High mountains and moving hospitality on trip to Flores By Angela Ee JAKARTA (JP): "Nama?...Agama?" Our names and religion were the only formalities needed to break the ice. We were at Kampong Pemo Baru -- a village built to replace one destroyed in the 1992 earthquake in Flores. We found our way there with the assistance of Yeremia, who we met on a narrow mountain track. She was returning home after a day's work peddling ikat sarongs in the valley. Yeremia is nineteen and unmarried.

Fears over conglomerates dismissed JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto dismissed yesterday fears over the growing dominance of a score of conglomerates in Indonesia's economy. The President said that Indonesia has solid regulations to protect the interests of the people from the growing activities of those conglomerates.

Brouwer enjoys historic Dutch-RI ties By Meidyatama Suryadiningrat JAKARTA (JP): As Indonesia celebrates its golden anniversary and progresses towards the next millennium, one cannot escape the fact that the Netherlands is embedded in the nation's history. Tales of past imperialism aside, the historical bondage between the two-nations has forged a strong foundation on which both sides have built their relationship.

Kampong Improvement Program: Providing basic services By Dean Carignan JAKARTA (JP): Call it growing pains. Indonesia's cities, among the most rapidly expanding in Asia, are attracting new residents at a dizzying pace. The influx of residents has far outrun the ability of cities to expand in a planned and organized manner. The result: a proliferation of unplanned, low-income neighborhoods, commonly called urban kampongs.

Hindarto looks forward to more freedom By K. Basrie JAKARTA (JP): Merdeka!!! The word, which means freedom, is the instant response given by Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto to a question about how he views the completion of his term this week as chief of the Jakarta Police. Hindarto, who said that being police chief of the Indonesian capital has been the toughest job throughout his 34 years career in the force, is now looking forward to spending more time with his family.

Ragunan school grooms national athletes By Arif Suryobuwono JAKARTA (JP): Plants need special treatment to grow. Talented Indonesian athletes get that special treatment at Ragunan. Harvest time is an endless season for the 18-year-old Ragunan school. World badminton queen Susi Susanti, men's doubles Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, world women's singles number 27 Yayuk Basuki and ten young soccer players now in their second year in Italy are on the long list of crops raised in Ragunan.

Jakartans get older by the day Siblings used to fight each other for the honor of taking care of their beloved parents; but now seniors fear dependence and rejection. Government officials stress homes for the elderly must be the last option for those who are too poor to take care of their elderly parents or for old people without children or relatives.

Guess What? When singer and designer Ida Royani began to cover herself from head to foot in the Moslem fashion in the 1980s, many of her friends jeered. "My only rivals were grannies from the kampong," she said. Few women turned up at parties or hotels in Moslem clothes. A determined Ida, however, eventually carved her name in Moslem fashion, now popular among the Jakarta elite. Ida's own switch was drastic. In the 1970s she pranced around in hot pants, knee-high boots and high collars.

Losing From Jayakarta As if awakened from a slumber, Indonesian soccer is stirring back to life. It seems that the appearance of the Liga Dunhill, combining the potential of Association and Galatama soccer, has been able to animate the national soccer scene. The new ruling which allows foreign players to play in Indonesia (three for each club) has brought new life to Indonesian soccer. I am a soccer fanatic and I am sure that there are many Indonesians who love soccer even more than I do.

Fashion's future as seen by Indonesian designers By Dini S. Djalal JAKARTA (JP): Five years until the new millennium, and, by the looks of recent collections, the fashion world is waiting anxiously for its arrival. The Indonesian Fashion Designers Council (IFDC), not to be confused with the Indonesian Fashion Designers Association (IFDA), held its annual show on Jan. 12. It was a presentation called "Trends 1995".

Massage proven beneficial after sports: Experts By Hario Tilarso JAKARTA (JP): Massage manipulates the body's muscles and is usually performed after tiring physical activities. Systematic massage essentially relieves soreness, but intensive research by experts has shown that massage is very beneficial after sports because it can accelerate recovery. The practice of sports massage was described in ancient Chinese times. This manipulative technique was also widespread in India, Rome and Greece.

