that car should be confiscated to the state.

A member of House Commission I called on Friday for the Indonesian military to confiscate a luxurious Porsche Cayenne Turbo allegedly owned by a member of the military.                     
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
“Please confiscate the [Porsch] using a military vehicle registration plate,” Fayakhun Andriadi told Antara. “Don’t let [the owner] go free, as this is tainting the image and dignity of the Indonesian military.”

A citizen took a photo of the Porsche Cayenne that was parked at Soekarno Hatta airport, and sent the photo to Detik.com. The amateur photographer, Pranistara, said he had just arrived from Yogyakarta when saw several parked military vehicles (identifiable by their license plates) — the Porsche was conspicuously among the other cars.

The price of Porsche Cayenne on the Indonesian market is around Rp 3.85 billion (almost $416,000) before taxes. 

Fayakhun said that it was “not appropriate” for a military member to show off such a lavish vehicle amid average Indonesian’s who are  "struggling for a living."

“On behalf of Indonesian people, I’m upset with that show-off attitude — it really taints the image of military,” he said. “The owner needs to learn a lesson, and the car [should be] confiscated to the state.”

Indonesian Military spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said that he would investigate the extravagant car.

“That kind of car could not fulfill any specification for a military [official],” Iskandar told detik.com. “If the car is [Toyota] Kijang or Avanza, it is normal to be used by members in carrying out duties — but we need to investigate if it is Porsche.”

Comment:

Accordin to the article above. I strongly agree with Mr.Fayakhun’s comment that porsche owner are not to be left free.  If there are military member have a fancy car using a military vehicle registration plate,it will invite a wide range reaction from the public, moreover the majority of indonesians is lower-middle. I think it is very innapropiate performed by military member. I also agree, that military member tarnished the military image by exibithing the fanncy car he had. Porsche not only luxury and expensive, That kind of car could not fulfill any specification for a military. So the car should be confiscated to the state.

Article source: (http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/porsche-with-military-plates-riles-officials/520067 )

bang kamaludin, Kerak Telor vendor

The Jakarta Fashion and Food Festival in Kelapa Gading is famous for bringing together signature dishes from across the archipelago. In the midst of this culinary celebration, one man stands out. Juggling mini woks and eggs is Bang Kamaludin, 32, purveyor of some of the finest kerak telor in Jakarta. 
His family has been making and selling the traditional Jakarta dish since the 1900s, when it cost a couple of cents. Today, the native Betawi offers us a lesson in kerak telor. 

So you’re a native Betawi, but of all the traditional Betawi foods, why did you choose kerak telor? Why not ketoprak or gado-gado? 
Well, the dish runs deep in my family. I started making kerak telor when I was a teenager just to follow in my parents’ footsteps, because they sold kerak telor. After lots of trial and error I finally managed to make a kerak telor that was quite tasty, and that was when I decided to take the job seriously. 

But did you do this out of some obligation or sense of responsibility to follow in your parents’ footsteps? 
Of course not. I eventually came to enjoy the whole process very much. I enjoy making this delicacy and simply wanted to inherit the skills of making this delicious snack. 

Snack? So you don’t consider kerak telor a main meal? 
No, I think it can be a meal. People have done different variations, making a tastier kind of ketan [sticky rice] and adding local spices, ebi [dried shrimp] and serun deng [fried shredded coconut] to make it more delicious. 

Tell us a bit about your stall here. Where you keep things in your cart and how you handle the ingredients. 
The cart on my left contains all the half-cooked spices, and that is also where I keep the eggs for the kerak telor. After the spices are all cooked together with the eggs and ketan, I use the other side of the cart to add the ebi, serundeng and fried onions. 

Is there a difference between original kerak telor cooked by a Betawi and other versions? 
Well, the original is delicious, like mine, but as most Betawi people already know, the first kerak telor was actually made with duck eggs, not chicken eggs. Most kerak telor sellers will let the customer choose what kind of eggs they want to use. But for me, I only make my dish with duck eggs — no compromising on taste and authenticity. 

