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GATHERINGS:
An informed guide to happenings throughout the region.
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Renewed
call to review sorcery law
From News Reports:
Madang, July 3: Acting Public Prosecutor Jim Wala Tamate has
supported a proposed major review into the Sorcery Act, 1971,
saying the courts are dealing with belief systems and
not mere criminal acts, or rather, with criminal acts based
on belief systems.
Sorcery was deeply rooted in customs and traditions, he said.
Belief in the effectiveness of magical and sorcery practices
were widespread in the country in various ethnic groups and
strata of society.
Its practices were based on general and personal interests
that included land; courtship; family and marriage.
The subject needed proper research so as to define clearly
the meaning of sorcery in Papua New Guinea.
Penalties on sorcery-related crimes also had to be made harsher.
Sorcery should be clearly defined to help police and
the courts to perform their duties effectively, Mr Tamate
said.
The acting prosecutor was speaking at the Law on sorcery and
sorcery-related killings conference at the police training
centre, Madang.
The conference was organised by the Public Prosecutions office
and was attended by Divine Word University academics and officers
from the law and the justice system.
In February, it was reported that people were still falling
victim to sorcery-inspired murder in Papua New Guinea despite
the passing of the Sorcery Act 1991.
Both Constitutional Law Reform Commission and the Public Prosecutors
office attribute the continuing violence to a failure to enforce
the act.
Both were responding to the murder of a man, 40, for alleged
sorcery in Eastern Highlands Province.
Law Reform Commission chairman Joe Mek Teine and acting Public
Prosecutor Jack Pambel both said the act should be immediately
reviewed and changed.
Sorcery accusations and killings is a very serious issue
facing our society, where innocent lives have been lost,
said the Law Reform Commission chairman.
Reviewing the Sorcery Act is on the agenda of my commission.
The public prosecutor said: Whether the Act is being
implemented or not is a question that has to be looked at.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Book provides new evidence of Malaysia massacre
George Town, July 1: Evidence gathered by former war correspondent
Ian Ward and his wife Norma Miraflor for their new book Slaughter
and Deception at Batang Kali is likely to be used by lawyers
for victims of the 1948 massacre, reports The Star newspaper.
It will go to the British Foreign Office and Defence Ministry
on Friday, the newspaper says.
It quotes Batang Kali Action Committee Coordinator and lawyer
Quek Ngee Meng as saying the new evidence highlighted in the
book would provide give new insights and perspective.
Mr Quek said the British government had also initiated their
own investigations into the killings in 1970 and had interviewed
some the surviving Scots Guards but due to political
pressure, the investigating team never came to Malaysia to
conclude their probe
Finally, after nearly four decades of cover-up by the
British government, the investigations can now be put together
and concluded.
Mr Queks committee is demanding an apology and US$149million
compensation from the British government for the alleged slaughter
of 24 unarmed villagers by Scots Guards at a rubber plantation
at Batang Kali in Selangors Genting Highlands just south
of Kuala Lumpur in December 1948.
The slaughtered villagers all Chinese - were deemed
either Communists or Communist sympathizers.
The massacre occurred during a brutal guerrilla war that followed
the British governments declaration of a state of emergency
in its Malay-Peninsular colony in June 1948.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Wallace
house found
in Sarawak
From News Reports
Kuching, June 30: British evolutionary biologist George
Beccaloni, 41, believes he has found the site where Alfred
Russel Wallace spent weeks in 1855 writing a seminal paper
about the theory of evolution.
But now an abandoned, two-story guest house stands at Gunung
Santubong overlooking the South China Sea, about 35kilometres
north of Kuching, Sarawak, instead of the thatched hut that
is believed to have housed the major evolutionary theorist.
Dr Beccaloni and British artist Fred Langford Edwards are
making an audiovisual project about Wallace and are retracing
the scientist's eight-year trip around Southeast Asia.
Sir Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species 150 years
ago and Dr Beccaloni told Associated Press: The Darwin
industry is what has distorted the whole of history.
People have just concentrated on Darwin and his life
and work but they fail to see Darwin wasn't alone and he
fits into a wider picture.
The impoverished Wallace, who collected and sold natural
specimens for a living, set off for Singapore in 1854 and
collected more than 125,000 birds, beetles and other animals
during eight years of travel throughout the Malay archipelago.
The expedition followed an earlier trek to the Amazon and
his Sarawak Law written in 1855 was his argument in support
of evolution against creationism,
Later, after traveling to Bali and Lombok, he saw that bird
species were different on each island and concluded that
a deep water trench created a boundary that separated the
animal species of Southeast Asia and Australasia Australia-New
Zealand.
The observation of geographical distribution gave rise to
what is now known as the Wallace Line.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Malaysia opens insect zoo
From
News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, June 29: Malaysias Zoo Negara opened
the country's first and Southeast Asia's major Insect Zoo
that features 200 species of endangered insects found in
the country's tropical rainforest.
The Bernama news agency quotes Malaysian Zoological Society
President Ismail Hutson as saying the rare butterflies and
insects would help attract more domestic and international
visitors to the zoo.
Its collection includes the Atlas Butterfly which
is the largest butterfly in the world and Rajah Brooke's
Birdwing butterfly, a species which was first discovered
in 1855, and is regarded as the Prince of Butterflies
for its beauty, and the Orchid Praying Mantis, an insect
which can camouflage itself as an orchid, he said.
Visitors could also obtain their scientific information
all under one roof.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Papua New Guinea issues coral stamp
From News Reports:
Port Moresby, June 28: Papua New Guinea has issued a stamp
showing the countrys coral reefs and other marine
flora and fauna.
The triangular stamp is based on the regional Coral Triangle
Initiative, CTI, and features turtles, mangroves and coral
reefs.
It also carries a message in support of sustainable income
and food security.
Post Papua New Guineas managing director Peter Maiden
said postal services the world over liked to have rare and
unique features on their stamps.
CTI is indeed rare and unique because it contains
75 percent of all coral species known to science.
The World Ocean Conference 2009 at Manado, North Sulawesi,
last month included discussion of the CTI that was established
at the APEC 2007 Sydney summit.
The Coral Triangle countries are Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua
New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and East Timor.
Papua New Guinea is the first of these to issue a stamp
in honour of the iniative.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Police quiz documentary maker
From News Reports:
Singapore, June 27: Seelan Palay, 24, the producer of the
45-minute documentary about Singapores founding Prime
Minister Lee Kuan Yew has been questioned by the police,
reports the Singapore Democrats.
Police and Media Development Authority officials seized
the film at a private screening at the Peninsular-Excelsior
Hotel last year.
The media development authority officials gave the Singapore
Film Act as the basis for their action.
The act makes it an offence to possess or to exhibit
or distribute any film without a valid certificate.
Thousands of viewers have since watched the documentary
on YouTube.
In March, The city states parliament has approved
changes to the law that will ease the 11-year-old prohibition
of films that promote a politician or political party, but
also introduce restrictions to dramatised political videos.
The relaxation of rules followed the spread of video and
other news content on the Internet, junior Information,
Communications and Arts Minister Lui Tuck Yew told parliament.
But the content had to accord with the law, he said.
The amended Films Act allows films that are factual and
objective, and do not dramatise or present a distorted picture
of politics in Singapore, he said.
Films with animation and dramatization and distort
what is real or factual will be disallowed, as the intent
of the amendments is to ensure that these films do not undermine
the seriousness of political debate.
The ban was introduced in 1998, two years after the Singapore
Democratic Party applied for a licence to sell a videotape
about the party.
Violation of the ban carries a two-year jail term and a
fine of US$73,000.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Book planned to follow Singapore conference
Melbourne, June 23: A book based on the papers delivered
at the international conference that revisited the 1965-1966
Indonesian Killings at the National University of Singapore
last week, its convenor, Dr Kate McGregor, Senior Lecturer
in Southeast Asian History in the School of Historical Studies,
University of Melbourne, said yesterday.
A decision is likely in the next two weeks but there
will definitely be a book, she said.
Scholars from throughout the world attended the three-day
conferred co sponsored by Singapore's Asia Research Institute
and the Australian Research Council's Asia Pacific Futures
Research Network.
Indonesian and Singaporean reporters also attended as did
students from Sekolah Pelita Harapan a prestigious chain
of co-educational Christian schools that has its headquarters
in Jakarta.
The
Southeast Asian Times
World Heritage Listing sought for Batik
From News Reports:
Cirebon, June 22: Indonesias Batik is expected to
become world heritage-listed this year, reports The Jakarta
Post.
The Indonesian government asked United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, to grant such
recognition last September.
Once approved, batik will be the country's third cultural
product named a world intangible heritage, after wayang,
or shadow puppets, and kris, double-edged dagger.
UNESCO named wayang a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity in November 2003 and gave kris a similar
status in November 2005.
The listing is likely to provide protection for about 400
traditional batik motifs from Cirebon, West Java, are not
patented.
Cirebon batik is believed to have been around since the
14th century, following the establishment of the Kasepuhan
Cirebon sultanate.
The
Southeast Asian Times
British warship
visits Phuket
From News Reports:
Cape Panwa, June 21: The British warship Bulwark is docked
off Phuket together with the United States destroyer Mitscher.
The 22,000-tonne vessel has been on station in Southeast
Asia for the past six weeks and will leave tomorrow after
its crew of 540 ends their shore leave.
The warship has been in training with the forces of Bangladesh,
Brunei, India, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and the United
States.
It 40 marines undertook training in Brunei.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Imams
use Koran to help protect endangered animals
Kuala Lumpur, June 20: The World Wildlife Fund for Nature,
WWF, is extending hits programme to have imams use
passages from the Koran to raise awareness and help protect
endangered species.
The programme began in Terengganu last November when 482
imams throughout the conservative peninsular-Malaysia State
spoke about turtle conservation at Friday prayers.
Now the conservationists have held workshops for the imams
in an effort to stop poaching, especially of endangered
tigers.
There are several passages within the Koran which
talk about the responsibility of humans in protecting our
environment and wildlife, said WWF-Malaysia Tiger
Conservation Programme coordinator Umi A Zuhrah.
Religious leaders are very influential and greatly
respected in this community, so they are the best people
to carry this message across.
We hope that religious-based initiatives such as these
will complement our monitoring and anti-poaching efforts
to conserve Malaysias endangered wildlife.
The sermons were to have been read at 21 mosques in Kelantans
Jeli district this month and about the need to stop illegal
hunting and reduce human-wildlife conflict using specific
passages from the Koran
The WWF says poaching is arguably the biggest threat to
tigers in Malaysia, with the current population estimated
at about 500, down from 3,000 almost 50 years ago.
Tigers are poached for their parts, which often end up in
traditional Chinese medicine shops and exotic meat restaurants
in Malaysia and other neighbouring countries.
