signs with pictures of Patmi. — JP
KPK, AGO, police boost cooperation
JAKARTA: The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Attorney
General’s Office (AGO) and the National Police have inked an agreement
to strengthen their collaboration in the nation’s fight against corruption.
One of the initiatives mentioned in the memorandum of under-
standing (MoU) signed at the police headquarters on Wednesday is
the electronic notification on the commencement of an investigation
(e-SPDP). Law enforcement institutions will be able to access the
electronic notifications online, which is expected to improve communi-
cation through the sharing of information and data on corruption cases
handled by the KPK, the police and the AGO.
“We will have the same data and information about corruption
cases across Indonesia,” KPK chief Agus Rahardjo said on Wednesday.
He added that the e-SPDP system would make the sharing of informa-
tion and the handling of corruption cases more effective and efficient.
An e-SPDP pilot program is to be introduced first at the AGO’s junior
attorney for special crimes (Jampidsus), the National Police’s Criminal
Investigation Department (Bareskrim) and the KPK in Jakarta. After
that, the system is set to be adopted in other provinces. — JP

People smuggling

JP/Wendra Ajistyatama
Police guard one Nepalese and two Indonesians suspected of smug-
gling eight Nepalese into Australia through Indonesia.

AGRARIAN REFORM

Local governments may

hamper Jokowi’s policies
Moses Ompusunggu
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
President Joko “Jokowi” Wido-
do is relying on regional adminis-
trations to support his ambitious
land reform and forestry policies.
However, a recent report sug-
gests that poor natural resourc-
es management in many regions
may hamper his reform agenda.
The report, released by the
NGO Indonesia Corruption
Watch (ICW), says regional ad-
ministrations have failed to re-
solve various problems in the
management of natural resourc-
es, particularly in the forestry,
plantation and mining sectors.
The research was conducted
from December 2016 to March
2017 in six provinces — Aceh, Riau,
West Sumatra, South Sumatra,
West Kalimantan and East Kali-
mantan. It specifically assessed
how local administrations imple-
ment the National Movement to
Save Natural Resources (GNP-
SDA), an initiative launched by the
Corruption Eradication Commis-
sion (KPK) to improve natural re-
source governance.
The study looked into three
GNP-SDA components: permit
issuance, anticorruption mech-
anisms and the optimization of
state revenue. The three compo-
nents have six variables with doz-
ens of questions each, such as how
transparent local administrations
are in publishing data and how
they monitor companies’ admin-
istrative and financial compliance.
Based on interviews with the
heads of relevant agencies, the
ICW concluded that regional ad-
ministrations were not yet com-
mitted to transparency and to
implementing the GNP-SDA ini-
tiative. “Local administrations as-
sessed through our research were
not transparent, especially when
they responded to our questions,”
Mouna said.
Another reason for the low
scores gained by local adminis-
trations, Mouna said, was that
“most of them” had not intensive-
ly monitored corporate activities,
as they claimed they “don’t have
the necessary authority” to do so.
The study put West Sumatra in
the first place in the forestry and
plantation sectors, while Riau
was the best in the mining sector.
However, this does not mean
those provinces managed natural
resources well, as their scores are
far below the maximum possible
score, according to the ICW.
West Sumatra scored just 91
out of a maximum 180 points for
the management of the forest-
ry sector, followed by West Kali-
mantan and Aceh with 87 points
each, South Sumatra with 62
points and East Kalimantan and
Riau with 50 points each.
In the plantation sector, West
Sumatra scored 90 out of a maxi-
mum possible score of 160 points,
while Riau only gained 154 of 250
possible points in the mining sec-
tor.
Activists and experts consider
good governance in the forestry
and plantation sectors an impor-
tant factor now that the govern-
ment has turned to the land re-
form and social forestry programs
to reduce economic and social in-
equality. “Bad governance in the
regions will hamper the imple-
mentation of the agrarian reform,”
Hariadi Kartodihardjo, a professor
of forestry policy at the Bogor Ag-
ricultural Institute (IPB) in West
Java, told The Jakarta Post in re-
sponse to ICW’s findings.
Hariadi said the research
showed that the Jokowi’s admin-
istration still had much work to
do, arguing that good governance
of natural resources at the pro-
vincial level was “a requirement
for a successful agrarian reform.”
During a meeting with tribal lead-
ers last week, Jokowi said he had or-
dered regional administrations to
immediately issue decrees acknowl-
edging indigenous groups across the
country — the basis for the Environ-
ment and Forestry Ministry to grant
them rights over customary forests
that were previously concession ar-
eas of companies.
Recently, Abetnego Tarigan,
the chairman of the Presidential
Office’s agrarian reform work-
ing team, said the central gov-
ernment could not work alone in
implementing the program, urg-
ing provincial administrations
to resolve agrarian disputes re-
lated to overlapping land owner-
ship claims between locals and
companies in order to expedite
the land redistribution for speci-
fied citizens, such as smallholder
farmers.
4 | CITY THURSDAY March 30, 2017

GREATER JAKARTA Mud patching

KPU Jakarta to engage public in debate
JAKARTA: The Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) is
set to engage the public in preparing questions for the two gubernato-
rial candidate pairs ahead of the final official debate slated for April 12.
KPU Jakarta head Sumarno said unlike previous debates, all ques-
tions for which were prepared by panelists, the final debate would
raise questions from the public.
“The debate theme will be ‘from residents for Jakarta’, in which
residents may deliver their questions to the candidates,” Sumarno said
on Tuesday at his office in Salemba, Central Jakarta.
Sumarno said further that the commission would select several people
who had limited access to the Jakarta administration and to economic and
social facilities to participate in formulating the debate questions.
“We may engage laborers, auxiliary teachers who have not been
promoted for years as well as street vendors in preparing the ques-
tions,” Sumarno said.
Participating residents must be neutral parties with no political party
affiliation. Therefore, the commission will form a special team to select the
residents who fulfill the requirements set by KPU Jakarta, he said.
Sumarno went on to say that the appointed panelists would assist
the residents in formulating the questions to make sure they did not
discredit or attack any candidate. The residents will have the chance to
directly ask their questions during the debate, Sumarno said.— JP

200 vehicles undergo emissions test

JAKARTA: Some 200 vehicles underwent an emissions test on Wednes-
day in an effort to reduce air pollution in the capital, the Jakarta
Environmental Agency has stated.
“Eighty cars are [the agency’s] operational vehicles, while the oth-
ers belong to our employees,” said the agency’s environmental pollu-
JP/PJ Leo
tion mitigation division head, Agung Pujo Wijanarko.
By 12.30 p.m., he added, the agency had tested around 100 cars. A resident of Setu Babakan, Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, patches up the side of the Setu Babakan small lake with mud on Wednesday. In the past
The test, which was conducted in cooperation with automotive com- few months, the amount of water in the lake has been depleting as the water gate in the area is always open.
pany PT Astra International Daihatsu and Isuzu, was carried out to support
the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s Langit Biru (Blue Sky) program.
Separately, agency deputy head Ali Maulana said the administration

City struggles to dismantle

would repair operational vehicles that did not pass the test.
He said that the environmental agency would gradually test opera-
tional vehicles in other agencies, as well as in the city’s garbage dump
Bantar Gebang in the neighboring city of Bekasi, West Java. — JP

One man’s trash out of control billboards

The Jakarta Post
JAKARTA
With splashy colors and bold
messages, the city’s huge bill-
boards can catch your attention
as you walk or drive past them.
But they can also be a death trap.
As a metropolis, Jakarta is
home to hundreds of billboards.
Last month, a billboard fell in Sli-
pi, West Jakarta, hitting several
vehicles.
With little to no supervision,
billboards have mushroomed
all over the capital, and many of
them have expired permits.
According to data from the Ja-
karta Public Order Agency (Sat-
pol PP), there are at least 300
billboards with expired permits
in Jakarta that needed to be dis-
JP/R. Berto Wedhatama mantled by the end of 2017.
A trash collector walks across the Pondok Ranji toll road gates in Bin- Yet the administration has only
taro, South Jakarta, on Wednesday. The tollroad gates are currently demolished one billboard in Kela-
being renovated. pa Gading, North Jakarta, so far.
Satpol PP head Jupan Royter
said that dismantling the bill-
boards had been going at a snail’s
ELECTION pace because it was a long pro-
cess just to dismantle a single bill-
At least 300 billboards
with expired permits need
to be dismantled
City struggles to
dismantle billboards due
to bureaucracy
“It’s been a long and tough pro-
cess. We can’t be forced [to dis-
mantle billboards quickly] as it’s
something that needs coordina-
tion between many agencies,” Ju-
pan said.
Responsibility for dismantling
the billboards is borne by the in-
tegrated billboard enforcement
team (Tim Penertiban Terpadu
Penyelenggaraan Reklame), con-
sisting of the Satpol PP Jakarta
head as the leader, Jakarta One-
Stop Integrated Services (PTSP),
Jakarta Financial Management
Body (BPAD) and other govern-
ment agencies.
First, the PTSP assesses which
billboards need to be dismantled.
Based on the PTSP’s assessment,
the team will meet to discuss per-
mits, ownership and taxes im-
“We have to make sure the
company has paid their taxes
or it will become a tax debt that
nobody is going to pay for,”
the city’s infrastructure depart-
ment chief, Jhon Bernando Sara-
gi, said.
If an agreement is made to dis-
mantle a billboard, three letters
with different periods of time
ranging from one to seven days,
will be sent to the proprietor as
a chance to take down their own
billboards.
The proprietor has the right to
reply those letters. If they agree
to disassemble their billboards,
the agencies will assist the pro-
cess.
But if there is no answer, a sec-
ond meeting will be held to check
the sign’s status. Soon after the
taking down of the billboard is
confirmed, the team will decide
on the schedule. Dismantling
usually occurs on Friday starting
from 10 p.m. The remains of the
billboard will be taken to a ware-
house in Cakung, East Jakarta,
and become government prop-
erty.
two months, that is if the team is
able to collect complete data of
the billboards.
Jhon said that lack of data was
one of the main problems hinder-
ing the progress of dismantling
expired billboards.
As a new agency, the PTSP of-
ten finds it difficult to collect data
on the billboards as the permits
were issued to several agencies
before the PTSP was established.
“Government restructuring
has made collecting data from the
previous generation hard and in-
accurate,” Jhon said.
Furthermore, the team has to
be extra careful in deciding which
billboards needed to be disman-
tled as they are dealing with other
people’s assets.
“We have to be careful not to
end up in court,” said Jhon.
Urban planning expert Gu-
milar Rusliwa Somantri said
billboards in Jakarta had been
spreading out of control and thus
the bylaw on billboards needed to
be revised.
— OUR INTERN, DEVINA HALIM,

Candidates battle for small board. posed on billboards. The whole process might take CONTRIBUTED TO THE STORY

business, street vendor POPULATION CRISIS

nd
support in 2 round vote Revitalizing family planning in KB village
Indra Budiari
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
In every election, candidates
running for public office always
make promises to small business
owners across the capital that
they would issue better policies to
keep bread and butter on their ta-
bles. This year is no different.
In a bid to secure votes in the
fiercest regional election the city
has ever seen, both Anies Baswe-
dan and Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja
Purnama have approached small
business groups and street ven-
dors, claiming that their plans are
better than those of the other pair
of candidates. While Anies has
put a lot of hope in his running
mate Sandiaga Uno’s background
as a businessman to charm this
particular group, Ahok and his
running mate Djarot Saiful Hi-
dayat have tried to explain their
firm policy against street vendors
in their campaign.
During a meeting with hun-
dreds of street vendors and small
business owners in East Jakarta
on Monday, Djarot said the tough
relocation policy carried out dur-
ing his tenure was not intended to
kill small businesses or decrease
their incomes. Instead, he said,
the city administration was only
trying to keep Jakarta clean and
provide vendors with better spots
to run their businesses.
“Please understand that our
program is intended to support
and organize small business; we
did not evict them. We believe
that street vendors can earn more
money from the designated plac-
es,” he continued.
Ahok is known for his tough
eviction policy that was carried
not only against people he con-
sidered to be squatting, but also
against street vendors. The high-
est rate of evictions was recorded
in 2014.
Data released by the Jakarta
Residents Forum (Fakta) indi-
cate that in 2014 the administra-
tion evicted 2,194 street vendors.
A year later the Jakarta Legal
Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta)
recorded that in the first eight
months of 2015, the city evicted
another 433 street vendors.
On Monday’s meeting, Djarot
also said he would provide them
with cards that could be used to
borrow money for their business
with interest rates as low as 9 per-
cent per year, adding that he was
also working to allow street ven-
dors to use the cards to ride free
on Transjakarta buses.
“I know one of the biggest chal-
lenges in opening a small busi-
ness in Jakarta is the transpor-
tation cost. I hope this program
could help your daily activities,”
he said.
A different approach to lure
this group had been taken by
Anies and Sandiaga, who contin-
ued to promote their OK OCE
program that has been dubbed
by many as their campaign’s key
program. OK OCE stands for One
Kecamatan (district) One Center
of Entrepreneurship, a promise
to create new 200,000 entrepre-
neurs in Jakarta and support the
existing ones.
In OK OCE, a program that was
initiated by Sandiaga, small busi-
ness owners and people who want
to start one are given in-class
training to introduce them to en-
trepreneurship and teach them
the most effective ways to run
their businesses.
In his campaign, Sandiaga said
the program was a response to the
Jakarta administration’s policies
that he considered left marginal-
ized residents behind in the city’s
fast-paced development. Besides
skill training, the program would
give financial assistance of up to
Rp 300 million (US$22,500) to
run businesses.
“PKL [street vendors] should
be empowered, not evicted. They
just want to make some money
and we will support them,” Sandi-
aga said recently.
The Jakarta Post
JAKARTA
Since its inception in 2015,
child-friendly integrated pub-
lic spaces (RPTRA) have been
the center for communal activi-
ties for Jakarta residents, such as
study group meetings, seminars,
traditional dance practice and
music practice.
However, recently some RP-
TRAs have been used to revi-
talize the city’s family planning
program as Jakarta is facing an
overpopulation crisis.
City administration said Ja-
karta could only accomodate a
maximum of 12.5 million people
by 2030.
However, Jakarta’s population
is predicted to reach 16 million in
2020 from 9.6 million in 2009, grow-
ing higher than any other urban area
in East Asia, excluding China, ac-
cording to the World Bank.
The RPTRA Pulo Gundul in
Central Jakarta, for instance,
serves as a hub to coordinate and
facilitate Family Planning (KB)
programs in the neighborhood.
Therefore, the RPTRA has been
dubbed as a KB village. JP/Jennifer Sidharta
Amiliah, a mother of three, is Early learning: Children attend preschool at the Pulo Gundul in Tanah Tinggi, child-friendly integrated
familiar with contraception as public space (RPTRA), Central Jakarta, on March 7. The RPTRA also serves as a model family planning
she was informed of family plan- (KB) village, which aims to revitalize family planning programs in the neighborhood.
ning programs by KB officers sta-
tioned at the RPTRA. straining,” added the mother of subdistricts in Jakarta by 2017. ning was crucial in a big city like
She is currently taking birth three while she was waiting for KB villages are run by KB staff- Jakarta, which saw the average
control pills to avoid having a her children to finish preschool at ers who have been around since number of births per woman rise
fourth child. the RPTRA. before the KB village program from 1.66 in 2000 to 2.30 in 2012.
“My first son is 8 years old now, The KB village in Pulo Gundul started, aiming to revitalize fam- RPTRA Seruni staffer Nasini
and my second son is 4.5 years was the first of its kind in Jakarta. ily planning campaigns in over- said that the KB village program
old. I tried having a third child According to the National Popu- crowded, run-down neighbor- had been succesful as most resi-
because I wanted a daughter, and lation and Family Planning Board hoods. dents in the neighborhood had
luckily, my 3-month-old is a girl. (BKKBN), Jakarta currently has “We hope to lessen the popula- done family planning, while they
If my third were a boy, I wouldn’t six KB villages, with RPTRA Se- tion by encouraging people to have used to refuse taking birth control
try having another child though,” runi being the newest, opened on fewer children. Plus, if there are due to their beliefs.
said the 36-year-old mother. March 5. fewer people, it’ll be easier for us to “Some people also used to
Meanwhile, Ramdana, 40, said The government targets each of plant trees and organize the city,” think that having sexual inter-
that she used a contraceptive coil the 267 districts in Jakarta to have said KB Tanah Tinggi staffer Tri La- course with condoms felt uncom-
because her heart was weak. at least one RPTRA by 2017, with syuniarti. “I wish everyone would fortable,” said Nasini.
“But even if my heart was each RPTRA having a KB village. participate in family planning, but
healthy, I wouldn’t have anoth- Meanwhile, the BKKBN plans to that might be impossible.” — OUR INTERN JENNIFER SIDHARTA
er child because it’s financially make a KB village in each of the 44 Tri believes that family plan- CONTRIBUTED TO THE STORY
THURSDAY March 30, 2017
Students learn to navigate at SMK Wisudha, which is equipped with a Kongsberg K-Sim Navigation Simulator.
Supporting Maritime Axis Development Through
SMK Revitalization in Kudus Regency
Singaporean Ambassador to Indonesia H.E. Anil Kumar Nayar
delivers a speech on improving collaboration between vocational
institutions in Indonesia and Singapore.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi (second right) witnesses
the presentation of an approval certificate by Director of Shipping
and Seafarer Rudiana (right) to Capt. Yardo M.Mar. from SMK
Wisudha Karya.
Cadets in the Marine Engineering Program hone their skills in the
CNC room.
FOCUS ISSUE | 5
PHOTO GALLERY
T
he Indonesian archipelago consists of thousands of islands
connected by various straits and seas. It is, as such, of vital
importance to develop the nation’s maritime industry.
To this end, President Joko Widodo has made it a priority to
enhance the country’s maritime capabilities and build a maritime highway
that will streamline sea transportation around the archipelago.
In order to follow through on this vision, the nation needs internationally
certified human resources that can serve as the backbone for the maritime
industry. Unfortunately, maritime schools can only do so much to supply
this industry with skilled workers.
In 2014, in response to the country’s need for more qualified sailors,
Djarum Foundation began working with one of the largest banking
institutions in Japan, the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC),
to introduce two maritime study programs called “Nautical Studies” and
“Marine Engineering” at SMK Wisudha Karya vocational high school in
Kudus regency in Central Java.
This year, in recognition of both programs fulfilling the rigid requirements
of the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (SCTW) 2010
from the International Maritime Organization, the Transportation Ministry Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi tries his hand at
recently presented the school with an approval certificate. navigation in a simulator room, witnessed by Central Java Police
Presented on March 23 on the school grounds, this event saw Chief Insp.Gen. Condro Kirono.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi himself witnessed the
presentation of the distinguished award. The school is one of just three
maritime vocational high schools in the country to receive this recognition.
With this approval certificate, graduates thereafter are licensed as ship
officers to work on board both domestic and international merchant vessels.
Also present at the ceremony was the Singaporean ambassador to
Indonesia, Anil Kumar Nayar, who witnessed the signing of a memorandum
of understanding between the school and ITE Education Services to launch
a joint-degree program in marine engineering.
ITEEES is part of a vocational institution in Singapore called the Institute
of Technical Education (ITE), which specializes in developing the technical
and vocational education and training capabilities of the international
community.
Graduates of this joint-degree program will receive a Higher National ITE
Certificate in Marine Engineering and have their graduation ceremony at
the ITE campus in Singapore.
“By obtaining certification from the Transportation Ministry and
graduating from the joint-degree program with ITE, we believe these
graduates will be highly sought after by established companies who value
the knowledge and training they receive,” said Primadi Serad, Djarum
Foundation’s program director.
A mapping room where cadets of the Marine Engineering program
PHOTOS DJARUM FOUNDATION map out coordinates.
Students increase their nautical skills in a practical session in a A ship engine room where students of the Marine Engineering
maritime classroom. program improve their knowledge.
6 | OPINION THURSDAY March 30, 2017

Cleaner but not good enough

t is a small step, but still meaningful as the High time to prosecute
I government has finally adopted Euro IV, an
international standard for emissions from
motorized vehicles that requires cars to use
fuel with a sulfur content no higher than 50 corporate crime
parts per million (ppm).
It took the government 12 years to move forward as

A
Indonesia used the Euro II emission standard since 2005. nticorruption watchdog ed in the naming of former Garu- tion cases involve the private sec-
As a consequence, the government will have to phase out Transparency Interna- da Indonesia’s president director tor, it is necessary to introduce a
RON 88 gasoline, which constitutes 87 percent of fuel tional Indonesia (TII) Emirsyah Satar as a suspect by specific law on private sector cor-
consumed in the country. This policy will definitely affect recently published the the KPK for allegedly receiving ruption. For instance, Singapore
Corruption Perception Index bribes. and Malaysia have already imple-
the majority of car owners, who have enjoyed subsidized (CPI) 2016, which ranked Indo- Michel A. Rako Many legal scholars thought mented private sector corruption
Premium fuel for a long time at the country’s expense. nesia 90th out of 176 countries, on JAKARTA the barrier to prosecuting cor- laws. The absence of such a law
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya par with Colombia, Morocco and porate criminal offenses was the has hampered the fight against
Bakar signed the regulation on March 10, which will take Liberia. clared corruption as the “oil” that rusty Indonesian Criminal Code graft.
effect pending her official announcement. A drop from the 88th position in keeps the country running. This (ICC), which is silent on this The Corruption Law limits the
The good news was not immediately welcomed by the previous year demonstrates reflects TII’s 2017 Global Corrup- mechanism. element of corruption relating to
industry players. that the fight against corruption tion Barometer, which listed the This is incorrect as the Supreme state loss and the Constitutional
is going nowhere. A survey con- House as the nation’s most cor- Court in 2014 has imposed a hefty Court in its decision No. 25/PUU-
State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina is among ducted by the Corruption Eradi- rupt institution. fine of Rp 2.5 trillion against Asian XIV/2016, which amended article
those who earlier voiced objections to the plan to produce cation Commission (KPK) indi- Since its inception in 2002, the Agri Group, one of Asia’s largest 2 and 3 of Corruption Law into ac-
cleaner fuel, arguing that it would be very costly and would cates that more than 90 percent KPK has never prosecuted a sin- palm oil producers, which was tual state loss.
be an additional burden on the already sluggish economy. of corruption cases prosecuted gle corporation in a corruption found guilty of tax evasion. This is ironic as Indonesia has
Full implementation of the new emission standards, by the KPK involve perpetrators case. Even though article 1 (3) of Moreover, in prosecuting cor- ratified the United Nations Con-
however, will only come four years after an official is- from the private sector as the Law No. 31/1999 on corruption porations in corruption cases, vention against Corruption (UN-
suance by the minister, as it only forces the industry to bribe payers. clearly stipulates that the term law enforcers have stuck with CAC) through Law No. 7/2006 on
Bureaucratic red-tape is one of “whoever” includes corpora- the Corruption Law and not ICC the ratification of UNCAC. Where-
adopt higher standards for new vehicles. According to the the causes of bribery, which is car- tion. As comparison the United as the legal basis, is in line with as articles 12 and 21 of UNCAC
Commission for Leaded Gasoline Eradication (KPBB), ried out to speed up licensing pro- Kingdom and United States have the maxim of lex specialis dero- clearly regulate the prevention
Pertamina has agreed to comply with the new standards, cedures and the award of business implemented criminal liability gate legi generali, which literally of corruption and bribery in the
with the latter agreeing to procure gasoline for 600,000 contracts or tenders. TII’s Bribe against corporation through the means that a special law overrules private sector. It is clear that the
new vehicles, which amounts to 1.9 million kiloliters, or 4 Payers Index 2011 ranked Indo- UK Bribery Act and Foreign Cor- general laws. House is not serious about fighting
percent of total gasoline need in the country. nesia in 25th place out of 28 coun- rupt Practices Act (FCPA). The fight against corruption private sector corruption.
tries, third from the bottom. In January this year the UK in the past 15 years has focused Therefore, it is high time to
The government must be firm in implementing the In this report, TII interviewed Royal Courts of Justice approved on civil servants, dignitaries, cor- prosecute corporate crimes, a
regulation and not bow to any pressure as Indonesia is 3,016 heads of multinational and the settlement between the Seri- porate executives while neglect- fight that has been abandoned
likely to be the last country to implement the Euro IV emis- domestic companies in Indonesia ous Fraud Office (SFO) and Rolls ing corporations. But thanks to for the past 15 years. The newly
sion standard. Other countries have moved forward to Euro who admitted committing bribery Royceplc in the amount 497.25 the Supreme Court’s enacting of enacted SC 13/2016 enables law
VI and have even begun to eye developing hybrid cars. to be able to operate its business. million pound sterling, follow- Regulation No. 13/2016 on Pro- enforcers to flex their muscle.
Carmakers are also welcoming the new regulation as it Ernst and Young’s Global ing SFO’s four years investiga- cedures in Handling Corporate Meanwhile, the Government or
will enable them to bring new technology into the country. Fraud Survey 2012 revealed that tion into bribery and corruption Crime (“SC 13/2016”), which reg- the House must initiate a new law
60 percent of Indonesian respon- against Rolls Royce which took ulates the mechanism and guid- to curb corruption in the private
The hardest part is for the government to change dents believed that it was accept- place across seven jurisdictions ance for law enforcers in dealing sector.
people’s mind-sets, both bureaucrats and car owners, and able to bribe authorities to secure including Indonesia. with corporate criminal offenses.
educate them on the need to develop more environmen- business opportunities. The resolution was the most SC 13/2016 stipulates that law en-
tally friendly vehicles. As such it is no surprise that significant enforcement action forces are authorized to seize ill- The writer is the founder of
Our Asian neighbors have developed hybrid cars and one of the deputy speakers of the against corporations in the UK gotten corporate assets. Michel Rako Law Office. The views
even electric cars because that is the future of the automo- House of Representatives de- for criminal offenses. This result- Since the majority of corrup- expressed are his own.
tive industry.
Indonesia is still lacking in automotive know-how
and we allow carmakers to dump their products here
without any transfer of technology. Imagine if one day all
countries have developed hybrid or fully electric cars and
Eurozone growth pessimists wrong again
Indonesia remains the only nation using fossil fuels. In
that scenario, we would definitely lose the game. Mark Gilbert So why does the consensus re- mid-2011, accord to the Munich- percent on a total return basis in
BLOOMBERG VIEW main so pessimistic? Europe’s based Ifo institute’s latest busi- local currencies.
For now, we must thank minister Siti Nurbaya’s bold political backdrop is mostly to ness climate index. So what will it take for econ-
step to control air pollution — not to mention sound pollu-

E
conomists have spent the
tion — in the transportation sector. past six months upgrading
But we need inter-ministerial efforts to apply not only their forecasts for how fast
Euro IV immediately but also to look forward to other the eurozone economy can grow
alternatives such as hybrid cars or even electric cars for this year. Even so, they are gloom-
the future. ier than they should be.
For this year, economists sur-
After all, fossil fuels will not last forever. veyed by Bloomberg expect euro-
zone growth to reach 1.6 percent,
a consensus that’s improved three
OTHER OPINION times in the past six months. The
average forecast for next year,
however, has flatlined for most of
Mosul ‘collateral damage’ that period, and was only recently
nudged higher.
blame for making things seem
bleaker than they really are.
In 2015, the prospect of Greece
tumbling out of the euro sparked
jitters that spread to the bond
markets of Italy and Spain.
Last year, Britain’s vote to leave
the European Union undermined
confidence in the region’s eco-
nomic prospects, while political
rumblings in Italy cost Matteo
Renzi his job as prime minister.
This year, the outside chance
that Marine Le Pen might win
the French presidential election
The various Purchasing Man-
agers Index surveys compiled by
Markit Economics for the euro
region as a whole also suggest
an improving outlook, with the
composite index at a near six-
year high in March:
Currency traders seem to be
shifting their bets in light of the
improved eurozone outlook.
Traders are the least bearish
they’ve been on the euro’s pros-
pects against the dollar for the
past three years, according to fig-
ures compiled by the Commodity
omists to revise their 2017 and
2018 forecasts for the eurozone
economy higher? Getting through
the next election cycle unscathed
should help.
The strong weekend show-
ing by Angela Merkel’s Christian
Democratic Union in local elec-
tions will be further reassurance.
France’s two-stage election, with
the first round scheduled for April
23 and the second vote to be held
on May 7, remains an obstacle.
But provided the opinion
polls are correct in putting Le

