Putri enjoys being her grandfather's 'heir' By K. Basrie JAKARTA (JP): Her childhood was tough enough. Her mother died shortly after she was born, 38 years ago. Putri Wong Kam Fu was then taken care of by her step-grandmother. Putri was so poor when she was a teenager that she could not even afford to buy a bra. After being warned continuously by her teacher, she took her step-grandmother's unused brassiere and tailored it with a string she got from a postman.

Tradition of palm-wine drinking prevails among Balinese By Putu Wirata DENPASAR, Bali (JP): "Being tipsy from palm wine is not going to hurt the state. But, being 'drunk' with greed for wealth certainly would!" exclaimed Ketut Kelim, 49, the leader of a genjek (local group of traditional artists). The group, established in 1973 by 34 traditional artists in Buleleng, about 120 kilometers north of here, is called Santi Yuda Dharma Kerti.

Zarima case drags on From Republika The case of Zarima, the so-called Ecstasy Queen is, if one reads the papers, quite aggravating. The case has been long- winded and is proceeding very slowly. Punishment, which should have been meted out to her right away, seems to be kept at bay. And yet the erring policeman who made her escape possible has been discharged, and the one who caught her and brought her home has already been rewarded.

Muara Angke fishermen use skills to survive Text and photos by P.J. Leo JAKARTA (JP): The Muara Angke village on Jakarta's northern tip is home to traditional and semi-traditional fishermen. Here, they can be seen making their boats, fish traps, hooking fishnets, auctioning and preserving fish. On the village's western side fish is being salted for preservation and visitors are greeted by an offensive fishy odor. A variety of fish, small and large, passes through the salted fish makers' hands.

Tying the knot after cruising the Citarik on a raft Text and photos by Mulkan Salmona SUKABUMI, West Java (JP): Rafters Lody Karua and Amalia Yunita celebrated their wedding in a different way -- cruising along the Citarik River in Sukabumi on a rafting boat. They tied the knot last Sunday on a yellow rubber boat, which bobbed on the densely green banks of the Citarik River in Cikidang village. Lody, 39, in a light brown suit sat in the boat, holding onto two oars.

World change sought ANKARA (AFP): The foreign ministers of eight Islamic countries will meet in Istanbul on Jan. 4 with the aim of creating a new world, Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan said yesterday. The conference comes amid increasing U.S. concern at moves by Erbakan -- modern Turkey's first Islamist premier -- to boost the country's ties with Islamic countries such as Iran and Libya.

Regrets for 1996 and resolutions for the new year JAKARTA (JP): Government officials, business executives, professionals, artists and workers were asked by The Jakarta Post to look back and share a few of their thoughts about 1996. They were also asked about their hopes and resolutions for the coming year. Below are their responses. Poet and drama actor/director W.S.

Cartoonist Sutanto's art dabbles in fantasy By Parvathi Nayar Narayan JAKARTA (JP): To appreciate the art of T. Sutanto is to enter the realm of the fantastic and the surreal. His images are drawn from a rich repertoire of fable, folklore and dreams. Appropriately then, The Kingdom of Fantasy is the name given to a selection of his paintings and prints, on view at Galeri Lontar on Jl. Utan Kayu, East Jakarta.

Paranormals predict 1997 will be gloomy As 1996 draws to a close, people everywhere are attempting to evaluate their past performances -- their failures and successes. Their plans for 1997 will be based on this evaluation. Some are optimistic, others pessimistic about their future. To get a brief overview of the expectations in 1997, a team of The Jakarta Post reporters have interviewed soothsayers, government officials, business executives and artists, seeking their comments and predictions.

Bali grapples with the rising consumption of Ecstasy By Putu Wirata KUTA, Bali (JP): Bali, once regarded as a tranquil paradise, is now a haven for drug traffickers and prostitutes. Lately it has been drawing thieves, robbers and murderers. AIDS (Acquired Immune-deficiency Syndrome), the fatal disease for which there is no cure, proves no barrier to the island's commercial sex industry despite a rise in the number of HIV carriers on the island over the past few years.

Good business prospects for the Year of the Ox BANDUNG, West Java (JP): The New Year will arrive in three days. But according to the Chinese calendar, the new year begins on Feb. 7. It is called the Year of the Ox, or, more precisely, the Fire Ox. The ox works hard. It pulls yokes, cultivates land and is obedient to its master. What does this imply? "Obedience, commitment and hard work are the three elements of the Year of Ox," Mauro P.

