The Jakarta Post - April 12, 2017 - PDFCOFFEE.COM (2025)

WEDNESDAY APRIL 12, 2017 | TWENTY-FOUR PAGES VOL. 34 NO. 289 | SINGLE COPY PRICE RP 7,500 | BALI & NUSA TENGGARA RP 9,500 | WWW.THEJAKARTAPOST.COM

GRAFT

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KPK zeroes in on Setya Novanto p4

Officials say Phuket ready to deal with Songkran influx p10

Preserving Karia’a tradition in Wakatobi p24

SYRIAN WAR

G7 presses Russia to break ties with Assad Steve Scherer and Crispian Balmer REUTERS/LUCCA, ITALY

JP/Dhoni Setiawan

Cowardly attack: Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief investigator Novel Baswedan arrives at the Jakarta Eye Center on Tuesday for eye treatment. Novel was attacked with acid by two assailants on his way home after performing dawn prayers at a mosque near his house.

Top KPK agent victim of acid attack Winda A. Charmila THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

In November last year, senior Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan was riding his motorbike to the antigraft commission’s headquarters in South Jakarta, when a car suddenly veered toward him and hit him. Novel only sustained minor injuries in the hit-and-run accident. In early 2012, Novel was speeding on a motorbike in hot pursuit of Buol regent Amran Batalipu, who had been named a bribery suspect, when a car driven by Amran’s supporters crashed into him. Novel emerged unscathed from the incident. On Tuesday, Novel’s luck seemed to have run out. The 40-year-old KPK investigator had just finished early morning prayers at the Al Ihsan Mosque near his home in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, when the attack happened. At 5:10 a.m., two unidentified assailants on a motorbike threw acid in his face before speeding off. Upon hearing Novel’s pained screams, members of the Al Ihsan congregation quickly came to his aid and rushed him to the nearby Mitra Keluarga Hospital, where he received intensive care to clean his face from traces of acid. Doctors at the hospital said Novel had suffered injuries to his forehead, face and eyes.

Two assailants throw acid at Novel Novel leading KPK probe into e-ID case involving Setya Novanto At around 2 p.m., Novel was transferred to the Jakarta Eye Center (JEC) in Menteng, Central Jakarta, after complaining about blurred vision. Later in the day, KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah revealed that Novel would need to undergo surgery on his left eye. Former Constitutional Court chairman Mahfud MD, who visited Novel at the JEC, said the investigator remained in stable condition but had lost vision in his left eye. “Doctors will continue to observe him for two to seven days to determine what will happen to his left eye. His right eye is fine, though,” Mahfud said. Mahfud added that Novel told him he was suspicious of a person who had frequented his neighborhood in the past few days. Novel even took pictures of the unidentified man. “I don’t know if that photo could be considered as evidence, but it could indicate that someone had been stalking him,” Mahfud said. The attack came as the Jakarta Corruption Court continues its trial on the embezzlement of state funds allocated for the e-ID program, which incurred Rp 2 trillion

(US$150 million) in state losses and has implicated a number of senior politicians, including Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto. Novel appeared in court late last month to give his testimony as a KPK investigator in charge of the case. In his testimony, Novel said former House of Representatives member Miryam S. Haryani, who was questioned as a witness in the case several times, had received threats from at least five House members. Novel claimed those lawmakers were Golkar Party politicians Bambang Soesatyo and Aziz Syamsuddin, Desmond Junaidi Mahesa of the Gerindra Party, Masinton Pasaribu from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Hanura Party politician Sarifuddin Sudding. Novel, who is also leader of the KPK workers’ union, is one of the antigraft body’s most senior investigators. He has led investigations into numerous high-profile graft cases, including a bribery case involving 39 members of the House who colluded to pick Miranda Goeltom as Bank Indonesia (BI) senior deputy governor. He was also in charge of the investigation that led to the arrest of then National Police Traffic Corps chief Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, who was accused of embezzling funds meant for the driving-simulator procurement project. Former KPK chairman Busyro Muqoddas said Novel had survived six murder attempts

because of his role as a senior investigator in the agency. “All the attempts against Novel’s life bore similar indications of terrorist acts because they were systematic, repeated and planned,” Busyro said during a press briefing held by the KPK in response to Tuesday’s attack. KPK deputy chairman Laode M. Syarif said the latest incident would not deter investigators from ramping up their investigations into graft cases, including the e-ID case. “Any investigation is team work and not one individual’s responsibility. Targeting only one person is unfair,” Laode said at the KPK headquarters. KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo referred to the attack as a “terrorist” act. “We strongly condemn the act of terror [against Novel]. We affirm that the KPK will not surrender or be affected by such a terrorist act,” Agus said. Meanwhile, the National Police responded to the attack by establishing a special task force comprising officers from the Kelapa Gading Police, the Jakarta Police and the National Police for a joint investigation. “For now, we have deployed officers to secure the hospital and [Novel’s] home,” said National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian. (dea) RELATED STORY p2 EDITORIAL p6

United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson carried a unified message from world powers to Moscow on Tuesday, denouncing Russian support for Syria and taking up America’s traditional role as leader of the West on behalf of Donald Trump’s administration. Tillerson met on Tuesday in Italy with foreign ministers from the Group of Seven major advanced economies, joined by Middle East allies to forge a united position on Syria, which has been catapulted to the top of the international agenda since a poison gas attack killed 87 people a week ago. Western countries blame Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the gas attack, and Trump responded by firing cruise missiles at a Syrian air base. That has put his administration in open conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has stood firmly by Moscow’s ally Assad, who denies blame. Tillerson’s role as messenger for a united G7 position marks a turning point for Trump, who in the past alarmed allies by expressing scepticism about the value of US support for traditional friends, while calling for closer ties with Moscow. Tillerson himself is a former boss of the oil company Exxon Mobil which has gigantic projects in Russia. He was awarded Russia’s “Order of Friendship” by Putin in 2012. On Monday, British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke to Trump, with both agreeing that there was “a window of opportunity” to persuade Russia to break ties with Assad, May’s office said. Trump also spoke by telephone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the US strike on

a Syrian airbase last week and thanked her for her support. “I think we have to show a united position and that in these negotiations we should do all we can to get Russia out of Assad’s corner, at least to the point that they are ready to participate in finding a political solution,” German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Monday. “It is the right moment to talk about this, how the international community, with Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Europe, with the US, can drive forward a peace process for Syria and avoid further military escalation of the conflict.” Britain and Canada said financial sanctions, imposed on Russia in 2014 over its annexation of territory from Ukraine, could be tightened if Moscow continued to back Assad. Multi-billion dollar Russian oil projects by Tillerson’s former firm Exxon are among the biggest deals held up by sanctions. The US said its strike on the Syrian airbase near Homs on Friday was a one-off, and not a strategic shift. But the White House has also said Trump could authorize more strikes if Syria uses chemical weapons again. White House spokesman Sean Spicer indicated on Monday that Washington could also retaliate if Syria uses “barrel bombs” — oil drums packed with explosives dropped from aircraft. “When you watch babies and children being gassed, and suffer under barrel bombs, you are instantaneously moved to action,” he said. “I think this president’s made it very clear that if those actions were to continue, further action will definitely be considered by the United States.” Retaliating for barrel bombs would require a major shift in US policy since rebels say the weapons are used almost daily.

Female empowerment

JP/Bagas Rahadian

Actress Dian Sastrowardoyo (seated, center) takes a selfie with TV presenter Najwa Shihab (seated, second right) and visitors during a promotional event for the movie Kartini at the Bank Indonesia Museum in West Jakarta on Tuesday. Dian plays Kartini in the movie, which celebrates the idealism and courage of Raden Adjeng Kartini.

Inside CITY | p5 Ahok, Anies gear up for final election debate

PROPERTY

Govt backs down from taxing vacant apartments Farida Susanty THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

SPORTS | p9 Garcia no favorite for US Open

BUSINESS | p13 RI urged to firmly oppose EU palm oil resolution

When it comes to fiscal policy, as with so much else, timing is key. With the property market continuing to cool, the government has come to realize that it may not be the most opportune time to levy taxes on owners of vacant apartments. The plan, prepared in support of its land reform program, was aimed at optimizing the use of land and assets as well as curbing the purchase of land for speculative purposes, the cause of recent skyrocketing prices. Bowing to pressure from property business players, Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil announced on Tuesday that taxes on unoccupied apartments would not be implemented this year given the ongoing slowdown in the domestic

property market. “We will postpone the implementation. The economy is still growing slowly, so the introduction of that kind of [tax] policy would exacerbate the situation in the property sector,” Sofyan told journalists. Along with the delay of the tax on vacant apartments, the government also postponed the implementation of taxes on idle land, with Sofyan describing the measure as “not the current option.” Earlier, the government discussed applying a progressive tax on idle land as an incentive for land owners to make their property more productive. Instead, it would opt to focus on speeding up land certification as part of its agrarian reform, Sofyan said, citing sluggish economic growth as the major reason. Indonesia’s economic growth has struggled to pick up after fall-

ing to its slowest pace in five years in 2015, expanding by only 5.02 percent last year. The slow economic growth has weakened people’s purchasing power, which in turn has reduced purchases of apartments, a previously much sought-after investment choice. According to prominent property analyst Cushman and Wakefield, the apartment market is now mostly dominated by investors, as shown by an occupancy rate of around 60 percent. This is despite the fact that many people in the country still struggle to own their own home, with the housing backlog standing at 11.8 million houses as of last November. Since 2015, the property market has expanded at a rate of below 10 percent, down from the normal rate of between 10 and 15 percent each year.

The Indonesian Real Estate Association (REI) had earlier hoped that the recent tax amnesty could boost the property market through an inflow of repatriated overseas funds, which did not occur. Sofyan declined to specify the length of the postponement, but said the policy would remain an option subject to economic growth, which is expected to hit 7 percent in 2019. The tax also serves as an instrument to prevent overheating in the property market, which is marked, among other signs, by a significant jump in apartment prices. “For the time being, we will let the market mechanism work. But, if the market overheats as happened in Singapore, we will do as they [the Singaporean government] did [and raise taxes],” Sofyan said. Cushman and Wakefield has revealed that the apartment pric-

es have gradually declined since 2015. After surging by 20 percent in 2015, they rose by only 10 percent last year. Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Rosan P. Roeslani said business players in the property sector welcomed the government’s decision to postpone the taxes on apartments and land. “The property sector is still in a recovery phase. The middle and high-end markets are still very tough,” he said, adding that the government might even need to come up with an incentive, such as reducing the property transfer fee from 5 percent to 1 percent. Separately, property developer Intiland Development corporate secretary Theresia Rustandi said in spite of the postponement, the plan had already created a distortion, resulting in the drop in property shares.

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HEADLINES

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

EU moves to wipe out palm oil from the European economy

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he European Union has since 2013 been slapping anti-dumping countervailing duties on Indonesian exports of palm oil-based biodiesel, despite a lower EU court ruling last year that annulled the duties. Then early last week, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to totally ban biofuels made from palm oil by 2020 to prevent the EU target of sourcing 10 percent of its transport fuels from renewables from inadvertently contributing to deforestation. While the motion is not yet legally binding, EU lawmakers are now drawing up amendments to EU legislation that would be legally enforceable if approved by the European Commission. We see this move and its objective simply as an illusion. Certainly, the EU cannot take a farm commodity out of its economy and think that would solve its problems. The political move would instead only damage EU ties with Indonesia and Malaysia, which together supply more than 80 percent of the world’s palm oil, and many other smaller producing countries in Africa and Latin

America. Yet more worrisome, the palm oil issue could become a perpetual thorn in the side of Indonesia-EU relations at a time when they are negotiating a comprehensive economic partnership agreement. The EU Parliament’s motion seems to have been prompted mostly by the strong lobbying of the EU vegetable oil (soybean, rapeseed and sunflower) industry, which naturally would never be able to compete with palm oil. Palm oil, which now accounts for almost 50 percent of global vegetable oil consumption, has increasingly been leading the market as its yield per hectare is estimated by agronomists at nine times as high as soybean, five times as high as rapeseed and eight times as high as sunflower. Palm oil is now the most widely used vegetable oil in the world. It is almost impossible for most consumers to go a day without using or eating something that contains palm oil. Some analysts in Europe have even predicted that palm oil will steadily grow to be a US$88 billion industry by 2022. Palm oil has been developing as one of the biggest non-oil ex-

COMMENTARY

Vincent Lingga THE JAKARTA POST/ JAKARTA

ports from Indonesia and a very important part of the economy, as 40 percent of the estimated 11 million ha of oil palm estates are owned by smallholders. Indonesia exported around 26 million tons last year, or almost half of the global palm oil trade. In fact, data submitted to the EU Parliament showed that palm oil lately accounted for two-fifths of all global trade in vegetable oils, and the EU is the second largest consumer, with annual imports of 7 million tons. Almost half of these imports are used to make biofuels. True, in the first decade after the beginning of the palm oil boom in Indonesia in the mid1990s, oil palm estate development had caused deforesta-

tion and sometimes community conflicts. But due to strong pressure from international consumers with the full support of green NGOs and the increasing awareness on the part of the government of climate change impacts, the industry has been subjected to much tougher rules designed to make the commodity sustainable economically, socially and environmentally. Palm oil producers are now overseen and ruled under the sustainability standards of the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) program, which is legally compulsory; and the international multi-stakeholder Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a market-driven certification scheme. A nationwide sustainability certification program has been implemented since the early 2000s under RSPO and ISPO principles and criteria by accredited certifying bodies supported by independent social and environmental auditors. In fact, oil palm cultivation is arguably the most transparent industry now, as its farm practices are periodically examined by auditors

and constantly scrutinized by green NGOs. Chain Reaction Research (CRR), which is partly funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), concluded after a study last year of the 10 biggest oil companies listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) that major palm oil growers have increasingly found that what is bad for the environment is also bad for business. The financial risk of losing buyers committed to sustainable supply chains has helped motivate four of the biggest planters to mend their ways, according CRR, which conducts sustainability risk assessment for financial analysts and investors in environmentally intensive commodities, especially palm oil, and pulp and paper. The survey shows the No Deforestation, No Peat, No Excessive Exploitation (NDPE) policies do have an effect on suppliers to strengthen their sustainability policies and practices. Despite the progress, green NGOs have constantly attacked the sustainability campaign, either motivated by real concern

about environmental damage or influenced by lobbyists funded by EU and United States vegetable oil producers who are afraid of the palm oil competitive advantage. Certainly, the achievement of the sustainability campaign is still short of expectations as the program is an ongoing development process, especially as the industry also involves millions of smallholders with complex poverty problems. The problem has been made more complex by the huge gap in land titling in the country. But a blanket ban, as the EU Parliament recommended, is destructive, only reflecting a stance of bad faith that tends to see a glass-half-empty situation instead of half full. A constructive engagement modeled on the scheme EU and Indonesia have established under the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) is much more productive for the global economy. This program audits the entire supply chain in Indonesia, up from the source of timber to downstream processing until the point of exports to ensure social and environmental sustainability.

Trial paused, Ahok lies low as Anies woos Christians Callistasia Anggun Wijaya THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

JP/Ricky Yudhistira

Tour worthy: People cherish the scenic view of the Mandalika Special Economic Zone in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). The region will host Tour de Lombok Mandalika 2017, which will run from Thursday to Sunday featuring 22 cycling teams from 21 countries. The administration hopes the event will help realize tourist numbers set at 4 million in 2018.

