Readwrotes Blog

In control                                                         JP/Irma Rahmi Damayanti The Jakarta Post | Sat, 05/15/2010 6:19 PM | Opinion

Be ready to dig deeper into your pocket  when you want to have a sauna, go to the karaoke, get a massage, attend a fashion show or a beauty contest, or to play billiard starting from next month in Jakarta. When the City Council approves the revision of 11 bylaws this month, you are required to pay up to 75 percent of entertainment tax. The bylaw revision covers tax on automotives, vehicle ownership change, parking fees and on entertainment. Governor Fauzi Bowo is obliged to propose the changes as the consequence of the implementation of the 2009 Law on Regional Tax and Levy. Just look at the following examples: Now  perhaps you pay Rp 100,000 (US$11) for a one-hour massage. Next month you must pay another Rp 75,000 just for the tax. The total payment is Rp 175,000. Naturally you are also expected to tip. Next: You want to drink beer at a night club. Say the price is Rp 30,000 per bottle. In June the price will be Rp 52,500. For parking your car, Governor Fauzi...

 Donny Syofyan, Padang | Tue, 05/11/2010 8:56 AM | Opinion Sri Mulyani Indrawati victoriously paves her way to arrive at the peak of the mountain: the rising star of the world. In the midst of excruciating political pressure on her, the finance minister has just now been rewarded with the international prestigious position as managing director of the World Bank. While our country’s brothers and sisters of the House of Representatives continually place her as the subject of ridicule and condemnation, outsiders or foreigners have admitted her as the manager of a reputable international institution. The House members say that her resignation is a comfortable exit to escape the troubled Bank Century case. They further believe that her leaving for the World Bank is nothing more than the action of a coward loser who leaves responsibility behind her. For them, her decision is simply aimed at triggering a win-lose decision; benefiting her and putting the House on the c...

 | Fri, 05/07/2010 9:26 AM | readers forum The announcement that Sri Mulyani Indrawati is to leave her post as finance minister and take up a senior position with the World Bank gives rise to the inevitable question of did she jump or was she pushed? As the evidence seems to strongly suggest the latter, the follow-up question becomes what implications does Sri Mulyani’s apparently less-than-voluntary departure, from one of the most important and influential positions in the Indonesian government to a prestigious but far less influential position at the World Bank, have for the reform movement in Indonesia? Given Sri Mulyani’s leading role in trying to develop more efficient and transparent government institutions in Indonesia as well as her much publicized confrontations with numerous vested interests in the DPR and the private sector, one must be tempted to see Sri Mulyani as, ultimately, being a casualty in the ongoing struggle to contain, if not neutralize, the i...

 Heru Prama Yuda, Yogyakarta | Fri, 05/07/2010 8:57 AM | Opinion Indonesia’s global image is once again under the media spotlight after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gave a nod Wednesday to Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s resignation as finance minister and her acceptance as a World Bank managing director, in which she will be assigned to oversee 74 nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa. This stimulates opinion of support for Sri Mulyani, who has been under harsh criticism from opposition camp members of the House of Representatives investigating the Bank Century bailout case. The support psychologically shapes the belief that “our minister of finance is one of the best in the world”, but why does she encounter difficult times in her own country? Once again it adds to the notion that the Republic has failed to give credit to one of its prominent figures; in remembrance of former president B.J. Habibie...

 Dinna Wisnu, Jakarta | Tue, 05/04/2010 8:49 AM | Opinion Of other “typical” labor demands, the implementation of a national social security system was the central theme of the May Day 2010 labor demonstration. Going into May 1, various groups and forums beyond labor also held discussions and research, and even initiated pilot projects to assess ways of implementing a national insurance-based social security program. Indeed there is growing awareness on this issue. Demand to implement the mandate of the Constitution and the 2004 National Social Security System Law is evident. With the support of several parliament members, a bill on the National Social Security Agency, which will define the implementing body of the national social security system, is now part of the national legislation priority within Commission IX. This is an important step forward after years of idle development in the formation of rules and law to implement the 2004 law. There is now the Komite Aksi ...