T
he battle to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the We’ve seen this movie before. and make good on her threat to Futures Trading Commission: Pen’s support in the second bal-
clutches of the militant Islamic State (IS) group has been Last year, the average forecast of take one of the euro’s founding And investors are starting to lot at about 40 percent, behind
particularly grinding. The difficulty faced by the Ameri- economists was for the eurozone members out of the single-cur- take a liking again to European Emmanuel Macron with about
can/Iraqi coalition in retaking Mosul has been illustrated by the to post a growth rate of a bit more rency project has cast a pall over equities, maybe realizing they 60 percent, the dissipation of
fact that while the campaign was launched last October, a con- than 1.5 percent; instead, gross do- the region. were overly pessimistic about “Frexit” worries could be the trig-
siderable portion of the city still remains under IS control. mestic product (GDP) expanded Ignore the politics and focus Europe (and overly optimistic ger for a renewed bout of forecast
However, in recent days, disturbing reports have begun to by 1.7 percent. The economy dis- on the data, however, and the about Donald Trump and the so- revisions.
emerge from Mosul concerning the deaths of civilians in coali- played a similar out-performance strength of the underlying econ- called reflation trade). In the past
tion air strikes. The United States has acknowledged recent air in 2015, with an average forecast omy in the eurozone comes into month, the Stoxx Europe 600 in-
strikes in which around 100 civilians are said to have perished. for the year of 1.4 percent outpaced focus. German business confi- dex has outperformed the Stan- The writer is
A similar pattern has been witnessed in Syria, where the US by a growth rate of 2 percent. dence is at its highest level since dard & Poor’s 500 by more than 3 a Bloomberg View columnist.
is also targeting IS, albeit without coordinating with the Syrian
government. Around 50 people were killed in an American air
strike earlier this month.
It appears that since Donald Trump moved into the White
House, he has given his generals more latitude in carrying out
strikes; one monitoring group says there has been a considerable
Freedom of expression key to true liberty
rise in the number of civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria in Decem- Arthur I. Cyr moral right to defend feminism, mation and also people. Churchill became prime min-
ber. Both the US and Iraq need to make more stringent efforts to THE CHINA POST/ANN/TAIPEI transgender rights or universal Among the latter was Frederick ister after France fell and Linde-
protect civilians as they move to dislodge IS. Or else civilians will suffrage. Lindemann, a brilliant but abra- mann’s role expanded to general
“
H
be caught between the murderous militants and governments is freedom to speak The current popularity of sive Oxford scholar. Despite his strategic oversight.
that mow them down while trying to “liberate” them. protects my freedom shouting down speakers on cam- intellectual success, he remained His basic task in the midst of
— DAWN, ISLAMABAD to call him a bigot. His puses strengthens her case con- rather isolated socially. No doubt the enormously complex war re-
freedom guarantees mine.” siderably. Some colleges and anti-Semitism was one factor in mained continuous: to undercut
That was author JK Rowling, universities, where freedom of 1930’s Britain. whatever was proposed by the ad-
Bilateral alliance with the US creator of Harry Potter, speak- speech should be paramount, Lindemann’s primary prob- mirals and generals, civil servants
ing last year at the prestigious Po- have become examples of exactly lem, however, was Lindemann, and politicians, and members of

J
apan’s security environment is becoming more severe. ets, Playwrights, Editors, Essay- the opposite behavior. a relentless know-it-all and gen- government — including in par-
Japan should strengthen the Japan-United States alli- ists and Novelists (PEN) America Wider society is hardly im- erally unpleasant. Churchill’s ticular the prime minister.
ance and international cooperation, to enhance its capa- awards event in New York. She mune to intimidation. Several granddaughter Celia Sandys po- Churchill assumed that Lin-
bility to deal with various crises swiftly and effectively. was referring to candidate Don- decades ago, the Chicago Coun- litely described him as “anti-so- demann would enjoy his role but
The security-related laws are comprehensive legislation that ald Trump. cil on Foreign Relations, where I cial.” Even Churchill’s endlessly also expected him to excel, and
makes it possible for the government to operate the Self-De- President Trump has accept- worked, attracted intense orga- patient, tolerant wife Clementine he did.
fense Forces (SDF) flexibly in accordance with how crises de- ed an invitation for a formal state nized pressure to cancel an event resisted having the Oxford don as That war could easily have
velop, from peacetime to such situations as the nation’s survival visit to Britain. A petition to ban featuring a Palestine Liberation a weekend houseguest, but Win- turned out differently. Imagina-
being threatened or Japan facing an armed attack. The SDF’s in- Trump from Britain now has ap- Organization official. We did not ston insisted on Lindemann. tion, resulting in the ability to do
ternational peace cooperation activities have also been expand- proximately 1 million signatures. do so. Council Chairman John D. He clearly regarded his friend the unexpected, was a crucial in-
ed. This legislation is highly significant in securing the peace of At the PEN gala, she mentioned Gray, head of Hart, Schaffner & as not only interesting company, gredient of Allied success. Reli-
Japan and the world. the petition, which at that point Marx, and our board were sup- but possessed of special talent. ability of information was anoth-
The protection of US military ships is symbolic of this. Reg- had garnered a half million signa- portive. When Churchill returned to gov- er. Lindemann was vital in driving
ularly mobilizing drills would solidify the relationship of trust tures. Efforts to suppress speakers ernment as head of the Admiralty these dimensions.
between Japan and the US and facilitate bilateral cooperation This drew cheers and laughter, came from some foreign govern- at the start of World War II in Eu- Meanwhile, Nazi Germany
over missile defense and other areas. It would also likely deter but the sneering subsided when ment representatives, opponents rope, he immediately recruited pursued self-reinforcing spirals
reckless acts by North Korea, which is rushing ahead with its she added our freedom depends of religious reconciliation in Lindemann, who was given free- of ever more brutal intolerance
nuclear and missile development program, and provocative ac- on tolerating those opinions we Northern Ireland and others. We dom in selecting his staff and gen- and conformity
tions by China, which is intensifying its maritime advances. find most objectionable. “Unless held firm against threats. erally in choosing his projects. Defend freedom of expression.
Through these exercises, problem areas in the operation of we take that position without ca- Winston Churchill demon- The scholar, who was particu-
SDF units are checked. If necessary, the implementation plan, veats or apologies,” she stated, strated the principle dramatically larly talented at statistical anal-
procedures and other elements are to be reviewed. The impor- “we have set foot upon a road with and profoundly, when the stakes ysis, had one mission: to under- The writer is Clausen
tant thing is to get ready for real operations by repeatedly and only one destination.” were highest. Churchill evolved mine the navy’s conventional distinguished professor at
steadily conducting this cycle of activities. She argued supporting sup- over many years into a genius at wisdom, established procedures Carthage College and author of
— THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN, TOKYO pressing others would remove her collecting diverse eclectic infor- and operational plans After the Cold War.

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THURSDAY March 30, 2017
How corruption
fuels climate change
Lili Fuhr and Simon Taylor
PROJECT SYNDICATE/LONDON,
BERLIN
A
nticorruption campaigners
achieved a number of cru-
cial victories in 2016, not
least by ensuring accountability
for one of Big Oil’s most crooked
deals: the acquisition of Nigerian
offshore oil block OPL 245 in 2011
by Royal Dutch Shell and Eni, Ita-
ly’s largest corporation.
Last December, Nigeria’s Eco-
nomic and Financial Crimes
Commission indicted some of
the Nigerians involved, and Ital-
ian prosecutors then concluded
their own investigation, bringing
the executives and the companies
responsible for the deal closer to
standing trial.
Several months earlier, in June
2016, the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC)
published a rule, under Section
1504 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank
Act, requiring oil, gas, and min-
ing companies to disclose all pay-
ments made to governments on a
project-by-project basis.
If the SEC had issued its rule
earlier, Shell and Eni most likely
would not have gone ahead with
the OPL 245 deal, because they
would have had to disclose their
payment. But opposition from
the oil industry delayed the rule,
so the companies were able to
conceal their payment.
Last year also marked the first
time in millions of years that the
concentration of CO2 in the at-
mosphere reached 400 parts per
million (ppm). While the Paris
climate agreement was hailed as
a major success when it was con-
cluded in December 2015, many
signatories have displayed a re-
markable lack of ambition in up-
holding their carbon-reduction
commitments.
To understand why is to see the
sheer extent to which our systems
of government have been cap-
tured by the corrupting influence
of vested interests.
The story of OPL 245 began in
1998, when the Nigerian dictator
Sani Abacha awarded the block
to Malabu Oil and Gas, which
was secretly owned by Dan Etete,
Abacha’s own oil minister. Thus,
Etete had essentially given OPL
245 to himself. But after the Aba-
cha regime fell, the block was tak-
en from Malabu and awarded to
Shell. This triggered a series of le-
gal battles between Malabu, Shell,
and the Nigerian government
that ended only with the corrupt
Shell-Eni deal in 2011.
Public documents show that
the US$1.1 billion that Shell and
Eni paid to the Nigerian govern-
ment for the deal was, in reality,
being paid to Malabu. Both com-
panies knew that this payment
method, through an account cre-
ated by JP Morgan in London,
was in breach of the Nigerian
constitution, and that the funds
would end up in private hands.
Eni claims that it investigated
the deal and found “no evidence
of corrupt conduct in relation to
the transaction.” Shell, for its part,
says that it only paid the Nigerian
government, and that it does “not
agree with the premise behind
various public statements made by
Global Witness about Shell com-
panies in relation to OPL 245.”
But Italian prosecutors have
now requested a trial for several
senior Eni executives — includ-
ing the current CEO, Claudio
Descalzi, and his predecessor —
as well as Etete and several oth-
ers; and they are pursuing sepa-
Social finance: Untapping resources so everyone benefits
Francine Pickup
JAKARTA
A
bag of rice is a simple, ev-
eryday product. At social
enterprise Javara, one bag
of black rice indigenous to cen-
tral Java tells an incredible story
about cultural preservation and
poverty reduction.
When Javara founder Helianti
Hilman traveled to remote parts
of Indonesia, she met farmers and
communities struggling to enter
the commercial supply chain to
reach markets. Her social enter-
prise Javara was born.
Javara is made possible be-
cause of “impact investors,” or
companies that fund enterprises
to generate social or environmen-
tal impact  alongside a financial
return.
Today, Javara sells food prod-
ucts like organic snacks, handi-
crafts and heritage varieties of
rice, produced by communities in
poorer parts of Indonesia, in the
competitive marketplace.
This is “social finance” in ac-
tion. And it’s a new and powerful
way to achieve sustainable devel-
rate charges against four senior
Shell executives.
Whether or not these prosecu-
tions succeed, for now we can no
longer celebrate the SEC’s disclo-
sure rule, or the US’ renewed sup-
port in creating a global standard
of transparency for the extractive
industries. With Donald Trump’s
presidency and a Republican-
controlled Congress, the SEC rule
was immediately vacated under
the Congressional Review Act, an
obscure law that had been used
only once before.
Trump’s frequently racist and
misogynist campaign promised
to “drain the swamp” of corrup-
tion in Washington politics. But
congressional Republicans’ deci-
sion to scrap the SEC rule, which
Trump quickly signed into law,
was an act of pure cynicism that
helps perpetuate the “corrupt”
system that Trump claims he ran
against.
After the oil and gas indus-
try failed to block Section 1504
through legal action, it appealed
to its friends in Congress for help.
And the arguments used by its
congressional proxies would be
risible had the consequences not
been so tragic. Senator James In-
hofe, a notorious climate-change
denier who has received more
than $3 million in campaign con-
tributions from the fossil-fuel in-
dustry, led the charge: the disclo-
sure rule was an imposition from
the Obama era that would be
too costly to implement and add
needless bureaucratic red tape.
No mention was made of the
costs borne by citizens when their
national wealth is sold off through
dirty deals, or by investors when
corruption leads to prosecutions
and massive fines.
To fulfill the Paris agreement,
efforts to combat corruption and
climate change must go hand in
hand. Corruption, in the widest
sense of the word, is the glue that
holds the “system” together, that
ensures that moneyed and pow-
erful interests are free from rules
that are meant to hold them in
check. It is why governments that
pledged to make large reductions
in greenhouse-gas emissions
have been unable to meet their
commitments.
Shell, Exxon and most other
major oil and gas companies knew
decades ago that their products
were fueling climate change. But
instead of acting on that knowl-
edge, and changing their busi-
ness model, they embarked on a
massive campaign to deceive the
public and lure policymakers into
complacency. Not surprisingly,
Shell is one of 47 major hydrocar-
bon producers now being investi-
gated by the Filipino government
for its role in contributing to hu-
man-rights violations stemming
from climate change.
To sustain progress in the fight
against climate change and cor-
ruption, environmental and anti-
corruption movements will have
to work together, and play to their
respective strengths. If nothing
else, Trump’s election, and the
possibility of more populist victo-
ries in Europe this year, have giv-
en us a wake-up call.
Lili Fuhr heads the Ecology and
Sustainable Development Depart-
ment of the Heinrich Böll Foun-
dation in Berlin. Simon Taylor is
co-founder and director of Global
Witness and co-founder of the 2002
“Publish What You Pay” campaign
for mandatory disclosure mecha-
nisms in extractive industries.
opment. Social financing is usher-
ing in a new era of sustainable de-
velopment around the world.
However it’s very much in its
infancy in Indonesia. If you’re
reading this, wondering what so-
cial finance is, you’re not alone.
It refers to bringing capital or
investment to enterprises that
produce social and environmen-
tal benefits as well as financial
profits. Social finance covers vari-
ous forms of private funding such
as impact investors, angel inves-
tors, crowd funding or venture-
capital that support social enter-
prises (SEs).
Another example of social fi-
nancing is crowdfunding. By
2025, World Bank estimates sug-
gest that crowdfunding could
reach US$96 billion, a fundrais-
ing concept shows great potential.
In practice, UNDP launched a
successful campaign last year to
bring clean water to a communi-
ty in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT)
called “Bring Water for Life.”
The campaign drew on pub-
lic figures including actor Reza
Rahadian and charitable In-
donesians, who contribut-
Feminism growing despite
catcalls of ‘feminazi’
J
akarta took part in the
global Women’s March
on March 4, waiting for
the hotly contested Ja-
karta gubernatorial election to
pass. The march in front of the
State Palace focused on several is-
sues affecting Indonesia, such as
respect for diversity, a proposal to
pass a sexual violence bill, public
service support for transgender
and disabled women and public
attention for international wom-
en’s rights. The peaceful march
involved thousands.
The backlash began online, fo-
cusing on a university student.
Like in many other cases, it began
not as an insult against her poli-
tics but as harassment. Apparent-
ly, a Facebook group focusing on
online memes discussed a picture
of the student and thought she
was an adolescent. Vulgar com-
ments were made, and when she
responded to the comments, the
commentators dug in.
Some maintained their cheeky
attitudes, while some others be-
came defensive and attempted to
debate her in logic and semantics.
Eventually, group members grum-
bled about how “feminazis” spoil
everything, and some women ar-
gued that the true bad guys out
there were radical Muslims, not
guys engaging in friendly banter.
This was just one instance of
troubles feminists in Indone-
sia dealt with after the Women’s
March. Days after the incident, a
journalist reportedly resigned af-
ter asking his source to send a pic-
ture of her in sundress to “lighten
up the topic.” Some people de-
fending him said such a demand
was normal in the media busi-
ness, and with feminists politiciz-
ing everything, it’s no wonder that
Donald Trump won the United
States presidency.
Feminism is growing in Indo-
nesia, like in so many other coun-
tries worldwide. It is a range of
ed a total of Rp 350 million to
build a solar-powered water
pump in a dry village in Sumba.
Indonesia’s just-announced Hu-
man Development Index reveals
enormous progress has been
made, but vast inequalities exist.
The challenge is
to find and direct
these resources
towards development
initiatives.
To continue Indonesia’s devel-
opment progress, we are working
together with the people of In-
donesia, and the government, to
achieve Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). If achieved, it will
be the biggest accomplishment
of the next decade — together we
will eradicate poverty, reduce in-
equalities and take real action to
mitigate climate change.
Between $3 to $4.5 trillion is
needed globally to achieve the
Goals. Current investment in
Please send your articles to opinion@thejakartapost.com.
Mario Rustan
BANDUNG
political movements, ideologies
and social movements that seek
to establish equal opportunities
for women in education and em-
ployment. The first wave of fem-
inism hit the world in the early
20th century, often in a package
with other Industrial Age ideolo-
gies such as nationalism, liberal-
ism, and socialism.
While the second wave of
feminism arrived in the West in
the late 1960s, in Asia it was re-
pressed by both communist and
anti-communist governments,
which believed that civil move-
ments harmed the nation’s mis-
sion to industrialize and to build a
morally strong society. The third
wave of feminism began in the
1990s, and in the 21st century, it
has grown to include the perspec-
tives of women of color and sexu-
al minorities.
Indonesian feminists believe
that wearing hijab is a matter of
personal choice — a person has
the right to wear it or not. In-
donesian feminists learn the
concept of intersectionality —
that injustice against women
is strongly related to injustice
against minorities and the poor.
Indonesian feminists believe
that empowerment is political,
not merely a corporate slogan.
The most obvious opponent to
feminism to Indonesia and other
countries is conservatism, which
believes that traditional values
work best. Conservatives believe
that the best role for a woman is
to be a mother who bears chil-
dren, looks after them, and edu-
cates them with “traditional” val-
ues. Many feminists are parents
healthcare, education, sanitation,
access to energy and all the sec-
tors covered under the SDGs is
around $1.4 trillion, creating an
average investment gap of about
$2.5 trillion — approximately the
gross domestic product (GDP) of
South Asia.
Social finance has enor-
mous potential to fill this gap.
The greatest challenge hindering
social finance is the disconnect
between investors and social en-
terprises that rely on funding to
thrive. Impact investors are ex-
pressing interest, but small en-
terprises are not always ready and
capable to manage large funds.
An estimated 70 percent of
social enterprises in Indonesia
are in the pre-seed or seed stage
and require as little as $10,000 to
$100,000 to be able to grow.
Impact investors by contrast,
usually invest above $100,000,
hence targeting already estab-
lished, larger and less risky social
enterprises. Larger social inves-
tors will not touch investments
below $5 million.
UNDP has a role in tackling this
disconnect. Through our partner-
OPINION
who nurture their children, but
don’t necessarily teach them so-
called traditional values.
But there are many other op-
ponents of feminism, from differ-
ent political spectra. Even many
people who consider themselves
apolitical dislike feminism, argu-
ing that gender equality had been
achieved, since Indonesia had a
female president, many female
ministers, and several female ex-
ecutives. So many people think
that feminists are angry sex-ob-
sessed women who hate all men
and are not grateful for the ben-
efits of life they have enjoyed.
Most feminists subscribe to
left-wing politics and are skepti-
cal about capitalism, meritocracy
and organized religion. There are,
however, many disagreements
between feminists and other left-
wing believers.
Many male socialists in the US
still blame feminists for support-
ing Hillary Clinton instead of Ber-
nie Sanders in last year’s Demo-
cratic Party presidential election
primaries, and believe the war
against patriarchy is a foolish il-
lusion, as the real fight is against
capitalism.
Many Marxists dismiss in-
tersectionality as a liberal fad,
and are astonished that femi-
nists refuse to focus on the clas-
sics of left-wing philosophy. On
the other hand, feminists believe
that the writings of 19th and 20th
century European men should
be complemented, or even chal-
lenged, by the writings of mod-
ern women from the Americas,
Asia, and Africa.
I have heard Indonesians say-
ing or writing that feminism is
needed in Indonesia, but no lon-
ger in the West. Feminism, in fact,
is needed worldwide.
In Indonesia, it is needed not
only to foil religious intolerance
but also to fight sexism on the
street and in the boardroom. It
ship with the Financial Services
Authority (OJK) we can advise
the government on how to make
the regulatory environment con-
ducive. We are developing a fund
that blends public and private
funds. The goal is to attract $5
million in loans to a pipeline of 15
investment-ready social enter-
prises, many of which are run by
women.
We are also working closely
with ANGIN, Indonesia’s first and
largest Angel Investment net-
work, to help engage early invest-
ment and mentoring. There are
tangible ways to nurture ecosys-
tems that encourage more suc-
cess stories like Javara.
Firstly, a legal definition of So-
cial Enterprise would enable the
Government to raise its aware-
ness as a sector and make it eas-
ier for entrepreneurs to attract
investors looking for returns be-
yond the bottom line.
The capacity of social enter-
prises also needs to be built. Al-
though support to social en-
terprises is growing, there is a
limited number of impactful ca-
pacity building structures.
| 7
is needed to fight racism and ho-
mophobia. After all, many bigot-
ed people are well-educated and
have good access to internation-
al travel and media. They are big-
oted not due to lack of education
or experience, but due to lack of
sympathy.
When I started writing for this
newspaper 10 years ago, my pri-
mary interest was overseas Chi-
nese identity. The evolution of
my primary interest into femi-
nism has improved and enriched
my political view. I understand
how systemic racism prevents
Chinese-Americans from being
fairly represented in Hollywood
and the music industry, just as I
understand how sexism and mi-
sogyny contribute to serious eco-
nomic and societal failings across
East Asia.
Racism is not excusable, wheth-
er it’s racism against Chinese-In-
donesians or racism by Chinese-
Indonesians. Chinese men don’t
need to prove their heterosexual-
ity and masculinity to fight homo-
phobic stereotyping held by other
ethnic groups. I understand better
that “caring about other groups,
not just my group” is a way of life,
not merely a slogan.
Despite critics from all sides,
feminism is a valid and neces-
sary political view. It has made
visible impacts worldwide, hence
the current backlash against it.
The cause is clear — affluent men
worldwide are afraid of losing
their privilege.
A group of women was behind
the revelation and the shutdown
of an online pedophile ring in Ja-
karta this week. Media and rivals
dubbed them emak-emak, house-
wives. They are mothers and also
feminists.
The writer is a columnist for
feminist website Magdalene.co. The
views expressed are his own.
Social entrepreneurship pro-
grams could be created in region-
al government offices to provide
training, support and even funding
facilitation for social enterprises.
A third recommendation is to
mitigate the risk for investors as-
sociated with small enterprises.
An SME Credit Rating Agency
could be established to ease the
loan interest rate for all SMEs.
Lack of financing is not the is-
sue in Indonesia. There are plen-
ty of funds available locally in the
private and public sectors.
The challenge is to find and
direct these resources towards
development initiatives, by con-
necting investors and social en-
terprises.
We are on the brink of acceler-
ating human development prog-
ress in Indonesia, to boost econ-
omies so everyone can benefit.
Social financing is the key to un-
locking resources to support sus-
tainable development for all — it
can start with a bag of rice.
The writer is deputy country
director of UNDP. 
8 | ARCHIPELAGO THURSDAY March 30, 2017

ISLAND FOCUS Alternative source

Jambi

Bengkulu
Bandung

154 inmates granted remission in Bali

BADUNG: The Law and Human Rights Ministry cut the prison sentences
of 154 Hindu inmates, including five foreign nationals, at the Kerobo-
kan penitentiary in Bali on the Day of Silence (Nyepi), to mark the
celebration of the Hindu New year.
Each of the five foreign inmates, all drug convicts, were granted one
month of remission. The inmates are Dutch national Reindert Leopold,
who is serving 8 years imprisonment, Malaysian Sargunan M. Supiah,
who is serving 12 years, fellow Malaysian Gobinathan V. Loganathan,
who is serving 13 years and 6 months, Russian Sergei Chernykh, who
is serving 11 years, and his compatriot Alexander Simonov, who is
serving 8 years of imprisonment.
Kerobokan prison warden Tonny Nainggolan said the inmates
granted remission had shown good conduct during their time in the
prison. Anther consideration for remission was active participation
in prison events. Of the 154 inmates, 137 had already received the
decree issued by the ministry, while the decree was impending for the
others, Tonny said on Wednesday.
Two inmates could walk free immediately after receiving sentence
cuts of 15 days on Wednesday. They are Made Rai Swastika and Putu
Ariani.
To celebrate the Caka New Year, Kerobokan inmates also took part
in an ogoh-ogoh (giant effigies) parade in the prison held one day
before Nyepi.
JP/Dhoni Setiawan
“During Nyepi, we minimize the light in the prison. However, we
cannot turn off the light completely for security reasons,” Tonny ex- A member of the military checks a solar panel used at a naval base on Mangkai, Riau Islands, on Tuesday. The station on the island is supplying
plained. — JP border posts that directly link to Malaysia. The government said it is working to improve electricity access in border areas.

Police nab nine alleged illegal loggers

JAMBI: Jambi Police have arrested nine people over the past month
for their alleged participation in illegal logging in seven different cases.
The suspects are Jabar, 40, Herman, 44, Sutrisno, 45, Asmadi, 41,
Selamet, 49, Husni Yatim, 21, Saprinus, 22, Sapril, 39, and Tropika, 19.
“They allegedly conducted the illegal logging in the regencies of
Barges damage coral reefs
Tebo, Sarolangun and Muarojambi,” Jambi Police Criminal Investigation
Department head Sr. Comr. Winarta said on Wednesday.
During the arrest, police also confiscated 84 cubic meters of timber,
4 cubic meters of roundwood and seven log trucks.
“[The suspects] were arrested as they were carrying logs without
in Karimunjawa Islands
proper documents,” he said, adding that police were cooperating with Suherdjoko Pristine coral reefs of hearing last week. Park Center head Agus Prabowo
Jambi’s Forestry Agency and the provincial national park management. Karimunjawa Islands He said that, according to his said the park had actually banned
THE JAKARTA POST/JEPARA
The suspects could be charged under the 2013 Law on the clearing group’s data, barges frequently barges from entering the Na-
and destruction of forests with a maximum punishment of five years in
threatened by ships,
As an archipelagic nation, In- barges damaged coral reefs since at least tional Park, as their presence was
prison. — JP donesia is blessed with rich mar- 2011. harmful to the ecosystem and also
itime biodiversity and pristine Firm legal enforcement The head of the Karimunjawa a disturbance to holidaymakers.
MUI speaks out against tiger hunting coral reefs, such as those in the
Karimunjawa Islands in Jepara
demanded to protect National Park Center’s (BTNKJ)
Region I, Iwan Setiawan, told the
Agus expressed his hope that
the law enforcement center
underwater ecosystem
BENGKULU: With the number of Sumatran tigers dwindling, the local regency, Central Java, a region Post that during bad weather in would enforce the law in handling
chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Lebong regency, that has grown popular among January and February this year, the cases. He said the 1990 law on
Bengkulu, has announced a campaign against tiger hunting in the local and foreign tourists looking port,” local tour guide Baitur- pulling vessels had taken shelter natural resources and ecosystem
region. for scenic diving spots in Java. rahman told The Jakarta Post at Legon Bajak, while their barges conservation stipulated that any
The council issued a fatwa to protect endangered animals, includ- The beautiful islands, known for on Tuesday, adding that in 2015, had been anchored. activities conducted in prohibited
ing the tigers, back in 2014. That fatwa, which declared tiger hunting their white sandy beaches and tur- another ship had damaged coral Unfortunately the anchor ropes zones could bring the perpetra-
un-Islamic, was part of the council’s campaign, MUI Lebong chairman quoise water, however, face a se- reefs at Bunga Jabe beach. tore, so that the barges drifted tors to criminal courts. The law
Amin Amir said. rious threat from barges that can Ships carrying barges would away and hit the coral reefs. allows for a maximum prison sen-
“People keep hunting, even though the law regarding this matter damage their stunning coral reefs. take shelter at the Legon Bajak In the five incidents involv- tence of one year and a fine of up
has been regulated,” he said, as quoted by kompas.com on Wednes- In separate incidents in Janu- seaport of Kemujan Island when ing barges operated by different to Rp 50 million (US$3,750).
day. ary and February, 1,660-square- they encountered bad weather, companies earlier this year, Iwan The 2009 law on environmen-
“We will tell our preachers who live in villages near forests to meters of coral reefs were re- which was typically the case in the said, the National Park authority tal protection and management
spread the information about the protection of endangered animals,” portedly damaged after being hit months of December to March, directly met the helmsmen and also stipulates that any case of
he added. by five barges loaded with coal. he said. wrote reports after learning of the environmental damage must be
Lingkar Institute director Iswadi welcomed Amin’s support for the Those were just the latest inci- Protected by small islands, the incidents. handled fairly and that the perpe-
campaign to protect endangered animals, saying the MUI had a strate- dents in a situation that has been seaport is considered safe to wait The cases have also been re- trators are liable for environmen-
gic role to play in raising people’s awareness about the issue. — JP going on for years, prompting out high waves during bad weather. ported to the Ministry of Envi- tal rehabilitation.
calls for greater awareness and Jarhanuddin, the chairman ronment and Forestry’s law en- The issue of coral reef damage
stricter law enforcement to main- of local environmental group forcement center in Surabaya, surfaced in the wake of coral reef
Spicing up tain the purity of the underwater
ecosystem.
Alam Karimun, reported the cas-
es to the Central Java legislative
East Java.
The Karimunjawa Islands
destruction by a cruise ship that
ran aground in the famous Raja
“Last year, a ship destroyed council, which in response sum- welcome around 2,000 tourists Ampat area in West Papua earlier
coral reefs and even hit the sea- moned relevant officials for a a week. Karimunjawa National this month.

ANIMAL ATTACK

Python preys on human as ‘deforestation attacks habitat’

Andi Hajramurni
THE JAKARTA POST/MAKASSAR
“We are supposed to harvest our
palm oil fruits these days, but most
of the farmers, especially those
whose farms are near Akbar’s, are
still shocked, afraid that more py-
thons are still out there and could
attack us too,” Junaedi, the secre-
tary of Salubiro village in West Su-
lawesi, said on Wednesday.
He was referring to the 25-year-
old farmer who was found dead
inside the belly of a 7-meter-long
python at his oil palm farm on
Monday night.
Since then, the mood of the
residents of the village, which
JP/Tarko Sudiarno is part of the Karossa district in
A traditional market in Waingapu, East Nusa Tenggara, is already Central Mamuju regency, has
crowded at 4 a.m. and usually closes at 8 p.m. The market, which turned gloomy.
is the backbone of the economy in the area, sells various items, Akbar had gone missing after
from fruits and vegetables to Sumba’s iconic woven clothes. he set off to harvest palm oil on
Sunday.
“On Monday, his uncle came
to his house. He knocked on
the door but to no avail. With
the help of other residents, the
door was smashed in, but only to
find out that no one was there,”
Junaedi said.
About 60 residents gathered
and launched a search, he added.
Two hours later, one of
them spotted the giant reptile
sprawled out in the bushes next
to Akbar’s farm.
“We were quick to suspect the
snake had preyed [on Akbar] giv-
en the size of its belly and the fact
that there were palm oil fruits and
harvesting tools near the snake,”
Junaedi said.
The snake could hardly move
so the residents were quick to kill
it, he added.
Villagers then used a large
knife to cut open the snake’s bel-
ly, slowly revealing the father-of-
two’s body.
The horrifying footage show-
ing the corpse being slowly re-
moved from the killer reptile has
gone viral online.
The process to extract the dead
body took more than an hour, ac-
cording to Junaedi.
He said the last time such a
large python was found in the
area was in the 1990s, when the
forest was first being transformed
into oil palm plantations.
The incident has added to the
list of fatal conflicts between hu-
mans and animals across Indone-
sia, many of which were believed
to have been triggered by expan-
sive deforestation to open new oil
palm plantations.
In Sumatra, deforestation has
also been blamed for attacks by
wild tigers and elephants, many of
which have resulted in the deaths
of villagers.
Worse, villagers or plantation
workers have retaliated by killing
animals using firearms, poison
and traps.
Rahmansyah, an agriculture
lecturer from the Makassar-
based Hasanuddin University,
said the killer snake might have
had its habitat disturbed by the
huge impacts and growing pres-
sures of human activities in the
area, such as the expanding oil
palm plantations.
“It’s now getting more diffi-
cult for the animals to find their
natural food,” he said on Wednes-
day. “Because the habitat is be-
ing destroyed, the snake’s natural
sources of food are also affected.
Thus, the snake went out to the
oil palm plantation to seek prey.”

