Adianto P. Simamora and Irawati Wardany, Jakarta – Local organizers said Wednesday's Stand Up and Speak Out events against global poverty drew a record number of people.
Speaking Thursday, they said 618,061 people took part in events at 78 locations in 23 provinces.
... Congratulations to our leaders
the people's prosperity is ensured...
B. Josie Susilo Hardianto – While young people of his own age race by on motorbikes and others shout and yell from passing busses and open trucks, welcoming in the Idul Fitri holiday at the end of the fasting month, Aji (15) sits on his rubbish cart, staring at them with empty eyes.
Jakarta – While most Muslims celebrated Idul Fitri with their families, others in the city were not so lucky.
Siti Faridah, 37, a squatter who lives on vacant land next to the Jembatan Tiga turnpike in North Jakarta, observed the day alone where her family's small shanty used to stand.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Trimurjo, Central Lampung – Vice President Jusuf Kalla says Indonesia must embrace hybrid rice to improve rice production and strengthen national food reserves.
Jakarta – Health experts are pressing the government to provide easier access to health services in order to meet the needs of the poor in Indonesia, as required by the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Jakarta – The growth in the total of rich people in Indonesia is the third highest in the Asia Pacific region.
Markus Makur, Timika – Eight people have been killed and 19 others injured in ongoing violence involving four tribes in Tembagapura district, Mimika, Papua.
The Australian Defence Department has rejected allegations that six Australian soldiers beat a civilian Timorese security guard in Dili last Sunday.
A Fretilin party MP reportedly told East Timor's Parliament that the guard was beaten by the soldiers at a government warehouse. The MP also said two other people were assaulted by the Australian troops.
Dili – East Timor's major political party Fretilin has called on President Jose Ramos Horta to dismiss the Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro following new evidence that he conspired to bring down the former Fretilin government.
Jakarta – The number of reported domestic violence cases in Indonesia shows no signs of decreasing, despite the implementation of the 2004 Law on the Elimination of Domestic Violence, rights activists said recently.
Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's three years in office have yielded only mediocre results in the fields of the economy, public service and law enforcement, political experts say.
Boni Hargens of the University of Indonesia said Yudhoyono's only real success had been in maintaining stability.
Jakarta – There is a strong possibly that a commitment to solve the murder of human rights activist Munir will be sought from political parties or presidential and vice presidential candidates who will participate in the 2009 general elections.
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Malls are bustling with shoppers, roads and popular resorts are jam-packed and many hotels are fully-booked.
The weeklong Idul Fitri holiday is spurring retail sales and economic activity in the tourist sector – all of which is positive for Indonesia's consumer-driven economy, but to what extent remains questionable.
Being the religious holiday that it is, the extended Idul Fitri celebration has not left many people with a hangover. But still, we have a sour aftertaste from the open polemic that has developed between Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin and Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni.
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Dozens of child laborers in North Sumatra have been prevented from returning home for the Idul Fitri holiday, a local child welfare NGO has reported. The children work on Jermal, off-shore fishing platforms for local fishermen and companies.
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The government should stop a plan to introduce the wide use of a modified, high-tech rice hybrid as it will burden farmers, a farming NGO said Monday.
Alfian, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla is earning praise for a planned Idul Fitri tour of nine provinces, while observers wonder if the Golkar Party chairman is laying the groundwork for a run at the presidency in 2009.
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The banking industry has rebounded from a disappointing 2006, with lending poised to register growth of more than 20 percent by the end of the year.
Jakarta – The scheduled visit of the United Nations special rapporteur on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, will give Indonesia an opportunity to show the world its progress in human rights reforms despite serious obstacles, a rights activist said. Nowak is scheduled to visit Indonesia from Nov. 10 to 25.
Ati Nurbaiti, Dili – Mario Goncalves hides a missing earlobe below his white hair because East Timor is independent.
Goncalves' brother – whose son was behind the injury – told Goncalves he would pay for corrective surgery if the 1999 referendum showed that most Timorese wanted to stick with Indonesia.
Dili – East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta has sworn in the country's State Council, saying the advisory body faced the challenge of restoring stability to the young nation.
Speaking in Portuguese, one of the country's two official languages, Ramos-Horta said there were "many priorities which will soon have to be on the agenda of the state advisors."
Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Thousands of Jakartans queued Sunday to receive an Idul Fitri "gift" from new Governor Fauzi Bowo. However, the day almost ended in chaos, with many people claiming they did not receive money from the governor.
Jakarta – Four political parties are set to form a so-called National League ahead of the presidential election in 2009, according to Taufik Kiemas, chief patron of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
The four parties are the nationalist-based PDI-P, the Golkar Party, the Islam-based United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).
Jakarta – Despite corruption charges and allegations of human rights abuses during his three-decade rule, former president Soeharto received a string of courtesy calls Saturday, the first day of Idul Fitri, from prominent current and former state officials.
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Rising investment and an in-check inflation rate are seen pushing Indonesia's economy toward the 6.3 percent growth targeted by the government for the year.
