New electric trains serving the Serpong to Sudirman route

New electric trains serving the Serpong to Sudirman route started to operate on Tuesday, March 11. It is a commuter train which stops at certain stations. The air-conditioned trains leave Serpong at 6:30 a.m. and 8:22 a.m., stop by in Sudimara and Pondok Ranji and drop the passengers at the Tanah Abang and Sudirman stations in Dukuh Atas district, Central Jakarta and vice versa in the evening.

People welcome the new train service which they see as the answer to their daily needs. For only Rp 6,000 passengers can enjoy fast, safe and comfortable transportation.

The Pakuan Ekspres, traveling between Jakarta and Bogor, will also provide a new service, starting March 15. The air- conditioned train will also stop at Tebet station at 8:30 a.m. to take passengers, mostly university students, to Depok. This is a breakthrough, especially for the students, who in the past could only enjoy economy-class travel with no air conditioners.

PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI), the state-owned railway company, has made a good step. Its response to people's needs deserves appreciation. PT KAI should continue developing its business strategy for the future.

The Sudirman station, which had been ignored for years, now contributes more money to PT KAI, thanks to the new electric commuter trains.

If we could just appeal to PT KAI to be consistent in its discipline. The conductors must not let passengers get on the train for free (without tickets).

PT KAI can survive if it's management works professionally.

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta

Josef Stalin and Russia

Fifty years ago today, Josef Stalin, one of world history's worst dictators, died.

That he, in alliance with the United States, Great Britain and France, led the Soviet Union to victory over Nazi Germany does not excuse the brutal persecution, which may have claimed the lives of 20 million-30 million Russians.

Many other peoples have been forced to slow and painful reckonings with their history. But in Russia, there are still many who hail Stalin.

Last fall, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin approved the minting of 500 silver coins with Stalin's portrait. The Russians, too, should actively come to terms with their past.

He who secretly hails Stalin cannot at the same time become a democrat with respect for human rights.

-- Huvudstadsbladet, Helsinki, Finland

The formation of Islamic party in the Netherlands

The Arabic-European League, born in Belgium, has now arrived here. The movement advertises itself as an 'Islamic, democratic party.'

Not only has a group of young, educated Moroccans called a party into existence with a religious basis, but that party holds a number of conservative values on drugs and prostitution. How the liberal, secular Dutch society will react is unknown, but it's exciting.

But if there can be a Christian Democrat party, why not an Islamic Democrat party, as long as it, like the Christian Democrats, can abide by the rules of our secular democratic system?

If so, then the AEL could even play an important part in emancipating Moroccans in the Netherlands, and the much-needed rapprochement between Islam and democracy can take place.

-- Volkskrant, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The United Nations and Iraq

The diplomatic tug-of-war over a second U.N. resolution on Iraq is turning into a charade. Three times in the past five days, George Bush has made plain his intention to overthrow the Iraqi regime, whatever the U.N. says. His aim, he said last week, was "a liberated Iraq. ... America's interest in security and America's belief in liberty both lead in the same direction." At the weekend, Mr. Bush again sketched out plans for a bright new future entirely predicated on Saddam Hussein's downfall. The U.S. president's candid although still very blurry focus on a post- Saddam settlement, rather than on disarmament, makes it clear that nothing less than physical as opposed to behavioral regime change will now suffice. U.S. determination to impose its will by force renders the U.N. debate redundant in terms of practical outcomes. It makes a mockery of the Security Council. ...

-- The Guardian, London

The North Korean challenge

Iraq masks a second emerging crisis, no less dangerous, perhaps even more: North Korea. The recent interception of an American spy plane in international airspace by four North Korean fighter jets over the Sea of Japan, Sunday March 2, ... gives the impression that the Korean Peninsula is skidding.

Wrong or right, North Korea feels it is the next target of Washington after Iraq; it intends to show it is not intimidated by the United States. ...

Washington insists it does not want war with North Korea and is favorable to negotiating a solution to the crisis started by the nuclear ambitions of Pyongyang.

But the more the Americans delay restarting dialogue with Pyongyang, the more the process of reactivating a (nuclear) reprocessing facility in Yongbyon, capable of producing plutonium, becomes inescapable.

-- Le Monde, Paris