PRESS

Journalists murdered, tortured allegedly because of their work

Apriadi Gunawan
THE JAKARTA POST/MEDAN
Local journalist Amran Paru-
lian Simanjuntak of Senior week-
ly newspaper was murdered by a
group of unidentified people after
dropping his child off at school on
Jl. Medan-Binjai, Sei Semayang,
Deli Serdang regency, North Su-
matra, on Wednesday.
The motive behind the murder
of the 35-year-old journalist is
not yet known, but his family sus-
pects that it had something to do
with his newspaper article pub-
lished a few days earlier.
Amran died from six stabbing
wounds to his body: three in his
left abdomen, two in his back and
another in his epigastrium. His
body was found near his child’s
school and was later taken to
Bhayangkara Hospital in Medan
for an autopsy.
Renova Simanjuntak, his older
sister, said her brother was work-
ing on a report on the Sunggal area.
A few days before the mur-
der, someone threatened him in
person and two days prior he re-
ceived two threatening phone
calls. She said she had no idea why
he had been threatened but ever
since, he became silent and exhib-
ited strange behavior.
“He never told us about his prob-
lem,” Renova told The Jakarta Post
at the hospital on Wednesday.
She said her family was shocked
by the incident and asked the po-
lice to thoroughly investigate the
case, suspecting it was premedi-
tated, and to bring the perpetra-
tors to court.
Sunggal Police precinct chief
Comr. Daniel Marunduri said the
police were still investigating the
motive of the murder.
“Our detectives are at the crime
scene investigating the case,” he
said.
Separately, North Sumatra Po-
lice spokesperson Sr. Comr. Rina
Sari Ginting said her office had set
up a team to investigate the jour-
nalist’s murder.
Last week, journalist Adi Pala-
pa Harahap of iNews TV was also
terrorized in front of his wife and
children by a group of people who
came to his house in Mabar Hilir,
Labuhan Deli district, Deli Ser-
dang. Adi reported the case to the
North Sumatra police on Monday.
Adi said he was repeatedly beat-
en, dragged around and threat-
ened by the perpetrators regarding
a news story on an illegal cement
warehouse involving a suspect
who allegedly owns the place.
Rina said the police had ar-
rested the suspect and two oth-
ers who also terrorized Adi, while
two other perpetrators were still
at large.
Responding to the journalists’
murder and torture cases, dozens
of journalists from different me-
dia organizations staged a rally on
Wednesday at the fountain circle
on Jl. Sudirman, Medan.
They condemned the killing
and the other acts of aggression,
which they feared had something
to do with their colleagues’ jour-
nalistic activities.
Head of the advocacy division
of the North Sumatra branch
of the Indonesian Television
Journalists Association (IJTI),
Harizal, called on the police to
thoroughly investigate the cases.
He said law enforcers’ firmness
in handling the cases was urgent
to prevent more cases from oc-
curring.
Citing another example of abuse
against journalists, Harizal pointed
to the violence allegedly commit-
ted by an Air Force apparatus in
Sari Rejo a few months ago.
The case had no follow up until
today, proving the government’s
negligence on journalists’ safe-
ty. As a consequence, more vio-
lent acts against journalists have
emerged.
“This could be a bad prec-
edent for our law enforcement
and at the same time shows how
our country has made little to
no effort to protect journalists,”
Harizal said.
THURSDAY March 30, 2017
HOCKEY
Olympics or not,
NHL ready
to make push
into China
Steve Keating
REUTERS/TORONTO
With or without the Olympics,
the National Hockey League will
join the sporting stampede into
the coveted Chinese market with
the league expected to announce
on Thursday preseason games in
Beijing and Shanghai.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bett-
man dropped a hint of the league’s
plans in a recent interview with
Reuters when he said: “We will be
in [China] on a regular basis be-
fore the [2022] Olympics in Bei-
jing.”
The NHL’s arrival in China
looks set for this September with
the Los Angeles Kings and Van-
couver Canucks reportedly pen-
ciled in to play two preseason
games.
There are also plans to stage
grassroots programs and for
teams to play exhibition games
against local Chinese clubs.
With the NHL signaling it is
prepared to sit out the 2018 Py-
eongchang Winter Games the In-
ternational Olympic Committee
(IOC) has dangled the 2022 Bei-
jing Olympics in front of league
officials as the big prize.
Like every other business in
the world, China and its 1.3 billion
population is a market the NHL is
keen to develop but may not need
the IOC’s help in order to tap into.
“As they say, size matters,” said
Bettman. “More importantly
commitment matters and to the
extent there is a prioritization on
the focus of developing hockey in
China that’s something that gets
our attention more than just visit-
ing for a couple of games and dis-
appearing.
“The IOC has alluded to the
fact that maybe Korea is the gate-
way to China, maybe it is, maybe
it’s not.”
Compared to many other
leagues and teams the NHL is al-
ready late to the party.
Glamour soccer clubs like Bar-
celona and Manchester United
long ago seized on China’s poten-
tial while the NBA has seen the
country develop into its biggest
market outside the US.
Major League Baseball has
a huge following in Japan and
South Korea and played games in
Beijing but has yet to make a huge
impact in China market while
the National Football League has
an office in Shanghai as it looks
to bring the sport to the world’s
most populous country.
With plans to build hundreds
of hockey arenas and set up grass-
roots programs ahead of the 2022
Olympics, the NHL sees China
as ready to do the heavy lifting to
grow the sport, something Japan
did not do before the 1998 Naga-
no Winter Games.
Bettman worries South Korea
may also not have a long-term vi-
sion about how to grow the sport,
giving the NHL yet another rea-
son not to send its players to Py-
eongchang next year.
“Obviously [China] is a place
with enormous opportunity par-
ticularly because everything we
are being told is that there is a
commitment to growing winter
sports, and in particular hock-
ey, through the development of
young players and through the
building of rinks,” said Bettman.
“Let me give you the other side
of it, we went to Japan in ‘98 in
Nagano [...] we tried to seed the
market in advance of the Olym-
pics with some regular season
games and they were sold out and
there was interest.
“The day after the Olympic
tournament was over in Nagano
they ripped the ice plant out of
the building.”
There is currently no organised
league in China and the coun-
try languishes in the lower tiers
of the International Ice Hockey
Federation.
The highest profile hockey is
provided by the Beijing Kunlun
Red Star which play in the Rus-
sian-based Kontinental Hockey
League.
In return for building are-
nas and growing the sport China
will get plenty of NHL assistance
and expertise in icing a respect-
able national team in time for the
2022 Winter Games.
AP/John Locher
Gary Bettman
Reuters/David Mercado
Bolivia beats Messi-less
Argentina 2-0 in qualifier
Reuters
LA PAZ
Argentina, weakened by the
last-minute suspension of Lionel
Messi, had their chances of reach-
ing next year’s World Cup finals
dealt a blow on Tuesday when
they were beaten 2-0 by a spirited
Bolivia side in La Paz.
Juan Arce and Marcelo Mar-
tins scored either side of halftime
to give Bolivia a deserved victory
over an Argentina side who de-
fended poorly throughout an ex-
citing end-to-end encounter.
The defeat in the high altitude
of Bolivia’s capital, coupled with
Colombia’s 2-0 win away in Ecua-
dor and Chile’s 3-1 defeat of Vene-
zuela, means the twice World Cup
winners fall from third to fifth
in the 10-team South American
qualifying group.
The top four teams qualify au-
tomatically for Russia 2018 and
the fifth-placed side goes into a
ATHLETE WELFARE
Govt monitors hospitalized former runner
Eduardus Nabunome’s condition
Dicky Christanto
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
An official with the Youth and
Sports Ministry said the minis-
try is monitoring former nation-
al runner Eduardus Nabunome’s
medical treatment at General
Hospital Pasar Rebo. Therefore,
he added, a team of doctors has
been assigned to keep an eye on
Nabunome’s condition and re-
port to Minister Imam Nahrowi.
“A team of doctors from the
ministry has been assigned to
look after Eduardus. Minister
Imam himself is trying to visit
Eduardus,” the Youth and Sports
Ministry’s public relations and le-
gal division chief, Amar Ahmad,
said on Wednesday.
He said the government intends
to provide assistance to Eduardus.
It was reported that ex nation-
al runner, now trainer, Eduardus
Nabunome was admitted to the
hospital on Friday last week due
to cardiac arrest.
Eduardus’s wife, Marcelina Ina
Nabunome Piran, who is also a
former runner, acknowledged that
she has not left her husband’s side
since his first day in the hospital.
Eduardus, who is still in a
weakened state, told Kompas that
TENNIS
Pliskova reaches Miami Open
semis; Nishikori, Nadal in quarters
Agencies
KEY BISCAYNE, FLORIDA
Karolina Pliskova has never
found Miami exactly to her liking,
until now.
The second-seeded Pliskova
reached the Miami Open semi-
finals on Tuesday, beating 26th-
seeded Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3,
6-4. It’s the first time Pliskova has
made the semifinals at Key Bis-
cayne. Pliskova improved to 23-3
this year, the best record on the
Move on: Rafael Nadal of Spain hits
a forehand against Nicolas Mahut of
France (not pictured) on day eight of
the 2017 Miami Open at Crandon Park
Tennis Center. Nadal won 6-4, 7-6(4).
playoff with a team from Oceania.
Argentina have 22 points, one
fewer than Chile, two behind Co-
lombia and eight in arrears to
group leaders Brazil.
Uruguay, who play Peru later
on Tuesday, are also above them
on 23 points.
Argentina were already with-
out suspended regulars Javier
Mascherano, Lucas Biglia and
Gonzalo Higuain and their task
was made even tougher when
captain Messi was handed a
four-match ban for swearing at
a match official hours before the
game started .
Bolivia appeared fired up by
the decision and got the goal their
early pressing deserved through
Arce after 31 minutes.
The skinny winger outmuscled
Facundo Roncaglia on the penal-
ty spot to head home a deep cross
from Pablo Escobar on the right.
Roncaglia was at fault again for
the second goal seven minutes
Eduardus Nabunome
he had decided to leave the hospi-
tal, but he had to be readmitted on
Monday night due to unbearable
pain in his chest and stomach.
According to the doctors,
it might have been related to
blocked blood vessels.
Eduardus will celebrate his 49th
birthday on April 12. He still holds
national records for the 10,000
meter, half-marathon and mara-
thon events.
Eduardus is still a regional re-
cord holder for the marathon as
he broke the record at the 1997
women’s tour.
“I’m really enjoying my tennis
this year [...] winning almost ev-
ery match so far,” said Pliskova,
who took advantage of 10 double
faults by Lucic-Baroni.
Next up for Pliskova — who
avenged a loss to Lucic-Baroni in
the quarterfinals of the Australian
Open — is Caroline Wozniacki or
Lucie Safarova, who were sched-
uled to play Tuesday night.
On the men’s side, fifth-seeded
Rafael Nadal cashed in the only
Reuters/ Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Grateful:
Bolivia’s play-
ers celebrate at
the end of the
match against
Argentina at
the Hernando
Siles Stadium,
La Paz, Bolivia,
on Tuesday.
into the second half.
The Celta Vigo defender failed
to prevent Jorge Flores from es-
caping to the byline to cross for an
unmarked Marcelo Martins.
The big striker had all the
time in the world to steady him-
self and hammer the ball past
helpless Argentina goalkeeper
Sergio Romero.
Argentina came into the game
more when Sergio Aguero re-
placed Angel Correa 10 minutes
into the second half but they
could not get a goal.
“We tried to wrestle control of
the game from Bolivia [and] the
Reuters/Danny Moloshok
team improved a bit in the second
half,” said Argentine coach Edgar-
do Bauza.
“Bolivia won fair and square,”
he added. “We need to think ahead.
We are still alive and we want to
qualify for the World Cup.”
“We know that this is going to
be a battle and we are going to
keep fighting.”
JP/Agnes Winarti
Sea Games running a time of 2
hours, 20 minutes and 27 sec-
onds.
“Right now, I’m spending my
time as a trainer at my club. I
communicate with many run-
ners,” he said.
Marcelina said many friends
had come by and offered their
sympathies for her husband’s
condition.
Eduardus, originally from
East Nusa Tenggara, married
Marcelina in 1994 and they have
five children.
break point of the match and de-
feated Nicolas Marut 6-4, 7-6 (4)
to make the quarterfinals.
Among those joining Nadal in
the round of eight is Kei Nishikori,
who rallied in the final set to beat
Argentina’s Federico Delbonis.
Nishikori, the No. 2 seed and
Key Biscayne finalist last year,
won 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. The Japanese
star was down a break early in the
third, then took five of the final six
games.
Nishikori will next face un-
seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy, who
beat Donald Young 6-0, 6-4.
Young’s loss meant only one
American man would reach the
quarters. That would be No. 13
Jack Sock, who beats Jared Don-
aldson 6-2, 6-1.
Wawrinka lost to Federer in
the Indian Wells final nine days
ago and was denied a chance of
setting up a possible rematch in
Miami.
A day after saving three match
points and beating John Isner,
the 19-year-old Zverev domi-
nated the final two sets against
Wawrinka, breaking twice in the
second and three times in the
third to earn a quarter-final en-
counter with either Belgian David
Goffin or Australian Nick Kyrgios.
SPORTS | 9
PUTTING IT BRIEFLY
Warburton to make Lions squad for NZ
LONDON: Wales loose forward Sam Warburton will be happy just to
earn selection for the British and Irish Lions side heading to New Zea-
land this year and has no concerns over his chances of being named as
captain for a second time.
“I’d love to be in that [Lions] squad and I can’t look past further than
that. There’s so much competition in the squad,” Warburton told British
media.
“I would love to go on tour and I’ve always respected the players
who have gone on multiple Lions tours and that’s something I’d love
and try and do.”
The New Zealand tour includes a total of 10 fixtures to be played
from June 3 to July 8, including three tests against the All Blacks and
five matches against New Zealand Super Rugby teams.
Warburton became the first Welsh captain for the Lions since 1977
when he led the side to Australia in 2013, a series won 2-1 by the visi-
tors despite his absence from the final test through injury.
The squad for the New Zealand tour will be announced on April 19
and Warburton, who captained Wales for a record 49 games, is report-
edly among the favourites to become skipper.
“Fans, pundits, media are all talking about it but I haven’t had a
single conversation about that,” he added.
“You just know that’s part and parcel of playing international rugby.
It’s a compliment but it’s something I’m not thinking about.” — Reuters
Sharapova proud of her passion, integrity
RANCHO MIRAGE: Maria Sharapova believes she succeeded in a fight
against injustice when she managed to get her doping ban reduced to
15 months.
The five-time Slam winner and former world No. 1 plans to return to
competition next month at Stuttgart. She told a women
women’ss spo
sports confer-
ence Tuesday that she didn’t believe a two-year ssuspension
was fair after she tested positive for meldonium
meld
at the 2016 Australian Open.
Sharapova says
The Russian-born Shara
although she’s closer to th
the end of
beginning, she
her career than the beginn
Maria didn’t want to finish “on ssomeone
Sharapova else’s terms,” and she “fou
“fought hard
for the truth to be out.”
Sharapova spoke at the AN ANA
Inspiring Women in SpSports
Conference, a gath
gathering of
athletes and prominent
pr
professionals preceding
the LPGA’s first major
season. —
of the sea
Associated Press
Associa
SCOREBOARD
Ice Hockey COLUMBUS 3 Buffalo 1
Results from the NHL games on Tuesday
(home team in CAPS)
SAN JOSE 5 NY Rangers 4 (OT)
Basketball
Results from the NBA games on Tuesday
Anaheim 4 VANCOUVER
EDMONTON 2 Los Angeles
Washington 5 MINNESOTA 4 (OT)
1
1
(home team in CAPS)
Washington
PORTLAND
119 LA LAKERS
122 Denver
108
113
TORONTO 3 Florida 2 Golden State 113 HOUSTON 106
MONTREAL 4 Dallas 1 Philadelphia 106 BROOKLYN 101
Winnipeg 4 NEW JERSEY 3 (SO) ATLANTA 95 Phoenix 91
BOSTON 4 Nashville 1 Miami 97 DETROIT 96
PHILADELPHIA 3 Ottawa 2 (SO) Milwaukee 118 CHARLOTTE 108
CAROLINA 4 Detroit 1 Minnesota 115 INDIANA 114
CRICKET
Gaurav Pathak, Kirubasankar’s
knocks light up an exciting
weekend in the JCA league
Suresh Subramanian wickets each for 26 runs. Senayan
CONTRIBUTOR/JAKARTA CC could only make 112 runs, fall-
ing short by a huge 116 runs.
As the Texmoda JCA league en- Menara CC’s batting strug-
ters its last two months of action, gles continued as they could only
the teams started stepping up the make 116 runs in their T20 match
action to provide five exciting against WPP India XI. Pallav Mal-
games this weekend. hotra, Garika Vamshi and Gau-
Yadavas Senayan CC, which is rang Kapadia were the best bowl-
in the midst of a hectic battle for ers for WPP India XI.
Division 1 honors, had a mixed Gaurav Pathak then made an
weekend winning one and losing absolute mockery of the low tar-
their second game. Indonesian get by hitting an explosive 93
national team stars dominated not out of just 45 balls, which in-
the batting as Senayan CC put cluded a huge nine 6s, and taking
up a very strong 187 in their T20 WPP India XI to a huge win with
game against the TKCC Royals. almost 10 overs and nine wickets
Muhaddis and Gamantika to spare.
were the highest contributors in GMIS CC stole a victory in one
knocks that featured some big of the tightest finishes this sea-
hitting including seven 6s. Wicket son when they beat Mavecrics
keeper Surendar Khetan with five CC by one run. Mavecrics CC
dismissals and Vishal Garg with did well to bowl out GMIS CC
three dismissals did the main for just 109 runs on the back of
damage for the TKCC Royals.
Manbhir Singh and Raj Ka-
padia started things off well for
some good bowling by Nimesh
Shah, Pradeep Patnaik and Samir
Sharma. Naresh Gupta and Ajeet
Senayan CC while bowling, but Bhatt were the main contributors
Mukesh Khetan and Vishal Garg
counterattacked to bring TKCC
back into the reckoning. Rain
with the bat for GMIS CC.
They looked well on course for
an easy win when they needed 15
washed out play and Senayan CC runs with five wickets to spare.
won by 13 runs on DL scores. Some tight fielding and some
Yadavas Senayan CC needed to manic running led to four run
win their next game against the outs ensuing and Mavecrics were
Metro Indians to go back on top of bowled out for 108, falling one run
Division 1, but Kirubasankar had short.
other ideas. Division 2 leaders, Emerio CC
His patient ton, where he vir- comfortably crushed Fez Rebels
tually carried his bat and some CC in their 35 overs game. The
good support from Murali, gave entire Emerio CC bowling attack
the Metro Indians a strong score were superb in their control and
of 218 in 35 overs. didn’t give Rebels any opportuni-
The tall Rakhitha then rattled ties to score, thus squeezing them
the Senayan CC top order and out for a paltry 68 runs.
had them on the ropes early on in Vasanth Reddy started things
their reply. Murali then chipped off briskly for Emerio CC and
in with the ball as well to clean up though Alfhariz took two quick
the other batsmen and between wickets, Emerio CC won comfort-
them both took an identical five ably in the end.
10 | THURSDAY March 30, 2017

AROUND THE REGION

PH police deny 7,000 deaths in drug war
PHILIPPINES: The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday clarified
their own count on the number of deaths in the government’s war on
drugs, but insisted that the official toll was still below the 7,000 figure
liberally used by rights groups and the media.
PNP spokesperson Dionardo Carlos said the 1,398 drug-related
deaths they reported on Monday were blamed on vigilantes and did
not include the 2,600 drug suspects slain in “actual police operations.”
“You shouldn’t add up the two,” Carlos told reporters. “There is no
criminal intent [in the killing of drug suspects during police operations]
because there is presumption of regularity in the policemen’s perfor-
mance of their duty.”
“And even if you add the two numbers, it will not reach 7,000,” he
insisted.
PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa on Monday presented the
data to refute claims of critics that the antinarcotics drive in the last eight
months had left more than 7,000 Filipino dead, many were categorized by
rights groups as extrajudicial killings. — Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN

M’sia, China to set up security panel

MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur and Beijing will set up a high-level commit-
tee to discuss security and defense issues common to both countries.
Malaysian Defense Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, who
received a courtesy call from of China’s Central Military Commission vice-
chairman General Xu Qiliang on Wednesday, said the committee will
discuss military ties between the two countries and security threats.
“One area that we are pursuing is to ensure that the relationship
built with China is institutionalized,” he said. “The high-level commit-
tee will be chaired by both Malaysia and China’s defense ministers and
will look at aspects that may strengthen or sour our bilateral links.”
Hishammuddin said other than institutionalizing bilateral relations
between both countries, the committee will discuss security issues per-
taining to North Korea, the South China Sea and terrorism, all of which
were touched upon during Wednesday’s courtesy call. — The Star/ANN
Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha
Orderly: Buddhist Monks from Dhammakaya temple walk past a building inside Dhammakaya temple in Pathum Thani province, Thailand.
Rare tiger cubs found in Thai jungle
THAILAND: Conservationists say they have evidence that the critically
endangered Indochinese tiger is breeding in a Thai jungle, giving hope for
the survival of an animal whose total population may be less than 300.
Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conserva-
tion along with two private organizations announced Tuesday they have
photographic evidence of new tiger cubs in eastern Thailand, supporting
Junta seeks law to bring
a scientific survey that confirmed the existence of the world’s second
breeding population of the tigers. The other breeding ground is in the
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in western Thailand.
The Thai agency, along with Freeland, an organization fighting
more order to Buddhism
human and animal trafficking, and Panthera, a wild cat conservation Panarat Thepgumpanat The proposed bill will Pongporn Pramsaneh, the re- suppressed.”
group, said only 221 Indochinese tigers are estimated to remain in two and Patpicha cently appointed former detec- “Monks looking to violate mo-
Asian countries, Thailand and Myanmar.
significantly reduce
Tanakasempipat the say of Buddhism’s tive who now heads the govern- nastic codes or wrongly exploit
It is feared that tigers, which once ranged across much of Asia, are REUTERS/BANGKOK ment office that handles Buddhist religion will be suppressed,” he
now all but extinct in southern China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and governing body
affairs. He declined to give details said.
much of Myanmar, the groups said in a joint statement. Indochinese ti- Thailand’s military govern- about the bill. Religious scandal is noth-
gers are smaller than the better-known Bengal and Siberian tigers. — AP A committee proposed in
ment is working on a law to help the bill would set policies There are already indications ing new in Thailand, which has
regulate Buddhism, officials say, the Sangha Council’s influence 40,000 temples and more than
giving the junta far more say over to improve secular affairs has been weakened. 300,000 monks. Reports of sex,
a pillar of Thai society that has so Last year, the junta rejected the drugs and improper financial
DIPLOMATIC TENSION far eluded its control. name put forward by the council dealings are frequent.
The proposed bill, which has inappropriate,” Phra Metha Wi- to be the new Supreme Patriarch The proposed committee un-
Malaysia inspects N. Korea not been made public, would ap-
pear to significantly reduce the
nairos, deputy dean of Mahama-
kut Buddhist University, told Re-
of Buddhism, an abbot who had
ties with the Dhammakaya tem-
der the new bill would set poli-
cies to improve secular affairs
say of the Sangha Supreme Coun- uters. “This state interference ple and who had been under in- — though not Buddhist religious
coal ship for possible breach cil, Buddhism’s governing body in
Thailand.
will downgrade religion.”
The proposed law comes amid
vestigation over a scam involving
luxury cars.
practices.
That could potentially help the
A source within the govern- a swirl of controversies around The military-appointed par- Sangha tackle persistent prob-
James Pearson, Rozanna with sanctions, have cited a num- ment who did not wish to be a religion professed by 95 per- liament then granted new King lems, said Buddhism expert Mon-
Latiff and Tom Allard ber of instances over the past de- named said the bill would set up cent of Thais, and with most op- Maha Vajiralongkorn the power tree Sirarojananan from Tham-
REUTERS/KUALA LUMPUR cade in which North Korean mis- a new committee that would set position to army rule neutralized to pick a chief monk himself. masat University in Bangkok. But
sile parts and coal connected to policies to “support and protect since a 2014 coup. Pongporn at the Buddhist af- he said a committee dominated
Malaysia briefly prevented a sanctioned entities were trans- Buddhism,” though it would not While police have lifted a three- fairs office said the renewed push by government officials could also
North Korean ship carrying coal shipped through Malaysia. touch on religious practices. week siege of the giant Dham- on the bill had nothing to do with be abused.
from entering its port in Penang be- Malaysia is one of the few The bill would give monks makaya temple north of Bangkok, the Dhammakaya temple, which “A knife in the hands of a mili-
cause of a suspected breach of Unit- countries in the world which buys chosen by the Sangha Council the temple’s defiance of attempts frustrated an attempt by thou- tary government tends to be used
ed Nations sanctions, a port worker North Korean coal, with China by only three of the 27 seats on the to arrest its former abbot in a sands of police this month to as a weapon,” he said.
and Malaysian maritime officials far the biggest importer. committee. Other seats would money laundering case has high- search for its former abbot, Phra The bill did not include any
told Reuters on Wednesday. The KUM YA was recently re- go to the prime minister, po- lighted the limit of state authority Dhammachayo. measures for state control over
The KUM YA, was carrying flagged as a North Korean ship, lice chief, a number of other over monks. Critics of the temple say it is the finances of temples which, ac-
6,300 metric tons of anthracite changing its name from Lucky senior officials as well as experts The draft of the new bill is be- sympathetic to the “red shirt” cording to a 2014 study, get an es-
coal, according to a worker at Pen- Star 7 in last November, according on Buddhism, members of Bud- ing reviewed by the Sangha Su- movement of ousted prime min- timated $3.5 billion a year in do-
ang Port who spoke to Reuters on to the Equasis shipping database. dhist universities and represen- preme Council, said the head of ister Thaksin Shinawatra, which nations, the government source
condition of anonymity. It was It was registered on Feb. 13 to tatives of Buddhist groups cho- the National Office of Buddhism. the temple denies. said.
later allowed to dock, where an North Korean shipping company sen by the prime minister, the No member of the council of el- Paiboon Nititawan, a former The bill would still need ap-
inspection team accompanied by Sonchonggang Water Transport, source said. der monks was available for com- junta advisor who wants even proval from the cabinet and the
an armed escort boarded the ship. according to copies of the ship’s “The bill does not ‘support,’ ment. greater regulation of Buddhism, legislative assembly.
A December 2016 UN Security registration documents, which but forces monks to obey and stay “This bill will benefit monks said if the bill was enacted, “prob- It would also need to be signed
Council resolution placed a cap on were issued by North Korea’s under state governance, which is and help spread Buddhism,” said lems like Dhammakaya will be off by King Vajiralongkorn.
exports of North Korean coal, and Maritime Administration, and
urged member states to apply extra seen by Reuters.
scrutiny on North Korean ships. The ship was carrying 20 crew
Production of coal in North members, and was scheduled DEMOCRATIC REFORM
Korea is state-controlled and its to sail onto Singapore, the port
exports are a key source of hard
currency for the isolated coun-
try’s banned nuclear and ballistic
missile programs.
worker said.
The ship listed its port of origin
as Busan, South Korea. However,
shipping data in Thomson Reuters
A year on, Suu Kyi struggles over conflict
Relations between North Ko- Eikon shows the cargo was loaded Simon Lewis terview with Suu Kyi have gone army in parliament.
rea and Malaysia, which have been at the Huaneng Shandong Power and Antoni Slodkowski unanswered or have been rejected “It might be part of her strate-
friendly for decades, have soured Station Weihai, a coal-fired pow- REUTERS/YANGON/NAYPYITAW over the past year. She has given gy to change the military’s mind-
following the February assassina- er plant. It then sailed to Penang only two interviews, both to broad- set and to lead them into the dem-
tion of Pyongyang leader Kim Jong- through the South China Sea and At the beginning of this year, casters overseas, in that time. ocratic change,” said Myat Thu,
un’s half-brother in Kuala Lumpur. the Malacca Strait, the data shows. Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu When she came to power, Suu chair of the Yangon School of Po-
The North Korean ship had been China halted all coal imports Kyi sat down with one of her ad- Kyi said her number one prior- litical Science. “But after one year,
initially prevented from entering from North Korea starting on visers to go through priorities for ity was ending the myriad eth- many people want to see concrete
Penang Port due to a possible breach Feb. 26, amid growing tensions the coming months. She began nic conflicts involving more than results.”
of UN sanctions, MMEA deputy di- on the Korean Peninsula follow- with an apology for the slow pace Reuters 20 rebel groups that have kept When she took charge of the
rector-general of operations Zulkifli ing one of a series of Pyongyang’s of economic reform. Aung San Suu Kyi Myanmar in a state of near-per- peace process Suu Kyi dismantled
Abu Bakar, told Reuters without of- missile tests. “You must be very disappoint- petual civil war since indepen- a peace center — set up by the pre-
fering further details. Malaysia’s foreign ministry ed,” she said. “You know, my plan of the Nobel Peace Prize winner. dence in 1948. vious semi-civilian government
It was unclear what the inspec- told officials at Penang Port not to had been that we would get the Suu Kyi’s support for the secu- That goal remains as elusive — that was leading talks with eth-
tors were checking on. let the ship dock before an inspec- peace process done and then I rity operation in northwestern Ra- as ever, and some critics say that, nic armed groups.
The UN, in its annual reports tion team had it “declared safe,” would be able to bring my atten- khine State, during which about mired in complex, on-off peace Some observers say that was a
on how members have complied the port worker said. tion, personally, to the economy.” 75,000 members of the stateless talks, Suu Kyi has taken her eye mistake, because experienced ne-
The remark, recounted to Re- Rohingya minority have fled to off the economy. gotiators who had built up trust
uters by the adviser speaking on Bangladesh, has strained relations Growth, albeit still relatively with ethnic minority representa-
condition of anonymity, offers a with the West. UN officials have strong, has slowed since she took tives were removed.
Maneuver rare insight into Suu Kyi’s think-
ing on what some critics say are
told Reuters more than 1,000 peo-
ple may have been killed.
power, while foreign direct in-
vestment has fallen sharply.
“Ethnic leaders describe their
meetings with her as like a head-
the defining issues of her first year Meanwhile, the government’s “She had the whole world and mistress and her students,” said
in power: continued fighting with domestic performance has strug- everyone at home on her side. one former negotiator, who was
ethnic armed groups in the north, gled to match the optimism that And look what happened: she has briefed on the talks and whose ac-
sluggish progress on retooling an swept her National League for alienated the ethnics, she has lost count was broadly backed up by
economy stunted by decades of Democracy (NLD) to a landslide the battle over Rakhine [...] and other observers. “She’s always up
military rule, and a reluctance to election win. has not delivered on the econo- high, and treats them like they are
delegate power to others. “Many voters feel frustrated,” my,” said a recent former senior below her.”
Suu Kyi — who had been glob- said NLD lawmaker Myo Zaw Western diplomat to the country. Several conflicts have reignited
ally celebrated as a heroine of de- Aung, citing pervasive low-level Suu Kyi’s defenders say she is since Suu Kyi took power, displac-
mocracy — took over last April, corruption as one source of disaf- hamstrung by a constitution writ- ing an estimated 160,000 more
forming Myanmar’s first civilian fection among a population who ten by the military that — along people, according to UN data.
government in half a century amid also face ramshackle public ser- with disqualifying her from the Most recently, fighting with
soaring hopes among both her vices and wages among the lowest presidency — left the army in Kokang rebels in the hills along
backers in Western governments in Southeast Asia. control of key security ministries the Chinese border sent about
and ordinary voters at home. “People had sky-high expec- and much of the apparatus of the 20,000 refugees fleeing to China’s
A year on things look very dif- tations for NLD, but actually the state. Yunnan province.
ferent. change can’t be that dramatic; Some say they believe she has “This fighting never goes
Last week, the United Nations they are not seeing an obvious supported the military because away,” said one of those who fled,
AP/Vincent Thian Human Rights Council moved change at the grassroots level.” her ultimate goal is to coax the 75-year-old Tao Xiaoshun, still
The aerobatic “Black Eagles” of the South Korean Air Force perform to probe allegations of crimes Suu Kyi’s spokesman, Zaw Htay, generals into accepting a re-writ- looking for her son lost amid the
a flypast near Petronas twin towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on against humanity committed did not respond to Reuters’ ques- ing of the constitution — over chaos. “The Myanmar govern-
Wednesday. The Black Eagles recently put on a show at the Langkawi against Rohingya Muslims by tions about the government’s first which they wield a veto thanks to ment is too far away. They don’t
International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition in Malaysia. Myanmar soldiers on the watch year in office. Requests for an in- the bloc of seats reserved for the take care of us.”
THURSDAY March 30, 2017 WORLD | 11
Assembly of leaders AROUND THE WORLD
China, EU reaffirm climate action
CHINA: Nations led by China and the European Union rallied around a
global plan to slow climate change on Wednesday after United States
President Donald Trump began undoing Obama-era plans for deep cuts
in US greenhouse gas emissions.
Trump’s order on Tuesday, keeping a campaign promise to bolster
the US coal industry, strikes at the heart of an international Paris
Agreement in 2015 to curb world temperatures that hit record highs in
2016 for the third year in a row.
Many nations reacted to Trump’s plan with dismay and defiance,
saying a vast investment shift from fossil fuels to clean energy such as
wind and solar power is underway with benefits ranging from less air
pollution to more jobs.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, whose government coop-
erated closely with former US president Barack Obama’s administration on
climate change, said all countries should “move with the times.”
European Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said: “We see
the Paris Agreement and the transition to a modern, more innovative
economy as the growth engine of job creation, investment opportuni-
ties and economic prosperity.” — Reuters

