Jakarta – A draft bill on languages being considered by the education ministry will not forbid the use of foreign languages in public, minister Bambang Sudibyo says.
Previous reports said the bill would limit the use of foreign languages in advertising and the media, penalizing organizations that disobeyed the regulation.
Nana Rukmana, Indramayu – Thousands of houses in 12 villages in the West Java regency of Indramayu have been inundated by floodwaters, and residents fear the flooding will lead to crop failures in the rice-producing region.
No casualties have been reported in the flooding, which began on Sunday, but material losses are estimated at billions of rupiah.
Suherdjoko, Semarang – A joint study by three Yogyakarta universities has found that 97 districts in 27 of Central Java's 35 regencies and cities are at risk for landslides.
Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) confronted on Monday Transparency International Indonesia over Transparency International's recent report, which singled out the legislative body as the most corrupt institution in Indonesia along with political parties.
Ruslan Sangadji, Palu – Already shaken by religious violence and terrorist attacks, residents of Poso regency in Central Sulawesi were forced to take cover late on Monday when rival police and military units became involved in an armed clash.
Also on Monday night, a small explosive device went off on a street near a church, police said.
Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – Indonesia has banned three films about its long and bloody occupation of East Timor, saying allowing local audiences to see them could "reopen old wounds" as the two countries try to move forward.
The films were due to be shown at a film festival last month in the Indonesian capital.
Tom Allard – Australia and Indonesia are poised to sign a security treaty that will pave the way for a new era of close relations between the two nations.
Indonesian government sources say the pact is wide-ranging, encompassing not only counter-terrorism, intelligence and military co-operation but social, humanitarian and joint political concerns.
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Banjarnegara, Central Java – Policeman Supriyanto has a tale to tell about what the simple villagers' feel about the sufferings that last week's deadly landslide has brought them.
Jakarta – Jakarta's factory workers and laborers will be getting a pay raise this month, but it falls short of accommodating higher-priced commodities amid soaring inflation.
The provincial monthly minimum wage is to increase at rates ranging from 5 percent to 8 percent in designated industrial sectors, effective as of Jan. 1.
Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Despite current unfavorable economic indicators, optimistic 2006 budget parameters set by the Indonesian government assume the country's US$280 billion economy will grow by 6.2% to $304 billion, and that inflation will be pegged at about 8%, as will interest rates be pegged.
Damien Kingsbury, Indonesia expert and Associate Professor of International and Political Studies at Deakin University, writes:
Fadli, Batam – The number of foreign tourists visiting Batam city last year fell short of expectations with only 1,005,000 vacationing in the city between January and December last year, far below the government target of 1.5 million.
Olle Tornquist, Oslo – Donors often say that the major obstacle in the post-tsunami relief and reconstruction work is poor co-ordination of the organizations involved. This may be true, but the observation does not help much unless we discuss why.
Freeport-McMoRan, an American company that operates a giant open-pit copper and gold mine in Papua, is a major contributor to Indonesia's economy.
The company is also one of Indonesia's most reckless polluters and a source of hard cash – cash the company concedes is protection money – for the Indonesian military, which has one of the worst human rights records anywhere.
Tantri Yuliandini, Jakarta – A woman in Tangerang, Banten, was sentenced to five years in jail for torturing her five-year-old daughter, and another mother was accused of burning her two small children, also in Tangerang.
Meanwhile, in a house in Cilincing, North Jakarta, seven-year-old Eka Rosiana was found strangled to death.
Bambang Parlupi, Jakarta – As Jakarta's population has grown to over 11 million, the city has failed to balance this expansion by increasing the size of its greenbelts, or open green spaces (RTHs). This problem has been exacerbated by the continued loss of open spaces meant to serve as an urban buffer zone.
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The saying "home sweet home" no longer applies to Sijeruk residents in the Central Java town of Banjarnegara, who lost most of their property after a massive mudslide buried their village last week.
Bambang Parlupi, Jakarta – Air pollution in Jakarta is causing increasing concern, with air quality failing to improve significantly from year to year. Seventy percent of this pollution comes from motor vehicles, 25 percent from industry and the remaining from other activities like burning rubbish.
[Jalan Raya Pos, Jalan Daendels (Jalan Raya Pos, Daendels' Highway). Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Lentera Dipantara, October 2005, 145 pp.]
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Two young men put on their goggles and start counting down before jumping out of the window of their house into their flooded garden. Then come two officials in a rubber dinghy, announcing belatedly that the area was flooded.
Slamet Susanto, Banjarnegara – Rescue workers on Saturday called off the search for bodies buried in the Banjarnegara landslide disaster, with the total death toll now at 58. Revising down earlier estimates that over 100 people had gone missing, the search and rescue team stated on Saturday that 16 people were still missing.
Indonesia is braced for a public backlash in Australia against any death sentences meted out to the Bali Nine.
Prosecutors in Denpasar will in the next fortnight start making sentence demands for the nine Australians, who were arrested last April over a failed bid to smuggle 8kg of heroin worth $4 million from Bali to Sydney.