The
Southeast Asian Times
International
Conference: The 1965-1966 Indonesian Killings Revisited
Wednesday, June 17 to Friday, June 19, 2009, National University
of Singapore
Co sponsored by Singapore's Asia Research Institute and
the Australian Research Council's Asia Pacific Futures Research
Network, this conference will discuss the mass killings
in Indonesia between 1965 and 1966.
The three-day conference attended by scholars of history,
anthropology; political science and law includes practitioners
from Indonesia.
A panel will discuss the September 30th Movement.
Discussion of the roles of the military and mass organisations
in the slaughter will include a regional study of detention
and mass killing; Communist resistance to the pogroms and
the impact on women and families.
The purpose of the conference is to discuss the contested
views of the past in contemporary Indonesia in an effort
to assess the lasting effects of the mass killings in Indonesia
and Southeast Asia.
Brad Simpson from Princeton University will explore the
regional dynamics of the September 30th Movement and the
killings that followed with a focus on the United States,
Britain and Australia's reaction to and support for the
mass murder.
Former foreign editor of the Sydney Morning Herald David
Jenkins will include material gathered about the coup
from his book that covers the 'life and times' of the former
president Soeharto in his paper titled The Partai Komunis
Indonesia, or PKI, and the Military 1965.
Katherine McGregor and Greg Fealy from Australia's University
of Melbourne will examine the role of Indonesias major
Sunni Islamic organization, Nadhdlatul Ulama, in the 1965-66
killings.
Their paper will assess the nature of Nadhdlatul Ulama involvement
in the anti-Communist killings with emphasis on how the
PKI was perceived as a threat to the Nadhdlatul Ulama beginning
with the Madiun revolt in 1948.
Steven Farram from Australia's Northern Territorys
Charles Darwin University will in his paper titled G30S
and the killings in West Timor and Nusa Tenggara Timor,
or NTT, discuss the killings in West Timor and Nusa Tenggara
Timor, or NTT, following the September 1965 coup
from the view that the about 2000 killings in sparsely populated
eastern Indonesia were coordinated and executed by the Indonesian
army.
He says PKI members were taken to Bali or Java and were
never seen again.
I Gusti Agung Ayu Ratih from Jakarta's Indonesian Institute
of Social History will in a paper titled How to even begin
talking about 1965? Discuss stories that were provided by
the women victims of the 1965 killings for the Tutur Perempuan,
or Women Talk, project.
These stories are important in demonstrating the states
responsibility for the violence and to generate sympathy
and solidarity with the victims, she says.
Can other Indonesians enter into a meaningful dialogue with
those who are coming from a completely different experience
that has been so silenced and misrepresented for 32 years?
she asks.
The conference to discuss the killings in Indonesia during
the transition from Soekarno to Soeharto includes the screening
of the film: 40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Parliament
to decide future of Collins portrait
Darwin, June 18: Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Speaker has asked the parliamentary committee to decide
if a portrait of disgraced former Australian Labor Party
Senator and Minister Bob Collins should be removed from
public display.
I have until this point not received a complaint regarding
the painting and so therefore the painting stays there just
as it would of, just as all the other paintings do,
she said.
I've now received a complaint and I will refer it
to the House Committee for consideration.
The speaker was responding to Country Liberal Party member
John Elferink, who previously told parliament that he, himself,
had suffered sexual abuse as a youth.
We have a portrait hanging in a place of honour in
this building to acknowledge a man who has been in two jurisdictions
identified by various individuals as a paedophile,
he said.
I wonder what Mr Collins' victims would think if they
knew his portrait was still hanging.
I understand the Territory Government has acknowledged
the allegations against Mr Collins by paying victims compensation
for the crimes committed against them.
Mr Collins was charged by police and only escaped
trial because he took his own life.
It's highly inappropriate that his portrait remain
on display in Parliament House and it should be immediately
removed.
Bob Collins who was charged with paedophilia offences dating
to 1984 in both the Northern Territory and the Australian
Capital Territory in 2004 - the very same year he was made
a member of the Order of Australia for his services to the
Northern Territory and Indigenous Australians.
But before he could answer questions about his conduct during
his 30 years as a member of both the Northern Territory
and Australian parliaments, he drove his Toyota land cruiser
at high speed into a tree in Kakadu National Park and almost
killed himself.
Then, just three days before he was to appear before a Darwin
magistrate to answer some of the accusations, he was found
dead in his bed.
The cause of death was intentional overdose of prescription
drugs with alcohol following upon a background of three
years of significant medical difficulties and in the face
of upcoming court cases, Coroner Greg Cavenagh found.
Mr Collins served as a minister in both the Hawke and Keating
Australian governments and before that as Opposition Leader
in the Northern Territory parliament representing a predominantly
Aboriginal constituency.
The
Southeast Asian Times
 |
Singapores
founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew meets with
the Sultan of Pahang, Haji Ahmad Shah, during
his now ended eight-day visit to
peninsular Malaysia |
|
Dr
Mahathir lambastes
Lee Kuan Yew as a ''little emperor''
Kuala Lumpur, June 17: Former Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohammad has used his website Che Det to describe
Singapore as a new Middle Kingdom and its
founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew as a little
Emperor.
Dr Mahathir charged that Mr Lee had in his triumphant
visit to Malaysia made it known to Malaysian
supplicants that Singapore regarded the lands
within a 6,000-mile radius as its hinterland.
This includes Beijing and Tokyo and of course
Malaysia, he wrote.
Of course this self-deluding perception places
Singapore at the centre of a vast region. It is therefore
the latter-day Middle Kingdom.
The rest are peripheral and are there to serve
the interests of this somewhat tiny Middle Kingdom.
Dr Mahathirs webpage is widely read.
Mr Lee spent much of his journey attempting to meeting
with rising young Islamic political aspirants in Malaysia
in an obvious attempt to gauge their likely attitudes
to Singapore.
Most were obliging but not very fourth coming.
The
Southeast Asian Times |
Russian gathering sets new agenda
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
and BRIC nations meeting Yekaterinburg, eastern Russia, Monday,
June 15 to Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Senior Brazilian representatives
are scheduled to join the last day of the two-day six-nation
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Yekaterinburg,
eastern Russia, today for trade discussions among the so-called
BRIC nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China.
The organisation, an alliance of Russia, China, Kazakhstan,
Tajikistan, Kyrghyzstan and Uzbekistan, started its meeting
yesterday with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev in attendance.
Representatives of Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia are
also attendees as observers but a United States request for
similar status was denied.
American economist Michael Hudson argues that the ultimate
aim of the meeting is to begin the de-dollorisation of world
trade and cites bilateral agreements that China has struck
with Argentina and Brazil to denominate their trade in renminbi
rather than the dollar, sterling or euros as an example of
the process.
Professor Hudson also uses Chinas new agreement with
Malaysia to denominate trade between the two countries in
renminbi as further proof of the tendency.
The neo-liberal Economist magazine concedes that the meeting
may discuss long-term plans to find an alternative to the
dollar as a global currency and Bloombergs insistent
reporting yesterday of Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrins
assurance that the dollar was in good shape, further
affirming that theres no substitute for the worlds
reserve currency gives credence to Professor Hudsons
view.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Detainee conference
without a venue
From News Reports:
Singapore, June 15: A forum scheduled to discuss the detention
of 22 Singaporeans in accordance with the Internal Security
Act in 1987 is without a venue after the management of the
Bestway Auditorium cancelled the booking, reports the Singapore
Democratic Party on its webpage.
It says the auditorium manager, Bestway Properties, wrote
to forum organiser Martyn See to apologise to Mr See saying:
Due to the ongoing CID investigation, our company regrets
to inform you of the cancellation of the booking of Bestway
Auditorium on 20th June 2009.
The detainees were accused of conspiring to violently overthrow
the government so as to establish a Marxist state in Singapore.
Nine of the detainees issued a statement after their release
in 1988 saying that they had been subject to beatings and
abuse.
They said that they were deprived of sleep for as long as
70 hours in freezing rooms and regularly beaten.
The detainees who issued the statement were rearrested.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Perak to
learn from Singapore
From News Reports:
Ipoh, June 14: The Perak government planned to emulate Singapores
methods of conserving heritage sites, Mentri Besar, or Chief
Minister, Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir told reporters after a meeting
with Singapores founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
There are many old areas in Singapore that have been
well conserved. Similarly
in Perak, particularly Ipoh, there are plenty of heritage
buildings, he said.
But in Kuala Lumpur, former Malaysia Prime Minister Dr Mahathir
Mohammad announced that he did does not see any reason why
the visitor would want to see him.
I dont see why he would request to see me, I am
a nobody, he told reporters
Asked about meetings between the meeting Lee Kuan Yew and
Malaysias politicians, Dr Mahathir replied: Lee
Kuan Yew has much experience. Our politicians know nothing.
That is why we have to learn from Singapore. Singapore is
a great country, they invest so much money, he said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Bali
posts 422 corruption complaints
From News
Reports:
Denpasar, June 13: The Corruption Eradication Commission
has received
422 reports on possible corruption from the residents of
Bali since it was established in 2004.
But its deputy chairman, Chandra M Hamzah, says only 109
reports were supported with sufficient initial evidence
to enable the KPK to launch an investigation.
We will organise educational sessions to teach the
public the correct ways to draft and send a report on possible
corruption, he told The Jakarta Post.
The corruption eradication commission has also identified
the judiciary as the countrys most corrupt institution
and State-owned pawnshops the least corrupt.
The commission announced its finding after a survey between
June and September last year.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| |
Read the letters to The
Southeast Asian Times...open here
|
| .MEDIA CHECK |
AAl
Jazeera a byword for fearless reporting
hhas failed
to show a West Papua documentary aas
scheduled
Open page
here |
|
| Penangs chief minister
admonishes developer |
|
 |
| Kampung
Buah Pala residents want Penangs Pakatan
Rakyat, or Peoples Alliance, government
to stop their eviction from the islands
last known Tamil village to allow the building
of a housing estate to be called, The Oasis. The
village sits on 2.6 hectares of prime land in
the heart of rapidly-developing eastern George
Town |
|
From News Reports:
Penang, July 4: Penangs newly-elected chief minister
Lim Guan Eng has described developer Nusmetro Ventures reported
threat to use bulldozers to demolish the houses and evict
residents of Penangs Kampung Buah Pala as an irresponsible
and inflammatory act.
Its highly improper to stoke fear into the hearts
of the villagers by reminding them that they will have to
move out by Sunday, August 2 when the one-month grace period
given by the developer expires, he says in a statement
issued yesterday.
The State government negotiated the one-month grace with
the developer to find a solution to the problem and not
by force, the statement says.
I wish to reiterate that the State government has
nothing to do with the eviction, or the Federal Court order
and the bringing in of bulldozers to demolish the houses.