TOURISM

Lombok welcomes cyclists of the world to Tour de Lombok Panca Nugraha THE JAKARTA POST/MATARAM, WEST NUSA TENGGARA

As many as 22 cycling clubs from 21 countries are gearing up for the Tour de Lombok Mandalika 2017, which will be held from April 13 to 16 in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). The tour is sanctioned by the local tourism board and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), which has granted the local organizers a license. The event offers a total cash prize of Rp 800 million (US$60,000). “We have designed the route and the security scenarios. All has been set up,” NTB Tourism Agency chief Lalu Mohammad Faozal said in Mataram recently. Faozal added that the organizers would provide rest areas and mobile medical clinics during the upcoming race. NTB Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Tribudi Pangastuti said a force of 1,173 personnel had been assigned to safeguard the event. She added that the personnel would be deployed to all spots of the race. “We will not close any roads for this route, as that could disrupt public [services]. We will halt traffic temporarily when the cyclists pass by,” she added. Besides five local cycling clubs, clubs from Laos, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, China, Philippines, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, France, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Singapore, New Zealand, Luxemburg, Italy, Switzerland and Spain will participate. The race will be divided into four stages, each of which comes with its own challenges and unique scenery. The first stage stretches 126.3 kilometers from the province capital of Mataram to the Mandalika Special Economic Zone, located in Central Lombok. The first stage is mostly flat, offering cyclists a more enjoyable start to the race. During the first stage, participants will be spoiled with views of traditional rural landscapes and

paddy fields along the route. The participants will finally complete their first day as the beauty of Kuta’s beach greets them at the end of the first stage. The second stage, from Kuta to Sembalun in eastern Lombok, is slightly shorter at 112.1 km, but the route will be mostly uphill and thus could be the hardest, especially when the cyclists approach the Sembalun forest area. Sembalun is located at the foot of Mount Rinjani, Indonesia’s second-tallest volcano, which stands 3,726 meters above sea level. The next stage is 113.3 km and runs from Bangsal Port to Senaru, also at the foot of Mount Rinjani. Another hilly route awaits the cyclists on this stage, while they enjoy the scenery of paddy fields and villages by the roadside. “The final stage will be a sprint race of another 112 km in Mataram,” Faozal said. Faozal said he was optimistic that the race would boost Lombok tourism by luring more visitors to the island. He added that the agency, in cooperation with other parties, was looking to sport events like this one as an alternative to existing tourist attractions. “We are targeting 3.5 million tourists visiting this year. This race makes it possible to achieve,” he said. NTB National Sports Council chief Andi Hadiyanto noted that the province had staged many extreme sport events in the past. He cited as an example the Sumbawa cross-country long-distance run of 320 km on April 5, which was jointly organized by the Tourism Ministry and Kompas daily. “The region offers a great landscape and ideal contours for extreme sports. There is massive potential,” he said. Indonesia is widely known for its international-scale races and has gained a reputation as one of the best landscapes for cycling. Tour de Singkarak in West Sumatra, which is usually held between April and June, for example, has been widely praised for its breathtaking scenery.

The blasphemy trial of incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama was put on hold on Tuesday, and the governor decided to lie low for the day, passing election-campaigning duties to his running mate, Djarot Saiful Hidayat. And Djarot had a busy day. First, he visited neighborhoods in East Jakarta, where he promised to mitigate endemic flooding in the area, and then met with Jakarta soccer club Persija in Central Jakarta. In Cipinang Melayu, East Jakarta, Djarot promised residents that the administration would dredge the Kalimalang River to mitigate the flooding should he and Ahok be re-elected in the gubernatorial runoff election on April 19. “After dredging the Kalimalang River, we will install high sheet piling,” Djarot told the residents. Djarot met with Persija in Central Jakarta and promised to develop a stadium in BMW Park, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

Ahok’s trial adjourned until April 20, after polling day Djarot campaigns solo, while Anies camp gains support from Christian group Meanwhile, his gubernatorial rivals, Anies Baswedan and running mate Sandiaga Uno, chose to appeal to religious groups. On Tuesday, Sandiaga met with the Interdenominational Christian Church Community in Senayan, Central Jakarta. During the meeting, the community voiced its support for Anies and Sandiaga, with 12 pastors signing a note that stated their commitment to support the pair. The church community is reportedly managed by Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the chairman of Gerindra Party’s management board and the brother of the party’s chairman, Prabowo Subianto. Gerindra has backed Anies and Sandiaga from the very beginning of the campaign. After the declaration, Sandiaga said that if he and Anies were

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the hearing at the Agriculture Ministry’s auditorium in Ragunan, South Jakarta, on Tuesday. The prosecutors’ request to postpone the hearing came after Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Mochamad Iriawan had sent a letter to the North Jakarta District Court dated April 4, suggesting the court delay the hearing until after the runoff vote, on security grounds. However, Ali insisted that the delay was not related to that letter. Ahok’s lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi said the postponement would disadvantage the embattled governor in the runoff as it meant that Ahok would not get the chance to read his defense on April 17, as initially scheduled, which, he claimed, could straighten out public misconceptions about the case. Regardless of whether or not Ahok benefitted from the postponement, the executive director of Voxpol center, Pangi Syarwi Chaniago, said the delay could contribute to a fair election and reduce the already heightened public tension.

CORRUPTION

Novel leads charge in war on graft Haeril Halim, Safrin La Batu and Nurul Fitri Ramadhani THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

In December 2014, when the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) planned to arrest cleric Fuad Amin, known as the most powerful politician in Bangkalan, East Java, a man who commanded thousands of supporters, the antigraft body put its trust in Novel Baswedan to lead the risky operation. The operation was a success with Novel able to bring the former Bangkalan regent to KPK headquarters in Jakarta for questioning without any incident. Novel has been the go-to investigator when the antigraft body decides to launch an investigation involving political bigwigs. Indeed, Novel has risked his own life at times in the pursuit of ending corruption in Indonesia. The acid attack on Tuesday is the most serious assault he has experienced thus far and could force him to take a long break from his work so he can fully recover from the eye injuries he sustained in the attack. Prior to Tuesday’s attack, Novel had been subjected to threats and violence. Members of his family report that they have received many threats over the years, often when Novel took up a job investigating high-profile graft cases. The most obvious type of threat is the presence of strangers taking pictures of Novel’s house in Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta.

In 2015, an attack came from the National Police, the institution he left in 2007 to join the anti-graft body. Following his move to launch a probe into three-star police general Budi Gunawan for alleged bribery, the police in Bengkulu arrested Novel on allegations he shot a civilian while serving as a local police chief in 2004. The KPK moved to investigate Budi soon after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo decided to nominate him as National Police chief. In 2012, the police also decided to reopen the Bengkulu assault case when the KPK opened an investigation into former national traffic police commander Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo for alleged corruption. Novel led the investigation into Djoko and took charge of a raid on Djoko’s office in East Jakarta. During the raid, Novel was intercepted by his seniors and other high-ranking police officers. Novel refused to give in and continued to search the headquarters of the national traffic police despite warnings from senior police officials. In 2009, Novel risked his life when trying to arrest former Buol regent Amran Batalipu, who was accused of taking bribes from businesswoman Siti Hartati Murdaya. A car driven by a supporter of Amran rammed into Novel’s motorbike. Novel suffered minor injuries in the incident. In August 2011, Novel made headlines after successfully repatriating graft fugitive Muhammad

WEATHER FORECAST: APRIL 12, 2017 Sunny

elected, they would become leaders for all citizens regardless of their religion, race or background. “Today, we feel so much love and peace. This is the Jakarta that we long for. A Jakarta that is harmonious, friendly, safe and peaceful,” Sandiaga said during the meeting, which was also attended by Hashim and Prabowo. Ahok’s blasphemy trial was adjourned after prosecutors requested a postponement to allow them to prepare their sentence demand. Initially the prosecutors had thought they would be ready with their demand. However, it turned out that they were unable to complete the document by late Monday. Therefore, during a hearing on Tuesday, when the prosecutors had been expected to read the demand, they asked the judges to postpone the hearing until April 20, one day after polling day. “A week is not enough for us [to prepare the sentence demand] because there are lots of additional witnesses and experts in the case dossier. It takes time,” prosecutor Ali Mukartono said after

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Nazaruddin, who had fled to Colombia to escape prosecution. In 2012, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Nazaruddin to four years and 10 months in prison for embezzling money from a state project. Within the KPK, Novel is also seen as an independent-minded investigator who has no qualms about challenging the leadership of the KPK. In late March, the KPK leadership reprimanded Novel, who also serves as chairman of the KPK workers’ union, for going public in his opposition to hiring an active police officer to lead a task force set up to help amplify the KPK’s antigraft campaign. He was issued a second warning letter, which was revoked

earlier this month soon after the KPK nixed the proposal for the formation of the task force. In February 2016, he was offered the chance to pick a commissioner post at any state-owned enterprise in exchange for his departure from the KPK. Novel rejected the proposal and maintained his commitment to serving in the KPK. Former KPK chairman Abraham Samad said the attack on Novel should serve as a warning and propel the government to provide better protection to KPK investigators. “I urge the government to ensure the protection of those on the front line in the fight against corruption. If it doesn’t do this then no one will have the courage to fight corruption,” Abraham said.

THIS ODD WORLD Mayor talks about potholes, interrupted by cat COPENHAGEN, DENMARK: The mayor of Latvia’s capital, Riga, was talking about the city’s efforts to fix potholes during his weekly online questionand-answer show when he got interrupted ... by his cat Dumka. City Hall spokesman Viktors Smirnovs says the black-and-white fluffy feline decided to have a sip from Nils Usakovs’ mug while he was recording the video that was posted Sunday on Facebook. Smirnovs said Friday “we thought it was funny,” so the City Hall decided to re-publish the clip Tuesday of the animal strutting into the frame and boldly starting to drink out of mug as Riga’s 40-year-old mayor calmly watched. Usakovs tried to pet the cat but it jumped off the desk. — AP

Man gets $190 fine for snake without leash SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA: A man who was fined for allowing his pet snake to slither freely in a South Dakota park said an animal control officer suggested he use a leash to restrain the reptile. Jerry Kimball said he initially thought the recommendation was a joke because it was April Fool’s Day when he was fined US$190 and ticketed last week for “animals running at large.” “He was literally asking me to put a rope around my snake,” Kimball said. “I was like, ‘Dude, no.’ I was dumbfounded.” Kimball was approached by the officer after a woman complained that his Fire Bee Ball Python was roaming freely at Falls Park in Sioux Falls. Animal Control supervisor Julie DeJong said a city ordinance requires all pets to be leashed or restrained in public. She said pet snakes can be held or kept in a container to comply. Kimball said he plans to fight the ticket in court. — AP

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

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WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017 CYBER LAW

Empowered

ISLAND FOCUS

Facebooker acquitted of defamation charges

Medan

Jakarta

Semarang

Andi Hajramurni THE JAKARTA POST/MAKASSAR

Saldi Isra inaugurated as new MK justice JAKARTA: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inaugurated on Tuesday Saldi Isra, a law professor at Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra, as the new Constitutional Court justice, replacing the disgraced former justice Patrialis Akbar, who is in detention for alleged corruption. Saldi will serve in the post for the next five years. The author of numerous books on good governance and constitutional laws, Saldi has received awards in the past decade as a result of his active participation in various civil society movements. In 2004, as an activist from the West Sumatra Care Forum, he received the prestigious Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award for his role in revealing corruption cases centered around the West Sumatra Legislative Council’s deliberation of the state budget, dating back to 1999. Born on Aug. 20, 1968, Saldi is currently head of Andalas University’s doctoral program in its School of Law. He also teaches constitutional law at the Padang-based university. — JP

Diponegoro Military Command gets new chief SEMARANG: Maj. Gen. Tatang Sulaiman was sworn in as commander of the Diponegoro IV Military Command replacing Maj. Gen. Jaswandi at a ceremony in the Diponegoro Military Command in Watugong, Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday. Tatang said he was honored to lead the Diponegoro Military Command with the best members of the Indonesian Military (TNI). He called on all personnel to be solid in maintaining the country’s security. “Soldiers must step up their discipline and professionalism,” he said in his opening speech. Tatang previously served as the Iskandar Muda military commander in Aceh. — JP

Student’s suicide over exam cheating probed MEDAN: The Culture and Education Ministry has sent a team to investigate the death of Amelia Nasution, a 12th-grader at a vocational school in Padang Sidempuan, North Sumatra, who committed suicide after exposing alleged exam malpractices at her school. The student reportedly drank poison after she was threatened by a teacher who had allegedly leaked answer keys to the national exams to some final-year students at the school. Daryanto, the ministry’s inspector general, said the team would investigate the case and punish any perpetrators. “If it is proven that [a teacher] threatened Amelia and caused her death, there will be sanctions against them,” he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Amelia and two of her friends took to Facebook after discovering that there appeared to have been a leak of the exam materials at the school. They alleged that the leak came from a fellow student who was also the daughter of one of the teachers. The student’s mother later threatened the three students, saying that they would be jailed and fined Rp 750 million (US$56,460) for exposing cheating at the school. — JP

UNREST

Yogyakarta street musicians protest busking ban Bambang Muryanto THE JAKARTA POST/YOGYAKARTA

Street musicians playing the traditional musical instrument angklung in Yogyakarta have lambasted the provincial administration for violating their rights by banning their performances at traffic lights. Grouped under the Yogyakarta Angklung Association (PAY), as many as 15 angklung bands staged a rally on Monday in front of the provincial legislative council building on Jl. Malioboro to protest the ban. They sang “Wakil Rakyat,” (People’s Representatives) a song composed by noted composer and singer Iwan Fals, to demand that Yogyakarta lawmakers fight for the people’s interests. “[These angklung musicians] are not homeless, nor are they beggars. They possess ID cards and play music dressed in neat attire to entertain motorists waiting at red lights,” Sugiyarto, director of the Pandawa Legal Aids and Consultation Institution (LKBH), said at the rally. The Yogyakarta governor issued through the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) a decree banning angklung bands from playing on city streets, categorizing them as beggars who disturb motorists and pedestrians. Angklung is a traditional musical instrument from West Java that is fashioned from bamboo. The decree was issued based on the 2004 Bylaw on traffic, and the 2014 Bylaw on homeless people and beggars. Sugiyarto argued that angklung bands have performed in Yogyakarta’s thoroughfares for years and are now considered an iconic fixture of the city. These musicians do not disturb pedestrians on sidewalks as they never stay in one place for too long, he added. “They are simply trying to make a living, which is guaranteed by the 1999 Law on human rights,” Sugiyarto said.

Yogyakarta provincial legislative council deputy speaker Dharma Setiawan, who met with protestors at Monday’s rally, spoke in defense of the musicians, saying they did not belong in the same category as beggars and the homeless. And as a daily commuter of Yogyakarta’s streets, he claimed he never felt disturbed by their performances. For Widi Ariska and her fellow Ariska angklung group band members, busking is her main line of work and source of income. Ariska comprises six musicians who usually play at one of the traffic lights on Jl. Sultan Agung. “This is my full-time job. I work every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and can earn up to Rp 100,000 [US$ 7.52] a day,” said the mother of two, who hails from Purbalingga, Central Java. She was worried that if the city continued to ban musicians from playing on roadsides, she and her band members would lose their daily income. Most of the city’s angklung street buskers come from Banyumas, Centra Javal, she conceded. However, some 40 percent is originally from Yogya. Other angklung bands attending Monday’s protest echoed Ariska’s concerns, further arguing that banning them would only add to Yogyakarta’s unemployment rate and place a heavy burden on the city. Angklung musicians usually perform in areas frequented by tourists, such as Yogyakarta’s iconic tourism spot Malioboro, the Tugu railway station and the North and South Squares. Head of Yogyakarta Satpol PP, GBPH Yudhaningrat, said the administration is staying firm on its ban on angklung street bands. He also disagreed with protestors’ arguments, equating street buskers with beggars because they ask people for money. “If we do nothing about them [angklung musicians], then we are the ones breaking the law,” said Yudhaningrat.