Like seasonal kerak telor sellers, do you only sell your dish at fairs or festivals? 
No, I make and sell kerak telor regularly inside the food court at Kelapa Gading mall, every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. I even have my own business card. But I also always take part in annual festivals here in La Piazza, Serpong, and also in the Jakarta Fair. 
When I’m busy taking care of my stall at festivals, I have some Betawi relatives and friends to help me take care of my booth in Kelapa Gading mall. 

How do you set yourself apart from all the other kerak telor carts? 
Here are some tips that I always give to people. During the Jakarta Fair, original Betawi vendors always sell kerak telor inside, not outside. 
So make sure you order while you’re inside enjoying the fair, not outside when you’re on your way home. And if you want to go to my booth, just find the cart with my business card on display. 

Do you hire non-Betawi workers? 
Well, I have lots of Betawi relatives and friends, so I have never hired any non-Betawi so far, but if someday I need some extra workers, maybe I can hire them to serve the food while my Betawi workers do the cooking. 

Talking about serving, how long does it take you to prepare a serving of kerak telor? 
It takes approximately three minutes to cook and serve a dish of kerak telor. I have to be fast, especially if there are many buyers waiting, like now. 

Does the cost change depending on which event you are working at? 
Yes, the highest price comes at the Jakarta Fair, Rp 15,000, because the rent is higher there. But usually I sell a serving for only Rp 12,000. 

Bang Kamaludin was talking to Elisa Effendy.

Comment :

The Jakarta Fashion and Food Festival in Kelapa Gading is best idea to bringing together signature dishes from across the archipelago. In this modern days, the fastfood restorant mushrooming and only serving western cuisine, this certainly would make the traditional cuisine from indonesia forgotten and left behind because people prefer instant and westernized. The jakarta fashion and food festival will make people who wanted the traditional food or home cooking met. Like bang Kamaludin he still devotedly sell Kerak Telor. Not just to follow his parent footsteps which also sell Kerak Telor, he sell Kerak telor because he love every single moment of the process making Kerak Telor and of course to make Kerak Telor exist between western cuisine. I think this festival should be held every year,so that the traditional food keep exist between the community.

Article source: (http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/myjakarta/my-jakarta-bang-kamaludin-kerak-telor-vendor/519916 )

Jamu Herbal Medicine From Indonesia

In 1990, Irish journalist Susan Jane-Beers noticed an herbal-medicine clinic in the corner of a hair salon in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, her adopted home. A victim of age-related chronic knee pain that conventional pharmaceuticals couldn't numb, let alone heal, Jane-Beers decided to try jamu — traditional Indonesian medicine.

The results astounded her. After three days of taking only one-third of the prescribed dose of herbal pills, the pain had vanished, making her wonder if she'd found "the magic bullet of all time."

Jane-Beers spent the next decade researching the origins, myths, tightly guarded recipes and commercial applications of herbal medicine in Java, where plants have been used for medicinal purposes since prehistory. Her 2001 opus Jamu: The Ancient Art of Herbal Healing remains the only definitive English guide on the subject. It's also the most widely read outside Indonesia since Herbarium Amboinense, a catalog of plants completed by German botanist Georg Rumphius in 1690 — more than three centuries earlier.

A holistic therapy based on the notion that if disease comes from nature, then so must the cure, jamu uses a dazzling array of teas, tonics, pills, creams and powders to cure — or prevent — every ailment imaginable. The ingredients are by definition cheap, widely available and simple: nutmeg to treat insomnia, guava for diarrhea, lime to promote weight loss and basil to counter body odor.

Jamu has also been used to treat cancer. In her book, Jane-Beers writes of a traditional healer in the city of Jogjakarta who apparently cured what had been diagnosed as a terminal case of cervical cancer with a tea made of betel nut, Madagascar Periwinkle and mysterious benala leaves. By combining the tea with a strict soybean diet, the patient was said to have made a full recovery in 18 months.

Sound far-fetched? A 2011 study by Virginia Tech's Department of Food Science and Technology on the soursop tree — whose leaves are used to relieve gout and arthritis in Indonesia — found evidence showing that extracts from soursop fruit inhibit the growth of human breast cancer. Vincristine, one of 70 useful alkaloids identified in Madagascar Periwinkle, radically ups the survival rate of children with leukemia, while turmeric is being looked at as a treatment for Alzheimer's.

