Emotion drives appeal of flagship products Paulus B. Suranto, Marketing Department Head, PT BMW Indonesia Many say the crisis that hit Indonesia in late 1997 is irrelevant to some people. At least on the outside it does seem to be true. Take a look at the sales of some products that are considered to be premium items. Producers seem to keep competing to launch more and more of these premium products.

DPA clarifies In the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) article Missing pieces at Indonesia's famous temples, published on Sept. 15 in The Jakarta Post, I made an inaccurate statement related to the elephant statue, given by King Chulalongkorn of Thailand during the Dutch colonial period, that was placed in front of the Indonesian National Museum and to the transfer of the Buddha statues from Borobudur temple.

* Headlines: Calls mount for revision of antiterrorism bill2 * National: KL punishes RI workers 4 * Archipelago:Haze covers most of Kalimantan 5 * Opinion: Attracting investment, lesson from China7 * City: Senior councillor reveals bribery 8 * Sports: Another million reasons why Tiger is number one9 * World: Arafat rejects Israeli terms to end siege11 * Business: Firms come under fire over sweatshops 16 * Features: Faisal Basri: A study in humility 20

Confusion reigns over al-Faruq's extradition The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Confusion reigned on Monday over the status of suspected terrorist Omar al-Faruq when Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said, in contradiction to earlier remarks by other officials, that his extradition to the U.S. was not linked to the government's efforts against terrorism. "What really happened was just a common deportation, because of immigration regulation violations.

Foreign leader for RI citizens? Metro TV's report broadcast at 7:09 p.m. on Aug. 28 referred to "Hassan di Tiro, trustee of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a Swedish citizen." A trustee implies the head of state (as in the period of the Federal Republic of Indonesia/RIS). The information as a whole is controversial. It seems as if GAM has became part of Indonesia called RIS. The GAM head of state in exile is at the same time a Swedish citizen.

'Please, come back down to Earth, Sutiyoso' Amid strong public criticism, Governor Sutiyoso was reelected to hold the post of city governor for a second time. To win over the critics, Sutiyoso and newly elected vice governor, Fauzi Bowo, are planning to meet those who discredited the election, while supporters are erecting banners in public places to evoke people's sympathy. A number of people interviewed on the street shared their opinions and expectations with The Jakarta Post.

Imported used clothes From Bisnis Indonesia Indonesians are fond of consuming used goods ranging from used aircraft, rail cars, buses, luxury cars, factory machines, electronics, paper, to used clothes and other products. Some of these goods are imported legally and others are contraband. Indonesia is capable of producing such goods but they are more expensive or their quality lower than imported used commodities.

Pornographic VCDs From Kompas I am annoyed and saddened by the helplessness and ineffectiveness of the police in dealing with the sellers and distributors of pornographic video compact disks (VCDs). In August, I saw the sellers of bootleg pornographic VCDs along the road from Jakarta's downtown Glodok-Harco plaza to Jl. Pinangsia Raya offering their illicit products to passers-by without shame, regardless of their age.

Jeneponto to recruit 800 teachers MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: The Jeneponto education office said on Monday that the regency was in a dire need of 800 teachers to be posted in elementary and junior high schools. Masri, head of Jeneponto elementary and secondary education division, was quoted by Antara as saying that his office would start recruiting temporary teachers next week to meet the demand.

Quality of our diplomats From Koran Tempo The foreign ministry has been in the public spotlight recently, particularly because our embassies/consulates general and other representative offices abroad are still ineffective. Indeed, the majority of the officials sent abroad have been picked not on the basis of their qualifications, as their selection entails a certain amount of money agreed upon by both sides.

Rupiah Rates Sept.23 Banknote rates TT rates Selling Buying Selling Buying Rp Rp Rp Rp Australian dollar 1 5,217.16 4,666.19 4,968.41 4,914.71 Brunei dollar 1 5,364.85 4,799.98 5,109.06 5,055.62 Canadian dollar 1 6,066.75 5,427.57 5,777.50 5,716.65 Swiss franc 1 6,403.41 5,730.48 6,098.10 6,035.69 Danish krone 1 1,261.73 1,129.03 1,201.58 1,189.16 Euro 1 9,376.00 8,389.23 8,928.96 8,836.04 Poundsterling 1 14,842.23 13,282.66 14,134.57 13,990.09 Hong Kong dollar 1 1,223.51 1,095.26 1,165.17...

Megawati demands cheap books JAKARTA: Claiming to represent the frustration of many housewives in the country, President Megawati Soekarnoputri complained on Monday about the country's lack of commitment in providing cheap books for students. Speaking during the opening ceremony of the Association of Indonesian Publisher's (IKAPI) congress on Monday, Megawati said the country should find ways to reduce the price of books.

Child protection bill passed amid poor attendance Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta For the third time in one year, the House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday passed a bill into law despite an abysmally poor attendance by legislators, revealing once again the poor performance of legislators in carrying out their legislative duties.

House factions question KPU's independence Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Deliberation of the much-awaited election bill got into full swing on Monday, with some factions in the House of Representatives questioning the independence of the General Elections Commission (KPU). Unlike the draft bill proposed by the government, the factions suggested the KPU Secretariat not be put under the control of the home ministry.

Sjahrir declares new party The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Noted economist Sjahrir declared on Monday the establishment of the New Indonesia Alliance Party (PIB), whose immediate aim is to contest the 2004 general election.

Throne for the people What are you after in life? A good reputation. The late sultan Hamengkubuwono IX of Yogyakarta is worth remembering. For him, his throne had to benefit his people. The sultan gave up all his privileges and made himself part of the Indonesian nation. His modesty and his refusal to be attached to fame and fortune made him a suitable role model for us all.

Some workers earlier said that they had realized the company's plan to dismiss workers on a massive scale after seeing a letter signed by the Nike's General Manager in Indonesia Jeff Du Mont last month, stating that Nike would halt its orders starting from November.

BPS mulls new GDP concept The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) is studying the possibility of including environmental costs in measuring the country's economic growth, in a bid to seek a comprehensive assessment of the sustainability of growth and the environment.