INDONESIA A NEWS

The appointment of Jakarta Police Chief Timur Pradopo, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's sole nominee for National Police chief, appears to be yet another indication of the Indonesian president's lack of strong commitment to the country's reformasi flame. According to the Corruption Eradication Commission, known by its Indonesian language acronym KPK, Prodopo's net worth exceeded at least Rp 2.1 billion (US$235,000) as of 2008, primarily invested in real estate in the Tangerang area of Jakarta, valued at Rp1.3 billion, which he said was inherited. Pradopo also owns four cars worth Rp340 million, with the rest of his wealth in cash, bank deposits and precious stones and metals, the KPK said. Despite criticism from human rights activists and political reformers, the appointment appeared to be just fine with both the new and outgoing police chiefs at the handover ceremony, with Pradopo breaking into "Sewu Kutho" ("A Thousand Cities"), a popular...

  Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday said he was postponing a visit to the Netherlands after hearing that activists planned to file charges against him there for alleged human rights violations. "I decided to postpone this visit," Yudhoyono said in a brief statement at Halim Perdanakusuma military airbase, minutes before he and his entourage were scheduled to leave for a three-day visit to the Netherlands.   He said that the decision to cancel the trip was made after receiving information that activist groups in the Netherlands wanted to file a lawsuit with The Hague court in connection with alleged human rights violations in Indonesia. "There has even been a demand to the court for the arrest of the president of Indonesia during the visit," Yudhoyono said, adding that among the activists was the self-proclaimed South Moluccas Republic, a minority group supporting the independence of the small islands in eastern Indonesia. "If the cour...

Indonesia's military will play a greater role in combating terrorism, supporting police on major investigations and responding to attacks, the head of the country's new national counter-terrorism agency says. However, Ansyaad Mbai said the military's activities would be curbed by regulations, including making them accountable ''by civilian law'' and restricting their use of firearms. Mr Ansyaad also revealed, in an interview with the Herald, the armed forces were already involved in tracking militants in Sumatra, where three police were shot dead last week in retaliation for anti-terrorism raids that resulted in 18 suspected terrorists either killed or arrested. The enhanced position of the military is a significant shift for Indonesia, where the police have dominated counter-terrorism activity since mass casualty attacks emerged in the archipelago with the bombings in Bali in 2002. But there has been a change of thinking as Indonesia'...

An Indonesian legislator wants girls in his province to pass virginity tests before being admitted into state-funded high schools - a widely ridiculed proposal with little chance of passing. Bambang Bayu Suseno, a lawmaker in Jambi's provincial parliament, cited concerns about a rise in premarital sex among teens in pushing for the proposal. But critics argued Wednesday that mandatory testing would be discriminatory and a violation of human rights. "The way to address this problem is through sex education," said Seto Mulyadi, who heads the National Commission for Child Protection, adding that not all girls engaging in sex do so willingly. "Make it part of the school curriculum so students will learn how to protect themselves - but virginity tests?" Indonesia is a secular nation with more Muslims than any other in the world - some 210 million.   Most practice a moderate, tolerant form of the faith, but some conservatives are worried rapid modernization is e...

Indonesia, an archipelago made up of approximately 17,508 islands, and is located in South-East Asia. The country has a population of approximately 230 million, making it the fourth most populous country in the world; its capital city is Jakarta, which is located on the island of Java. Since the majority of the population of Indonesia are Muslims, Indonesia can be considered the largest Islamic state in the world in terms of population. The Indonesian economy is classified as a developing economy, and is known as a "Tiger Cub Economy" which is a group that also includes Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. This is a reference to the more economically advanced "Asian Tiger Economies" that include Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. The Asian Tigers gained this name after attracting foreign investment and achieving impressive growth in their economy, manufacturing industries, and capital development. However the East-Asian economies suffered a financial...

Perhaps we would never believe that Indonesia is a country where the life comes from the sweats of the country men but is enslaved from abroad, and what is more    unbelievable is that, it is a country in which the Islamic ummah is the biggest   in the world, but is the third biggest producer of corruptions. A country which they say that when you plug the tree into the ground, it would produce fruits to be eaten by its people, but everywhere, we could easily see    people dying of starvation, where the metaphor is “like a chicken dying in its    barn”. We can also see shiny cars that cost over billions of Rupiah, milling   about in the middle of the streets amidst the begging hands of the beggars and   the carts of the street scavengers. Not long ago, a class III A officer of DITJEN (Directorate General) of Taxation   was found to have 25 billions in his savings, compare it with the average income   of the Indonesian c...

Indonesia may move its capital out of Jakarta but it won't solve the city's problems.   Jakarta may be one of the most besieged cities on the planet, beset by a plethora of woes: overcrowding, pollution, groundwater subsidence, staggering traffic jams, collapsing infrastructure and more. The answer? The same answer that Brazil, Nigeria, Malaysia and other countries have devised: move the seat of government to a new city despite the fact that it rarely if ever does any good for the city left behind.   Nonetheless, if it sounds farfetched, Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, last month said the government is seriously considering moving the government to Borneo or West Java. Two sites have been identified - Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan, an hour and a half flight away across open water, and Jonggol in West Java, a more manageable 48 km south of the massive conurbation known as Jabotabek, which combines the beginning letters of Jakarta and the suburban juri...