INDONESIA A NEWS

As a young soldier, former Indonesian president Suharto was visited by powerful Javanese shamen who bequeathed him mystical charms to shield him from bullets and make him invisible during battle. Suharto is now 86 and has been languishing in a Jakarta hospital for weeks. But magical pins and metal - some said to be embedded in his body - are keeping the one-time strongman from passing to another world, according to popular Indonesian legend. Doctors said Thursday his condition was improving after briefly deteriorating the day before. Fluid and infection in his lungs were reduced overnight and Suharto was able to whisper and take a few bites of food. The 40-member presidential medical team struggling to stem Suharto's sepsis, pneumonia, failing kidneys, lungs and heart ascribe his resilience to tough army training and physical strength. On the streets, however, theories about his spiritual powers prevail. Indonesia's 235 million people are predominantly Muslim, but their faith i...

The "Cendana" family will not resume Soeharto's case if Soeharto passes away. "Legally, it will automatically be cancelled," said Soeharto's lawyer, Juan Felix Tampubolon in Pertamina Central Hospital in Jakarta (18/1). This is as long as there is no conclusive legal decision. "That's the way of a civil case," he said. "So the court must determine whether the civil case is accepted or not," said Juan.He also emphasized that there is no legal evidence regarding the flow of state funds and assets to Supersemar Foundation. "So there's no obligation whatsoever," he stressed. In terms of a win-win solution offered by Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, Tampubolon only said he did not understand.Tampubolon also said so far there is not any strong evidence for this case. Soeharto's family welcomed all legal solutions the government proposed. "But it must be without any condition," said Tampubolon. Because, he s...

The prosperity of Indonesian workers who work in the informal sector in Malaysia apparently will not yet improve. The reason for this is that the Malaysian government still rejects Indonesia's proposal regarding setting the minimum wage for workers in the informal sector."Because the country doesn't acknowledge a minimum wage system," said Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda after delivering an annual speech at his office yesterday (8/1). The result is, he said, that wages received by Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) are only based on negotiations with employers. This is in line with the market mechanism and has caused the position of TKI who work in construction and plantation as well as house maids to be very weak and prone to abuse. This market mechanism makes TKIs' incomes lower compared to that of more-skilled workers from other countries.Malaysia acknowledged its country does not apply a minimum wage system. However, said Foreign Affairs Minister Syed H...

As Indonesia's former strongman, Suharto, lay on his sickbed this week, the country that rejected him 10 years ago was in the early stages of a democratic election campaign.Although the nation's leaders spoke with respect of the man who had been their master and mentor for three decades, they were by their actions repudiating him, moving forward with a new Indonesia that contrasts in almost every way with one he bequeathed to them.From one of the most centralized and controlled countries in the region, it has transformed itself into one of the most decentralized, free, open and self-regulating.From a brutal and corrupt regime under the heel of the military, it has become the standard bearer of democracy in Southeast Asia. It stands out for its political liberalism at a time when coups and coup attempts have discredited the region's two exemplars of democracy, Thailand and the Philippines. "Indonesia represents a good-news story in the region and in the world," sai...

THREE Islamic militants on death row for the 2002 Bali bombings met their families yesterday as their lawyer said they would seek an edict from Indonesia's Muslim body on the legality of execution by shooting.The three - Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas - could face possibly a firing squad within a month unless they seek presidential clemency, an option which they have already ruled out.Last week, prosecutors handed over copies of a Supreme Court verdict rejecting the men's final appeal, marking the start of a 30-day deadline for them to request clemency or be executed.The three men were sentenced to death for their role in two nightclub blasts on Bali's Kuta strip on October 12, 2002, in which 202 people died, mostly foreign tourists. The attacks were blamed on the South-East Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah.Samudra's mother, wife and four children visited the men in prison on Nusakambangan island, off the southern coast of Java.Samudra's family travelled with ...

INDONESIA'S former dictator Soeharto was last night in a critical condition in a Jakarta hospital, with doctors struggling to prevent multiple organ failure.Doctors at the hospital said they feared for the life of the 86-year-old former general.His health deteriorated over five days at his colonial-era house in the Jakarta suburb of Menteng, where he lived as a recluse."We can say his condition has worsened, is more serious than before," said Joko Raharjo, one of the doctors." Another heart pacemaker needs to be fitted. We are afraid he could suffer organ failure, so we have recruited some specialists from several hospitals to try everything to avoid organ failure," he said.Doctors said Mr Soeharto's kidney and lung functions had deteriorated and he would likely need dialysis.President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, also a former military general, paid a 12-minute visit to Mr Soeharto's bedside yesterday morning. But Mr Soeharto could not speak."His cond...

In 2007 law enforcement has failed to ensure security as well as resolve major cases from the past. Azis Syamsuddin, a criminal law expert and deputy chairman of the law commission at the House of Representatives talked to The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat on this issue recently. Question: How do you evaluate law enforcement in 2007? Answer: I would like to tell President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that, as in previous years, there was no rule of law this year (2007). We have government, but it has failed to enforce the law at all levels in public life. Why do you say that? The law can't enforce itself, it must be enforced by the government. The President as the head of the government wasn't able to ensure Police and the Attorney General enforced the law, thus leaving us with legal uncertainty. We see the President and law enforcers do not take actions against groups who use violence against the Ahmadiyah sect and other religious groups who use their houses for worship. T...

Sri Lankan maids in Saudi Arabia will have their minimum wage increased by over 90 percent starting tomorrow following a recent order issued by the Sri Lankan government. Maids will now receive a minimum of SR750 per month, a SR350 increase over their previous SR400 monthly wage." Since Dec. 25, we have been advising recruitment agents in Saudi Arabia of the increase in salaries and telling them to revise contracts accordingly, " said N.L.D. Abeyrabne, counselor of Employment and Welfare at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh.Abeyrabne added that Sri Lankan maids currently working in the Kingdom would have their employment contracts adjusted to reflect the pay raise.Meanwhile, officials at recruitment offices in Riyadh and Jeddah said they had been adjusting contracts to reflect the pay raise. "Since receiving the news of the announcement concerning the salary increase of Sri Lankan housemaids, we have had our workload doubled," said a source at Al-Babtain Recruitment ...