"Western medicine tries to destroy cancer, but at the same time it destroys elements of the body. Jamu helps the body produce its own antibodies to fight the cancer by itself," says Bryan Hoare, manager at MesaStila, a wellness retreat in central Java that serves jamu shots with breakfast and employs a tabib, or indigenous healer, for private consultations. "Coming from the earth, jamu also makes you feel good. When you take it you experience a positive feeling."

But if jamu is the magic bullet, why isn't it better known in the West, where natural Asian medicines like India's ayurvedic system and Chinese herbal healing have been growing in popularity for years?

The answer can be found on the streets of Indonesia, where jamu is consumed regularly by 49% of the population, according to the country's Ministry of Health. Valued at $2.7 billion annually, the industry covers an incredibly wide gamut of products and regimens, including homemade tonics sold by street hawkers, slimming powders, cosmetics and jamu for babies and postnatal care. Yet the best sellers in terms of value are invariably the dodgiest: those claiming to boost sexual performance or suppress appetite.

"Indonesians may well have been amused when Viagra was released in 1998," Jane-Beers says, noting the popularity of brands like Kuat Lekali (Strong Man), Kuku Bima (Nail of God) and Super Biul Erection Oil. "They have had their own remedies for years."

Then there's the association between jamu and white magic. Many indigenous healers insist on dispensing jamu on auspicious dates or in conjunction with animist spells that predate the arrival of Islam in the archipelago.

Mbah Ngatrulin, a Buddhist tabib I met in Ngadas, the highest village in Java, told me that spells are the key and that jamu may as well be "mineral water." It's the kind of comment that prevents many physicians across Southeast Asia from endorsing jamu lest patients take them for quacks.

According to Charles Saerang, head of the Indonesian Jamu Entrepreneurs Association, the primary impediment to a worldwide jamu craze is that locally produced jamu products don't meet international manufacturing standards. That hasn't stopped entrepreneurs from buying raw herbal materials in Indonesia, processing them in India and Malaysia and selling them in the U.K. — a market Indonesian-made jamuproducts can't access. That's a double whammy for Indonesia, which loses out on value added by third parties and the chance to promote the jamu brand name abroad.

It's impossible to say when, or even if, jamu painkillers will be stocked at supermarkets and convenience stores in countries like the U.K. Yet inroads are already being made by small businesses like the Origin Spa in Melbourne. There, highly skilled practitioners apply massage techniques developed by 16th century Indonesian royalty — the founders of modern jamu — using creams and oils containing turmeric, betel leaves and crushed eggshells. There's a minimum two-month waiting list for Origin's five-day post-pregnancy treatment that is said to help women regain their figures quickly, improve lactation and dispel wind, dizziness and aches and pains.

"It's surprisingly popular with the Asian mums throughout Australia," says partner Jessica Koh. "But it's still unfamiliar to most of the locals."

Comment:

As an Indonesians i’m so proud of the fact that Jamu known enough of foreign people. Jamu is original herbal medicine from indonesia. Natural ingredients in Jamu make people interested to consume jamu, whether to keep their healthy or cure the desease. Unfortunately, herbal medicine (Jamu) from Indonesia not been processed to International standards, so that many entrepreneurs take herbal ingredients to make Jamu and process the ingredients in another country such as india or malaysia. It is make jamu from indonesia to lose the added value and opportunities to promote local herbal products to overseas. In my opinion ,entrepreneurs in Indonesia should begin to look to the business of jamu and process them with international standards so that later the local herbal products can be marketed overseas. There are many herbal plants from indonesia, so we have to patent these herbal ingredients so as not to be recognized by other countries.

article source: ( http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2107489,00.html )

punkers

The word ‘punk’ doesn’t have a positive image. It’s associated with loud music, vandalism and kids riding up and down your street too fast on motorcycles that seem to have lost their muffler. 
My Jakarta sat down with Cimen, a punker who has lived on the streets of Jakarta for about five years and whose real name is just as mysterious as the reasons he decided to become a punk in the first place.
Cimen talks about life on the street and the support he receives from his circle of friends, and dismisses the idea that punks are always up to no good. ‘I have my own moral code,’ he says.

