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GATHERINGS:
An informed guide to happenings throughout the region.
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Barack
Obamas statue to be removed from Jakarta park
From News
Reports:
Jakarta, February 9: Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo says a
statue of President Barack Obama will be removed from a
public park and relocated to an elementary school that Obama
attended as a child.
The decision follows a petition that began circulation to
have a statue of Barack Obama as a boy demolished only a
month after the bronze was unveiled in Jakarta.
The statue of Little Barry - as Obama was known
when he lived in the capital in the late 1960s - stands
in central Jakarta's Menteng Park, a short walk from the
president's former elementary school.
The petitioners say the site should have been used to honour
an Indonesian and 55,000 people have joined a Facebook page
calling for the statues removal.
We've been discussing for the past two weeks what to do
with the statue... whether to take it down, move it elsewhere
or retain it. We're finding the best solution, said
Jakarta parks agency official Dwi Bintarto said.
Obama, who was born in Hawaii, lived for four years as a
child in Jakarta from 1967 after his divorced mother married
an Indonesian.
Barack Obama has yet to make a significant contribution
to the Indonesian nation. We could say Obama only ate and
(expletive) in Menteng. He spent his subsequent days living
as an American," the web page says.
For the dignity of a sovereign nation, Barack Obama's
monument in Menteng Park must be removed immediately.
The
Southeast Asian Times
West
Papua celebrates arrival of Christianity
From News Reports:
Jayapura, February 8: Tens of thousands of people have arrived
on Mansinam Island in Manokwari, West Papua, to commemorate
the arrival of the first Christian missionaries 155 years
ago, reports kompas.com has reported.
The news portal says the gathering was also attended by Papua
Governor Barnabas Suebu, West Papua Governor Abraham O Atururi, West
Papua Legislative Council Speaker Johan Auri, Papua Military
Chief Major General Hotma Marbun, Papua Police Chief Inspector
General Bekto Suprapto, and Papua Prosecutor's Office Chief
Palty Simanjuntak.
February 5th is a public holiday in Papua and West Papua provinces,
which marks the date when two missionaries, Carl Wilhelm Ottow
and Johann Gottlob Geissler, arrived on the island in 1885.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Darwin to Ambon race scheduled for July
From News Reports:
Ambon, February 7: About 200 yachts are expected to set sail
from Darwin in July as part of a race to Banda, Ambon and
Southeast Sulawesi.
The event, which will include international and national conferences
and an international symposium, marks the resumption of the
600 nautical mile race from Darwin to Amahusu village in Ambon
harbour after it was abandoned from 1998 because of sectarian
violence in the Spice Islands.
The fleet then cruises west to Sulawesi through the Buton
Passage.
The Maluku provincial government has provided rupiah
12 billion for the event, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
Ministry director general for resource supervision Aji Sularso
said during the Sail Banda 2010 launch in Jakarta last week.
The event was intended to make Maluku a tourism gateway to
eastern Indonesia by promoting its historical and maritime
beauty, he said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Regents wives to contest ballot to replace him
From News Reports:
Jakarta, February 6: Two wives of Kediri east Java Regent
Sutrisno have announced their intention to contest the election
later this year to replace their husband, who cannot run
for another term because he has served twice.
The Jakarta Post says Sutrisnos second wife, Nurlaila,
claims to have secured support from the National Mandate
Party and 23 other parties, while first wife Harjanti will
represent the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.
This is my personal plan, and has nothing to do with
the incumbent, Nurlaila told tempointeraktif.com.
Nurlaila openly criticised her husbands performance
in improving agriculture, health and education in his 10
years of administration.
Sutrisno has been elected Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle Kediri chairman.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Singapore political candidate allowed new association
From News Reports:
Singapore, February 5: Former Workers Party election candidate
James Gomez has received official approval to register Singaporeans
for Democracy a new association after it agreed to changes
to its Constitution.
The changes reportedly prohibit the new association from
receiving money from outside Singapore; allowing foreigners
to participate in its events; affiliate with any Singapore
or foreign political party and operate as a political party.
It is also not allowed to use its funds, premises and new
media platforms in any election here, including the sponsoring
of any candidate or member.
The Straits Times quotes Dr Gomez as saying: We were
fully cognizant of these requirements so there were no surprises.
The changes will not affect our operations.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Historic
photographs go on display
From News Reports:
Kota Kinabalu, February 4: About 2,000 photographs taken
by George Cathcart Woolley, a North Borneo Chartered Company
officer, who travelled throughout what is now Sabah between
1901 and 1932are on display at the Sabah Museum.
Mr Woolley, who died in Kota Kinabalu 1947, bequeathed all
the images to the Sabah Philosophical Society - now the
Sabah Society.
A graduate of Queens College at Oxford University, Woolley
returned to England on his retirement from the North Borneo
Company in 1932, but decided to return in 1935.
The images taken by Woolley are invaluable considering
that many pictures of pre-independence Sabah were destroyed
during World War 11, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment
Minister Masidi Manjun said when launching the exhibition.
Mr Woolley's diaries are also on display.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Pushkin
now stands in Manila park
From News Reports:
Manila, February 3: A bronze statue of the Russian poet Alexander
Pushkin has been unveiled in the Mehan Gardens, Manila.
Its sculptor Grigory Potosky was present at the ceremony.
So too were Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, Russian Ambassador Vitaly
Vorobiev; Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Administration
Franklin Ebdalin and Senate Secretary Emma Lirio-Reyes.
Manila mayor Alfredo Lim compared Pushkin with Filipino national
poet Francisco Balagtas.
Both were revolutionaries who influenced their countrys
literature by the use of vernacular in their work, he said.
Moscows envoy to Manila said that Pushkin defined the
Russian language and that the unveiling of his statue was
a symbol of the friendship between the two peoples.
The
Southeast Asian Times
George
Burchett exhibition to open
An exhibition of Ma, ink, on newspaper by George Burchett
will begin at the Mori Gallery, 168 Day Street, Sydney,
between 6 8 pm tomorrow night.
Titled time / lines, it will be opened by John Pilger with
a musical performance by Jon Rose.
The exhibition will continue until Wednesday, February 24.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Habibie receives honorary doctorate
From News Reports:
The University of Indonesia has bestowed former president
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, 74, with an Honorary Doctorate
of Philosophy.
Kompas.com quotes university rector Gumilar Rusmiwa Sumantri,
who delivered the honour, as saying the man who succeeded
President Soeharto keeps reminding us of the importance
of ethical consideration in effect of the appliance of technology
in society. The German-trained professor of aerospace
engineering served as Indonesias president between
1998 and 1999.
Earlier last month, the former chairman of the Muslim Intellectuals
Association called for halt to the legal process against
former president Soeharto.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Hong
Kong new centre for British passports
From News Reports:
Petaling Jaya, January 31: British citizens residing in
Malaysia will have to collect any new passports from a regional
centre in Hong Kong rather than the British High Commission
in Kuala Lumpur from tomorrow.
The High Commission says on its website that the change
is part of a global initiative to streamline the overseas
passport operations and reduce administration costs, while
improving security and maintaining the quality of customer
service.
It says applications will be completed within 10 working
days after receiving the correct documentation and fee.
The web site quotes High Commissioner Boyd McCleary as saying
the commission remained committed to ensure passports were
issued promptly and efficiently.
I am confident that the current high quality of customer
service will continue, he said.
The High Commission processed over 2,000 British passport
applications last year.
It is estimated that there are around 8,000 British residents
in Malaysia, while
435,000 Britons visited Malaysia last year.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Rent-a-crowds
allegedly recruited for protests
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 30: Bogus protesters in Jakarta are paid
about rupiah 25,000, about US$2.6 a day, reports The Jakarta
Post.
I participated in this event
a protest against
the States refinancing of insolvent Bank Century
because one of my friends asked me to. I am being paid rupiah
25,000, enough to buy cigarettes for today, the newspaper
quotes Hendri, 23, a protester from Johar Baru, Central
Jakarta.
Biyan, 19, from Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, said: I'm
just here as an extra. I will be paid rupiah 20,000 in exchange
through.
But protest coordinator Laode Kamaludin said: The
protesters all join voluntarily. That they are paid is just
a rumor spread by people to discredit our movement.
The Jakarta Post also quotes Finance Minister Sri Mulyani
Indrawati as saying she had submitted all the data requested
by the House of Representatives committee inquiring into
the rescue of Bank Century.
The ministry would cooperate with the committee should its
members require more data about the $716 million decision
to rescue the bank in November 2008.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Petitioners want Obama statue removed
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 29: A petition has been circulated to have
a statue of Barack Obama as a boy demolished only a month
after the bronze was unveiled in Jakarta.
The statue of Little Barry - as Obama was known
when he lived in the capital in the late 1960s - stands
in central Jakarta's Menteng Park, a short walk from the
president's former elementary school.
The petitioners say the site should have been used to honour
an Indonesian and 55,000 people have joined a Facebook page
calling for the statues removal.
We've been discussing for the past two weeks what to do
with the statue... whether to take it down, move it elsewhere
or retain it. We're finding the best solution, said
Jakarta parks agency official Dwi Bintarto said.
Obama, who was born in Hawaii, lived for four years as a
child in Jakarta from 1967 after his divorced mother married
an Indonesian.
Barack Obama has yet to make a significant contribution
to the Indonesian nation. We could say Obama only ate and
(expletive) in Menteng. He spent his subsequent days living
as an American," the web page says.
For the dignity of a sovereign nation, Barack Obama's
monument in Menteng Park must be removed immediately.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Washingtons's
envoy quietly leaves Manila
From News Reports:
Manila, January 28: Washingtons envoy to Manila Kristie
Kenney has left the Philippines without fanfare.
Dressed in a shirt and jeans and accompanied by two house
help who carried her two cats, for her to board a Northwest
Airlines flight at 8:20 am Monday morning.
A staffer at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport told
reporters that it had been the ambassadors choice
not to notify the media about her departure.
Kenney was her countrys ambassador to Manila for three
and a half years.
In February last year, the flood of Filipino World War II
veterans lodging claims for newly-approved benefits has
prompted her to ask them to limit their entourage of family
members when making their applications.
And the envoys message to those among the 18,000 surviving
Filipino veterans too old and weak to personally lodge their
claims to part of the $198-million payment from the United
States government: We will find you and come to you.
If you are not well, dont risk your life coming
to us, she said.
The United States Veterans Affairs Department will accept
applications up to February this year.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Walden Bello accuses church of double standards
From News Reports:
Manila, January 27: The Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines
was practicing a double standard when it tells the people
to follow their conscience to choose the countrys
new political representatives while at the same time it
tells them not to vote for those candidates that support
the reproductive health bill, Akbayan, or Citizens
Action Party, House-of-Representatives-member Walden Bello,
64, has told reporters.
On the one hand, [the Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines] has said vote according to your conscience,
said the professor of sociology and public administration
at the University of the Philippines.
On the other, it says its not moral to vote
for people who support the reproductive health bill. There
is a double standard here.
Professor Belo said the church should not blackmail the
candidates who support the bill by trying to influence their
voters based on this issue, which has proven to be very
contentious.
He asked that his fellow House-of-Representatives members
tackle the measure despite the Churchs opposition
and its branding of the bill as morally reprehensible.
What is morally reprehensible is to keep the reproductive
rights of Filipinas at the mercy of the churchs political
opinion, he said.
Does it sit well with our conscience that families
are condemned to poverty owing to the lack of means for
effective family planning? Or that there are rising numbers
of people infected with sexually transmitted diseases due
to the lack of decent information? the professor asked.
Professor Bello said the House of Representatives should
devote the remainder of its tenure to discussion of the
bill rather than trying to Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Muslim Banda Aceh seeks tourists
From News Reports:
Banda Aceh, January 26: The provincial capitals deputy
Mayor Illiza Saadudin believes Sharia law could help market
the tourism industry.
The citys numerous historical sites that are linked
to Islams arrival in the Indonesian archipelago could
help with the promotion, she told The Jakarta Post.
We aim to tailor tourist packages that are different
to those of other provinces. One of those is to promote
tourist attractions with an Islamic perspective, she
said.
Im sure that many people will visit Banda Aceh
to learn about Islamic history and the tsunami.
Muslim students affiliated with the Indonesian Muslim Students
Union are reported to support the effort.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Students arrested demanding right to demonstrate
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, January 25: Nine students from five public
tertiary institutions were arrested Saturday for participating
in an illegal assembly and obstructing police from carrying
out their duties.
Kuala Lumpur police Chief Wira Muhammad Sabtu Osman told
The Star newspaper that four were from Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia; two from Kolej Islam Selangor and one each from
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti of Malaya and Universiti
Putra Malaysia.
The students were being investigated in accordance with
Section 27(5) of the Police Act for gathering illegally
and Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing police
officers from carrying out their duties.
They were arrested in front of Sogo shopping complex at
around noon after refusing to disperse despite being ordered
to do so, he said when contacted.
About 200 students participated in the demonstration with
some of them carrying banners with the words kembalikan
demonstrasi kampus or restore campus demonstrations.
Last week, Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin
announced that the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, or UKM,
was to host the first returned Speakers Corner.
All universities had the prerogative to establish a speakers
corner, he said.
This included private universities and university colleges.
The ministry would not impose any guidelines for the speakers
corners and students were free to speak on any topic as
long as they took note of sensitivities and upheld the truth.
We believe that varsity students will develop a sense
of responsibility and grow in maturity, accountability and
confidence as all eyes will be on them when they speak,
he said.
Malaysias first speakers corner for varsity
students was housed at Universiti Malaya in the 70s.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Illegal
motorbike racer film proves profitable
From
News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, January 24: The Mat Rempit, or illegal motorbike
racing, film Adnan Sempit has unexpectedly netted ringgit
510,000, about US$150,220, in revenue when it opened on
Thursday, January 14.
Its takings on Saturday, January 16 was ringgit 950,000,
a new record for a Malaysian movie.
The film was produced by Metrowealth Movies and directed
by Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri.
Its chief executive officer David Teo told The New Straits
Times that although guidelines governing the portrayal of
Mat Rempit were now stricter I knew the film was going
to be a hit but this is beyond my expectations.
Adnan Sempit is the first movie to feature a Mat Rempit,
after last year's government announcement of stricter guidelines
for filmmakers on showcasing illegal racing activities in
movies.
The National Censor had directed that movie makers cannot
show illegal racing unless the characters redeemed themselves
in the end.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Speakers Corner returns to Malaysia
From News Reports:
Bangi, January 23: The Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, or
UKM, is to host a returned Speakers Corner.
The Star newspaper quotes Higher Education Minister Mohamed
Khaled Nordin as saying that each university had the prerogative
to establish a speakers corner.
This included private universities and university colleges.
The ministry would not impose any guidelines for the speakers
corners and students were free to speak on any topic as
long as they took note of sensitivities and upheld the truth.
