`Tempo' employees face hard times with optimism
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A disruption in publication is the main concern for Tempo media group employees, not the possibility of job loss or closure of the office that looms over Tempo weekly and Koran Tempo daily in the ongoing legal wrangle against businessman Tomy Winata.
The asset preservation order issued by the courts has not fazed them.
"We've lost our jobs before and managed to get through the hard times," Handy Dharmawan, manager of information technology division of the newsmagazine, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
He was referring to when the government banned the respected magazine along with two other publications, Editor weekly and Detik tabloid, in 1994.
Tempo magazine is currently engaged in a legal battle with Tomy because of an article that insinuated the businessman was responsible for a fire in Tanah Abang textile market in Central Jakarta earlier this year.
In March, hundreds of people claiming to be Tomy's supporters staged a violent protest outside the weekly's office, demanding a retraction.
The incident was followed by lawsuits filed by both parties, the latest being a civil suit against the weekly's co-founder Goenawan Mohamad and Koran Tempo over a news article equating Tomy with a thug.
The East Jakarta District Court issued an asset preservation order covering the home of Goenawan in Pulo Mas, East Jakarta, and Koran Tempo office building in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.
"When hundreds of people calling themselves Tomy's supporters thronged our office on Jl. Proklamasi, I was very afraid that they might get a chance to destroy the computers and servers here," Handy said.
However, the employees are convinced that Tempo can win the legal battle.
"We believe that Tempo will overcome this legal battle and come out the winner. We have experienced the worst in the country's history of press freedom with the closure of the magazine," he said.
Fellow employee Heru Susanto from the magazine's general affairs division said that the legal woes had created camaraderie among employees.
"We are proud to be a part of Tempo, which is reputed for its balanced and investigative journalism. And all these threats of seizure and bullying from Tomy have strengthen our resolve that we indeed walk along the right path," he told the Post.
Heru said that the media group could count on its employees' loyalty to get through any problems.
"Most of our former employees rejoined Tempo when it resumed publication in 1998," he said.
A staffer from the public relations division of PT Tempo Inti Media Tbk., Ambarsari, shared Heru's conviction that the support of the employees would help the publication strive against all odds.
"We have been down and out but have managed to survive," she said.