JP/Tarko Sudiarno

Comedian Mamok carries Yati Pesek on stage during a fashion show on Monday to commemorate the birth of Kartini, an icon for women’s emancipation, in Yogyakarta.

KPK zeroes in on Setya Novanto Haeril Halim, Safrin La Batu, Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and Margareth S. Aritonang

Setya banned from traveling abroad for six months

THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

After his name was frequently mentioned in a colossal corruption case, House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto has been barred from traveling abroad. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has slapped a six-month travel ban on the Golkar Party chairman so that it can intensify its probe into him as a witness in a corruption case related to the e-ID project that is estimated to have caused Rp 2.3 trillion in state losses. Witnesses in the trial of two defendants in the case, former Home Ministry officials Irman and Sugiharto, have alleged that Setya was deeply involved in securing House approval for the project’s Rp 5.9 trillion budget and rigging the project at the ministry in favor of a consortium of companies owned by businessman Andi Narogong, another suspect in the case. Setya was further implicated in the case after the Jakarta Corruption Court on Thursday heard that Setya co-owned several companies managed by Andi. Whether any of those companies are related to the project, however, has yet to be clarified. KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo

Court told that Setya has business ties with e-ID graft suspect Andi Narogong confirmed that the antigraft body had asked immigration authorities to prevent Setya from traveling overseas in the next six months. “Yesterday [Monday], [we] signed a letter requesting [the Immigration Office] to slap a travel ban [on him],” Agus told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. The issuance of a travel ban on a witness is at times followed by a decision by the KPK to name that person a suspect, but Agus said any future move on Setya would be based on evidence from further investigation in the case. KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said that the issuance of a travel ban allowed KPK investigators to focus on questioning Setya. In addition to Setya, the KPK also issued a travel ban on Andi’s wife Inayah and her brother Raden Gede. The antigraft body grilled Setya in December, and the Golkar Party chairman testified in the case’s hearing on Thursday. Setya denied knowing Irman and Sugiharto despite the two saying they had met with the poli-

tician to discuss the e-ID project. Several witnesses during the hearing said Setya was close with Andi, but the politician said he had only met the businessman twice and had no business ties with him. Separately, Setya said he had just been informed about the travel ban and promised to obey the entire legal process. “As a citizen who adheres to the law and hopes this matter can be solved soon, I’ll be patient to do the best I can,” Setya said. The House’s ethics council expressed concern that the travel ban would disrupt Setya’s duty as House speaker. “It will disrupt his work very much, given his role as a speaker who is a bridge for parliamentary relations with other countries,” said the council’s deputy chairman, Sarifuddin Sudding. The case started in 2009 when Andi learned that the government was planning the e-ID project. Andi asked former home minister Gamawan Fauzi to ask the House to allocate budget funds for the project. According to prosecutors, Andi then met with Setya to discuss the budget of the project. They reportedly agreed that the House would allocate Rp 5.9 trillion to the project, but under one condition: 49 percent or Rp 2.5 trillion of that money would be used to bribe House lawmakers and ministry officials.

The Makassar District Court in South Sulawesi cleared on Tuesday a woman of defamation charges for comments she made in a Facebook post. Yusniar, a resident of Makassar, had earlier been detained and charged with defamation under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law for writing a comment that offended a local councilor. The acquittal of the 27-yearold housewife came as surprise amid the frequent guilty verdicts that have been handed down in cases involving the ITE Law. “The charges are not proven. Therefore, she is now fully at liberty to go,” said presiding judge Kasianus while reading the verdict. The case embroiled Yusniar after Sudirman Sijaya, a councilor on the Jeneponto legislative council in South Sulawesi, who is also apparently a lawyer, filed a report against her over remarks she made on her Facebook page. She wrote on March 14, in Makassarese, “Thank God. The problem is finally over. Stupid [lawmaker], stupid lawyer. [You] want to help a guilty person, [but it is] clearly my parents’ land [that you] came to and disturbed.” The post came a day after her parents’ house on Jl. Sultan Alauddin was attacked by 100 people, allegedly including Sudirman. Yusniar did not mention any names in her post. Yusniar was charged with violating the ITE Law, which carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison. She had earlier been detained but was later released on bail during the trial. Kasianus said Yusniar was not proven to have slandered Sudirman in her Facebook post since she did not mention any names or refer in any way directly to him. “The defendant mentioned ‘a lawmaker,’ while Sudirman Sijaya is not a member of the House of Representatives. He is a Jeneponto councilor,” he said. Yusniar and her lawyer team received the verdict with delight. Abdul Aziz Dumpa, one of her lawyers, said he appreciated the panel of judges’ decision. “This is a true form of justice for the defendant and other people who are threatened with the ITE Law,” he said. First enacted in 2008, the ITE Law has become a scourge of the country’s internet users. According to data from the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network, 200 people have been prosecuted using the draconian law since it was first implemented. The number of people criminalized has increased in recent years, reaching 62 people in 2015, compared to just two in 2008, the data showed. Roughly 90 percent of the cases were defamation cases. The most infamous case was housewife Prita Mulyasari, who was imprisoned for complaining about OMNI International Hospital in 2009 in a private email that went viral. The most recent case involved a man in Medan, North Sumatra, who was sentenced to 14 months in prison in August for being tagged in a story on Facebook. Upon hearing her acquittal, Yusniar immediately broke down and expressed her gratitude by falling to her knees and kissing the ground. “Thanks to all of you who have supported me,” she said while wiping away her tears.

ASSAULT

Cleaver-wielding man attacks Banyumas Police post Agus Maryono and Suherdjoko THE JAKARTA POST/BANYUMAS, SEMARANG

The police have started a probe into the motorcycle riding, cleaver-wielding man who allegedly attacked Banyumas Police personnel in Banyumas, Central Java, injuring three officers on Tuesday morning. The man, identified as 22-yearold Muhammad Ibnu Dar, a resident of Karangaren Village, Purbalingga regency, allegedly broke into the field of the Banyumas Police headquarters at high speed and steered his motorcycle into police officer Adj. First. Insp Ata Suparta at 10 a.m. Witness Driyanto, 45, said Ata instantly fell to the ground after being hit. “Another policeman, Karsono,

tried to help Ata but he too was [allegedly] attacked by the perpetrator with a cleaver,” Driyanto, a journalist at local newspaper Kedaulatan Rakyat, said. Another policeman named Chief. Brig. Irfan also suffered an injury to his thigh as he tried to help his partners. Around 10 policemen then swarmed and arrested Ibnu not long after the attack. When the attack occurred, Banyumas Police investigators were conducting a press conference on a robbery case. When searched, Ibnu allegedly had an attribute associated with the Islamic State (IS) group in his possession, Banyumas Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Azis Andriansyah said without giving further details. “We are investigating who he really is,” he told The Jakarta Post. Police also seized a fabric with

the IS logo imprinted on it from Ibnu’s house as well as books, sand-like material and sharp weapons. He is undergoing intensive questioning by investigators. “He does not say much. He only says thogut [infidel] to the investigators questioning him,” Azis said. All three injured policemen were admitted to Purwokerto Hospital for medical care. Separately, Central Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Djarod Padakova confirmed the arrest of an alleged terrorist named Irsyad, aka Syeh, 40, by the National Police’s anti-terrorist squad Densus 88 on Monday morning in Kendal regency. Irsyad, a resident of Randusari village was arrested while driving his wife and baby to a local midwife. Irsyad showed no resistance during arrest, he added.

Several areas in Central Java are known to contain terrorist networks. The incident at the Banyumas Police headquarters adds to the list of attacks on the country’s police personnel. Last Saturday, traffic police in Tuban regency were attacked. The attack, launched by six alleged terrorists, fizzled and did not cause any harm to the police members, but it prompted shootout that led to the deaths of the six alleged terrorists. The National Police revealed that the attack was allegedly launched in retaliation for the arrest of members of IS-affiliated local terrorist group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) in Lamongan a day earlier. One of the three arrested is Zainal Anshori, believed to be the newly appointed leader of the JAD.

CITY

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

Ahok, Anies gear up for final election debate Indra Budiari THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

Millions of eyes will be fixated on Bidakara Hotel on Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta, on Wednesday night when Anies Baswedan and Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama are set to square off in the last official gubernatorial election debate. Wednesday’s debate will be the candidates’ final chance to persuade more than 7 million voters on the same stage. After the debate, both Anies and Ahok will only have three days of campaigning left as the gubernatorial race enters its cooling off period. Both camps are aware of the magnitude of the debate, with Ahok saying he was busy collecting data to support his arguments during the debate. His running mate, Djarot Saiful Hidayat, said on Tuesday that they would also examine their findings during the campaign trail. Meanwhile, Anies’ running

Ahok, Anies prepare for final debate Both camps target swing voters Swing voters to be game changer mate, Sandiaga Uno, said the one and only official debate in the runoff would be a golden opportunity to attract the ever-elusive swing vote, estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. According to Sandiaga, Anies will focus on themes related to human interest while answering economic and infrastructure-related questions. “We will focus our debate on the issues considered most important, especially to undecided voters,” he said on Monday. Swing voters may be the game changer in an election race, described by many, as one of the tightest in the capitals history. Under the theme “from residents to Jakarta,” the pair of can-

didates are expected to clash over their different points of view on a number of basic issues in Jakarta. Among the topics included in the debate are transportation, housing, reclamation, education and business, with some of the questions drafted by Jakarta residents. Regarding housing, for instance, Ahok has pledged to build more vertical housing for marginalized and middle-class residents if reelected, with a large part of the apartments to be located in transportation hubs. On the other hand, Anies continues to promote his zero down payment program to make housing affordable for low and middleincome residents. Anies and Ahok also have opposing opinions on reclamation issues with the incumbent governor believing that reclamation of North Jakarta Bay is necessary to revitalize the bay area as well save residents from future major disasters. On the other side, Anies has pledged to stop the controver-

sial project as it would affect the livelihoods of those living around the bay. Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) commissioner Moch. Sidik said marginalized communities, including street vendors and lowcost apartment residents, were among the people who would be given the opportunity to ask questions to the candidates at Wednesday’s debate. “Marginalized residents have struggled to get access to share their aspirations. We hope to give them that in this debate,” Sidik said. The inclusion of residents in a town-hall debate format might put both candidates on unfamiliar ground as it is a difficult format wherein the candidate who connects most with the individuals asking the questions fairs best. A recent poll showed Ahok had lost his frontrunner status to Anies as the former is being tried for a blasphemy case at the North Jakarta District Court.

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GREATER JAKARTA Rawa Badak stadium to be renovated JAKARTA: The Jakarta Youth and Sports Agency has allocated Rp 4.2 billion (US$315,980) to renovate the Rawa Badak stadium in Koja, North Jakarta. The agency’s head, Ratiyono, said the administration would renovate the roof of the bleacher section, which had decayed, the bleacher itself, the field and the drainage. “The decaying roof will be replaced and we will also add additional seating,” he said on Tuesday as quoted by beritajakarta.com. Ratiyono said the renovations had entered the final stage of planning and that the agency would soon hold a tender to choose a contractor for the project. “After the winner of the tender is chosen, construction will start immediately. We aim to begin the construction as soon as possible so that it is finished this year,” said Ratiyono. — JP

S. Jakarta to have disabled-friendly sidewalks JAKARTA: The Jakarta administration is aiming to revamp all sidewalks in South Jakarta to accommodate disabled people by the end of this year. South Jakarta Bina Marga road agency head Agustio Ruhuseto said that the design for the disabled-friendly sidewalk had been finalized. He added that the construction would begin at the end of April. “We will make guiding blocks along the sidewalk. This year, all sidewalks in South Jakarta must be disabled-friendly,” said Agustio as quoted by beritajakarta.com on Tuesday. He added that the first stage of the project will consist of revamping sidewalks in Tebet, Pasar Minggu, Prapanca and Kebayoran Lama. “After that, we will proceed with other areas,” Agustio said. Last year, incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama announced a plan to widen the sidewalks of Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin by 9 to 10 meters. After the sidewalks are widened, Ahok expects the added space to include small cafes, which will serve as hangout spots for Jakartans. — JP

TRAFFIC WOES

Commuters stuck for hours after Karang Tengah toll gate closure The Jakarta Post JAKARTA

The Karang Tengah toll gate in Tangerang, Banten, has been closed since Sunday as it is deemed to be the cause of daily congestion on the JakartaTangerang toll road. The toll gate used to be the only payment gate on the toll road, but now that the payment booths have been closed, commuters have to pay when they exit the toll road, either in Alam Sutera, Tangerang or Karawaci. The closure turned out to be illadvised, as it caused massive traffic jams at the exits of the Jakar-

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ta-Tangerang toll road, severely hampering access to premium business and residential areas like Alam Sutera and Lippo Karawaci in Tangerang. The congestion is believed to be caused by a lack of payment booths at each exit, with most of the booths still under construction. Toll road operator Jasa Marga has announced plans for a minimum 51 payment gates on the toll road, but on the first day of the closure, only 24 payment booths were ready. As a result, congestion built up as early as 5 a.m. on Monday. Agustina Elyn, a 23-year-old

ver the past two decades, laparoscopy has become an increasingly popular option for patients in Indonesia who need to undergo some form of abdominal surgery. “Now, innovations have made it even less invasive,” claims Dr. Seno Budi Santoso, who is a digestive surgery consultation specialist at Siloam Hospitals TB Simatupang. Patients typically undergo a laparoscopy when doctors are trying to find problems such ascysts,adhesions,fibroids and infections in the abdominal area. Using thin tubes inserted through small incisions in the belly, tissue samples can be taken fora biopsy. In contrast with a laparotomy – the typical surgical solution that involves a large cut across the abdomen – a laparoscopy only requires small incisions and consequently, a short recovery period. Because of this, Dr. Seno claims that a laparoscopy is less stressful to patients, has fewer potential complications and is more costefficient. “It can often be done without needing to stay overnight in the hospital. Even when patients have to be hospitalized, their recovery period is faster,” explained the doctor. For instance, gallbladder removal through laparotomy requires patients to be hospitalized for about a week. With a laparoscopy, however, their hospital stay can be as short as just two to three days. A laparoscopy also minimizes the risk of intestinal constriction, a potential complication of laparotomy, as well as the risk of infection because it requires smaller incisions. The tool typically used to perform the procedure is called a multiport laparoscope. It has three instruments, each with its own port: one for the camera and two for each of the surgeon’s hands. This means the procedure requires three small incisions to be made in the abdomen. Now, single-port laparoscopes are available, where all three instruments are in one port. This means only one incision needs to be made on the patient’s body, although one to two centimeters longer than the ones for the multi-port laparoscope to accommodate all three instruments. “The single-port laparoscope is now available in Indonesia, including in Siloam Hospitals. This equipment has a cosmetic advantage – patients who use it will only have one small scar after the operation,” Dr. Seno says. Studies have also shown that patients recover faster and report less pain after a procedure using a single-port laparoscope. Regardless of whether the single or multi-port laparoscopes are employed, the technique is increasingly being used for a wider range of medical problems. When the technique was first used in Indonesia in 1996, it was only used to treat appendicitis and gallbladders. Today, laparoscopy is commonly used to treat tumors, particularly those that affect the intestines and liver. “Laparoscopy is usually used to treat or diagnose digestive problems, but it can actually be used for different types of illnesses, depending on the skills and proficiency of the surgeon,” Dr. Seno explains.

