1. Asset - 4x 12

1. Asset - 4x 12

City urged
to improve
management
over assets

City administration was urged to quickly improve its management
over all city assets to prevent asset loss and to increase city
revenue especially from those being used in business cooperation
with the private sector.

The demand was expressed by City Council's Commission B
overseeing trade and investment affairs on Monday during a
plenary meeting to evaluate the 2002 City Budget.

"So far there is no clear regulation stating which office is
responsible to manage city assets. Even the city assets office
has failed to keep track on city assets," commission spokesman
Dani Anwar said in a prepared statement during the meeting.

"We also lament the office's explanation on the absence of
certificates and other legal documents on city assets used or
rented by private sectors," he added.

Dani emphasized that such condition had hampered the efforts
to increase revenue from city-owned enterprises.

Currently, there are 52 city-owned enterprises with various
status ranging from wholly-owned to joint venture company and
other commercial cooperations.

Those enterprises failed to contribute the expected Rp 64.99
billion (US$7.38 million) revenue to the 2002 City Budget. The
generated revenue was only some Rp 43.74 billion or about 67
percent.

Clean and tidy assets management is important as city
administration itself is in the dark about its own wealth.

The City Assets Office head Rama Boedi said that Jakarta's
total assets, consisting of companies and properties, were valued
at more than Rp 7.9 trillion.

City Council is currently drafting a city bylaw on city assets
management to become a legal basis for the administration to
manage its own assets, especially against developers who refuse
to build social facilities.

Monday's plenary meeting was the first to be presided by
council speaker Agung Imam Sumanto who was installed as council
speaker before the budget plenary meeting.

Agung, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) faction succeeded Eddy Waluyo of the Indonesian
Military/National faction who had to resign as council speaker
following his decision to run for governorship last year.

Contacted separately, Azaz Tigor Nainggolan of the Jakarta
Residents Forum (Fakta) told The Jakarta Post that the assets
were forfeited in purpose to allow corrupt city officials to take
advantage by selling the assets to private sectors.

"The city-owned enterprises actually have such a huge
potential to generate large amount of revenue for city budget
provided that they are managed properly," he said.

"But the problem is they are managed by retired city officials
instead of professionals who really have business senses and
skills."

Tigor said high professionalism was very important because a
business entity would seek profit with its operation.

"Most of the joint venture companies use city assets which
means they also carry social purposes and not only business ones.

"Poor management will only allow private sector to reap high
profits by sacrificing city assets," he added.

Another problem with city-owned enterprises is that the city's
share composition in joint venture companies, there are 11 of
them, tend to decrease with the course of time.

The dilution is mainly caused by city administration's
inability to inject fresh capital to those companies.

"If the administration cannot provide capital to keep its
share composition, it would be better if the administration had
not invested in the first time," said Tigor.

"It would be better to set the companies as wholly-owned ones
and manage them properly."

2. Trial - 2x 25

Activist stands trial
for insulting Megawati

An activist from the radical group Islamic Youth Movement
(GPI) stood his first trial on Monday for allegedly insulting
President Megawati Soekarnoputri during an anti government
protest in mid-February.

The defendant, M. Iqbal Siregar, was indicted of violating
Article 134 of Criminal Code Law on the deliberate intent to
insult the president or vice president that carries a maximum
penalty of six-year imprisonment. He was also accussed of
violating Article 137 (1) on publicizing the conduct that carries
a maximum penalty of one year in jail.

The article is known here as pasal karet (malleable article),
because in the past, the New Order regime drew upon it to
suppress its political opponents.

The indictment, read by chief prosecutor Arnold Angkouw, said
that during an anti-government protest on Jan. 15, the defendant
carried a picture of Megawati with a black tape closing her eyes
and words "Hunted by Public" imprinted on top of it.

"He then showed the picture to the crowds while saying `this
is the president that has disappointed citizens'," Arnold said,
adding that the defendant then threw the pictures on the bustling
Jl. Merdeka Utara, Central Jakarta, only to be run over by
vehicles.

The chief prosecutor said that such an act constituted a
deliberate insult to the President.

Iqbal conducted the act during a protest against a number of
Megawati Government' policies, which he said had added to the
plight of the populace. The rally was also attended by other
groups such as the Islamic Students Association (HMI), the
Alliance Against Mega (ATM) and the Jakarta Student Executive
Bodies (BEM).

