1996 worse than 1995, seers say
1996 worse than 1995, seers say
By Johannes Simbolon
JAKARTA (JP): Three psychics predict 1996 will be worse than 1995.
The seers also say the political temperature will soar while corruption, manipulation and collusion will run even more rampant.
But don't worry, a ratu adil (just king) will appear in 1996, one predicts.
The three top psychics -- Ki Ageng Selo, Anton Rudolf Nico and Ki Gendeng Pamungkas -- also say 1996 will be a milestone for the country's democracy movement.
Selo says advocates of democracy, including NGOs and students, will end their longstanding fragmentation by forging an alliance some time between June and August, because all political parties will have lost their public appeal by then.
"The alignment will create a big power that no political power will be able to compete with," Selo told The Jakarta Post.
Pamungkas concurs, although he does not mention a specific month. He says all special-interest groups will lay solid foundations in 1996. They will forget their differences and fight for the common cause.
"After that, the government will be shaken. The pawns will fall off the table. The government will not fall, just individuals in the government who have messed up politics and the economy," Pamungkas forecasts.
Pamungkas, a self-declared black magician, is enjoying renewed popularity after several of his predictions for 1995, including the downfall of a minister and numerous racial riots, came true. Selo is also enjoying similar popularity after some of his 1995 predictions came true, including his forecast of the death of an artist in a traffic accident in Bandung.
Pamungkas predicts that three ministers and two governors in Java and Sumatra will be strongly reprimanded by the President for poor performance, and that one of the ministers will most probably be sacked.
Anton predicts that three ministers will be axed because six government departments will be merged into three. A certain political group will lobby for its people to lead the newly- merged departments, but the President will choose military officers instead, he says.
Unlike Selo and Pamungkas, Anton does not foresee any synergy between NGOs and other democracy advocates in 1996. He insists that Golkar and the military have infiltrated the groups since 1994, preventing their unity.
Nevertheless, the democracy movement will be strong because the public will become involved, Anton says.
"It will start with a protest against the rise in prices in February and peak six months before the general election in 1997. At that time, the protesters will demand more openness and better law enforcement," Anton predicts.
Anton says no single person or group will mastermind the movement; it will be spontaneous.
A great number of people, including workers and drivers, will hit the streets to demonstrate. The movement will start in East Jakarta, followed by West Jakarta and then other areas. The capital will then be paralyzed, he says.
"At that chaotic time, a totally unknown political figure will appear as a new leader. The man doesn't want to lead the masses, but the public keeps prodding him. It is he who will lead our country," Anton foretells.
The man, a Javanese civilian, will prove to be a man of vision and great talent, says Anton. "He, to some extent, fits the Javanese concept of ratu adil."
The government will then choose another unknown figure to negotiate with the new leader, he added.
Anton, a columnist for a sports magazine, has had sports predictions come true. He is also known for his skill at locating oil and coal deposits, and sunken ships.
Both Pamungkas and Selo foresee racial riots, not demonstrations. The riots will last up to one week before the government manages to quell them.
And here's bad news for the press.
"The government will ban one magazine," says Pamungkas, who claims to have learned voodoo in Nigeria and Haiti and to have killed hundreds of people with black magic.
Both Selo and Pamungkas lament that they anticipate a worsening in the behavior of government officials in 1996.
"The year of 1996 will be the worst. Corruption, manipulation and collusion will be more rampant," says Selo.
"More and more government officials will make wrong statements, even scold each other in public," predicts Pamungkas.
Natural disasters
Selo also predicts that there will be more natural disasters, road accidents and deaths from AIDS in 1996.
Earthquakes, floods and fires will increase by 50 percent, he insists, while big earthquakes will occur in Sukabumi, and in the middle of Riau and Maluku.
There will be volcanic eruptions, including Mt. Kelud in East Java and three volcanoes which have been considered extinct for a century in West Java, West Nusa Tenggara and Maluku.
Both Selo and Anton asked the public to monitor Mount Krakatau which will be more active. Selo predicts it will become active in the middle of the year, but Anton says December.
"We must be careful. But, according to my pendulum, it will not erupt," Selo says.
Anton fears a dam in Subang, West Java, will break and the water will flood Jakarta and its surrounds.
Selo says aircraft accidents will also increase by 25 percent and two deadly train accidents will happen in West Java. One of the railroad accidents will possibly be as deadly as the Bintaro train accident which killed 154 people in October 1987.
A total of 25 local artists will die, 10 of them from black magic, five from AIDS, seven in road accidents and three from old age, said Selo.
"An artist who recently made a fuss with a drug-related case will be the first one to die from AIDS," he predicts.
Selo, who claims to have cured two people with AIDS and one HIV positive person, added that no AIDS medicine will be discovered in 1996, unless researchers are willing to try traditional medicines
Anton also predicts many artists will die. Four will die from old age, one from an heart attack, and a number from black magic.
"Two new artists who always perform together will die simultaneously in two different locations," he says.
Anton foresees many aircraft accidents. One plane with an important military man on board will be involved in a deadly accident at the end of July.
"I hope he survives because he holds a strategic position. If he dies, there will be a tumult in the military," says Anton.
Business will slump in many sectors. Pamungkas predicts harvests will decrease and real estate agents will not be able to sell their houses because of high prices. Selo also foresees a decline in the agricultural sector.
Pamungkas and Anton predict that two banks will collapse in 1996.
"The government will not be willing to save them, like they did to a bank in 1995," says Pamungkas.
Female paranormal Lonny Huwae foresees more Indonesian women engaged in politics as well as science and technology-related work. She says lesbianism and extra-marital love affairs will decrease.
"Lesbians will be more careful in playing their games but they will gradually leave the practice and find men," she insists.