Tangerang resident, was unfortunate enough to be one of the people stuck in the traffic on the way to her office on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta. “It was only 5 a.m., but there was already congestion at the toll road entrance in Karawaci,” she said, adding that the congestion was caused by the road’s partial closure leading to the toll road due to construction work at the toll gate. Agustina said she had heard from her friend that the traffic had got worse in the afternoon as the line of vehicles had reached 1 kilometer in length. 42-year old Erwin Panigoro,

meanwhile, got stuck in traffic on his way home in Alam Sutera on Monday afternoon. “I have to spend an additional 25 minutes to exit the toll road in Alam Sutera due to the unusual congestion,” he said. Erwin added that the heavy traffic had begun at a nearby rest area in Karang Tengah located around 1.6 km from the Alam Sutera exit. Another commuter, Andy Tanamas, was also baffled by the fact that the closure could cause such bad traffic on a weekend, which usually saw less traffic than working days. “Good job PT Jasa Marga

for creating traffic jam on Sunday!” he wrote on his Twitter account. According to several reports, the congestion also caused several high school students to come late for the national exam on Monday as they were trapped in traffic in Karawaci. Conditions finally got better on Tuesday morning, as Agustina said she found minimum congestion on the road leading to the toll road. “I only got stuck at the Karang Tengah gate, as vehicles were slowing down when approaching the defunct gate.” To prevent further congestion

at the exits, officials will accelerate the construction of the payment toll gates, which is now expected finish on April 23. “If there’s any congestion again in the future, we will open additional toll booths. We will also deploy more officers to do transactions on the road instead of waiting for cars to come to the booths,” said Herry Trisaputra Zuna, the head of the Indonesian Toll Road Authority (BPJT), on Monday. Herry added that the operator would let toll road users to pass for free should additional booths and officers fail to ease congestion at the toll road exits. (kuk)

Cutting-edge surgical solutions for Indonesians

“Obstetricians, for example, have started using it to treat tumors that affect the reproductive organs.” The procedure is also beneficial for treating inguinal hernias, where the intestine or the bladder protrudes through the abdominal wall or into the inguinal canal in the groin. Through a laparoscopy, the protrusion is pulled from the upper stomach area, minimizing the risk of relapse among patients. There are, however, a number of contraindications. The proce-

dure is not advised for patients who suffer from heart or respiratory problems, as it requires the stomach to be inflated with gas in order for the surgical instruments to operate properly. Laparoscopies also cannot be used for tumors that have already grown too big. According to Dr. Seno, despite the benefits of laparoscopic surgery, a number of factors still hamper its adoption among Indonesian patients. The first is the biggest problem that hampers the successful treatment of most diseases in Indonesia: The lack of awareness of the importance of early detection. As a result, many patients are diagnosed only when their diseases are already at advanced stages, during which a laparoscopy is not recommended. When more complex surgical solutions are required, doctors can still conduct a laparotomy. The second obstacle relates to the perception that laparoscopies are costly. “When patients ask how much it will cost, the first information they will get is the cost of the surgery package. When we look at it, the surgery package for a laparoscopy is admittedly more expensive because it requires skilled surgeons, not to mention the equipment,” Dr. Seno explained. However, in terms of the overall treatment costs, a laparoscopy turns out to be more cost-efficient than a laparotomy. Because the minimally invasive type of surgery involves shorter recovery and hospitalization periods, the final bill often comes out cheaper. Treatment costs, obviously, vary from patient to patient. “If a particular patient has a number of exacerbating factors that slow down his or her recovery period, such as diabetes or malnutrition, the hospitalization and medication fees will of course still be high despite undergoing the laparoscopic surgical procedure,” Dr. Seno said. If you would like to know more about laparoscopy or have a personal consultation with Dr. Seno, you may schedule an appointment by contacting our call center at 1-500-181 or by reserving an appointment online through www.siloamhospitals.com.

Online Appointment: www.siloamhospitals.com 221-05/*05&0)*0*3&.0+13/&5-10 : :; 24 Hour Siloam Ambulance Service: 1 – 500 – 911 "!;" "; " !;; ;"!;;;!";!;! ;!! !" ; " ; " ; ; ; ; ; "$! ; ; "% ; ! # ; ! "

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OPINION

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

Terrorizing graft busters uesday’s shocking acid attack on Novel Baswedan was the latest, most crude assault against top graft investigator and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). An unidentified person on a motorcycle threw acid in Novel’s face as he was walking home from attending morning prayers at a nearby mosque in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ordered National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian to investigate what the President rightly described as “brutal” crime. Activists said the attack was not an isolated incident, citing earlier threats and physical intimidation of KPK investigators such as Novel, including reported attempts to run his motorcycle off the road. Few were surprised at what has become persistent attempts to undermine the KPK, its bold leaders and its investigators shortly after the commission’s establishment in 2002. Because the KPK has managed to convict hundreds of local leaders and politicians, it has faced various lawsuits that have led to the ouster of its leaders, attempts to end its wiretapping powers, quite apart from brazen assaults like the one on Novel early on Tuesday. Novel led a probe into the recent electronic ID scandal that has implicated top lawmakers such as House of Representative Speaker Setya Novanto. Enemies of the KPK and Novel, a police officer seconded to the anti-graft body, became crystal clear after the ugly face-off with his National Police colleagues in 2012, which occurred when Novel was tasked to search the Police headquarters in relation to a case involving driving simulators. The search led to the conviction of then traffic police chief Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo. That same year, police attempted to ensnare Novel for the alleged shooting of a thief in 2004, in a suspected effort to stop his investigations into cases involving police officers. This latest attack on Novel caused injuries to his eye and face. “We cannot let individuals with steadfast principles be [attacked] in such uncivilized ways,” Jokowi said in response to the incident. Fearless individuals are indeed rare. Apart from reminding us of the terrifying resistance against corruption investigations, the attack is also a painful reminder of the unresolved murder of leading rights defender Munir, who was poisoned on a flight to Amsterdam in 2004 Jokowi cannot afford to let such criminals walk free right under his nose. Novel’s attackers clearly planned to terrorize and maim one of our most respected investigators. The assault also signaled the strong belief that Jokowi’s government is fairly powerless in capturing these masterminds — given the chronic impunity that they still enjoy. The ensuing outrage will hopefully inspire instead of discourage more graft busters. Indonesians are sickened by the predatory instincts of those pursuing any opportunity to milk cash out of local and nationwide projects. May Novel have a speedy recovery and may the state better protect its steadfast guardians of public funds.

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OTHER OPINION Serbian election erodes democracy

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ith Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic’s victory in the presidential election on April 2, Serbia has edged closer to autocracy. Vucic can handpick his successor and consolidate his power, since Parliament and the judiciary are all but locked up by Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party. Though Vucic won more than 50 percent, the election was marred by accusations of voter intimidation and a near total domination of Serbia’s media by Vucic and his party. Every day since the election, thousands of protesters have turned out. Vucic could show a commitment to democracy by restoring freedom of the press and ordering an independent investigation of allegations of voter intimidation. European leaders who see in strongmen such asVucic a force for stability — and who hope Vucic will make good on his promise to keep Serbia on track to join the European Union — must avoid the temptation to look the other way as Vucic and his allies seize monopoly control over the country’s political institutions and its press. To accede to such control by Vucic would be a betrayal of the EU’s core values, and of the many Serbians who look to the EU as a beacon of democratic rights and freedoms at a time when Eastern and Central European leaders are turning their backs on democracy. — THE NEW YORK TIMES, NEW YORK

Humanity at sea

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onfirmation of the theory that the seas unite as much as they divide has just been underscored by ships of the Indian and Chinese navies conducting a joint operation to counter an attempted act of piracy off the African coast. Both responded to a “distress call.” The joint action may not have amounted to much, but that was not known to the naval commanders when they responded to a call from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization about a merchant ship having come under pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden. The Chinese and Indian warships adhered to long-standing protocols and acted immediately. And that re-emphasizes the reality that when left free to act of their own accord, military personnel respond positively to crisis situations at sea. Something both Beijing and New Delhi must applaud: the “baggage” of history must not determine every course of action. Recent events point to a revival of Somali-based pirate activity. The pirates seem keen to “loot” the cargo, rather than extort ransom money. However, the situation merits close monitoring for the menace to shipping can easily resurface. The Indian Navy had played its part in — it must be ready to once again shoulder the international responsibilities that befall a major maritime power. — THE STATESMAN, KOLKATA

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Off-grid green energy: Revolution to evolution

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ndonesia has reached a nearly 97 percent ratio of villages with electricity, in which over 2,500 villages had no electricity in 2014. The plan of state-owned electric company PLN to build more power plants is merely to cover 504 villages up to 2019 (Central Statistics Agency [BPS], 2015), which implies that more than 2,000 villages will still not be electrified by 2019. This poses both a challenge and an opportunity. Then comes off-grid renewable energy (RE) development. It is where developers create new supplies and micro-grid solutions that are disconnected from PLN’s grid. Based on the recent statistics published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) titled “Rethinking Energy 2017,” the RE electricity generation in Indonesia in 2014 was 33,750 gigawatts per hour (GWh). This is diminutive compared to China’s RE generation of 1,253,230 GWh, India with 185,569 GWh, and nearly half of Vietnam’s generation of 66,489 GWh. Ministerial Decree No. 38/2016 was devised to help expedite electricity development in the remote villages across the nation. Shortly after, Ministerial Regulation No. 12/2017 on new and renewable energy was introduced, which put price caps on RE rates. As such, the capping of RE

Aretha Aprilia JAKARTA

rates may challenge profitability and sustainability of RE providers. Some have argued that incentives should not be offered and further suggested that Indonesia should also be able to reduce the high prices in the sector to encourage further development, especially in remote regions (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 25). However, despite this sentiment, the reality is that the Indonesian archipelago includes many remote regions that are not easily accessed. The challenges of rural off-grid RE are, among others, due to the high cost of equipment and personnel mobilization to remote sites, high costs for operation and maintenance personnel costs and battery replacement (particularly for solar photovoltaic). Viable business plans are required to ensure the sustainability of off-grid community renewable energy. There have been many prior community-based projects that have failed owing to insufficient funds to operate and maintain the infrastructure. The communities must be preconditioned to have ownership of the power plant, through shares or other

types of contributions. Despite the “warm glow” of community RE projects, business is business and must be profitable; especially so if the private sector is involved. The RE-based electricity rate price caps promoted through Ministerial Regulation No. 12/2017 is a top-down measure; which appeared to have missed the points on the significance of taking into account bottom-up measures such as the community’s willingness (and ability) to pay, as well as viable business plan that takes into account the expenses to be incurred and the projected streams of revenues — not merely for consumption but also for establishing lucrative production of goods and services. Further to the discourse on the off-grid electrification to more than 2,000 unelectrified villages, the government could help to provide investment in the following ways. Central and provincial governments should support projects that ease access for mobilizing equipment and personnel for energy development. In this regard, road/sea/air infrastructure are of quintessential requirements. The government would need to have sound establishment of inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral coordination in to prioritize villages to be electrified and the associated port, road, bridge investment. This is also in sync with what

was suggested in IRENA’s recent report, wherein the higher technology and financing risks associated with RE implies the widely required public support for the development. It is especially so in the developing countries, usually in the form of syndicated loans that involve multiple development banks (IRENA, 2017). In addition to the above points, proper incentives should be prepared to lure investors in this sector. Otherwise, the business may not be able to sustain given the high capital and operation expenditures that should be incurred to mobilize, construct, and sustain the power plant. In a similar line of statement by Ralph Nader; the shift of fossil fuel energy to green energy is not yet much-tapped, because the industry sectors do not own the sun, the wind, or the rivers. Turning from fossil fuel to green is a foreseeable future, however all stakeholders must share the same level of determination to achieve this overarching goal. Moving beyond the green energy revolution that has already taken place, we shall move forward to evolution for further development and widespread application. The writer is the lead of community renewable energy program — CDM Smith, Jakarta, and a doctorate alumnus of Kyoto University, Japan. The views expressed are her own.

Banks’ hiring suggests they trust Trump Mark Whitehouse BLOOMBERG VIEW

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ime and again, President Donald Trump and administration officials have promised to cut regulations that they say hold back the financial industry. The latest jobs data suggest that bankers might be buying it. In an otherwise mixed jobs report for March, finance was among the sectors that outperformed. During the three months through March, employment in the category (which includes real estate and insurance)averaged an estimated 8.4 million, up an annualized 2.7 percent — or 56,000 jobs — from December.

That’s the fastest quarter-onquarter pace of growth since 2006, and compares with an annualized gain of 1.5 percent for nonfarm employers overall. Here’s a chart: The hiring doesn’t seem to be primarily a Wall Street phenomenon. State-level data, which go through February, suggest that a lot of the job growth is happening outside New York, in states such as Illinois, Texas and Ohio. Here’s a chart showing the states with the largest gains since October, the month before Trump was elected: So why the hiring? Well, banks have been getting pretty fired up about the prospect of deregulation. Encouraged by Trump’s

rhetoric, bank lobbyists and Congressional Republicans have put forth proposals that range from defanging the Financial Stability Oversight Council to providing relief for community banks. Granted, financial companies may have other reasons to add jobs. For one, profitability has been on the rise: The industry’s profits amounted to about $114 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 22 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That said, cost-cutting has played a significant role. Beyond signing memos and meeting with executives, the president hasn’t yet done much to put his words into action. Any efforts

to rewrite the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act will face a battle in Congress. It’s also possible that change will be more radical than what banks expected: White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, for example, has come out in favor of restoring the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, which separated breadand-butter commercial banking from high-octane investment banking. So to the extent that financial companies are getting excited about deregulation, their enthusiasm might be premature. The author writes editorials on global economics and finance for Bloomberg View.

Jokowi’s cross-border facilities upgrade Kurniawan Hari JAKARTA

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he dates of March 16 and 17 were historic, particularly for residents living around Nanga Badau in Kapuas Hulu regency and Aruk in Sambas regency, both in West Kalimantan. After several decades, locals finally saw major renovations of the integrated cross-border posts (PLBN), followed with upgrades of immigration checkpoints and customs offices. The projects also included improvement of trade facilities, the electricity power supply and road quality, which would halve travel time to and from the border posts. On those dates President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inaugurated the cross-border posts and the new facilities nearly two years after he issued an executive order for the projects. So remote was Nanga Badau that President Jokowi and his entourage, which included First Lady Iriana, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani, found it impossible to locate a proper restaurant for lunch. Eventually, the President and his entourage enjoyed a meal at a modest food stall. The upgrade of the two posts bordering with Malaysia was

part of the government’s effort to boost economic growth. The two were among seven posts to be upgraded this year. The five other cross-border posts were in West Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Papua. The development of the crossborder posts are strategic for, among others reasons, defense, security and the economy. A more sophisticated immigration checkpoint would help reduce the potential inflow of illegal migrants. The upgraded security checks, including the availability of proper animal and plantation quarantines, would mean increased security to tackle the possible spread of diseases. Meanwhile, the improved infrastructure and customs offices could facilitate easy exports and imports along the borders. That is not to mention the growing pride and dignity of Indonesians living in border areas, as many previous border checkpoints were said to be in worse condition than the average village administration office. Two years ago, people crossing the Indonesia-Timor Leste border would have seen the better immigration checkpoint in Timor Leste. The better-equipped crossborder infrastructure would also trigger more activities and economic growth in the surrounding areas.