Joseph Ernest Mambu ,  Salatiga   |  Tue, 04/06/2010 8:17 AM  |  Opinion The case of recently detained tax official Gayus Tambunan, allegedly involved in embezzling billions of rupiah, has further highlighted the urgent necessity of character education, which was revived again some time ago after a spate of plagiarism at university level. Being of a similar age to the 30-year-old new tycoon, I share almost the same experience of primary, secondary and tertiary education. That is, we are both products of the predominantly top-down culture, thanks to Soeharto’s New Order regime. I suspect he was a brand-new college student in 1998 (I was in my third year) when Soeharto’s de jure reign was over, leading to the advent of the so-called “Reformation Era”. The problem is that many of us, fellow young Indonesians, are still deeply rooted in Soeharto’s de facto character to varying degrees. Though as an ethnic Batak, Gayus may not have t...

Ketut Kartika Inggas , Bangkok | Tue, 08/04/2009 1:15 PM | Opinion Pan Merta stared emptily at a small corner of the rice field in front of him. His only son, Putu, was running around barefoot chasing away birds trying to eat the rice grains. He remembers many years back when he was his son's age: He also liked to chase the birds away with the other village boys, only then the rice field was much larger - at least ten times its size now - and all the land belonged to his father. Now, almost all of this huge paddy field of his youth has changed into a five-star resort. The rest, the little piece of the land that is still used to grow rice, is not his property any more. Pan Merta's childhood was wonderful. After school, he always ran to his family's paddy field and played there until sunset. Little Merta always had enough to eat, wore new clothes for the Galungan holidays, and the whole family were always together. Now, these are only swe...

Sirikit Syah , Surabaya | Sun, 07/26/2009 11:56 AM | Opinion Every journalist should know about the presumption of innocence when covering events. The journalist *code of ethics' forbids judgement or trial by the media. But this past week, we as media consumers have witnessed the madness of media coverage over the Jakarta bombings, none more so than when publications named suspects. Without a proper trial, even without sufficient investigation or evidence, people's names were published and action was taken. Imagine if you were Arini, or her parents, or children. Being detained by the police for a crime her husband possibly committed is far from the justice that we, as a nation, believe in. She was arrested after police raided her Cilicap home in a scene so dramatic it would not have been out of place in a Hollywood film. The media treated her like a criminal and violated her privacy. Why? She is suspected of being the wife of Noordin M. ...

Anand Krishna , Jakarta | Tue, 07/21/2009 2:28 PM | Opinion Some time after the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels were bombed last Friday, presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng conveyed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's concerns on television, and said the President intended to visit the site immediately, but since it was "Friday, and almost prayer time", the visit would be postponed until after the prayers. The visit was eventually postponed to the next day, due to "security considerations", as stated by President Yudhoyono himself in his televised press conference. I am not talking religion here, I am just doing a little introspection: what would I do in a similar situation? What if someone I loved was staying in one of the hotels? All considerations aside, I would have rushed to the site. I would not need any scriptural sanction to prompt me to leave my prayers and do so. My answer is not hypothetical, but based on...

Anand Krishna , Jakarta | Thu, 07/16/2009 12:44 PM | Opinion The elections are over. The "election machinery" and "advertising industry" have been very effective. Those familiar with the psychology of advertising, medical neurology, and with Nobel laureate Ivan Pavlov's (1849-1936) theory of conditioned/involuntary reflex actions know how well our seasoned players have played their cards. Anyway, the people of Indonesia have passed their verdict. And now we have a "democratically" elected president and vice president, leaving us with two pairs not elected to the office. Yet they all are leaders, as long as the spirit of leadership within them is alive and they are willing to serve. A president, along with their team, leads the state. On the other hand, those not elected are not in the position to lead the state, but they can still serve the nation. One of the candidates said he would pulang kampung (return to...

Rizal Sukma , Jakarta | Tue, 07/14/2009 10:26 AM | Headlines The peaceful conclusion of the July 8 presidential election - handed the incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono a clear mandate to govern for a second term - clearly seals Indonesia's status as the third-largest democracy in the world. Those who still doubt Indonesia's ability to travel the path of democracy should now begin to take their skepticism elsewhere. Indeed, what transpired from the recent election in Indonesia is the victory of a decade-long democracy in Indonesia. The international community has once again hailed Indonesia's elections as an example of a dynamic democracy. More than 10 years since the country started the difficult democratization process in 1998, Indonesia can now proudly proclaim it is almost on the verge of becoming a full-fledged democracy. Yes, Indonesia is yet to become a full democracy. At technical level, the elections were still m...