N. Korea could be in final stages of test

UNITED STATES: Satellite imagery of North Korea’s main nuclear test
site taken over the weekend indicates that Pyongyang could be in the
final stages of preparations for a sixth nuclear test, a United States
think tank reported on Tuesday.
Reuters/Mohammad Hamed
Washington-based 38 North, a website that monitors North Korea,
Arab leaders and head of delegations attend the 28th Ordinary Summit of the Arab League at the Dead Sea, Jordan, on Wednesday. Jordan’s King said the images from Saturday showed the continued presence of
Abdullah II said peace would not be attained in the Middle East without the creation of a Palestinian state under a two-state solution that would vehicles and trailers at the Punggye-ri test site and signs that commu-
be the basis of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace deal. nications cables may have been laid to a test tunnel.
Water was also being pumped out and was draining downhill
“presumably to keep the tunnel dry for monitoring or communications
equipment,” it said.

Army assesses damage after

“The combination of these factors strongly suggests that test prepa-
rations are well under way, including the installation of instrumenta-
tion. — Reuters

Calls for UN, Congo to investigate deaths

storm smashes northern Oz
Tom Westbrook
and Benjamin Weir
REUTERS/SYDNEY
Cyclone Debbie wrought
widespread but moderate dam-
age in Australia’s northeast, au-
thorities said on Wednesday, as
flooding rain and fallen trees
slowed troops and emergency
workers reaching the worst-hit
areas.
No deaths were reported a day
after Debbie smashed tourist re-
sorts, flattened cane fields and
shut down coal mines in tropi-
cal Queensland state as a cate-
gory four storm, one rung below
the most dangerous wind speed
level.
“It’s looking promising in terms
of being able to rebuild promptly
with most of the major infrastruc-
ture intact,” Queensland state
police deputy commissioner
Steve Gollschewski told Austra-
lian Broadcasting Corporation
television.
“We’re still struggling to get
in there, however,” he said, add-
ing planes and boats were being
used to bring army personnel and
Cyclone smashes tourist
resorts, no deaths
Storm leaves 63,000
without electricity
Coal mines and shipments
halted
emergency workers to places cut-
off by road.
And as poor weather persisted
and several Bowen Basin collier-
ies stayed shut, analysts said Deb-
bie could push coking coal prices
higher — while tourism operators,
even in unaffected regions, re-
ported cancelled bookings.
Resorts along the world-fa-
mous Great Barrier Reef and
coastal areas bore the brunt of the
storm with wind gusts stronger
than 260 kilometers per hour.
One family near Airlie Beach,
over which the eye of the storm
passed, had a particularly dra-
matic night. Queensland Premier
Annastacia Palaszczuk said the
family welcomed a baby girl who
was born inside the Whitsunday
Ambulance Station as the storm
raged outside.
Pictures from Hamilton Island
and Airlie Beach showed streets
stacked with snapped trees, roof
tiles and furniture, with wrecked
yachts washed ashore.
“Nature has flung her worst at
the people of Queensland,” Aus-
tralian Prime Minister Malcolm
Turnbull told reporters at the
Crisis Coordination Center in
Canberra.
Electricity was cut for more
than 63,000 people, and Wilmar
said its sugar mills were stilled at
Proserpine and Sarina.
Hundreds of hectares of sug-
arcane crops had been flattened,
Dan Galligan, chief executive of
industry body Canegrowers, said
in a statement.
In the Bowen Basin, the world’s
single-largest source of coal used
to make steel, BHP Billiton, Glen-
core, and Stanmore Coal all said
work at mines there was halted
until further notice.
But Glencore added its Collins-
ville and Newlands mines were
not damaged and it anticipated
production would resume within
48 hours, with no impact on an-
nual targets. Prices lifted, but oth-
er factors also contributed.
Ports operator North
Queensland Bulk Ports Corpora-
tion also said it had no reports of
significant damage.
Whitsunday Islands resorts
were battered, running short on
fresh water and closed to book-
ings until at least next week, but
mostly intact.
Hoteliers hundreds of kilo-
meters away at Cairns and Rock-
hampton were seeing cancel-
lations for upcoming Easter
holidays and operators worried
that bad press would prolong the
recovery, Queensland Tourism
Industry Council chief executive
Daniel Gschwind said.
“These are places that are en-
tirely unaffected by these cir-
cumstances and that’s the kind of
collateral damage we suffer some-
times in our industry,” he said.
Townsville Airport reopened,
although airlines Qantas and Vir-
gin said flights to Hamilton Is-
land, Proserpine and Mackay
were cancelled.
Only two injuries were report-
ed, police said.
DENMARK: The United Nations and Congo must investigate after three
bodies, including those of Swedish and American investigators with
the UN, were found in central Congo, Sweden’s prime minister said
Wednesday.
Stefan Lofven said Sweden was “naturally ready to assist” in investi-
gating the deaths of Swedish national Zaida Catalan, American Michael
Sharp and their interpreter Betu Tshintela. Their bodies were found this
week in a shallow grave.
They went missing March 12 along with driver Isaac Kabuayi and
two motorbike drivers while looking into large-scale violence and al-
leged human rights violations by the Congolese army and local militia
groups in Central Kasai province.
Their disappearance is the first time UN experts have been reported
missing in Congo, Human Rights Watch has said, and it is the first
recorded disappearance of international workers in the Kasai provinces.
Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende late Tuesday said
investigations will continue to seek other missing Congolese col-
leagues. — AP
Peru floods may sweep away rich legacy
PERU: Extreme floods wreaking havoc in Peru are also threatening the
South American country’s rich archeological heritage and the tourism
that thrives on it, a Peruvian archaeologist said on Tuesday.
At least 50 archaeological sites in Peru have been damaged by the
intense rains that are battering northern Peru, resulting in a drastic
drop in related tourism, said archaeologist and explorer Walter Alva.
Alva discovered the tomb of Peru’s “Lord of Sipan” in 1987, a gold-
adorned find that established the Moche culture as one of Peru’s rich
coastal civilizations that flourished long before the Incan Empire in
the Andes.
Some researchers believe that Moche society collapsed because of
an El Niño event and other climate changes during their rule from 200-
700 AD, a reminder for some of the challenges now facing Peru due to
unpredictable weather. — Reuters

INTERFAITH Syria deal to evacuate Shiites, Sunnis

LEBANON: The Shiite populations of two pro-Syrian government towns

India’s crackdown on abattoirs spreads
Mayank Bhardwaj
and Rajendra Jadhav
REUTERS/MUMBAI/NEW DELHI
A crackdown on unlicensed
abattoirs in India’s most popu-
lous state has spread to other
states ruled by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s party, as Hindu
hardliners press a political agen-
da that risks alienating the coun-
try’s Muslim minority.
The latest crackdown started
after Modi appointed Yogi Ad-
ityanath as chief minister of Ut-
tar Pradesh state following the
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)
landslide victory in elections
there earlier this month.
The demands by right-wing
Hindu groups to stop the slaugh-
ter of cows, considered holy in
Hinduism, could stoke commu-
nal tensions with Muslims, who
dominate the meat industry and
make up 14 percent of India’s 1.3
billion people. Most of the beef
produced in India comes from
buffalo rather than cattle.
Adityanath ordered closure of
abattoirs operating without li-
censes soon after taking over as
chief minister on March 18.
“If it is legal, nobody has a
right to stop it. But if it is illegal,
why should this be allowed to
function? We believe in the rule
of the land,” said Rajiv Tuli, me-
dia coordinator of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideo-
logical parent of the BJP.
A senior BJP official also de-
fended the action, saying it was
part of the party’s election man-
ifesto in Uttar Pradesh, and fol-
lowed through on the stand
taken by Modi during 2014 gen-
eral election campaign, when he
spoke out against India increas-
ing meat exports.
“Even Modiji vowed to put an
end to pink revolution during the
2014 election campaign, so there
is nothing wrong in shutting
down illegal shops,” the official
said, referring to the modernisa-
tion of meat and poultry process-
ing units and growth of the meat
industry.
Several other BJP-ruled
are to be evacuated in exchange for the evacuation of Sunni rebels
and their families from two opposition-held towns in a mediated deal
between the warring sides, a pro-government source and the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said.
states, including Jharkhand, Ra- buyers included Vietnam, Ma- The two Shiite towns of al-Foua and Kefraya in the northwestern
jasthan, Uttarakhand, Chhattis- laysia and Egypt. province of Idlib are besieged by rebel fighters, while the opposition-
garh and Madhya Pradesh, have Uttar Pradesh is the biggest held towns of Zabadani and Madaya near the Lebanese border are
followed suit, ordering closures producer of buffalo meat in the besieged by pro-government forces.
of abattoirs operating without country, and exporters said the Its military hand strengthened by Russia and Iran, the Syrian govern-
licences, according to media re- latest crackdown will hurt busi- ment has struck numerous deals giving besieged rebels safe passage to
ports and local officials. ness. insurgent-held parts of northern Syria that border Turkey. — Reuters
“The order has been issued
keeping overall issues of pub-
lic health, hygiene, and safety in
mind. We will not allow any ille-
gal abattoirs to operate,” K G Ra-
hate, a senior Jharkhand govern-
ment official told Reuters.
Raghubar Das, chief minister
of Jharkhand, also issued adver-
tisements in local papers to ap-
peal to meat sellers to follow his
government’s instruction.
In Rajasthan, 16 illegal slaugh-
terhouses were shut down last
week, a government official said.
The closures have led to fears
of meat shortages and disruption
of exports of buffalo beef and
other meat products.
India is one of the largest ex-
porters of buffalo meat, selling
US$4 billion worth of beef in the
2015/2016 fiscal year. Its biggest

REVISION
ACCOUNTANT TO BE APPOINTED AS PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL SHAREHOLDERS MEETING
PT BANK CIMB NIAGA Tbk
In connection with advertisements of the Invitation to the Annual General Shareholders Meeting, followed by an Extraordinary General
Shareholders Meeting (the "Meeting") which was published in this newspaper dated 27 March 2017, is hereby informed that :
Especially for agenda 3 on the Appointment of Public Accounting Firm of the Company for the year 2017 and determination of the
honorarium and other requirements with regard to the appointment, it is revised from previously stated:
"Pursuant to Article 11 paragraph 5 of the Company’s AoA, Article 68 UUPT, to propose to the AGMS to appoint Mr. Drs. M. Jusuf
:LELVDQD0(F&3$DV3XEOLF$FFRXQWDQWDQG7DQXGLUHGMD:LELVDQD5LQWLV 5HNDQDPHPEHU¿UPRI3ULFHZDWHUKRXVH&RRSHUV
Global in Indonesia) as a Public Accounting Firm that listed in the Indonesia Financial Services Authority to audit of the Company’s
¿QDQFLDOVWDWHPHQWIRU¿QDQFLDO\HDUDQGLWVKRQRUDULXPDQGRWKHUUHTXLUHPHQWVUHODWHGWRWKHDSSRLQWPHQW
to be:
”Pursuant to Article 11 paragraph 5 of the Company’s AoA, Article 68 UUPT, to the meeting it will seek approval for the appointment of
Angelique Dewi Daryanto, S.E., CPA as accountant and Kantor Akuntan Publik Tanudiredja, Wibisana, Rintis & Rekan (a member
¿UPRIPwC *OREDOLQ,QGRQHVLDDVSXEOLFDFFRXQWLQJ¿UPZKRUHJLVWHUHGLQ)LQDQFLDO6HUYLFHV$XWKRULW\Otoritas Jasa Keuangan or
OJK) RURWKHUDFFRXQWDQWIURPVDPHDFFRXQWLQJ¿UPLQWKHDEVHQFHRIWKHUHVSHFWLYHSHUVRQto conduct audit of the Company’s
¿QDQFLDOVWDWHPHQWIRUWKH\HDUDQGKRQRUDULXPDQGRWKHUUHTXLUHPHQWVZLWKUHJDUGWRWKHDSSRLQWPHQW´

Jakarta, 30 March 2017

Board of Directors
PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk
$GGUHVV&RUSRUDWH6HFUHWDU\*UDKD&,0%1LDJDWKÀRRU-O-HQG6XGLUPDQ.DY±6RXWK-DNDUWD
Telp. (021) 250 5252, fax. (021) 252 6749,
e-mail: corporate.secretary@cimbniaga.co.id; website: www.cimbniaga.com
WORLD
US BUDGET
‘Domestic cuts to
finance border wall’
Andrew Taylor
ASSOCIATED PRESS/WASHINGTON
President Donald Trump is
proposing immediate budget cuts
of US$18 billion from programs
like medical research, infrastruc-
ture and community grants so
United States taxpayers, not Mex-
ico, can cover the down payment
on the border wall.
The White House documents
were submitted to Congress amid
negotiations over a catchall spend-
ing bill that would avert a partial
government shutdown at the end
of next month. The package would
wrap up $1.1 trillion in unfinished
spending bills and address the
Trump administration’s request
for an immediate $30 billion in ad-
ditional Pentagon spending.
The latest Trump proposal,
disclosed Tuesday, would elimi-
nate $1.2 billion in National Insti-
tutes of Health research grants, a
favorite of both parties. The com-
munity development block grant
program, also popular, would be
halved, amounting to a cut of $1.5
billion, and Trump would strip
$500 million from a popular grant
program for transportation proj-
ects. Some of that money would
help pay for parts of the wall.
Like Trump’s 2018 proposed
budget, which was panned by both
Democrats and Republicans ear-
lier this month, the proposals have
little chance of being enacted.
But they could create bad politi-
cal optics for the struggling Trump
White House, since the admin-
istration asked earlier for $3 bil-
lion to pay for the Trump’s con-
troversial US-Mexico border wall
and other immigration enforce-
ment plans. During the campaign,
Trump repeatedly promised Mex-
ico would pay for the wall, a claim
the country has disputed.
“The administration is asking
the American taxpayer to cover
the cost of a wall — unneeded, in-
effective, absurdly expensive —
that Mexico was supposed to pay
for, and he is cutting programs vi-
tal to the middle class to get that
done,” said Senate Minority Lead-
er Chuck Schumer, D-New York
“Build the wall or repair or build
a bridge or tunnel or road in your
community? What’s the choice?”
The roster of cuts were sent
to Capitol Hill as a set of options
for GOP staff aides and lawmak-
ers crafting a catchall spending
bill for the ongoing budget year,
which ends Sept. 30.
Those talks are intensifying,
but Senate Republicans are con-
sidering backing away from a
showdown with Democrats over
whether to fund Trump’s request
for immediate funding to build a
wall along the US-Mexico border.
Senate Democrats have threat-
ened to filibuster any provision
providing money for the wall. And
many Republicans are not very
enthusiastic about it and say the
White House has not given them
many specifics to go on.
“I’d like to hear the details.
What is this wall?” asked Sen.
John McCain, R-Arizona.
Asked about including South-
ern border wall financing in the
broader spending package, Sen.
Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a key negotia-
tor, said: “They will not pass to-
gether. That’s just my view.”
Blunt added, “My view is
there’s a path to get 60 votes” in
the Senate, the total required to
overcome a Democratic filibuster.
Blunt is a member of the Senate
GOP leadership team and a major
player on health and human ser-
vices accounts.
The government would shut
down except for some functions
at midnight April 28 without suc-
cessful action on spending. GOP
leaders are eager to avoid a po-
litically damaging shutdown, es-
pecially in the wake of last week’s
embarrassing failure to pass the
Trump-pushed bill to repeal and
replace former president Barack
Obama’s health care law.
Negotiators have made prog-
ress on the core elements of a doz-
en must-do funding bills, but have
ignored the White House’s list of
cuts in doing so.
Spring is coming
Models wear floral arrangements as they interact with travelers at Central Station in Utrecht, Netherlands,
on Wednesday. About 20,000 spring flowers were used to promote Keukenhof, the largest flower show in
the world, and transport companies Arriva and NS.
May to fire starting
gun on Brexit
Guy Faulconbridge
and Elizabeth Piper
REUTERS/LONDON
Prime Minister Theresa May
will file formal Brexit divorce pa-
pers on Wednesday, pitching the
United Kingdom into the un-
known and triggering years of un-
certain negotiations that will test
the endurance of the European
Union.
Nine months after Britons vot-
ed to leave, May will notify EU
Council President Donald Tusk in
a letter that the UK really is quit-
ting the bloc it joined in 1973.
May signs formal Brexit
divorce papers
Two years of talks loom;
exit planned in 2019
United Kingdom’s future
unclear
The prime minister, an initial
opponent of Brexit who won the
top job in the political turmoil
that followed the referendum
vote, will then have two years to
settle the terms of the divorce
before it comes into effect in late
March 2019.
“Now that the decision has
been made to leave the EU, it is
time to come together,” May will
tell lawmakers, according to com-
ments supplied by her office.
“When I sit around the negoti-
ating table in the months ahead,
I will represent every person in
the whole United Kingdom —
young and old, rich and poor,
city, town, country and all the vil-
lages and hamlets in between,”
May will say.
On the eve of Brexit, May, 60,
has one of the toughest jobs of any
recent British prime minister:
holding Britain together in the
face of renewed Scottish indepen-
dence demands, while conducting
arduous talks with 27 other EU
states on finance, trade, security
and other complex issues.
The outcome of the negotia-
tions will shape the future of Brit-
ain’s US$2.6 trillion economy, the
world’s fifth biggest, and deter-
mine whether London can keep
its place as one of the top two
global financial centres.
For the EU, already reeling
from successive crises over debt
and refugees, the loss of Britain is
the biggest blow yet to 60 years of
efforts to forge European unity in
the wake of two devastating world
wars.
Its leaders say they do not want
to punish Britain. But with na-
tionalist, anti-EU parties on the
TERRORISM
London attack a “wake-up” call for tech firms
Michael Holden
REUTERS/LONDON
The London attack which left
four people dead was a “wake
up call” for technology firms to
get their house in order over ex-
tremist material being circulated
on the internet, the acting head
of London’s police force said on
Wednesday.
The comments from Craig
Mackey, acting Commissioner of
the Metropolitan Police, come af-
ter calls from politicians for tech
firms, mainly based in the United
States, to cooperate more with
the authorities.
“I think these sorts of incidents
and the others we’ve seen in Eu-
rope are probably a bit of a wake-
up call for the industry in terms
of trying to understand what it
means to put your own house
in order,” Mackey told the Lon-
don Assembly’s Police and Crime
Committee.
“If you are going to have ethi-
cal statement and talk about oper-
THURSDAY March 30, 2017
AP/Peter Dejong
rise across Europe, they cannot
afford to give London generous
terms that might encourage other
member states to break away.
May’s notice of the UK’s inten-
tion to leave the bloc under Arti-
cle 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty is
due to be hand-delivered to Tusk
in Brussels by Tim Barrow, Brit-
ain’s permanent representative
to the EU.
Barrow arrived at the Europe-
an Council building shortly before
8 GMT for a routine weekly meet-
ing with the senior diplomats of
other member states.
He arrived in the ambassado-
rial Jaguar, carrying a well-worn
black leather briefcase which may
— or may not — have contained
May’s letter. British officials de-
clined to say.
Barrow has an appointment
with Tusk, the EU summit chair
and former Polish prime minis-
ter, in the Council President’s of-
fices on the top 11th floor of the
new Europa Building at 11:20
GMT, where he is due to hand
over the letter.
That moment will formally set
the clock ticking on Britain’s two-
year exit process. Tusk will speak
to reporters after that.
May signed the Brexit letter
on Tuesday, pictured alone at the
cabinet table beneath a clock, a
British flag and an oil-painting
of Britain’s first prime minister,
Robert Walpole.
She will update the British par-
liament at around 11:30 GMT.
The Sun, Britain’s most popu-
lar newspaper, projected giant
messages to Europe including
“Dover and Out,” “Goodbye” and
“See EU Later” onto the white
cliffs of Dover facing the conti-
nent.
In the French media, the re-
sponse was less celebratory. The
Libération newspaper led with
the headline: “We miss you al-
ready! Or do we [...]” over a pic-
ture of a guardsman wearing a
bearskin hat, a traditional symbol
of Britain.
ating in an ethical way, it actually
has to mean something. That is the
sort of thing that obviously politi-
cians and others will push now.”
The British government and
a series of well-known British
brands such as Marks and Spen-
cer Group plc had already sus-
pended digital advertising with
Alphabet Inc.’s before the at-
tack because ads were appearing
alongside videos on its YouTube
platform with homophobic or an-
ti-Semitic messages.
They have since been joined
by US wireless carriers Verizon
Communications Inc. and AT&T
Inc. The action has prompted
Google to apologize and review its
advertising practices.
London police already have
a specialist unit which aims to
remove extremist material but
Mackey said “the internet was
never designed to be policed as
such.”
British officials have also de-
manded tech firms do more to al-
low police access to smartphone
| 12
FRANCE ELECTION
Macron’s
risky move:
Campaigning
for Europe
Sylvie Corbet
ASSOCIATED PRESS/PARIS
Embracing the European
Union could be seen as a risky
move for politicians given Brit-
ain’s decision to abandon the
bloc and the renewed popularity
of nationalist parties. But French
presidential front-runner Em-
manuel Macron is doing just
that.
Macron, 39, an independent
centrist with pro-free market
views, is fiercely promoting com-
mon European ideals of peace,
prosperity and freedom with a
blitz of campaign events across
France and Europe to explain to
voters why the EU matters.
While British Prime Minister
Theresa May will officially trigger
divorce proceedings from the bloc
Wednesday, Macron’s campaign
team held pro-Europe events
in cities around France over the
weekend as the EU marked its
60th birthday.
The former French economy
minister described himself as
an “enthusiastic, yet lucid Euro-
pean” in a joint interview with
French newspaper Liberation
and Italian newspaper last week.
He said with Britain leaving, the
bloc needs to build a new leader-
ship base anchored by France and
Germany.
The EU needs “urgent” re-
forms because “for the first time,
many foreign leaders openly want
a weakening of Europe: Donald
Trump, Vladimir Putin, as well as
the main authoritarian leaders of
the Middle East,” Macron said.
One of the reforms he advo-
cates is new cooperation on de-
fense, a move he said would be
operated by France and Ger-
many in association with Italy,
Spain and possibly the United
Kingdom, even after its exit from
the EU.
To improve the continent’s se-
curity and fight against terrorism,
Macron wants the bloc to be able
to deploy at least 5,000 Europe-
an border guards to “strengthen
controls at the external borders”
of the Schengen passport-free
travel zone.
He also wants the 19 nations
that use the euro as their official
currency to harmonize their tax
policies to allow for fairer eco-
nomic competition between com-
panies that want to work in other
countries.
Polls suggest Macron and Ma-
rine Le Pen, the anti-immigra-
tion, anti-EU leader of the Na-
tional Front, are likely to be the
two top finishers in the first round
of the presidential vote on April
23. If that happens, Le Pen and
Macron would go head-to-head
in a May 7 runoff.
Le Pen wants to pull France
from the euro currency and from
the EU.
On Monday, she described
Macron as “an immigrationist”
because he has backed German
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s poli-
cies to welcome refugees from
Syria.
Macron met with Merkel earli-
er this month in Berlin, where he
called for a “new Franco-German
deal” that would involve “much
more structured cooperation” on
investment, on European border
security, and on defense issues —
in particular in the Middle East
and Africa.
communications after reports
that Khalid Masood had used
encrypted messaging via What-
sApp before he drove a rented car
into pedestrians on Westminster
Bridge and stabbed to death a po-
lice officer by parliament.
“We work hard with the indus-
try to highlight the challenges of
these very secure applications,”
Mackey said.
“It’s a challenge when you are
dealing with companies that are
global by their very nature be-
cause they don’t always operate
under the same legal framework
as us.”
Regarding the police’s ongo-
ing inquiry into last week’s attack,
Mackey said detectives still be-
lieved Masood had acted alone.
So far 12 people have been ar-
rested, with two still in police cus-
tody.
Mackey also said there had
been a “slight uplift” in hate
crimes directed at Muslims but
not on the scale seen after previ-
ous similar incidents.
BUSINESS THURSDAY March 30, 2017 | 13
CONNECTIVITY INVESTMENT BILATERAL TIES
Government calls on banks Economy takes knock as Samsung French masters praise Indonesia’s
to support telecom projects p14 cuts smartphone output p16 cultural richness p23