We must not forget Dec. 17, 2002 when this nation lost the Sipadan and Ligitan islands to Malaysia following years of legal wrangling at the International Court of Justice. The court learned that Indonesia’s claim to sovereignty over Sipadan and Ligitan was based on the 1891 Convention between Great Britain and the Netherlands, which defined the boundaries between the then Dutch possessions on Borneo and the territories under British protection. Meanwhile, Malaysia claimed sovereignty over the two islands as an inheritance from the Sultan of Sulu, who passed the sovereignty first to Spain, then to the United States, the United Kingdom and ultimately to Malaysia. The country backed its claim by the number of British and Malaysian effectivites (acts by the state) over the islands. Among such acts Malaysia mentioned were its control of turtles and its collection of turtle eggs, believed to be the most important economic activities on Sipadan for years. The neighboring country also mentioned the construction of a bird sanctuary on the island in 1933 and the development of lighthouses by British colonial authorities on Sipadan and Ligitan in the early 1960s. All those structures still exist and are maintained by Malaysia.

The court considered that Indonesian authorities had never protested the construction of lighthouses by Malaysia and concluded that Malaysia has sovereignty over both islands. Learning from the Sipadan and Ligitan case, the government should continuously show its existence and activities in the border areas. Otherwise we could lose other territories to neighboring countries as the international court could issue similar rulings based on the scale of activities of another claimant on a disputed territory. History aside, I wonder why all the development of crossborder areas happened during the Jokowi administration. Maybe it has something to do with his choice of sports: archery — a solo game. There are indeed many challenges that could make him miss the target, Jokowi said, as he opened the Bogor Archery Competition one windy January day. “But I wouldn’t blame the wind,” he said, adding he had been practicing on weekends for the preceding several months. Despite the gusts the President focused on his target and with a few dozen arrows he managed to hit at least one bulls-eye. The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.

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OPINION

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

The temptation of Theresa May Robert Harvey PROJECT SYNDICATE/LONDON

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he three great Theresas in history are all saints. The most recent to be canonized was Mother Teresa, a tireless charity worker and controversial campaigner for the poor; the first was Teresa of Ávila, one of the Catholic Church’s most dynamic and powerful personalities during the 16th century. And in the 19th century, Thérèse of Lisieux spoke to animals, cultivated gardens, performed good works, and became known as the Little Flower. British Prime Minister Theresa May is, at times, as philanthropic as Mother Teresa, as ambitious as Teresa of Ávila, and as modest as the Little Flower. But will she be remembered as well as any of them? Like the Little Flower, May is so discreet that even many members of her own party have doubts about what she actually believes. She has pandered to America’s toxic president, Donald Trump, and courted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Both gestures have eclipsed even former British prime minister David Cameron’s kowtowing to Chinese President Xi Jinping during Xi’s visit to the United Kingdom in 2015. But there seems to be something deeper to May. By invoking Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, her government has now pushed Britain’s narrow Brexit referendum decision past the point of no return with minimal controversy, while remaining extraordinarily popular. Of course, very little has actually happened in the nine months since the referendum took place. Investors are apparently banking on the fact that nothing significant will happen for at least another year, because Europe will be in the throes of its own elections in France, Germany, and probably Italy. Incumbent European governments will not want to risk empowering their populist rightwing rivals by accommodating British bluster. On the other hand, the Dutch populist avatar Geert Wilders recently suffered an electoral defeat, relative to what many expected. And in France, a mainstream candidate such as Emmanuel Macron or François Fillon will likely win the presidency in a runoff against the far-right National Front’s Marine Le Pen. After that, German voters will either reelect Chancellor Angela Merkel, or give the job to the proEuropean Union Social Democrat Martin Schulz. And the next Italian leader will surely be anyone but Beppe Grillo, the eccentric Five Star Movement leader. When the election dust finally settles, a phony war between Britain and the EU will ensue. In a replay of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s own fights with Europe three decades ago, both sides will huff and puff, threaten to withdraw from the talks, and then reach a last-minute compromise. Ultimately, the deal that emerges will most likely resemble Norway’s membership in the European Economic Area, but it will be labeled “bespoke” for Britain. In this scenario, the UK’s access to the European market will be

similar to what it has today, with somewhat more control over migration from the EU and an end to deference to EU institutions such as the European Court of Justice. In exchange, the UK will forfeit most of its influence in determining how the European single market operates. By accepting such a compromise, May would certainly fulfill her promise to those who voted for Brexit, and possibly unite the different camps within her own Conservative Party. But a lot could go wrong. If European countries do not lurch to the right, and if Schulz emerges as Germany’s leader — and the EU’s de facto president — the EU will have less tolerance for British demands. By appealing to Trump and Erdoğan, May’s current strategy seems to be geared toward appeasing right-wing Brexiteers and Euroskeptics. But if she concedes too much to them, she could make it impossible to reach a final agreement with Europe. Either way, Europhobes such as Liam Fox, May’s trade secretary, will denounce any deal as a Cameron-style sellout, and push for a “pure,” off-the-cliff Brexit. This would entail acceding to World Trade Organization rules with respect to Europe, which would put Britain at a significant disadvantage. The fact that May is facing the weakest domestic opposition imaginable may actually compound her difficulties. Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is sticking with his old far-left extremism, except on immigration, where he is compromising one of Labor’s most sacred principles to curry favor with the shrinking electorate once claimed by Oswald Mosley and other far-right leaders, and now represented by the UK Independence Party. Corbyn, like a true Leninist, believes that any strategy is acceptable in the pursuit of power. In a career spanning nearly 35 years, he has always taken the long view. He now seems to think that he could emerge, Trump-like, as an unexpected victor in 2020, especially if Brexit sends the economy into a downward spiral. But with even trade union leaders such as Unite’s Len McCluskey now criticizing Corbyn, a more moderate replacement could be found. If former shadow chancellor Ed Balls or former foreign secretary David Miliband takes the reins, Labour might have a real chance at victory in 2020. Still, May could frustrate Labor by holding an election this fall, which would strengthen her position vis-à-vis her party’s Europhobic fringe and whoever governs Europe next year. For now, she seems to have ruled out calling an early election ahead of the Brexit negotiations. But, equipped with a popular mandate of her own, and with the vision, strength, and courage of her three namesakes, she could secure a deal with Europe that serves both Britain and the cause of global stability.

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New face of business competition

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he market is a meeting place for supply and demand. It is where companies — as value suppliers — compete to win the minds and hearts of customers — as value demanders. In the business world, the market is also like an estuary for changes that occur at the macro scale. The technological revolution further drives economic, political-legal and sociocultural changes, all of which culminate in the market. Several ASEAN countries have experienced structural changes in the market, inevitably resulting in greater competition. The development of technologies, which have increased information availability, has prompted profound changes in the political systems of several countries, while the more open economy has meant the boundaries of monopoly restrictions have diminished to a large extent. In a number of important industries such as telecommunications and banking, we have witnessed an influx of private players entering the markets, both indigenous and from outside the country. The increasingly competitive business environment has encouraged players to continue to innovate and improve efficiency. The customer has largely benefitted from this phenomenon, not least with a more varied selection of products and services. And technology continues to evolve. The emergence of internet and related technologies has made the “whole world flat,” as claimed by Thomas Friedman (2005). The barriers between countries are seemingly engulfed in the wave of change. In this context, Harold Sirkin (2008) stated that the business world would be faced with a phenomenon called “globality,” in which a company will compete with everyone, from everywhere, for everything. However, the disruption caused by technology does more

Hermawan Kartajaya and Ardhi Ridwansyah JAKARTA

than eliminate the boundaries of competition between countries. Digitalization has also rendered irrelevant the boundaries between industries. Competition today can emerge from any industry or sector. Look no further than the hospitality industry. Hotels are not just competing with other hotels, but are also under threat from websites such as Airbnb, which simply aggregates a list of lodgings in a city that can be rented by users. The website, which gives a virtually unlimited range of options to travelers based on price, quality of accommodation and location, has over 1.5 million listings in 190 countries and 34,000 cities. Conventional transportation companies are also panicking in the face of a very real threat. The emergence of online transportation networks such as Uber, as well as other ASEAN counterparts — Malaysia’s Grab and Indonesia’s Go-Jek — has aroused a string of negative reactions from conventional transportation organizers, especially taxi operators. Governments have also come under pressure and face a unique dilemma. While these emerging online transportation networks are growing increasingly popular among customers, the question remains whether they should be allowed to thrive at the expense of conventional transportation companies, which feel disadvantaged by the convenience and affordability of these alternative transportation players. Similar disruptions have long been experienced in other industries. Craigslist, a classified advertisements website, which puts lo-

cal buyers and sellers together, has made this role of newspapers obsolete, Amazon.com has disrupted publishers and bookstores and Google and Baidu have made libraries less relevant. The list goes on and on. In fact, even conservative sectors such as banking are no longer immune from disruption. Banks now have to deal with new competitors from telecommunication operators and financial technology companies. However, rather than seeing these new players as a threat, some banks have found ways to forge new, and profitable, partnerships with them. The traditional limitations faced by these new players — both legal and technical — have in turn opened up collaboration opportunities with conventional financial institutions. Examples include the provision of funding for alternative business finance providers or referral arrangements, whereby small business customers, who do not qualify for a loan, can be referred to the bank’s associated peer-to-peer lenders. The trend is already catching on in the United Kingdom where it has received encouragement from the government. Another example is the collaboration be-

tween Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Microfinance Bank to offer mobile money for the unbanked sector in Pakistan. In some Asian countries, the regulator acts as the facilitator of collaboration by requiring telecom firms and banks to work together, with banks holding licenses for transaction platforms. In India, the country’s largest private sector bank ICICI has teamed up with Vodafone India to bring Africa’s famed mobile payment service M-Pesa to customers, while Indonesia’s central bank has invited commercial banks and mobile network operators to introduce hybrid products in certain rural areas. Market disruption will inarguably continue as a consequence of the continuing development of digitalization. Business players must be prepared to adapt and find new ways to break through. Governments, as the regulators, must also act intelligently to ensure policies do not hamper technological innovation in the business world.

ation the following factors, none of which is more important than the other. A sound strategy first identifies a political stake involved that is unequivocally important to the national interests of the country such that the country has to resort to the use of military force. As long as the national interest at stake is clearly important, and this importance is recognized not just by the political elites but by the rest of the population as well, this provides a firm foundation for the crafting of sound strategy. Next, the country’s resources will need to be mobilized to ensure that the armed forces has the necessary wherewithal to wage war successfully. And there can be no half measures: no country should go to war while handicapping itself. However, as long as the national interest at stake has been clearly articulated to the population, and the population unequivocally accepts this articulation, the mobilization of resources can be achieved with a minimum of political fuss. Third, a coherent causal argument has to be constructed that

relates the application of military power to the attainment of the political interests at stake. In other words, sound strategy must be able to show how the use of military power can achieve the political end-states that the country seeks to establish. And sound strategy can be crafted only when political elites and military planners are involved in the process. However, there is a final rub. Even sound strategy does not guarantee strategic success. War is just too non-linear: the law of unintended consequences always applies, and actions will not necessarily result in the intended outcomes. The combination of overwhelming military power applied in a sound strategy merely increases the probability of a successful outcome. Just do not expect weapons per se to get the job done.

Hermawan Kartajaya is founder and chairman of MarkPlus Inc. Ardhi Ridwansyah is director of EMBA SBM-ITB/MarkPlus Institute.

The writer, a former member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, is the author of Global Disorder and A Few Bloody Noses: The Realities and Mythologies of the American Revolution.

Strategy – not weapons – wins wars Bernard F.W. Loo RSIS COMMENTARIES/SINGAPORE

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n a meeting with state governors before his first speech to Congress, President Donald Trump declared: “We never win, and we don’t fight to win.” As a consequence, President Trump argued in Congress for a defense budget totaling US$603 billion, which represents an increase of $54 billion beyond what the Budget Control Act has capped for fiscal year 2018. The purpose of this proposed defense budget is to provide the United States military with the tools to maintain its deterrent posture and, where necessary, “to start winning wars again.” Interestingly, the chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, Mac Thornberry and John McCain respectively, criticized the proposal as insufficient: “With a world on fire, America cannot secure peace through strength with just 3 percent more than president Obama’s budget.” The proposed budget increase highlights two sets of issues: the capacity for US military forces to maintain peace and secu-

rity throughout the world; and the capacity of the US military to win wars. The efficacy of military power in both is at best mixed. In the first instance, military power is used for deterrent and peacekeeping purposes. For the US military, this translates into a range of missions around the world, from the Baltics and the Black Sea to the South China Sea. Such missions require presence, and this demands that capabilities be available. For countries such as the Baltic states, South Korea and Japan, the continued presence of US military forces is regarded as desirable, even essential, for the maintenance of peace and stability in the respective regions. Arguably, the US military is overstretched. Its military presence is truly global, deploying personnel and equipment from all three armed services. For a number of countries around the world, a continuing US military presence is regarded as contributing positively to the maintenance of security and stability in the respective region. This military presence is regarded as evidence that the US

maintains an interest in the security and stability of the particular region. An increase in military spending is potentially desirable in this regard, if it results in a US military that is better able to fulfill its global security missions. But there is a rub. It is difficult at best to ascertain the effectiveness of such operations by the US military. Much of the problem relates to the issue of deterrence: in any given situation, just because nothing happens does not necessarily mean that deterrence has held. Similarly, the absence of an outbreak of armed conflict between otherwise adversarial states in any region cannot be absolutely attributed to the presence of US military forces. However, it is the second issue — the capacity of US military forces to win wars — that is even more problematic. Simply put, as the title suggests, weapons alone do not win wars. If it were so, the US should not have lost the war in Vietnam; the Soviet Union should not have withdrawn from its failed intervention and occupation of Afghanistan in 1989. Indeed, the history of wars tells us that every once in a while, a

smaller power will defeat its militarily stronger adversary in war, if not in battle. Superior weapons capabilities can result in victory in battles. The capability to locate adversarial military forces is essential to any armed forces ability to wage battle; and if one side can locate its adversary before the adversary can do likewise, this confers on the first side a potentially significant tactical advantage. Second, if the first side can then bring accurate and devastating kinetic force to bear against that adversarial force, the adversarial force faces the distinct prospect of being destroyed in battle. However, the winning of battles, while desirable and even essential in war, does not itself guarantee strategic success — or victory — in war. The US, arguably, did not lose any battle against its North Vietnamese and Vietcong adversary; yet this is clearly strategically irrelevant. Arguably what caused the US to lose the war in Vietnam and the former Soviet Union to lose in Afghanistan was the absence of sound strategy. A sound strategy is one that takes into consider-

Please send your articles to [emailprotected].