We believe that varsity students will develop a sense
of responsibility and grow in maturity, accountability and
confidence as all eyes will be on them when they speak,
he said.
Malaysias first speakers corner for varsity
students was housed at Universiti Malaya in the 70s.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Beach vendors clean Kuta Beach
From News Reports:
Denpasar, January 21: Beach masseurs and proprietors of
surfboard; food and souvenir kiosks have joined the effort
to remove seasonal garbage from Kuta Beach.
Rotten fish, timber, grass and plastics have washed onto
the tourist beach o since November 2008.
The worst garbage will be in January and February,
said beach security task forced director Gusti Ngurah Trisna.
But beach vendors are prepared to work daily to clean up
the beach until March when the arrival of the rubbish was
expected to stop.
Beach noodle vendor Ruslan, 81, said he had seen the yearly
garbage and rotten fish collect on the beach for the last
10 years but still did not know where it came from.
Many people believed that fishermen were to be blamed for
throwing the fish they do not manage to load on their boats
overboard but others argue that there is a booming of poisonous
algae in the sea that has killed the fish.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Dr Mahathirs Look East policy proves a
winner
From News Reports:
Shah Alam, January 20: The Look East policy
introduced by former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed
in 1982 has been crucial to the success of the programme
to send Malaysians to study in Japan, argues Universiti
Malaya Pro-Chancellor Toh Puan Dr Aishah Ong.
The policy had resulted in 2,986 UM graduates furthering
their studies and undergoing training in Japan to emulate
Japanese work ethics and also business techniques, she said.
Under the policy, Malaysia strengthened its cooperation
with Japan in the economic, industrial, technological training,
academic, research and management fields.
The success of the policy prompted the Japanese government
to increase the intake of Malaysian students in universities
in Japan, the pro-chancellor told a dinner to honour
students who had completed a special preparatory course
for study in Japan.
Almost 3,000 students had furthered their studies in Japan,
particularly in the fields of engineering, medicine and
dentistry since Japan established the programme in 1982.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Mindanao
peace pledge signed in Penang
From News Reports:
Penang, January 19: Presidents of Mindanao state universities
and colleges have signed a declaration for peace at the
end of a four-day Peace Summit.
The declaration, signed at the Parkroyal Hotel in Battu
Ferringhi, Penang, commits the signatories to a variety
of pledges including:
The promotion of peace education; the undertaking of peace
education programmes and recommending to President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo that she issue an executive order for the
observance of Muslim and Indigenous People, or Lumad, holidays
throughout Mindanao.
At least 30 Mindanao State university and college presidents
attended the four-day Mindanao Educators Peace Summit.
Theme of the conference was: Transforming the Conflict
in Mindanao Through Peace Education and Quality Higher Education.
It was held at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, or the Science
University of Malaysia, and has been jointly organized by
the faculty for Research and Education for Peace; the Southeast
Asia Conflict Network; the Japan International Cooperation
Agency and the Mindanao Association of State Colleges and
Universities.
Coordinator was Western Mindanao State University President
Dr Grace J. Rebollos.
The purpose of the summit was to help harness educational
leadership for peace and development in the Southern Philippines
by providing a venue for conversation analysis, visioning,
and action - towards peace education.
It is also intended to provide an opportunity for learning
from the performance of a leading Asian centre of academic
institutional excellence towards affordable quality higher
education as a contribution to peace in Mindanao.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Thailand, Laos discuss road link
From News Reports:
Da Nang, January 18: The Thai and Laotian foreign minister
have discussed the use of Route 9 that links the Mekong
sub region nations, particularly the possibility of single-visa
access to the Thai-Lao-Viet Nam road link.
The ministers Kasit Piromya and Thongloun Sisoulith met
during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign
minister retreat in Da Nang, Viet Nam, last week.
Asean Connectivity was a major theme of the conference
The Thai News Agency reports that Asean Secretary-General
Surin Pitsuwan travelled Route 9 to access the road before
attending the retreat.
The 1,600-kilometre EastWest Economic Corridor
the formal name for Route 9 - links the South China Sea
to the Andaman Sea.
Its construction is intended to reduce the cost of trans-boundary
trade and transportation, promoting tourism, trade and investment
across the borders, as well as reducing the sub-regional
economic and social gap.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Tourists prevent turtles from egg laying
Phuket, January 17: Too-much
tourism is stopping sea turtles from
laying eggs on Phuket's Mai Khao Beach, Phuket Marine Biological
Centre representative Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong has told
The Nation newspaper.
Turtles normally laid eggs between November and March and
this year there were 15 nests in Phang Nga's Thai Muang
Beach and Phra Thong Island, he said.
Two of the nests were those of the almost extinct leatherback
turtles.
It was also the first time that sea turtles have laid eggs
in Krabi's Lanta and Phai islands. But no eggs had been
laid in Phuket's Mai Khao Beach because the tourists were
driving the turtles away.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Closed-door meet to discuss the use of the word Allah
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, January 16: The Institute of Islamic Understanding,
Malaysia, will hold a closed-door muzakarah pakar, or expert
discussion, about non-Muslims using the word Allah
next Thursday.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Mashitah
Ibrahim told The New Straits Times that a closed-door gathering
was deemed more suitable than an open forum for the discussion.
But the judiciary would finally resolve the use of the word
Allah as a synonymy for God in its
Malay-language editions of the Roman Catholic weekly, the
Herald.
In Britain, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has told
students at a gathering sponsored by the Oxford Centre of
Islamic Studies that Malaysia continues to face great challenges
in promoting religious tolerance and maintaining religious
harmony.
No religion condones violence as a means to pursue an essentially
religious objective, he said during an address titled, Islam
and Critical Challenges in Multi-Religious Malaysia.
But we cannot let unbridled freedom of religion to
cause discord and animosity in a multi-religious society
like Malaysia.
Just as I speak here today, there is a hue and cry
among the Muslim community in Malaysia over a High Court
ruling which allows a Christian publication to use the word
Allah in its newsletter, he said.
No matter what our personal view is on this issue,
whether we think that it is the right of the Christians
to use the word 'Allah' to refer to the Christian god, or
it is the exclusive right of the Muslims to claim possession
of the word, we have to acknowledge that such an incident
causes discord in a multi religious country like Malaysia.
The combined effect of these competing interests,
if not properly managed, is hatred and animosity among religious
communities, he said.
The deputy prime minister said that he had received messages
from his non- Muslim friends from Sabah and Sarawak which
said that there were Christians who felt that the dispute
would not have happened in the first place if "we,
the Christians would just not use the word Allah.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Mindanao Educators discuss peace at Penang meet
From News Reports:
Penang, January 15: At least 30 state university and college
presidents on Mindanao are attending the four-day Mindanao
Educators Peace Summit that ends today.
Theme of the conference is: Transforming the Conflict
in Mindanao Through Peace Education and Quality Higher Education.
It is being held at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, or the
Science University of Malaysia, and has been jointly organized
by the faculty for Research and Education for Peace; the
Southeast Asia Conflict Network; the Japan International
Cooperation Agency and the Mindanao Association of State
Colleges and Universities.
Coordinator is Western Mindanao State University President
Dr Grace J. Rebollos.
Mindanews reports that the purpose of the summit is to help
harness educational leadership for peace and development
in the Southern Philippines by providing a venue for conversation
analysis, visioning, and action - towards peace education.
It is also intended to provide an opportunity for learning
from the performance of a leading Asian centre of academic
institutional excellence towards affordable quality higher
education as a contribution to peace in Mindanao.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Constitutional Court asked
to curb censorship
From News Reports:
Sydney, January 14: The Sydney-based Australia West Papua
Association wants the Indonesian Constitutional Court to
revoke the authority of the Attorney Generals Office
to ban books in the country.
The books banned deal with a variety of issues including
West Papua and the associations secretary, Joe Collins,
quotes Justice and Human Rights Department director Hafid
Abbas as saying the books could fuel movements toward
the nation's disintegration and encourage separatism.
We do not want to see Indonesia separated, and
that separatists know the hardship of armed resistance
so they chose to do their campaign through publications.
Is Indonesia's democracy so fragile that
it cannot allow the raising of the West Papuan Flag and
books on the issue of West Papua? Asked Mr Collins.
The banning of freedom of expression is contrary to
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Instead of banning books on West Papua the Indonesian
government should be allowing the West Papuan people to
discuss human rights and self determination in their country.
Indonesian prosecutors in Jayapura seized 60 copies of a
book they say could divide West Papua in December 2007.
The 244-page book, titled Tenggelamnya Rumpun Melanesia,
Pertarungan Politik di Pap Asian Timesua Barat or The Sinking
of the Melanesian Race: The Political Struggle in West Papua,
was written by academic, Sendius Wonda.
The book is misleading, it could spark unrest and
divide the Papuan community, the provincial prosecutors
office intelligence chief Rudi Hartono was quoted as saying.
The 60 copies of the book, printed by provincial publishing
house Deiyai, were confiscated from a Gramedia bookstore
in Jayapura.
We will continue raiding bookstores in other places
for the book, Rudi said.
The prosecutors said their legal basis for banning the book
was a 2007 attorney general's circular about banning printed
materials that could mislead the public and
disturb public order.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Indonesia
returns to the banning of books
From
News Reports:
Jakarta, January 13: University of Indonesia historian Dr
Anhar Gonggong likens a spate of book bannings as a sad
attack on the right to free speech.
Only authoritarian regimes justify the banning of
publications by citing the need to maintain order,
he told The Jakarta Post.
That has been happening in our country, since the
colonial era.
But previously prohibited reappeared following the fall
of President Soeharto in 1998.
The prohibited works of Pramoedya Ananta Toer that were
previously only available outside Indonesia were suddenly
available.
But prohibition began to discreetly reappear after 2002,
reports the newspaper.
In the reformation era, it should have been unthinkable
to see books being banned, it quotes Indonesian Institute
of Sciences historian Asvi Marwan Adam as saying. Unfortunately,
this practice still haunts us.
The historian says the high-profile book bannings included
the reckless revocation of a series of junior high history
textbooks in 2007.
The banning of a history textbook is ironic. The author
of the book, which was published in 2004, was deemed to
have intentionally omitted two important milestones: the
Madiun Incident in 1948 and the September 30th Movement
in 1965, he said.
After the ban, the government eventually realized
these events were covered in a separate textbook in the
same series.
Asvi noted that beginning in 2007, the rate at which the
Attorney General's
Office banned books had constantly increased.
The newspaper says that although the book, Unmasking the
Cikeas Octopus: Behind the Bank Century Scandal, written
by scholar George Junus Aditjondro has not been banned,
publisher Galang Press Yogyakarta has had to endure its
removal from the shelves of bookstores in anticipation of
official wrath.
The book links President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's inner-circle
with the States rescue of failed Bank Century.
But two Galang Press books, Pemusnahan Etnis Melanesia,
or The Extermination of Ethnic Melanesia and Tenggelamnya
Rumpun Melanesia, or The Drowning of Ethnic Melanesia, have
been with the Attorney Generals Office since 2007.
Both deal with the restive West Papua province.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences scholar Jaleswari Pramodhawardani
told the Antara news agency: Book banning violates
basic human rights, which are guaranteed by the Constitution,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Human
Rights Law.
Banning books will tarnish Indonesia's reputation
as a democratic country, she said.
The Jakarta Post reports that the Justice and Human Rights
Ministry and the Attorney Generals Office is reviewing
200 newly-published books, with 20 undergoing strict reviews.
Earlier this month, Attorney Generals Office spokesperson
Didiek Darmanto says there are 143 crucial reasons that
prohibit assistant professor of history at the University
of British Columbia John Roosas book dealing with
September 30th Movement and former president Soehartos
1965 coup detat must remain banned in Indonesia.
We wont go into details on the reasons because
the public, especially at the lower levels may react in
a way that could open the way for conflicts, he told
The Jakarta Post when asked to explain the ban.
Professor Roosas book Dalih Pembunuhan Massal Gerakan
30 September dan Kudeta Soeharto or Pretext for Mass Murder:
The September 30th Movement and Soehartos Coup dEtat
offers an alternative perspective to the mainstream version
that places the blame for the September 30th Movement on
the Indonesian Communist Party or PKI. The book alleges
the abortive movement was actually Soehartos way of
seizing power from founding president Soekarno.
The Southeast Asian Times
| |
Read the letters to The
Southeast Asian Times...open here
|
| 40 women admitted
to hospital from Viet Nam factory |
|
 |
|
Workers
from the Long An a Long An-Provincial industrial
estate in the Nha Be Hospital in nearby Ho Chi
Minh City
|
|
From News Reports:
Ho Chi Minh City, February 9: More than 40 women employed
at a South Korean-owned factory have reportedly been admitted
to hospital apparently suffering from hysteria.
Thanh Nien newspaper, says about 100 of the women who worked
for the brake maker in a Long An-Provincial industrial estate
where about 3,000 workers struck last month for wages that
accord with Viet Nams industrial law; early payment
of their Tet, or lunar new year, bonuses; payment of their
health and social security contributions and the elimination
of forced overtime, began crying uncontrollably and then
collapsed.
Two were sent to the Can Giuoc District hospital
the location of the factory - and 40 to the Nha Be Hospital
in nearby Ho Chi Minh City.
Others recovered without having to go to hospital.
I saw her crying and moving her arms and legs like
a psychic, Vnexpress quoted one of the women, Tuyet,
as saying.
Several minutes later, I began crying and felt tired.
I saw myself in the hospital when I woke up.
Others said they were tired and found it difficult to breathe.
Nha Be Hospital physician said the condition of the women
was not critical.
The hospitals director Nguyen Huu Tho told Tre Tuoi
the newspaper that hysteria might be the cause.
The paper also reported that some workers said theyd
seen ghosts in the toilet and this had terrified others.
Ho Chi Minh City Health Department physician Phan Van Nghiem
said the sugar levels of some workers might have dropped
because they had not eaten breakfast, and others may of
suffered psychological infection.
The Viet Nam News reports that southern Dong Nai Province
is short 60,000 to 70,000 unskilled workers, especially
in the footwear and textile and garment industries, despite
relatively high unemployment.
It quotes a Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs Department
official as saying the shortage persisted because of the
industrys low pay and hazardous nature of the work.
The industry employed about 230,000 literate workers from
other provinces to fill the shortfall but these had to be
provided accommodation and other infrastructure.
Providing them with them with just electricity and water
cost the province about US$240, 000 a year.
In the future we will have to attract technology-based
industries that need fewer unskilled workers, but now, with
the predominance of footwear and textile companies, migrant
workers are the best choice said the departments
deputy director Lam Duy
In northern Viet Nam, Unskilled farm labourers idle between
planting and harvesting in northern Viet Nam are reported
to have spurned the employment on offer in Ha Nois
export-oriented industrial estates.
The mostly foreign-owned enterprises are offering seasonal
work in the garments; furniture; footwear; steel and electronic
industries as they anticipate global economic recovery.