The trial for Iqbal was the third to be held in the country
during Megawati's term of presidency. Late last year, Muzakkir
and Nanang Mamija, respectively from the Populist Youth Movement
(GPK) and the National Farmers Federation (STN), were sentenced
to one year in prison after being proven guilty of stomping the
pictures of Megawati and Vice President Hamzah Haz.

Currently, trials on cases of insulting state leaders
committed by three student activists, Rico Marbun, Fathul Nugroho
and Ardy Purnawanani, are still underway.

Moments before the presiding judge Cornel Sianturi concluded
the hearing, the defendant's lawyer Taufik Basari said that the
team of advocates would submit a defense. The judge later agreed
that the defense could be read on Thursday.

After the hearing was over, Iqbal -- who had been placed in
the custody for eighty days, the last time in Salemba prison,
Central Jakarta -- said that his trial was but one example of how
the Megawati administration was following the path of the
authoritarian regime of former President Soeharto in using the
malleable article to curb protests against his government.

"These articles (Article 134 and 137) will simply kill off the
country's burgeoning democracy," Iqbal told reporters.

Citing that the trial could become a bad precedent for pro-
democracy movement in the future, he said: "If the articles are
strictly applied, thousands of our youth who resent the
government's policy will crowd the country's prisons."

Reiterating Iqbal's statement, Taufik said that the
application of the malleable articles against political activists
showed the Megawati administration was indeed a repressive
regime.

3. Busway - 2x 20

3-in-1 extention plan
decided after trips

Governor Sutiyoso said on Monday that the extension plan of the
3-in-1 traffic policy up to the afternoon rush hours would be
decided after he has finished his 12-day trip to Latin American
cities.

The new restrictions, announced last Wednesday, are related to
the plan to implement the 12.9-kilometer busway system from Blok
M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta.

Currently, only private vehicles with three or more passengers
are allowed to pass Jl. Sudirman, Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Gatot
Subroto in Central Jakarta from 6:30 a.m. until 10 a.m. But
according to the new plan, it will be also applied during rush
hours in the afternoon.

The new restrictions are deemed important to ease possible
congestion caused by busway system once it is implemented.

Another restriction under study is to prohibit cars with plate
numbers ending in certain numbers to travel during certain days.

The administration will also develop 14 new feeder routes,
connecting residential areas with the restricted zone to
compensate the traffic restrictions.

"I will have to learn all the restrictions during my visit.
Only after that I can decide," Sutiyoso told reporters.

Sutiyoso, who is slated to leave on Saturday and will return
home on May 7, will visit Sao Paulo in Brazil, Mexico City in
Mexico, Bogota in Colombia and Quito in Ecuador, according to
city spokesman Muhayat.

His visit to Sao Paulo is made after several invitations
extended by the Sao Paulo governor who has visited Jakarta
earlier.

"There is also a possibility to discuss a plan to assess
sister city relationship," said Muhayat.

Sutiyoso is also expected to learn about public transportation
management in Mexico City and have a closer look on the busway
systems implemented in Bogota and Quito. -- JP

4. Kartini - 1x 30

No more 'kebaya' on Kartini Day

Monday was Kartini Day, named after Indonesian heroine of
emancipation Raden Ajeng Kartini. Until a few years ago, schools
were busy organizing activities to observe the day, usually
contests such as cooking and flower arrangement. Female students
were also told to wear the traditional outfit of kebaya, like
what Kartini did.

"Thanks God, it's over," said Hariati, a mother of a 8-year-
old daughter, said.

She related how she had to persuade her daughter, who refused
to wear kebaya at school, as requested by the teacher.

"I told her that it was my birthday and she had to wear the
traditional clothes to make me happy," said Hariati, adding that
her trick worked.

A teacher said that the school did not celebrate Kartini Day
as there was no more instruction from the government on the
subject. Besides, she said, many parents also complaints about
the obligation to wear kebaya.

Yanti, who sends her daughter to SD Trisula, Cikini, Central
Jakarta, said she did not agree with the school's order on the
students to wear traditional clothes on Kartini Day.

"The point of Kartini's struggle is not wearing kebaya. In the
meantime, the order made me busy for nothing, like taking my
daughter to a hairdresser, borrow the clothes, and put make-up on
her face," she said.

Kartini was born in Jepara, Central Java, on April 21, 1879. A
brilliant young woman from a noble family in Jepara, Central
Java, she was touched with the condition of other women at that
time. They were who mostly had no access to education and had to
stay at home, waiting until men proposed them for marriages.

