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30 December 2001 - The past 12 years have hardly been normal for Suraiya Kamaruzzaman. As a women's rights activist in conflict-torn Aceh, intimidation and terror have been part of the 33-year-old's daily life.She said her telephone had been tapped on many occasions over the past three years. Whenever she called or received a call, there would either ... ( read on )
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11 December 2001 - Between 1986 and 1998, the period which culminated in the end of president Soeharto's 32-year rule, 17 million hectares of Indonesia's forests were cleared by timber, pulp and oil palm companies. Since then, If anything, the situation has only gotten worse. According to the World Bank, Indonesia is now losing two million hectares of ... ( read on )
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30 November 2001 - A visit earlier this week to Jakarta by Adm. Dennis Blair showed once again that Indonesia and the rest of the world just don't understand each other. Blair, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific and Indian oceans, spent two days in Indonesia, meeting with luminaries from President Megawati Sukarnoputri down. Blair, of course, ... ( read on )
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24 November 2001 - Jakarta stands out like a gleaming beacon to the rest of the country, attracting a wave of migrants each year. And the largest influx of migrants to the capital takes place each year following Idul Fitri, when thousands of Indonesians from the rural areas stream into Jakarta full of hopes for a better life.But ... ( read on )
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20 November 2001 - Unlike the Suharto era, Indonesia now has quite radical Islamic groups operating in the open. Among them, the Islamic Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam, FPI) is infamous for unleashing paramilitary gangs on 'iniquitous' nightspots. The Sunni Communication Forum (Forum Komunikasi Ahlusunnah Wal Jamaah, FKAWJ) fights for Muslims in Maluku. The Liberation Party (Hizbut Tahrir) ... ( read on )
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19 November 2001 - History is all about today. It helps us understand where we are and where we are heading. Indonesians are confused about the future because so much of their past has been covered up. Globalisation, for example, is not an Indonesian idea, and as a collectivity, we don't know how to deal with it. But ... ( read on )
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11 November 2001 - A new World Bank report says that as many as 120 million Indonesians are either living in abject poverty or are staring poverty in the face. But does any one really care? You would be forgiven for thinking that the nation's political elite are either ignorant or simply cannot be bothered with the issue. ... ( read on )
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22 September 2001 - The terrorist attacks in the United States last week has provided a new dimension to the political relationship between the West, particularly the U.S., and the signs of a reemergence of global political Islam in the post-Cold War era. This era has enabled the emergence of culture and religion as a new mainstream in ... ( read on )
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02 September 2001 - The presidential palace complex has been witness to momentous changes in the country's history, and the changing of the guard of the highest powers in the land. But while the powers that be may come and go, it seems that some "residents" stay put no matter what. This is the 78th article in our ... ( read on )
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01 September 2001 - Members of the Penan tribe of northeastern Borneo know that Batu Lawi, a 2,000-m sheer limestone pinnacle, is a demon-haunted place to be avoided at all costs. To Bruno Manser, however, Batu Lawi represented everything he loved about the untouched forest of the region. He almost perished trying to reach its summit in 1988. ... ( read on )
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22 August 2001 - Indonesia stumbles from crisis to crisis under President Wahid and the one person with the clout and popular support to replace him prefers to sit in the wings. What makes Megawati so static? If you happen to be driving into Jakarta on the Jagorawi highway, keep your eyes open for a shiny ... ( read on )
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08 August 2001 - It's the road from nowhere, but it's surprisingly busy. Mafalda Florindo and Isabella Antonine walk along it, smiling betel-stained grins as they talk about cloth they had just bought for a good price. A little farther, Alicin Soares, a rice grower, maneuvers his truck along the dusty track. His vehicle is filled with people, ... ( read on )
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07 August 2001 - Nothing nurtures confidence after a change in government more than the rapid installation of a cabinet filled with seasoned professionals. That was supposed to happen within a few days of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's inauguration on July 23. It didn't happen. Then she was to finalize the list with freshly chosen vice president Hamzah Haz ... ( read on )