The Pakatan Rakyat, or Peoples Alliance, government
will not take a single cent of the so-called goodwill
payment from the developer unless the residents agreed
to the compensation, the statement says.
The estimated 300 residents of Penangs only remaining
Tamil village lost a two-year battle to protect it from
destruction and their removal when the Federal Court dismissed
their application for leave to appeal against a Court of
Appeal decision on Wednesday.
The Court of Appeal ruled for the landowner Koperasi Pegawai-Pegawai
Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang and developer Nusmetro Ventures
in May and the villagers have been ordered to vacate their
houses and surrender the property to its rightful owner
without compensation.
The villagers have now asked Penangs Pakatan Rakyat,
or Peoples Alliance, government which inherited the
development decision from its predecessor a Barisan
Nasional affiliate with Dr Koh Tsu Koon as chief minister
We just want the government to fulfil what it promised
us when its politicians came to promote their manifesto
(during the general election) last year, their associations
assistant secretary Tharamaraj told reporters.
They cannot just wash their hands of this problem
and say that it is up to the previous government to explain.
Our ancestors worked and developed this land during
colonial times. The Straits Settlements Statutory Land Grant
in 1937 confirms that we are pioneers of this land. How
can that be denied? he asked.
Association chairman Sugumaran said Penangs chief
minister would be asked to use Lim Guan Eng to use Article
76 of the National Land Code to give the villagers the land.
The war had just begun, the chairman said.
The villagers were now thinking of petitioning the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation,
Unesco, to have George Town removed as a World Heritage
Site.
Developer
stands firm
Nusmetro Ventures executive director Thomas Chan said the
villagers would be given no more extensions and no more
offers of compensation.
If they do not vacate their houses by then, they will
be in contempt of court and the police have said they will
assist us, The Star newspaper quoted him as saying.
We have a writ of possession and we are going in,
he told a media conference.
The company was in the midst of working out a goodwill
payment to the state government, which can choose
to deal with the residents if it wished.
Developers were under no obligation to pay a single sen
to the villagers, described as squatters.
We have made offers ranging from ringit 40,000 to
ringgit 260,000 to the temporary occupation of land (holders
as well as their immediate and extended families,
he said.
But some villagers had demanded payment of ringgit 600,000.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Anwar Ibrahim to stand
trial in the High Court
From News Reports:
Putrajaya, July 4: Malaysias former deputy prime minister
and now the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat, or the People's
Justice Partys senior parliamentarian, Anwar Ibrahim,
61, will stand trial for sodomy in Malaysias High
Court for his sodomy next Wednesday unless he appeals an
Appeal Court decision that the high court and not a subordinate
court is the place to settle the issue.
Three judges ruled unanimously for the High Court in a judgement
delivered during the week.
Justice Abdul Hamid Embong, who delivered the ruling, said
there was absolutely no evidence, not even misgivings,
that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would not get a fair trial
in the High Court.
The assurance given by the former Prime Minister that
the Public Prosecutor - Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani
Patail - will not take any part in his prosecution is essentially
a firm statement that he will get a fair and open trial,
he said.
Justice Abdull Hamid, who sat with Justices Abu Samah Nordin
and Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha, handed down the judgment from a
17-page decision.
The grounds for their judgement will be provided later.
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 last year.
Free on a personal bond of ringgit 20,000, he faces 20 years
in jail and whipping if convicted.
Anwar Ibrahim has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Indonesia, Malaysia agree to
coordinate naval patrols |
|
 |
|
Malaysias and Indonesias defence ministers
Dr Ahmad Zaid bin Hamidi, left, and Juwono Sudarsono,
right, and have met in Jakarta in an effort to
ease tension between the Association-of-Southeast-Asian-Nations
neighbours who dispute ownership of the oil-and-gas
rich waters of the Sulawesi Sea off the coast
of Indonesians East Kalimantan Province
and the southeast of the Malaysian Sate of Sabah,
Borneo Island |
|
From
News Reports:
Jakarta, July 3: The defence ministers of Indonesia and
Malaysia have agreed to have their navies coordinate patrols
of the disputed Sulawesi Sea off the coast of Indonesians
East Kalimantan Province and the southeast of the Malaysian
Sate of Sabah, Borneo Island.
The oil-and-gas rich waters are known as Ambalat to Indonesians
and Blok ND to Malaysians.
The meetings between the two defence ministers - Juwono
Sudarsono, Indonesia, and Dr Ahmad Zaid bin Hamidi Malaysia
were held during the latters three-day visit
to the Asean neighbour.
This will help avoid physical contact by patrol boats
as they will keep to the border agreed thus preventing a
territorial dispute, Malaysias Bernama news
agency quoted the countrys defence minister as saying.
Cooperation in patrolling other disputed borders such as
Sandakan in Sabah and Tarakan in East Kalimantan were also
possible and the Malaysia-Indonesia border joint-technical
committee will meet next month to study the proposal.
The minister said the Malaysian Armed Forces and the Indonesian
National Army had agreed to complement each other's expertise
and resources.
Such cooperation will prevent Malaysia, Indonesia
and other Asean countries from becoming dumping grounds
for weapons and defence equipment, he said.
We must have smart partnership in marketing defence
products.
From now on, we need to organize more informal meetings
as an alternative to settling things in the future,
Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono told journalists.
I even strongly suggest that retired generals contact
each other and see if they can contribute to settling problems
in the future, he said.
Both Malaysia and Indonesia, which fought an undeclared
war over the future of Borneo from 1962 to 1966, have awarded
major contracts to international companies for either production
or exploration of the disputed waters.
Indonesia awarded Italy's ENI a production sharing contract
in 1999.
Malaysias State-owned Petronas signed an exploration
agreement with Royal Dutch Shell in 2005.
The dispute originated with the publication of a Malaysian
map published in 1979 that placed the disputed territory
within Malaysian waters.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Bintang
Kejora flies defiantly, Tempo reports
From News Reports:
Jayapura, July 3: The illegal Bintang Kejora, or Morning
Star flag of an independent West Papua was flown in at least
four places on Wednesday, July 1, for the anniversary of
the founding of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka, or OPM, 34
years ago, reports Tempo Interactive.
The news portal quotes its own correspondent as saying the
Bintang Kejora was flown at a palm oil plantation near Worwoma
in Arso, the capital of the Keerom regency that borders
Papua New Guinea where an Indonesian military patrol shot
and seriously wounded West Papuan Isak Pesakot, 13, late
last month.
It was also flown near the Sentani Airport and the Hawai
hills in the outskirts of Jayapura, says the correspondent.
West Papua police chief Inspector General Bagus Ekodanto
had earlier said that his officers were anticipating the
flying of the flag, especially in the regencies of Yapen
Waropen, Puncak Jaya, Keerom and Nabire.
Tensions
Use of the Bintang Kejora continues to create tension between
the Indonesian government and West Papuans, reports The
Jakarta Post.
It's like a thorn through the flesh, the newspaper
quotes senior parliamentarian Yance Kayame as saying.
Papuans wants it to become their provincial symbol
while the government is against it. This is provoking conflict.
The Papuan Tribal Council recommended that the flag should
be accepted as the provincial symbol in July 2007.
The recommendation won the support of the Papua People's
Council and has been included in the special provincial
draft law submitted to the Papuan legislative council for
endorsement.
More
time in jail
In January, judges of West Papuas High Court increased
the jail terms for 11 separatists who flew the Bintang Kejora.
Prominent separatist Jack Wanggai had been sentenced to
three-and-a-half years and the 10 others to three years
following protests in March 2007.
But their sentences were increased after the prosecutors
in Manokwari, where the protests were held, appealed against
the leniency of their eight-month sentences.
The activists were carrying out peaceful demonstrations
... and they brought the Morning Star flag, said their
lawyer Yan Christian Warinussy.
The court said that if it didn't deal with this case
harshly then it will set a bad precedent for all of Papua.
The defendants planned to appeal to Indonesia's Supreme
Court.
In August 2008, Otinus Tabuni, 35, was shot dead in the
remote highland city of Wamena when the flag was raised
during the celebration of World Indigenous Peoples
Day.
Indonesian officials admit that police fired several warning
shots after flag was raised during the ceremony.
The dead man had helped organise the celebrations.
Wikipedia says the morning star flag represented the territory
of West New Guinea from December 1, 1961 until October 1,1962
when the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority administered
the territitory.
OPM was founded on December 1, 1965, four years after the
Papuans declared their independence from the Netherlands.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Swine
flu threatens to become entrenched in central
and northern Australias Aboriginal communities...Dr
William Bartlett Day reports
...Open page here |
|
| Former West Java government jailed
for four years |
|
 |
| Former
West Java governor Danny Setiawan prepares to
appear before Corruption Eradication Commission
judges in Jakarta earlier this week. The provinces
first non-military governor for 30 years was jailed
for four years for his part in procuring deliberately
over-priced fire trucks and ambulances for the
province about five years ago |
|
From
News Reports:
Jakarta, July 2: Corruption Eradication Commission judges
have sent former West Java Governor Danny Setiawan to jail
for four years for his part in procuring deliberately over-priced
fire trucks and ambulances for the province.
Two of his former subordinates, Wahyu Kurnia and Ijudin
Budhayana, were also found guilty. Each was also jailed
for four years.
The trio were also ordered to pay rupiah 200 million, about
US$19,557, each or serve an extra six months in jail.
The Corruption Eradication Commission judges found that
Danny Setiawan first as provincial secretary in 2003
and then as governor in 2004 had with appliances
division director Wahyu Kurnia and programme monitoring
division director Ijuddin Budhyana violated Indonesias
Anti-corruption Law when they approved the direct appointment
of suppliers of vehicles for provincial departments.
The trio appointed Istana Sarana Raya, owned by Hengky Samuel
Daud, and Setia Jaya Mobilindo, owned by Yusuf Setiawan,
to procure fire trucks and ambulances for the province between
2003 and 2004.
They also gave Traktor Nusantara, Setia Utama Mobilindo
and Satal Nusantara a piece of the rupiah 140 billion project.
Their unchallenged appointments allowed the companies to
mark up prices that earned them massive profits.
Losses to the State have been estimated at rupiah 72 billion.
Prosecutor Ketut Sumedana told the judges: Danny Setiawan
received rupiah 2.75 billion; Wahyu Kurnia rupiah 1.3 billion
and Ijuddin Budhyana rupiah 385 million.
Its clear that they all collaborated and misused
their authority to financially benefit
, he said.
Defence witness Kokom Qomariah told the trial that a memo
from former Home Minister Hari Sabarno encouraged municipal
officials to appoint Sarana Istana Raya to supply fire engines
worth rupiah 5.9 billion, about $513,000, each.
The defendant
Danny Setiawan
directed
us to use the supplier and vehicle type as mentioned in
the memo, Kokom director of the purchasing
programme -said.
Kokom admitted receiving gift money for the
purchases.
