Bonit clinches top player title in national selection tournament JAKARTA (JP): Old-timer Bonit Wiryawan clinched the title of the country's best tennis player yesterday after finishing first in the national selection tournament. Andrian Raturandang, Suwandi and doubles specialist Sulistyo Wibowo who together with Bonit made up the last Davis Cup team, took the other top four places in the Super Eight team.

RI art gains ground in Japanese exhibits By Amir Sidharta JAKARTA (JP): Two important exhibitions which included Indonesian art were held in Japan recently. The Fukuoka Art Museum hosted The Birth of Southeast Asian Art, while Art in Southeast Asia 1997 was exhibited at Tokyo's new Museum of Contemporary Art. These two followed on the heels of a series of exhibitions of Asian and Southeast Asian art in Japan. Indonesian works of arts have also been put on display in the West.

Traditional theater groups struggle to make a living JAKARTA (JP): There were no glittering lights, no stereo sound system, and no air-conditioned room with comfortable seats. Only humble stages with kerosene lamps and bamboo seats could be seen.

Ballet Philippines brings Filipino touch to Jakarta By Yenni Kwok JAKARTA (JP): Does ballet, often considered a well-heeled, bourgeois art from the established West, have a place in a developing Southeast Asian country? Ask the dancers from Ballet Philippines, and they'll say, "Of course". However, instead of simply absorbing conventional ballet dictates, they choose to create their own style: a blend of classical ballet, contemporary dance and Filipino traditions.

1990s fashions' comeback is good for Gucci By Dini S. Djalal JAKARTA (JP): A fashion moment is tricky to define, but you know it when it happens. And when, at a recent Gucci fashion show at the Grand Hyatt, a model -- hair dripping in oil, eyes dipped in kohl, gaze dropping to below zero temperature -- ambled past in five-inch stilleto heels and tuxedo pantsuit, you know fashion moments rarely get better than this.

Try opens Jakarta Fair, stressing its importance JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno underlined yesterday the importance of making this year's Jakarta Fair a means to evaluate whether Indonesia is ready for free trade, which is scheduled to start in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2003. Speaking at the opening of Jakarta Fair '97 in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, Try said it would also be important to gauge the effectiveness of the event in promoting Indonesian businesses.

Cirebon puts best face on for 'Keraton' festival The second Keraton (palace) Festival will be held in Cirebon, West Java, from July 1-7. The Jakarta Post's reporter K. Basrie interviewed officials and residents about preparations for the event during a recent trip to the ancient town. CIREBON, West Java (JP): This small and usually quiet town is swarming with activity these days.

'The Wind in the Savanna' From Kompas The TV film, Angin Rumput Savana (The Wind in the Savanna), shown by TPI on May 29, 1997, at 8 p.m., was evidently a combined effort of National Family Planning Board, TPI and John Hopkins University. The film, directed by Garin Nugroho, showed customs and traditions of Sumba island -- which struck Sumba society as being odd and peculiar. The story is overdramatized, giving an unrealistic view about the life of the people.

Developing nations must master technology: Soeharto By Kornelius Purba ISTANBUL (JP): President Soeharto said here yesterday that developing countries were struggling to master sophisticated technology, and this could only be done through hard work and intensified cooperation between themselves.

Sampan tries to preserve traditional arts By I. Christianto JAKARTA (JP): Torn between idealism and the reality of life, choreographer Sampan Hismanto chose the latter in trying to preserve one of Indonesia's traditional performing arts. Sampan believes his commitment to preserving a segment of the country's cultural heritage is worth his while, even though he has to tailor some of the traditional performances for commercial purposes.

Traditional artists fight for survival The popularity of western and modern entertainment has affected the traditional performing arts. Urban people, especially the young, prefer to forsake most local art forms for more contemporary and appealing entertainment. A gloomy atmosphere appears to have enveloped the country's traditional arts. Is there any way to preserve what some people believe to be a key part of our national heritage?