Through her correspondent letters to a Dutch woman, Kartini
shared her thoughts, including that she was against polygamy and
that a woman should have an option to stay single.

She wrote in Dutch and her ideas were quite progressive and
exceptional.

Tragically, in the end, Kartini should give up and accepted
her father's request to 50-year-old marry a man who already had
three wives and six children. Later, Kartini died in 25, three
days after giving birth to her first son.

The government declared Kartini a national heroine in 1964 and
since then her birthday has been observed as Kartini Day.

Students were merely told that Kartini was a heroine of women
emancipation because she was care about women's education.

Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, 48, an activist on women's right,
told the Post that it would be better for school to open
discussion on women's rights, instead of holding ceremonial,
artificial celebrations.

"It will be better if people explore more on Kartini's
thoughts, so they will get the basic idea," she said.

She gave herself as an example.

Despite of the annual flag hoisting ceremony at her school on
Kartini Day, Nursyahbani said she did not understand who Kartini
was before she finally read books on her later when she grown up.

"In fact, somehow Kartini's death showed that a woman's
natural fate is giving birth. Taking care of children can be done
by man as well. It was proved that at the end, Kartini's son was
grown not by his mother," she said.

5. Speak - 2x20

'So I find it hard
to study English'

There is no doubt that English is one of the most important
subjects at school. The government even held the National
Debating Championship last week, which was participated in by
many students who speak English fluently. However, there are many
others who have difficulty learning English, as some students
expressed to The Jakarta Post.

Fanny, 17, is a second grade student of a private economics
vocational high school in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta. She resides
on Jl. Gelora, Central Jakarta, with her family:

Frankly speaking, I don't like English, because the lessons at
school are not at all interesting.

The teachers teach so fast that I am hardly able to catch up.
So I find it hard to study English. I prefer mathematics to
English.

Worse still, the teachers often give difficult assignments to
the students such as compiling English materials from newspapers
clippings, taking pictures of foreigners, interviewing them and
recording the interview on tape.

Last week I tried to interview a foreigner but he was upset
due to the communication barrier and even called me a crazy
person. I didn't like it. I gave up the assignment.

I failed an exam because I could not give the appropriate
reply in a mock phone conversation in English with the teachers.
I did not get a certificate.

In a way I realize that English is very important now, more
over if I major in secretarial studies. Thus, like it or not I
have to study hard.

However, I regret my parents cannot afford the fee for an
English course. So I have to study myself.

I hope someday I could get a job and at the same time I would
take an English course to improve my proficiency.

Destyana, 18, is a third grade student of state-run SMU 60 in
Kemang Timur, South Jakarta. She lives in Pasar Minggu, South
Jakarta:

I like English because there are no figures like in
mathematics. I hate numbers and accounting or anything whatsoever
dealing with numbers. So, I like English and it has nothing to do
with the teachers.

I think that I have to enjoy English lessons as English is one
of the compulsory subjects one has to pass in the final exam.

Besides, English will be important for the Asian Free Trade
Area (AFTA). Many jobs now also require English as one of the
important qualifications.

I don't want to join an English course. Well, at least I have
the commitment to pay more serious attention to the lessons in
class from now on. I'm afraid that if I fail the final exam it
will be hard for me.

Only one thing is motivating me to study English better, that
is to graduate from senior high school and pass the English exam.
The new system now requires a pass grade in English and several
other compulsory subjects.

The new system is really burdensome for me. I prefer the
previous system in which the pass grade was not as rigid as now
and there was no distinction between passing and graduating such
as in the current system.

Nevertheless, the new system in many ways is much more
beneficial in that it will produce more qualified graduates. That
is, as long as there is no fraud in the national final tests.
However, I am a bit doubtful about that.

Andi, 18, is a second year student of state-run SMU 24 in
Central Jakarta. He resides near the school with his family:

I have enjoyed learning English since I was in elementary
school. I have not enrolled in an English course so far. I'm
really self-taught.

So I keep a keen interest in English regardless of the way the
teachers teach or the teachers' personal traits.

I learn the language through many things including films,
cassettes and practicing with my sister. In addition, I rely a
lot on the dictionary as the major source.

I feel confident even though I am just a self-taught learner.
I've proven that I can achieve far better results compared to my
friend who studied an English language course.

I am certain that English is very important for our future.
Everyone must master it as an international language. I hope
someday I will have the chance to study abroad due to my
proficiency in English.

-- Leo Wahyudi S