Merdeka, which means independence in Indonesian, is a fictional account of Japanese soldiers killed in Indonesia while fighting Dutch colonisers. Its message is that Japan helped fellow Asians fight Western colonisers. Shot mostly in Indonesia, the film debuted in Tokyo on 12 May. It is directed by Yukio Fuji and distributed by a leading film company. The movie revolves around First Lieutenant Shimakazaki, who is dispatched to fight the Dutch on Java. Shimakazaki gets deeply involved in the Indonesian freedom movement. But the aim of Merdeka - to depict Japan's questionable actions during the war through a heroic lens - becomes obvious early on in the film. Professor Takashi Shiraishi at Kyoto University's Center for Southeast Asian Studies says: 'I know a number of Indonesian freedom fighters. They would be offended because they believe they obtained independence by themselves.' Yoko Maeda, a 31-year-old Tokyo freelance writer says of Merdeka: 'I wish we could get on with our life by admitting our aggression in Asia.'

Suvendrini Kakuchi, Inter Press Service 5 June 2001; Asami Nagai, The Yomiuri Shimbun (Tokyo) 5 May 2001

Aceh film

The title of Aryo Danusiri's film about Aceh, Village goat that takes a beating ('Kambing kampung yang kena pukul'), comes from a folk saying. If a mountain goat breaks into the garden and eats the vegetables, it is the domestic village goat that is punished. The analogy to Aceh is clear - when guerrillas from the Free Aceh Movement carry out raids, the Indonesian military hits back at ordinary villagers. Aryo Danusiri says he made the film because Indonesians don't understand the reality of the independence struggle in Aceh - they see it as an expression of arrogance by the Acehnese. Instead, it has been fueled by the suffering inflicted on civilians during ten years of military rule under President Suharto.

[optional: Another Aryo Danusiri film about Aceh is entitled The poet of Linge Homeland. It is a portrait of Ibrahim Kadir, a master of Didong, a kind of competitive performance poetry chanted at important occasions. He says people still use Didong as their communication media. However, because of the security situation in Aceh, local police often ban evening performances of Didong. ]

Peter Mares, Australian Broadcasting Corporation 5 June 2001

Teenage hackers

In July 2001, a fifteen year old named Wendy Setiawan, alias Wenas Agusetiawan, alias Han Ciong, was arrested in Singapore for having infiltrated a large Singapore-based business web site. He had also stolen data from web sites in Indonesia, Australia and the US. The first Indonesian computer hacker to be arrested overseas, Wenas became a popular figure.

The first Indonesian computer viruses spread around the world in the early 1990s: DenZuko, SuperNova and Macro Bandung Concept. In 1996 nationalistic Indonesian hackers fought back against Toxyn, a Portuguese group which attacked Indonesian government web sites over East Timor.

In May 2001 the Indonesian national police web site was destroyed by a group calling itself Cyberjihad. They wanted the release of Ja'far Umar, arrested commander of the militant Islamic group Laskar Jihad. Most hacking involves credit card fraud. Many online retailers have blocked Indonesian transactions after having been frequently defrauded.

Antariksa, Latitudes magazine [Bali] July 2001

Slaves at sea

Tens of thousands of sailors on commercial ships are being treated like slaves and live in fear of being thrown overboard if they complain about mistreatment. The report 'Ships, slaves and competition' found that on 10 to 15 percent of vessels, sailors from developing countries were being subjected to poor safety conditions, excessive hours, unpaid wages, starvation diets, rapes and beatings. Peter Morris, the report's author and chair of the independent industry group International Commission of Shipping, said: 'The seafarers who suffer the most are from Indonesia and the Philippines, because they supply the bulk of seafarers.'

Cargo owners, such as bulk ore and grain operators, should take responsibility for forcing the slave-like conditions on sailors. The worst conditions were found on deep-sea fishing vessels operated mainly out of Japan and Taiwan, which often conduct illegal fishing operations in territorial waters. Once at sea, they rarely enter port and are refuelled and unloaded at sea, leaving crew no chance to complain.

Michael Perry, Reuters (Sydney), 6 March 2001

Smokin'

In the ashes of Indonesia's economic crisis, two cigarette firms are still glowing bright enough to hold the interest of foreign investors, otherwise almost a vanishing breed. Indonesia's unique clove cigarettes far outsell 'white' tobacco. Two of its producers rank among the few truly liquid stocks in the Jakarta market. Analysts forecast Sampoerna's full year net in a range of 1.35 trillion rupiah to 1.6 trillion rupiah (approx US$ 140 million) versus 1.01 trillion last year. Gudang Garam should pull in between 2.02 trillion rupiah and 2.79 trillion (US$ 245 million), from 2.24 trillion. 'Fundamentally, the cigarette (sector) has product resilience amid the economic crisis,' said the head of research of ING Barings Securities, Laksono Widodo. Indonesians last year puffed their way through around 200 billion clove cigarettes, slightly higher than in 1999. The two giants have become cash cows for the government which is relying heavily on the revenue from smokers to help meet the excise tax target of 17.6 trillion rupiah (US$ 1.5 billion) this year.

Lily Kurniawati, Reuters (Jakarta), 21 June 2001

Silicone nightmare

They wanted perfect noses, fuller lips and voluptuous breasts. They ended up with grotesque snouts, disfigured lips and breast cancer. Thousands of women in Indonesia have become victims of a trendy beauty treatment called the silicone injection, long outlawed in most developed countries. Mrs Tike Suhariadi, 33, had her shots at a beauty parlour a year ago. 'I wanted my husband to stay attracted to me,' she said. 'For less than 400,000 rupiah (AUS$ 80), I could have a new nose and be able to wear a low-cut dress.' Two months later, her nose started to go red and swollen and painful hives appeared on her breasts. Now every time she looks in the mirror, she cries. She may have to surgically remove her breasts because of severe infection. Thousands of women have been lured by door-to-door salespeople who showed them photographs of beautiful celebrities.

Don Fry, Straits Times 11 March 2001