no. 53 January- March 1998		Newsbriefs
		Risky reporting Naimullah, a reporter with the Jakarta-based daily newspaper Sinar Pagi, was found stabbed to death in his car 90 kilometres north of Pontianak, provincial capital of West Kalimantan. Naimullah had recently reported on timber theft and had been conducting an investigation of illegal logging in Kalimantan. He was last seen with four men, including one from the company suspected of having been involved with the logging. No arrests have been made, despite calls by human rights groups for an investigation. Committee to Protect Journalists (New York), 28 July 1997. Boat history Two teams of archaeologists identified a 9-metre iron boat dug up from the Bengawan Solo river in Central Java as an eighteenth century craft of European design. Some coins found with the boat were dated 1745 and had the Dutch United East Indies Company (VOC) logo on them. Historian Suyatno Kartodirdjo speculated it may have been used by Dutch officials fleeing the Kartasura sultanate after the palace was taken over by rebellious Chinese in that year. Locals had known of the boat for years. When it was finally dug out, they made money (for village improvements) from the many visitors who came to look. Suara Merdeka 8 & 16 August 1997. Ary's shoes President Suharto's 26-year old grandson Ary Sigit was at it again. After trying his hand at gaining monopolies over beer in Bali and the lucrative birds nest trade nationwide, he attempted to force the mostly low income parents of all school children in West Java to buy a pair of his overpriced OSIS shoes. He organised a letter of instruction to that effect from the Education Department, and commissioned five million pairs at cobblers in the province. A public outcry led President Suharto (once again) to step in and order the scheme be abandoned. SiaR 26 August 1997, Suara Merdeka 29 August 1997, Suara Independen September 1997. Stop rot Municipal officers seized hundreds of cuts of rotting chicken and goat meat from markets in Semarang in a special operation. Indonesian meat markets lack refrigeration. Meat not sold at once was found to be painted with formalin and textile dyes and put on sale at half price the next day. 'I actually prefer selling fresh meat', said one seller, 'but if it doesn't sell quickly I'll keep it for two or three days. I don't want to make a loss'. Suara Merdeka 29 August 1997. No to Mega The Singapore Foreign Correspondents Association complied with a request from the Singapore government to cancel an invitation for Megawati to address the association, citing fear of repercussions. It is the first time Singapore has stopped the visit of a prominent politician. A Jakarta analyst said the Singapore government, like most member governments in ASEAN, 'suffered from the big brother syndrome' towards Indonesia. A few months after the 27 July 1996 event, Jakarta immigration officials tried to stop Megawati travelling overseas, but relented when she gave them a piece of her mind. SiaR 5 September 1997. Not Lady Di With extraordinary insensitivity, a pub in Yogyakarta ran a 'Lady Di Look-Alike' competition on the day of her funeral. However, despite an appearance by the local military commander as jury, the pub owner's hopes of cashing in on immense popular affection for Princess Diana were disappointed, as few visitors showed up. All four entrants were given equal shares in the AU$200 prize - an Australian tourist, a public servant, a transsexual, and a waitress from the pub. Suara Merdeka 8 September 1997. Bumpy flight The first aircraft designed at Habibie's IPTN factory in Bandung has so far failed to win certification. An inspection team from the American FAA found that vital documentation for the CN-250, which was missing during their first visit six months earlier, had still not been attended to. The CN-250 turbo-prop was designed with money 'borrowed' from the Reforestation Fund. Other projects are also not going well. A new jet, the N-2130, is being developed out of compulsory contributions by school teachers. Questioned by parliamentarian Bambang Warih, Habibie conceded IPTN was losing money but did not reveal how many billions of dollars were gone. The International Monetary Fund reportedly wants IPTN scrapped as a condition for assistance. In October an unprecedented strike paralysed the factory after IPTN announced drastic downsizing plans. Suara Independen October 1997. Bung Karno lives? A man in his fifties is being charged with subversion for impersonating Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, who died in 1970. Imam Syafi'i said he was meditating on volcanic Mount Arjuno when it was revealed he was a reincarnation of Sukarno, affectionately known as Bung Karno. He also called himself Imam Mahdi, the Javanese messiah. His tall stature, sonorous voice, dark glasses, and confident bearing soon impressed others. He formed them into Division 10 of Bung Karno's Revolutionary Guards Brigade and they exercised at his Malang headquarters. Some followers, believing his promise to reward them handsomely out of his access to the fantastic but lost Revolutionary Fund, gave up homes and careers for him. All were arrested in advance of a visit to Malang by President Suharto. The subversion law has been widely condemned in Indonesia as arbitrary. Digest 7 October 1997. Golden handshake To commemorate five years loyal service to the nation, the outgoing 1992-97 parliament decided to award themselves 22 carat gold rings worth Rp 395,000 (AU$160) apiece. However, some suspicious members had them checked at a (state-owned) pawn shop and discovered they were only 10-14 carat gold. Parliamentary secretary Afif Ma'roef reportedly ordered the pawn shop to stop testing the rings, but the cat was out of the bag. The contractor who made them apologised and most were returned. Cartoons quipped that the rings merely reflected the quality of this parliament. Calls for a criminal investigation went unheeded. Republika 22 October 1997. Saved! Widespread public sympathy saved the life of Nasiroh, a 27-year old housemaid from Cianjur in West Java sentenced to death by beheading for shooting dead her employer in Saudi Arabia in 1994. Women's and Islamic groups demonstrated in Jakarta, while the Indonesian press described conditions of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia as little different to slavery. The murdered man's family granted Nasiroh a pardon just before efforts to pay them blood money gathered momentum. Under the spotlight for its poor handling of women working overseas, the Jakarta government made special provisions to bring back over ten thousand Indonesian workers stranded in Saudi Arabia without money and without a visa. Republika 30 October 1997.