Society thinks that punkers are trash and future criminals. How do you respond to that kind of thinking?
People consider trash useless and ugly, but I try to understand why they think like that. I know I’m not well educated and I don’t have any achievements or skills that I can use to give back to people, so I’ve just stopped caring about what they say. Anyway, the whole idea of being a punker is to be free to do what I want without anyone telling me what to do, which we show through our dress and music. 

But I just want people to know that accusing punks of being thugs and criminals is too much, because even I have my own moral code. Some people say that they’ve fallen victim to petty crimes committed by people from the punk community. Well, all I can say is that the people you saw are not punkers, they’re just thugs who think that we look cool and try it out themselves.

Do you hate people because of the way they look at you and your community? 
No, I never have and never will have any problems with the people around me. And I don’t want to have any problems, because the moral code that I mentioned is one of non-violence toward my fellow humans. It’s clear that they are the ones who have the problem with me for reasons that only they know.

How do you earn a living?
I only need money to buy food and cigarettes, so I either park cars or busk to make enough money to survive from day to day. As long as it’s halal [acceptable in Islam]. And everyone knows that making money by committing crimes is definitely not halal. 

Punkers demand freedom from a binding system. Are you still a nationalist and would you fight for the country if we got into a war?
I would fight for my country. What me and other punks oppose is the government and the system they have created, which guarantees that the rich are always the ones wielding all the power. 

Everyone has their own reasons for running away from home and living on the street? What are yours?
I guess it was my family. You can say that I was a victim of child abuse. My dad hit me all the time, so around four and a half years ago, I ran away from home and dropped out of school. I was in junior high school back then.

If we could go back in time and the abuse never happened, do you think you would be here right now?
No, I don’t think I would have ever become involved in this lifestyle, because I don’t think that I would had a reason to find another family.

Do you have any plans to quit being a punk and reintegrate back into society, maybe find a steady job and have a better life?
At least not right now. But I have my plans for being successful without leaving this life. Most punkers usually dream about having their own shop that sells punk-related accessories like shirts and punk music CDs, or maybe a tattoo parlor. These are the achievements that reflect your success in life as a punk, and that is exactly the kind of business that I’d like to have [smiles].

What about females in the punk community? Why aren’t there as many women as men?
I guess because it’s against the nature of the general Indonesian female to choose to live as a rough and dirty street dweller [laughs]. Most of the female punkers I know are just accompanying their boyfriends or are just trying to make some friends in the punk community.

Comment:

Punkers usually synonymous with negative things such as vandalism,criminal, and sometimes drugs. But as cimen said who also a punkers, not all the punkers have bad behaviors. Like cimen,he decide to become a punkers because he wanted to have a life of freedom, cimen said as a punkers he never act such as thugs or hold-up man to get money for eat,although he had the appearance like a thugs. I think it is does not matter if someone want to have different lifestyles with others, for example, someone who decide to be a punkers to have freer life and unfettered. It does not matter  if you want to be anything you want ,as long as you do not do negative things.

Article source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/myjakarta/my-jakarta-cimen-punk/517310

Drug addict jailed for injecting HIV blood into a girl

A drug addict in Luchuan county, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for injecting HIV-infected blood into a girl because he suspected her father had an affair with his wife, Legal Daily reported on Sunday.

Xie Long, a long-time drug user in his 30s, suspected his wife was having an affair with a man surnamed Luo in his village. Xie had threatened Luo many times over the phone that he would kill Luo's children in revenge, according to the report.

After finding out Luo's daughter went to the same school as his own daughter, Xie invited HIV-positive drug addict Chen to take drugs at Xie's home in May 2010 and took a blood sample from him.

Later Xie went to the school and asked Luo's daughter to leave the classroom. He then injected the blood into the girl's right arm, said the report.