FINANCING

Fintech businesses asked

to diversify services
Dylan Amirio
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
Financial technology firms and
startups need to diversify their
businesses into untapped sectors,
but must take caution over using
risky methods, industry players
and policymakers say.
One of the underexplored sec-
tors is the remittance transfer
service, which plays a vital role
in helping Indonesian migrant
workers send their money home.
In its limitless form, fintech
would be able to ease the move-
ment of money across borders,
although it will depend largely on
regulations in the workers’ host
countries.
Indonesian Fintech Associa-
tion chairman (AFTECH) Niki
Luhur noted that if a clear stan-
dard of know-your-customer
(KYC), which identifies and veri-
fies the identities of clients, was
implemented across ASEAN,
it would help ease remittance
transfers by Indonesian migrant
workers without encountering
many regulatory obstacles from
other countries.
“We hope that because of the
ASEAN Economic Communi-
ty, harmonization of standards
in ASEAN can occur so that the
region can be integrated more
deeply. Our migrant workers
will be able to work with much
more ease,” he said at the Cen-
tre of Strategic and Internation-
al Studies (CSIS) conference on
Digital Diplomacy in Fintech on
Wednesday.
Several local fintech firms have
already started operating in the
remittance sector, including In-
trajasa and Indosat Ooredoo’s
Dompetku service for migrants
working in China.
However, Niki said that the
number of remittance-based fin-
tech service providers was still
low compared to others, such as
peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and e-
wallets.
One of the main factors neces-
sary for encouraging the fintech
industry to diversify is regula-
tions, both industry players and
Fintech vision: Communication and Information Ministry infor-
matics application director general Semuel Pangerapan (From
left to right), financial technology (fintech) firm Indiva Finansial
Teknologi chief executive officer Ibnu Hajar Ulinnuha and Financial
Services Authority (OJK) senior researcher Hendrikus Passagi lis-
ten to a seminar held by the Centre for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta on Wednesday. Titled “Digital Diplomacy:
Opportunity in Disruptivity”, the event addressed opportunities
and challenges faced by the country’s fintech industry.
policymakers also note.
Without proper rules, a guar-
antee over security of the indus-
try’s business regulations cannot
be assured.
Cryptocurrencies, the use of
which in Indonesia is very small,
are among the radical fintech de-
velopments that proceed unregu-
lated.
The acting head of Bank In-
donesia’s fintech office, Junanto
Herdiawan, said that the spread
of Bitcoin, the most widely used
cryptocurrency, was worrying be-
cause it could not be handled by
the central bank, which should
have the ultimate authority.
“The reason why Bank Indone-
sia banned the use of Bitcoin as an
official currency back in 2014 was
because its security aspects were
still far too vague. The rupiah is
also still the only currency that
can be officially used within Indo-
nesia,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Financial Servic-
es Authority’s (OJK) senior execu-
tive researcher, Henrikus Passagi,
said that cryptocurrencies would
not likely be supervised by the fi-
nancial authority as there were not
enough of them in circulation to
warrant a regulation, in contrast to
the fintech industry as a whole.
“We are governing strictly
based on existing regulations on
banks, digital signatures, finan-
cial services and whatnot and the
regulations that we have now are
a reflection of what the govern-
ment wants,” he said.
Business players and policy-
makers in the discussion also
agreed on the idea that the fintech
industry should become a catalyst
toward greater financial inclusion
and the development of long-
term financial infrastructure and
that untapped services must be
explored in the future.
“It doesn’t make sense to build
10 toll roads in one place. Infra-
structure has to be built efficiently
so that everyone is covered. Fin-
tech is able to pull that off because
of its widespread branchless char-
acter and it serves as a useful tool
to achieve financial inclusion,”
Niki of AFTECH reiterated.
JP/Wendra Ajistyatama
Win-win deal: State-owned construction firm PT Wijaya Karya financial director ANS Kosasih (left) shakes hands with Philippe Matiere
(center), the chairman of developer PT Matiere Bridge Building Indonesia, a local unit of French bridge construction firm Matiere after
signing a cooperation agreement on road and bridge construction as visiting French president Francois Hollande (right) looks on. The deal
is part of the overall investment agreement worth US$2.6 billion brought by Hollande during his visit to Indonesia.
Uncertainty clouds French
commitment
Anton Hermansyah
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
Despite the French govern-
ment’s pledge to bring in more
than US$2.6 billion in invest-
ment during the visit of President
François Hollande on Wednes-
day, Indonesian businesspeople
are sceptical whether the plan
will materialize, given the uncer-
tain political situation in Europe’s
third-largest economy.
Aside from the $2.6 billion
pledge, Indonesia and France
signed 32 memorandums of under-
standings (MoU), which included
six government-to-government
(G2G) agreements, three cultural
collaboration agreements, three
maritime collaboration agree-
ments, 14 business agreements and
eight research agreements.
The business agreements
range from infrastructure devel-
opment and renewable energy to
aircraft maintenance and ship-
building as well as collaboration
in the creative economy and the
retail sector.
“There are a lot of investment
opportunities with France that
can be developed in the future,
but we will wait and see, because
France will hold its presiden-
tial election soon,” Indonesian
Chamber of Commerce and In-
dustry (Kadin) international re-
lations deputy Shinta Widjaja Ka-
mdani said on the sidelines of a
bilateral meeting at the State Pal-
ace on Wednesday.
Hollande, the former Socialist
Party’s first secretary, will leave
office in June and not seek re-
election in this year’s presiden-
tial election. Five candidates are
fighting to replace him: the So-
cialist Party’s Benoît Hamon,
Kontan/ Fransiskus Parulian Simbolon
FRANCE INVESTMENT IN INDONESIA French government to drop re-
strictive measures on palm oil
Year Amount (US$ million) Project Rank products. The palm oil industry is
2014 200.2 150 14 really important to us,” President
2015 131.5 197 16 Jokowi said.
2016 109 424 22 Jokowi called on Hollande to
widen access for palm oil products
Source: Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) by creating a joint certification sys-
tem similar to the one applied to
INDONESIA TRADE WITH FRANCE (US$ million) the domestic timber legality sys-
tem (SVLK) under the EU’s Forest
Year Export Import Deficit Law Enforcement, Governance and
2010 516.9 608.6 91.7 Trade Voluntary Partnership Agree-
2011 585.3 712.9 127.6 ment (FLEGT VPA) framework.
Hollande immediately ap-
2012 558.5 666.7 108.2
proved of the proposal.
2013 568 671.3 103.3 “We understand the impor-
2014 571.2 660.3 89.06 tance of the palm oil industry for
Source: Central Statistics Agency (BPS) countries like Indonesia and Ma-
laysia, but we must abide by the
rules. So we agree to a joint certi-
RI, France sign 32 MoUs ister Theresa May triggered Ar- fication system for palm oil prod-
in various areas ticle 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to ucts like the one for tropical tim-
formally begin the separation ber products,” Hollande said at
President Jokowi requests process. the joint press conference.
further ease on palm oil In the United States, President The Indonesian Palm Oil Pro-
trade Donald Trump decided not to ducers Association (GAPKI) dep-
pursue the Trans-Pacific Partner- uty for legal affairs, Yunita Sid-
ship (TPP) initiated by his prede- auruk, said palm oil certification
Republican François Fillon, Na- cessor, Barack Obama. would not solve any problems for
tional Front’s Marine Le Pen, En Marine Le Pen has promised producers.
Marche! founder Emmanuel Ma- to “release” France from the EU The government already man-
cron and Unsubmissive France if elected. dates that firms have the Indone-
founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon. During the bilateral meeting, sian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO)
Shinta said Hollande’s visit was Hollande and President Joko certificate on top of the internation-
a show of goodwill from France. “Jokowi” Widodo zeroed in on ally recognized Roundtable Sustain-
“Hollande came to show us his the palm oil trade, after France able Palm Oil (RSPO) certificate.
intention for a more open France, mulled barriers on palm oil im- “Even with those two certifi-
but why does it have to be so late, ports from tropical countries like cates, the European market con-
near the end of his term? What if Indonesia and Malaysia, arguing tinues to ask for additional certi-
the new president has a different that the commodity’s production fications, such as ISO and others,
plan?” she asked. caused environmental damage. the existing certifications are never
Populism and protectionism In January 2016, the French enough,” she told The Jakarta Post.
have gained ground in Europe, Parliament proposed an addi- Trade Minister Enggartias-
with the biggest blow to global- tional tax on ‘unsustainable palm to Lukita said the government
ization dealt by the United King- oil,’ a move protested by Indo- would soon work on details for
dom’s exit from the European nesia and Malaysia. The bill was the new certification procedure.
Union, also known as Brexit. On dropped in March 2016. “We will study more details re-
Wednesday, British Prime Min- “We are thankful for the garding the initiative,” he said.

SELECTION

Bankers compete for OJK chairmanship in the latest round

Grace D. Amianti
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
The selection process for the
Financial Services Authority’s
(OJK) leadership is inching closer
to the final stage after President
Joko “Jokowi” Widodo officially
endorsed 14 names to undergo
decisive confirmation hearings
with lawmakers.
The last-round candidates for
the powerful supervisory body
were shortlisted from 21 candi-
dates previously announced by
a government-appointed com-
mittee. Their names were listed
in a presidential letter signed by
President Jokowi on March 22
and sent to the House of Repre-
sentatives.
The OJK has nine commis-
sioners, seven of whom will be
selected from the 14 candidates,
while the two others are repre-
sentatives of Bank Indonesia and
the Finance Ministry. Each of the
seven posts on the OJK’s board
of commissioners had two can-
didates, mostly officials from the
central bank, the OJK and the Fi-
nance Ministry.
Despite being dominated
by bureaucrats, two represen-
tatives from the banking in-
dustry are competing for the
OJK’s chairmanship, namely
the former chairman of the Na-
tional Banks Association (Per-
banas), Sigit Pramono, and state-
owned lender Bank Mandiri
president commissioner Wim-
boh Santoso.
Sigit, a career banker, used to
serve as state-owned lender Bank
Negara Indonesia (BNI) presi-
dent director from 2003 to 2008.
Wimboh, meanwhile, was in BI
before joining Bank Mandiri,
when banking supervision was
still under the central bank. He
was particularly in charge of
banking regulations during the
leadership of then BI governor
Darmin Nasution.
The House’s Commission XI,
which supervises the fiscal and
financial sectors, is scheduled to
conduct hearings to pick the sev-
en OJK commissioners by early
June.
The Supreme Court is expect-
ed to swear in appointees ap-
proved by the House on July 20.
Experts pointed out that
the House should ensure
OJK COMMISSIONER CANDIDATES tions in the financial industry, so the OJK’s selection committee,
that the agency could be “ahead which was led by by Finance Min-
Name Position of the curve” with more advanced ister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, be-
Sigit Pramono chairman regulations. fore starting the fit-and-proper
Wimboh Santoso chairman “As a new institution [that tests to clarify the previous selec-
Agus Santoso deputy chairman was established in 2013], the tion stages, which saw many fa-
Riswinandi deputy chairman OJK should create more break- miliar faces eliminated.
Heru Kristiyana commissioner for banking supervision throughs, not just to optimize the Five members of OJK board
Agusman commissioner for banking supervision financial industry’s role for the of commissioners, including in-
Nurhaida commissioner for capital market supervision real sector, but also strengthen cumbent chairman Muliaman
Arif Baharudin commissioner for capital market supervision its supervision,” said Institute for Hadad, banking supervision com-
Edy Setiadi commissioner for non-bank financial institution supervision Development of Economics and missioner Nelson Tampubolon
Hoesen commissioner for non-bank financial institution supervision Finance (INDEF) economist Eko and non-banking industry su-
Tirta Segara commissioner for consumer education and protection Listianto. pervision commissioner Firdaus
Firmanzah commissioner for consumer education and protection Speaking to The Jakarta Post Djaelani, failed to pass the sec-
Haryono Umar audit council chairman on Wednesday, Wimboh said he ond stage of the selection, which
Ahmad Hidayat audit council chairman had an ambition to ensure that required them to submit an aca-
Source: State Palace’s document the future OJK could help fur- demic paper.
ther stable development in the Deputy chairman Rahmat
that new faces in the shortlist, strengthen the structure of the fi- country’s financial sector because Waluyanto and capital market su-
despite being mostly filled by bu- nancial industry. there was tighter competition in pervision commissioner Nurhai-
reaucrats, could maintain bal- “Based on the names and the industry from cross-border fi- da, on the other hand, fared bet-
anced coordination between the the overall process, I think the nancial services. ter as they proceeded to the third
monetary authority under BI market will make a positive re- “[The development of the fi- stage.
and the need to boost econom- sponse,” said Samuel Sekuritas nancial sector] should remain Commission XI member and
ic growth through the govern- economist Rangga Cipta, adding oriented toward a national Indonesian Democratic Party of
ment’s fiscal side. that there was still a lot of room economy based on small and Struggle lawmaker Hendrawan
Being bankers, both Sigit Pra- for improvement in good corpo- medium enterprises,” he said, Supratikno said lawmakers would
mono and Wimboh Santoso were rate governance to ensure strong commenting on his preparations question the selection commit-
seen as having good supervision internal supervision. for the upcoming fit-and-proper tee on whether it thought that
and communication abilities, On the other hand, the future test. the OJK’s familiar faces were not
while bureaucrats in the short- OJK leardership should be more Meanwhile, the House’s Com- credible enough in terms of integ-
list would actually help efforts to adept at technological innova- mission XI plans to summon rity.
14 | BUSINESS THURSDAY March 30, 2017

Banknote rates
Banknote
US dollar
Australian dollar
rates
1
1
Selling Rp
13,390.00
10,236.66
Buying Rp
13,256.00
10,131.56
Government calls on banks
Swiss franc
Euro
British pound
Hong Kong dollar
Japanese yen
1
1
1
1

100
Korean won
Malaysian ringgit
Philippine peso
Singaporean dollar
Thai baht
World benchmarks
Country
Indonesia (JCI)
S. Korea (Kospi)
Thailand (SET Index)
Malaysia (FTSE BM)
Singapore (FTSE ST)
Japan (Nikkei 225)
Hong Kong (Hang Seng)
China (SSE Comp.)
Philippines (PSE Index)
India (S&P Sensex)
USA (DJIA)
UK (FTSE)
Australia (All Ordinaries)
ECONOMY IN BRIEF
RI to crack down on illegal money changers
13,506.15
14,490.66
16,630.38
1,723.76
12,038.12
13,365.60
14,344.32
16,456.00
1,706.40
11,914.43
to support telecom projects
1 12.03 11.91 Winny Tang Loans to transportation, “Banks play an important role wave links. The total construction
1 3,029.41 2,995.71 THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA warehousing, in financing infrastructure proj- costs amount to Rp 5.1 trillion.
1 266.69 263.96 communications ects, which are being acceler- The government hopes that
1 9,582.77 9,482.12 The government is calling on accounted for 3.9 percent ated by the government. One of the project can open up op-
1 388.12 384.01 banks to support telecommuni- of 2016 total the projects is the Palapa Ring’s portunities for people in Pap-
cation (telecom) infrastructure east package,” BNI middle bank- ua and Maluku to enjoy fast-
Source: BI projects to help narrow the inter- ing director Putrama Wahyu er, stronger internet access for
Palapa Timur Telematika
net access gap across the archi- Setiawan said. affordable costs.
pelago.
to construct 8,454 km BNI — along with private “No one wants to build in an
Daily Change One of the big infrastructure cables in the east lender ICBC Indonesia, which area that is not feasible. So the
Index Points % projects in the pipeline is a high- is the local unit of Industrial government has to take affirma-
5,592.51 51.31 0.93 throughput satellite, which is “We see that BNI has an ad- and Commercial Bank of Chi- tive action that is not profitable
planned to be launched in 2021. vantage because it has experience na (ICBC), and regional lenders business-wise [but crucial] be-
2,166.98 3.67 0.17
The Communications and In- in financing the Palapa Ring,” Bank Maluku Malut, Bank Sulsel- cause people in Maluku and Pap-
1,574.07 -2.65 -0.17 formation Ministry will hold the Communications and Informa- bar and Bank Papua — provid- ua [currently] experience differ-
1,750.41 -4.01 -0.23 project’s tender process in the tion Minister Rudiantara said ed Rp 4 trillion worth of syndi- ent service,” Rudiantara said.
3,184.57 26.75 0.85 second half and announce the on Wednesday on the sidelines cated loans to PT Palapa Timur He went on saying that the
19,217.48 14.61 0.08 tender’s winner in 2018. of a financial close for the Palapa Telematika. speed of internet access in Jakar-
24,392.05 46.18 0.19
It will apply the government- Ring’s east package. Palapa Timur Telematika is a ta already reached 7.3 megabits
to-business cooperation (KPBU) Rudiantara said the government consortium made up of PT Mora per second (Mbps).
3,241.31 -11.63 -0.36
scheme for the tender process, expected to see higher involvement Telematika Indonesia (Morate- On the contrary, the average
7,324.00 -7.46 -0.10 similar to the scheme already be- from the banks in the projects. lindo), PT Inti Bangun Sejahtera throughput in Papua and Maluku
29,531.78 122.26 0.42 ing implemented for the Palapa The latest data from the Fi- and PT Smart Telecom. was only 300 kilobits per second
20,701.50 150.52 0.73 Ring fiberoptic network project. nancial Services Authority (OJK) It is assigned to construct 8,454 (Kbps), but the residents had to
7,339.70 -3.72 -0.05
The high-throughput satellite shows that the banking industry kilometers of fiberoptic cable pay more for a slower connection.
will be used to serve the country’s only channeled Rp 171.79 trillion through East Nusa Tenggara, Ma- The nationwide Palapa Ring
5,910.70 50.29 0.86
remote areas that have not been (US$12.89 billion) worth of loans luku, West Papua and Papua. The project is aimed at connecting 516
Source: IDX able to be reached by land. to the transportation, warehous- projects will begin in July after regencies in Indonesia with fiber-
State-owned Bank Negara In- ing and communications sectors Ramadan. optic cables by 2019.
donesia (BNI) is one of the banks in 2016. Half of the cables will be con- The project — which is the first
interested in financing the satellite The figure was equal to a tiny structed undersea, 45 percent un- KPBU scheme — involves a vast
project with the approximate value 3.9 percent of the overall lending derground and the remaining 5 undersea fiberoptic cable that
of US$400 million to $500 million. last year. percent will be made up of micro- stretches some 13,000 km.

SEMARANG: Bank Indonesia (BI) will start cracking down on unli-

censed money changers by imposing a maximum punishment of
closure or a Rp 1 billion (US$75,000) fine after April 7, the deadline for
them to apply for a free license.
“As stipulated in the law, BI can shut down illegal money changers
or slap them with a Rp 1 billion fine,” said the director for extraordi-
nary economic crimes at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation
Department (Bareskrim), Brig. Gen. Agung Setya, on Wednesday.
BI legal department head Rosalia Suci added that BI would seal
money changers’ shops and if the owners damaged the seals, they
would be charged with committing a criminal act.
The central bank has given money changers the chance to apply for
the license since Oct. 6 last year to reduce extraordinary crimes and
collect more accurate data about foreign currency demand and supply
in the country to come up with effective monetary policy.
Corrupt officials, money launderers, tax evaders, drug traffickers and
terrorists often use money changers to transfer foreign currencies to
their partners in Indonesia, said the officials. — JP

Antam gets permit for nickel ore exports

JAKARTA: State-owned miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) has been
granted an initial approval to export up to 2.7 million tons of nickel ore
over the next 12 months, a mining ministry official said on Wednesday.
Indonesia was the world’s top nickel ore exporter before it imposed
a ban on unprocessed nickel ore exports in 2014 in a bid to encourage
miners and customers to invest in a domestic processing industry.
This year, however, the country relaxed the ban to allow companies
that had built or were planning to build smelters to export low-grade
nickel ore under certain conditions.
Indonesia’s ore export ban has supported nickel prices and a re-
sumption of its shipments could hurt prices of the metal.
“In terms of administration it’s OK. Now all that’s left is for it to be
signed by the director general,” mineral enterprise director Bambang
Susigit said. JP/Jerry Adiguna
Earlier, Susigit told domestic media that the amount was less than Enhancing connectivity: Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara (center) together with Telecommunications and Infor-
the 6 million tons of nickel ore exports that Antam had requested, in matics Financing Provider and Management Center president director Anang Latif (left), telecommunications developer PT Palapa Timur
accordance with the company’s existing capacity to process low-grade Telematika president director Leon M. Kakisna (second left), government-backed infrastructure financing guarantee agency PT Penjami-
nickel ore at its smelters. — Reuters nan Infrastruktur Indonesia president director Sinthya Roesly (second right) and state-owned lender BNI director Iwan Putrama convene
during the event that effectuates the agreement on the Palapa Ring project in the eastern part of the country on Wednesday. Palapa Timur
Telematika will commence in July the construction of the fiberoptic cable network.
TRADE
ANALYSIS
RI pays price of protectionism
as commodity exports sink
David Roman quirements for foreign workers.
Near-term pressure from possible LRT
BLOOMBERG/SINGAPORE