Wimar Witoelar , JAKARTA | Mon, 07/13/2009 11:22 AM | Headlines A friend of mine who is a seasoned political junkie emailed me the following message: "Hey, didn't you know Wimar? SBY won because of Glomar! The Triple-A gang of Aburizal, Agung, Akbar. Plus Sis, Muladi and others. That is why the total votes gained by the JK-Win ticket were less than the total share of Golkar plus Hanura." Hmm, interesting theory. So, is it true? The answer is that it may not matter. SBY-Boediono's victory, while still unofficial, is convincing. TV host Dalton Tanonaka says the trouble with landslide victories is that there is no story. The election coverage was over on television six hours before midnight, when the English language program was about to go on the air. I have a different view. SBY's Part two resounding victory is a big story because it reaffirms our journey towards democracy and normality. Just like my latest blood test seems ...

Nurkholisoh Ibnu Aman , Surabaya | Mon, 07/13/2009 9:42 AM | Opinion Banks in Indonesia are being heavily criticized for being too slow to respond to monetary policy and for showing inefficiency in intermediation roles. Despite the aggressive cuts of the Bank Indonesia (BI)-rate in the past five months, banks remain reluctant to adjust lending rates. In comparison to December 2008, the BI-rate has been lowered by 225 basis points (bps), while the deposit and lending rates of banks went down only by 135 bps and 20 bps respectively. As a result, the gap between the deposit rate and the lending rate is increasing. Banks are now actually collecting higher revenue from wider discrepancies. To explain the behavior of such banks, we need to understand the cost structure of loanable funds. The first component is what is usually termed as the “cost of fund”, i.e. the interest paid to deposit customers for third party funds placed in banks. The ...

The Jakarta Post | Mon, 07/13/2009 9:31 AM | Opinion Indonesia’s stocks jumped and the rupiah posted big gains after last Wednesday’s peaceful presidential elections initially gave incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and his running mate Boediono a landslide win against the two other contestants. The bullish sentiment reflects the great welcome by the market of a highly probable one-round election, instead of another run-off in September with all the risks of uncertainty during the remaining three months of the current SBY-Kalla administration. This also signals that the market and investors are quite comfortable with the SBY government and want it to continue governing the country for another five years until October 2014. The stronger seems to be the vote of confidence for SBY because the people rest assured that his vice president elect Boediono, a senior economist and former central bank chief with impeccable integrity, wi...

Wimar Witoelar , Jakarta | Tue, 07/07/2009 10:00 AM | Headlines Now that the campaign is subsiding, pundits and political scientists will study the official presidential and vice presidential debates for a long time. Did the three presidential debates and the two vice presidential debates change voters’ minds? Probably not, as not much substance was put forward in the debates. The candidates are not people who have had much practice debating. Megawati Soekarnoputri never had to debate as silence is her most effective political weapon. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono does not debate, he courts people with politeness and presence. Jusuf Kalla attempts to debate, but his forte is making deals based on shared interests. The 2009 Presidential televised debates were formal contests with rules as strict as Wimbledon tennis. No shouting during rallies, stay within the limits of good behavior. So between the lackluster styles of the candidates and the tightly ...

By MICHAEL SLACKMAN Published: July 7, 2009 CAIRO — The streets of Iran have been largely silenced, but a power struggle grinds on behind the scenes, this time over the very nature of the state itself. It is a battle that transcends the immediate conflict over the presidential election, one that began 30 years ago as the Islamic Revolution established a new form of government that sought to blend theocracy and a measure of democracy. From the beginning, both have vied for an upper hand, and today both are tarnished. In postelection Iran, there is growing unease among many of the nation’s political and clerical elite that the very system of governance they rely on for power and privilege has been stripped of its religious and electoral legitimacy, creating a virtual dictatorship enforced by an emboldened security apparatus, analysts said. Among the Iranian president’s allies are those who question whether the nation needs elected institutions at all. Most telling, ...