The writer is associate professor at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

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SPORTS

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

ARGENTINA SACKS COACH BAUZA,

PUTTING IT BRIEFLY LONDON: Rock bottom Sunderland have to do whatever it takes to grind out results if they are to stand any chance of avoiding relegation from the Premier League, striker Victor Anichebe said. Anichebe, who was out with a knee injury, returned to the starting side for the first time since January in the 3-0 loss to Manchester United on Sunday and he is keen to find his best form as soon as possible for the final seven matches. “It’s going to take me a couple of games, I wish I had time, or we had time, but we don’t [...] we haven’t had a good week,” Anichebe told British media. “We just have to go out every game and try and perform. I need to just keep going and so do the team, just grind out results any way we can. It’s not good enough, let’s be honest, we need to improve as a team.” Sunderland’s loss to United left them winless in seven games and 10 points adrift of safety ahead of Saturday’s home match against th 14 -placed West Ham United. — Reuters

United must improve home form: Mata LONDON: Manchester United have won just six times at home in the Premier League this season and midfielder Juan Mata says they must start converting draws into victories at Old Trafford if they are to finish in the top four. United are fifth and trail fourth-place Manchester City by four points, albeit with a game in hand. United have drawn nine of their 16 home league games and collected more points on their travels than at home. Mata hopes United’s home fortunes change when they host leaders Chelsea on Sunday. “We will fight until the end to be in the top four, and in order to do so we need mainly to get better at Old Trafford, at home,” Mata wrote in his blog. “We have an opportunity the next weekend against the leaders Chelsea. It’s one of those games that everybody wants to play.” Mata might not play again this season after he underwent groin surgery last month but the Spain midfielder hopes to make a swift return. While a top-four finish secures participation in next season’s Champions League, they could also get there by winning the Europa League. United travel to face Belgian side Anderlecht on Thursday in the quarter-final first leg of Europe’s second-tier club competition. — Reuters

EPL

Allardyce factor the difference for Palace, says Townsend Tom Hayward REUTERS/LONDON

The ‘Sam Allardyce factor’ has been driving Crystal Palace’s resurgence, midfielder Andros Townsend said after a 3-0 win over Arsenal boosted their improving Premier League survival bid. Allardyce, who has developed a reputation over the years as a survival specialist and last season led Sunderland to an unlikely escape from the drop, has been the driving force behind the stunning upturn in fortunes experienced by Palace. He initially struggled to turn things around after joining the south-London side in December, but since late February Palace have collected 15 points from a possible 18, to climb three places to 16th. “Sam Allardyce has been incredible,” Townsend, who scored Palace’s first goal on Monday, told Sky Sports. “I was on the wrong end of the [then Sunderland manager] Sam Allardyce factor when I was at Newcastle last season but he looks to have worked his magic again and hopefully we can keep these performances up and get enough points to survive.” Allardyce’s tactics have not always been the most subtle but under his stewardship Palace

have become formidable opponents — particular at their raucous Selhurst Park ground. Their form is built on a strong, well-organized defense, a physical target man in Christian Benteke and the skill and counter-attacking ability of French playmaker Yohan Cabaye — scorer of their second goal — Wilfried Zaha and Townsend. Combative Serbia international Luka Milivojevic, who added the third, has looked like an astute acquisition since he arrived from Olympiakos Piraeous in January. “Tactically the players were aware of how to beat Arsenal,” Allardyce told Sky Sports. “The first thing was to defend and frustrate them, keep them playing sideways, then use the space behind the full-backs. “Arsenal have been weak defensively, they leave the centrebacks exposed. We won a lot of possession off them and created lots of chances. “Cabaye’s goal, what a finish — and that was down to us pressing them. It wasn’t a shock for me because we played Chelsea and won that game [2-1 away on April 1]. “The result might be a shock, but we did that again and did it better. We all know Arsenal are going through their worst spell for years, but the only way to take advantage is by playing well. Everything worked perfectly for us today.”

SCOREBOARD Soccer EPL Results from the English premier league matches on Monday Crystal Palace 3 Arsenal 0 La Liga Results from the La Liga matches on Monday Real Sociedad 3 Sporting Gijon 1

Baseball Results from the MLB games on Monday (home team in CAPS) San Diego 5 COLORADO CHICAGO CUBS 3 LA Dodgers Cincinnati 7 PITTSBURGH NY Mets 4 PHILADELPHIA WASHINGTON 14 St. Louis

3 2 1 3 6

SEATTLE SAN FRANCISCO Oakland DETROIT NY YANKEES

6 4 2 2 8

Houston Arizona KANSAS CITY Boston Tampa Bay

0 1 0 1 1

Basketball Results from the NBA games on Monday (home team in CAPS) LA CLIPPERS 125 Houston 96 Utah 105 GOLDEN STATE 99 PORTLAND 99 San Antonio 98 CHICAGO 122 Orlando 75 MILWAUKEE 89 Charlotte 79 Washington 105 DETROIT 101 BOSTON 114 Brooklyn 105 MIAMI 124 Cleveland 121 (OT) Indiana 120 PHILADELPHIA 111

Reuters/Marcos Brindicci

Anichebe hopes to save Black Cats

lines up Sevilla’s Sampaoli

Edgardo Bauza

Rex Gowar REUTERS/BUENOS AIRES

Twice World Cup winners Argentina sacked coach Edgardo Bauza on Monday after a string of poor results in South American qualifying rounds left them struggling to reach the 2018 finals in Russia. Media reports suggest Sevilla’s Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli, who has never disguised his ambition to take charge of the national team and steered neighboring Chile to the Copa America title in 2015, will step into the vacancy. “We’ve reached an agreement,

we’ve told Bauza w he’s ceased to be h the national team th ccoach,” the Argenco ttine FA’s recently elected president Claudio Tapia told rreporters after a meeting at the organization’s Buenos Aires headquarters. Argentina, whose captain Lionel Messi has been banned for four matches for insulting a match official, are fifth in the South American group with four qualifiers remaining. The top four in the 10-nation group go through to the 2018 finals in Russia, while the fifth-placed country qualifies for a playoff against a team from Oceania. Bauza presided over eight matches, all 2018 World Cup qualifiers, with three wins, two draws and three defeats. If the AFA can successfully prize Sampaoli away from Sevilla at the end of the season, he would have until Aug. 31 to prepare for Argentina’s next qualifier, a tricky

trip to play Uruguay in Montevideo. Tapia has announced a news conference for Tuesday to give details of Bauza’s departure and his possible successor. The new AFA leadership made the decision to dispense with Bauza after Argentina were lucky to beat Chile 1-0 at home with a Messi penalty then lost 2-0 away to Bolivia at high altitude in La Paz last month. Argentina, who had Messi suspended before the Bolivia game, could be without their talisman in Uruguay and at home to Peru and Venezuela later this year unless they manage to get the ban reduced on appeal. If the appeal fails, Messi would only come back for the final, potentially decisive qualifier away to Ecuador at high altitude in Quito in October. Bauza was appointed last July by Armando Perez, who headed a FIFA committee that administered the AFA and prepared it for the presidential election that

Tapia won last month. Messi had quit international football after Argentina’s second successive Copa America final defeat on penalties by Chile in the United States in June, having missed the opening spot kick in the shootout. Bauza persuaded Messi to return in August and the captain responded with a goal in a 1-0 home win over Uruguay on Sept. 1. The 59-year-old’s team was unconvincing, though, with draws away to Venezuela and Peru, losses to Paraguay and Brazil and a win over Colombia between September and November. Messi missed all but the Brazil and Colombia matches through injury. Sampaoli quit as Chile coach after lifting the 2015 Copa America but had just taken charge at Sevilla when the Argentina job became vacant last July after Gerardo Martino resigned. The AFA would have to pay a buyout clause to trigger Sampaoli’s release from Sevilla.

WORLD CUP

FIFA changes hanges me mean ean no rival yet for Nort North American bid Simon Evans REUTERS/MANCHESTER STER

The bidding process rocess has yet to nt proposal from begin but the joint es, Canada and the United States, Mexico to host the 2026 World Cup is already the he heavy favorite to win. A series of decisions cisions made by the sport’s governing erning body FIFA, since the scandal over the voting for the he 2018 and 2022 editions, have loaded the dice heavily in favor of the North American bid. In October, FIFA’s FA’s ruling body decided that no country ountry could bid for the 2026 hosting ing if their continental confederation ation had hosted one of the two preceding receding tournaments. The controversial rsial 2010 decision awarded 2018 18 to Russia and 2022 to Qatar meaning, unless there is a major change of heart from FIFA, no European uropean or Asian country can compete mpete with the North American bid. That leaves Africa, South America and Oceania ania as potential bidders, but no candidate has emerged so far, although the Confederation of African Football has talked, in vague terms, about a possible Moroccan bid. FIFA have also voted to expand the World Cup to 48 teams for the 2026 edition, requiring more facilities to handle the increase to

Reuters/Andrea De Silva

Gianni Infantino 80 games, while also opening the door to joint bids. FIFA had been against joint bids since the only time such an approach was tried in 2002, when South Korea and Japan held the

month-long event, event but the organization’s president preside Gianni Infantino has been vvocal in his support for the idea. The US, with its many modern by the Nastadiums, mainly used u tional Football Lea League (NFL), has the capacity to host ho an expanded tournament alone but Infantino’s multi-national hostopening to multi handy political soing provided a han Soccer Federation lution for US Soc president Sunil Gulati. Gu also a FIFA counGulati, who is al a key role cil member and played pl Infantino win the presin helping Infantin idency of FIFA in February, 2016, is a wily operator and a by bringing Canada into his bid Mexico and Cana from the process has eliminated fro rivals. two potential riva hosted twice beMexico has h fore, in 1970 and 1986, but noises about a solo had made noi Canadian Soccer bid and Ca Federation president VicMontagliani, who is also tor Montagli vice-president and a FIFA viceconfederapresident of regional regio tion CONCACAF, has long talked hosting of his country eventually eve a World Cup. A split within the CONCACAF region could have encouraged other potential bidders, but although Canada and Mexico will only get 10 games each, they will share in the glory and their support helps the North American bid look so formidable

at this stage. There are however some potential pitfalls for Gulati’s effort to achieve what he could not manage in 2010 when a solo US bid was beaten by Qatar. Some in FIFA may be reluctant to let Mexico have a third World Cup when so many countries have yet to enjoy the tournament even once. The violence of Mexico’s “drug wars” may also be a concern to some FIFA voters. The political rhetoric of US President Donald Trump regarding immigration and travel from certain Muslim-majority countries could also play on some minds. There are also some in FIFA who are unhappy at the leading role the US Department of Justice and FBI played in investigating FIFA corruption and arresting several FIFA figures. And while soccer has grown in popularity in the US since the country’s hosting of the 1994 tournament, the sport remains outside of the mainstream, still overshadowed by American football, basketball and baseball. But FIFA’s recent financial troubles mean the huge revenue potential of a North American tournament will be very attractive to Infantino and the leadership. And so far, in the post-scandal FIFA, what Infantino has wanted, he has received.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Real’s trio out to reignite spark against Bayern Richard Martin REUTERS/MADRID

Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to rekindle some of the magic they once served up under Carlo Ancelotti on Wednesday when they face their old coach in the latest edition of Real Madrid’s rivalry with Bayern Munich. Real’s “BBC” trident enjoyed one of their most productive nights under Ancelotti the last time they were in the Allianz Arena, running riot in a 4-0 win to inflict the heaviest ever defeat on a side coached by Pep Guardiola. The expensively assembled trio have frequently been blamed by the Spanish media for Real’s unconvincing attacking displays this season, however, with the team relying on other parts of the team,

not least defender Sergio Ramos, for goals. The spotlight will be on the outof-form trio in Wednesday’s quarter-final first leg in Germany as Real resume their bid to become the first team in the Champions League era to retain the trophy. Bale, albeit while missed three months of action through injury, has endured his worst season since joining Real with nine goals in all competitions, while Ronaldo, with 19 in the league, is on course for his worst domestic tally since 2010. Benzema, meanwhile, has also been far less prolific in domestic matches this year but is the team’s top scorer in the Champions League with five goals to only two each from his Portuguese and Welsh team mates. There will be extra pressure on

Reuters/Michael DalderSee AlsoE-mails from an Asshole

Carlo Ancelotti the forwards because of the absence from the Real defence of the injured Pepe and Raphael Varane, while Bayern will be missing defender Mats Hummels with an ankle problem. Bayern’s top scorer Robert Lewandowski should be able to start, despite being forced off with a shoulder injury towards the end of the 4-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga

on Saturday. Satu Games between the most sucGame cessful clubs from Germany and thrown up plenty of Spain have h violent scenes in the past, from Bayern B Ba yern goalkeeper Sepp Maibreaking Roberto Martinez’s er brea nose in 1976 to Juanito stamping Lothar Matthaus’s head in 1987. on Loth Bayern’s Arjen Robben, however, thought there would be no residual hard feelings left over from the thumping his side suffered in 2014. “Not at all, it is part of the past and not important anymore, we are only interested in the future,” the former Real Madrid winger told Spanish daily AS. “We are playing to reach the semi-finals against a team of the size of Real Madrid and our objective is to progress. Nothing else interests us.”

CRICKET

Metro Indians, Jakarta Barbarians, both Yadavas teams secure hard-fought wins Suresh Subramanian CONTRIBUTOR/JAKARTA

Teams showing mental resolve and a strong team-spirit prevailed in this weekend’s matchups in the Texmoda JCA League. Ceylon CC’s batting woes continued as tight bowling from Yadavas Chairos Tigers’ Agi Saptiazi, followed by wickets from Rizky Nugraha at the other end, left the Ceylon batsmen to cool off in the shade of the Cibubur Pavilion. It needed a fantastic knock from Rajeev Kumar, who in partnership with Kesavadas put on more than 70 runs for the 9th wicket to give Ceylon a fighting chance. However, the young Indonesian duo of Aditya Haryanto and Repan Desnika showed gump-

tion, putting on 98 runs for the 2nd wicket, guiding Yadavas to a comfortable 6 wicket win with 12

overs to spare. Elsewhere, the senior Yadavas side took on Menara CC in

what should have been an easy game. However, Menara CC were prepared to put up a fight. Their openers, Ishaq Khan and Deepak Khullar, started off solid, but the introduction of Manbhir Singh and Lucky Kusuma triggered a collapse and yet another low total loomed. However, in what was to be a weekend of late-order fightbacks, Prakash Kewlani and Amit Bhat got together to put on 70 runs, taking Menara to a score of 164 in 35 overs. Menara showed fight when Faheem Butt got rid of Viraj Bhammar and Manbhir Singh fluidly, and two further wickets, including one to Deepak Khullar, kept them within range of their first win. Gamantika, who has started to show form recently, then partnered beautifully with

Raj Kapadia to resurrect the Senayan innings. When bowled by Vipul, Lucky Kusuma then took on the mantle of batting sensibly to take his team home with 4 wickets and 5 overs in hand. WPP India XI self-destructed in the last couple of overs of the game to hand Metro Indians a last-ball win in their T20 game. Electing to bat first, Kirubasankar anchored Metro’s innings with help from Dhanasekar. But WPP India XI fought back through Anish Param and Gaurang Kapadia. However, accurate batting by Sakthi and Murali with help from plenty of dropped catches saw 30 runs come in the last 3 overs for Metro. The tall Rakhitha started well by accounting for Pallav, but Naidu and Anish Param too

played well to give WPP India XI a strong start, putting the pieces in place for a victory. However, with 12 needed of the last 2 overs, careless batting ensued, gifting Dhanasekar 3 wickets for the 19th over. Needing 8 off the last over, Sakthi bowled tightly to help Metro steal an unlikely win. Ben Burgess ended his very successful season in style with a classy 94 not out and his knock, with some help from Jon Baker, carried the Jakarta Barbarians to a score of 151 in their 20 overs. In response, Bilal Qureshi and Riaz Hyder powered Jaguar CC to a 97 run opening stand. Mohib Hussaini then struck with 4 wickets and Ben Burgess continued his form to limit Jaguar CC to only 129 runs in their 20 overs, short by 22 runs.