Indonesia’s economy is los-

ing out on commodity gains after
lawmakers wrapped protection-
ist policies around the nation’s
resources. Their next problem:
finding a lucrative replacement.
Commodities now account for
about 40 percent of all exports,
down from almost 60 percent
five years ago,  according to Mor-
gan Stanley. They make up just 6
percent of gross domestic prod-
uct, half as much as in 2012, as
trade restrictions worsened the
impact of a price rout over much
of that period. Crude oil and gas
output has declined to levels last
seen in the early 1970s.
While Indonesia’s coal output
will be higher next year than in
2013, production of key mineral
exports including bauxite, tin and
nickel will still be well behind the
commodity cycle’s peak, BMI Re-
search estimates.
The drag on activity may com-
plicate President Joko “Jokowi”
Widodo’s plans to accelerate eco-
nomic growth to 7 percent, with
an investment push in manufac-
turing to offset lost commodity
income yet to yield results.
“Indonesia is growing 5 percent
— that’s pretty good — but it used
to grow 6 percent because of com-
modities. To go back to 6 percent
you need to have another sector
that would replace it,” said Gun-
dy Cahyadi, an economist at DBS
Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore.
“The problem is that there is no
support from manufacturing.”
While global commodities
slumped for five years following
their 2011 peak, last year saw a re-
bound in prices. But investment in
Indonesia’s sector has been sapped
by tighter environmental rules
and  nationalist policies, including
import tariffs and tighter visa re-
The crackdown has led to mine
closures and the exit of big for-
eign resource companies includ-
ing Newmont Mining Corp. and
BHP Billiton Plc last year.
The timing isn’t great. In a
country where 40 percent of in-
comes hover above the poverty
line, the government has sought
to stimulate domestic demand
amid forecasts that the middle
class population may double to
141 million by 2020.
Cahyadi says if that happens
without a rapid expansion of
manufacturing, there won’t be
enough jobs to go around.   by Indonesian banks on March
Indonesia halted the export
of metal ores in 2014 to encour-
age local smelter construction;
despite relaxing the ban in Janu-
ary, shipments of nickel have yet
to restart. The government last
week said it would take a majority
stake in the local unit of the own-
er of  the world’s second-biggest
copper mine, deepening a dis-
pute that’s curtailed output and
prompted thousands of job losses.
While the government in Janu-
ary raised taxes sixfold on exports
of palm oil, Indonesia’s biggest
earner, that was expected to have
limited impact on shipments be-
cause of possible supply disrup-
tions in Malaysia. The commod-
ity accounts for about 10 percent
of the nation’s overall exports.
There may be a silver lining to
relying less on commodities, says
Wellian Wiranto, an economist at
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.
in Singapore. Less dependence
should be a mid-term positive for
the economy as it forces govern-
ment and business to find other
growth drivers, says Wiranto.  They said that nothing had
Now is the perfect time for In-
donesia to build new infrastruc-
ture, which it’s been doing at a
slower pace than its neighbors,
he says.
loan means buy into weakness
Henry Wibowo
JAKARTA
Local news recently reported
that the government would soon
issue a presidential decree in re-
gards to the development of the
Rp 23 trillion (US$1.73 billion)
light rail transit (LRT) project in
Jakarta.
The part of the news that re-
sulted in a recent heavy sell-off
27 was when the government
said that financing would be par-
tially supported by a syndicated
loan from state-owned banks at
a 7 percent interest rate, versus a
normal rate of 9 to 11 percent.
On that day, the Indonesia
Stock Exchange’s finance index
(still called the JAKFIN index
from when the bourse was known
as the Jakarta Stock Exchange)
was down 1.3 percent versus the
Jakarta Composite Index at mi-
nus 0.5 percent, led by Bank Neg-
ara Indonesia (BBNI) with minus
4 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia
(BBRI) with minus 3 percent and
Bank Mandiri (BMRI) with mi-
nus 2 percent.
The market seemed concerned
that this would be another inter-
vention that could squeeze the
net interest margin (NIM) or the
profitability of the state banks.
We spoke with the three state
banks (BBNI, BMRI and BBRI)
that had previously declared
commitments to finance the LRT
project.
been signed or confirmed yet in
regards to the “7 percent interest
rate” mentioned.
Note that the corporate yields
for infrastructure projects are
currently between 9 percent and
11 percent (for example, 9.25 per-
cent for the LRT Palembang proj-
ect). The terms of the loan, in-
cluding the interest rate, are still
under discussion.
The banks reiterated their ini-
tial principle that “they will only
take commercially viable proj-
ects”.
Also discussed were compen-
sation, like current account and
savings account (CASA) com-
mitments, additional fee-based
income, or an extended govern-
ment guarantee, to ensure that
the banks’ profitability would
be maintained in the event that
they needed to lower their lend-
ing rates.
Note that there is no official In-
donesian regulation that compels
state banks to participate in gov-
ernment projects.
Jakarta is among the busi-
est cities in Southeast Asia, with
more than 12 million residents,
and is infamous for its traffic jams.
One of President Joko
“Jokowi” Widodo’s commitments
was to improve transportation in-
frastructure. The development of
LRT was one of his signature proj-
ects, in our view.
It is perceived as a “must go”
project, with the possibility of ask-
ing players from different fields to
participate and contribute.
The current draft scheme is
for the three state banks to lead
the syndicated loan amounting to
Rp 18 trillion (part of the Rp 23
trillion in total funding needed),
with the remaining Rp 5 trillion to
be funded by an equity injection
from state-owned contractor PT
Adhi Karya (ADHI IJ) and train
operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia.
We believe that it is crucial
for the government to maintain
equality and balance between
preparing for the funding needs
and “not intervening” with pub-
licly listed state companies with
a “forced” participation message
that can hurt their profitability
and create negative investor sen-
timent.
A bit of flashback: The Indone-
sian banking sector was badly hit
by the news of the Financial Ser-
vices Authority (OJK) potential-
ly capping lending rates to single
digits in the first quarter of 2016.
While the intention from the
government was good for citizens
and businesses (cheaper borrow-
ing costs to boost spending), the
message was received poorly by
the market.
At that time, investors were un-
der the impression that a fixed cap
would be put on net interest mar-
gin (NIM) to prevent banks from
earning “excess margins” and to
give profits back to consumers.
We believe that the recent
news of an infrastructure project
interest rate cap is of a similar na-
ture to the NIM cap back in the
first quarter of 2016.
We would like to highlight that,
at that time, the government ac-
tually managed to find a good so-
lution to reduce the overall lend-
ing rate last year without forcing
its hand or hurting the banks’
margins.
The government changed the
interest rate benchmark from
the Bank Indonesia (BI) rate to
the lower seven-day reverse-re-
po rate in August 2016. The tran-
sition was actually smooth and
the lending rate eventually came
down.
We also believe that the gov-
ernment will find a way this time
and find a win-win solution to
provide funding for the govern-
ment projects, while at the same
time not intervening in the profit-
ability of state banks.
Bank Central Asia (BBCA) and
non-state banks could outper-
form them in the near term.
We think the current noise
about the infrastructure loan rate
cap (circa 7 percent) is mostly
negative for the state banks that
have big exposure to infrastruc-
ture projects (mainly BBNI and
BMRI and to some extent BBRI).
Until the government can pro-
vide better clarity, we believe that
private banks like BBCA, Bank
CIMB Niaga (BNGA), Bank Pan
Indonesia (PNBN) and Bank Da-
namon (BDMN) can outperform
them in the near term.
Our 12-month view on Indone-
sian banks remains intact.
We continue to be “Over-
weight” on the sector as we expect
loan growth to pick up and asset
quality (non-performing loans)
to improve on a commodity-driv-
en gross domestic product growth
recovery.
Potential upgrade from S&P
Global Ratings on Indonesia in
mid-2017 would be an additional
catalyst.
We advocate buying into weak-
ness. BBNI (infrastructure expo-
sure) and BBCA (consumer expo-
sure) remain our top picks.
The writer is a senior research
analyst at PT Bahana Sekuritas.
THURSDAY March 30, 2017
Boosting satisfaction
Private lender Rabobank Indonesia business banking director Heradian Yoto (second left) and the head of Rabobank’s Semarang branch, Sie
Tjia Lie (left), observe customer service after the opening of the office on Wednesday. The new branch is expected to support financing in the
food and agribusiness sectors in Central Java as it prepares Rp 10 trillion (US$751.26 million) worth of credit in 2017.
BANKING
Liquidity drought main challenge for banks
Prima Wirayani
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
Several risks loom around the
country’s banking industry despite
an optimistic view offered by bank-
ers and analysts this year, urging
the industry players to transform
their businesses to survive.
Fund availability, or liquidity,
is predicted to be the main risk
amid spurring hopes that loan
growth and credit quality will im-
prove this year.
Data compiled by the Financial
Services Authority (OJK) from
banks’ business plans (RBB) show
that the industry expects an am-
bitious target. Loan growth is ex-
pected to reach 13.2 percent this
year while the DPK is expected to
grow by 11.9 percent.
“With the expectation that
loan growth will be higher [than
that of the DPK], there will be
pressure on liquidity,” Sukarela
Batunanggar, head of the OJK su-
pervisory framework and crisis
management department said.
OIL AND GAS
Pertamina’s deficits continue with one-price fuel policy
Fedina S. Sundaryani
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
Unlike other oil and gas com-
panies worldwide that wait with
bated breath for the rise of crude
oil prices to the US$60 mark,
state-owned firm Pertamina
hopes prices remain low.
Cheap oil helps it compensate
for losses derived from the govern-
ment-backed one-fuel price policy.
Pertamina marketing direc-
tor M. Iskandar claimed that the
firm had suffered from losses in
its subsidized-fuel sales since
last October as the government
refused to raise fuel prices even
when global crude prices started
to creep toward $50 per barrel.
The firm’s budget and work
plan last year estimated that oil
prices would hover around $45
per barrel.
“In the last three months, the
deficit from our sales of Premium
[subsidized gasoline] was Rp 150 [1
US cent] per liter, while from Solar
CONSTRUCTION
Govt agrees to grant Priok toll road concession to Hutama Karya
The government has confirmed
that it will aid the financing for
a trans-Sumatra transportation
megaproject by transferring the
concession of the Tanjung Pri-
ok toll road to state construction
firm Hutama Karya, the project’s
contractor.
Public Works and Public Housing
Minister Basuki Hadimuljono stat-
ed the government would transfer
the concession of the 22.8 kilometer
road access to Tanjung Priok, where
the country’s busiest trade port is lo-
cated, to the company.
“During the Cabinet meeting,
we reported [the plan for the as-
set operation transfer] and it has
been approved by the President
Last year’s loan disbursement
grew by only 7.9 percent versus
10.1 percent recorded a year earli-
er while a third party fund (DPK)
grew by 10 percent (yoy). This
year, Bank Indonesia (BI) expects
the credit growth to improve to
between 10 percent and 12 percent
while the OJK projects an expan-
sion of 9 percent to 11 percent.
Deposit Insurance Corpora-
tion (LPS) financial system and
economic risks group director
Doddy Ariefianto expressed his
doubts that the current loose li-
quidity situation would last until
year-end.
Last year’s liquidity was helped
by the tax amnesty’s asset repatri-
ation, which amounted to approx-
imately Rp 140 trillion (US$10.5
billion), he said, a situation that
would not happen again this
year. The tax amnesty will end on
March 31.
“If the loan growth can reach 12
percent, it will be difficult for DPK
growth to catch up,” he said. “It
[DPK] potentially decreases after
[subsidized diesel] it was Rp 300
per liter. This is why we hope that
the oil prices will go down again,”
Iskandar told reporters recently.
The one-fuel price policy is
part of President Joko “Jokowi”
Widodo’s commitment to allow
consumers in all regions pay the
same price for fuel.
This move has slashed fuel
prices from between Rp 50,000
and Rp 100,000 per liter in Pap-
ua and West Papua to the prices
in Java and Bali, namely Rp 6,450
and Rp 5,150 per liter for Premi-
um and Solar respectively.
Pertamina is tasked with cut-
ting down on the high prices,
which were mostly caused by a
lack of infrastructure and sig-
nificant logistics costs, by build-
ing gas stations in 150 areas it has
identified across the nation. It has
aimed to construct 22 mini gas
stations in 22 locations across 14
provinces by the end of this year.
Requiring an investment of
about Rp 1 billion for construc-
[Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo],” he said
recently.
The move was taken to back up
the company, which has suffered
from lackluster funding for build-
ing the eight sections of trans-Su-
matra toll road that span 2,800
kilometers. As the project would
have a low internal rate of return,
investors are not interested in
pouring money into it and, con-
sequently, the firm would need to
incur a sizeable amount of debt.
He said that in the future, a
presidential regulation might
be used as the legal basis for the
move. With an estimated 30,000
vehicles predicted to use the Tan-
jung Priok road access daily, Hu-
March to 7 percent to 8 percent.”
Amid the projection of the li-
quidity shortage, state-owned
lender Bank Negara Indonesia
(BNI) plans to issue bonds worth
Rp 5 trillion in June to support its
business expansion. Earlier this
month, it had issued Rp 2.7 tril-
lion worth of negotiable certifi-
cates of deposits (NCD) with ten-
ures ranging from 370 days up to
36 months.
The country’s most profitable
lender, Bank Rakyat Indonesia
(BRI), is also preparing to offer up
to Rp 8 trillion worth of debt pa-
pers in the second quarter to sup-
port its financing needs.
However, such moves may not
do much on the liquidity issue as
the instruments have yet to be-
come a driver on their books. “Al-
most 80 percent of banks’ funding
is still sourced from time depos-
its, giros and savings accounts,”
Doddy said.
“Some BUKU IV banks have
been able [to source funding from
the instruments] to 10 percent,
tion, each mini gas station will
have a capacity of 5 liters each day.
Furthermore, the company
will also establish institutions to
distribute gas in 45 locations in
remote areas next year.
While the government may be
patting itself on the back, Pertam-
ina’s losses will not likely decline
anytime soon.
Following the three-month pe-
riod after last October, the gov-
ernment also decided to main-
tain fuel prices from January to
March this year.
Although Pertamina managed
to pocket a profit of Rp 2 trillion
from fuel sales in the first half of
2016, Iskandar said that nothing
was left of it as the company was
forced to use it to compensate for
the losses in this year’s fuel sales as
global crude prices increased.
Pertamina has yet to calculate
accurately its potential losses if
fuel prices are not increased amid
the continuously surging global
crude prices.
tama Karya is expected to garner
Rp 4.5 trillion (US$337.9 million)
from the operation.
“We expect to score that
amount, but it will all depend on
the results in the field,” Hutama
Karya president director I Gusti
Ngurah Putra said, adding that
several ministries were still work-
ing on the legal process for the op-
erational transfer.
The recurring income from the
toll road, he said, would be used as
an underlying asset for the com-
pany to issue debt securities. The
proceeds of the securities will be
used to finance the construction
of the trans-Sumatra project.
The trans-Sumatra toll road
Antara/R. Rekotomo
so not much yet,” he further said.
BUKU IV is the highest category
of bank, whose core capital ex-
ceeds Rp 30 trillion.
The central bank also expressed
their concerns on the rising bad
debts from last year. The industry’s
non-performing loans (NPLs), or
bad debts, stood at 3.09 percent in
January compared to 2.93 percent
in December last year.
“The continuing credit down
cycle will result in deteriorating
asset quality, higher delinquen-
cies and slower growth for Indo-
nesian banks,” S&P Global Rat-
ings credit analyst Ivan Tan wrote
in a report recently.
The rating agency expects the
credit down cycle to continue this
year unless GDP [gross domestic
product] growth or government
infrastructure spending picks
up. “The recent rise in commod-
ity prices is positive, given a sig-
nificant portion of troubled loans
since 2013 had come from the
commodity sector, especially coal,
oil and gas,” the report reads.
Nevertheless, the firm’s official
data shows that there is a poten-
tial deficit of Rp 3.45 trillion from
Solar sales and Rp 601 billion
from Premium sales in the first
quarter of this year.
“However, we are still consoli-
dating all the prices as they must
be obtained from all regions in
Indonesia. At the very least, our
losses will not be as bad as those in
2015 when we experienced Rp 80
billion in losses from subsidized
fuel sales every day,” Iskandar said.
Despite Pertamina’s financial
woes, the government seems to
plan to stick to its policy and pri-
oritize its program.
Energy and Mineral Resourc-
es Minister Ignasius Jonan con-
firmed that fuel prices would re-
main the same for the next three
months.
“The price of fuel is controlled
by the government. Premium,
Biosolar and kerosene will not be
increased from April to June,” he
recently said.
is one of the government’s am-
bitious infrastructure projects
meant to spur economic expan-
sion in the country, in spite of its
lacking commercial appeal. The
cost of the toll road is estimated
to be Rp 331.69 trillion.
So far, Hutama Karya has been
tasked to build 11 sections of the
trans-Sumatra toll road. Sixty-six
percent of the needed land was
procured by the end of 2016, al-
most double the 2015 figure.
This year the ministry is look-
ing to operate three sections of
the megaproject, namely Palem-
bang to Indralaya in South Su-
matra, Medan to Binjai in North
Sumatra and Bakauheni to Ter-
BUSINESS
Blue Bird to
keep brake
on amid ride-
apps pressure
Farida Susanty
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
The country’s largest publicly
listed taxi operator, PT Blue Bird,
will continue to put the brakes on
its fleet expansion this year, amid
fierce competition with ride-hail-
ing applications that has forced
the company to overhaul its busi-
ness plan over the past year.
“We will not be too expansive
with our capital expenditure [ca-
pex]. For our regular taxis, we
don’t have any plan to expand our
fleet in Jakarta, but we will con-
tinue to replace our old vehicles,”
Blue Bird investor relations head
Michael Tene said on Wednesday.
Blue Bird currently manag-
es 33,000 vehicles nationwide,
26,000 of which are regular taxis.
The number of vehicles in its fleet
recorded almost no increase from
2015 to 2016.
Michael said Blue Bird was
likely to replace 4,000 taxis in its
fleet with newer models through-
out this year. In 2016, the compa-
ny replaced 3,000 vehicles.
For its fleet expansion plan in
cities outside Jakarta, Michael
said the company would look at it
on a “case-by-case” basis, without
providing any estimates on spe-
cific numbers.
The careful moves taken by
Blue Bird signals the company’s
struggle to deal with competition
from ride-hailing apps.
For 2017, the company has
allocated around Rp 1 trillion
(US$75.1 million) in capex, a
slight increase from last year’s
Rp 900 billion. The company ini-
tially allocated Rp 1.2 trillion in ca-
pex last year but later revised it in
light of the “business situation.”
Blue Bird has seen a steep de-
cline of 42.3 percent in its profit
to Rp 360.8 billion during the first
nine months of 2016 compared to
the same period in 2015. Its rev-
enue was also down 10 percent to
Rp 3.6 trillion.
The company is scheduled to
announce its 2016 financial per-
formance later this week.
However, Blue Bird remains
optimistic on the improvement
for its financial performance this
year, mentioning that the taxi-
population ratio remains low this
year, at 1.4 taxis for every 1,000
people. It also said that the na-
tion’s ever growing middle class
was a source of confidence for the
Adding value to waste
Shoemaker Irma, 21, finishes the production of baby shoes made from
synthetic leather waste at a home-industry center in Penumping vil-
lage, Laweyan subdistrict, Surakarta, Central Java. The shoes are sold
in overseas markets, such as Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darus-
salam, at prices ranging from Rp 70,000 (US$5.26) to Rp 130,000.
banggi Besar in Lampung.
Based on the firm’s estimate,
the first eight sections alone
would need Rp 52.6 trillion in eq-
uity. Until now, the firm has only
able to secure about Rp 25 trillion
through a state capital injection
of Rp 5.6 trillion and a bond issu-
ance, among other ways.
Hutama Karya was also previ-
ously granted a concession for the
Jakarta Outer Ring Road south-
ern sector (JORR S) in late March,
which it also used as an underly-
ing asset to issue bonds and boost
its equity by Rp 4 trillion.
Toll Road Regulatory Agency
(BPJT) head Herry Trisaputra
Zuna said the firm would be able
| 15
Firm plans no fleet
expansion in Jakarta this
year
New business units
prepared as alternative
sources of revenue
company.
It will then change its focus to
technological improvement and
fleet utilization, where more of its
capex will be spent.
“We are seeking ways to boost
revenue without relying on ex-
pansion,” Michael added.
Technological development
will include an improvement in
the company’s My Blue Bird app,
which allows customers place or-
ders for Blue Bird’s other services
such as car and bus rental.
The company will also focus
on increasing its fleet utilization,
which currently stands at around
70 percent.
Blue Bird’s recent cooperation
with ride-hailing app Go-Jek on
the company’s charter service
Go-Car, which enables customers
book taxis via the platform, is also
expected to raise Blue Bird’s fleet
utilization rate.
The company recently
launched a new bus rental busi-
ness for one to three day city trips,
dubbed Big Bird Jalan-Jalan, in
the hope of creating an alterna-
tive source of revenue. So far, the
service has been offered in several
cities like Bandung in West Java
and Yogyakarta.
Another of Blue Bird’s new
businesses is shuttle bus servic-
es to accommodate commuters
travelling from satellite cities in
Greater Jakarta to the capital, and
vice versa.
“The key is long-term strategy.
The current price war [between
taxi companies and ride-hailing
apps] is just short term. They
can’t subsidize their business for
more than 40 years,” Blue Bird di-
rector Sigit Priawan Djokosoeto-
no said.
Sigit also applauded the govern-
ment’s plan to introduce a Trans-
portation Ministerial Regulation
that would stipulate a minimum
service fare for ride-hailing apps,
saying that it would affect Blue
Bird’s business going forward.
“Our market share is down by
12 percent [due to competition
with the apps],” he added.
JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi
to use the JORR S concession
as an asset to issue the planned
Rp 6.5 trillion in bonds over the
next few years, after it issued Rp 1
trillion in bonds last year.
It would also transfer the con-
struction of the 185 km Terbang-
gi Besar to Kayu Agung section
to fellow state construction firm
Waskita Karya for an alternative
funding strategy. Waskita Karya
will also get Rp 25 trillion from
the concession. The transfer val-
ue would be Rp 7 trillion.
The current administration
under Jokowi is seeking to build
1,000 km of toll roads by 2019.
— JP/FARIDA SUSANTY
16 | THURSDAY March 30, 2017
Economic engine: A man works at a private factory that produces blankets outside Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnam’s economy grew at a slower
pace than economists estimated in the first quarter as industrial output eased and Samsung Electronics Co. cut production of smartphones.
Gross domestic product rose 5.1 percent from a year earlier, the General Statistics Office said in Hanoi on Wednesday.
VIETNAM
Economy takes knock as Samsung cuts smartphone output
Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen
BLOOMBERG/HANOI
Vietnam’s economy grew at
a slower pace than economists
estimated in the first quarter
as industrial output eased and
Samsung Electronics Co. cut pro-
duction of smartphones.
Gross domestic product (GDP)
rose 5.1 percent from a year ear-
lier, the General Statistics Office
said in Hanoi on Wednesday. That
was lower than all eight forecasts
from economists in a Bloomberg
survey and below the median es-
timate of 6.25 percent.
GDP expanded 6.68 percent
in the fourth quarter of 2016, ac-
cording to previously reported
data
Samsung’s output in Vietnam
fell 38 percent in the first quarter
from a year ago, dragging down
electronics production
Vietnam outperformed most of
its Southeast Asian peers last year
as export growth remained resil-
BUSINESS STRATEGY
Century-old Thai bank plans digital revamp
Anuchit Nguyen
BLOOMBERG/BANGKOK
Siam Commercial Bank Pcl,
Thailand’s oldest homegrown
lender, plans to reinvent its mo-
bile digital payment platform
as a lifestyle app to help fend off
competition from upstart finan-
cial technology providers.
The lender is working with
companies including Accenture
plc, Microsoft Corp. and Interna-
tional Business Machines Corp.
on the project, chief executive of-
ficer Arthid Nanthawithaya said
in an interview.
The long-term goal is an app
that allows customers to search
and pay for entertainment op-
tions such as restaurants and
cinemas, going beyond just day-
to-day banking, he said.
“I’m spending my time on every
single detail of the new digital plat-
form that we are going to launch
very soon, in the next few months,”
CURRENCY
Ringgit trading slumps 70% offshore after central bank curbs
Netty Ismail
BLOOMBERG/SINGAPORE
Malaysia is succeeding in
snuffing out currency specula-
tion — now it has to deal with the
fallout.
Offshore trading in ringgit non-
deliverable forwards has dropped by
about 70 percent since policy mak-
ers took steps in November to deter
foreign banks from trading the con-
tracts, according to EBS BrokerTec’s
electronic-trading platform.
Now, officials are looking at
easing rules on the short-sell-
ing of government debt after
ient. The economy has become a
manufacturing hub for compa-
nies such as
Samsung, which is Vietnam’s
biggest exporter, accounting for
about 20 percent of the nation’s
shipments. Samsung took the
dramatic step in October to end
production of its Galaxy Note 7
smartphone, a decision that busi-
nesses said at the time would hurt
the economy.
Global trade risks are also
mounting, with Vietnam among
the countries in Asia most vulner-
able to a rise in protectionism in
the United States.
The government is increasing
spending on infrastructure to re-
tain its role as a top investment
destination in Southeast Asia as
others like the Philippines catch-
es up. The World Bank forecasts
Vietnam’s economy will expand
more than 6 percent this year
and next, among the fastest in the
world.
“The upshot is that we expect
Arthid, 50, said at the bank’s head-
quarters in Bangkok on Friday.
“What I want one day is that
you’ll see SCB’s digital platform
isn’t just a banking platform; this
is how you reach out, this is how
you gain customers.”
Siam Commercial Bank and
rivals including Kasikornbank
Pcl are crafting more sophisti-
cated digital strategies to com-
pete with fintech companies that
threaten to eat into traditional
sources of revenue from pay-
ments, deposits and lending.  tion’s Crown Property Bureau
The app platform is being de-
veloped amid a wider reassess-
ment of how best to utilize and
retrain the bank’s workforce
and control costs as technology
streamlines operations, accord-
ing to Arthid.
“Further easing of regulations
will open the gates for top global
fintech providers such as Aliba-
ba and Tencent,” said Korn Cha-
tikavanij, a former Thai finance
the crackdown saw global funds
withdraw more than 35 billion
ringgit (US$8 billion) out of Ma-
laysian sovereign bonds in the
four months through February.
“From what I’ve heard from
participants, it’s probably made
it harder for some offshore inves-
tors in Malaysian debt to hedge
their risk,” Jeff Ward, head of
Nex Group plc’s EBS BrokerTec
Asia, said in an interview last
week in Singapore, referring to
the offshore NDF curbs.
“Some banks say they can
hedge onshore for their clients
for trade-related transactions.”
GDP growth in Vietnam to accel-
erate in 2017,” Gareth Leather, a
senior Asia economist at Capital
Economics Ltd. in London, said
in a report.
“There are some factors that
should help to support growth
this year,” he said, citing a recov-
ery in agricultural output, loose
monetary conditions and a strong
export sector.
Manufacturing gained 8.3 per-
cent in the first quarter from a
year earlier. Exports, meanwhile,
rose 12.8 percent in the first quar-
ter and imports gained 22.4 per-
cent
Exports of telephones and
parts plunged 24.4 percent in
March from a year earlier, the sec-
ond month of contraction. Retail
sales rose 9.2 percent in the quar-
ter
Consumer prices rose 4.7 per-
cent in March from a year ago,
compared with a median estimate
of 4.8 percent in a Bloomberg sur-
vey of five economists
minister and president of the
Thai Fintech Association.
“That fear and threat has wo-
ken up big Thai banks.”
While major Thai lenders of-
fer mobile apps, a labor-intensive
branch-based model remains
prevalent in the country’s com-
paratively conservative banking
industry.
Siam Commercial Bank,
founded in 1904 by a prince, is
the largest bank in Thailand by
market capitalization. The na-
has a 21 percent stake in the com-
pany, according to data compiled
by Bloomberg. Net income was
47.6 billion baht ($1.4 billion) in
2016, down from a recent peak of
53.3 billion baht in 2014.
In September, the bank said it
plans to spend about 20 billion
baht on technology upgrades in
the next two to three years.
“Early investment in digital
banking will be costly with low
Spurred by an uptick in ringgit
volatility in the second half, Bank
Negara Malaysia’s campaign is
biting after local lenders were
told not to facilitate currency
transactions related to offshore
ringgit market activities.
After sliding to a 19-year low
in January, the ringgit has clawed
back, trading near a four-month
high as swings abate. One-month
implied volatility on the curren-
cy fell to the lowest level since
2014 this month, while the ring-
git’s 1.5 percent advance in 2017
trails gains for its peers in Thai-
land, India and South Korea.
Reuters/Kham
It may be one of the smallest
economies in Asia, but Vietnam
is among those leading the infra-
structure race.
Vietnam’s public and private
sector infrastructure investment
averaged 5.7 percent of gross do-
mestic product in recent years,
the highest in Southeast Asia and
compares with 6.8 percent in Chi-
na, according to the Asian Devel-
opment Bank (ADB). Indonesia
and the Philippines spend less
than 3 percent, while Malaysia
and Thailand spend even less at
under 2 percent.
The ADB estimates that
emerging economies in the re-
gion will need to invest as much
as $26 trillion through 2030 to
build transport networks, boost
power supply and upgrade water
and sanitation facilities. Vietnam,
among the fastest-growing na-
tions in the world, is boosting in-
frastructure to lure more foreign
investors as it positions itself as
Asia’s next Tiger Economy.
return, but it’s a requirement for
them to fend off any possible ma-
jor disruption from non-bank
fintech operators,” said Kasem
Prunratanamala, head of re-
search at CIMB Securities (Thai-
land) Co. in Bangkok.
Arthid said his other key goal
is to expand the lender’s wealth
management business. Earnings
from wealth management may
reach 40 percent of total profit in
five years, from about 25 percent
at present, he said.
Siam Commercial Bank’s
shares have climbed about 4 per-
cent in the past three years, less
than the 8 percent advance in
the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s
Banking Index.
The value of transactions via mo-
bile and Internet banking in Thai-
land rose by a third to 35 trillion baht
in 2016 compared with a year earli-
er, data from the Bank of Thailand
show. Cash remains the dominant
medium for transactions.
The plan to allow companies
and insurers to short sell sovereign
bonds is aimed at deepening the do-
mestic financial markets and reviv-
ing interest in debt, Assistant Gover-
nor Adnan Zaylani Mohamad Zahid
said in an interview last week.
The central bank continues to
provide liquidity to the ringgit
market, which is still adjusting to
the curbs, he said. The authori-
ties have set a three-to six-month
timeframe for stabilization.
A Bloomberg index of Ma-
laysian local sovereign debt has
climbed 1.6 percent this year,
versus a 5.6 percent jump in a
Alibaba plans
trade center
in Thailand
The Nation/ANN
BANGKOK
E-commerce giant Alibaba
Group is still investing in Thai-
land, planning to set up a re-
gional electronic-trade center
and logistics system here to link
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and
Vietnam (CLMV) markets, In-
dustry Minister Uttama Savana-
yana said.
In response to China’s biggest
e-commerce company also set-
ting its foothold in Malaysia, Ut-
tama insisted that the group was
still interested in Thailand and
expected to finalise its invest-
ment plans before the end of this
year.  merce giant. Establishing its in-
He said Alibaba Group planned
to use Thailand, whose consum-
er market is much larger than
Malaysia’s, as an e-commerce
park — the base for product dis-
tribution to CLMV — while its
Malaysian unit would concen-
trate on trade linkages between
that country and China.  EEC or at Suvarnabhumi Airport,
“The project in which Alibaba
will join hands with Thailand is
the e-commerce park, which will
be the base to distribute prod-
ucts in this region. Its location is
being arranged now.  Kanit said two investment
“Meanwhile, a promotional
mechanism for Thai SMEs and
community enterprises will be
created and SMEs will be devel-
oped to gain access to e-com-
merce. This is a big investment
that covers a big area in Thai-
land,” Uttama said.  to bring about sustainable clus-
Customs-related procedures
will be in the form of a free-trade
zone for product distribution to
Thailand’s neighbouring coun-
tries.
On Friday, the chief executive
officer of Alibaba’s Lazada Group
will discuss investment details
ranging from imports to exports,
taxes and other facilities in Thai-
land’s Eastern Economic Corri-
dor (EEC).
Kanit Sangsubhan, EEC sec-
retary-general, said Thailand
would be the main centre for Al-
ibaba-marketed products to be
distributed to CLMV, given this
country’s big market and CLMV’s
high growth rates. Direct expan-
sion will be made in CLMV when
each country is ready.
Alibaba Group has recognised
that Thailand has a good logistics
system, while the economies of
the Kingdom and neighbouring
countries will see much higher
Renewable power
A solar-powered lightbulb in Aung Thar, a remote farming village
at the edge of Ye Nang Chaung township, Magway region, in central
Myanmar. Despite being only 30 kilometers away from the near-
est town, it takes two hours on a treacherously slippery sand track to
reach Aung Thar. After decades of not having any access to the nation-
al grid, villagers resorted to biomass, kerosene, candles, diesel genera-
tors and, more recently, solar panels.
similar gauge for emerging-mar-
ket government bonds.
Non-resident holdings in the
bond market are gradually de-
clining and stood at 28.7 percent
of the total as of end-February,
down from a 2016 peak of 34.7
percent, according to the cen-
tral bank. Foreign ownership will
probably be more comprised of
long-term holders from now on,
Bank Negara’s Adnan said.
While ringgit NDF trading
languishes, markets elsewhere
are brisk. Trading in NDFs on the
Indian rupee, Korean won and
Taiwan dollar has shown “sig-
E-commerce giant to set
up a regional electronic-
trade center, logistics
system in Thailand
Alibaba’s Lazada Group to
soon discuss investment
details ranging from
imports to exports, taxes
expansion, he said.
Thai small and medium-sized
enterprises that trade through
Alibaba will gain benefits that
comply with the “Thailand 4.0”
policy requiring all businesses to
enter e-commerce.
“Alibaba is the global e-com-
vestment bases in several coun-
tries like Indonesia and Malaysia
is normal. Meanwhile, Thailand
will be the regional base for
product distribution,” Kanit said.
He said Alibaba Group, which
is considering whether to set up
its offices and warehouses in the
has been encouraged to locate in
the ECC, as its transportation fa-
cilities will be good after the ex-
pansion of U-tapao International
Airport in Rayong province. 
phases had been set out for 10
targeted industries in the EEC. 
In the short term, leading
global companies and investors
would be persuaded to join Thai-
land’s manufacturing and tech-
nological development as a way
ters of targeted industries in the
future. 
In the long term, Thailand will
employ leading technologies as
the basis to upgrade the coun-
try’s competitiveness with qual-
ity projects with high income for
young Thais.
So far, several projects have
been set out for the EEC. A mem-
orandum of understanding be-
tween Thai Airways Internation-
al and Airbus has been signed for
an aircraft-repair centre. There
are also plans for cooperation be-
tween Zhengzhou International
Airport in China’s Henan prov-
ince and U-tapao International
Airport in aviation business. 
This week, the CEO of Hira-
ta Corporation, a global giant in
production engineering and in-
dustrial robots, will discuss with
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid
Jatusripitak possible investment
in the country.
Reuters/Thin Lei Win
nificant year-on-year growth,”
on EBS’s trading platform, Ward
said. Asian currency NDF trad-
ing has been around since the
1990s, according to the Bank for
International Settlements.
“If the intent is to fight fire and
snuff out speculation, then one
could argue there’s some degree
of success,” said Vishnu Vara-
than, an economist with Mizuho
Bank Ltd. in Singapore.
“But if the measures sustain
well past their warranted window
and dampen investor sentiment,
then it might show up as a high
cost of volatility containment.”
THURSDAY March 30, 2017 INTERNATIONAL | 17
Visitor surge BUSINESS BRIEF
36% of Uber employees are women
NEW YORK: Uber’s first report on employee diversity shows low
numbers for women, especially in technical positions. In that regard,
the company is similar to other Silicon Valley giants such as Google,
Facebook and Apple.
But Uber’s report comes as pressure mounts on the company in
light of sexual harassment claims by a former employee, the antics of
its embattled CEO Travis Kalanick and ongoing criticisms of a boorish
“brogrammer” culture. Management defections include that of the
company’s president, Jeff Jones, after just six months on the job.
Thirty-six percent of the company’s worldwide employees are
women, according to the report , which does not count drivers as em-
ployees. Google, in comparison, has 31 percent women and Apple, 32
percent. When it comes to technology jobs such as engineering, only
15 percent are women at Uber. At Google, it’s 19 percent and Apple,
23 percent.
As with other tech companies, Uber is making some progress in di-
versifying its work force. The new hires at the company show a higher
percentage of women — 41 percent — as well as more underrepre-
sented minorities.
In the United States, the largest ethnic group at Uber is white and
the second largest is Asian. The report also shows that nearly 9 percent
of the company’s US employees are black and almost 6 percent are
Hispanic. — AP

IATA criticizes electronics device ban

Reuters/Bobby Yip

A general view of Macau peninsula in China. The Macau government has hearkened calls to reposition the region as a tourism destination, with MONTREAL: The head of the International Air Transport Association
the number of international visitors growing 8 percent last year from 2015, compared with those from greater China edging up only 0.1 percent. (IATA) said Tuesday it is difficult to understand how banning electronic
devices in carry-on baggage will improve flight security.
IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac called on governments to work with
the transport industry to ensure passengers are not separated from
their laptops, tablets and other devices.

