Singaporean theater group charms with simple appeal By Yenni Kwok JAKARTA (JP): The Theatre Practice proved that simplicity charms and does not kill a performance. This Singaporean theater company staged two monolog plays at Taman Ismail Marzuki, Central Jakarta, last Sunday as part of Teater Koma's Pastojak 1997 (Jakarta Performing Arts Market 1997). They were directed by the Lion City's leading stage director, Kuo Pao-kun.

Pirated software: Your gain and loss By Zatni Arbi JAKARTA (JP): You've just returned from a trip to your favorite CD-ROM shop in Glodok, downtown. The store has the latest computer programs and their collection is simply the most complete. You're very excited, and want to immediately start exploring and using the particular program your friend has been telling you about. It's the best upgrade he had ever seen, he said, a must-have. So you waste no time.

What people think about piracy JAKARTA (JP): Originality does not always count, at least, not for pirates and those who use pirated items. The cheap prices of fake items, their wide availability and their "relatively good" quality have lured people to buy them. Some yield to the temptation, some resist. How do people feel about piracy? Armand Maulana, singer: I buy pirated CD videos because they are available anywhere in the markets. It's cheaper and the quality is quite good.

Tattoo artist tries to erase lingering stigma By Tedy Novan YOGYAKARTA (JP): The soft burr of the tattoo needle can be heard beneath the upbeat country music in the tiny room. The punk-styled young man daubs a man's back with alcohol and starts to sketch. All done, he drops a blob of ink onto the outline of a scorpion. "Thank you, I really like it," says David, a tourist who has escaped from his job in cable services in Britain for a vacation in the tourist belt around Malioboro in Yogyakarta.

Songbird Vina returns after two-year hiatus By Yogita Tahil Ramani JAKARTA (JP): Pitch black eyes, beautiful hair and animated faces are a dime a dozen among sultry female singers. But utter the song title Burung Camar (Seagull), and the one and only Vina Panduwinata rises from the faceless pack. The song was a huge hit more than 10 years ago, and its gentle lyrics are still a mainstay on easy-listening radio stations.

Misadventure in the shadow of Krakatau By Listiana Operananta KALIANDA, Lampung (JP): Our appetite for adventure was whetted by seductive TV and newspaper commercials touting a weekend adventure on the tip of Sumatra, near the legendary Krakatau and a beautiful white sandy beach. So began the 1997 Krakatau Festival and Fantastic Adventures.

Cremations in Bali come at a cost By Garrett Kam DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, another shark swims by and makes life dangerous once more. Only this time, the attack is on death, specifically cremation rites in Bali. The dust has barely settled from the uproar about non-Hindu foreigners getting married Balinese style, but now a new and even more serious matter is being discussed: Can non-Hindus have Balinese-style cremations?

Guess What? Lunch boxes look equally humble but some, former ballerina Linda Hoemar found out, are more equal than others. In a break between talks on fine arts competitions Wednesday, she discovered that her mother, Sapti Hoemar, had everything she didn't -- an egg in chili sauce, an orange and tape pudding. "How come?" she asked in disbelief. "It's the clothes!" quipped her mom, referring to the blue suit worn by the Indonesian Fine Arts Foundation staff that day.

Counterfeiting causes disadvantages: Lawyer By Primastuti Handayani JAKARTA (JP): The famous French designer Pierre Cardin was shocked to learn that many of his products were counterfeited when he came to Indonesia in 1993. Since then, Indonesia has become a market for imitation products. The Jakarta Post interviewed Ibrahim Senen, a 23-year-old lawyer focusing on intellectual property cases.

A sad finish for Jonathan Rowson By Kristianus Liem JAKARTA (JP): Following his 4-2 victory over GM Keith Arkell, Scottish IM Jonathan Rowson shifted up a gear for his encounter against London GM Julian Hodgson in a six-game FIDE rated match, which took place at the Carlton Park Hotel in Roterham, South Yorkshire, England, March 1997. The anonymously donated prize fund was a generous US$3,500 to the winner and $1,500 to the loser, or, $2,500 each if the match ended in a tie.

Trusting in the mysterious healing power of snake parts Text and photos by Ahmad Solikhan YOGYAKARTA (JP): The cobra bared its fangs, a warning that it was angry and poised to expel its lethal venom. But there was no trace of fear in Wagiyah's face as she grasped it firmly in her right hand. Like an executioner, she raised the knife in her free hand and stabbed the snake, cleanly draining its blood into a glass. It was all in a day's work for the 57-year-old alternative healer.

GKJ rolls out festival for 10th jubilee JAKARTA (JP): There is good and bad news for Jakarta arts lovers. The bad is that the month-long Jakarta Performing Arts Market 1997 ends tomorrow. But comfort can be found in the Jakarta Performing Arts Theater International Festival 1997, which will start Tuesday and continue through Oct. 11. Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, the Jakarta playhouse, is organizing the festival to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Author Ktut Tantri stirs up controversy even in death By Putu Wirata DENPASAR, Bali (JP): "I wish to return to Bali, I wish to be cremated in Bali in the Balinese way," Ktut Tantri once said. Her final wish has once again thrown the memory of the Scotswoman into controversy, just as so much of her life was the subject of intense, often heated speculation.