But rural workers, especially women who lost their jobs
when the economy contracted, now prefer higher-paying domestic
employment in the city rather than the long hours and low
pay in the industrial parks.
The owners of foreign-owned enterprises in southern Viet
Nam were leaving the country without paying their workers
their entitlements, it was reported last month.
The missing employers were from South Korea, Taiwan and
Malaysia.
An example was Hason Limited in the Tan Dinh Industrial
Zone, the Ben Cat District, where 669 stranded workers were
now to be paid from provincial funds.
The shoemaker was ten foreign-owned enterprises whose executives
had fled Binh Duong Province last year owing a total of
2,800 workers their pay, social insurance contributions
and other allowances worth about $682,000.
Ben Cat District Peoples Court had received claims
from 300 Hanson employees seeking pay and insurance contributions.
Binh Duong Labour Union deputy chairman Nguyen Van Khuong
had asked the provincial peoples committee to have
its finance department provide dong 1.1 billion the workers
so that they could return home for Tet, or the lunar new
year that starts next week.
Dismissed workers are now, for the first time, eligible
for unemployment payments.
Viet Nams Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Ministry
officials say those eligible to claim the payments are those
who have paid their premiums for at least 12 months and
have signed with a local job centre or a registered office
for unemployment benefits seven days after losing their
jobs.
The dismissed workers will also be supported to take vocational
courses free of charge and introduced to new jobs.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Hun Sen cancels visit to Ta Muen Thom temple,
Thailand
From News
Reports:
Surin, February 9: Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen
had cancelled a planned visit to the Ta Muen Thom temple
in Thailands north-eastern Surin province after his
military escort was told it could not carry weapons, Foreign
Minister Kasit Piromya's secretary Chavanond Intarakomalyasut
said yesterday.
The Cambodian prime minister had understood the regulations
and did not want to create tension between soldiers from
the two countries even though he wanted to travel as a tourist,
the secretary said.
The commander of Thailands Second Army, Lieutenant-General
Weewalit Chornsamrit, said that Cambodian soldiers had sought
permission to visit Ta Muen Thom temple without their weapons,
but he had explained the possible danger of a confrontation
with supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy or
Yellow Shirts.
The soldiers had understood and had agreed not to enter
the temple precinct where alliance coordinator Veera Somkwamkid
and about 150 of his supporters had gathered near the temple
to oppose Mr Hun Sen's visit.
Hun Sen visited the disputed 11th-century Preah Vihear Hindu
temple and its surrounds during his visit to the Cambodia-Thailand
border.
The International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear
temple to Cambodia in 1962.
Last month, judges of the Thai Administrative Court quashed
a Cabinet resolution of June 17, 2008 approving a Thai-Cambodian
memorandum of understanding for the listing of 11th century
Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
The judges found that the government of then Prime Minister
Samak Sundaravej, who has since died, failed to follow Section
190 of the 2007 constitution that requires parliament to
approve all agreements dealing with sovereignty.
The Thai parliament reportedly did not appraise the memorandum
before then foreign minister Noppadon Pattama signed it
with Cambodias deputy Prime Minister Sok An on May
22, 2008.
The memorandum had Thailand pledge support for Cambodia
in nominating the temple to the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation as a World Heritage
site.
A map of the overlapping border precinct surrounding the
temple was attached to the document.
People's Alliance for Democracy, or Yellow Shirt, representatives
challenged the agreement with the support of senators and
academics on June 24 last year and their lawyer, Nitithon
Lamlua, said judgement would be used to ask Thailands
Anti-Corruption Commission which is investigating the former
foreign minister for alleged malfeasance.
The former foreign minister has argued that the joint communiqué
did not require parliament's approval because it was not
an international treaty.
It would not lead to the loss of Thai territory to Cambodia,
he said.
In April, Thai and Cambodian soldiers fought each other
with automatic weapons and rockets in the disputed 4.6 squ
km border precinct.
At least two Thai soldiers are confirmed as killed in the
fighting.
In October, a battle between soldiers of the two armies
left four troops dead.
The Cambodian governments appointment in November
of fugitive ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawarta
as an economic adviser, including as a personal adviser
to Prime Minister Hun Sen, has exacerbated tension between
the Association-of-Southeast -Asian neighbours.
Unesco's World Heritage Committee will decide on Thursday,
July 15 as to whether to continue listing Preah Vihear temple
as a World Heritage site.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Hun Sen visits disputed Preah
Vihear Hindu temple |
|
 |
| Cambodias
Prime Minister, Hun Sen, and his wife Bun Rany
pray during their visit to the disputed 11th-century
Preah Vihear Hindu temple and its surrounds |
|
From News Reports:
Preah Vihear, February 8: Cambodias Prime Minister
Hun Sen has visited the disputed 11th-century Preah Vihear
Hindu temple and its surrounds.
His presence, with his wife Bun Rany, sparked an immediate
protest rally of about 100 Peoples Alliance for Democracy,
or Yellow Shirt, supporters who were confined behind barbed
wire that had been Thai soldiers erected at the entrance
to the national park, reports The Bangkok Post.
The newspaper says Thailands second army commander,
Weewalit Chornsamrit, greeted the Prime Minister, who spent
about 30 minutes at the temple as part of visit to the Cambodia-Thai
border,
It quoted Hun Sen as having asked Thais to avoid fighting
because we are neighbours, we cannot be enemies forever.
The prime minister began his tour of the area by opening
a school and giving supplies to villagers caught up in a
border fire fight last April.
I have never asked for compensation. For me, it doesn't
matter about compensation, he said referring to the destruction
of a Cambodian market during the gun battle.
They [the Thais] have invaded us and look down on
us.
They are still keeping it in their minds to invade
Cambodia and do not know when they will stop. The invaders
have never left us, even though they can kill their own
citizens.
The prime minister and his wife are expected to continue
their tour today.
The Nation newspaper quotes Yellow Shirt rural coordinator
Veeraphon Sopha as vowing to establish villages in the border
provinces of Buri Ram, Si Sa Ket, Surin and Sa Kaew to ensure
Thai sovereignty.
The latest firefights between Thai and Cambodian troops
were about 20 kilometers east of the Preah Vihear temple
and its disputed surrounds late last month and had been
the result of a misunderstanding, said Thai Army spokesman
Colonel Samsern Keawkamnerd.
The shooting had occurred during the morning that Cambodias
Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was visiting the temple.
The International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear
temple to Cambodia in 1962.
Last month, judges of the Thai Administrative Court quashed
a Cabinet resolution of June 17, 2008 approving a Thai-Cambodian
memorandum of understanding for the listing of 11th century
Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
The judges found that the government of then Prime Minister
Samak Sundaravej, who has since died, failed to follow Section
190 of the 2007 constitution that requires parliament to
approve all agreements dealing with sovereignty.
The Thai parliament reportedly did not appraise the memorandum
before then foreign minister Noppadon Pattama signed it
with Cambodias deputy Prime Minister Sok An on May
22, 2008.
The memorandum had Thailand pledge support for Cambodia
in nominating the temple to the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation as a World Heritage
site.
A map of the overlapping border precinct surrounding the
temple was attached to the document.
People's Alliance for Democracy, or Yellow Shirt, representatives
challenged the agreement with the support of senators and
academics on June 24 last year and their lawyer, Nitithon
Lamlua, said judgement would be used to ask Thailands
Anti-Corruption Commission which is investigating the former
foreign minister for alleged malfeasance.
The former foreign minister has argued that the joint communiqué
did not require parliament's approval because it was not
an international treaty.
It would not lead to the loss of Thai territory to Cambodia,
he said.
In April, Thai and Cambodian soldiers fought each other
with automatic weapons and rockets in the disputed 4.6 squ
km border precinct.
At least two Thai soldiers are confirmed as killed in the
fighting.
In October, a battle between soldiers of the two armies
left four troops dead.
The Cambodian governments appointment in November
of fugitive ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawarta
as an economic adviser, including as a personal adviser
to Prime Minister Hun Sen, has exacerbated tension between
the Association-of-Southeast -Asian neighbours.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Resorts
World Sentosa granted Singapore casino licence
From News Reports:
Singapore, February 8: The Casino Regulatory Authority has
issued Resorts World Sentosa a licence for Singapore's first
casino.
The approval had been delayed in December after the authority
asked Resorts World for more information about the casino.
Resorts World, built by Malaysia's Genting for US$5 billion
declined to say on Saturday when it planned to open the
casino.
Previously, its representatives had said it was planned
to open it as soon as the licence was issued.
The 49-hectare off-shore resort opened 1,340 rooms in four
hotels last month. It also plans to open a Universal Studios
theme park by March.
Rival Las Vegas Sands expects to open its $5.5 billion Marina
Bay Sands casino-resort in Singapore in May.
The Singapore government expects the two casino-resorts
to increase the country's gross domestic product growth
by up to 1 percentage point, boost tourist arrivals and
add 35,000 jobs.
Late last week, Commissioner-of-Police-Exclusion-Orders
from the two casinos were to about 3,500 people with criminal
records for drugs, illegal money lending, prostitution and
secret societies.
In September, it was announced that al the city-state's
recipients of public assistance and their dependants as
well as bankrupts will be banned from its new casino.
The laws ensuring their prohibition are embodied in changes
the Singapore Parliament made to the Casino Control Act.
There will be no appeal.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Malaysias police investigate
Nasir Safar for sedition |
|
 |
| Just
-resigned special officer to Prime Minister Najib
Tun Razak Najib rides a trishaw at the Jonker
Walk, Melaka |
|
From
News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, February 7: Malaysias police are investigating
Nasir Safar, 61, the just -resigned special officer to Prime
Minister Najib Tun Razak for sedition.
The Star newspaper quotes police inspector general Musa
Hassan as saying the investigation follows the lodging of
nationwide complaints and stems from derogatory remarks
about the countrys Chinese and Indian citizens the
former assemblyman for Pulai Sebatang, Johor, made at a
1Malaysia seminar at the Melaka international convention
centre last week.
Since the words were uttered in Malacca, the police
there would be responsible for conducting the investigations,
the inspector general said.
The Bernama quotes Melaka police chief Mohammad Rodwan Mohammad
Yusof as saying the police would record Nasir Safars
statement either tomorrow or on Tuesday.
So far, the investigation is 85 per cent completed
and only waiting for his statement to fully complete the
probe," he told reporters.
The investigation was based in the Sedition Act 1948 and
the police had taken statements from 30 witnesses, including
state assemblymen and members of the media.
The Malaysia Insider news portal quotes the former special
officer as saying: Indians came to Malaysia as beggars
and Chinese especially the women came to sell their bodies.
In a statement issued last week, Nasir Safar said he had
not intended to offend and aplogised.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Fifty
one private armies threaten Mindanao election
From News Reports:
Davao, February 7: Fifty-one Private Armed Groups with 4,337
armed members are active on Mindanao, reports Armed Forces
of the Philippines deputy commander Brigadier General Ceasario
Atienza.
Many were listed members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical
Unit or Civilian Volunteer Organizations with allegiance
to local politicians or businessmen and were a major threat
to the May elections, he told the six-member commission
appointed by President Macapagal Arroyo to address and then
permanently dismantle private armies
Forty-two of the armed groups were in the Muslim Autonomous
Region, he said.
Their presence can sow fear in the coming May elections.
In Manila, National Bureau of Investigation spokesman Ric
Diaz has told reporters that at least three different groups
composed of former policemen and members of the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front were preparing to free Andal Ampatuan Jr.
The Mayor of Datu Unsay pleaded not guilty to another 15
counts of murder at his petition for bail before Judge Jocelyn
Solis-Reyes at Camp Crame, Quezon, last week.
It means the mayor of now faces 56 charges of murder following
the slaughter of 57 people slaughtered near Shariff Aguak,
Maguindanao Province, southwestern Mindanao, Mindanao, on
Monday, November 23.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Prosecution
of former Thai deputy interior minister sought |
|
 |
| Thailands
National Anti-Corruption Commission Pracharaj
Party, or Royalist People's Party, has voted unanimously
to seek the prosecution of Pracharaj Party or
Royalist People's Party, founder Sanoh Thienthong
over his role in the acquisition of land for the
Alpine Golf Club at Pathum Thani north of Bangkok
|
|
From News Reports:
Bangkok, February 6: The National Anti-Corruption Commission
has voted unanimously to seek the prosecution of Pracharaj
Party, or Royalist People's Party, founder Sanoh Thienthong
over his role in the acquisition of land for the Alpine
Golf Club at Pathum Thani north of Bangkok.
But Sanoh Thienthong, who was formerly chairman of the now-banned
Thai Rak Thai, or Thai Loves Thai Party of deposed former
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, told parliament that
he had not abused his authority as deputy interior minister
to acquire the land originally donated to a temple.
National Anti-Corruption Commission member and spokesman
Klanarong Chanthik said the commission had found the original
owner of the land in on which the golf course and housing
estate is built, Nuem Chamnanchartsakda, had left the 732
rai to Wat Thammikaram in 1971.
The abbot then sought to have ownership of the land ownership
transferred to the temple but Sanoh Thienthong, who as deputy
interior minister was supervisor of the Land Department
on February 13, 1990, rejected the abbot's request.
The rejection enabled the Alpine Real Estate Company and
Alpine Golf and Sports Club Company to buy the land from
the foundation which had been assigned to manage the estate.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission found Sanoh Thienthongs
wife, Uraiwan Thienthong, held 300,000 shares worth baht
30 million in the two companies and his younger brother,
Witthaya Thienthong, and his close associate, Chucheep Harnsawat,
both held 150,000 shares worth baht 15 million as of January
23, 1990.
It concluded that in accord with a resolution by the Council
of State that Nuem Chamnanchartsakdas will had to
be honoured and the land which had been sold to the two
companies was monastic property.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission agreed that Sanoh
Thienthong had violated sections 148 and 157 of the Criminal
Code but as the statute of limitations applied from August
2005, it would ask the Office of the Attorney-General to
charge him only with violating Section 148 of the Criminal
Code.
The section deals with government official who abuses his
authority to acquire property for the benefit of their own
or others.
Earlier this month, former Prime Minister and now Privy
councillor General Surayud Chulanont began moving out of
his holiday retreat at Khao Yai Thiang, in the highlands
of northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima Province, after it was
confirmed that he was not entitled to occupy the land.
United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, or Red
Shirt, supporters had earlier rallied outside the residence
saying it had been illegally obtained from forestry reserve.
They followed this with an unprecedented rally outside the
Privy Council office, Bangkok.
The protesters, who say many villagers at Khao Yai Thiang
have been sued for trespassing in the forest and forced
to leave their land, want the government of Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva to answer for General Surayud Chulanonts
encroachment of the reserve.
But an Attorney General Office spokesman has announced that
it would not sue the general for his ownership of land in
the forest preserve because the former prime minister had
violated no law and that his land purchase was legal.