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06 August 2001 - Megawati Sukarnoputri was born to power. But in order to wield it for the benefit of Indonesia, she will have to learn to work with, and control, the powerbrokers in parliament and the military. Can she do it? On a day when most business executives in Jakarta were chasing rumors about the possible shape ... ( read on )
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06 July 2001 - Most railway stations in Jakarta still have their original Dutch architecture, it is just sometimes difficult to detect because of the generally poor condition of the stations. This 81st article on old Batavia looks at the history of rail travel in the city. The state railway company might be advised to follow the practice ... ( read on )
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05 July 2001 - Breaking in a new boss is always a complicated task. That's especially the case at the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, responsible for almost $50 billion in corporate assets and bad debts surrendered to the government during Asia's economic crisis. You'd think IBRA staffers would have a neat routine in place by now, having greeted ... ( read on )
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04 July 2001 - Budi Sadikin, a clean-cut, affable young executive, is smiling broadly. And for good reason. As head of consumer banking in Indonesia for ABN AMRO Bank, the 37-year-old has watched deposits at the Dutch bank's 15 branches triple in value in just three years — to $800 million at the end of 2000. Until 1998, ... ( read on )
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27 June 2001 - Long-simmering tensions between indigenous Dayaks and immigrant Madurese suddenly exploded in the town of Sampit, Central Kalimantan, in the middle of February 2001. Within days, isolated killings perpetrated by both sides had developed into a one-sided massacre of Madurese by enraged Dayaks. In the following weeks the killings spread to other areas in the ... ( read on )
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23 June 2001 - As Jakarta loses control of its domestic situation, the region confronts a slowdown in foreign investment, a rise in Muslim extremism, and the threat of chaos — or even civil war — in Southeast Asia's largest country A Caltex oil plant in Riau, Indonesia. Water and gas supply agreements with neighboring Singapore ... ( read on )
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17 June 2001 - Every country has its myths, legends and folklore that embellish cultures and in many instances draw people together towards a mutual experience and understanding of life's lessons. Indonesia, it seems, has more than its fair share of these intriguing tales. All parts of the country, large or small, urban or rural, near or far, ... ( read on )
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08 June 2001 - The city administration's target to flood Jakarta streets with 14,500 kancil vehicles in the next three months, to replace the noisy, polluting bajaj, would not materialize as the company tasked to produce Kancil would only be able to assemble 250 Kancil vehicles in the next three months. The marketing director of automotive firm PT. ... ( read on )
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23 May 2001 - Hidden in the middle of one of those half-finished super-blocks left sprouting weeds since the economic bubble burst in 1997, the Chianti C. Bistro (Kawasan Mega Kuningan, 1st Fl. Merara Rajawali, tel: 5761601) is an unpretentious little gem of a place that serves up truly astonishing portions (no nouvelle cuisine here, thank you very ... ( read on )
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14 May 2001 - Soeripto's troubles began after he compiled a report accusing Indonesia's largest timber conglomerate of "under-reporting" the kind of deliberate forest fires that threaten to smother Southeast Asia under another blanket of haze this summer. After submitting his report, Soeripto was fired as secretary general of Indonesia's Forestry Department. Worse, he was arrested ... ( read on )
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25 April 2001 - The minutes are ticking away toward the end of the month, the day the House of Representatives will convene its plenary session, while the whole nation is on tenterhooks and politicians continue to make so much fuss about the possibility of a meeting among the top leadership. Will they agree to reconciliation through compromise? ... ( read on )
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20 April 2001 - When they stood at the forefront of a popular uprising against President Suharto back in 1998, Abdurrahman Wahid and Amien Rais called on people to unite for democracy and for Indonesia. Where are those lofty sentiments now? Wahid, also known as Gus Dur, is now President. Rais is now the leader ... ( read on )