IPR piracy losing game for the future By Sugianto Tandra JAKARTA (JP): Few people are aware of the obscure loophole in the country's current intellectual property law which allows copying of books without approval from the legal copyright holder.

Julia Roberts in Balikpapan BALIKPAPAN, East Kalimantan (JP): "Pretty Woman" Julia Roberts was in Balikpapan over the weekend rubbing shoulders with the inhabitants of the Wana Riset Semboja orangutan rehabilitation center. She arrived here Friday with a crew from Tigress Productions to do a documentary on preserving orangutans.

American scholars lead Indonesian studies Mengkaji Indonesia: Pengaruh Amerika dalam Dunia Intelektual Indonesia (Indonesian Studies: American influence among Indonesian intellectuals) By Nasir Tamara Bentang Budaya, Yogyakarta, 1997 99 pages YOGYAKARTA (JP): The ranks of prominent scholars in Indonesian studies are top heavy with Americans, and have been for the last 30 years.

Halting print pirates is not an open book By Yogita Tahil Ramani JAKARTA (JP): Imitation may be one of the sincerest forms of flattery, but don't tell that to a local book publisher. Book piracy and general disregard for copyrights on printed matter are staggering. "I'll give you an estimate: 99.99 percent of books sold along the streets in Senen and Jatinegara (in Jakarta), and in Bandung are pirated copies," said Aris Buntarman, promotion manager of Gramedia, the country's largest publisher.

El Nino may worsen Southeast Asian haze SINGAPORE (Reuter): The smoky haze affecting parts of Southeast Asia may worsen as a result of the El Nino global weather pattern, the daily Straits Times reported yesterday. The newspaper quoted Tan Gee Paw, permanent secretary at Singapore's environment ministry, as saying El Nino could extend this year's dry season in the region.

Are party favors out of favor? JAKARTA (JP): A seminar was held recently at one of our new five star hotels. The topic was simple, yet the attendance was overwhelming. Everybody wanted to hear what Professor Valentino, the well-known psychiatrist, had to say about keepsakes given out at weddings. He said "when I was a child, I loved going to wedding parties. Weddings were small then, but it did not matter to us children, because we really came for the party keepsakes rather than anything else.

Parent's tale of drug menace From Merdeka Ecstasy, satan's pills, have now become all the more satanic in our city of Palembang, disturbing parents of teenage children. My son, a fourth-semester university student in Palembang, did not come home or attend lectures for a week. One of his friends informed me he was spending his time taking Ecstasy in a local disco, buying the pills with the money allocated for his education. On the evening of Aug.

There are no sad songs for many divorcees JAKARTA (JP): Divorce was once a dirty word, a shameful last resort for women in crumbling marriages. But the prospect was so daunting that many women resolved to remain in loveless relationships rather than risk loss of family and face. The stereotype of the divorced woman barely scraping by was hard enough.

Lampung beauty on show at Krakatau Festival By Ati Nurbaiti The Krakatau Festival, held each year in South Lampung, is a lively commemoration of Mount Krakatau's 1883 eruption which claimed some 38,000 lives. At this year's eighth festival, an "adventure" theme has been introduced together with the soft opening of the Kalianda Resort. The Jakarta Post reports on part of the activities following an invitation from the resort's management, PT Kalianda Lampung Tourism Development.

Guess What? Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave recently took an elephant to a project launching ceremony, where he planted a tree. Or, more precisely, an elephant elegantly carried the minister. "The elephant," its pawang said, "was stressed." Because of the minister? No -- it was the most intelligent elephant from the elephant training center in Way Kambas, "but it was not used to seeing so many people," said the trainer, referring to the cheering audience of hundreds.

The fine line on pirated goods Pirated items are on sale on almost every street corner and in malls across the country. From computer software to dictionaries, from expensive consumer goods to films -- it appears there is a market for everything. They sell well thanks to the copycats' perfect copies. Many condemn piracy but most people enjoy its convenience. The Jakarta Post reporters Sylvia Gratia M.N., K.

Traders flog new-release movies and skin flicks By Johannes Simbolon JAKARTA (JP): Donny, a first-grade student at a Jakarta private university, prefers hiring movies from video rental shops rather than going to the cinema. "At video rental shops we can find movies not yet screened in theaters, and uncensored pornography. I watched Jurassic Park before it was screened at theaters," he said.

I Wayan inscribes cultural wizardry on palm By Susi Andrini DENPASAR (JP): Balinese art veteran I Wayan Muditadnana, commonly called I Wayan has given Indonesian literature a new breath of life with his Balinese pictorial stories, or prasi. Prasi consists of inscriptions on palm. "Once finished with a prasi drawing, I am not immediately satisfied. I end up redoing one thing or the other, right from the start. There is a lot of trial and error work done," he says.

Family values come first at new Jakarta American Club By Dini S. Djalal JAKARTA (JP): This dense, sprawling metropolis is destined to be home to Asia's most affluent and cosmopolitan middle class. Yet, as harried executives and manual laborers alike will confirm, rapid urbanization has not come without costs in the quality of life, environmental and social.

CCF is bridge to cultural exchange By Emilie Sueur JAKARTA (JP): All of us hold on to an overflowing memory catalog of the important dates in our lives. For Ronny Augustinus and Dwi Aryo Prihutomo, Aug. 21 will be retained on special file as marking their first public exhibition, held in the gallery of the French Cultural Center (CCF) here.