The Corruption Eradication Commission has not named the
former minister as a suspect, although its investigators
have questioned him several times.
Former Medan mayor Abdillah is now serving a five-year jail
term for similar embezzlement while former Makassar mayor
Baso Amiruddin Maula and former Riau governor Saleh Djasit
are both serving four-year sentences.
Defendant, Yusuf Setiawan, died in custody late last month.
Resignation
In November, the then governor of Bangkok, Apirak Kosayodhin,
47, resigned after the National Counter Corruption Commission
voted unanimously to seek his prosecution in the Supreme
Court for alleged dereliction of duty, abuse of authority
and corruption.
The governor had just been re-elected with 45 percent of
the vote.
The accusations against Apirak Kosayodhin stemmed from alleged
irregularities in the about US$20million purchase of 315
fire trucks and 30 fire boats from Austrias Steyr
Daimler Puch.
The National Counter Corruption Commission also wants former
Bangkok governor and People Power Party Prime Minister Samak
Sundaravej and nine other former senior officials, including
former commerce minister Watana Muangsook, former interior
minister Pokin Polakul and former deputy interior minister
Pracha Maleenont, prosecuted.
All are accused of ordering the Krung Thai Bank to issue
a letter-of-credit to buy the supposedly overpriced fire
engines and boats.
The Southeast Asian Times
Briton
accused of allowing Sri Lankan to use his pass
Darwin, July 2: Briton Robert Derek Davies, 63, was remanded
in custody until Wednesday, August 12 when he appeared before
a magistrate yesterday to be charged with allowing a Sri
Lankan to use his boarding pass to enter Australia illegally.
The offence is alleged to have occurred when Mr Davies arrived
in Darwin aboard a flight from Singapore on Monday.
He has also been linked to the alleged attempted illegal
entry into Australia of two other Sri Lankans who used the
boarding passes of other passengers.
Mr Davies has been charged with three offences contrary
to section 233 of the Migration Act 1958.
The maximum penalty for these offences is 10 years jail.
In Perth, District Court Judge Stephen Scott sentenced 11
Indonesians convicted of attempting to smuggle refugees
into Australia each to a minimum three years in jail.
The men, aged from 19 to 67, were crewmen aboard vessels
intercepted in Australian waters between December 2008 and
March this year.
The judge ruled that all money paid to the men be forfeited
to the Australian government.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Peoples
tribunal accuses US government of ecocide |
|
 |
| The
International Peoples Tribunal of Conscience
in Support of the Vietnamese Victims of Agent
Orange sat in Paris between May 15 to 16 2009
to hear evidence of the impact of the use of Agent
Orange by the United States military in Viet Nam
from 1961 and 1971 |
|
Paris,
July 1: An International Peoples Tribunal has found
the United States Government guilty of what it defines as
ecocide for its use of defoliants that included
deadly Dioxin during its occupation of southern Viet Nam.
It has found the chemical companies that supplied the defoliants
guilty of complicity.
The tribunal says the United States Government and the Chemical
companies which manufactured and supplied the defoliant
must now fully compensate the victims and their families.
The US Government and the Chemical companies must also repair
the environment and remove Dioxin contamination from the
soil and the waters, and especially from the hot spots
around former United States military bases.
It says a summons and complaint announcing the Tribunal
was sent to the United States Government and the Chemical
Companies which made Agent Orange.
Despite notice neither the Government nor the firms responded.
The
Southeast Asian Times
The International
Peoples' Tribunal of Conscience in Support of
the Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange wants Agent
Orange Commission.
...Open page here |
|
Papua
New Guinea, China agree to military exchanges
From News Reports:
Beijing, July 1: Papua New Guineas Defence Force Chief
Peter Ilau and Chinas Defence Minister Liang Guanglie
have agreed to further expand military exchanges and cooperation,
reports The Peoples Daily.
China paid great attention to ties with Papua New Guinea and
wanted to promote friendly cooperation based on equality and
mutual benefit, the newspaper quotes the defence minister
as telling the visiting Papua New Guinea commander.
China also attached great importance to bilateral military
cooperation and was ready to take substantial measures to
advance military ties to a new height, he said.
The two armed forces had conducted productive training cooperation
with senior exchanges during the past 10 years.
The visiting commander assured his host that Papua New Guinea
would uphold its one-China policy.
China and Papua New Guinea established diplomatic ties in
1976 and the defence force chief said bilateral military ties
had made remarkable progress since exchanges began in 1999.
The defence force chief had what the Peoples Daily described
as in-depth talks with Chinese People's Liberation
Army chief of general staff Chen Bingde before meeting with
the defence minister.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Democratic
Party cadre held after reporter assaulted |
|
From News Reports:
Jayapura, June 30: Police are reported to
have arrested a Democratic Party cadre after
he allegedly assaulted a female journalist
covering the presidential election campaign.
The Antara news agency says the assailant,
identified only as RK, allegedly kicked
Sinar Harapan daily reporter Odeadata Julia
Vanduk at the Swissbell Hotel, Jayapura,
during the campaign tour of former Bank
Indonesia governor and now the Democratic
Party and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonos
nomination for vice president, Boediono.
We have decided to fire RK,
the news agency quotes a representative
of the Papuan chapter of the Democratic
Party, Carolus Bolly, as saying after the
arrest. |
|
 |
|
Vice
President and now presidential candidate
Jusuf Kalla in a traditional Papua
hat as he campaigns for the Wednesday,
July 8 election in Jayapura, West
Papua
|
|
|
|
The Democratic Party regrets the incident
and humbly asks for forgiveness from victim Odeadata, both
of her parents, everyone at Sinar Harapan and all journalists
in Papua and the country, he said.
The Democratic Party would not meddle in any charges made
against RK.
Kompas.com identified the assailant as Rudolph.
Odeadata was admitted to hospital in Jayapura after she
sustained a severe back injury in the attack that left her
unconscious.
The Jakarta post says the Yudhoyono-Boediono campaign team
spokesman Rizal Malarangeng has apologised to reporters, but
the journalists assigned to the tour said they would be boycotting
coverage of the tour.
Journalists were later reported to be planning a rally outside
the Democratic Party central executive office in Rawamangun,
East Jakarta, to protest the attack
They also planned to hold a long march from Jakarta Legal
Aid Institute office in Central Jakarta to the party's office.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Thaksin
Shinawatra supporters easily win by-election
From News Reports:
Bangkok, June 30: Unofficial results give the Puea Thai,
or For Thais Party, candidate Surachart Charnpradit an overwhelming
victory in Sundays House of Representatives by-election
in northeastern Si Sa Ket Province.
The Thaksin Shinawatra supporter won 124,327 votes while
his rival Sakulthip Angkasakullkiat of the Chart Thai Patina
Party a member the ruling coalition government
won 76,435 votes.
The tally showed 61.80 per cent of 351,688 eligible voters
cast their vote.
The seat was previously held by the disqualified Chart Thai
Party.
The victory, a week after Puea Thai defeated the candidate
of another Prime Minister Atheist Vejjajivas coalition
partners in Siphon Nacho Province, shows the popularity
of the fugitive former prime minister in rural northeastern
Thailand has far from dissipated.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Tak Bai judges reportedly
targeted for assassination
From News Reports:
Bangkok, June 30: Songkhla Provincial Court judges Yingyut
Tanor-Rachin and Jutarath Santisevee have been targeted
for assassination reports The Bangkok Post.
The newspaper says the Interior Ministry's intelligence
office has warned the courts administrators of the plan
in a confidential letter.
The judges, who it says have asked for a transfer out of
Songkhla, found both the army and police not guilty of misconduct
for their part in the notorious Tak Bai incident
of October 2004 when 85 Malay-Muslims died.
Both had acted according to the law, used sound judgement
and done their best given the circumstances, the duo found
in their finding delivered on Friday, May 29.
The judges were delivering their verdict after their delayed
inquiry into the deaths of 85 young men, 78 of whom died
from suffocation after they were stacked one atop the other
in the back of military trucks.
Judge Yingyut Tanor-Rachin told a packed courtroom that
military and police officers had compelling reasons to transport
more than 1,000 detained demonstrators from the protest
site near the border with Malaysia to an army camp in Pattani
Province several hours from Tak Bai.
The demonstration had been held not far from the Taksin
Ratchanivej Palace and the security forces acted in accordance
with an emergency law that protected them from civil, criminal
or disciplinary liabilities arising from their actions while
performing their duty, he said.
On Monday, judges of Thailands Criminal Court rejected
a petition lodged by relatives of the dead to have the Songkhla
Provincial Court's ruling revoked.
The judges ruled the petition should go to the Songkhla
Provincial Court.
The
Southeast Asian Times
MPs
defy Gusmao to pass their own anti-corruption law
Dili, June 30: East Timors Parliament passed with
near unanimity
yesterday there was a single abstention - its own
law for the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Commission.
In doing so, it rejected a draft law that Prime Minister
Xanana Gusmao sent to it last October.
Fretilin MP and former Prime Minister Estanislau da Silva
told reporters that the new law would provide a good start
to combating the official corruption that had become entrenched
in the republic during the last two years.
But it was unlikely to become the silver bullet
many wanted.
The continued vigilance of the people, the media and the
opposition was the only way for the evil of corruption to
be eradicated from East Timors national life, he said.
The new law was the result of multi-party consensus that
rejected the governments flawed and unconstitutional
draft law.
It showed that it was not just Fretilin that was worried
about the growing corruption in government.
Mr da Silva said the crucial parliamentary vote would by
law maximise the effectiveness of the commission and end
the prime ministers sense of impunity and unaccountability.
First task
National Unity Party MP, former finance minister and East
Timor's Constitutional Committee chairperson Fernanda Borges
told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that one of
the anti-corruption commissions first tasks would
be to investigate Xanana Gusmaos awarding of a $US3.5
million contract to import rice to Prima Foods, a company
partly-owned by his daughter Zenilda Gusmao.
Ms Borges described the Prime Ministers authorisation
of the contract as
highly -unacceptable, highly
irregular in any democracy.
East Timor government spokesperson Agio Pereira has issued
a statement saying the Prime Minister had acted within the
constitution in approving the contract.
The East Timor magazine, Tempo Semanal, has added to the
allegation of corruption against Mr Gusmao with the publication
of a contract he signed with Pualaka Petroleo for the supply
of fuel to the republics public power utility.
The co-signatory to the contract was the companys
executive director and 30 percent shareholder, Americo Pualaka
Lopes, - the husband of Justice Minister Lucia Lobato.
The Justice Minister also a senior member of the PSD Party
a key ally in Mr Gusmaos almost certainly illegal
government.
Mr Gusmao became prime minister via a constitutional coup
that the Australian government heavily supported as it has
his neo-liberal economic policies.