Jakarta – The House of Representatives rebuked on Thursday the Ministry of Health for refusing to share responsibility for the widespread use of harmful preservatives, such as formaldehyde, in various basic foods.
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Environmentalists and government officials on Thursday urged the immediate relocation of people living and working in flood plains or hilly areas to prevent massive human casualties, as more landslides and flooding disasters would probably occur in the near future.
Tantri Yuliandini, Jakarta – In a face-saving society, most women would rather die than admit that their husbands beat them – and many women have.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Defying opposition from critics who demanded an independent probe, the government officially set up a Security Operation Command (Koopskam) on Thursday, in a bid to halt attacks in Central Sulawesi and find the unknown assailants.
Jakarta – Dozens of students from the Jakarta State Islamic University (UIN) protested in front of the Jakarta Police Headquarters on Thursday condemning the arrest, for blasphemy, of Lia Aminuddin, the leader of The Eden sect.
Dwi Prasetyo, Sijeruk – Indonesian rescuers searched on Friday for more bodies buried under tons of mud after massive landslides on Java island while helicopters flew food and medicine to some villagers still cut off.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has endorsed the Judicial Commission's plan to reselect all the 49 justices at the Supreme Court as part of sweeping reforms to the country's corrupt judicial system.
Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government's decision to establish a Security Operation Command (koopskam) to investigate and curb the violence in Palu and Poso has sparked strong reactions from local non-governmental organizations.
Surabaya – The sweet, pungent scent of cloves and tobacco hangs heavy in the air as women paste, roll and snip cigarettes, their fingers flying faster than the eye can follow as tourists observe the public face of one of Indonesia's most successful companies.
Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has obligated the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police to purchase weapons or other products produced by the ten strategic industry State Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
This instruction is aimed at developing the domestic strategic industry, and will start to be carried out again this year.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Despite the precious little progress the Indonesian Military (TNI) has achieved in the area of internal reform, it has does have something to be proud this year: the lifting of the arms embargo by the United States.
For thousands of East Java residents, the new year had a nightmarish beginning. Like a thief in the night, flash floods and landslides rudely awoke residents late on Sunday night. The floods killed more than 60 people, displaced thousands more and damaged thousands of houses and vehicles.
Valarie Tan, Singapore – A Singapore-made film "Passabe" was recently banned in Indonesia while Eric Khoo's "Be With Me" was disqualified from the Oscars.
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The arrest of Lia Aminuddin, the leader of Salamullah or God's Kingdom of Eden sect left several questions as to why she is being prosecuted, while other "heretics" have not.
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – An active duty Army soldier has been arrested for piracy in the busy Strait of Malacca, in another blow to the already tarnished image of the Indonesian Military (TNI).
First Adm. Halim Hermanto said the low-ranking soldier was arrested on Monday along with four civilians in the waters off Aceh province.
Rendi Akhmad Witular and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The government has gathered its strategic state enterprises together to develop the country's arms industry and increase self-reliance in defense.
Iman Dwianto Nugroho, Jember – Salimah, a woman at her 40s, looked pale. Her clothes blackened with mud, the frail villager has not had food for two days. "Unless food aid is dispatched into our area soon, the death toll, especially among the children, will rise," she told Antara.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono surely has his own way of measuring the capability of the three candidates for the top post in the Indonesian military (TNI), in the form of a shooting contest.
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Police fired warning shots as around 500 former employees of state aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) and university students were about to stage a protest against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on his visit to the company on Tuesday.
Hera Diani, Jakarta – The official secrets bill, which will be deliberated by the House of Representatives later this month, should respect and uphold the freedom to access information, activists warned on Tuesday.
Jakarta – After the chaos that met the first disbursement of the government's cash assistance program in October, the first day of the second disbursement went off without a hitch on Monday.
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Stay alert always and keep a watchful eye when roaming Jakarta streets so that you won't become easy prey for street criminals, Jakarta Police warn in their latest 2005 report.
Sometimes, it's the little things that count. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should receive recognition for his decision to refuse a pay increase, despite the House of Representatives earlier agreeing to give him a hike of some 10 percent.
Rendi Akhmad Witular and Mustaqim, Jakarta – The government will push through a number of crucial policies this year to promote robust economic activity for the private sector and help spur growth, with most efforts centered on providing certainty and stability for the business community.
Jakarta – Five years after entering into a legal process against her employer, Marni Abyim, 25, was finally awarded a payout.
Working as a maid in Malaysia, Marni filed a lawsuit on January 2001 against Shalini Shanmugam for torturing her with a number of appliances, including scissors, a hammer and a screwdriver.
Gary Brown – One can only boggle at the folly of the Federal Government's decision to resume co-operation with the Indonesian Special Forces unit, Kopassus.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Have you ever complained about the police? You are certainly not the only one, as public complaints against the police hit a record high at the National Ombudsman Commission in 2005, a record previously held by district courts.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – It has been more than a year since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office. Active though he has been as a president, he remains suspiciously lethargic in appointing a four-star general to take over the reins of the Indonesian Military (TNI).