From My Point of View

Indonesian authorities have given the go-ahead to build the country's first nuclear power plant on the densely-populated island of Java, with the aim of producing electricity by 2016. Atomic and Nuclear Energy Agency spokesman Deddy Harsono says the site of the project, the Muria peninsula on Central Java province's north-east coast, was chosen for its tectonic and volcanic stability - a major concern in a country that sees regular eruptions and earthquakes. Mr Harsono says the project will be tendered in 2008, for start of construction in 2010 and production in 2016. The project, which was shelved in 1997 due to mounting public opposition and the discovery and exploitation of the large Natuna gas field, involves the construction of four plants, each with a 1,000 megawatt capacity. Under the original plans, 12 nuclear power plants were slated for the northern coast of Java, with a total capacity of 7,000 megawatts. Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country with mo

The Jakarta Post - September 26, 2007 Mas Achmad Santosa and Nenad Bago, Jakarta During his visit to the U.S. to attend the UN General Assembly this week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated to meet World Bank President Robert Zoellick to discuss the joint World Bank-UNODC Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative Report. This report ranked former president Soeharto at the top of its list of the most corrupt political leaders. Soeharto's ill-gotten money is estimated at between US$15 billion and $35 billion, which he allegedly embezzled during his tenure from 1967 to 1998. The essence of the StAR Initiative, prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Bank (WB), is to introduce an action plan that emphasizes international and global cooperation to help victim countries (i.e., developing countries) recover assets stolen and hidden by former political leaders and their associates. StAR also underlines the critical importance of cooperation be

Indonesia’s Muslim educators support democracy, but grapple with how to make that commitment consistent with Islamic law. *Robert W Hefner* Ever since the Taliban rolled into Kabul, Afghanistan on 26 September 1996, many people have asked whether Islamic schools are the fount from which contemporary Islamist radicalism flows. In the weeks following the departure of Indonesia’s authoritarian President Suharto in May 1998, political observers expressed similar concerns about Indonesia’s Islamic schools. Just days after Suharto’s departure, dozens of Islamist paramilitaries, many with ties to Islamic boarding schools, sprang up in towns across the country. Many launched ‘sweeping’ campaigns, looking for alleged purveyors of drugs, alcohol, and sex, as well as young women unfortunate enough to be found out and about without a head scarf. In several locales, militias engaged in street-battles with Christians, democracy activists, and even the local police. More than anything else, however

Preachers to the converted Dec 13th 2007 | JAKARTA From /The Economist/ print edition The persuasive powers of reformed jihadists are being used to “re-educate” terrorists. MEETING Nasir Abas at one of Indonesia's trendiest hotels, it is hard to imagine that this polite man in casual Western clothes was once a leader of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the region's most dangerous terrorist group. Now his job is to persuade his former comrades to give up the idea of perpetrating violence against the West in the name of Islam. As he explains in his mild-mannered way, he uses two lines of argument. One is theological: he points out the verses in the Koran that forbid aggressive warfare, and which insist that the lives of non-combatants, especially women and children, must be protected. The other line is more strategic: to convince his listeners that not all Westerners are anti-Muslim, he stresses the fact that many Americans opposed the war in Iraq. And he challenges them: have terrorist

Forest-preservation pledges of $166 million this week could entice them to take part in a post-Kyoto climate deal. Nusa Dua, Indonesia - Efforts to map the way to a post-Kyoto climate treaty have sailed into rough water this week. But amid the turbulence, a key climate initiative is gathering momentum. Dubbed REDD, it would reward nations for keeping chain saws out of threatened tropical forests, serving as a powerful magnet that could pull several developing countries with significant emissions into a new global-warming pact. Deforestation accounts for roughly 20 percent of the greenhouse gases that human activities pump into the atmosphere. This means "REDD is going to be a critical element of a global deal" on climate for 2013 and beyond, says Andrew Deutz, senior policy adviser for the Nature Conservancy. This week, the World Bank pledged $160 million for pilot projects to test the idea, with Norway chipping in an additional $5 million. In response, some 30 developing na

By JUNG SUNG-KI, SE South Korea’s rolling stock maker Rotem will transfer technology to Indonesia to help the Southeast Asian nation develop wheeled armored fighting vehicles, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced Dec. 13. Representatives from Rotem, a unit of Hyundai Motor, and Indonesia’s PT.PINDAD signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the joint development and production of six-wheel-drive armored vehicles during aceremony at DAPA’s headquarters in central Seoul. “We believe this MoU will pave the way for the future export of South Korea’s armored vehicle technology to foreign countries, particularly Asian and Middle Eastern nations,” said Cmdr. Park Sung-soo, a public affairs officer for DAPA. Indonesia plans to equip its military with about 400 advanced armored combat Vehicles, Park said. The MoU with Indonesia is Rotem’s second contract on the transfer of technology abroad, following a contract in June with Turkey over the XK2 Black Panther main

*Endy M. Bayuni*, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali The ongoing climate conference in Bali is quite a show for a developing country like Indonesia to host. More than 10,000 delegates, observers and journalists, and five heads of state and dozens of dignitaries are gathered to bring the Dec. 3-14 conference to its climax this week as they discuss ways of saving our planet, which seems to be getting warmer at an ever-increasing rate. Granted it is a United Nations conference, which is picking up the huge bill. Indonesia volunteered to host it when the world body canceled on Thailand following the military coup in Bangkok in September last year. The gathering has already been billed as the largest ever on climate change, a testament to the importance of the issue at hand. Either that,or many people have come because it's being held in Bali. Still, for this privilege, Indonesia is spending some of its own money, and deploying thousands of people to help with the protocol, security and m