Legal
advice
The legal adviser to dual Australian-East Timorese citizen
Angelita Pires, 42, the Timorese-born Australian who faces
23 charges including attempting to kill President Ramos
Horta in 2008, Darwin-based lawyer John Tippett, QC, has
described the republics justice system as a "bloody
hopeless" mess, riddled with corruption and incapable
of providing anyone with a fair trial.
The problem is that Australian people are pouring
tens of millions into East Timor each year and into the
UN effort and the legal system is just hopeless, he
said.
I think our Government is entitled to say to the East
Timorese Government . . . we want some bang for our buck,
we want to see an open, accountable legal system that is
free of corruption and free of the impediments that it contains.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Vessel
caught with 194 refugees onboard |
|
 |
| An
Australian naval patrol boat escorts a refugee
vessel to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean,
about 2,600 kilometres northwest of the mainland
and the A$396 million Island Immigration Reception
and Processing Centre |
|
From
News Reports:
Darwin, June 29: An Australian patrol vessel intercepted
a refugee boat with 194 people aboard most of them
adult men - near Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, about
2,600 kilometres northwest of the mainland, yesterday.
It was the 15th suspected people-smuggler to
have been stopped in northern Australian waters or to have
made landfall since January.
Although Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor did not
reveal the nationalities of those aboard, most of the asylum
seekers intercepted this year have been from Sri Lanka or
Afghanistan.
The arrested boat was first detected from a surveillance
aircraft on Friday.
The vessel and its occupants were to be escorted to Australias
Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre on Christmas
Island for health, security and identity checks.
Last week, the Australian National Audit Office revealed
that the cost of the centre approved by the former
government of John Howard was more than A$100 million over
budget because it was approved before the final design plans
were drafted.
The 800-bed facility took two years longer than estimated
to build and cost $396 million.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Red
Shirt rally demands pardon and new elections
From News Reports:
Bangkok, June 29: An estimated 30,000 red-shirted United
Front for Democracy against Dictatorship supporters have
agreed to seek a Kings Pardon for fugitive, ousted
former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and a new election
for the House of Representatives within a month.
The protesters made their demand at their first major gathering
since they forced abandonment of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, Asean, summit at Pattaya during early April
11 followed by two days of disturbances in Bangkok that
left at least two people dead and 123 persons injured amidst
a declaration of emergency rule.
The rally in Bangkoks historic Sanam Luang public
square began Saturday and finished early yesterday morning.
But the Thai news agency quoted Puea Thai, of For Thais,
Party MP, Jatuporn Prompan, as threatening more rallies
unless Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolved the House
of Representatives in preparation for an election within
one month.
The Bangkok Post quoted that Thaksin Shinawarta-ally as
saying the United Front for Democracys primary purpose
was to rid Thailand of what he called amarthaya-tipatai
- a governing system of nobles or bureaucrats.
The Thai news agency reports that Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted
in a bloodless coup on September 19, 2006, told the rally
that the government temporarily suspend household debts
at baht 500,000 for each family and to restructure small-to-medium-sized
enterprises.
The former prime minister, who spoke by telephone, apparently
from Dubai for almost one hour, said the governments
plan to borrow baht 800 billion to jump start the national
economy would leave business without funding and force them
to close.
The Bangkok Post quoted him as telling the rally: My
brothers, don't leave me alone. I would like to come back
home, don't leave me alone.
He also praised the Pheu Thai win in last weeks Sakon
Nakhon by-election in north-eastern Thailand. A win for
the partys candidate Surachart Chanpradit in a by-election
in north-eastern Si Sa Ket province scheduled for yesterday
would help him re-enter Thailand.
Prime Ministers
response
Thaksin Shinawatras younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra
campaigned for the Pheu Thai candidate.
The Thai news agency quotes Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
as saying yesterday that dissolving the House of Representatives
was no problem, but the political and economic
problems facing the country must be addressed first.
The democratic system in the country would deteriorate if
there was no guarantee that severe violence would not occur
after the election, he said.
Currently, the opposition, Senate and the government
are working on ways to amend the Constitution and problems
facing the country.
They should be allowed to work. I would have no objection
if calls are made later for a fresh election, the
prime minister said.
Women
teacher shot dead in Narathiwat Province
From News Reports:
Narathiwat, June 29: A teacher was shot dead early yesterday
while riding to sell vegetables at a market in the Rangae
district, reports the Thai news agency.
The husband of Sunee Kaewkongtham, 38, who was riding another
motorcycle behind her found her dead on the road.
The victims father and brother were killed by presumed
insurgents in 2007.
The news agency says she was admitted to the Thai governments
rehabilitation project for victims of the ongoing violence
and became a contract teacher before promoted as a full-time
teacher late last year.
Her husband was former director of a school in the Sukhirin
district but resigned following the attacks on teachers.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Librarians
in Australia's Northern Territory Parliamentary-public
library are busy censoring photographs of naked
Aboriginal tribesmen
Dr William Bartlett Day reports...Open
page here |
|
| Indonesian
maid says employer beat her with a cane |
|
 |
| Indonesian
maid Modesta Rengga Kaka, 26, shows the injuries
she says were caused when her employer punched,
kicked and beat her with a cane. Police have a
woman, 37, in custody while they investigate the
allegations |
|
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, June 28: Indonesian maid Modesta Rengga Kaka,
26, has been admitted to hospital after saying that her employer
had punched, kicked and beat her with a cane.
But the Bernama news agency quotes Ampang Jaya district police
chief Abdul Jalil Hassan as saying that the young woman was
too traumitised to give the police a formal statement. "We
need the maid's statement to complete our investigation,
he said.
The doctor has examined her and taken X-rays, but the
victim still can hardly speak, he said, adding the woman
would be at the Indonesian embassys shelter for maids
after her discharge from hospital.
Modesta Rengga Kaka, who is from Kupang, West Timor, alleges
that the employer, who she started working for in November
2007, beat her for unsatisfactory work performance and did
not pay her salary.
A sympathetic neighbour helped her escape to hospital last
Thursday.
Police have arrested a woman, 37, and confiscated a cane suspected
to have been used to beat the maid.
The woman has been remanded for four days while police continue
their investigation.
The Star newspaper says the Women, Family and Community Development
Ministry will open its doors to the public on Tuesday for
a public discussion about the employment of maids in Malaysia.
The newspaper quotes minister Seri Shahrizat Jalil as saying:
Issues that will be discussed include concerns over
Malaysias diplomatic relations with Indonesia, the impact
of foreign labour and culture and violence.
Indonesias Manpower Minister, Erman Suparno, has ordered
employment agencies to stop sending its citizens to Malaysia
to work as maids.
The prohibition effective immediately will remain
in place until safeguards are implemented in Malaysia, the
minister says in a statement.
The Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies has responded
to the prohibition with a request to the federal government
that it allow the employment of maids from China.
A favourable decision would help reduce the dependence of
the Chinese community on Indonesian maids and minimise incidents
of maid abuse owing to problems related to language, culture
and religion, the Bernama news agency quotes its president
Raja Zulkepley Dahalan as saying.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Indonesia stops the export
of maids to Malaysia |
|
From News Reports:
Jakarta, June 27: Indonesia Manpower Minister
Erman Suparno has ordered employment agencies
to stop sending its citizens to Malaysia
to work as maids.
The prohibition effective immediately
will remain in place until safeguards
are implemented in Malaysia, the minister
says in a statement.
I spoke of the temporary halt in bilateral
talks with the Malaysian Human Resources
Minister Dr Subramanian during the International
Labour Conference in Geneva on June 12,
the statement says.
The safeguards will be embodied in a Memorandum
of Understanding to be negotiated with the
Malaysian government
.It follows a flood of complaints from domestic
workers that their employers had abused
them. |
|
 |
|
Deputy
Minister for Women, Family and Community
Development and Wanita Malaysia
Chinese Association chairwoman Paduka
Chew Mei Fun wants special laws
written to protect Indonesian maids.Wanita
MCA also opposes importing Chinese
women to replace the Indonesian
maids
|
|
|
|
More than 300,000 Indonesian women work as maids in Malaysia
with about 3,000 arriving in the Asean country each month,
most of them placed through specialised employment agencies.
The Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies has responded
to the prohibition with a request to the federal government
that it allow the employment of maids from China.
A favourable decision would help reduce the dependence of
the Chinese community on Indonesian maids and minimise incidents
of maid abuse owing to problems related to language, culture
and religion, the Bernama news agency quotes its president
Raja Zulkepley Dahalan as saying.
In Ipoh, 25 women from China have been found hiding in secret
rooms to evade detection during a raid on a karaoke bar.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Criminal libel charge against
mother-of-two dismissed |
|
From
News Reports:
Jakarta, June 26: Tangerang district court
judges have dismissed the State prosecutors
charge that Prita Mulyasari, 32, criminally
libeled the Omni International Hospital,
Tangerang.
The prosecutors accused the bank- worker
mother-of two of having breached the Information
Technology law when she distributed her
complaints about the hospitals poor
service and the inability of its physicians
to diagnose her dengue fever via email and
posted them on the internet.
The maximum sentence for the offence is
six years jail and a fine of rupiah 1 billion
about US$ 100,000.
But presiding judge Karel Tuppu said the
law was ineffective until the Indonesian
government issued the regulations necessary
to its administration.
Taking into account the fact that
this law is not yet effective, the court
hereby declares the charges inapplicable,
he said, when delivering judgement yesterday.
The young accused burst into tears |
|
 |
|
Prita
Mulyasari, 32, acknowledges reporters
in the Tangerang District Court
yesterday. The judges dismissed
the State prosecutors charge
that she had criminally libeled
the Omni International Hospital
when she sent her complaints to
friends via the email and posted
them on the internet
|
|
|
|
and
observers in the packed courtroom burst into applause when
the decision was announced.
The young womans lawyer, Syamsu Anwar, later told
reporters that legal action against the hospital's physicians
was now possible.
We may sue them for giving false testimony [during
the civil lawsuit trial], he said.
The prosecutors said they would review the decision to dismiss
the charges.
Prita Mulyasari, who was arrested on Wednesday, May 13,
was ordered to pay rupiah 50 million, about $4,700, of the
rupiah 400 million, about $30,000 compensation demanded
by Omni International Hospital and apologise in two print
media outlets in September last year.
She had spent three weeks in custody without charge until
a public campaign forced the police and prosecutors to free
her and take her before judges to face harsher criminal-law
charges.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Yellow-shirts
allowed to register new Thai political party
From News Reports:
Bangkok, June 26: Thailand's Election Commission has approved
registration of the yellow-shirted People's Alliance for
Democracy as the New Politics Party.
The alliance, formed three-years ago as a pro-royalist movement
against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, lodged
its application to become a political party with the Election
Commission three weeks ago.
It's a unanimous decision as the submitted documents
were considered to fully comply with the law, Agence
France Presse quoted commission spokesperson Ruengroj Chomsueb
as saying yesterday afternoon.