General Surayud Chulanont said he would be pleased
to return the land in order to end all the problems
if ordered by the Royal Forest Department to do so.
But he would not resign as a privy councillor.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Villagers
burn Red Shirt banners outside Phuket naval base
From News Reports:
Phuket, February 6: Villagers burned the flags of United
Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, or Red Shirt,
supporters who have attempted outside the Thai naval base
in Cape Panwa, Phuket.
The rally was intended to gain support from the Royal Thai
Navy.
The Phuket Gazette reports that about 30 villagers, who
blocked the camp entrance, scuffled with the red shirts.
The Thai News Agency says Red Shirt supporters have gathered
at military barracks nationwide to oppose what they insist
is a likely military coup.
The news agency quotes Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban,
who oversees internal security, as saying he had instructed
army personnel to exercise restraint and tolerance to any
provocation.
Army chief of staff General Anupong Paochinda has rejected
suggestions of a coup.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Andal Ampatuan Jr pleads not
guilty to 15 more murders |
|
 |
| The
Mayor of Datu Unsay, Andal Ampatuan Jr, has pleaded
not guilty to another 15 counts of murder petition
for bail |
|
From News Reports:
Manila, February 5: Andal Ampatuan Jr has pleaded not guilty
to another 15 counts of murder at his petition for bail
before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes at Camp Crame, Quezon.
It means the mayor of Datu Unsay now faces 56 charges of
murder.
The extra charges were made as his lawyers tried to establish
that their client had only been identified as the principal
suspect in the slaughter of the 57 people slaughtered near
Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao Province, southwestern Mindanao,
Mindanao, on Monday, November 23 because he was supposed
to be the strongest rival of Esmael Toto Mangudadatu
in Mays election for the governor of Maguindanao Province.
The 57th victim of the massacre is believed to have been
journalist Robert Momay but identification of his body has
yet to be confirmed.
Both Harry Roque, a lawyer for the families of the dead,
and representatives of the National Union of Journalists
have so far failed in an effort to have the proceedings
televised throughout the Philippines.
The Manila Bulleting quotes Supreme Court spokesman Midas
Marquez said a libel hearing initiated by former president
Corazon Aquino and the trial for plunder of former president
Joseph Estrada had set the precedent for a non-televised
trial.
The widows of 14 journalists slain during the massacre have
lodged a petition asking the newly-formed Association of
Southeast Asian Nations Intergovernmental Commission to
make the Philippine government accountable for the massacre.
Its the first such petition lodged with the Jakarta-based
commission.
Lawyers for the widows, Harry Roque and Pete Prinsipe, have
named the Republic of the Philippines as the principal respondent
in the 23-page complaint.
At least 30 journalists were among the victims of the massacre.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Mother
and son charged with Indonesian maids murder
From News
Reports:
Malacca, February 5: A woman, 55, and her son, 26, have
been jointly charged before Magistrate Muhammad Faizal Ismail
with the murder of Nurul Aida M. Nur, 31, of Bogok Besar,
northern Sumatra, on Thursday, January 21.
K. Letchmy and K. Kannan were said to have caused the death
of the maid at their residence in Taman Peringgit Jaya about
5.30am.
They duo did not plead and were remanded to reappear on
Tuesday, April 6.
Four other people, including Lechumis husband, Krishnan,
were released.
A post mortem report showed that the young had died of blunt
trauma injuries to her head, chest and abdomen.
The maids employment agent and her friend had taken
her corpse to an undertaker in Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur,
who refused their request to cremate it without proper documents.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Judges
allow West Papua 11 more legislative councillors
From News Reports:
Jakarta, February 5: Constitutional Court judges have agreed
with plaintiffs Ramses Ohee and Yonas Alfons Nusi that West
Papuas Legislative Council should better represent
the provinces indigenous citizens and ordered that
it should have 11 new members.
The Jakarta Post says the new appointed members will be
representatives of the Papuan people and are expected to
allow traditional communities more say in the exploitation
of resources.
It quotes constitutional judge Achmad Sodiki as saying the
appointment of the new members was for the sake of
national unity under the Unitary Republic of Indonesia and
to ensure benefits, just treatment, equality and opportunity
for the indigenous Papuans.
the Papuan governor and the Papuan Legislative
Council need to immediately issue a bylaw which will regulate
the appointments of the 11 new members of the council,
he said.
The Constitutional Court judges confirmed the validity of
the current 56 members of the
Council and the 11 extra members will take their number
to 67.
The appointment of 11 new members of the Papuan council
and the special bylaw regulating it will apply only for
the 2009-2014 period. For the next term, [a different] special
bylaw will regulate the mechanism for the following appointments,
Achmad Sodiki said.
West Papua was granted special autonomy in 2001.
But the World Bank has reported that more than 40 percent
of West Papuans still live below the poverty line, while
the province has the countrys highest aids rates.
About 700 workers at the Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold
Corporation's Grasberg mine, in the eastern highlands of
West Papua, about 3,400 kilometres east of Jakarta have
held a mass prayer meeting for peace.
The Tonggoi Papua labour union organised the meeting at
the Tembagapura stadium on the road that links the Grassberg
mine and Timika.
The prayers followed the wounding of nine people by unidentified
assailants who fired on two vehicles carrying employees
of the Grasberg mine and traveling the road between the
Phoenix-based transnational company town Tembagapura
and Kuala Kencana, Timika, on Sunday, January 24.
Three people, American James Lockhart, 59, and two members
of Indonesias elite police Mobile Brigade had to be
evacuated to hospitals in Singapore and Jakarta for treatment
after the shooting.
The attack was launched with a few days of West Papua Police
chief Inspector General Bekto Suprapto telling visiting
United States diplomats that security within Freeports
massive concession was improving.
In September, about 600 extra Indonesian soldiers were deployed
to help guard the mine from attacks
The
Southeast Asian Times
|
Five
people in high dependency unit after Darwin bombing |
Darwin,
February 4: Five people were in the high-dependency
unit at Royal Darwin Hospital last night after a home-made
bomb exploded in the Territory Insurance Office between
Smith and Cavenagh Streets, Darwin.
I understand that there was some flammable liquid,
said Police Incident Officer Rob Kendrick. The
cause of the explosion and the nature of the explosion
will be subject to an investigation.
A person of interest has attended at Darwin Police
Station, surrendered at the front counter and is presently
in custody.
It
is believed the man loaded a |
|
trolley
with
jerry cans full of fuel and fireworks before wheeling
it into the TIO office.
Officer Kendrick said police had not determined the
motive for the attack. Ambulance, police and fire
crews worked to treat the injured at the scene.
Northern Territory Police Commander Colleen Gwynne
said the man responsible for the blast was a disgruntled
claimant.
It was a callous act, she said.
In hindsight we are very fortunate there was
no loss of life.
At least 15 people were injured in the blast.
The
Southeast Asian Times
|
| Andal Ampatuan Jr's petition
for bail continues |
|
 |
| The
suspended governor of Mindanao Autonomous Muslim
Region, Zaldy Uy Ampatuan, has denied any knowledge
of plans to ambush the convoy in a statement lodged
with The Philippine Inquirer |
|
From News Reports:
Manila, February 4: The Mayor of Datu Unsay, Andal Ampatuan
Jr's, petition for bail before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes
was to have resumed at Camp Crame, Quezon, yesterday.
The deputy mayor of the small town of Buluan Esmael Mangudadatu,
the husband and brother of three of the 57 slaughtered near
Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao Province, southwestern Mindanao,
Mindanao, on Monday, November 23.
A physician was also to give evidence.
The hearing was to resume the day after Judge Vicencio Baclig,
79, of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court was selected
by lottery to hear the charges of rebellion made against
former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr and four members
of his family.
The judge, who has yet to schedule an arraignment for the
accused that include suspended regional governor Zaldy Ampatuan
and suspended provincial governor Sajid Ampatuan, is to
retire next year.
The five allegedly organised a foiled armed uprising to
prevent policemen from arresting suspects in the massacre.
The suspended governor of Mindanao Autonomous Muslim Region,
Zaldy Uy Ampatuan, has denied any knowledge of plans to
ambush the convoy in a statement lodged with The Philippine
Inquirer.
I do hereby swear that I am innocent and have nothing
to do with the accusations filed against me, says
the statement.
On that day, I took the first flight to Manila from
Davao to catch up with a scheduled meeting with the President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
together with some political
allies from Sulu.
I only learned of the incident vaguely from a phone
call after our meeting with the President that day.
I was shocked.
I sympathize with the families of the victims and
I have condemned, and I continue to condemn the killings
as an unthinkable and unfortunate tragedy that I never thought
could happen.
We will continue to cooperate with the investigation
as we appeal to everybody to let the ongoing investigation
take its natural course, he said.
Rasul Sangki, 30, one of eight witnesses listed to give
evidence for the prosecution in a bid to stop Andal Ampatuan
Jr's from gaining bail told the hearing when it opened that
he saw the accused shoot at least three of those killed.
The accuseds father, former Maguindanao Province Governor
Andal Ampatuan Sr, had instructed his son to do the killings,
he said.
The 57 were slain while making their way to Shariff Aguak,
the provincial capital of Maguindanao, to lodge the candidacy
forms for Esmael Mangudadatu.
His wife, three sisters and an aunt were in the convoy,
heading to an election office to enter him as a candidate
in this years election for provincial governor, a
position Mr Ampatuan was also seeking.
Mr Ampatuan, the only person so far indicted for the massacre,
has pleaded not guilty to 41 counts of murder.
Evidence provided at the bail hearing will be used in the
subsequent murder trial.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Six stand trial for alleged
help with tax evasion
From News Reports:
Ho Chi Minh City, February 4: Six senior tax officials accused
have had to stand trial in the Dong Nai Peoples Court
accused of allowing a Taiwanese-financed fishery enterprise
to evade tax payments.
The defendants are reportedly two former Finance Ministry
Foreign Tax Section deputy directors Phan Van Hien and Vu
Xuan Hieu; the departments Foreign Investment Section
director Hoang Ngoc Nang Hong and three former Dong Nai
Province tax office officials Dang Thi Bach Tuyet, Nguyen
Thi Lan and Pham Van Ngo.
Thanh Nien newspaper says the six charged with deliberately
violating state economic regulations causing serious consequences.
The offences carry jail terms of between 10-20 years.
Prosecutors say the defendants illegally allowed a reduction
and exemption of taxes for the Grobest & IMei Industrial
Company in the Amata Industrial Park between 2003-and 2005.
Losses to the State are put at US$1.95 million.
The indictment says the enterprise was established in 2000
to produce fish feed for the domestic market fish produce
for export.
Although ineligible for preferential tax benefits, it managed
to obtain approval for favourable tax policies.
The six accused have said they followed proper procedures.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Prosecutor
vows to prove Anwar Ibrahim a sodomist
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, February 4: The prosecution would prove beyond
a reasonable doubt that Anwar Ibrahim, 63, had sodomised
Mohammed Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 25, at a condominium in Kuala
Lumpur on June 26 2008, senior prosecutor Mohamed Yusof
Zainal Abiden told the opening of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat
or Peoples Justice Party member for Permatang Pauh,
Penang, yesterday.
The alleged victim and forensic evidence from physicians
and chemists would prove the charge, he told High Court
judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohamad Diah
Mohammed Saiful Bukhari Azlan was the first witness to provide
evidence at the trial at which the former deputy prime minister,
who says the charges are based in malicious intent, has
pleaded not guilty.
He said the prosecution had listed more than 20 witnesses
in the case which will be heard at the Kuala Lumpur.
The charge carries a maximum 20 years in jail and whipping
on conviction.
A date for a hearing to deal with Anwar Ibrahims to
gain access to documents he says he needs for his defence
and his petition to have the charge struck off could be
settled by the end of the week.
Much of todays hearing is expected to be held in camera
to allow Mohammed Saiful Bukhari Azlan to give sensitive
evidence.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Suspended
major general surrenders to Bangkok police |
|
 |
| Suspended
Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol, or Sae Dang,
59, surrenders to the police in Bangkok. About
100 United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship,
the Red Shirts, accompanied him to the police
station |
|
From News Reports:
Bangkok, February 3: Suspended Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol,
or Sae Dang, 59, has reported to members of the Crime Suppression
Division to answer charges of possessing weapons of war.
About 100 protesters, including United Front for Democracy
against Dictatorship coordinator Arisman Pongruengrong loudly
proclaimed their support for the army specialist as he arrived
at the police station.
In October, Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol announced
that he would mobilise government supporters against
any military attempt to seize political power.
Later, he told a radio interviewer that he was training
United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, or Red
Shirt, supporters in armed combat.
He reportedly also threatened to have protesters to use
petrol bombs and against armoured vehicles if the military
attempted a coup.
The police say weapons, including an M26 grenade a .38 calibre
pistol and ammunition, were confiscated when they raided
his residence in the compound of the 4th Cavalry Battalion
Bangkok, on Tuesday, January 26.
The police raid followed a grenade attack against the offices
of army chief General Anupong Paojinda at army headquarters
in Ratchadamnoen Avenue, Bangkok, during the early morning
of Friday, January 15.
The major-general has denied any involvement in the attack.
He has also denied owning the weapons seized in the raids
on his residence.
The major general was suspended early last month for criticizing
his commanders leadership.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Judge orders trial of Anwar
Ibrahim to start today
From News
Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, February 3: High Court judge Justice Mohammad
Zabidin Mohammad Diah ordered the trial of Anwar Ibrahim,
63, to begin this afternoon after the member for Parti Keadilan
Rakyat or Peoples Justice Party member for Permatang
Pauh, Penang, failed to win a stay of his sodomy trial and
the hearing proper is now set to begin on Wednesday.
The defendants lawyers had sought a stay of proceedings
after winning an appointment with the Chief Judge of Malaya
Alauddin Mohammad Sheriff for the fixing of a date to review
the Federal Courts decision to reject their application
to seek more evidence.
I find that there is no special circumstances in the
law of proceedings to grant a stay. The trial will proceed,
said the trial judge.
The sodomy trial is now set to begin at 2.30pm pending the
outcome of a meeting with Appeal Court president Justice
Alauddin Mohammad Sheriff at 9.30am in Putrajaya this morning.
Yesterday Anwar Ibrahim told international reporters that
he would subpoena Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife
Rosmah Mansor, alleging that they were involved in what
he said was a conspiracy to have him imprisoned.
His trial is expected to last 17 days.
Chief Federal Court Judge Arifin Zakaria and Judges Mohammad
Raus Sharif and Abdull Hamid Embong unanimously upheld an
Appeal Court ruling that Anwar Ibrahim entitled to access
only documents and materials pertaining to the sodomy charge
and which have already been given to him.
At this pre-trial stage, a roving fishing enquiry
for evidence is not permissible. A catch-all net cannot
be cast. The appellant is not entitled to know by what means
the prosecution proposes to prove the charge he faces,
said Judge Abdull Hamid delivering a 31-page written judgment.
