JP/4/scene4

JP/4/scene4

Govt should encourage
English fluency: Seminar

JAKARTA: A one-day seminar recommended on Wednesday that the
government declare English a second language in an effort to
encourage fluency in English among Indonesians.

The seminar, organized by PT Offistarindo Adhiprima, said the
government should take such a step because Indonesians trailed
far behind Malaysians, Singaporeans and Filipinos in spoken
English abilities.

Legislator Taufikurrahman Saleh, who chairs the House of
Representatives commission for educational affairs, opened the
event, and speakers included Donald B. Gibb of the U.S.-based
Rosetta Stone Software Inc. and Duque Hong of Hong Kong-based
Media International Inc. -- JP

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ANPAa..r..
Scene-Sampoerna

Sampoerna vows to fund
6,000 students

JAKARTA: The Sampoerna Foundation has pledged to provide
scholarships for 6,000 middle school and high school students
across the country over the next three years.

The foundation's director of operations, Elan Merdy, said in a
statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the
scholarship program was part of the cigarette maker's commitment
to make education accessible to youths, especially those from
poor families.

By the end of 2003, the Sampoerna Foundation had disbursed Rp
8.5 billion (US$890,000) to the country's most needy students, a
dramatic increase from Rp 2.6 billion in the previous year. -- JP

JP;MTR;
ANPAa..r..
Scene-TVRI

'TVRI' staffer protests
unfair treatment

JAKARTA: An employee of state-run television station TVRI has
staged a hunger strike to protest what he considered unfair
treatment by the firm's top executives.

Sjamsurridjal Irooth said on Tuesday that although it had been
a year since the television station changed a from state-owned to
a limited company, its top executives had not improved the
livelihood of its employees.

"Instead, they lead extravagant lives, compared to ordinary
staffers," he said.

He said a regular employee was paid Rp 1.5 million per month,
a pale comparison to the up to Rp 40 million received by
directors in monthly salaries and allowances. -- JP

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ANPAa..r..
Human-trafficking-Dumai
Police bring 33 human trafficking victims home
JP/4/Dumai

Human trafficking victims
brought home to testify

JAKARTA: The National Police said on Wednesday they had
transported 10 women victims of human trafficking from their
temporary homes in Dumai, Riau, to Jakarta to serve as key
witnesses in their cases.

The 10 were among the 33 women who arrived on Tuesday in Dumai
after they were repatriated from Kuala Lumpur. At least 108 other
Indonesian workers were also deported.

The majority had faced work-related problems in the
neighboring country.

"The police will handle the cases of 33 women, while the
others will be dealt with by the Ministry of Manpower and
Transmigration," said a senior police officer. -- JP