The girl was later confirmed by the local disease center to have been infected with HIV, the report said.

Xie was convicted of intentional killing and was sentenced 12 years behind bars.

A staff member named Pan Li at the court that heard the case said Xie was rude in the courtroom and showed no signs of regret.

Comment:

I was very shocked after reading that news, how come a guy who also have a little girl deliberately infecting another little girl with HIV just because he suspected her father had an affair with his wife. I think  sentenced 12 years behind bars is not enough for Xie, he must sentenced for his whole life and even the death penalty was too light to Xie.

Article source:  www.thejakartapost.com

Siswanto, Volunteer Nail Collector

Getting a flat tire on your way to the office can be a pain. You may think it’s just bad luck, but 38-year-old Siswanto and his friends know all too well that criminal gangs are out there peppering Jakarta’s streets with nails so they can make a killing by fixing flats. 
Siswanto established Saber to help clean up the streets. Unlike most volunteer groups whose members help only on weekends, this community patrols the streets almost every day, braving the traffic in an effort to keep your tires safe. 

How many times did you fall victim to these ‘nail traps’ before you decided to do something about it? 
Over and over again in the same area. I got sick and tired of being taken advantage of and couldn’t stop thinking about how much money I was spending a month just to fix my flat tires. So I talked to some friends about what was going on, and when we figured out that most people who used the same road had the same problem, we decided to do something about it. 

Where do you usually look for nails and sharp objects? 
The hot spots are around Grogol, in front of Roxy near the overpass, Harmoni, Cideng, Gadjah Mada, around the Presidential Palace and Senen. Anyone who drives through those areas should be careful because the roads are full of nails and traps. 

How many other people have joined forces with you to help sweep the roads clear for drivers? 
Saber is now around 18 people strong, all folks from various backgrounds with most of them from lower parts of society, like ojek [motorcycle taxi] drivers, office boys, personal drivers and so on. I myself am a construction worker when I’m not doing this. I’m proud that so many people have joined our group as volunteers, considering that this is tiring and dangerous unpaid physical work. 

When was this community officially formed? 
We have been doing this since August 5, 2011, but some of our members have been picking up nails and sharp objects from streets for more than a year. And besides sweeping up nails and other sharp, objects, we also provide free services, including fixing flat tires, whenever our organization has an event. 

We all know that the tambal ban, the roadside tire repair stalls, benefit from having nails on the road and the ensuing flats. But exactly how much do they benefit from this? 
Most of them will charge around Rp 40,000 to Rp 60,000 [$4 to $6] to patch up a flat tire for you. Crazy, isn’t it? 

Do you have any tips to help motorist avoid these traps? 
There is this trick that if you are going less than 30 kilometers per hour then the nails and other sharp objects won’t puncture the tire. 

When can we see you in action, in case the millions of motorists out there want to thank you personally? 
I start early in the morning, from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., before I go to work. I then continue at night after work, sometimes until 9 p.m. and sometimes even until dawn. It has become a regular part of my day. I always bring my magnet wherever I go so that I can pick up nails whenever I see them. 

What’s your record for picking up nails in a day? 
The most I’ve ever collected in a single day was 10 kilos. This was before I set up the volunteer group. 

What do you do with all the bits of sharp metal you collect? 
Out of the 300 kilos we’ve collected in the last five months, we have sold close to 100 kilos to people who want to buy it. It’s worth around Rp 7,000 per kilo for reusable nails, Rp 4,000 for bent nails. 

How can we help? 
It’s easy, you can contact me at 021 930 50356. But anyone who wants to volunteer needs to remember that we only want people who are going to throw themselves into the work wholeheartedly. Plus, people have to understand the risks. This is not easy because we work on the streets with all the cars and motorcycles speeding past. 

That’s why we usually bring a flashlight and megaphone along so we can warn road users when we’re risking our lives to save your tires. 

Siswanto was talking to Maya Martini.