The High Court granted Anwar Ibrahims application
for prosecution to supply him with key documents to enable
him to prepare his defence in July.
These included CCTV recordings, police reports, copies of
witness statements as well as medical and pharmaceutical
notes.
But it refused to grant his request for DNA samples taken
from Mohammad Saiful on November 6.
Anwar Ibrahim has pleaded not guilty to a charge of carnal
intercourse against the order of nature with Mohammad Saiful
Bukhari Azlan, 24, at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur on June
26 2008.
He was charged in August last year and faces 20 years imprisonment
if convicted.
Anwar Ibrahim, who said he would appeal the judges
ruling, spent six years in prison between 1998 and 2004
after being convicted of corruption and of sodomising his
former family driver.
Judges of Malaysia's highest court eventually overturned
the sodomy conviction.
The
Southeast Asian Times
East
Timors president ignores police assault of student
Dili, February 3: Fretilin member of the parliaments
defence, security and foreign affairs committee and former
government minister Jose Teixeira has asked why President
Jose Ramos-Horta said and did nothing after witnessing an
unprovoked brutal police assault of a contestant in a fishing
competition promoted by the president.
Mr Teixeira said President Ramos-Horta saw police assault
student Lhew Comacoshe during East Timors inaugural
International Fishing Competition on November 27 last year
but remained silent about it until Fretilin MPs raised the
incident in parliament and the media began asking questions.
Mr Comacoshe, a participant in the fishing competition,
which attracted entrants from Australia and Asia, was punched,
kicked and bashed with a rifle butt on a beach on Atauro
Island, 25 kilometres off the coast of the capital Dili,
in full view of hundreds of people.
Film of the assault which happened soon after President
Ramos-Horta officially opened the competition has been posted
on You Tube.
Mr Teixeira said Mr Comacoshe was apparently beaten because
he held up a placard on which was written, Fishing
Group From Suco Maunroni, Sub-District of Atauro, District
of Dili, identifying from where his group of competitors
were and which he intended to affix to their boat, but the
police took objection to it without any explanation, and
forcibly removed from his possession, afterwards assaulting
him.
The police were now persecuting the student and his family
for daring to report the incident to the Ombudsman for Human
Rights and Justice, the Attorney General and parliament.
The assault of Mr Comacoshe partly reflects the gung-ho
and very militaristic attitude introduced by the new police
commander Longuinhos Monteiro, who appears bent on creating
a 'shadow army', said Mr Teixeira.
President Ramos-Horta reportedly told the Dili daily, Jornal
Diario Nacional on January 29: "This poor Timorese
fellow was merely holding up a placard, I saw the police
beat him but because it was far away I did not understand
what was happening.
Afterwards I heard that he was holding up a placard,
I thought if it was a placard then let him do it, there
is no need to beat him just because he was only holding
up a placard.
The president should not have remained silent about the
incident, said Mr Teixeira especially since Mr Comacoshe,
personally delivered a written complaint regarding the incident
to the President's office on December 17 last year, and
then subsequently, on December 23, his brother delivered
a copy of the video to the Presidents Office.
In an apparent act of revenge for having the temerity
to lodge a complaint, police on 13 January evicted Comacoshe's
law-abiding family from a State owned house they had lived
in for six years, said Mr Teixeira.
There was no formal notification from the government
- the village chief and police turned up and threw their
belongings out the door, after having threatened him with
loaded weapons.
If president Ramos-Horta had spoken up earlier it
might have avoided reprisals against Comacoshe and his family,
but the President obviously did not want to spoil the media
glow generated by the international fishing competition
organised by his office.
Many people, the victim included have asked me, Is
this what it means to be a President for the for the poor
and the weak, as he claims widely? I have to ask the
same question."
Mr Teixeira said Mr Comacoshe's family had now sought refuge
in Dili and has yet to receive any help from the government.
Complaints of police brutality are happening with
an unprecedented frequency and on an unprecedented scale.
We have citizens making complaints almost every day now.
In the past two weeks we received complaints about police
joining in with martial arts groups and using violence against
their rivals.
Late last year in Uatolari, Viqueque district, police
allegedly assaulted and tortured a number of young men.
On December 28 2009 police shot and killed an unarmed
young musician at a party in Dili.
There is something very wrong with the way police
are being trained and commanded. Last month, East Timor
police reported the new police commander Longuinhos Monteiro
as saying in regard to alleged criminal activity recently
carried out in border districts by masked groups known as
ninjas, 'Any Ninjas who want to take us on, your final stop
will be Santa Cruz cemetery.'
Dressed in military style fatigues, wearing black
gloves, carrying an automatic rifle and fully equipped with
field battle vest Monteiro is personally leading the operation
to search and arrest these alleged ninjas.
Last year he established a special heavily armed police
unit named the 'Public Order Battalion' and late last year
attempted to enter into a contract to acquire hundreds of
additional automatic rifles.
The government pays lip service to 'community policing'
but it is all about the use of force, force, force, relying
on weapons, weapons, weapons, said Mr Teixeira.
We already have an army, we do not need a shadow army.
We have many professional and dedicated policemen
and women who feel the same way we do and have asked us
to speak up for them to change the direction of policing
in this country. They want to serve their communities with
pride and professionalism, and deserve our support.
Mr Teixeira said Fretilin was preparing to table the terms
of reference for a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into
police action over the last two years to establish whether
there have been breaches of the law and what can be done
in terms of improving police training and legal controls
to make policing more community friendly and respecting
of human rights.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Militarys role in illegal
Indonesian logging confirmed |
|
 |
| Thirteen
people are wanted as suspects in the illegal felling
of these logs stored at a police post in Baru
Village, the Siak Hulu District, Riau province.
Police and soldiers reportedly seized the 824
30-50 centimetre logs on the bank of the Kampar
Kiri Hilir River, Simalinyang village |
|
From
News Reports:
Jakarta, February 2: University-of-Indonesia research has
confirmed that military personnel are part of illegal logging
in Indonesian.
Their contribution ranges from coordinating tree felling
to providing finance, the research done by a team from the
Centre for East Asia Cooperation Studies shows.
The research was done in East Kalimantan, where illegal
logging is reportedly rampant, between 1999 and 2006.
The militarys involvement in this practice was
structural and low-ranked soldiers to territorial commanders
received a share, The Jakarta Post quotes the centres
executive director and senior researcher Tirta Mursitama
as saying.
The research found three types of higher-ranked personnel
contributed to the illegal logging.
These were those who received only a portion of the profit
from their subordinates; high-ranked officers who were affiliated
with the industrys cukong, or tycoons; and those who
provided finance.
The research said some military personnel were paid tribute
for their role in having State forestry agencies issue permits
that allowed the logging.
The tribute took the form of company shares.
Otherwise illegal profits were made from the misuse of timber
utilisation permits issued by either the Forestry Ministry
or forestry agencies.
Military cooperatives with these permits usually hired local
people to fell trees and sell the logs to private companies.
But the felling did not always stop within the zone governed
by the permits.
The role of the cukong as the financier of the entire system
was essential to its success, Tirta Mursitama said.
The cukong distributes money to private companies
or military cooperatives.
The latter two then distribute the money to people
in several institutions including the military, the governor
[regional government] and the Forestry Ministry through
the forestry agencies.
Borneo Institute research centre representative Koesnadi
Wirasapoetra, who has spent more than 10 years studying
Kalimantans rampant illegal logging industry, told
the newspaper that military cooperatives or private companies
with the necessary permits felled trees along river banks.
The illegal logs were then exported to Malaysia because
it was illegal to do so in Indonesia.
Defence Ministry strategy director Rear Admiral T.H. Soesetyo
conceded that military personnel participated in illegal
logging but refused to identify the practice as a military
business.
Life in border zones can be difficult for soldiers,
he said.
Their salaries are not enough to live, especially
as daily goods are expensive.
The rear admiral said he welcomed the centres research.
But We cannot simply believe it.
In December, New York-based Human Rights Watch reported
that the mismanagement and illegal logging costs the Indonesian
State an estimated US$2 billion a year.
Its report said its investigation revealed that Indonesia
had forgone $6 billion in four years through 2006 because
of taxes lost on illegal logging, under priced forest royalties
and companies' undervaluing of reported export sales to
offshore subsidiaries.
The report said the losses were conservative because they
did not take into account smuggled timber that was not reported
by either Indonesia or any importing country.
The figures also did not include lost company and income
tax revenues.
The
Southeast Asian Times
DNA
tests offered in bid to track Filipino children
From News Reports:
Manila, February 2: Asia against Child Trafficking regional
coordinator Amihan Abueva has offered to use DNA tests to
help identify Filipino children sent illegally to Singapore
for adoption.
Women posing as the mothers of the babies took them to the
republic using fake identification, she told a forum titled:
DNA-Prokids: Using DNA To Help Fight Child-Trafficking.
But once in Singapore, the babies are left behind.
The Philippine Inquirer quotes Justice Undersecretary Ricardo
Blancaflor as telling reporters at the forum at the University
of the Philippines, Quezon City: The trouble is that
there are no complainants.
Parents also do not know where to go. They do not
even know who to accuse since no one knows where the child
went.
Forensic scientists Dr Jose A. Lorente of the University
of Granada, Spain, and Dr Arthur J. Eisenberg, co-director
of the University of North Texas Centre for Human Identification
helped launch DNA-Prokids as an international humanitarian
initiative to use genetic identification of stolen children
in 2004.
Dr Lorente told the meeting that child trafficking was now
an international epidemic and could be the No. 1 crime
worldwide by the end of 2010.
Heroin, at least, can be detected.
But as long as there is no systematic method to track
down parents and bring back their children to them, children
will be abducted.
For example, Guatemalan children were abducted and taken
to North America and Europe where there were markets for
illegal adoption.
Northern India, China and the Philippines were among the
Asian countries with statistically large percentage
of cases of illegal adoptions.
This meant that many children from these countries become
victims of trafficking whether through prostitution
forced labour, militant activities or illegal adoptions.
United Nations studies showed that Central and South America,
Africa, Central and Southeast Asia were the prime sources
of children brought to North America, Canada, the United
States, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
One of the basic rights of a child is the right to
identity, Dr Lorente said.
If a child is without documents, his identity can
still be established through DNA analysis. But this requires
the help of governments concerned and needs cooperation
and coordination of their agencies.
The forums programme says that 50 percent of the 600,000
to 800,000 people trafficked across international
borders each year are less than 17 years old.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Malaysian
detained for alleged human trafficking
From News Reports:
Johor Baru, February 2: Interpol Bukit Aman has surrendered
a Malaysian detained for alleged human trafficking to the
Singapore police.
The man, 44, was detained after Singapore police issued
a warrant for his arrest, reports the Bernama news agency
He is wanted in connection with human trafficking
activities from Malaysia to the republic, the news
agency quoted a senior policeman as saying.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Anwar
Ibrahim tells Filipinos of unfair prosecution |
|
 |
| Former
Philippines President Joseph Estrada and former
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
brief reporters at the Manila Polo Cub |
|
From
News Reports:
Manila, February 1: Parti Keadilan Rakyat or Peoples
Justice Party member for Permatang Pauh, Penang, Anwar Ibrahim,
63, has complained to Filipino reporters that his prosecution
for alleged sodomy has been unfair.
I have not had a fair trial, he said after a late
breakfast with deposed President Joseph Estrada at the Manila
Polo Club on Saturday.
When a judge was fair she was promptly replaced.
Maybe this is my final overseas trip to meet my friends,
said the former deputy prime minister whose trial for the
alleged sodomy of his former aide Mohammad Saiful Bukhari
Azlan, 25, is due to resume tomorrow.
Anwar Ibrahim, who like Philippines presidential candidate
Joseph Estrada has served time in jail, also met the son of
former President Corazon Aquino, presidential candidate Senator
Benigno Aquino III, during his visit.
Theyre two family friends, he said.
They treat me as a family member.
You have relatively freer elections, a freer media,
the visitor said of the Philippines. We dont have
that in Malaysia.
No opposition leader would be given five minutes on
television in our country.
In Putrajaya, Chief Federal Court Judge Arifin Zakaria and
Judges Mohammad Raus Sharif and Abdull Hamid Embong have unanimously
upheld an Appeal Court ruling that Anwar Ibrahim entitled
to access only documents and materials pertaining to the sodomy
charge and which have already been given to him.
His lawyer Karpal Singh said the Federal Court would now be
asked to immediately review the decision.
Anwar would file for an application to the
Federal Court on Tuesday for a five-man panel to review the
decision.
At this pre-trial stage, a roving fishing enquiry for
evidence is not permissible. A catch-all net cannot be cast.
The appellant is not entitled to know by what means the prosecution
proposes to prove the charge he faces, said Judge Abdull
Hamid delivering a 31-page written judgment.
The High Court granted Anwar Ibrahims application for
prosecution to supply him with key documents to enable him
to prepare his defence in July.
These included CCTV recordings, police reports, copies of
witness statements as well as medical and pharmaceutical notes.
But it refused to grant his request for DNA samples taken
from Mohammad Saiful on November 6.
Anwar Ibrahim has also asked that his sodomy trial in the
High Court be stayed.
Last month, Anwar Ibrahim asked Malaysias Syariah High
Court to instruct its chief prosecutor to charge Mohammad
Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 24, with qazaf or criminal defamation.
The petition seeks to have the prosecution begin within 14
days of the Syariah judges issuing their order.
Section 41 of the Syariah Criminal Act 1997 stipulates that
a person, who accuses another person of committing sexual
offences without providing four male witnesses, has committed
an offence for which he can be fined up to ringgit 5,000,
about $US1, 480, or jailed up to three years or both.
Anwar Ibrahim has pleaded not guilty to a charge of carnal
intercourse against the order of nature with Mohammad Saiful
Bukhari Azlan, 24, at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur on June
26 2008.
He was charged in August last year and faces 20 years imprisonment
if convicted.
Anwar Ibrahim, who said he would appeal the judges ruling,
spent six years in prison between 1998 and 2004 after being
convicted of corruption and of sodomising his former family
driver.
Judges of Malaysia's highest court eventually overturned the
sodomy conviction.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Prosecutors
postpone decision to lay arms charges |
|
 |
|
Thai
prosecutors have delayed their decision to charge
IIyas Issakov, 56, Alexandr Zrybnev, 53, both
from Kazakhstan, Mikhail Petukhou, 54, from Belarus,
Viktor Abdukkayev, 58, Vitaliy Shumkov, 54, both
also from Kazakhstan, will illegal arms possession |
|
From
News Reports:
Bangkok, February 1: Prosecutors have delayed their decision
about charging five men will illegal arms possession after
their Russian-built Georgian-registered Ilyushin Il-76 cargo
aircraft that made an emergency landing at Bangkoks
Don Mueang airport early last month with arms aboard.