Guess What? Karina Soekarno, the younger sister of Megawati Soekarnoputri who lives in New York, is in town. She will be here for two months for holiday, business and family affairs. On June 6 she attended a family gathering in observance of the birthday of her late father and the country's founding father, Sukarno. On June 21 she will pay a homage at his graveyard in Blitar, East Java.

Five die in chopper crash KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): A helicopter crashed outside Kuala Lumpur yesterday killing five people, including a pregnant woman and her daughter walking along a street, police said. The helicopter crashed in the Sri Damansara industrial area, a police spokesman said. The cause was not yet known, he said. The spokesman said three victims were found in the wreckage. A 35-year-old woman and her five-year-old daughter, believed to be Indonesians, were killed on the ground.

Tourists dodge nuisances at Borobudur Temple YOGYAKARTA (JP): The government may have transformed the Borobudur Temple complex in Central Java into a tourism park, but other problems which intrude on visitors' comfort have arisen. Take for instance a beggar who follows two foreign tourists from the parking area to the ticket windows. "Give me some alms, have pity on me," the beggar repeatedly entreats the visitors while holding out his hand.

Volcano eruption kills three JAKARTA (JP): Three people have died and hundreds of hectares of fields and plantations have been damaged since the initial eruption of the Karangetang volcano in Sangihe Talaud regency, North Sulawesi, last Sunday. At least 392 residents of nearby Dame village have been evacuated since volcanic lava, followed by an outpour of smoke and flame, continued to pour down from the crater of the 500- meter-high volcano, Antara reported yesterday.

TMII keeps up the preservation of national arts By Dwi Atmanta JAKARTA (JP): Traditional performances are an unlikely cultural survivor in the melting pot society of metropolitan Jakarta. While downtown throbs with jazz, rock and pop, hundreds of unknown artists wander the city's outskirts to obtain modest earnings which keep both themselves and their art going. When it comes to nightlife, urbanites pack pubs or discotheques to unwind from stress.

Indonesian shot dead in KL KUALA LUMPUR (AP): A 23-year-old Indonesian man detained last month on suspicion of committing a series of rapes was shot dead by police when he attempted to escape yesterday, police said. The escape attempt came as he was leading a police party to a hill where he was suspected of having dumped a victim after raping and killing her, Selangor state Criminal Investigation chief Johar Che Din said.

Fire guts in Bappenas building JAKARTA (JP): A fire gutted a meeting room on the second floor of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) building on Jl. Taman Surapati 2, Central Jakarta early yesterday. One of the building's security officers Kabul Adi Cahyono said that at around 12:05 a.m. the blaze blew out a window on the left corner of the IIA building. Kabul said he and five other on-duty officers immediately tried to put out the fire with two portable fire extinguishers.

New analysis: We are what we throw away JAKARTA (JP): Last month, a certain TIS came up with the question: "Are you what you are?" (Sunday, May 4). TIS gave several possibilities on how to reveal your identity: your car, your food and the programs you watch on TV. I found the answer for TIS in a New York Times book review by Wytold Rybczinski. The writer wrote: "We are what we throw away." He was reviewing a book titled: Rubbish!

Traditional performances find place in changing times By Prapti Widinugraheni and I. Christianto JAKARTA (JP): It is dinner time. A couple of Balinese dancers prance energetically onstage to the sound of lively traditional music. Foreign guests watch the show from their tables and move in closer to snap pictures with their pocket cameras. This could be Bali, where dance performances are common attractions for tourists at many star-rated hotels and restaurants.

PM Erbakan opens D-8 summit ISTANBUL, Turkey (Agencies): Turkey's Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan yesterday opened a ministerial meeting of eight developing countries here in preparation for a summit which he has masterminded. The meeting is set to launch the Developing-Eight (D-8) economic cooperation group, bringing together Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey to develop trade, industry and financial projects.

ASEAN finalizes 2020 economic vision JAKARTA (JP): Economic ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) put the final touches to recommendations for the grouping's economic vision for 2020 yesterday. The ministers, in a one-day special meeting here, also agreed to assist the group's upcoming new members -- Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- to adopt the association's economic programs.