New Politics Party secretary general Suriyasai Katasila
told a news conference that People's Alliance for Democracy
supporters would stand with the party.
Our five PAD leaders will remain a strong driving
force to pursue our goals while we use our political party
as a tool in the main arena, he said.
Three of the Peoples Alliance for Democracys
five coordinators confirmed the plan to form a new political
party during the first of a two-day general assembly of
its followers at the Thammasat University, Bangkok, to assess
its 193 days of demonstrations against the People Power
Party-led government late last month.
Media magnate Sondhi Limthongkul, who escaped assassination
in April, said he and his four fellow alliance coordinators
would oversee enforcement of the partys rules.
Alliance MPs could not become cabinet members and party
executives would have no right to nominate party candidates.
The new party could be expected to win between 30 and 40
seats in the next general election and would support retention
of the 2007 military-sponsored constitution, he said.
About 2,000 people attended the assembly.
Red-shirt
rally planned
The Thai military had been asked to post 16 companies of
reserve troops to help ensure law and order during the red-shirted
United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship planned
anti-government rally at Sanan Luang, central Bangkok, metropolitan
police commander Police Lieutenant-General Worapong Chiewprecha
said yesterday.
The soldiers would be used if the situation turned violent
and it was felt necessary to seal Government House, The
Bangkok Post, quotes him a saying.
The newspaper also quotes Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban
as saying intelligence agencies have provided details of
an alleged front plot to use violence to topple the government.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Merauke Five, finally
arrives home on Horne Island |
|
 |
| The
'Merauke Five,' Australians Keith Mortimer, Karen
Burke, Hubert Hofer and Vera Scott-Bloxam during
their trial for illegally entering Indonesia's
West Papua Province |
|
From
News Reports:
Jayapura, June 25: Five Australians found guilty of entering
Indonesia illegally when they arrived in West Papua aboard
their own light aircraft without the necessary flight approval
and visas last September for a three-day sight-seeing visit
returned to Horn Island, off Cape York, northern Queensland
yesterday.
In January, pilot William Scott-Bloxam, 62, was jailed for
three years; had his aircraft ordered confiscated and was
fined about US$4,463 when Merauke District Court judges
found him guilty of violating Indonesias aviation
and immigration laws.
His wife, Vera, 54, and their companions Karen Burke, 51,
Hubert Hofer, 57, and Keith Mortimer, 60, were sentence to
two years jail and each fined about $2,229.
In March, the Jayapura High Court overturned their convictions
and ordered they leave immediately aboard their V-68 aircraft
but the decision was stayed when the Merauke prosecutor
appealed the decision.
The high court judges found that air-traffic controllers
at Merauke on West Papuas northern coast had given
them permission to land.
They were allowed to fly after the Supreme Court rejected
the prosecutors appeal their lawyer Efraim Fanghoy
told the Antara news agency.
Goldfish
I feel like a goldfish that has escaped a pool of
piranhas, pilot William Scott-Bloxam told Australian
Associated Press after their arrival in the Torres Strait
Islands between northern Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Passenger Hubert Hofer said the group had been unable to
arrange a visa before their visit but were under the impression
they could easily secure one upon arrival.
There were lots of factors involved, it was not just
one mistake ... the faxes on the island don't work, messages
don't get through, people have a different mentality of
doing things,' he said.
We got information that visas would be available on
arrival because Merauke is an intentional airport but nobody
realised that West Papua was so sensitive that it was like
flying into a military base.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Interception
Darwin, June 25: Forty nine suspected asylum seekers and
four crew intercepted aboard a boat six kilometres south-east
of Ashmore Reef, northwestern Australia will be transferred
to Christmas Island.
The vessel is the 14th to be intercepted carrying suspected
asylum seekers to Australia this year.
The Australian National Audit Office reports that the Christmas
Island's detention centre cost A$100 million more than its
budget because the former Australian government of John
Howard approved it before final design plans had been drafted.
The 800-bed offshore cost $396 million and took two years
longer to build than initially planned, the audit office
says.
Lombok
arrests
Mataram, June 25: Twenty-one Afghan migrants who allegedly
planned to seek asylum have been arrested on Lombok.
The Afghans apparently had travelled to the eastern Indonesian
island from Jakarta and were on their way to Rote, off Kupang,
West Timor for disembarkation to northern Australia.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Indonesian
police abuse widespread, reports Amnesty
Jakarta, June 25: The Indonesian police practice widespread
abuse against criminal suspects, the poor and the marginalised
with impunity, says Amnesty International in a report titled,
Unfinished Business: Police Accountability in Indonesia,
published in Jakarta yesterday.
The report shows how widespread the culture of abuse
is among the Indonesian police force, said Amnesty
Internationals Asia Pacific Deputy Director Donna
Guest.
The polices primary role is to enforce the law
and protect human rights, yet all too often many police
officers behave as if they are above the law.
Although the 84-page report acknowledges the Indonesia government
has attempted to regulate police conduct and introduce greater
accountability in police codes and practices, it says these
changes have failed to eliminate physical abuse and intimidation.
The report says police internal disciplinary mechanisms
are unable to deal effectively with complaints about police
abuse.
Victims usually do not know where to report abuses and are
vulnerable to further abuse if they make a complaint directly
to the police.
External police oversight bodies are impotent, it says.
At a time when the governments of Indonesia and senior
police figures have made the commitment to enhance trust
between the police and the community, the message is not
being translated into practical steps on the ground,
said Donna Guest.
Too many victims are left without access to real justice
and reparations, thus fuelling a climate of mistrust towards
the police.
Interviews
The report is based on Amnesty International interviews
with scores of victims of abuse, police, lawyers and representatives
of human rights organisations in Indonesia during the past
two years.
It finds that drug users, repeat offenders and women, including
sex workers, are particularly vulnerable.
Many of those interviewed said police officers attempted
to extract bribes from them in return for better treatment
or a reduction in sentencing.
Amnesty Internationals report wants the Indonesia
government to acknowledge publicly that police abuse is
widespread and initiate prompt, impartial and effective
investigations into every credible complaint.
It says those found responsible must be brought to justice
and victims granted reparations.
It also says the government should review the internal system
for submitting and processing complaints of police abuse
to ensure that investigations into police misconduct are
prompt, impartial and independent.
The
Southeast Asian Times
| Railway
workers return to work after two-day strike
|
Bangkok,
June 24: State Railway of Thailand workers returned
to the job yesterday evening with 23 trains departing
Bangkoks Hua Lampong station after a two-day strike,
reports the Thai News Agency.
Regional services were to resume this morning.
The resumption of work followed negotiations led by
State Railway
of Thailand Union chairman Sawit Kaewwan and the networks
governor, Yutthana Thapcharoen, yesterday afternoon.
The strike followed the Thai governments decision
of |
|
Wednesday,
June 3 to restructure the loss-making system.
The union chairman threatened that the strike would
end only when the government stayed its decision and
began negotiating with worker representatives.
Railway workers fear the plan to divide the State-owned
enterprise into subsidiaries, including a corporation
that would manage a new electric service that is scheduled
to open before the end of the year and link the city
centre with Bangkoks Suvarnabhumi Airport, is
the road to privatisation.
The
Southeast Asian Times
|
| Owner, skipper
of ill-fated ferry to face charges |
|
Manila, Philippine Justice
Department officials yesterday approved
the laying of charges of criminal negligence
against the owner and the missing captain
of the ferry Princess of the Stars, Florencio
Marimon, which sank just 500 metres off
Sibuyan Island in the Romblon archipelago,
about 300 kilometres south of Manila on
June 21 last year.
The about 24,000-tonne vessel was reportedly
carrying 724 passengers, 109 crew members
and 26 supernumeraries when it capsized
in the heavy seas generated by Typhoon Fengshen.
More than 400 bodies have been recovered
and identified with another 316 trapped
in the wreckage.The skipper is believed
to be among the dead but he will remain
a respondent until a death certificate is
issued for him
Acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera
said the charges stemmed from a criminal
complaint that the owner of vessel, Sulpicio
Lines Incorporated, ignored storm |
|
 |
|
About
50 relatives of those who died aboard
the ferry Princess of the Stars
threw white flowers into Manila
Bay during a memorial Mass on Monday.
A cardboard replica of the ferry
was released into the bay, where
it slowly sank in the waves
|
|
|
|
warnings to allow the vessel to sail.
This is the initial justice that we can give the victims
and the families, she told reporters.
The families I know are still in anguish, there can
be no substitute for any death and this is the most that
we can do, she said.
The other respondent to the complaint, Sulpicio Lines Incorporated
deputy president Edgar Go, faces up to six years in jail
if found guilty.
Civil action has also been taken against the owner.
The justice department is still studying the evidence against
three other ferry officers and the coastguard official who
allowed the ship to sail.
Sulpicio Lines Incorporated also owned the Dona Paz, which
sank in December 1987 with 4,340 people onboard after colliding
with a fuel tanker in the world's worst peacetime maritime
disaster.
Two other ferries that it owned also sank before the MV Princess
of the Stars.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Indonesian patrol shoots
West Papua teenager
From News Reports:
Jayapura, June 24: An Indonesian military patrol has seriously
wounded West Papuan Isak Pesakot, 13, as he was returning
to Kibai kampong in the Keerom regency, West Papua, after
a visit to relatives in Skoscahu, across the border in Papua
New Guinea, reports the Antara news agency.
The agency quotes Papua Military Command spokesperson Lieutenant
Colonel Susilo as saying: TNI soldiers at the Bewan
military post in Keerom were responsible for the shooting.
The incident was now being investigated, he said.
The news agencys quoted Isak Pesakots father,
Anton Psakor, as saying the wounded boy and his two
brothers, Wens and John Psakor, had fled up trees after
dogs had barked at them as they walked through jungle on
Monday afternoon.
Suddenly, there were shots and Wens and John Psakor saw
their brother, Isak Psakor, fall down to the ground, he
said.
They then saw soldiers emerging from the behind the trees
and shouted to them: We are inhabitants of Kibai kampong,
why did you shoot our brother?
The soldiers did not reply, and, instead of helping the
youths, ran away.
The boys then covered their brother with leaves and returned
to their village for help.
Last week Papua New Guinea officials detained a member of
the Jayapura Police who allegedly illegally crossing the
border at Wutung Beach, Keerom.
Antara quotes National Commission for Missing Persons and
Victims of Violence, Kontras coordinator Harry Naturboga
as telling a news conference in Jayapura that must be taken
against the soldiers who did the shooting.
Catholic priest Father John Jonga apologised for initially
reporting that the teenager had died.
Instead, he was now in a critical condition in the Jayapura
general hospital.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Forum
asked to discuss deteriorating West Papua
Sydney, June 24: The secretary of the Sydney-based Australia
West Papua Association, Joe Collins, has written to members
of the Pacific Islands Forum asking them to discuss what
he says is deteriorating situation in West Papua when they
meet in Cairns next year. The people of West Papua are facing
increasing intimidation from Indonesian soldiers and police,
the letter says.