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13 April 2001 - On February 20, a West Kalimantan panglima, a kind of witch doctor arrived in the Dayak village of Luwuk Bunter, 24 kilometers north of Sampit. The panglima, named Edi, cast a spell on some oil and gave it to selected warriors to drink. One of the chosen was 18-year-old Teguh. His ... ( read on )
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10 April 2001 - Indonesia stumbles from crisis to crisis under President Wahid and the one person with the clout and popular support to replace him prefers to sit in the wings. What makes Megawati so static? If you happen to be driving into Jakarta on the Jagorawi highway, keep your eyes open for a shiny ... ( read on )
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29 March 2001 - Pemuteran village, Gerokgak subdistrict, Buleleng, Bali, is gaining fame as a haven for tourists with a deep love for meditation and the sea as well as a site for a captive breeding program of three rare turtle species. Until the 1980s, many turtles were laying eggs in the sands of Bali's beaches. Of the ... ( read on )
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27 March 2001 - When I was in Indonesia for the second time, I also knew thet I was sure to go the third time as well. Back them I already got the chance to look for nice tickets. That does not only means cheap, because cheap is not always good. At that time I was looking for ... ( read on )
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16 March 2001 - Before Indonesia can truly get back to the job of successfully running and economy, the nation needs a functioning financial system. It is only a dream. Chalk it up to the deep-breathing exercises that Edwin Gerungan does every morning on rising, and the power-walking that follows. Gerungan is surprisingly calm given that he has ... ( read on )
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15 March 2001 - Dolar, dolar, dolar !!! - I can imagine very well, the shouting of traders in Rupiah and 'Dolar Amerika Serikat', the US Greenback. Not in the JSX, where 16 people got killed last year, but just in the streets, at markets downtown Jakarta and far outside. People who can afford to buy foreign money ... ( read on )
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10 March 2001 - From his grief-gouged eyes to the way he presses his hands together to stop them from shaking, it's clear that if Syamsudin Noor makes it through the next few weeks, he is still a dead man inside. Syamsudin has pushed through a crowd of fellow refugees to tell his story, describing in patient detail ... ( read on )
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09 March 2001 - Harmaini, headman of the village of Padang Japang, is a political dinosaur. The calendar in his office is a year old and his pen and paper supply ran out weeks back. But the 63-year-old shows up everyday in a freshly-pressed safari suit, does some retirement planning and is actually eager to welcome his imminent ... ( read on )
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08 March 2001 - Blood. countless gallons of blood soaked deep into the clay of a soccer field. There have been two heavy thunderstorms in the four days since 118 children, women and men—Madurese refugees huddled together and promised safe passage—were systematically butchered on the high-school playing field in Parenggean, a logging town deep in central Kalimantan. Those ... ( read on )
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05 March 2001 - A story that I wrote a long time ago, but I never finished. Right now I finished it, and the texts that dates back from August 2000, I didn't change. Some information ( personal that is ) is already outdated, unfortunately. Sunny weather after a night with heavy rain. My inbox ... ( read on )
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04 March 2001 - Blood. countless gallons of blood soaked deep into the clay of a soccer field. There have been two heavy thunderstorms in the four days since 118 children, women and men—Madurese refugees huddled together and promised safe passage—were systematically butchered on the high-school playing field in Parenggean, a logging town deep in central Kalimantan. Those ... ( read on )
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07 February 2001 - Amid the battling for pro and con Wahid positions in Parliament and on the streets, a local monthly Indonesian magazine for Moslem scholars and intellectuals has come up with a detailed list of the `sins` of the President. According to the magazine, Sabili , which also has a cyber site, the President has committed ... ( read on )
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25 January 2001 - The deadly Christmas and New Year bombings in Indonesia and Manila, which killed 40 people and left hundreds injured, have Indonesians and Filipinos puzzled. Is radical Islam, they wonder, entering a dangerous new phase in Southeast Asia? Or is Islamic militancy, as police investigators and analysts now seem convinced, merely a convenient cover for ... ( read on )
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