US consumer confidence The United States and Britain are citing concerns about terrorist
attacks to prohibit passengers on some flights from mostly Middle
Eastern and North African countries from bringing laptops, tablets and
certain other devices on board in their carry-on bags. All electronics
bigger than a smartphone must be checked in.

soars in boost to economy
Lucia Mutikani
REUTERS/WASHINGTON
United States consumer confi-
dence surged to a more than 16-
year high in March amid grow-
ing labor market optimism while
the goods trade deficit narrowed
sharply in February, indicating
the economy was regaining mo-
mentum after faltering at the
start of the year.
The economy’s strengthening
fundamentals were underscored
by other data on Tuesday showing
further increases in house pric-
es in January. Robust consumer
confidence and rising household
wealth from the home price gains
suggest a recent slowdown in con-
sumer spending, which has hurt
growth, is likely temporary.
“We think that real consump-
tion will firm moving forward,”
said Daniel Silver, an economist
at JP Morgan in New York.
“It looks likely that the recent
spending data were held down by
some temporary factors related
to unusually mild weather and a
delay in tax refund issuance.”
The Conference Board said
its consumer confidence index
jumped 9.5 points to 125.6 this
month, the highest reading since
Consumer confidence
surges to more than 16-
year high in March
Trump administration
pledges to pursue
business friendly policies
December 2000. Consumers’ as-
sessment of both current busi-
ness and labor market conditions
improved sharply in March.
They also anticipated an in-
crease in their incomes. The sur-
vey’s so-called labor market dif-
ferential, derived from data about
respondents who think jobs are
hard to get and those who think
jobs are plentiful, was the stron-
gest since 2001.
This measure closely corre-
lates to the unemployment rate
in the Labor Department’s em-
ployment report. It is consistent
with continued reduction in slack
in the labor market, which is near
full employment.
The dollar rose against a basket
of currencies, while prices for US
government bonds fell slightly.
Stocks on Wall Street were trad-
ing higher, with Dow Jones indus-
trial average .DJI on track to snap
an eight-day losing streak.
Both consumer and business
confidence have surged in the
wake of Donald Trump’s victory
in last November’s presidential
election. The Trump administra-
tion has pledged to pursue busi-
ness friendly policies, including
tax cuts and deregulation.
The Conference Board said
the cutoff date for the survey re-
sults was March 16. This was a
week before Republicans in the
House of Representatives failed
to pass health legislation to re-
peal the Affordable Care Act, a
stunning political setback for
Trump.
The failure to push through
legislation to overhaul the health
care system stirred concerns in
markets about the difficulties
Trump may have in implement-
ing other policies, including tax
reform.
“The question then is whether
or not consumers will remain up-
beat if legislation stalls,” said Jim
Baird, chief investment officer
for Plante Moran Financial Ad-
visors in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
“At some point, those hopes for a
stronger economy will fade if leg-
islative victories remain elusive.”
While other economists ex-
pected a pull back in confidence
in April, they said household op-
timism was being driven by the
labor market’s health and not
Trump’s promises. Labor mar-
ket strength could encourage the
Federal Reserve to raise interest
rates again in June, they said.
“Recovery is what the survey
indicates and, more to the point,
the answers on jobs and income
are rooted in current experience
not expectations for what Trump
will or won’t do,” said Steven
Blitz, chief US economist at TS
Lombard.
“If reality pans out as consum-
ers and we expect, the Fed has
three more hikes to go before the
year is done.”
The data prompted economists
at Barclays to raise their first-
quarter gross domestic product
estimate by four-tenths of a per-
centage point to a 1.6 percent an-
nualized rate.
Morgan Stanley lifted its fore-
cast to a 1.5 percent pace from a
1.0 percent rate.
“The recent widening, in our
view, reflected the stabilization
and rise in energy prices, as some
of the improvement in nominal
goods imports reflects petroleum,”
said Michael Gapen, chief econo-
mist at Barclays in New York.
“The current measures are not an acceptable long-term solution to
whatever threat they are trying to mitigate,” de Juniac said in a speech
at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations. “Even in the short term
it is difficult to understand their effectiveness. And the commercial
distortions they create are severe. We call on governments to work
with the industry to find a way to keep flying secure without separat-
ing passengers from their personal electronics.”
The US ban applies to nonstop US-bound flights from 10 interna-
tional airports in Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Cairo; Istanbul;
Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar;
and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The British rules
apply to flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi
Arabia. — AP
ZTE removed from US trade blacklist
WASHINGTON: The United States Department of Commerce will
remove Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE Corp from
a trade blacklist on Wednesday after the company pleaded guilty to
violating sanctions on Iran and agreed to pay nearly US$900 million,
the agency said in a notice.
Removal from the list marks the end of a tense period for ZTE,
which faced trade restrictions that could have severed its ties to critical
US suppliers.
“By acknowledging the mistakes we made, taking responsibility for
them [...] we are committed to a ZTE that is fully compliant, healthy
and trustworthy,” said ZTE chief executive Zhao Xianming said in an
emailed statement.
Last year, the US Commerce Department placed export restrictions
on ZTE as punishment for violating US sanctions against Iran. The
restrictions would have prevented restricted suppliers from providing
ZTE any US-made equipment, potentially freezing the Chinese handset
maker’s supply chain.
Earlier this month, ZTE agreed to pay a total of $892.4 million and
pleaded guilty to violating US sanctions by sending American-made
technology to Iran and lying to investigators.
The Commerce Department said on Tuesday it would impose
severe restrictions on former ZTE CEO Shi Lirong, whom the agency
accused of approving efforts to skirt sanctions and ship equipment to
Iran. — Reuters

PHARMACY
Drugmakers poised for windfall of new approvals in China
Bloomberg
BEIJING
China is starting to approve
new medicines at an unprece-
dented pace this year, opening the
floodgates for innovative thera-
pies to enter the country and po-
tentially turbo-charging growth
for multinationals in the world’s
second-largest pharmaceutical
market.
Over the past few weeks, the
China Food and Drug Adminis-
tration (CFDA) has approved As-
traZeneca plc’s Tagrisso for lung
cancer, Roche Holding AG’s mel-
anoma drug Zelboraf and Boeh-
ringer Ingelheim GmbH’s lung
cancer therapy Gilotrif.
Long criticized for being slow
to approve life-saving medicines,
the Asian country is speeding up
its regulatory process to battle
surging rates of diseases like can-
cer and hepatitis.  The reforms
have the potential to breathe new
life into the growth prospects for
foreign drugmakers in China, a
market where they have largely
relied on older products.
But even as innovative block-
busters make an entrance, their
manufacturers face further hur-
dles as the government attempts
to drive down drug prices in its
public health insurance system,
which provides basic coverage for
more than 95 percent of its 1.4 bil-
lion people.
“Most MNCs are optimistic
about getting approval for their
drugs, but funding is still an is-
sue,” said John Wong, chairman
of Greater China at Boston Con-
sulting Group.
“So I don’t think it will have a
big near-term impact, but could
have significant impact over five
years.”
The CFDA did not immediately
respond to requests for comment.
Foreign drugmakers have his-
torically had to wait several years
to bring treatments already ap-
proved in other countries into
China. In recent years, many
Chinese patients have traveled
abroad to buy cancer therapies
and some even purchase raw in-
gredients online when therapies
are not available at home.
The number of reviewers at
CFDA who scrutinize drug appli-
cations rose to 600 at the end of
last year from 120 in 2015, and the
volume of backlogged applications
was cut by two-thirds, Bi Jingquan,
minister of the CFDA, said at a
press conference in late February.
AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso, esti-
mated to become a global block-
buster next year, was among the
first to benefit from the reforms.
Its application process in China
took only seven months, accord-
ing to the company.
Meanwhile, hepatitis C pa-
tients in China still do not have
access to a class of highly effec-
tive antivirals, including Gilead
Fresh picks
Sciences Inc.’s Sovaldi and  Bris-
tol-Myers Squibb Co.’s Daklinza,
which have been widely available
elsewhere since 2014. Gilead did
not immediately respond to re-
quests for comment.
Daklinza and another  Bristol-
Myers hepatitis drug, Sunvepra,
were granted priority review sta-
tus last April, according to the
company. “The review is ongo-
ing; thus far, it has been a smooth
and collaborative experience,”
Bristol-Myers said in an emailed
statement.
China has waged an aggres-
sive campaign to restrict health-
care costs. The government last
year announced that it had ne-
gotiated price cuts of more than
50 percent for three medicines,
including GlaxoSmithKline plc’s
hepatitis drug Viread and Astra-
Zeneca’s lung cancer treatment Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach
Iressa, which were later placed on A woman sorts freshly harvested and washed asparagus at the
the national insurance list for re- farm of Peter Lipp, one of Germany’s biggest asparagus farmers,
imbursements. near Weiterstadt, 30 kilometers south of Frankfurt on Tuesday.

TRADE

China eyes to fill a Trump vacuum in Australia

Jane Wardell
and Jonathan Barrett
REUTERS/SYDNEY
It was almost a major faux pas
in sports-mad Australia — Chi-
nese Premier Li Keqiang arrived
at an Australian Rules football
match in Sydney wearing the
blue, black and white scarf of in-
terstate rival Port Adelaide Pow-
er.
But Li quickly donned a red
and white scarf of the hometown
Sydney Swans to match that of his
host, Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull.
Li later confessed wearing both
team scarves on a balmy autumn
evening made him “really hot,”
but the broad smiles of the two
leaders provided a telling contrast
to a bad-tempered telephone call
between Turnbull and a freshly-
elected Donald Trump that made
international headlines.
Australia and China found un-
precedented common ground on
trade during Li’s recent five-day
visit Down Under, with a clear
agenda of rejecting the “America
First” protectionism touted by
the new United States president.
“The cooperation between
China and Australia showcases to
the region and the world our de-
termination to defend trade lib-
eralization and advocate the ben-
efits of free trade,” Turnbull told
business leaders and politicians
at a forum in Sydney, in com-
ments closely echoed by Li.
But growing trade ties are only
one side of a delicate super-power
balancing act for Australia, whose
unshakeable security relation-
ship with the US and Western
democratic values have limited
how cozy it gets with China.
Li, well aware of Australia’s re-
liance on China for its economic
future, used his visit to caution
Australia against “taking sides, as
happened during the Cold War.”
And while Turnbull was quick
to say “the idea that Australia
has to choose between China and
the United States is not correct”,
some analysts disagree.
“The problem Australia fac-
es is the growing tensions from
China’s desire for influence and
that is going to mean Australia
may have to choose between its
two allies,” said Nick Bisley, pro-
fessor of international relations
at Melbourne’s La Trobe Univer-
sity.
After decades of relative peace
and economic growth, the Aus-
tralian public appears to be slow-
ly shifting its allegiance to China.
Asked whether China or the US
was more important to Australia,
respondents to a Lowy Institute
poll were deadlocked — a shift
from responses in favor of the
US when the same question was
asked two years earlier.
Trump pulled down the US
shutters on trade early in his
presidency, withdrawing the US
from the Trans-Pacific Partner-
ship (TPP), a 12-member trade
agreement that excluded China
and was instrumental in the US
“pivot to Asia.”
Li came to Australia bearing a
valuable gift to help fill that vacu-
um; the removal of restrictions on
chilled beef exports.
“We’ve made it a priority to get
access for agricultural products
into China,” an Australian gov-
ernment source told Reuters.
“Getting access to China for
agricultural products can take
years but as they get hold of more
and more produce and they ap-
preciate the quality, that opens
the door for access for additional
products.”
China bought A$150 billion
(US$114 billion) of Australian
goods and services last year —
easily its biggest trade partner.
But juggling its trade and secu-
rity interests will be no easy feat
for Australia.
There are other roadblocks in
the way of deepening Sino-Aus-
tralia relations.
Just two days after Li had left
Australia and facing an embar-
rassing defeat, Turnbull pulled a
vote in parliament to finally ratify
an extradition treaty with China,
10 years after it was signed.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
held an emergency meeting with
the Chinese ambassador to try
smooth over Australia’s failure to
join France and Spain as the only
Western countries to enter into
such a pact, but no revised date
has been set for the vote.
18 | THURSDAY March 30, 2017

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TRAVEL SPOTS SUNDA STREET

YOGYAKARTA CLAD YOGYA EXPOSÉ

Photo exhibition showcases ancient
and modern charms of Beijing
The Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development is cur-
rently holding the 2017 Beijing Study Tour Photo Exhibition at the Ka-
sultanan Ballroom in the Royal Ambarrukmo Yogyakarta from today
until April 1.
The photo exhibition displays the unique and charming aspects of
Beijing in six chapters, including examples of world cultural heritage,
museums, science technology and education, cultural performances,
traditional Chinese medicine regimens and the Olympic Games.
If you are interested in knowing more about the exhibition, visit
english.visitbeijing.com.cn
Courtesy of Eastparc Hotel Yogyakarta

Eastparc joins Earth Hour 2017

Courtesy of Royal Ambarrukmo Yogyakarta

Eastparc Hotel Yogyakarta recently marked Earth Hour 2017 by

switching off all electricity.
On March 25 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., the hotel switched off all the fa-
cilities’ electricity, while encouraging guests to switch off electricity in
their rooms as well. In order to enliven the commemoration, the hotel
hosted a live acoustic band as well as a wayang (shadow puppet) show-
case from the Semata Wayang troupe from Gadjah Mada University’s
(UGM) English literature department.
The performance told the audience about the exploitation of natural
resources by human beings, which spells trouble for the future.
The event was held in the hotel’s Jogja Night Market area.
 THURSDAY March 30, 2017 | 19

LOCAL BEAT
Jakarta Fashion Weeks scouts new talents in Surabaya Premier Inn Surabaya Juanda offers affordable menu
The prestigious annual fashion This March, the Premier
showcase Jakarta Fashion Week Inn Surabaya Juanda hotel
(JFW), in collaboration with the launched a number of new food
Korea Model Association, recent- and beverage items, available at
ly conducted talent scouting at affordable prices.
the Grand City Surabaya shopping One of the highlights is the
center. nasi goreng duk duk (duk duk
During the event, which ran fried rice), which comes in vari-
from March 25 to 26, JFW identi- ous flavors and is served with
fied three male and three female different ingredients, such
models whose careers could be po- as extra spicy and salted fish
tentially be developed. fried rice. The fried rice is also
One of them is currently being cooked right in front of the
groomed to take part in this year’s guests.
JFW, while five others are being The menu items can be en-
trained to represent Indonesia joyed for Rp 25,000 (including
in the final round of the 25th Asia tax) and are served from Mon-
Model Festival in Seoul, South Ko- Courtesy of Grand City Surabaya Shopping Center day to Thursday from 6 p.m. to
rea. During the festival, which will take place in June, they will compete against 25 other Asian countries. 10 p.m. at the hotel’s Coriander
JFW is recognized as a place to scout for new talent, not just for fashion designers, but models as well, to Restaurant. This program will
give them a chance to compete in the international scene. run through May this year.
Courtesy of Premier Inn Surabaya Juanda

Hotel Majapahit marks Earth Hour Ibis Styles Malang commemorates Earth Hour 2017
Hotel Majapahit invited guests to partici- To mark Earth Hour 2017, the Ibis
pate in Earth Hour by switching off lights in Styles Malang hotel switched off non-es-
their rooms for an hour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. sential electronic equipment and lights
on March 25. from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on March 25.
The hotel cooperated with the Hadir the- The commemoration of Earth Hour, a
ater group and the Earth Hour Community to global initiative organized by the World
mark the annual commemoration by present- Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), was also
ing a theatrical performance for visitors while in line with the hotel’s Planet 21 program,
electricity across certain areas in the hotel was an environmental awareness campaign.
shut off. “The campaign seeks to encour-
The performance was staged in conjunction age members of the public to maintain
with the installation of an art piece forming the a more modest lifestyle,” Ibis Styles
shape ‘60+’ in the hotel’s lobby. Malang assistant sales manager Hendri
The group presented a play called Sang Kala Wijaya said.
(Time), a cautionary tale on the importance of While electricity was switched off, the
preserving natural resources in order to sus- hotel conducted a fashion photo hunt
tain life on Earth. themed ‘dark fantasy’ and ‘hijab under-
“We chose this theme to raise awareness of water’ for guests, using three models
the importance of energy efficiency, especially Courtesy of Hotel Majapahit Surabaya from the Little Red Riding Hood. The
in light of the lifestyle in big cities, such as Surabaya,” Teater Hadir technical management Gita Rina said. event was further enlivened by a perfor-
mance from the Hankersta Band.
Courtesy of Ibis Styles Malang

JW Marriott Surabaya joins Earth Hour 2017 Commonwealth introduces COMM Family Protection
The JW Marriott Surabaya recently com- Commonwealth Bank and Commonwealth
memorated Earth Hour 2017 with a number of Life recently launched an array of events to
fun activities. introduce COMM Family Protection product
Conducted on March 25, the hotel marked the line. The activation started on March 23.
occasion with the standard practice of switching COMM Family Protection is a strategic part-
off electricity from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. and arrang- nership for bancassurance products by the two
ing a number of candles made from orange skins subsidiaries of the Commonwealth Bank of
to form the number ‘60+’, the total number of Australia (CBA) in Indonesia. The product line
minutes allocated for Earth Hour, around the comes with a number of choices, namely Maxi-
hotel’s lobby area by hotel general manager Co- wealth Link, COMM Classy Care and COMM
lin Young. Extra Care.
That evening, guests were serenaded with an These products seek to help Indonesian
a capella performance by Estu Band. On the oc- families in managing their finances, be it in
casion, they were also offered a special buy-one- terms of protection or investment.
get-one-free promotional package for beer and Maxiwealth Link allocates 100 percent of
cocktails called “Glow in the dark.” customers’ premium to both investment and
The hotel also used the event as an oppor- protection, helping customers to manage their
tunity to promote its charity program: guests children’s education fund as well as their own Courtesy of Commonwealth Bank
were encouraged to donate money to the hotel’s pension fund. Meanwhile, COMM Classy Care and COMM Extra Care provide comprehensive and exclusive
“spirit to serve” program. The money will be do- protection with its network of partner hospitals in Southeast Asia and Australia, while giving a cashless hos-
nated to those in need. pital fee reimbursement up until a patient reaches the age of 89.
Courtesy of JW Marriott Surabaya

TRAVEL SURABAYA SCENE

Foreign backpackers hit

the streets of KL for money
W
hat do you do when
you run low on mon-
ey while travelling? A
new wave of foreign tourists is
hitting the streets of Kuala Lum-
pur to make a quick buck.
The Star Online toured Bukit
Bintang on a humid Tuesday
night and counted seven tourists
asking passers-by to help support
their travels.
Among them, two were selling
caricature drawings, one was ped-
dling aerosol spray paintings, two
were busking, and one was seen
panhandling.
Several of them had cardboard
signs explaining that they were
travellers and needed monetary
help to continue their travels.
“Hello! I’m traveller (sic) from
Russia. I traveled 4th month in
Asia. Now I must quickly go home!
Buy my hand-made picture and
you will help me go home,” read
one sign.
The sign belonged to 26-year-
old Russian traveller Kiril Gon-
charov who discovered a love for
aerosol spray painting during his
around-the-world adventure that
started in Kazakhstan.
Before he started travelling,
Goncharov worked odd jobs rang-
ing from construction to market-
ing in Russia.
He left his job to see the world
and now peddles his paintings to
sustain that.
“I like Malaysia and I came to
this country to see some places,
but of course to travel, you need
money. You could save money
if you hitchhike but you’ll need
money for food and for hostels. To
get money, you need to work. My
work is to create and sell hand-
made pictures,” said the Russian,
who had been in Malaysia for
three weeks.
Spending five to six hours a day
peddling, Goncharov moves be-
tween different locations in Kua-
la Lumpur throughout the day
to catch the different rush hour
crowds.
“I do this everyday cause I need
to buy lots of tickets,” the back-
packer said.
Although he has managed to
sell about 100 paintings since
starting this makeshift business
three months ago, his earnings
are inconsistent.
The most Goncharov has made
in a day is RM235, but he often
goes home with nothing at all.
“Today, six people bought from
me! Not bad business,” he chuck-
led.
Sitting next to Goncharov on
Jalan Bukit Bintang were two
other backpackers whom Gon-
charov describes as friends he
met on the road.
While Goncharov spray-paint-
ed, the two men played guitar
and sang songs in their native
tongue.
Just like Goncharov, Ka-
zakhstani Dmity Pirs, 27, and
Russian Aleksei Isichenko, 26,
also relied on the generosity of
locals to continue their back-
packing lifestyle.
The two hitchhikers have
been travelling between three to
five months, and their funds are
quickly depleting.
“Because we finish our mon-
ey!” they said laughing when
asked why were they busking.
Pirs owned a small business
when he was in Kazakhstan but
closed it down to embark on his
long-term adventure. Isichen-
ko, on the other hand, was a hik-
ing guide in the national parks of
Russia.
Busking is not just a way to
make money but also allows them
to feel the energy of the city and
meet locals.
Playing only two to three hours
a day, Pirs said the most money he
has collected in a day of busking
in Kuala Lumpur is RM100, but
today, he only made RM1.
To show his appreciation, Pirs
gave printed pictures of scenes he
photographed during his trip to
his supporters.
Isichenko revealed busking has food and accommodation) are named, explained that she had to
been an effective way for him to also popular options to travel on see a dentist in Kuala Lumpur,
see a country. a shoestring, but now peddling, an unavoidable decision that in-
“I played guitar in Hanoi, and I busking, and panhandling are curred a big expense.
collected enough money to buy a slowing becoming a trend. “When you travel, you pay for
motorbike with my girlfriend. We Foreign backpackers have food, hotel, flights and sometimes
biked across Vietnam and Laos, it been sighted panhandling in you run out of money,” she said.
was great!” he exclaimed. the streets of China and Hong When asked if they will end
With independent travel be- Kong, much to the confusion of their trip when their bank
coming a huge trend in recent locals. balance hits zero, Goncharov,
years, young backpackers are Earlier in March, we spoke to Pirs and Isichenko gave a re-
finding creative ways to fund Benjamin Holst, the notorious sounding no.
their long-term travels. German traveller with one swol- “Sometimes, you don’t need
Crowd-funding platforms like len leg who has set up shop here. money to travel. You just need
Go Fund Me are often used by At Jalan Alor, seated amongst to meet people, good people, and Surabaya Scene
budget travellers to raise money the hawker stalls, we encountered they will help you. What you do For our advertising packages and
for their “trip of a lifetime”. a 20-something Russian woman need is the time to discover the rates, call Kristiawan at 0817 345 607
Work and travel programs and holding a sign asking people to place and the people,” Pir said. or send an email to
WWOOFing (volunteering on donate to fund her holiday. (The Star Online/Petaling kristiawanizm@gmail.com /
kristiawan@thejakartapost.com
organic farms in exchange for The woman, who refused to be Jaya/ Asia News Network)
20 | THURSDAY March 30, 2017
Read before you write
I
n the traditional approach
to the teaching of academic
writing, writing instruction
stands independently from
other language skills like reading.
What is taught to students includes
the ability to use effective gram-
matical construction, appropriate
diction, accurate spelling, correct
use of writing mechanics and struc-
turing a paragraph into academ-
ic text. This practice continues in
most writing classrooms today.
The separation of reading from
writing is motivated by the fact
that the former is deemed a re-
ceptive skill, while the latter a
UAD donates building to Muhammadiyah
Tanjungsari elementary school
A
hmad Dahlan University
(UAD) donated recently
a new building to
Muhammadiyah Tanjungsari
Islamic elementary school to
advance the quality of the
education sector in Tanjungsari,
Gunung Kidul regency,
Yogyakarta.
UAD rector Kasiyarno
symbolically gave the donation
by handing over the school
building keys to Muhammadiyah’s
Yogyakarta regional chapter
chairman, Satmono Dedi, who
subsequently gave them to the
school’s principal, Heri Mustofa.
“Aside from donating this
building, we will also accompany
this [our education sector
INSTIPER Yogyakarta: Moving forward
to advance palm oil sector
T
he Stiper Agricultural
University Yogyakarta
(INSTIPER), the oldest privately
owned agricultural university,
celebrated its 58th anniversary in
December last year.
Established in 1958, INSTIPER
has greatly contributed to the
advancement of the nation’s
agricultural field, specifically through
the grooming of human resources in
its education system. The university’s
academic community has also
conducted a number of policy
analyses and studies, specifically
focusing on plantations, plantation
technology and forestry.
INSTIPER has grown to be the
nation’s leading university in oil palm
studies. You can come across alumni
from the university on almost all
oil palm plantations and industrial
compounds across Indonesia.
productive one. Given their very
different natures, the teaching of
writing is geared toward the pro-
duction of language, rather than
the comprehension of it.
Yet forcing students to write
before they are ready will come
to no avail. Production should not
precede comprehension. There-
fore, we first need to familiar-
ize students with what academic
writing really looks like and how
governing conventions limit the
practice of academic writing.
How is academic text patterned
or structured? What grammatical
construction and academic vo-
Courtesy of Ahmad Dahlan University
advancement program for the
elementary school] with facilities
and mentoring programs,” Kasiyarno
said.
It took five months for the
university to construct the new
Courtesy of Stiper Agricultural University Yogyakarta
The success of the alumni in their
professional lives is related to INSTIPER’s
educational system itself.
Here we showcase the university’s
superior learning program.
The university has been working
in partnership with a number of
prominent oil palm plantations in
Indonesia to send its students on
internship programs.
Through its partnership with
companies like PT SMART Tbk, PT
cabulary are typically used? This
is the comprehension stage.
This is to say that teachers of
writing need to raise students’
awareness and develop their com-
prehension of the structure of ac-
ademic prose. For this reason, it
is necessary that we lower our ex-
pectations in students and defer
language production practices.
We can only compel our students
to write until they’ve acquired the
skill to structure academic writing.
In essence, instructing students to
write can commence when stu-
dents are poised to write.
The acquisition of rhetorical
building. According to UAD’s
deputy rector, who also serves
as the project head for the
building’s construction, Safar
Nasir, the two-story building
boasts six classrooms, eight
restrooms, two storerooms, a
musholla (prayer room), teachers’
room, clinic and library. The
construction was fully financed
by UAD.
Safar continued that
the school stood on a
944-square-meter plot, with
a total construction cost of
approximately Rp. 3.4 billion. The
official dedication of the new
building was also attended by
Gunung Kidul Deputy Regent
Imawan Wahyudi.
Bumitama Gunajaya Agro Tbk,
PT ASIAN AGRI, FIRST Resources
Group, PT RAPP and many more,
the university provides a number
of duty-bound scholarships for its
students. This way, students are
able to get a scholarship while
having the opportunity to work at
these prominent companies upon
graduation.
The university continuously
reinvents its educational model,
which covers various aspects, such
as classroom lessons, practical
experience, internships and final
assignments.
The university’s effort to always
have an up-to-date approach to
learning is expected to strengthen
the university-industry partnership
by equipping students with the skills
necessary for their internships or to
work as professionals.
patterns and conventions of the
written language is only plausible
when we exhort students to read
extensively. There are several
good reasons why this is so.
Academic text
To start with, reading paves the
way for students to write in every
genre, including academic writing.
It serves as a conduit for students
to gain an understanding, often
subconsciously, of how academic
text is structured in a coherent way.
Through reading, students’
language development can be ac-
celerated. From what they read,
AMIKOM hosts IndoCEISS national forum
T
he Indonesian Computer,
Electronics and
Instrumentation Support
Society (IndoCEISS), recently
organized a national forum
hosted by Yogyakarta’s AMIKOM
University. The forum, held on
March 24 and 25, was officially
opened by the university’s rector,
M. Suyanto.
As many as 102 participants
from 21 provinces across
Indonesia attended the event. The
forum also saw the organization
select a new executive board.
In his opening remarks,
Suyanto conveyed his total
support and appreciation for
the organization’s activities.
He also said he hoped that the
organization could continue to
contribute to Indonesia’s science
and technology sectors.
USD collaborates with East Nusa
Tenggara on biopharmacy research
S
anata Dharma University’s
research and community
development institute (LPPM
USD) has signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with the East
Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Research and
Development Agency pertaining
to the use of local faloak plant as
medication for hepatitis.
The MoU was sealed at the
university on March 17 after being
signed by LPPM USD chairman
Anton Haryono, NTT Research
and Development Agency
head Kosmas D. Lana and USD
pharmacy school laboratory head
Dewi Setyaningsih.
Research on the potential
possessed by the faloak plant
for biopharmaceutical purposes
they learn (from professional
authors and writers) how to use
grammatical structure, word
choices, styles and spelling.
Reading has been proven to facil-
itate students to develop criticality
and analytic skills. The mastery of
academic writing requires students
to go beyond basic linguistic skills.
That is, students must be critical
and analytical in weighing different
arguments presented to them.
More importantly, reading can
inspire students to develop a sense
of authorship. Each student has fa-
vorite writers and authors. Read-
ing their work, students not only
Courtesy of AMIKOM
Following her appointment as
IndoCEISS chairwoman, Gadjah
Mada University’s (UGM) professor
of computer sciences Sri Hartati said
the organization currently focused
on boosting the quality of human
resources working in the three
fields through scientific research
supervision, scientific journal
publication and dissemination of the
results of research.
is being conducted by Charles
CR, an alumni of USD’s pharmacy
school who graduated in 2004. The
research also involves a number of
other USD lecturers such as Phebe
Hendra, Fenty, Ipang Djunarko and
Yohanes Dwiatmika.
This MoU signing marks the
second time the university has
learn writing styles, vocabulary
and other written expressions, but
they may also be tempted to re-
spond to what they’ve read.
As reading offers huge benefits
for the acquisition of the written
language, it would be remiss of
teachers of writing not to integrate
it into the teaching of academic
writing. (Setiono Sugiharto)
The writer teaches at the School
of Education and Language, Atma
Jaya Catholic University, Jakarta.
He can be reached at setiono.
sugiharto@gmail.com.
In implementing these research-
related programs, IndoCEISS is
cooperating with the Cooperation
Research Inter University (CORIS)
and the Network Research Inter
University (NERIS) forums, which
constitute private universities that
cooperate in the abovementioned
research-related programs. These
forums are were initiated and
are being supervised by Djoko
Soetarno.
IndoCEISS is an organization
for professionals working in fields
related to computers, electronics
and instrumentation.
It serves as a forum for scientists,
practitioners, academics and
educators working in these fields to
exchange views in order to advance
their development in Indonesia.
The organization itself was
established in 2010 in Yogyakarta.
Courtesy of Sanata Dharma University
cooperated with the institution.
This study is a continuation of a
similar one in 2016 examining the
toxicity of the faloak plant. After
the research is finished, a seminar
will be conducted in August 2017
in Kupang, NTT, to inform the
public on the key points of the
research findings.

