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.