Middle class seen as too weak to advocate change By Ati Nurbaiti JAKARTA (JP): Views of the Indonesian middle class are both optimistic and pessimistic. The optimists are investors. Credit card promoters and those investing in property, malls and expensive resorts, for instance, are confident that many Indonesians are now rich enough to buy their products and services.

Living without maids and baby sitters at weekends JAKARTA (JP): Aliyah and her husband, Nirwan -- not their real names -- were trying something new: Living without a baby sitter or maids at the weekends. But their baby did not eat anything on Saturday, and they had one more day to prove they were not dependent on the sitter. "He promised to help," Aliyah, a housewife and former trading company employee, said in exasperation. She quit work to look after the baby.

200 feared dead as rescue resumes after storm KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia (AFP): Up to 200 people, mostly Indonesians, were feared yesterday to be still entombed in the slimy debris left by a storm that ripped through Malaysia's Sabah state, claiming 127 lives, officials said.

The last straw: Are camels stronger? JAKARTA (JP): In the old days our ancestors wore wide-brimmed straw hats, sat on straw chairs, tickled their ears with straw and slept on straw mats. Today, in the age of microelectronics, who would care about the straw that mother nature used to provide in abundance? Only the birds, perhaps, for they still use straw to build their nests.

Mama Terate trains herself to become a soothsayer By K. Basrie JAKARTA (JP): Mama Terate, 79, has developed herself into one of the country's senior soothsayers. Born as Lee A Kioek, alias Seruniati Arief, she has worked as a soothsayer for over two-thirds of her life. She said she has had supernatural energy since she was a little Chinese girl in Bogor, West Java. "I could easily determine what people walking in front of me were going to do," Terate recalled.

Mahathir to get to bottom of indicted politician saga KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday he would decide on the fate of a politician charged in Australia with carrying a vast sum of undeclared money after getting his explanation.

When a door is more than a door By G.S. Edwin JAKARTA (JP): Doors do not merely separate space, nor are they only meant for ingress and exit. They, especially the closed ones, tell stories. Joseph Keller, in his book Good as Gold, mentions that a closed door in an office, the antithesis of transparency, is an unmitigated evil. Empirically speaking, behind it there is only scheming, no thinking.

'Sepak takraw' squad to train in Malaysia JAKARTA (JP): The men's national sepak takraw squad plans to train in Malaysia soon as preparation for the SEA Games here next year. "Twelve athletes, who will compete in the Games, are going to have a stint with Malaysian athletes," Aminuddin Machmud, the Indonesian Sepak Takraw Association's executive director, said yesterday in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi. Indonesia expects to win two gold medals from the women's team and regu events.

Anthology features poems of ASEAN writers ASEANO: An Anthology of Poems from Southeast Asia Published by The ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information, Manila, 1995 282 pages JAKARTA (JP): What does the word "Aseano" mean? If you think that it has something to do with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), you are in the right track. Aseano is an anthology of poems from ASEAN countries, published by ASEAN.

Life in Traubled Tasikmalaya slowly returns to normal By MMI Ahyani TASIKMALAYA, West Java (JP): Shops started to open and police officers began to patrol the streets yesterday as the town, ravaged by riots Thursday, struggled to resume some normalcy. Hundreds of Moslem students were deployed to assist soldiers in cleaning up the mess left behind by the riots. The students, from the Condong pesantren (Moslem boarding school), were deployed to erase agitating graffiti.

Port calls signal a U.S. return of sorts By Joaquin L Gonzalez III SINGAPORE: When the USS Belleau Wood sailed away from Subic Bay on Nov. 24, 1992, many believed this historic event symbolized something greater -- the end of more than 400 years of foreign military presence in the Philippines.

Morality and comedy meet in traditional Javanese play By Achmad Nurhoeri JAKARTA (JP): What comes to your mind if your neighborhood doctor, your average motorcycle salesman, the local police chief, the local military officer and your regent are jumbled together in one arena? A community meeting? A flag ceremony? A political campaign? A funeral? None of those events is the correct answer, if you saw them at the Bentara Budaya Art Center here Saturday night, Dec. 21.

Fujimori widens emergency rule LIMA (Reuter): President Alberto Fujimori widened emergency rule in Peru on Friday and won solid backing from home and abroad for refusing to make concessions to Marxist guerrillas holding 103 VIP hostages at the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima.

Norwegian explore Indonesia in cultural exchange By Lela E. Madjiah OSLO (JP): "Ooooooh, Bali!" The expression of beautiful memories and longing says it all. It is Norwegian students' most common response after spending three-months in Bali in a course organized by DNS -- De Norske Studiesentra (Norwegian Study Center). DNS started three years ago and its courses are attracting more and more students.