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

NO SHANGHAI SURPRISE but Ferrari confirms challenge Abhishek Takle REUTERS/SHANGHAI

Lewis Hamilton may have taken the spoils in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix but Sebastian Vettel’s second-place finish provided clear evidence that Ferrari appear more than capable of taking the fight to the Briton’s Mercedes tam. Vettel sprung something of a surprise when he won last month’s season opener in Australia and despite racing on a vastly different layout in much cooler weather, there was little to choose between the pair for the second weekend in a row. The results in Melbourne and Shanghai have raised hopes that the early-season rivalry between a duo with seven Formula One championships between them and locked on 43 points apiece in the overall standings, could become a full-blown title duel. The China performance in particular also erased any lingering doubts about the championship credentials of the sport’s most successful team, for whom the season-opening triumph marked a welcome return to form after a winless 2016. “On a track and in conditions which were very different from those we had in Melbourne, we proved that we have a strong car,” Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene said. Ferrari have looked competitive since pre-season testing and there was very little to choose between Germany’s Vettel and Hamilton in terms of pace and performance throughout the

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PUTTING IT BRIEFLY Kings dump Sutter, Lombardi LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Kings made huge changes to their front office on Monday as they fired coach Darryl Sutter and general manager Dean Lombardi, who helped guide the team to its two NHL Stanley Cup titles. Luc Robitaille was named club president, and fellow former Kings standout and Hockey Hall of Famer Rob Blake was selected as vice president and general manager. The Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014 but missed the playoffs for the second time in three years this season. Dan Beckerman, president and CEO of AEG, the Kings’ parent company, said in a statement the moves were made with a view to the team’s future. “This was an extremely difficult decision and was made with an enormous amount of consideration for what we have accomplished in our past,” said Beckerman. “But the present and future of our organization is the highest priority.” Sutter was hired in December 2011 and led the team to a memorable title run as the eighth seed in the Western Conference. He also guided the Kings to the Western Conference Final in 2013. Sutter and Lombardi, hired in 2006, depart after recording the most wins for a Kings coach and general manager. — Reuters

Walker ends Evans’ bid for appearance

Reuters/Andy Wong

Shadow: Ferrari's German driver Sebastian Vettel drives his car into the pit lane during the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Saturday. Shanghai weekend. Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda went so far as to suggest that Vettel had the speed to seize Ferrari’s first pole position since the Singapore Grand Prix in 2015 but Hamilton did just enough in qualifying to secure top spot. “The explanation is that Ferrari grew up in the Barcelona tests, won the first race and is still on the way up,” said the 68-year-old Austrian, a three times Formula One world champion.

The outcome of the race could also have been different had Vettel’s gamble to pit under the virtual safety car on the opening lap not been undermined when the actual safety car was deployed following crash a few laps later. The strategy left him bottled up behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen, but the four-times champion was able to match Hamilton lap for lap once he found a way past the cars in his path. “In the mixed conditions it felt

like we were the quickest, we were the quickest, man,” the 29-yearold enthused to his team over the radio. “Couldn’t prove that but next time we will.” Mercedes, who have swept to a hat-trick of both driver and constructor titles over the last three years, are certainly feeling the heat from their Italian rivals. “I hope they’re feeling the spirit,” triple champion Hamilton said after Sunday’s race, referring to his team. “I hope they’re feeling the fight [...] because it’s on.”

LONDON: Reanne Evans’ bid to become the first woman to reach the final stages of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield ended after she lost 10-6 to Lee Walker at Ponds Forge in the second round of qualifying on Monday. Evans trailed 6-1 on resumption but fought back gallantly to make the score 9-6 before world number 91 Walker wrapped up the lowscoring encounter at the end of the evening session to advance to the third and final round of qualification. “I was in control of most of the frames,” Evans, who made the only three 50 breaks of the match, told the BBC. “I think I should have won every frame in the second session. I think if I’d have pulled one more back, I’d have been the favorite.” The 31-year-old Briton, an 11-times women’s world champion, won her first ever qualifier against the men when she beat Finland’s Robin Hull 10-8 last Wednesday. “The buzz off winning [the first qualifying round] was immense and I couldn’t wait to play again. Maybe if it was a day later, I’d have been more on the ball. I still felt really good out there,” Evans added. Evans will not be eligible for entry into next year’s tournament unless she receives a wild card entry as Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee won the World Women’s Championship in Singapore last month to earn a first qualifying round berth for 2018. Welshman Walker advances to face Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham in a best-of-19 encounter. Briton Mark Selby is the reigning world champion and will begin the defense of his title at the 32-player finals starting on April 15. — Reuters

Reanne Evans

Victorious

Reuters/Yong Teck Lim

SKATING

Japan’s Asada retiring, has lost ‘will to compete’ TOKYO

Courtesy of KBRI Beograd

Members of Indonesia’s paragliding team pose for a photograph after securing gold and silver medals in the men’s and women’s categories at the Paragliding Accuracy World Cup, which was held in Vrsac, Serbia, from April 3 to 7.

GOLF

Garcia no favorite for US Open Andrew Both REUTERS/NORTH CAROLINA

Sergio Garcia’s victory at the United States Masters on Sunday was received with delight throughout the golf world, but it seems unlikely to lead to a subsequent flood of major titles for the Spaniard.

That is not to say 37-year-old Garcia will fail to add to his first major win, but the best players are too evenly matched in the post-Tiger Woods era to realistically expect him to suddenly run up his major tally in his late 30s. The top 20 or so players are all eminently capable of winning when in top form. Woods may have been capable of winning with his “B” game, but no-one else is, not even current number one Dustin Johnson.

Rory McIlroy

Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

Since Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth combined to win four consecutive majors at the end of 2014 and start of 2015, seven players have shared the spoils in the past seven majors, much as it used to be before Woods. Garcia and Masters runner-up Justin Rose were ranked 11th and 14th respectively in the world last week, but it was hardly a surprise they ended up separating themselves from the field, especially in the absence of Johnson, who pulled out at the last minute with a back injury. A little luck is often required to win, and if Rose’s seven-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole had toppled in instead of grazing the cup, the Englishman probably would be celebrating getting halfway to the career grand slam, after winning the 2013 US Open. Indeed, Garcia’s victory hardly elevated him to the top echelon of favorites in betting for the next major, the US Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin in June. Betting website Centrebet on Monday had Dustin Johnson a 7/1 favorite, followed at 8/1 by McIlroy and Jason Day, with Jordan Spieth at 9/1. Garcia was 33/1, similar to his pre-Masters odds. But he will not care as he celebrates an occasion that he thought might never come. He was not the only one. Former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley struggled to retain his composure during the live television commentary

on Sky Sports. “It was kind of difficult,” McGinley said on Golf Channel on Monday. “To be honest I had a big lump in my throat. “I was so happy for him I can’t tell you how happy. I’ve been through so much with him. I felt his pain [after previous nearmisses]. He’s an emotional person. I know how much it hurts him.” It seemed as though most of the gallery at Augusta felt the same way, as the Garcia who made a rude hand gesture to a spectator who heckled him at the 2002 US Open was transformed into an almost beloved figure who seemed to feed off the crowd’s affection. “Sergio often feels like he’s not supported the way he would like to be here in America,” said the vanquished Rose. “It was encouraging to see the crowd get behind him. I think they realised that he paid his dues, he’s been close so many times and they probably were pulling for him to pull through on this occasion.” McGinley, meanwhile, admitted that he was starting to wonder whether Garcia would ever close the deal. “I think his career deserved a major and we were all worried his career wasn’t going to end with one,” the Irishman said. “And to see it be done on such a grand stage, in such an impressive way, anyone who knows Sergio would have felt the same.”

Japanese figure skater Mao Asada, a silver medalist from the 2010 Winter Olympics and threetime world champion, is retiring from the sport after a disappointing season, saying she has lost the will to compete. The 26-year-old took a year off from competition after the Sochi Olympics before resuming training in 2015, but said on her blog late on Monday that this time she was quitting for good. “After coming back to competition, I have not been able to achieve either the techniques or the results I wanted, and the number of things I worried about increased,” wrote Asada, known in Japan by the affectionate nickname “Mao-chan.” “After last year’s Japan nationals, all the goals that had kept me going disappeared, along with my will to compete.” Plagued by knee pain this past season, Asada finished 12th at the national championship in December, the lowest finish of her career. She had previously won the event six times. Asada began skating at the age of 5, lured into the sport by her older sister Mai, and began to draw attention while still a junior, sharing the limelight with South Korea’s Kim Yuna at the start of a long rivalry. This climaxed at the 2010 Games, when Asada had to settle

Losing appetite: Mao Asada of Japan competes during the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Trophée de France 2016/2017.

for silver while Kim claimed gold. The only woman to land the complicated triple Axel jump three times in competition, Asada was tipped as a leading medal contender at the 2014 Sochi Olympics but had a disastrous short programme, although she rebounded with a strong free skate to finish sixth overall. She won her third world championships title a month later, setting a world record with the same short programme that had been her undoing at Sochi, but wrote that she did not regret either taking a one-year break or coming back for another go. “I have no regrets about my skating career,” she added. “This was a huge decision for me, but I regard it as only one stage of my life and will find new dreams and goals going forward.” The announcement was met with surprise in Japan, where Asada is a household name and has appeared in a range of advertisements from chocolate to cold medicines. Even the staid Japanese government joined in, with chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga telling a news conference: “I am very surprised and think that it’s too bad.” Others appreciated her dedication to figure skating and delivering so many eye-catching routines. “She has worked so hard and shown us many great performances,” said Tokyo resident Noriko Yamaguchi. “So I just want to thank her.”

Reuters/Charles Platiau/File Photo

Reuters

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WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

AROUND THE REGION Riau Islands to be economic diplomacy hub INDONESIA: The Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with the Riau Islands provincial administration, plans to make the archipelagic province a hub for Indonesia’s economic diplomacy. Riau Islands province comprises 2,408 islands, including Natuna Islands, a stretch of resource-rich islands jutting at the frontiers of the South China Sea and bordering Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia. During a promotional event highlighting the province on Tuesday, Deputy Foreign Minister AM Fachir announced that the government would make Riau Islands a hub for Indonesia’s foreign dealings. “Last year we organized the first ever event in Riau Islands, where we managed to gather ambassadors from Jakarta and Singapore,” Fachir said in his opening remarks. “This will become our annual event, with the blessing of Pak Governor,” he added, referring to Riau Islands Governor Nurdin Basirun, who will host a gathering of envoys in October. Fachir stressed the important role foreign ambassadors played in helping promote Indonesia in their home countries. Meanwhile, Nurdin said his administration was well aware of its proximity to Indonesia’s neighbors, particularly its maritime borders in the South China Sea. He thanked the ministry for helping them to promote Riau Island’s potential in a green economy, tourism and other business sectors such as the maritime industry. — JP

King to be asked to name three new subs THAILAND: Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn will be asked to name the three submarines Thailand orders from China, Royal Thai Navy spokesman Adm. Jumpol Lumpikanon said on Tuesday. He said the purchase of the three Yuan-class S26T submarines for US$1 billion was still in the process of examination of the procurement Thailand bought four submarines in 1937, becoming the second country in Asia to have submarines. They were decommissioned from service in 1951. The four were Matchanu, Wirun, Sinsamut and Phlai-chumphon, all named after literary characters known for their mythical diving abilities. — The Nation/ANN

Junta rejects conditional peace talks THAILAND: Thailand’s military junta on Tuesday rejected a conditional offer from the main Muslim separatist group fighting in southern Thailand to enter into formal peace talks. The Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) said on Monday that it would be willing to enter into formal negotiations on the decades-old insurgency if certain conditions were met by the Thai government. Among its demands were mediation by a neutral third party and the participation of international observers. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha rejected the offer and said peace talks were an internal matter and required no international mediation or observation. “Why do they need to come mediate? Can we not fix these problems ourselves? And if they do come what guarantees do we have that they would understand the issues?” Prayuth said. The insurgency in the largely ethnic-Malay, Muslim-majority southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat has claimed more than 6,500 lives since it escalated in 2004, says independent monitoring group Deep South Watch. — Reuters

SECURITY

Philippine troops, suspected militants clash; 6 dead Jim Gomez ASSOCIATED PRESS/MANILA

At least six people have been killed in battle between Philippine forces and suspected Abu Sayyaf militants on a central resort island, far from the extremists’ southern jungle bases and in a region where the United States government has warned the gunmen may be conducting kidnappings, officials said. The national police chief said a soldier died, and the military chief of staff reported that at least five gunmen were killed in an ongoing gunbattle in Inabanga town in Bohol province. National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said troops and policemen attacked the gunmen early Tuesday in coastal Inabanga, where the gunmen had arrived aboard three boats. The gunmen took cover in three houses as the firefight broke out. The more than 10 militants have either been forced out or killed in the two houses and the others were holed up and surrounded by government forces in the third house, dela Rosa told reporters. If it is proven that the gunmen were from Abu Sayyaf, it may be the group’s first known attempt to carry out ransom kidnappings deep into the heartland of the central Philippines, far from its jungle lairs in the southern provinces of Sulu and Basilan. Abu Sayyaf militants

have crossed the sea border with Malaysia on powerful speedboats and kidnapped scores of foreign tourists in past years. “If we were not able to monitor this and engage them with our government forces, it’s a cause for alarm if they were able to carry out kidnappings,” dela Rosa said. Military chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Ano told The Associated Press that military intelligence operatives had been trying to track down the movements of the suspected militants, who first traveled from Sulu to southern Zamboanga peninsula. Intelligence later indicated the gunmen landed ashore in Inabangan, prompting military and police officials to deploy their forces, the official said. The US Embassy recently advised Americans to take precautions amid “unsubstantiated yet credible information” of possible kidnappings by terrorists in Bohol, nearby Cebu province and other central areas. The US and the Philippines have separately blacklisted the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization for bombings, kidnappings for ransom and beheadings. Some Abu Sayyaf commanders have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group. President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered troops to destroy the extremists in Sulu and in outlying island provinces.

Reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom

Merry spray: An elephant sprays tourists with water in celebration of the Songkran Water Festival in Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday.

Officials say Phuket ready to deal with Songkran influx The Nation/ANN PHUKET

Phuket International Airport director Monrudee Gettuphan has confirmed that an in-line screening system was recently added to the airport, which will help ease passenger congestion, make processing times faster and highlighting and alleviating any ‘suspicious circumstances’ that might affect the island. Newly appointed Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong emphasized Songkran safety as his top priority on his first day in office on Tuesday. Phuket Vice Governor Sanit Sriwihok has similarly revealed the safety measures that will be implemented during Songkran. “Every year, the [central] government provides us with additional support to prepare for Songkran. Safety measures include stricter police patrols at checkpoints to force people to drive safely, as well as strict measures to prevent drunk driving. Most importantly, I ask people to be patient, have discipline and cooperate with officials,” Vice Governor Sanit told the Phuket Gazette. He also spoke about the island’s semi-annual “Seven Days of Danger” campaign, to be held

Phuket adminstration ready to welcome Songkran influx Traffic safety is top priority for newly appointed governor for the New Year festival from Tuesday until midnight next Monday. “Our aim is always to meet the ‘zero deaths’ target during Songkran, but sometimes, even despite our best efforts, we cannot change people’s reckless behavior. If everyone follows the rules of the road, it will certainly help reduce the number of accidents and deaths,” added Vice Governor Sanit. Police and military agencies, as well as public and private sector groups have also joined forces to campaign for safer roads, including setting up more traffic checkpoints and tighter law enforcement, especially against drunk and speeding drivers. After a deadly New Year festival, which saw a national death toll of 478 and some 3,919 accidents, the government aims to slash the number of deaths and accidents for the upcoming holiday. Disaster Prevention and Miti-

gation Department deputy director-general Kobchai Boonyaorana said the reason for ramping up traffic law enforcement was that statistics showed that the main cause of road accidents in Thailand was lack of traffic discipline. “We have learned from previous traffic accident monitoring periods that we have a problem in our traffic law and law enforcement. So, this Songkran we had to come up with many tighter measures, such as requiring all passengers in the car to wear their seatbelts all the time and forbidding passengers to sit in the back of [pickup] trucks,” Kobchai said. Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket director Anoma Wongyai said that at least 5 billion baht will be added to Phuket’s economy during the Songkran festivities. “About 76 percent of the hotel bookings are from Chinese and other Asian visitors, as well as European tourists, as Songkran also coincides with the Easter holidays,” said Anoma. She added that several cultural shows will also be held throughout Phuket for visitors to enjoy, including food and art festivals, games and parades. “Visitor numbers are expected

to be up this year, especially at the beach areas,” Wal Brown, founder and coordinator of the Region 8 Police Volunteers, said. “Subsequently, there will be more officers on duty than in previous years and they will be focused on the safety of everyone — both locals and foreigners. Every year, we see far too many accidents, especially on the roads.” Brown also requested party goers not to throw water at law enforcement officers and volunteers in uniform. “From previous years, we know that it’s really problematic to patrol when drenched,” he said. Brown also said that police would be focusing on dangerous actions with the use of water as well as unsafe driving and alcohol abuse. “Everyone over the blood alcohol limit will be arrested, charged and put through the courts — no exceptions. This can lead to deportation and a ban on re-entering Thailand,” Brown said. When asked about a potential shortage of water during Songkran, Sayan Wareearoonroj, manager of Phuket Provincial Water Supply, said that he was not expecting water shortage to pose a serious problem in Phuket.