Nursing home: The option for nobody's elderly By Ati Nurbaiti and Rita A. Widiadana JAKARTA (JP): Suharti, 72, never dreamed that she would spend the last years of life in a nursing home. She always fancied herself as a happy grandmother living in a comfortable house, surrounded by naughty but cute grandchildren. This dream didn't come true. When her husband died ten years ago, he left her penniless and completely alone in Jakarta. She has no children.

Seminars, in a way, wasteful JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto recently appealed to government officials to hold working conferences and seminars at government premises rather than at hotels or convention centers. It is a timely call and in line with the general imperative for frugal government spending. Frugality, in the use of hackneyed phrases, is another timely homily.

NY diamond manufacturers in Jakarta JAKARTA (JP): If the well-being of a nation's economy was measured by the number of European jewelers infiltrating the domestic market, then Indonesia is indeed be gaining affluence. From Jan. 18 to 22, Louis Glick Diamonds of New York is presenting a display of their jewelry at the Shangri-La Hotel.

Guess What? State Minister for Administrative Reforms T.B. Silalahi expressed his disappointment at seeing Bandung, West Java become a forest of buildings. "In 1957, when I came here for the first time, I immediately fell in love with the city. Everything was very beautiful. Flowers and green gardens were everywhere. No wonder people named it Paris van Java. But that was 38 years ago," Silalahi said during a visit to the city last week.

'KONI boss needs President's nod' JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council must ask for President Soeharto's approval of its elected chairman, the council's top official Surono said. "Sports cannot be separated from our national development program as a whole. That's why the council needs the President's blessing, once it manages to line up its chairmanship board," Surono said yesterday, after the final meeting prior to the council's national congress, which starts tomorrow.

Ugly scenes spoil Asian Cup semifinals during match SHARJAH, UAE (AFP): Ugly scenes after a 90th minute equalizer by host club Al Shaab from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates marred its Asian Cup Winners' cup semi-final clash with Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad Friday. Police had to protect the South Korean referee from furious Saudi officials protesting his handling of the game which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Guess What? Noted painter A.D. Pirous was soaking wet after a short trip in the rain. Although his gracious host, Mrs. Astari Al Rasjid, offered him a change of clothing, he preferred his dripping wet shirt instead. "I just hope I don't get sick," he said. He is concerned that he wouldn't be able to keep traveling back and forth from his home in Bandung to Jakarta three times a week.

Culture and time bridged through art of batik By Barbara Healy YOGYAKARTA (JP): Someone once said that artists are "people whose gift of seeing transcends the world of appearances" and whose "sight signifies insight". Such is true in the case of Nia Fliam and Agus Ismoyo, hand (tulis) and cap batik artists from the Brahma Tirta Sari studio in Yogyakarta. The studio name itself is the Hindu-Javanese expression meaning "creativity is the source of all knowledge".

Seaworld provides costly education and recreation Text by Rita A. Widiadana photos by Mulkan Salmona JAKARTA (JP): Aquarium mania hit Jakartans when Seaworld, the first real marine aquarium in the country, opened last year. Compared to Japan and our nearest neighbor Singapore, Indonesia is quite late introducing its abundant marine life to the public. This is despite the fact that it is widely recognized as one of the world's largest maritime countries.

'Pergeri' helps elderly people fulfill themselves By Rita A. Widiadana JAKARTA (JP): Elderly, happy, active and creative! That is the motto of the Indonesian Society of Gerontology, a non-profit organization for the elderly. "Getting old is a natural process. It is inevitable, but everybody can prepare for it properly," Sri Mulyono Herlambang, who chairs the organization, said.

Two held over heroin BANGKOK (Reuter): Thai police charged two men with drug trafficking after seizing 44 kilos (97 lb) of heroin, officials said. The two Thai men were arrested late on Friday on the outskirts of Bangkok as they were about to hand over the heroin, narcotics police said yesterday. Thailand is the major route for heroin from the Golden Triangle, the area where the borders of Burma, Laos and Thailand meet.

Guess What? Who is the funniest cabinet minister? Minister of Health Sujudi strikes again. His target, this time, was the state pharmaceutical company PT Sincona Indonesia Lestari in Bandung. It has just exported the first batch of Quinidine Sulphate, a medicine for heart disease patients, to the United States.