The Thai News Agency quotes Criminal Litigation Office director
Kayasit Pissawanprakan as saying the decision had been delayed
until at least Thursday, February 11 because there were
many more documents to be assessed.
The wider impact of a prosecution had also to be considered,
he said.
The aircraft was reportedly carrying 35 tonnes of explosives,
rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-air
missiles.
The Bangkok Post says that it has learned the aircraft arrived
in Bangkok from Pyongyang a day earlier than originally
reported by officials and its crew spent a night at a hotel
near the airport accompanied by what appeared to be Thai
security staff.
The five men aboard the aircraft, IIyas Issakov, 56, Viktor
Abdukkayev, 58, Alexandr Zrybnev, 53, Vitaliy Shunkov, 54,
from Kazakhstan, and Mikhail Petukou, 54, from Belarus,
have been in detention since their arrests despite their
efforts to win bail.
They have denied the charges.
Thai law allows police to detain suspects for up to 84 days
The
Southeast Asian Times
| 1,500
West Papuans rally in support of referendum |
|
 |
|
West
Papuans rally in support of a referendum to
decide sovereignty in Timika. The poster reads:
Indonesia, be honest in recognising the
freedom of our West Papuan nation
|
|
From News Reports:
Timika, January 31: Speakers at rally of about 1,500 West
Papuans in Timika have demanded a referendum to settle the
sovereignty of their homeland.
The speakers argued that the 1969 so-called act of free
choice, or Pepera, which made the former Dutch procession
part of Indonesia, did not accord with international law.
The United Nations should review the poll, the speakers
said.
The call for the referendum was made as the West Papuans
paraded through Timika to support the registration of the
International Parliamentarians for West Papua and the International
Lawyers for West Papua with the European Union.
The Jakarta Post quotes rally coordinator Mario Pigei of
the West Papua National Committee as saying his organisation
had been entrusted with the task of coordinating the effort
in West Papua.
The international committee calls on the whole components
of West Papua from Sorong to Samarai to be serious and to
take part in the movement by showing support to the agenda,
he said.
The agenda is very valuable for the identity of Papuans.
Papuans are always accused of separatism. Many of
us have been killed in the name of separatism, Mario
Pigei said.
Mr Pigei asked those European government that provided funds
for the implementation of special autonomy in Papua to stop
disbursing the money because 60 percent of it had been used
for military operations.
Through the national committee for West Papua, Papuans
urge the United Nations Security Council to unveil human
rights violations in Papua committed during the military
operations, he said.
Papuans demanded a dialogue with the international community
because they considered Indonesia to have failed to address
basic problems in Papua.
Human rights violations continue being committed in
Papua with the killings of Papuan figures including Kelly
Kwalik.
The Indonesian government has to take responsibility
for his death, he said.
Indonesian troops and police killed National Liberation
Army commander at Gorong-Gorong, Timika, in the early hours
of Wednesday, December 16.
Mr Pigei asked that Indonesia police and military withdraw
from the region.
He also insisted that the Free Papua Movement, or OPM, had
not been responsible for the wounding of nine people aboard
two vehicles carrying employees of the Freeport-McMoRan
Copper and Gold Corporations Grasberg gold and copper
mine last week.
New York-based Human Rights Watch says in its 20th yearly
report says that in Merauke, West Papua, Special Forces,
or Kopassus, soldiers arrested Papuans without legal authority
and subjected them to beatings and mistreatment.
Commanders made no serious effort to uphold military discipline
or to hold soldiers accountable for abuses.
Earlier this month, Former Kopassus or Special Forces officer
Major General Hotma Marbun was installed as the military
commander of West Papua.
The Muslim from northern Sumatra succeeds Major General
Azmyn Yusri Nasution.
Army Chief of Staff General George Toisutta, who was guest
of honour at the transfer of duties, said: The area
overseen by the Cenderawasih
the Indonesian name for
the bird of paradise
regional military command shares
a border with Papua New Guinea with which we should maintain
good relations.
The Army Chief of Staff also told the 1977-Military-Academy
graduate: The law must be upheld because we do not
want the Indonesian nation and state to be torn apart by
groups that undermine the unity and integrity of the Republic
of Indonesia.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Southern
Philippines peace talks resume in Kuala Lumpur
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, January 31: Philippine government and Moro
Islamic Liberation Front representatives held two days of
peace talks in Malaysia during the week.
Later, Manilas chief negotiator, Rafael Seguis, issued
a statement saying: I wish to clarify that there is
no agreement yet. Both sides are still in the early stages
of discussing each other's position papers.
The Philippines Congress would have to approve any proposals
at the talks that affected the countrys legislation
or policy, he said.
Malaysian facilitator of the talks, Othman bin Abdul Razak,
said negotiators had reviewed each other's draft positions
and would meet again on February 18-19 to identify
the next steps towards achieving a comprehensive, compact
and a negotiated solution.
Members of the International Monitoring team would also
return to Mindanao before the end of February after an absence
of 14 months.
The Mindanews reports that the negotiators had exchanged
very divergent drafts dealing with the proposed
Comprehensive Compact.
The Macapagal-Arroyo government and Moro Islamic Liberation
Front have already agreed to expand the mandate of the International
Monitoring Team.
The new mandate will have the international team monitor,
verify and report non-compliance by the signatories to their
basic undertaking to protect civilian communities.
It specifies that the Philippine government and the liberation
front shall designate humanitarian organizations and
non-governmental organizations, both international and national,
with proven track record for impartiality, neutrality and
independence, to carry out the civilian protection function.
The government and the liberation front agreed to resume
the Malaysia-government-brokered talks on Tuesday, September
15.
Their resumption followed a meeting to organize a newly-established
International Contact Group, or ICG, for the southern Philippines
was held in Manila last Friday.
Members of the initial ICG are Britain, Japan and Turkey;
the Asia Foundation; the Geneva-based Humanitarian Dialogue
Centre; the London-based Conciliation Resources and Indonesias
Muhammadiyah as members of the International Nongovernmental
Organisations.
The earlier peace talks failed when the signing of a Memorandum
of Agreement for Ancestral Domain was aborted.
The proposed agreement between the Philippines Government
and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to expand and extend
the power of the Muslim autonomous region in the southern
Philippines was abandoned just hours before it was due to
be signed in August last year after 15 judges of the Philippines
Supreme Court issued an order temporarily restraining the
ceremony.
The judges later found the agreement unconstitutional.
The Philippines militarys subsequent pursuit of the
rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front commanders
forced a team of peace keepers from Brunei, Libya, Japan
and Malaysia to withdraw from the peace-keeping team.
Waves of Christian immigrants from other parts of the predominantly
Roman Catholic Philippines have settled in Mindanao
long the homeland of Muslims and indigenous peoples.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Third party organised
murder, says Antasari Azhar |
|
 |
|
Former
Antasari Azhar, 56, has told his trial judges
that a third party had organised the murder
of State-owned enterprise Putra Rajawali Banjaran
executive Nasruddin Zulkarnaen, 45, in order
to remove him as Corruption Eradication Commission
chairman
|
|
From News
Reports:
Jakarta, January 30: Antasari Azhar, 56, has told his trial
judges that a third party had organised the
murder of State-owned enterprise Putra Rajawali Banjaran
director Nasruddin Zulkarnaen, 45, in order to remove him
as Corruption Eradication Commission chairman.
Under my leadership, the Corruption Eradication Commission
had successfully nailed a significant numbers of lawmakers,
country officials and prominent figures in various graft
cases, he said while delivering his defence in the
South Jakarta District Court.
There is no doubt that there were parties who did
not like this and wanted to tackle our fight against corruption
in the country.
The former chairman said he was overseeing the Election
Commissions procurement of information technology
when a ride-by hit man assassinated Nasruddin Zulkarnaen
near the Modernland golf course in Tangerang last March.
The investigation was about the regulation of fees paid
by the central and provincial administrations well as procurement
of an integrated radio communications system.
The investigation had sparked an attempt to bribe the commission,
he said.
The former chairman said that new facts revealed during
this trial showed that he had not been linked with the murder
he was accused of having organised.
I once thought it was Nasruddin who had threatened
my wife via phone calls when we were in Bali on Jan.1, 2009.
But then I realized our conflict was over. So, I believe
there was a third party who took advantage of our dispute,
he said.
Nasruddin Zulkarnaen had sent a text message and had accused
him of harassing his third wife Rhani Juliani.
But then we met and I explained to him that I never
did such a thing, he said.
There were two people. First, there was a male voice
who warned me not to pursue corruption cases so rigorously.
Then, there was a female voice who said she was too tired
from serving me every night, he said.
Chief prosecutor Cirus Sinaga has asked the judges to sentence
the former Corruption Eradication to death for premeditated
murder.
Prosecutors at separate trials have also sought the execution
of former policeman Williardi Wizar, who is accused of organising
the logistics for the slaying and media proprietor called
Sigid Haryo Wibisono, who was accused of financing the hit
men.
Five other men have already been sentenced to up to 20 years
in jail for their part in the assassination of Nasrudin
Zulkarnaen.
Prosecutors say the former chairman had a sexual liaison
with the dead mans third wife, golf caddy Rani Juliani.
Prosecutors alleged he organised the slaying to prevent
the dead many from any blackmail effort.
The young woman has told the judges of a brief sexual contact
with the former chairman and the prosecution also presented
a text message in which he appeared to threaten her husband.
But the accuse has steadfastly maintained his innocence,
denies any dalliance and Williardi Wizar told his trial
judges in November that his fellow police officer had coerced
him into giving evidence against the former chairman.
The judges are scheduled to deliver their verdict on Thursday,
February 11.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Abused
maid sues her former employer and her husband
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, January 30: Abused Indonesian maid Nirmala
Bonat, 26, is seeking a total about ringgit 39,000, about
US$11,417.53, from her former employer.
The young woman from Kupang, West Timor, is seeking the
money from her former employers Yim Pek Ha, 43, and her
husband Hii Ik Ting for whom she worked for about nine months.
Part of the money is for pain, humiliation and physical
and mental anguish and the remainder for loss of income.
Her lawyer Kavimani lodged her claim with the High Court
civil registry earlier this week and told The Star newspaper
that she would serve a copy of the document to the couple
next week.
In December, mother-of-four Yim Pek Ha had her ringit 200,000
bail extended while she appeals the guilty verdict and a
sentence of 12 rather than 18 years in jail
for causing grievous hurt to the maid about five years ago.
High Court judicial commissioner Azman Abdullah reduced
the sentence delivered the former air attendant and boutique-shop
proprietor in November 2008 after hearing her appeal.
In doing so, the judicial commissioner reduced the sentence
for two of the charges from 18 years to five; acquitted
her of a third charge, but sentenced her to two years in
jail after finding her guilty of a fourth charge
breaking her maids nose with a steel cup.
The sentences are concurrent.
The prosecution had wanted the 18-year sentence made consecutive
for a total of 54 years in jail and would ask the appeals
court to have the new sentence served consecutively, said
deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran.
Yim Pek Has children are aged from five to 11 and
the judicial commissioner said he had taken this, and the
fact that the woman was a first offender, into account when
imposing sentence.
Yim Pek Ha was charged with four counts of causing grievous
hurt to Nirmala Bonet West Timor, - twice with a hot iron,
hot water and a metal cup at her house in Villa Putera,
Jalan Tun Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, in January, March, April
and May 2004.
The judicial commissioner convicted her of the fourth charge
on the grounds that the trial judge Akhtar Tahir had erred
in acquitting her.
In acquitting Yim Pek Ha of burning Nirmala Bonet with a
hot iron -the third charge- because of the ambiguity about
when the assault actually happened, the judicial commissioner
said: The victim testified that it happened in March
but according to the charge sheet, the incident happened
in April.
The prosecution should have amended the charge,
he said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Thousands of
Indonesians rally against their President |
|
 |
| About
10,000 Indonesians demand free education
and health during a rally marking the 100th
day of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's second
term in Jakarta yesterday |
|
From
News Reports:
Jakarta, January 29: Thousands of Indonesians took to the
streets throughout the archipelago yesterday to condemn
the performance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's
government after its first 100 days in office.
The demonstrations were held outside the presidential palace
in Jakarta the president was in Banten, about 90
kilometres away for the opening of a coal-fired power station
- and other cities including Surabaya and Makassar.
In Ambon, the protesters tried to storm the governor's office
and burned a poster of the president.
Focus of the protests was corruption and perceived mismanagement
although the newly-ratified Association of Southeast Asian
Nations-China free trade agreement as well as the governments
neoliberal economic policies.
The policies are personified by Australia-United States-educated
deputy President Boediono who served as Bank Indonesia president
before the presidential election.
The Asean-China free trade agreement is what you get
from a government that is neoliberal and capitalistic,
rally coordinator Agus Supriyanto told reporters.
To expect us to make the people prosper within just
100 days is just impossible, responded the president
who was in Banten for the opening of a new coal-fired power
station.
The 100-day programmes have become like hits songs in
the charts. Everyone talks about the 100-day programmes. I
worry about the people who are happy making threats,
he said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Thaksin Shinawarta
wife stopped from selling land |
|
From News Reports:
Bangkok, January 29: Judges of Thailands
Civil Court has granted the Bank of Thailand's
Financial Institutions Development Fund
an injunction that prohibits Khunying Potjaman,
52, the former wife of ousted Prime Minister
Thaksin from selling 33 rai, about 206.5
hectares, central Bangkok.
The fund is seeking the return of the land
over four plots for the baht
772 million it sold it to her in 2003.
The injunction prohibits any sale of the
land until a legal settlement.
In October, nine judges of Thailands
Supreme Court voted five votes to four to
find Thaksin Shinawarta, 59, guilty of corruption
and sentenced him to two years in jail. |
|
 |
|
Khunying
Potjaman, 52, the former wife of
ousted Prime Minister Thaksin has
been stopped from selling 33 rai,
about 206.5 hectares, central Bangkok
|
|
|
|
But his then wife was found not guilty.
The judges found the former Prime Minister guilty of violating
articles of the National Counter Corruption Commission law
that forbids holders of public office and their spouses
from entering into a contract with the State.
The charges spring from his wifes purchase of State-owned
prime land in Bangkoks Thiam Ruam Mit Road in the
Ratchadaphisek business district at an auction arranged
by the Bank of Thailand's Finance Development Fund.
The judges voted 7-2 to find Khunying Potjaman not guilty
because she was not a State
The Office of the Attorney-General has told the fund to
return the money and demand the return of the land.
Khunying Potjaman has asked the fund to pay her 800 million
baht, the 772 million baht she paid, plus compensation and
7.5 percent yearly interest.
The judges set Wednesday June 2 to begin hearing whether
Khunying Potjaman should return the land.
In July 2008, Bangkok Criminal Court Judge Pramote Pipatpramote
found Khunying Potjaman guilty of tax evasion and sentenced
her to three years jail.