The letter quotes Amnesty Internationals State of
the world's human rights report, 2009, as saying that in
West Papua: Local community leaders were intimidated
and threatened by the military and police.
There were reports of torture and other ill- treatment,
excessive use of force and extrajudicial executions by security
forces.
Earlier this month, members of the West Papua National Coalition
for Liberation called for peaceful dialogue with Indonesia
as the only viable way to settle the conflict in the Indonesian
province.
The members made their call after a five-day coalition-sponsored
workshop in Vanimo, the capital of Papua New Guineas
north-westernmost province, Sandaun.
The workshop followed their summit held in Vanuatu in April
2008.
The coalition again asked the Melanesian Spearhead Group
and the Pacific Islands Forum to grant West Papua observer
status at their forthcoming meeting.
The statement asks the international community
to approach the complex issues in West Papua with objectivity
and understanding.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Aborigines
living on the outskirts of one of their countrys
resource-rich cities, Darwin, are still hostage
to the whim of settler Australians and policies
decided without consultation in the national capital
about 6,000 kilometers away
Dr William Bartlett
Day reports
...Open page here |
|
| Participants at an international
meeting that revisited the 1965-1966 Indonesian
killings have included Indonesian school students
who traveled to Singapore to attend...Open
page here |
|
| Academics
and journalists will deliver 29 papers at Singapores
National University dealing with the Indonesian
anti-communist mass killings of 1965-66 ... John
Loizou reports...Open page
here |
|
| Princeton
historian Brad Simpson explains why the forthcoming
conference in Singapore that will revisit the
1965-1966 Indonesian killings is important...Open
page here
|
|
|
The
Balinese have begun to liberate themselves from
the anti-Communist slaughter of 1965-66 by openly
using the once feared
phrase seda gestok...Open
page here.
|
|
| Scholars
assess Indonesian slaughter: Twenty nine papers
that deal with the mass slaughter will be discussed
at a unique conference in Singapore later this
month. For two of the abstracts and the chance
to ask questions of the participants...Open
page here |
|
| West
Papua cannot be ignored says Sydney-based
Australia West Papua Association to all members
of Australia's House of Representatives and Senate...Open
page here |
|
Published by Pas Loizou Press Darwin Northern Territory
Australia
PASLOIZOUPRESSDARWIN@bigpond.com
|
|
|
Oz $ buys
|
|
Updated daily.
Prices indicative only
|
US... 0.7981
Brunei....1.1567
Cambodia...3,347.96
China..Yuan..5.4521
East Timor..0.7978
Euro...0.5700
Hong Kong...6.1847
Indonesia Rupiah..8,157.04
Japan..76.4912
Laos..6,795.39
Malaysia Ringgit... 2.8131
Myanmar...5.1926
Papua New Guinea..2.0819
Philippines Peso..38.3502
Singapore..1.1583
Thailand...Baht... 27.1951
Viet Nam Dong..14,202.21
Filipinos tipped to help build Guam bases
From News Reports:
Manila, July 4: Filipino workers could be among the 10,000
to 15,000 needed to build new United States military bases
on its western Pacific territory Guam, the island's governor
Felix Camacho has told reporters in Manila.
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
will not be hired.
House of Representatives member Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii,
is reported to have said that foreign workers won't be allowed
to do more than 30 percent of the work on the projects.
The 2010 National Defense Authorization Act requires the minimum
wage for all Guam construction projects be at the prevailing
wage level for similar work in
Hawaii, he said.
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 weekly says foreign minister Nakasone Hirofumi and Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed agreement for the relocation
to be completed by 2014 on Wednesday, February 18.
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.
Japan Press Weekly says numerous municipalities on Okinawa
oppose this condition of the agreement.
The
Southeast Asian Times
ANZ accused of failing workers
From News Reports
Port Moresby, July 3: The ANZ Bank, Papua New Guinea, had
failed to adequately compensate its staff despite growth of
more than 30 percent last year, the countrys Bankers
and Financial Institution Workers Union has told the Arbitration
Tribunal.
The unions secretary-general Vera Raga made the accusation
in a paper its president Anton Sekum prepared for the hearing,
reports The National newspaper.
The 30 percent growth followed 23 percent growth in 2006 and
21 percent in 2007.
The banks employees are now seeking higher wages and
improved benefits, including housing allowances.
He said: The economy of Papua New Guinea continues to
record growth and this trend will not change in a long while
in spite of the global downturn.
Further, provisions had been made for any losses and this
could not be used as a reason to deny employees higher wages
and better conditions.
In early June, striking ANZ Bank workers returned to work
after its managing director, Gary Tunstall, issued a written
undertaking not to victimise employees and to restart negotiations
in good faith.
The bank management also obtained a court order for the workers
to return to work.
The Southeast Asian Times
Viet Nam grows at 3.9 percent
Ha Noi, July 2: Viet Nams Gross Domestic Product grew
at an estimated 3.9 percent during the first six months of
the year, reports the General Statistics Office on its website.
Second-quarter growth of 4.5 percent helped boost the figure.
Growth for the same months last year was 6.5 percent.
The figures show that the value of agricultural, forestry
and fishery production increased 2.5 percent; industrial production
rose 4.8 percent and retail sales of goods and services was
up 20 percent.
But export revenue was down 10.1 percent and import costs
34.1 percent.
The percentage of visitors to Viet Nam fell 19.1 percent.
The Consumer Price Index increased 10.27 percent against the
same months of last year.
The World Bank forecasts GDP growth of 5.5 percent for Viet
Nam for 2009; the Asian Development Bank 4.5 percent and the
government about five percent.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Workers
want
to help set
pay rates
From News Reports:
Surabaya, July 1: The Alliance for the Defence of Labourers
has demanded that East Javas first popularly elected
governor, Soekarwo, include it in determining the regional
minimum wage.
We ask the local administration to invite us to help
conduct the survey for the database, before deciding on the
minimum wage, because past surveys have never been pro-worker,
alliance East Java coordinator Jamaludin told The Jakarta
Post.
They just conduct the survey with no understanding of
the real conditions and real problems that workers face,
putting them at a disadvantage in accessing public healthcare
and education.
The city administration usually sampled the opinion of only
pro-management workers for their surveys.
The coordinator said that although Surabaya judges had dismissed
an Indonesian Employers Association petition to have the 2009
wage decree set aside many of the provinces enterprises
had not honoured the decision.
They blame the global economic contraction, he said.
In March, the alliance successfully sponsored the prosecution
of King Jim Indonesia, or KJI, general manager Fatoni Prawata
for not allowing the companys workers to form a trade
union before judges of the Bangil District Court in Pasuruan,
east Java,
The general manager was sentenced to 8 months jail for violation
of the 1997 Freedom of Association Law.
The company is a subsidiary of Japanese office-equipment maker
King Jim.
King Jims website lists the companys headquarters
in Tokyo with a representative office in Hong Kong and subsidiaries
in Shanghai, Malaysia and the My Phuoc Industrial Park3, the
Ben Cat District, southern Binh Duong Province, Viet Nam.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Contraction spawns social crisis, warns bank chief
From News Reports:
Mumbai, June 30: Asian Development Bank managing director
Rajat Nag has warned the global economic contraction is creating
a social crisis in Asia, reports The Financial Times.
Asias forecast weak economic growth estimated
at 3-4 per cent this year would leave 60 million more
people in poverty than if it had continued to grow at last
years 6.5 per cent, the newspaper quotes him a saying..
This financial crisis for Asia is much more a social
crisis than just an economic or a financial crisis,
Mr Nag told the Financial Times during conference organised
by the United States-based Emerging Markets Forum.
The Asian Development Bank was established in 1996 to promote
economic and social development in the Asian-Pacific.
Japan is its major shareholder.
The
Southeast Asian Times
China
bank seeks greater Thai share
From News Reports:
Bangkok, June 29: Industrial and Commerce Bank of China (ICBC)
Chairman Jiang Jianqing has asked Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
to think about raising the limit for foreign shareholdings
in Thai banks, reports The Nation newspaper.
It quotes Prime Minister's Office Minister Virachai Virameteekul
as saying the prime minister was told in Beijing on Friday
that ICBC was keen to buy more than the allowed 49 per cent
of Thailand's ACL Bank.
ICBC has asked the prime minister to consider raising to 50
per cent the current 25-per-cent limit on foreign directors
on any board.
The prime minister has replied that he would ask the Finance
Ministry to consider the request, which he said would depend
on whether the entry of ICBC would increase competition within
Thailand's banking sector.
Finance Minister Korn Jatichatikavanij is expected to discuss
the proposal with ICBC executives during a visit to China
in September.
The Nation says ICBC executives argue that the banks
entry into the Thai market via acquisition of ACL Bank would
have a very positive impact and substantially enhance the
Thai strategic profile in the Mekong region.
ICBC is the world's largest bank by market capitalisation
at US$252.85 billion.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Gusmao
gave rice contract to daughter, papers show
Dili, June 28: Fretilin has obtained documents that purportedly
show that East Timor's Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, awarded
Prima Foods, a company partly-owned by his daughter Zenilda,
$US3.5 million to import rice.
The contract was awarded as part of a $US45 million programme
to import basic foods, part of the
government's neo-liberal economic stabilisation programme.
This is indicating very strongly that it's a collusion,
nepotism and corruption, Fretilin spokesman Arsenio
Bano told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Sydney Morning Herald quotes an Australian Department
of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman as saying the government
took allegations of corruption seriously and was working closely
with the East Timorese Government to increase accountability.
The Australian aid
program to East Timor is very carefully monitored and the
aid program is subject to systematic internal and external
audit to prevent and detect fraud, the
spokeswoman said.
Australia is a key supporter of Xanana Gusmao who became prime
minister via a constitutional coup.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Two hurt when guards gun discharges
From News Reports:
Petaling Jaya, June 27: A bank employee and a customer were
reported injured when a security guard accidentally discharged
his pumpgun in Petaling Jaya.
Witnesses called the ambulance and both the injured were rushed
to the University
Malaya Medical Centre where one was reported to be in a serious
but stable condition.
Police have detained a security guard, 43.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Mayor wants neglected land
forfeited
From News Reports:
Ipoh, June 26: The Ipoh City Council has asked the Perak government
to think about revoking land titles if owners do not tend
their land.
Many village landowners, who failed to develop their plots,
often tend to leave it abandoned, Ipoh Datuk Bandar, or mayor,
Roshidi Hashim explained to The Star newspaper.
After a while, these plots would be overgrown with weeds
and infested with creatures like snakes, he said.