BALI, Indonesia: Fighting illegal logging has for decades mostly been marked by failure. There was never enough money or political will to overcome the corruption and poverty that drove people in tropical nations to cut down trees. But with new evidence showing deforestation contributes about 20 percent to global warming — emitting more heat-trapping gases than cars, ships and jet planes do every year — delegates at the U.N. climate conference are taking a fresh look at the problem.And, for the first time, they are expected to include forest protection measures in negotiations on replacing the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. They also are likely to set up a mechanism that would resolve a problem that has been at the heart of the deforestation — how to make it more valuable for governments to protect their trees than allow timber and palm oil barons to cut them down. "If we lose the world's forests, we lose the fight against climate change," Papua New Guinea's

By Mike De Souza, CanWest News Service NUSA DUA, Indonesia — A youth delegation protesting the Harper government’s climate change policies say that a Canadian representative intimidated them on Wednesday with a warning about Indonesian prisons to get them away from a news conference held by Environment Minister John Baird. “He said that we might have free speech in Canada, but we don’t know if we have it here, and we wouldn’t want to be arrested by the Indonesian police,” said Elizabeth McDowell, 24, who travelled to Bali from Vancouver. McDowell was among a handful of Canadians who held up a sign questioning the government’s leadership at the climate change conference while Baird was arriving to speak with reporters. But she said the federal government representative who is in charge of Canadian security at the summit quickly yelled out to Indonesian police asking them to question the youth. “He called them over and he was quite aggressive,” said McDowell. A spokesperson for Prime Mi

Indonesian president battles pessimism amid realistic expectations By *TOM PLATE* BALI, Indonesia — Do you like big-time success stories? There may be a quiet one in the making here that almost no one knows about, aside from the neighbors. And it's an important story at this early stage, even if the political tale's ending cannot honestly be forecast. The plot revolves around Indonesia, which many Western tourists know best as the country that houses Bali, one of the most gorgeous places anywhere. It also hous more Muslims than anywhere as well. But how does a fledgling democracy flower in the largest Islamic country on earth? Isn't Islam utterly incompatible with democracy? Interested observers can hardly get a better answer than the one provided by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the elected president of what in fact is our third-largest democracy, after India and the United States. "In Indonesia, democracy, Islam and modernity go hand in hand, effortlessly together,"

16/05/2007 - OECD countries agreed to invite Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia to open discussions for membership of the Organisation and offered enhanced engagement, with a view to possible membership, to Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. *Extract from the Council Resolution on Enlargement and Enhanced Engagement* (adopted by Council at Ministerial level on 16 May 2007): THE COUNCIL i) Invites the Secretary-General to strengthen OECD co-operation with Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa through enhanced engagement programs with a view to possible membership. The Council will determine whether to open discussions on membership in light of the willingness, preparedness and ability of these countries to adopt OECD practices, policies and standards. ii) Decides to open discussions with Chile, Estonia, Israel, the Russian Federation and Slovenia and invites the Secretary-General to set out the terms, conditions and process for the accession of each o

By Eric Ellis (South-East Asia correspondent for Fortune magazine) Resentment and envy still appear to underpin a testy relationship, writes Eric Ellis. *** ASIDE from Bali and the brothels and business parks bordering Singapore, the city-state's investors, like Australians, have never felt particularly comfortable in Indonesia. While its bankers shelter billions in Indonesian loot from prying Jakarta investigators, it is generally regarded as a country best avoided, a corrupt swamp of intrigues on Singapore's pristine doorstep. And Indonesians return the suspicion with scorn. Former president B.J.Habibie once described Singapore as a Chinese "red dot" in an Islamic archipelago, a toy-town so insignificant that were it to suddenly vanish, Jakarta would not notice it missing. That was 1998, and Indonesia was in no state to be patronising. The rupiah had lost 80% of its value, collapsing the economy. The post-Soeharto political vacuum was being exploited by religious ex

In his job as an Israeli pediatrician, Yuval saves the lives of Palestinian children. But the father of three also takes Palestinian lives as an attack helicopter pilot patrolling Gaza. By Laura Blumenfeld Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page A01 HOLON, Israel -- The 2-year-old's flawed heart beat backward, pumping blue blood to his lips and inking rings around his eyes. Ahmad edged across his hospital bed, toward his mother, Nasima Abu Hamed. Nasima, a Palestinian from Gaza had brought Ahmad to Israel for an operation. She moved uneasily through hospital halls decked with Israeli flags -- but the Jewish doctors could save her son. A pediatrician named Yuval walked in wearing a white coat. Nasima smiled. Yuval high-fived Ahmad, who was wearing toddler-size army fatigues. Yuval said in Arabic, "How's he doing?" Nasima shrugged and asked, "When is the surgery?" Nasima was eager to return to Gaza. There was trouble at home, clashes wi

By Seth Mydans Published: October 31, 2007 Nearly 10 years after the tumult of his ouster, the old dictator spends his days alone in his sitting room, one friend says, inviting few visitors, making no public statements, eating carefully to avoid hurting his stomach. As he did during his 32 years as Indonesia's president, Suharto, 86, often offers an enigmatic smile when asked a pointed question, the friend says, but now it is sometimes a smile of bafflement as his mind slips away. These are the impressions of Retnowati Abdulgani-Knapp, the author of a recent sympathetic biography who continues to visit Suharto in the modest home to which he retreated in May 1998 and has rarely left since. The crowds chanting, "Hang Suharto!" have long since disappeared, the nation has hurried ahead without him, and fewer people really care what happens to the man who once towered over them. It is a strange, muted fate for a deposed strongman, neither fleeing nor being vigorously pursued,