She was allowed bail of baht 5 million pending an appeal.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Romanian
diplomat named as hit-run killer driver |
|
From News Reports:
Singapore, January 29: Romanian Charge d'Affaires
Silviu Ionescu was the driver of an Audi
46 sedan that killed one person and injured
two others Principal Senior State Counsel
Lau Wing Yum has told Singapore Coroner
Victor Yeo.
Dr Ionescu, 49, ran two red lights and hit
three pedestrians in separate accidents
while driving the Audi A6 sedan on Tuesday,
December 15, the lawyer said.
Less than an hour later, he made a false
police report that the car had been stolen.
Three days later, he left Singapore.
One of the three victims, Malaysian Tong
Kok Wai, 30, died 10 days after he was struck.
Malaysian Waiter Bong Hwee Haw, 24,and Singaporean
Muhammad Haris |
|
 |
|
Romanian
Charge d'Affaires Silviu Ionescu
has been identified as a hit-and-run
driver who killed one man and injured
two others in Singapore last month.
He has since been recalled from
his post by the Romanian Foreign
Ministry
|
|
|
|
Abu Talib, 18, were injured.
Earlier this month a Singapore taxi driver produced a receipt
that showed that Dr Silviu Ionescu called the police from
his cab during the early morning after the fatal road accident.
The anonymous tax driver, 50, said that he had kept the
receipt because he felt weird when he (the passenger)
asked how to contact the police.
Dr Ionescu had told reporters that he had discovered his
Audi A6 missing at about 3am.
He had lodged a complaint with the police to say his vehicle
was missing about 4am.
The diplomat said he parked the car outside the gates at
1.30am after visiting a karaoke lounge in Peace Centre to
meet some businessmen.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Dr
William B Day questions how land granted in Perpetuity
to Aborigines in Darwins northern suburbs
can be so readily be made available for sale to
developers...Open page
here |
|
| Former secretary-general
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
Ong Keng Yong defends ASEANs ability to
manage regional and international affairs...Open
page here. |
|
| Copenhagen
is right but it risks missing a basic of climate
disruption... reports Robert Weatherburn...Open
page here |
|
| December 1 has
great significance for the people of West Papua
as Charles Reading reports...Open
page here |
|
| Australia
continues to send its used tyres to Viet Nam despite
that countrys Environment Protection Agency
asking for a stop to the export of potential hazardous
waste, reports John Loizou
open
here |
|
| The Australian Aboriginal
warrior, Yagan, is finally coming home after being
missing in action for about 177 years
Open
page here |
|
Published by Pas Loizou Press Darwin
Northern Territory Australia
PASLOIZOUPRESSDARWIN@bigpond.com
|
|
|
Oz $ buys
|
|
Updated daily.
Prices indicative only
|
US...0.8680
Brunei...1.2346
Cambodia...3,636.75
China..Yuan..5.9257
East Timor..0.8678
Euro...0.6351
Hong Kong...6.7451
Indonesia Rupiah..8,154.67
Japan..77.5176
Laos...7,3353.35
Malaysia Ringgit... 2.9876
Myanmar...5.64897
Papua New Guinea...2.3000
Philippines Peso...40.3836
Singapore dollar...1.2345
Thailand...Baht...28.8230
Viet Nam Dong...16,030.72
China
bank loans $5.1 billion to coal miner
Melbourne, February 8: The Export-Import Bank of China has
provide credit of about US$5.1 billion to Queensland coal
miner Resourcehouse to supply 30 million tonnes of coal a
year for 20 years.
The coal will be mined from the Galilee Basin near Alpha,
west of Emerald, and carried via a privately-built 495-kilometre
railway to a yet-to-be-built port at Abbott Point, near Bowen.
Resourcehouse chief executive officer Clive Palmer said: There
will be four underground mines and two open cut mines.
The project is expected to start later this year.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Viet
Nam to buy Russian submarines
From News Reports:
Ha Noi, February 9: Viet Nam will buy six Russian-built submarines
for US$2 billion. In an agreement that Prime Minister Nguyen
Tan Dung describes as meant to modernise the countrys
defence forces.
It is a normal move, and should not be seen as
an arms race, the prime minister, who signed the agreement
during a visit to Moscow last month, old reporters.
Viet Nam did not have the opportunity to buy modern submarines
and aircraft until now, when the country has become more economically
capable, he said.
The country would maintain its peaceful policies, but needed
to be strong enough to defend its independence.
The
Southeast Asian Times
3,500
barred from Singapores casinos
From
News Reports:
Singapore, February 7: Commissioner of Police Exclusion Orders
from Singapores two casinos have been posted to about
3,500 people with criminal records for drugs, illegal money
lending, prostitution and secret societies.
The notices will ban the recipients from the Marina Bay Sands
and Resorts World Sentosa integrated resorts.
The people barred had been involved in serious syndicated
crimes or illegal activities that will directly affect
the crime-free gaming environment, said a police spokesperson.
In September, it was announced that al the city-state's recipients
of public assistance and their dependants as well as bankrupts
will be banned from its new casino.
The laws ensuring their prohibition are embodied in changes
the Singapore Parliament made to the Casino Control Act.
There will be no appeal.
Such people could ill afford to gamble and their exclusion
would protect them from getting into further debt, said Community
Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Credit Counselling Singapore figures show that gambling was
a major cause of financial problems among 27.5 per cent of
people in debt during 2008, more than double that in 2006.
Financially-troubled Las Vegas Sands is scheduled to open
its casino complex in stages instead of at once later this
year.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Environment rules ignored in Kalimantan
From News Reports:
Jakarta, February 6: Environment Ministry environment pollution
monitor Gempur Adnan reports that five companies in South
Kalimantan have ignored their environmental obligations.
We will try our hardest to ensure the companies pay
attention to the environment, he told
If they dont, we will bring them to the court
for alleged violation of the environment and may revoke their
operational licenses.
Seventeen enterprises that had participated in an environmental
test had made no proper effort to better the environment,
he said.
The Environment Ministry says that most small coal miners
in East and South Kalimantan have failed to comply with environmental
law.
A minister preliminary report shows that major companies have
also failed to rehabilitate mining pits before they abandon
them.
The
Southeast Asian Times
1,500 Filipino contractors to bid for Guam
From News Reports:
Olongapo, February 5: More than 1,500 Filipino contractors
are expected to bid for contracts in the United States militarys
US$15-billion building programme on Guam.
Annual Pacific Island Local Government conference executive
director Dean Alegado said the contractors had signed up for
the contractual bidding processes in Washington, Honolulu
and Guam.
In those over 50 of the companies were Filipino-owned.
The Guam project has been spurred by the relocation of US
military bases from Okinawa. It will require at least 20,000
workers,
In July Guam governor Felix Camacho told reporters in Manila
that Filipino workers could be among the 10,000 to 15,000
needed to build new United States military bases on its western
Pacific territory.
Skilled workers would be needed to meet job demands that could
not be met by the islanders.
It is not exclusive but the likelihood is that most
will be from the Philippines, he said. Chinese workers
would not be hired.
The Japan Press Weekly has reported that the Japanese government
has agreed to pay US$6 billion to have United States marines
transferred from Okinawa to Guam.
The agreement will have Japan pay 60 percent of the total
cost for the relocation, including $2.8 billion in cash.
The agreement says conditions of the transfer include Japan's
financial contribution; infrastructure on Guam and replacement
facilities on Okinawa.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Mosques to house entrepreneurs
From News Reports:
Kota Kinabalu, February 4: Sabahs mosques are to groom
potential entrepreneurs, reports The Star newspaper.
It says the Sabah Economic Development Corporation will provide
business premises within the compounds of selected mosques.
The newspaper quotes Chief Minister Musa Aman as saying the
agency would provide premises for stalls and eateries at the
City Mosque in Likas, Bukit Padang and Ranau.
We will look at providing similar facilities at other
mosques, so that Muslim entrepreneurs will have more opportunities
to venture into business, he said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Viet
Nam gold exchanges to close early
From News Reports:
Ha Noi, February 3: Viet Nams 20 gold exchanges are
expected to close before the government deadline of Tuesday,
March 30 because of a heavy drop in sales, reports Thanh Nien
newspaper.
Earlier, the State Bank of Vietnam ordered banks to stop lending
for the purchase of gold and all the loans made to buy the
precious metal must be repaid.
Bank credit accounted for almost all the trading, says the
newspaper.
In November, the central bank T decided to allow the importation
of gold after a 16-month ban to cool the market for the precious
metal.
The price for gold in Viet Nam reached an all-time high of
VND30 million, about US$1,666, per tael the equivalent
of 1.2 troy ounces immediately before the announcement
was made.
It had jumped VND4.5 million from the previous business day.
The price dropped to about VND26.8 million per tael after
the lifting of the ban was lifted.
Ho Chi Minh City-based ACB Real Estate Company general director
Pham Van Hai said the high price of gold has halted the purchase
of residences listed in bullion, especially single units.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Malaysia plan to promote railway tourism
From News Reports:
Bandar Seri Begawan, February 2: Malaysia planned to promote
railway tourism as a way of attracting Western tourists, Tourism
Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen has told the 13th Association of Southeast
Asian Nations tourism ministers.
The tours would enable visitors to enjoy a slow and relaxing
holiday from Singapore all the way up to the east coast states,
she said.
They can enjoy the food in Malaysia and then take a
train up to other Asean countries after that.
The Malaysian leg would focus on Kelantan, she said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Malaysian officials accused of accepting sand bribes
From News Reports:
Johor Baru, February 1 Customs officer Syahrol Mohammad Zain,
31, and Land and Mines Department official Johairi Ahmad,
41, have pleaded not guilty at separate hearings of accepting
bribes to allow the smuggling of sand to Singapore.
Syahrol Mohammad Zain is accused of accepting ringgit 5,600
e from Sendry Anak Ugi, 44, in July for allowing four trucks
to illegal carry sand to Singapore last year.
Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin allowed him bail of ringgit 5,000
and set a hearing for Tuesday, March 9.
Johairi Ahmad is charged with accepting a bribe of ringgit
800 allow four trucks to smuggle sand to Singapore.
Early last month, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
was reported to have foiled an attempt by a Singapore-registered
vessel to smuggle 3,800 tonnes of river sand worth ringgit
100,000, about US$29,398, from Tanjung Piai waters.
The agency's southern enforcement director, Commander Abdul
Razak Johan, said the vessel, Cathay 15, had been detained
after four officials had spotted it hauling a pontoon filled
with sand.
It was found to have a permit for cement and not sand.
The Jakarta Post reports that fisherman have complained of
sand being unlawfully quarried at Mount Krakatau Anak in the
Sunda Strait.
The sand mining has continued despite a volcanic alert and
the mountains status as a nature reserve.
The volcano stands 350 metres above the sea and is one of
the most active in Indonesia.
In May, sand thieves killed one policeman and wounded two
investigating the illegal dredging of the Thuong River in
northern Bac Giang Province.
The dead officer Nguyen Van Hoan, 25, was pelted with stones,
beaten with canes and stabbed with knives when they boarded
one of three vessels used to steal the sand.
Illegal sand dredging is rife in Bac Giang, especially in
the Thuong River.
In June, Singapores founder prime minister Lee Kuan
Yew told reporters during a supposed farewell tour of Malaysia
that their countrys refusal to allow the export of sand
to the republic made it difficult for Singaporean investors
to participate in major projects across the Causeway that
links the two.
The
Southeast Asian Times
8,000 reportedly fleeced in Casino scam
From News Reports:
George Town, January 31: A company promising investors up
to 500 percent return on their investments through commissions
from casinos is believed to have fleeced about 8,000 people,
reports The Star newspaper.
The Star says company led investors to believe it was a junket
operator that was paid lucratively each time it got a high
roller to gamble at the VIP halls of 20 casinos worldwide.
The company also claimed it was also offered commissions every
time the high rollers bought chips to gamble.
Police believe the suspected organiser of the scam is now
China.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Layoffs forecast for Indonesia
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 30: Bekasi chapter of the Indonesian Employers
Association chairman Purnomo Narmiadi warns that at least
15 of the regencys enterprises plan layoffs of as many
as 30,000 workers this year.
Most of them are food and beverage companies,
tempointeraktif.com quoted him as saying.
The layoff would start in February.
Higher production costs; a flood of made-in-China products
and an increasing minimum wage were the cause of the decision,
he said.
The association has registered 800 companies in Bekasi; they
employ about 150,000 workers.
The Southeast Asian Times
Legal action against water utility planned
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 29: Indonesias Legal Aid Foundation
is reportedly preparing a civil suit against water utility
PAM Lyonnaise Jaya for its alleged poor service to residents
of Muara Baru, North Jakarta.
We will sue those who are responsible, including the
water operator, The Jakarta Post quotes the foundations
director Patra M. Zen as saying.
They allegedly breached the consumer protection law.
The foundation was would need two weeks to prepare its brief
and decide the most appropriate legal action.
The prospective lawsuits were intended to make Jakartas
administrators realize the importance of clean water.
Tap water operators should deliver clean water. Many
countries terminated contracts with private water operators
for poor performance, he said.
Last week, Peoples Coalition for the Right to Water
national coordinator Hamong Santono demanded an end to the
privatision of Jakartas water supply.
The privatisation, more than ten years ago, had harmed the
capitals residents, especially the poor, he said.
The Soeharto government initiated the privatisation of the
citys water supply during the 1997 financial crisis
with heavy support from the International Monetary Fund.
The Jakarta Post says the contract between the city-owned
public utility Pam Jaya and its two private operators, Lyonnaise
Jaya and Aetra Air Jakarta, is due to end in 2025.
The newspaper reports that more than 250 of 500 water reservoirs
in eastern Indonesia are now dry because of prolonged drought.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Viet
Nam workers left without pay
From News Reports:
Ho Chi Minh City, January 28: Owners of foreign-owned enterprises
in southern Viet Nam have left the country without paying
their workers their entitlements, reports Thanh Nien newspaper.
The missing employers are from South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia,
it says.
An example was Hason Limited in the Tan Dinh Industrial Zone,
the Ben Cat District, where 669 stranded workers were now
to be paid from provincial funds.
The shoemaker was just two of ten foreign-owned enterprises
whose executives had fled Binh Duong Province last year owing
a total of 2,800 workers their pay, social insurance contributions
and other allowances worth about US$682,000.
The newspaper says the Ben Cat District Peoples Court
has received claims from 300 Hanson employees seeking pay
and insurance contributions.
Binh Duong Labour Union deputy chairman Nguyen Van Khuong
had asked the provincial peoples committee to have its
finance department provide dong 1.1 billion the workers so
that they could return home for Tet, or the lunar new year,
before the middle of February.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Caracas meeting seeks alternative to dollar
From News Reports:
Caracas, January 27: Economic ministers from Venezuela, Bolivia,
Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, Saint Vincent,
and Antigua and Barbuda have met in Caracas to break the dependency
on the United States dollar.