The land may also become a breeding ground for the
malaria carrying - Aedes mosquito.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Survey
reveals real-estate choices
Singapore, June 25: Real estate in China, Australia and Japan
are now the major choice of most non-listed institutional
investors and fund managers, the latest Asian Real Estate
Association survey shows.
The findings, published in the non-profit organisations
Investment Intentions Asia Survey 2009, are based on an online
survey of 73 organisations active in the Asian non-listed
real estate funds market.
The survey identifies China as the most appealing Asian location
for 90 per cent of investors and 81 per cent of fund managers.
Japan was first choice for funds managers; firms that hold
a portfolio of various investment funds with Australia, a
new entrant, also a firm favourite.
Just 10 percent of investors named Singapore as their preferred
location.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Telstra executive salaries frozen
Melbourne, June 24: Newly-appointed Telstra chief executive
David Thodey has frozen the salaries of senior executives
for 12 months.
The freeze, announced on Telstras website and part of
a yearly salary review. is expected to apply to about 300
executives across all divisions.
The site quoted Mr Thodey as saying it was time to tighten
the belt at all levels.
Executive salaries are to remain at their current levels and
staff will only get pay increases of two per cent this year.
Telstra workers say they want a seven percent rise.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Non-Malaysians in debt to public hospitals
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, June 23: Non-Malaysians owe public hospitals
ringgit
12.8million, about US$3.6million, reports Berita Minggu.
About 27 percent is owed for post-natal care, 12 percent for
accident treatment, 9 percent for orthopaedic surgery and
the balance for outpatient care, it says.
The news service quotes Health director-general Dr Ismail
Merican as saying the figure was about double the figure of
2000.
Indonesians owned the most, 47 percent.
Indians, Filipinos, workers from Myanmar, Bangladeshis, Vietnamese
and Thais also owed money.
Making guest workers obliged to buy health insurance would
eliminate the problem, he said.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Singapore pilots agree to less pay
From News Reports:
Singapore, Singapore Airlines pilots have agreed to take leave
without pay and have their salaries reduced from Wednesday,
July 1.
Managers and directors have agreed to a pay cut of at least
10 per cent, the carrier says in a statement.
Chief executive Chew Choon Seng will have a pay cut of 20
per cent.
The statement says the airlines more than 1,800
pilots have agreed take one day off without pay each month
and a cut of 65 per cent of one day's pay from their monthly
basic salary.
The Straits Times quotes the pilot association president Captain
P. James as saying:'We reached this agreement with two
objectives - to help the company remain profitable and to
save jobs.
The agreement follows month-long negotiations.
The reductions are expected to help Singapore Airlines reduce
its costs by about US$14.3 million in costs this financial
year
The
Southeast Asian Times
Fake investment licence investigated
From News Reports:
Ha Noi, June 21: Police are investigating the use of an allegedly
forged investment licence for a US$1.5 billion tourist complex
in Ha Nois Luong Son District, reports The Viet Nam
News.
The project had a certificate supposedly granted by the Ha
Noi Peoples Committee on December 26, 2008, the newspaper
quotes Economic Investigation Department overseer Trinh Van
Vat as saying.
But the committee says it had not issued such a certificate.
The newspaper says the Huong Sen Joint Stock Company of Central-Highland
Lam Dong Province is the projects developer.
Earlier, the newspaper reported Viet Nam Communist Party Ha
Noi chapter secretary Pham Quang Nghi as saying a second golf
course in the Tan Vien international tourist zone in citys
Ba Vi District would not be allowed.
Planning and Investment Minister Vo Hong Phuc has asked the
plenary session of the National Assembly to instruct provincial
administrations to cull 50 of the countrys 166 approved
golf-course projects.
There is no reason to use rice-growing land to build
golf courses, he said.
Deputy Nguyen Minh Ha, Ha Noi, told the parliament that only
30 percent of land for golf course projects was actually used
for golf.
The remainder was used to build hotels and villas.
The
Southeast Asian Times
MPs
baulk at treaty linked to defence
From News Reports:
Jakarta, June 20: The House of Representatives has suspended
the ratification of an extradition treaty between Indonesia
and Singapore.
Members refused to link the treaty with a defence agreement
between the two countries, Defence and Foreign Affairs committeeman
Djoko Susilo, the National Mandate Party, told tempointeraktif.com.
We need an extradition treaty but not a defence agreement,
he said.
Parallel deliberation of defence and extradition agreements
was the initiative of Singapore, which will disadvantage us.
The foreign minister of Indonesia Hassan Wirajuda and of Singapore
George Yeo signed the extradition agreement in April 2007.
In March, Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono accused the Singapore
government of avoiding the enforcement of an extradition treaty
with Indonesia for fear it would be obliged to return the
money it holds for fugitives who fled to the city state during
the 1997-2001 financial crisis.
The defence minister said 80 Indonesian fugitives were living
in Singapore and the republics founding Prime Minister,
Lee Kuan Yew, had told him that it did not make any sense
to return the money.
In December, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told
reporters that he expected the United States administration
to ask the republics banks to open their books to greater
public scrutiny.
The Southeast Asian Times
Thai Cabinet approves anti-riot spending
From News Reports:
Bangkok, June 19: The Thai cabinet has given the Defence Ministry
permission to buy anti-riot equipment worth almost US$1.8
million for the Asean summit later this year.
It also gave permission for the establishment of seven companies
of riot-control troops and the purchase of 24 armoured-plated
limousines to cost an estimated $6.4 million for the Armed
Forces Security Centre.
Senior Association of Southeast Asian Nations officials and
their Asia - Pacific partners have agreed to hold their twice
postponed summit in October.
The month has also been fixed for 15th Asean summit and meeting
with representatives of Australia, India, China, Japan, New
Zealand and South Korea.
The 14th summit was originally marked for last November. It
too had to be abandoned after the People's Alliance for Democracy
protesters closed Bangkoks two major airports.
The venue for the 15th summit has yet to be announced.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Merpati
left to decide China purchase
From News Reports:
Jakarta, June 18: Struggling State-owned Merpati Nusantara
Airlines would have to decide for itself about continuing
with the purchase of 15 Xinzhou-60 turbo-prop aircraft from
the China Aviation Industry Corporation after one of the first
of two delivered was found to have a fractured tail, said
Transport Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal.
But the cause of the damage must be found, the Antara news
agency quoted the minister as saying.
Was it an operational mistake; a production mistake or a mistake
made during assembly?
Merparti took delivery of the first two of US$15million-aircraft
60-passenger aircraft last month and grounded one immediately
the damage was identified.
The Xinzhou-60 has a cruising range of 1,600 kilometers and
Merparti wants them to service its domestic routes across
the sprawling archipelago.
The Aviation Industry Corporation of China is the Peoples
Republics major aircraft maker and its products, including
the L-15 jet trainer and air-to-air missiles are on display
at the Paris Air Show.
Indonesias aviation industry has proved resilient against
the global economic contraction because it relies on domestic
rather than international travellers.
But the State-appointed Asset Management Company that has
responsibility for rejuvenating ailing State-owned enterprises
is restructuring Merpati.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Toll Holdings to control Cambodia railways
From News Reports
Phnom Phenh, June 17: Melbourne-based transport company Toll
Holdings and its Cambodian joint-venture partner, Royal Group,
has won a 30-year concession to manage the countrys
railway system for 30 years.
Toll will have a 55 percent stake in the dilapidated 80-year-old
652-kilometre system and the Royal Group 45.
Toll Holdings general manager, Cambodia, Eugene Cody would
not say how much the joint venture would spend rejuvenating
the system or provide details of any profit sharing with the
Cambodian government.
But new locomotives would be imported and the new system working
in 2011, he said.
Renovation of the railway is part of a project to link Singapore
with Kunming, eastern China.
Toll Holdings has also bought Darwin-based pioneering sea-freight
service Perkins Shipping for an undisclosed amount.
Perkins serviced remote Aboriginal communities along the north
Australian coast and was once heavily subsidised by the Australian
government.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Australias
tourist industry warned
Canberra, June 16: Australias tourism industry must
undergo fundamental change or risk losing thousands of jobs
and billions of dollars, warns the federal government- appointed
Long-Term Tourism Strategy Steering Committee in its newly-published
report.
The committee, chaired by former Qantas chairwoman Margaret
Jackson makes 10 recommendations intended to enhance research,
online capability, skills and investment.
This included better online marketing and booking.
The report reveals that Australias share of global tourism
dropped 14 per cent between 1995 and 2008.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Police to return Ponzi money
From News Reports:
Denpasar, June 15: Rupiah 293 billion; 27.4 kilograms of gold
jewellery; three deeds to land and two vehicles would be lodged
with the new management of the Develop Karangasem Cooperative
within the next two or three weeks, Balis senior criminal
investigator. Senior Commander Wilmar Marpaung has reportedly
told The Jakarta Post.
It would be then returned to its owners, he said.
Police seized the money, gold, deeds and vehicles as evidence
in their investigation of an alleged ponzi scheme in Dewa
Mas, Karangasem, probably Balis poorest regency this
year.
The villagers are reported to have invested about rupiah 17million,
about US$1,400, in the Develop Karagasem Cooperative.
The cooperatives director I Gede Putu Kertia and operational
manager I Nengah Wijanegara have since been arrested as fraud
suspects.
Police closed the cooperative, which had about 72,000 members,
in February.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Jakarta buses out of gas
From News Reports
Jakarta, June 14: Failure to pay for fuel stopped 109 buses
in the citys public transport system for several hours,
reports The Jakarta Post.
The newspaper quotes Jakarta Trans Metropolitan operational
director Oka as saying Transjakarta busway management had
not provided the deposit needed for the natural gas to fuel
the buses.
The operational director said he usually paid a minimum deposit
of rupiah 300 million, about US$29,700, every 10 days to a
compressed-natural gas but he had not delivered the deposit
for the last 20 days.
We didn't have the budget to pay the deposit because
the Transjakarta busway management did not pay us in April
and May, he said.
This has happened over and over again and it makes business
hard for us.
The newspaper quoted Oka as saying that he had finally managed
to assure the gas station management of payment after Transjakarta
busway management director Daryati Asrining Rini told him
she would settle tomorrow.
The
Southeast Asian Times
Malaysia Airlines suffers $199 million loss
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, June 13: Malaysia Airlines lost ringit 695,
about US$199 million, from January-March.
Overcapacity, fuel hedging losses and the global economic
contraction that dampened passenger and cargo demand were
the cause of the losses, says the airline in a statement issued
yesterday.
The statement says revenue fell 28 percent to $771 million
as the percentage of seats filled fell sharply while yields
-
which measures income per seat - dwindled further.
It warns of further losses this year.
Managing Director Idris Jala said the airline had reduced
passenger capacity by 11 percent in the first quarter and
may further reduce capacity to cut cost in line with falling
demand.
The airline earned as profit of ringit 120 million in the
first quarter of last year.
The
Southeast Asian Times
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