Jakarta – In the midst of the current decline in the popularity of national leaders, a potential for the emergence of new leaders is opening up. According to a survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), out of 1,300 respondents as many as 35 percent do not yet know who they would vote for if a presidential election was held today.
Sultani – The Indonesian public's attention of late has been focused on the actions and maneuvering of political figures who want to nominate themselves as presidential candidates for the 2009 presidential elections. Goodwill meetings between individuals and open declarations are the medium being used by these figures to increase their popularity.
The Sydney Australia West Papua Association urges the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Tonga this week to discus the gravely deteriorating situation in West Papua.
Tom Hyland – It was, in a way, a case of taking the mountain to Muhammad – the mountain being a dormant volcano that looms over the planned site of Indonesia's first nuclear power station.
Nelson da Cruz, Dili – Jacinta Barros, an East Timorese mother of eight, sits on a bed in her new temporary home, a one-room affair that sleeps 13 of her relatives, refugees from unrest last year who still cannot go home.
By day, the spartan room bakes in the searing tropical sun and by night it gets chilly as a wind blows under the eaves where ceilings should be.
By January, Indonesia and Timor Leste should have a shared acknowledgement of the violence-filled year of 1999. During the recent public hearings of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) in Dili, The Jakarta Post's Ati Nurbaiti talked to Lt. Gen. (ret) Agus Widjojo, the only commission member with a background in the Indonesian Military.
Marianne Kearney, Dili – At a camp behind the Lucidere Monastery in Dili, more than 50 families are crowded into what was once the monastery's garden.
Mark Forbes, Jakarta – In a remarkable exodus, tens of millions of Indonesians are filling roads, trains, planes and ferries as they return to their birthplaces to celebrate the Islamic festival of Idul Fitri.
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Despite a number of improvements over the years, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) says that significant irregularities are still commonplace in the management of public funds, and that the government is slow to take follow-up action on its findings.
Bill Guerin, Jakarta – After a series of environmental, funding and supply contract problems, surging regional demand has given new impetus to Indonesia's US$6.5 billion Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which with 14 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves represents one of the largest gas fields in all Asia.
Jakarta – An Indonesian court has thrown out a lawsuit brought by a mining executive against the New York Times over reports the firm dumped toxic waste into an Indonesian bay, lawyers said Thursday.
A number of high-profile issues have made headlines in the past month, including the planned construction of the Muria nuclear plant and the political maneuverings ahead of the 2009 presidential election. Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization, Hasyim Muzadi, discussed some of these issues with The Jakarta Post's Imanuddin Razak in a recent interview.
Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – A systematic war against corruption, collusion, nepotism and poor bureaucratic practices in all government agencies using a new draft law would improve the country's public administration sector, a government official said Tuesday.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Law enforcers have not performed well in their attempts to fight corruption which has swept from public officials and state institutions to rural administration, the Indonesian Corruption Watchdog (ICW) said in a report.
Prodita Sabarini, Tabanan – I Ketut Riteg stared blankly. The 65-year-old was lost in deep thought over how his whole family may never be able to step foot again in their home village of Kedungu in Belalang, Kediri, Tabanan regency.
Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Jakarta – In a land hit by one natural disaster after another, Indonesia's armed forces must shift their focus from the battlefield to emergency and relief efforts, its defence minister said Wednesday.
Jakarta – State prosecutors charged Tuesday former Garuda Airlines director Indra Setiawan with the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, who died while traveling to the Netherlands in 2004.
Urip Hudiono and Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the 2008 budget, which envisages a wider deficit due to higher government expenditure as part of the effort to spur growth next year.
Leaders of Pacific Island countries, including Australia and New Zealand, should devote special attention to the plight of West Papuan human rights defenders at the annual meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum starting on 16 October in Tonga says TAPOL, the UK-based NGO that promotes human rights, peace and democracy in Indonesia.
Greenpeace has warned that Indonesia's plans to clear Papuan forests for palm oil plantations will hinder efforts to mitigate climate change.
Indonesia's President has asked Papua's Governor Barnabas Seubu to open up five million hectares of land for conversion into palm oil plantations in a bid to increase biofuel production.
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is urging the New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark to advocate for the people of West Papua at the Pacific Islands Forum when it meets next week. This appeal is backed by other NGOs, including Pax Christi. Peace Movement Aotearoa and Christian World Service.
Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court's rejection of Muhammad Insa's petition to have re-evaluated the pre-requisites for polygamy, as stipulated in the 1974 Law on Marriage, have been lauded by politicians and activists.
Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said Monday that law enforcement had been slow to tackle corruption in government agencies in the first half of this year.
Marianne Kearney – East Timorese youths have been paid to kill people during periods of political unrest, a Catholic priest has alleged.
Father Martinho Gusmao has told The Courier-Mail that provocateurs have a graded scale of fees for for rock throwing, burning houses and murder. His information comes from hearing the confessions of dozens of youths.
Jakarta – The latest survey on voter preference for possible presidential candidates has shown that incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would be likely to win an election held today.