The new currency, named the Sucre after Jose Antonio de Sucre,
who fought for independence from Spain alongside Venezuelan
hero Simon Bolivar in the early 19th century, is expected
to be rolled out early this year in a non-paper form.
The currency for regional trade was agreed to in an October
meeting of Alba that was founded by Venezuela and Cuba in
2004as a counterweight to the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
The Southeast Asian Times
Privatised water leaves Jakarta thirsty
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 26: Peoples Coalition for the Right
to Water national coordinator Hamong Santono wants the privatision
of Jakartas water supply ended.
The privatisation, more than ten years ago, had harmed the
capitals residents, especially the poor, told a news
conference.
Although many residents pay high rates for water, they still
had to buy drinking water for because of the poor quality
of tap water.
Supplies were also often disrupted for days.
The Soeharto government initiated the privatisation of the
citys water supply during the 1997 financial crisis
with heavy support from the International Monetary Fund.
The Jakarta Post says the contract between the city-owned
public utility Pam Jaya and its two private operators, Lyonnaise
Jaya and Aetra Air Jakarta, is due to end in 2025.
The newspaper reports that more than 250 of 500 water reservoirs
in eastern Indonesia are now dry because of prolonged drought.
It quotes the regions agriculture agency director Petrus
Muga as saying parts of northern Flores, Lembata, West Manggarai,
Alor and West Timor had been affected.
The drought will threaten other areas such as the north
coast of West Sumba and Southwest Sumba, he said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Welfare
State planned for Thailand
From News Reports:
Bangkok, January 25: The Thai government plans introduce a
complete welfare state by 2017, reports The Nation newspaper.
The decision was made during a meeting of the National Social
Welfare Promotion Committee, it says.
The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva,
decided the government would develop four social welfare systems
- public services, social security scheme, social assistance
and a system to help communities to have sustainable strength.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Office rents tumble in Singapore
From News Reports:
Singapore, January 24: The cost of office space has fallen
from the worlds tenth most expensive to forty third,
property consultant DTZ's latest Global Occupancy Costs survey
shows.
Fallen demand and new supply had supply lowered total occupancy
costs by 51 per cent year-on-year, it says.
The consultant forecasts that the declines will continue till
2013.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Tiger Airways IPO raises about $177 million
From News Reports:
Singapore, January 23: Tiger Airways opened at their initial
public offering, IPO, price of US$1.07358 when it became the
first Asian carrier to be listed in five years Singapore Stock
Exchange yesterday.
They then rose to
They rose to $1.12928 before declining.
Tiger, which is 33.1 per cent owned by flag carrier Singapore
Airlines, will use the about $177million it raised from the
listing to finance its expansion into Asia..
Tiger first flew in 2004.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Singapore
helps Indonesia recover money
From News Reports:
Singapore, January 23: Singapores financial officials
had helped recover money stolen from Bank Century by its jailed
founder Robert Tantular, former national police chief of detectives
Commander General Susno Duadji has told The Jakarta Post.
Singapore, for the first time, gave us details of Robert
Tantulars bank account, containing US$14 million,
the newspaper quotes the policeman as saying.
This has never happened before.
Australia and Hong Kong had also cooperated to freeze the
bankers assets but another shareholder, Rafat Ali Rizvi,
was still hiding in Singapore.
The policeman said Robert Tantulars crime was very well-planned.
Jakarta District Court judges convicted Robert Tantular of
stealing money from Bank Century and sentenced him to four
years in prison.
The High Court has since confirmed the verdict but increased
the jail term to five years.
In November, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told a national
television audience that the Indonesian governments
decision to provide Bank Century with about US$106 million
last year was to prevent banking and perhaps an economic crisis.
The money- provided had not been used for his re-election
campaign, he said.
The initial injection of funds was made after the lender failed
to meet a billion rupiah obligation.
It later received another rupiah 6.7 trillion.
Indonesia's Deposit Insurance Agency assumed management of
the bank after its capital adequacy ratio plunged to negative
2.3 percent on November 21 last year.
The mandatory minimum is set at 8 percent.
The capital adequacy began to decrease when the bank's major
depositors withdrew their funds and it defaulted on a US$56
million loan payment on October 30.
It was the first Indonesian bank to be nationalised since
the 1997-1998 financial crisis.
The
Southeast Asian Times
MPs
coy about declaring their wealth
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 22: More than half of the members of House
of Representatives have not reported their personal wealth
as required, reports the Antara news agency.
The news agency quotes Corruption Eradication Commission Deputy
Chairman Jasin as saying that only 229 of the parliaments
560 members had reported their personal wealth as required
by law.
The deadline was December 2009 so they are more than
a month late, he said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
HSBC accused of illegal employment
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 21: Indonesian workers at British-owned HSBC
have lodged a complaint with Manpower and Transmigration Ministry
and Bank Indonesia about its illegal employment of expatriates.
The letter made available to The Jakarta Post
alleges that HBSC Indonesia employs at least 13 expatriates
who had no official permit to work and stay in the country.
The 13 expatriates occupy strategic positions, including
the human resources manager post, a bank employee asking
for anonymity told the newspaper.
HSBC is in the process of acquiring a majority stake in publicly
listed Bank Ekonomi Raharja and the newspaper quotes an Indonesian
Workers Organization official as saying, HSBC has replaced
local executives with expatriates to occupy strategic positions
following the holding groups recent acquisition of the
bank in its ambitious bid to make Bank Ekonomi a top 10 bank
in the country.
Manpower and Transmigration Ministry official Mudji Handojo
the newspaper that three expatriates who occupied director
positions at the bank had been deported because they had used
the three-month business visa to enter and work in the country.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Batu
Hijau produces despite stoppage
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 20: The Indonesian subsidiary of the Newmont
Mining Corporation continues to produce copper and gold from
its Batu Hijau open-cut mine on Sumbawa island, about 1,500
kilometres east of Jakarta despite the suspension of work
following the death of a mine worker on Sunday.
Newmont Nusa Tenggara was processing existing stockpiles of
copper and gold and production remained t normal levels, public
affairs officer Kasan Mulyono told Dow Jones Newswires.
Mining would re-start once an investigation was complete,
he said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Clark
Hatch ordered to refund fees
From News Reports:
Johor Baru, January 20: Consumer claims tribunal president
Rungit Singh has directed Clark Hatch Fitness and Sports Centre
to refund ringgit 3,885, about US$1,163, to three clients
whose yearly membership was renewed without their permission.
I hope the next time Clark Hatch wants to charge their
clients membership fees, you must inform them first,
he told centre representative Tai Yuan Ling.
The money must be repaid within 21 days.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Money,
students boost Chinese schools
From
News Reports:
Batu Pahat, January 19: The Malaysian government provided
Chinese schools about ringgit 1.8 billion in 2008 for their
expenses, including teacher salaries in 2008, reports Deputy
Education Minister Dr Mohammad Puad Zarkashi.
The Star newspaper reports that once spurned Chinese independent
schools are now so popular that more than 2000 urban applicants
had been rejected this year.
Enrolment has topped 13,000 for the first time, it says.
The Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily says of the 2,635 applicants
rejected, 1,400 were from the Klang valley and 830 from Johor.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Four West Java universities to be nationalised
From News Reports
Cirebon, January 18: The State is to acquire at least four
private universities in West Java, reports the Antara news
agency.
In March or April a number of private universities will
sign a change of their status, including four in West Java,
it quotes West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan as telling newly-graduated
students from the Swadaya Gunung Jati University, Cirebon,
on Saturday.
The Unswagati, the Siliwangi University in Tasikmalaya and
the Singaperbangsa University in Karawang were among those
which would be nationalized.
So too would an unidentified university in Sukabumi.
The governor said his administration had allocated funds from
the 2010 regional budget to buy 30 hectares of land to build
a new campus for Unswagati in Cirebon.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Denpasar
acts against illegal mini marts
From News Reports:
Denpasar, January 17: The Denpasar municipal government intends
to close unregistered mini-marts operating across the city
including several on Jalan Teuku Umar and Jalan Bypass Ngurah
Rai.
Municipal official Nyoman Sudana told The Jakarta Post that
the number of mini-marts across the city had grown very rapidly.
Some of these establishments have obtained legitimate
operating licenses, but many of the others don't have the
necessary permits, he said.
The municipal government issued regulations governing traditional
markets, supermarkets and department stores last year.
We are strongly warning the owners of these businesses
to immediately obtain the appropriate license, otherwise we
will have to halt their operations, he said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Indonesian military still in business
From
News Reports:
The Indonesian government has shown no inclination to end
the militarys involvement in business or make the military
accountable to civil society, reports Human Rights Watch.
Indonesias House of Representatives issued a five-year
deadline for the military to withdraw from its businesses
in October 2004.
But President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a decree five
days before the expiry, postponing the date for an unspecified
time.
The Human Right Watch report says the Yudhoyono government
does not intend to end the military ownership of the
armed forces businesses and the reform plans do not
ensure accountability for military misbehavior in connection
with business activity.
The report says the militarys business operations included
enterprises governed by military foundations and cooperatives,
collaborations with the private sector and criminal activities
such as illegal logging.
The
Southeast Asian Times
To
read the Human Rights Watch report
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Malaysia impounds three foreign tankers
From News Reports:
Pontian, January 15: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
has impounded three tankers near Tanjung Piai.
The New Straits Times quotes the agency's southern region
operations director, Commander Abdul Razak Johan, as saying
the Panama-registered Eleftheria K was found to be in the
midst of transferring 350,000 litres of marine fuel oil to
the Singapore-registered Neptank VII without a permit while
another vessel, the St Kitts-and-Nevis-registered Sea Trader
8, had failed to pay light dues and inform the authorities
of its presence in Malaysian waters.
The vessels were at 1.7 nautical miles off the southern tip
of Tanjung Piai at 3.15am.
All 45 crew members of the three vessels comprising 30 Filipinos,
seven Indonesians, seven from Myanmar and a Singaporean, aged
22 to 66, were detained.
The agency has impounded 10 ships for various offences since
the beginning of this month.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Indonesia seeks Asean-China review
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 14: The Indonesian government wants to maintain
228 tariffs for another two years rather than reduce them
as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China Free Trade
Area agreement that became effective on Friday, January 1.
The letter seeking the negotiations to discuss the change
was submitted on Thursday, December 31, said Trade Ministry
official Gusmardi Bustami.
Trade Minister Mari Pangestu refused to discuss the agreement
or confirm that a formal request for further protection had
been sent to Asean.
She had previously said only that Indonesia would honour its
commitments to the agreement.
But Industry ministry spokesman Muhdori said a two-year reprieve
from zero tariffs was required for electronics, machinery,
furniture, steel, textiles and chemicals.
The reason for the delay is because we want local industries
to be ready for competition with imported goods, he
said.
The Indonesian government first signed the agreement in 2002.
Last week, thousands of workers employed at West Javas
industrial estates have demanded that implementation of the
newly-signed Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China
Free Trade Agreement be postponed at a rally outside the Bandung
governors office.
West Java Manpower Agency chief Mustopa Djamaludin, who supported
the worker demands, said that a special recommendation would
be put to the government of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asking
it to temporarily withdraw from the agreement.
Indonesia Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs Association chairman
Anthony C.H. Sunarjo as saying the Asean-China free trade
threatens the domestic pharmaceutical industry.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Laos buys made-in-China aircraft
From News Reports:
Vientiane, January 13: Lao Airlines is to buy two new made-in-China
ARJ21-700) aircraft.
The Lao news agency, KPL, reports the national carriers
president Dr Somphone Douangdara and the Commercial Aircraft
Corporation of China chairman Jin Zhuang Long signed the contract
in Vientiane yesterday.
A Memorandum of Understanding for the purchase was signed
on March 5 last year.
Dr Somphone said that the ARJ21-700 aircraft would be delivered
to Vientiane by 2012.
The ARJ21-700 aircraft can carry 90 passengers with a flying-range
of about 1200-2000 kilometres.
Dr Somphone said the aircraft would boost the continuing growth
of the Lao Airlines, especially in the passenger services.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Tourism Minister wants higher hotel charges
From
News Reports
Kuala Lumpur, January 12: Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen thinks
prices for Malaysias hotel rooms are too low and should
be increased.
when tourists who want to visit our country look
at the competitive hotel prices, they will think that the
services cannot be that good, she said while suggesting
the hotel industry reconsider its pricing.
We must not undervalue ourselves, she told reporters
after a Tourism Malaysia meeting.
As long as hotels maintained their service, customers would
keep coming back, she said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Bali to receive $925 million from State revenue
From News Reports:
Denpasar, January 11: Bali will received rupiah 8.7 trillion,
about US$925 million, from the State budget for the 2010 fiscal
year, Governor Made Mangku Pastika has confirmed.
We will disburse the fund to support economic activities
that stimulate growth, create job opportunities and reduce
poverty, he told The Jakarta Post.
The focus in the spending of the money would include health,
education, agriculture, and environment.
We will also improve infrastructure in many parts of
the island, especially in the remote areas, he says.
Most of the revenue raised through the tourist industry
the resort island attracted a record 2.2 million visitors
in 2009 - goes to a limited number of the islands eight
regencies and municipalities such as Badung and Gianyar.
In April, Balis provincial administration reportedly
declared a moratorium on the building of new hotels, villas
or home stays.
In April, Governor Made Mangku Pastika asked the central government
to allocate the province more of Indonesias national
tourism revenue.
The island contributes 30 percent of the total income.
In July, the Earth Awareness Forum asked that the provincial
administration to halt any planned development projects on
Bali pending the issuance of a regional spatial planning bylaw
for the next 20 years.
The Bali provincial administration must impose a moratorium
on any developments and investment permits, while it formulates
the new spatial plan, said provincial legislative council
chairman Putu Wesnawa.
Forum coordinator Made Suarnatha said: We have to decide
which areas are suitable for business, tourism, civic centres
education facilities and many other uses.
High-rise hotels and apartments had been built in breach of
the existing spatial plan and hotels other tourist facilities
had been built on fertile land such as productive rice fields
and farm land to the possible detriment to food and water
resources.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Singapore port traffic falls
From News Reports:
Singapore, January 10: Throughput at the world's busiest container
port, Singapore, fell 13.5 percent last year, despite of a
recovery in trade volumes in the latest quarter.
Traffic through the port's container terminals was down 16.5
percent during the first 10 months of the year.
State-owned PSA International a subsidiary of the State-owned
investment agency Temasek has issued figures showing
that global business had fallen 9.9 percent to match the World
Banks estimate of global trade volumes 9.7 per cent.
PSA chief executive Eddie Teh said 2009 had been a year
of unprecedented hardship and challenges for the port and
shipping industries.
The PSA had taken urgent measures in 2009 to reset its
capacity needs and reduce operating costs, he said.
The PSA operates ports in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia
and Latin America.
The Southeast Asian Times
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