Comment:

The number of gangs which peppering nails in jakarta streets increasing. This thing make  the people who usually use the path loss, just imagine if you pass that way in a month and had flat tire for five time a month you must be loss,right? It is certainly very annoying because you have to spend more money to fix a flat tire. In condition like that Siswanto come up as volunteer nail collector. Siswanto volunteered to pick up the nails with a magnetic stick that he created his own. Siswanto usually collect nails before and after office hours. In my opinion the existence of siswanto and his community very helpful. People should be grateful that there are people who still care about the safety of road users.

Article source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/myjakarta/my-jakarta-siswanto-volunteer-nail-collector/517649

Lady Gaga's concert should be canceled or not?

Pop superstar Lady Gaga’s upcoming Jakarta concert should be canceled the Jakarta Police said on Sunday, citing a flurry of objections from Indonesia’s Islamic organizations ranging from issues with the US pop star’s provocative outfits to allegations of devil worship. 
Lady Gaga’s sold-out Jakarta concert is scheduled for June 3, but police have yet to decide whether Indonesia’s 40,000 ticket-holders will be able to see Lady Gaga perform. The planned concert has attracted the ire of hard-line Islamists the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), who called Lady Gaga to the devil during rallies and warned that her concert will degrade the nation’s sense of morality. 

The Jakarta Police recommended that the concert be canceled. But, in the end, the decision is out of their hands. 

“The concert permit is issued by the National Police,” Jakarta Police spokesman Rikwanto said, “but the Jakarta Police doesn’t recommend the concert be held.”

The National Police are still undecided whether to allow Lady Gaga to perform in Jakarta. 

“We’re still discussing it,” National Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told Beritasatu.com. “The concert is slated for June, so we haven’t made a decision. We’ll announce whether or not we’ll issue a permit later.”

The Muslim Defenders Team urged the police to cancel the concert to prevent possible conflicts between Islamists and Lady Gaga fans. 

“We ask the National Police to take into consideration the public’s opposition to Lady Gaga’s concert,” said M. Mahendradatta, board chairman for the Muslim Defenders Team — an organization known for representing hard-line Islamists and alleged terrorists.

Mahendradatta said that the pop diva promotes devil worship and that her concert will corrupt the moral sensibilities of young Indonesians. 

“Whether you like it or not, Lady Gaga teaches [fans] to worship the devil,” he said. “That goes against the teachings of any religion. We don’t approve of that.”

The Muslim Defenders Team, Mahendradatta said, are not trying to pressure police into canceling the concert.

“There is no pressure, just a consideration to prevent conflicts,” he said.

But the FPI have taken a harder stance on the pop star’s Jakarta concert and threatened to mobilize 30,000 protesters to stop Lady Gaga from entering the country.

“We will stop her from setting foot on our land. She had better not dare spread her satanic faith in this country,” FPI Jakarta chairman Salim Alatas told AFP. “Her style is vulgar, her sexual and indecent clothes will destroy our children’s sense of morality. She’s very dangerous.”

FPI’s leader Rizieq Syihab furthered the devil worshiping claims, adding that the singer was planning to build Lucifer’s kingdom in Indonesia. 

“If she performed, I will send Muslims in Jakarta to stop the concert,” he said in Temanggung. 

The pop star’s “Born This Way” Asian tour has drawn protest from religious conservatives in South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia. 

Comment:

Lady gaga’s concert no need to be canceled or stopped in mid-concert. In my opinion the audience from Indonesia have known good / bad influence of lady gaga and they must be smart enough not to imitate lady gaga. Why do I say they are smart enough to not replicate even though they are fans of lady gaga ? Yes, of course because of the appearance of lady gaga too eccentric to be worn by ordinary people, the clothes fit only for show. Second they would think twice before following in the footsteps lady gaga so-called followers of the devil or dark cult, because I think they are modern-minded enough before doing these things. And although the concert was actually banned I think FPI do not need to intervene in that case, the authorities are simply overcome this problem, because often if the FPI which handle things like this will arise from the actions of their anarchist. But if the government wants to follow South Korea and the Philippines to banned lady gaga’s concert,it’s okay. Maybe it could be the best decision to protect mental and moral of the nation.

Article source : http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/entertainment/lady-gagas-indonesia-concert-should-be-canceled-jakarta-police/517664