WHERE TO GO
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
FOREIGN CULTURAL
CENTERS
• Goethe Institut Jakarta
German Language Courses
Registration from Monday
at 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tuesday-Friday at 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday in the 1st and 3rd
Saturday in the month
10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Goethe Institut Jakarta.
Contact: 021-23550208/
021-3983 0888 or
kursus@jakarta.goethe.org
• Institut Francais Indonesia
France Language Courses
IFI Thamrin, address: Jl. MH
Thamrin No. 20, Jakarta Pusat,
CP: 021-23557951/52
IFI Wijaya, address: Jl. Wijaya I
No. 48, Jakarta Selatan,
CP: 021-7247064/7208133
kursus@ifi-id.com/ifi-id.com
• Erasmus Huis
Dutch Language Courses
Address: HR Rasuna Said
Kav. S-3 Kuningan Jakarta
Contact: 021-5241069/
erasmushuis@minbuza.nl/
erasmushuis-in.nlmission.org
TOUR GUIDE
• Indonesian Heritage Society
provides free tour at National
Museum in
English.
Every Tuesday at
10:30 a.m.
Every Thursday
at 10:30 a.m. and
1:30 p.m.
Every second and
fourth Saturday of the month at
10:30 a.m.
CP: Indonesian Heritage
Society Library 021-5725870/
heritagejkt.org
CLASS
• Kelas Fotografi Jalanan
March 8 – May 6 at 2 p.m
Serambi Salihara
salihara.org
DANCE PERFORMANCE
• Kukusan Paon by Kitapoleng
April 1
Galeri Indonesia Kaya - Jakarta
Indonesiakaya.com
EXHIBITIONS
• Indonesia Drum & Perkusi
Festival (IDP Fest) 2017
March 30 – April 2
at 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Taman Ismail Marzuki Jakarta
http://acara.co.id
WHERE TO EAT IN JAKARTA
AWkitchen
• An Exhibition of Art in
Collections at Ruci’s
March 17 – April 9
Ruci’s Joint – Jakarta
goersapp.com
• Urban Monster by Evan Adi-
tya and Mutiara Suryadini
March 13 – April 9
Ruang Seduh Kemang
goersapp.com
• Exhibition Ira Nata Pradja :
“Give a Smile to Children”
March 19 - April 9
Duta Fine Arts Foundation,
Kemang
www.dutafinearts.com
• Jakarta Toys & Kids Expo
2017
April 1-2, 2017
Balai Kartini – Kartika Expo
Center, Jakarta
www.neopromosindo.com
• Photo Exhibition:
“The Tree of Life”
The Embassy of Italy and the
Italian Cultural Institute Jakarta
present a photo exhibition “The
Tree of Life” by Elisabetta Zavoli
Dec. 9-April 10, 2017.
Auditorium IIC, Menteng.
CP: 021 3927531-2 or email:
eventi@itacultjkt.or.id
• INAPA Jakarta –
The 9th ASEAN’s Largest &
Most Influential Trade Show
for Automotive Industry
March 29 – April 1
JI Expo Kemayoran Jakarta
www.whatsnewjakarta.com
‘Apprentice,’ a film by Boo Junfeng
March 31 at 7 p.m., Kinosaurus, Kemang, Jakarta
A slow-burning drama almost entirely set inside a
Singaporean prison, Apprentice addresses the issue
of the death penalty from the unusual point of view
of an executioner.
• Jejak Langkah Seorang
Raden Ajeng:
Reflection on R.A. Kartini
March 13-31 at 5:45 p.m
Erasmus Huis, Jakarta
RSVP: indonesia@bb.leidenuniv.nl
MUSIC PERFORMANCES
• Yayasan Kidung Bangsaku
“Needs Special Music
The Concert”
March 30 at 7 p.m.
Graha Bhakti Budaya,
Taman Ismail Marzuki
jakarta.go.id
• Ismail Marzuki
Jazz Festival 2017
March 31
Graha Bhakti Budaya,
Taman Ismail Marzuki
jakarta.go.id
• Armin Only Embrace -
World Tour
March 31
Jiexpo Kemayoran
arminonly.com
• Simfoni Tarling
April 7-8 at 8 p.m.
Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman
Ismail Marzuki - Jakarta
arminonly.com
kinosaurusjakarta.com
The story revolves around a driven young correc-
tional officer Aiman (Fir Rahman), who is ready to
do everything it takes to be transferred to the death
ward of Singapore’s highest-security prison.
• Rick Karnadi and His Dudes
Bringing Back The 90s
Boyband
April 1 at 6 p.m.
Motion Blue Jakarta
motionbluejakarta.com
• Piano Recital by Tobias
Borsboom
April 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Erasmus Huis, Jakarta
CP: 021-5241069
erasmushuis@minbuza.nl
THEATER PERFORMANCE
• Being Leonardo Da Vinci -
An impossible interview
March 30 at 8 p.m.
Institut Français d’Indonésie
Menteng Jakarta
Organized by Embassy of Italy
in Collaboration with Institute
Français d’Indonésie
CP: 021 3927531-2 or email:
eventi@itacultjkt.or.id
The Embassy of Italy and the
Italian Cultural Institute Jakarta
in collaboration with Institut
Français d Indonésie will present
a theatrical performance called
Being Leonardo Da Vinci – An
Impossible Interview by Massi-
miliano Finazzer Flory. Discover
the story behind Leonardo, the
painter, scientist and inventor.
His story, secrets, methods of
CAFES
Aphrodite Club Rasuna, Jl. Rasuna Said,
Kuningan, South Jakarta.
Anomali Coffee Jl. Senopati No. 35, South
Jakarta. Telp. 529-20102
Antipodean Hero Kemang Complex, Jl.
Kemang Selatan No. 1, South Jakarta. No
fuss super-fresh brekkies at this laid-back
Aussie-Kiwi Café.
BUNK Pullman Jakarta Central Park Podo-
moro City, Jl. Let. Jend. S. Parman Kav. 28
Telp. 021 29 20 00 88
Bloeming FX Sudirman, South Jakarta.
Telp. 2555 4182
Bakoel Koffie Jl. Cikini Raya No. 25, Central
Jakarta. Telp. 3193 6608
CJ’s Bar Hotel Mulia Senayan. Jl.Asia Afrika
Senayan, South Jakarta.Telp. 575 3275, 574
7777 ext. 4008, 4018 Bar and cocktail.
RESTAURANTS
Italian
AWkitchen Plaza Senayan
Level P4 Unit No. CP 409
Jl. Asia Afrika No. 8
Jakarta Pusat 10270
+6221 5790 6071
AWkitchen Plaza Indonesia
Level 2, No. E0206
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 28-30
Jakarta Pusat 10350
+6221 2992 4325  LG 38, Kuningan, South Jakarta.
THURSDAY March 30, 2017 | 21
April 21 at 2:30 a.m – 4:30 p.m.
ICE — Indonesia Convention
Exhibition
disneyoniceindonesia.com
FILM SCREENINGS
• Badai Pasti Berlalu
March 30 at 5 p.m.
Kineforum –
Taman Ismail Marzuki
kineforum.org
• Cahaya Dari Timur: Beta
Maluku We Are Moluccans
March 31 at 7:30 p.m
Kineforum –
Taman Ismail Marzuki
kineforum.org
working, passions and lifelong
advice will be revealed in Renais-
sance Italian through the “imagi-
nary interview” method. RSVP
by March 29.
• Oedipus di Kolonus
April 1 at 8 p.m.
Teater Salihara
salihara.org
• Pembunuh yang Adil
April 2 at 8 p.m.
Teater Salihara
salihara.org
PERFORMANCE
• Hakim Sarmin
April 5-6 • Kawamura Koheisai’s Shad-
Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman ow and Music Performance
Ismail Marzuki - Jakarta March 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Instagram : Bentara Budaya Jakarta
@tamanismailmarzuki bentarabudaya.com
• Rendezvous
April 2
Galeri Indonesia Kaya - Jakarta • Turah
Indonesiakaya.com A film by Wicaksono Wisnu
Legowo
• The Wonderful World of March 31 at 9:30 p.m.
Disney On Ice Kinosaurus, Kemang - Jakarta
April 20 at 2:30 a.m – 4:30 p.m. kinosaurusjakarta.com
PROMOTE YOUR EVENTS
For queries on placement of your events in The Jakarta Post’s WHERE TO GO section,
please send an email to wheretogo@thejakartapost.com / wtgjakarta@gmail.com or
call Nisa at (021) 5300478 ext. 2038.
Asian Fusion
Decanter Wine Lounge Plaza Kuningan,
North Tower, Ground Floor, South Jakarta.
Chatterbox Plaza Senayan and branches Telp. 5296 3888
city- wide. Singaporean and western dishes in Loewy Bar & Restaurant Oakwood Premier
cozy setting. No MSG.
Mamacita The Wine Kitchen Senayan City, Cozmo, Kuningan, South Jakarta. Telp.
25542378
LG Unit 52, South Jakarta. Telp. 7278 1477
The Lounge Le Grandeur Mangga Dua,
CHINESE Jl. Mangga Dua Raya, North Jakarta.
Ah Yat Abalone Mid Plaza 2, LG, Jl. Telp. 612 8811
Sudirman Central Jakarta. Telp. 570 7333 SAKE+ Jl. Senopati 54, Kebayoran Baru,
Chiao Tung Hotel Rekso Hayam Wuruk, Jl. South Jakarta. Telp. 7250002. Japanese bar
Hayam Wuruk 2F West Jakarta. Telp. 624 8680 & lounge.
INDONESIAN
Beautika Jl. Hang Lekir No. 1, South Jakarta. VIN+ Arcadia Plaza Senayan Arcadia
Lantai 1 Unit 106-108, South Jakarta. Telp.
Telp. 722 6683
A spicy culinary journey to North Sulawesi 57901477
VIN+ PIM Street Gallery Pondok Indah
(Manado). No frills but you will definitely feel
hot under the collar from the chilli dosage. Mall 1st Fl Unit 106 South Jakarta. Telp.
Bengawan Solo Hotel Sahid Jaya, Jl. Sudirman 2952 9753
No. 86, Central Jakarta. Telp. 570 4444 VIN+ PIM soft opening specials: - Get a
Bumbu Hotel Sheraton Bandara, West
glass of sangria if you follow us on twitter
Jakarta. Telp. 559 7777
and facebook. @vinplusid and VIN+ wine
CONTINENTAL and beyond
Cacaote Jl. Senopati Raya 80, Kebayoran Lunch promotion.
Baru, South Jakarta. Telp. 293 0612. Buy 2 main courses and get 20 percent off (food
Place to see and be seen, melt-in-your-mouth only)
cakes and pastries High Tea Promotion: 1 Tapas + 1 Glass of wine
only Rp 100,000 (tax included).
WINE & DINE VIN+ Central Park Central Park Mall at
Tribeca Park Ground Floor TG. 03 Jl. Let. S.
Parman Kav. 28, West Jakarta. Telp. 5698 5768
Bacco Lotte Shopping Avenue, Main Lobby, VIN+ Kemang Jl. Kemang Raya No. 45B,
South Jakarta Telp. 7179 2577
22 | ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE THURSDAY March 30, 2017

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD PUZZLER SUDOKU

Instructions:
Fill the cells in such a way so that all rows, columns and every
3-by-3 subsquare contains every digit from 1 to 9, with no rep-
etition of each digit.

ROSE IS ROSE

THE BORN LOSER

CHESSQUIZ
GARFIELD

By Shelby Lyman
FERDNAND
THURSDAY March 30, 2017 FEATURES | 23

FRENCH MASTERS Chef Jean-François Piège

PRAISE INDONESIA’S
CULTURAL
RICHNESS
CULTUR Film and cuisine
are cultural forces
that can steal

PRAISE IN
one’s heart.

FREN
EN mixed with vanilla grass and tangy sauce
with a squish of Bergamot orange, Brittany
lobster cooked in Mijoté Moderne combined
with marinated mussels and herbs, grilled
chicken from the Cour d’Armoise farm and
Catherine
Deneuve

served with Morchella mushrooms and rice

as well as grilled chocolate on a tarte with ice
cream as dessert.
“I don’t need to make any adjustments to
suit Indonesian taste buds, because Indone-
sian cuisine, after all, has also adopted a wide
range of flavors.”
The 46-year-old chef has been awarded
two Michelin stars in 2011 for his restau-
rant that bears his name, and he has been
named “Chef of the Year” by critics every
year since 2005. He has also authored books
on French cuisine.
He preferred home-cooked meals, such
as gratin or grilled chicken, to eat with fam-
ily members, “because good company makes
food taste the best,” the chef said, adding that
he didn’t believe in using any secret ingredi-
ent to enhance the flavor.
“I just use salt. The combination of flavors
from the ingredients used to make a single
All set up: Chef Jean-François Piège (right) talks about ingredients with Raffles Hotel Executive Chef dish is the whole point of creating authentic
Daniel Patterson ( left) and Chef Gilles Marx from Amuz Gourmet (middle) at Raffles Hotel Jakarta French flavor.”
on Saturday. Chef Piège was responsible for preparing the gala dinner hosted by the French Embassy, As a special guest at the gala dinner, Cath-
cultural center Institut Francais Indonesia (IFI) and the French Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia erine Deneuve underlined the rich cultures
(IFCCI) last Sunday. of Indonesia in art, fashion, textiles and even
architecture.
“I would visit museums during my stay,”
she said about her second visit to the country.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak by the United Nations’ cultural organi- Deneuve, 73, a sought-after actress in
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA zation, UNESCO. both art-house and mainstream films, said
“What characterizes French gastron- she would love to work with Indonesian

C
elebrated French kitchen omy are the rites, the presentation and filmmakers.
master Jean-François Piège the flavor, and the most important ele- “[Working abroad] is the best way to real-
and film and fashion icon ment is the [choice of ] ingredients,” he ly learn about people of different countries,”
Catherine Deneuve are cur- said in an interview on Sunday. she said, citing her experience of staying in
rently in Jakarta as part of a string of The chef created a multi-course din- Vietnam while filming the 1992 movie  In-
events to spur cooperation between the ner served later that evening at a gala at- dochine  with director Régis Wargnier. “It’s so than if you arrive at a hotel and feel like a
two countries in the creative industries. tended by French diplomats, nationals quite an incredible experience, much more tourist.”
Piège took the honor to introduce au- and Indonesian-French alumni. He had With a career of nearly six decades, De-
thentic French cuisine, which has been brought all the ingredients from home. neuve, who received the Lumière Prize last
listed as an intangible cultural treasure Piège served baked celery flowers year for her lifetime dedication to the indus-
try, said she consistently perceived the nar-
ration and the characters as the main factors
Original taste: Baked celery to consider in a film project.
flowers mixed with While working in Hollywood movies is
vanilla grass and tangy near impossible for a French-speaking ac-
sauce with a squish tress, according to Deneuve, she said she
of Bergamot would soon start a project with renowned
orange. French director André Téchiné.
“I’ve done six or seven films [with the di-
rector], which are all very important to me.
And actually, I’m going to do a film with him
next year,” said Deneuve, who first collabo-
rated with the director for Hôtel des Améri-
ques in 1981.
Then, what would be her greatest achieve-
ment so far?
“I don’t like the word achievement. It’s
something said by other people or journal-
ists when they give you an award, or after
some time you’ve been in the industry,” she
said. “Achievement for me means finished.
And I’m not there yet.”
With that, she shared her lifetime motto
for young people aspiring to make it big in
Courtesy of IFI the film or fashion industry:
Beautiful plating: Brittany lobster cooked “Follow your instinct. That’s what I do.”
with the mijote moderne technique, served
with marinated mussels and aromatic herbs. — PHOTOS BY JP/DONNY FERNANDO

GUESS WHAT?
Depp returns aas Prilly wants
ants to see John
Johnson says ‘Baywatch’ is
Captain Jack S
Sparrow ghosts for her film sum
summer’s ‘sexiest, funniest’ pic
LAS VEGAS: The Walt Dis Disney Studios un- JAKARTA: Actress
tress Prilly Latuconsina LAS VEGVEGAS: CinemaCon
maCon just got a little less dressed.
veiled the fifth installme
installment in their Pirates wanted to see e ghosts to build her The cast
c of Baywatch
ywatch took the stage Tuesday
of the Caribbean franchi
franchise Dead Men Tell character for her latest horror movie, afternoo
afternoon alongside ide around two dozen scantily
No Tales Tuesday night aat CinemaCon in ctress, who elbowed her
Danur. The actress, clad me omen sporting the classic red
men and women
Las Vegas. way into the entertainment industry bathing suits to pre-re-
Initial reactions fro
from those in atten- eries Ganteng-gan-
through TV series view th the film.
dance were largely p positive, celebrat- teng Serigala a (Handsome but Star Dwayne
ing a return to form fo for the franchise a Werewolf), said she would Johnson told
Johnso
and the well-done V VFX. play a real-life
e character, Risa the au
audience
Gizmodo writer G Germain Lussier Saraswati, who ho befriends five the
of theater own-n-
wrote that it was the best since the child ghosts. ers aand exhibitors
tors
first, adding that while that isn’t Prilly said she tried to open that their movie
vie is
saying much, it i does occasionally her sixth sensese to enable her going
goin to be the he craziest,
capture that magic.
m Collider.com to see Risa’s ghost friends — sexiest,
sexie funniest est R-rated
chief Steven Wein-
editor in chie Peter, William,
m, Jansen, Hans comedy
com of the
e summer. He
praised the action set
traub praise and Henrich. Directed by Awi also introduceded new footage in what
pieces and said it was better Suryadi, the fi lm hit theaters
film they called a “fuschia band” trailer, riffing on
than the fo fourth. on Monday. the rrisque nature
ture of the NSFW “red band”
swashbuckling film
The swa Prilly said she was able to trailer.
traile
sees the rereturn of Johnny see Risa’s fivee ghost friends. Indeed, there
In ere was a fair amount of skin
Depp as Ca Captain Jack Sparrow She admitted d that her experi- in the footage,, which highlighted both its
and Geoffrey
Geo Rush as Bar- ence of meeting
ting the ghosts self-aware
self-aw comedy
edy and action/adventure on
bossa aand introduces a seemed irrational
onal but said she the beach.
bea
new yoyoung cast in Bren- believed in the
he existence of Baywatch
Bayw also
o stars Zac Efron, Alexandra
ton Thwaites and Kaya Scodelario. ghosts. — JP Daddario and Priyanka
Daddar yanka Chopra. It hits theaters
It hits theaters on May 26 26. — AP on May 26. — AP P

AP Kapanlagi.com AP
FEATURES THURSDAY March 30, 2017 | 24

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA
FILM BUSINESS LM
LDS FI
APPROACHES BP
C
K
O
H
M
O
PETITIO
N
OUTH
FOR Y
PUBLIC TO STOP
DIGITAL PIRACY The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK)
in collaboration with USAID has
organized a film competition in a
At a time when the public can “innocently” bid to disseminate information to
post a live video just for the heck of it rather the public about the agency’s tasks
and achievements in promoting
than monetizing it, it’s best to know that transparency and accountability of
digital piracy is a crime. state finance management.
“The film competition aims to
give young people the knowledge
about the state budget and state
assets,” agency chairman Harry
Azhar Azis said in a press confer-
ence, recently.
The program, titled Festival Film
Kawal Harta Negara (FKHN) (Safe-
The approach used was by screen- guarding State Assets Film Festival),
ing public service ads on the conse- targets students, filmmakers and
quences of becoming a perpetrator creative communities to participate

A
n Indonesian woman was
arrested by police and
charged with livestream-
ing from her social media
account while in a theater watching
Me vs Mami, an MNC Pictures mov-
ie released last October.
Regardless of the length or the
quality of the content aired, with-
out legal consent from the owner, ar-
ticles of the Electronic Information
and Transactions Law (ITE Law) say
digital piracy is a crime punishable
by up to nine years in prison.
“Still, such crime could decrease
the value of the movie itself. We
want to disseminate this informa-
tion to the public, that it is a crime
and punishable by the law,” said
film producer and director Angga
Dwimas Sasongko.
The Association of Indonesian
Film Producers (Aprofi), where Ang-
ga sits as the head of public policy and
advocacy division, recently launched
an antipiracy campaign together with
film exhibition companies Motion
Pictures Association (MPA), Cinema
21, CGV Cinemas and Cinemaxx, as
well as the Creative Economy Agen-
cy (Bekraf) and the Law and Human
Rights Ministry.
Deep discussion: Babi Buta Yang Ingin Terbang (Blind Pig Who Wants to
Fly) director Edwin (right) discusses censorship with National Commis-
sion on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) member Muhammad Nurkhoiron.
or a consumer of pirated content.
The first two ads, which will be aired
soon at theaters nationwide, were
directed by Angga and used the IP
content of his production house Vi-
sinema Pictures.
“The ads will be our annual pro-
gram in which every year we will re-
lease different videos using the IP
owned by the association members.
For the first project, we have used
Filosofi Kopi as the theme,” Ang-
ga said, referring to the company’s
production.
The ads will star Filosofi Kopi lead
actor Chicco Jerikho, seasoned ac-
tor Tio Pakusadewo and young actor
Bebeto Leutualy, the cast of Angga’s
Cahaya dari Timur: Beta Maluku
(Lights from the East: I Am Maluku).
Aprofi chairman Fauzan Zidni
said the initiative was only a part of
an effort to stop the seemingly nev-
er-ending digital piracy. The associa-
tion and MPA — involved in the anti-
piracy team under the coordination
of Bekraf since last year — had also
reported 176 illegal film streaming
sites to the law ministry.
While the law ministry will over-
see the lawsuit against these sites,
the Communications and Informa-
Courtesy of Meiske Taurisia
You’re being watched: A scene from the movie Me vs Mami, a comedy
drama directed by Ody C. Harahap. A woman has been arrested for alleg-
edly livestreaming the film through her social media account.
tion Ministry has the authority to
block access to the sites.
“The illegal film distribution
through these sites inflicted losses
to the industry and the creative tal-
ents,” he said. “By eliminating the
illegal sites, the business of legal
streaming sites can grow which is,
for film producers, a new business
opportunity.”
Aprofi also held field checks at
shopping malls in several big cities
to find the distribution of pirated
DVDs. They found that the sales of
pirated film DVDs still existed at 32
out of 100 malls in Jakarta; three out
of 10 malls in Bogor, West Java; half
of eight malls in Yogyakarta; all four
shopping malls in Makassar, South
Sulawesi; and 13 out of 14 malls in
Surabaya, East Java.    cy affected the industry. It addition-
Bekraf’s deputy chairman for IP
rights facilitator and regulation, Ari
Juliano Gema, said an orchestrat-
ed effort was vital in the antipiracy
campaign. “However, complaints
about IP right violations should be
officially filed with us. We can help
in pursuing the case and monitoring
the legal process,” he said.
Stephen Jenner, VP Communi-
cations of MPA for Asia-Pacific, said
the organization supported the ini-
tiative to fight piracy. “Each mov-
iegoer has a contribution to deter-
Courtesy of MNC Pictures
mine the future of the Indonesian
film industry.”
Theater chains also hold regular
checks inside theaters and monitor
them through CCTVs.
Film producers in other countries
are also in on the effort to nip digital
piracy in the bud.
A film company in Costa Rica, Ro-
maly, came up with the idea to create
a fake site emulating the commonly
known portal applying file-sharing
technologies such as Torrent where
the public can download pirated
content.
According to techworm.net, the
fake clone site would proceed to play
a short trailer of the movie the user
tried to download accompanied by a
short message explaining how pira-
ally contains an email address the
downloaders can use to get two free
theater tickets for the movie they
have been trying to download.
Angga said the campaign also
aimed at communicating to the
public how the appropriate way to
appreciate the creative work of a
film was by watching it in theaters.
“The cinematic experience ampli-
fies the value of the film and in turn
us producers can create bigger and
phenomenal films. This is how it’s
all connected.”
in submitting feature films, short
documentaries, public service an-
nouncements and citizen journalist
videos from March 14 to July 7.
BPK head of public relations
and international cooperation Yudi
Ramdan Budiman said the program
was held for the first time to reach
out to the public and to raise
awareness on state budget leaks.
“Film is a popular media,
especially with young people,” he
said. “This festival could be a place
for them to learn the techniques of
filmmaking and at the same time
get the information on the impor-
tance of safeguarding state assets
in the hope that they are willing to
engage in the process of letting the
words out.”
The BPK has produced over 15
movies with varied themes such as
the work at the audit agency, audit
reports and Indonesian overseas
workers.
Besides the competition, FKHN
2017 will also consist of film
workshops and road shows to
Magelang, Ternate, Medan and
Malang.
Film director Ismail Basbeth will
be involved in the workshops, help-
ing the participants formulate their
creative ideas.
“The most important thing in
producing a film is how the film-
maker conveys a message and
how it comes across,” said the Citra
Award recipient for Best Director
in 2015. “There will be trials and
errors, but the experience will
eventually lead to a masterpiece.”
— JP/TERTIANI ZB SIMANJUNTAK

100 YEARS
OF DANGEROUS
Sebastian Partogi
THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

T
he Film Censorship Board
(LSF) marked its 100th an-
niversary last year, and
ing poems by dissident poet WS
Rendra, as well as for showcasing
casual sex among its characters,”
Alexander told The Jakarta Post.
Paranoia over political over-
tones could go a little too far —
with ideological themes
could only be enjoyed
in small cinema cafés
and closed, small group
screenings.
“Because of this, dis-

FILMMAKING
its presence sparks controversy
among filmmakers until this day,
as film remains the only art form
in Indonesia that is subject to
censorship.
Although there is legal ba-
sis for censoring as stipulated in
the 2009 Film Law, the details
are rather unspecific. However,
a clear pattern remains: films
broaching the subjects of sexu-
ality and ideology are the ones
most vulnerable to their scissors.
Film programmer and former
Kineforum manager Alexander
Matius said the censorship board
had begun to flex its muscles
more assertively during the au-
thoritarian New Order era. The
board mainly got rid of scenes
appearing to promote certain
ideologies or depicting sexuality.
Examples include Sophan So-
phiaan’s Bung Kecil (Little Boy),
which was finished in 1978 but
had to be reworked and was fi-
nally released only in 1983, after
passing the censorship board’s
requirements for the big screen.
A similar case was Sjuman Dja-
ya’s film Yang Muda Yang Bercin-
ta (Youngsters who make love),
the release of which was delayed
from 1977 to 1993, when it finally
saw the light of day — eight years
after the director himself had
passed away.
“While Bung Kecil was cen-
sored for raising issues of so-
cial inequality, Yang Muda Yang
Bercinta was censored because
it was deemed to be carrying
Courtesy of 2015.neocinemap.asia political propaganda by featur-
even to a hilarious extent — dur-
ing the Soeharto era: the title of
Deddy Armand’s 1989 film had to
be changed from Kiri Kanan OK
(Left and Right is okay) to Kanan
Kiri OK, because the placement
of the word “kiri” first was per-
ceived to infer that the banned
leftist ideology was okay.
Fast-forward almost two de-
cades and you have Edwin’s Babi
Buta Yang Ingin Terbang (The
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly),
which was rejected by the LSF
in 2008 on the grounds of telling
the story of the 1998 riots on the
verge of the downfall of Soehar-
to. Other reasons cited for not
allowing the film to pass cen-
sorship were ambiguous terms
like “sex by the sodomites” and
“erotic breathing.”
Female director Chairun “Ilun”
Nissa captured the issue, along
with the censorship that befell a
2014 film called The Look of Silence
(Senyap) on the bloody 1965 mas-
sacre of people thought to support
communism, directed by Joshua
Oppenheimer, in her 2016 docu-
mentary Potongan (Cuts).
Film critic Eric Sasono, how-
ever, said the reins on sexual
content were sometimes loos-
ened during times when the film
industry was in crisis, such as
when horror and comedy films
dominated the screens start-
ing in 2008, propelling actresses
such as Julia Perez, Dewi Persik
and even Japanese porn star Ma-
ria “Miyabi” Ozawa.
Due to censorship, these films
cussion spaces [to talk
about the 1965 and
1998 violence] are be-
ing shut down, leaving
the generation born
during the 1990s and
the 2000s unaware of
this part of Indonesian
history, which still is a
wound. Therefore, we
can never discuss the
wounds and reconcile,”
Ilun says.
In the film Potongan,
LSF board members ar-
gued that scenes per-
taining to the 1998 ri-
ots in Babi Buta Yang
Ingin Terbang had to be Courtesy of Meiske Taurisia
censored for fear they Fragmented: The poster for documentary
might trigger social un- Potongan (Cuts) illustrates censorship.
rest. Likewise, House of
Representatives’ Commission I its intended audience.
member and former reporter Ar- “Films have to reach as wide
ief Suditomo said in the film that an audience as possible,” he said.
Indonesians still had a low level Not to mention that censorship
of education and might be pro- also curtails filmmakers’ creativ-
voked by such films. ity. “Filmmaking requires free
“These comments, besides be- imagination, a mind that consid-
ing very patronizing, are also in- ers all possibilities available.”
accurate. Films like Babi Buta In response to these state-
have a very specific target audi- ments, LSF commissioner and
ence. Here, censorship also has spokesman Rommy Fibri wrote
to take into consideration the in an email that the board was
cinema culture that is about to committed to keeping Indone-
be created: Who is the targeted sia’s democracy growing.
audience?” Eric said. “Those of us who work for the
He said that such censor- board’s 2015-2019 period are
ship was unfair, as it might pre- open to the possibility where
vent spillover effects — or the films with any kind of content,
possibility that the film is also including Babi Buta, pass cen-
watched and responded to by sorship, be it for festival criteria
those who are not actually part of or for limited circles.”