MINORITY GROUP

Myanmar reiterates no ethnic cleansing of Rohingya people Reuters YANGON

A senior Myanmar government official on Tuesday denied there was ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims in the troubled northwestern state of Rakhine, where a military operation aimed at the minority has forced 75,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. Attacks on Myanmar border guard posts in October last year by a Rohingya insurgent group ignited the biggest crisis of country leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s year in power. A United Nations report in February said Myanmar’s security forces had committed mass killings and gang rapes against Rohingya during their campaign against the insurgents, which may amount to

crimes against humanity. The military has denied the accusations, saying it was engaged in a legitimate counter-insurgency operation. Thaung Tun, a recently appointed National Security Adviser, reiterated the claim made by Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi during a recent interview when she said “ethnic cleansing is too strong an expression to use for what is happening.” “There is no ethnic cleansing of Muslim minority in Rakhine,” Thaung Tun told a group of diplomats in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. “It is a matter of people on different sides of the divide and the government is striving to overcome the situation and to close the gap.”

His comments come amid several ongoing investigations into the allegations, including one mandated by Suu Kyi’s government and chaired by the vicepresident and former head of military intelligence, Myint Swe. Last month, the top UN human rights body agreed to send an international fact-finding mission to investigate the allegations — a move that Myanmar has opposed. While the UN February report stopped short of explicitly labelling the actions of the security forces as ethnic cleansing, it said the violence committed against the Rohingya “has been described in other contexts” as ethnic cleansing. It also expressed “serious concerns” that the attacks were a result of a “purposeful policy de-

signed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.” Thaung Tun said the government needed time and space to address the issues and “where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing, we will take firm action in accordance with the law.” He added the government had initiated the process of closing down some of the camps where tens of thousands of Rohingya internally displaced people have lived since clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012, but did not provide any specifics of what is likely to be an extremely complex process.

CAMBODIA

Symbolic show

Police seek shoe-throwing critic Sopheng Cheang ASSOCIATED PRESS/PHNOM PENH

Reuters/Romeo Ranoco

An activist wearing a costume of Jesus Christ reenacts his crucifixion as part of a symbolic protest against the numerous killings in connection to the Philippine government’s anti-drug campaign during a Holy Week Lent rally outside the presidential palace in metro Manila, on Tuesday.

Police in Cambodia are seeking to arrest a woman who was seen on a video clip on Facebook showing her throwing a shoe at a billboard of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. Sam Sak, a police chief in western Kampong Speu province, said Monday that his force was looking for 38-year-old Sam Sokha, who he said was understood to be a labor activist and supporter of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. The provincial prosecutor’s office issued a summons on Saturday for her to appear for questioning, but when she did not show up and apparently fled her home, it asked

police to arrest her. The original charges against her carry a punishment of up to three years in prison, though it appears her arrest is sought for ignoring a summons. Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party has been aggressively prosecuting critics and political opponents ahead of nationwide local elections this June, and a general election next year. Hun Sen has been in power for three decades, and while maintaining a framework of democracy, tolerates little opposition. But his grip on power seemed shaken in 2013’s general election, when the Cambodia National Rescue Party mounted a strong challenge, winning 55 seats in the National Assembly and leaving Hun Sen’s party with 68.

“Over the last 18 months we have seen repeated examples of the criminal justice system being used to threaten and punish those critical of government as the elections approach, which has already had an alarming and chilling effect on freedom of speech in Cambodia,” said Chak Sopheap, executive director of Cambodian Center for Human Rights, commenting on the billboard case. “People have every right to criticize, insult, and satirize their government or political leaders without fear of retribution,” she said. “It is unacceptable and unlawful for state authorities to subject individuals to judicial harassment and potential criminal charges simply for expressing their negative opinion of those in power.”

The 13-second video clip of Sam Sokha shows her looking at a roadside ruling party billboard, then throwing one shoe at the image on it of Hun Sen, followed by another at a picture of his party colleague, National Assembly President Heng Samrin. “This man even came here to destroy the nation,” Sam Sokha can be heard saying in the video. It was not immediately known who originally posted the clip, but it was widely shared on social media. Kampong Speu provincial court prosecutor Keo Sothea issued a summons Saturday seeking to question Sam Sokha on charges of “insulting and inciting discrimination,” crimes that carry a total of up to three years in prison if convicted.

WORLD

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

Big bang

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AROUND THE WORLD 2,328 workers halted from going abroad INDONESIA: The country’s immigration agencies have in the last three months prevented the departure of more than 2,000 Indonesian workers seeking employment overseas through illicit channels, officials say. As many as 2,328 Indonesians have had their passport requests blocked by immigration agencies across the country, according to a statement from the Immigration Directorate General at the Law and Human Rights Ministry. Directorate General of Immigration spokesperson Agung Sampurno said the operation to foil the departure of non-procedural workers was carried out in 92 regional immigration agencies nationwide. “The preventive measures taken to prevent non-procedural migrant workers is a priority program of the Immigration Directorate General in 2017,” Agung said in the statement on Tuesday. He said the majority of blocked requests were recorded at the Batam Immigration Office in Riau Islands province with 223 rejected applications, followed by the Jember and Tanjung Perak agencies in East Java, with 157 and 120 rejected applications, respectively. The Foreign Ministry’s director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, welcomed the initiative to prevent non-procedural migrant workers from going abroad. — JP

Official punished for not daring to smoke

AP

Firefighters and rescue workers work at the site after an explosion which killed one man and injured a number of other people in Diyarbakir, Turkey, Tuesday. The explosion on occurred inside a workshop where a police armored vehicle was being repaired, officials said.

CHURCH ATTACK

State of emergency approved in Egypt Osama Naguib and Amina Ismail REUTERS/ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT

Families of victims of Sunday’s bombing at Alexandria’s Coptic cathedral gathered at the Monastery of Saint Mina under heavy security on Monday as Egypt’s cabinet approved a three-month state of emergency ahead of a scheduled trip by Pope Francis. Coffins of the 17 killed were lined up on the tiled square outside the monastery ahead of the funeral. Police checked cars as they entered the grounds, with hundreds of people gathered outside, and dozens of tanks lined parts of the road from Cairo. The blast in Egypt’s second largest city came hours after a bomb struck a Coptic church in Tanta, a nearby city in the Nile Delta, killing 27 and wounding nearly 80. Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) movement, which has waged a campaign against Egypt’s Christian minority, the largest in the Middle East. The Copts, whose presence in Egypt dates to the Roman era, have long complained of religious persecution and accused the state of not doing enough to protect them. Coming on Palm Sunday, when Christians mark the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem, the bombings appeared designed to spread fear among Copts, who make up 10 percent of Egypt’s population. They also raised security fears ahead of a visit to Cairo by Roman Catholic Pope Francis planned for April 28 and 29. Coptic Pope Tawadros, who was leading the mass in Alexandria’s Saint Mark’s Cathedral when the bomb exploded, was not harmed, the Interior Ministry said. The nationwide state of emergency declared by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and agreed by the cabinet on Monday is expected to be approved by parliament within seven days in order to remain in place. “The armed forces and police will do what is necessary to confront the threats of terrorism and its financing,” the cabinet said in a statement. Measures would be taken to “maintain security across the country, protect public and private property and the lives of citizens,” it said. In Tanta, where many families buried their dead on Sunday, members of the Coptic community expressed anger at the lack of security, saying that despite warnings of an attack, police had not stepped up efforts to protect them. A senior police official told Reuters a bomb was discovered and disabled near the Tanta church about a week ago. “That should have been an alarm or a warning that this place is targeted,” said 38-year-old Amira Maher. “Especially Palm Sunday, a day when many people gather, more than any other time in the year [...] I don’t know how this happened.” At Tanta University hospital morgue, desperate families were trying to get inside to search for loved ones. Security forces held them back to stop overcrowding, enraging the crowd.

N.Korea media warns of nuclear strike Park Ju-min REUTERS/SEOUL

North Korean state media on Tuesday warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of a US pre-emptive strike as a US Navy strike group led by a nuclear-powered aircraft steamed towards the western Pacific. Tension has escalated sharply on the Korean peninsula with talk of military action by the US gaining traction following its strikes last week against Syria and amid concerns the reclusive North may soon conduct a sixth nuclear test. North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the country was prepared to respond to any aggression by the US. “Our revolutionary strong army is keenly watching every move by enemy elements with our nuclear sight focused on the US invasionary bases not only in South Korea and the Pacific operation theatre but also in the US mainland,” it said. South Korean acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn warned of “greater provocations” by North Korea and ordered the military to intensify monitoring and to ensure close communication with the US. “It is possible the North may wage greater provocations such as a nuclear test timed with various anniversaries including the Supreme People’s Assembly,” said Hwang, acting leader since former president Park Geun-

North Korea media warns of nuclear strike on US if provoked US warships head for Korean peninsula South Korean acting president warns of “greater provocations” hye was removed amid a graft scandal. The North convened a Supreme People’s Assembly session on Tuesday, one of its twiceyearly sessions in which major appointments are announced and national policy goals are formally approved. But South Korean officials took pains to quell talk in social media of an impending security crisis or outbreak of war. “We’d like to ask precaution so as not to get blinded by exaggerated assessment about the security situation on the Korean peninsula,” Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-kyun said. Saturday is the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the country’s founding father and grandfather of current ruler, Kim Jong-un. A military parade is expected in the North’s capital, Pyongyang, to mark the day. North Korea often also marks important anniversaries with tests of its nuclear or missile capabilities in breach of United Nations Secu-

rity Council resolutions. The North’s foreign ministry, in a statement carried by its KCNA news agency, said the US navy strike group’s approach showed America’s “reckless moves for invading had reached a serious phase.” North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North regularly threatens to destroy the South and its main ally, the US. North Korea is emerging as one of the most pressing foreign policy problems facing the administration of US President Donald Trump. It has conducted five nuclear tests, two of them last year, and is working to develop nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the US. The Trump administration is reviewing its policy towards North Korea and has said all options are on the table, including military strikes, but US officials said non-military action appears to be at the top of the list if any action were to be taken. The U.S. Navy strike group Carl Vinson was diverted from planned port calls to Australia and would move toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula as a show of force, a US official told Reuters over the weekend. US officials said it would still take the strike group more than a week to arrive near the Korean peninsula.

UNITED NATIONS

UN peace messenger Malala will promote girls’ education Edith M. Lederer ASSOCIATED PRESS/UNITED NATIONS

Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, newly designated as a UN Messenger of Peace, said Monday that extremists tried to kill her but did not succeed and in her second life she is keeping up her fight for education especially for girls — and hoping men and boys will become advocates for gender equality. The 19-year-old Pakistani activist called herself a proud Muslim, stressed that Islam means peace, and expressed great disappointment that the media refers every day to “Islamic terrorists and Islamic jihadists” fighting in the name of Islam. “And then people blame the whole Islam,” she said. “People should look at me and the Muslims who are living in peace and believe in peace rather than looking at the few terrorists,” Malala said. “But Muslim people also need to unite and stand strongly against the extremists and against the terrorists [and say] that they are not us. We don’t believe in anything that they’re doing,” she said. Malala answered questions from young people after Secre-

tary-General Antonio Guterres officially bestowed on her the highest honor the UN chief can give a global citizen, calling her “a hero” and an inspiration for defending the rights of all people to education and equality while putting her life at risk. The secretary-general, once an assistant professor of physics, spoke with emotion when he told several hundred people at the ceremony: “Can you imagine what it is for a frustrated professor to be facing the most famous student in the world?” Malala became the youngestever Nobel laureate in 2014 when she was recognized for her advocacy of the right of all children to education. Her campaign led to a Taliban assassination attempt near her home in the Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan that left her severely wounded. She also became the youngest UN Messenger of Peace, joining a distinguished group including actors Michael Douglas and Leonardo DiCaprio, primatologist Jane Goodall and musicians Daniel Barenboim and Yo-Yo Ma. Malala said the most difficult time she faced was living “in the situation of terror in Swat Valley from 2007 to 2009” and deciding

to speak out. “What I realized is if you remain silent, you are still going to be targeted by these people,” she said. “You’re still going to live in a situation of terrorism for your whole life. So it’s better to speak out because you do something from your side. You try your best.” Malala said she faced a second challenging moment after the Taliban attack, which she doesn’t remember, and woke up in a hospital in Birmingham, England. “I had to make a strong decision how I want to lead the rest of my life,” she said. “This is a new life, a second life, and it is for the purpose of education,” and working especially for girls education, said Malala, who expects to attend university in the fall to study philosophy, politics and economics. She said “it is important for girl to realize that their action and their voice is important, and it is needed right now.” Malala paid tribute to her father, who attended the ceremony, and said unlike many fathers he never stopped her. “Men should not clip the wings of women, and let them fly and let them go forward,” she said.

CHINA: Authorities in China’s restive Xinjiang region have punished a local official for declining to smoke in front of Muslim elders, seeing that as a sign he was insufficiently committed to the region’s fight against religious extremism, according to a government report and state media Tuesday. Jelil Matniyaz, Communist Party head of a village in Hotan Prefecture, was demoted for “not daring” to smoke in front of religious figures, said the report, issued Saturday and reproduced by official newspapers and websites. Matniyaz, identified as a member of Xinjiang’s indigenous Uighur ethnic minority, was cited by the report as not having a “resolute political stance.” The state-run Global Times newspaper on Tuesday quoted other local officials as saying that government leaders should push back against rather than comply with religious prohibitions against smoking to demonstrate their “commitment to secularization.” The punishment appears to be the latest extreme measure by the authorities to exert their will in Xinjiang, particularly its southern portion including Hotan where Uighur culture is strongest. Chinese authorities and the state-controlled media have increasingly equated religious expression with extremism in their official rhetoric, partly in response to a bloody insurgency blamed on Uighur Islamic militants. — AP

Unexploded mortar round kills 4 children AFGHANISTAN: An Afghan official says a group of children were playing with an unexploded mortar round when it blew up, killing four of them. Police spokesman Mafuz Akbari says the deaths took place Monday in a remote district controlled by the Taliban in the northern Kunduz province. He says another six children were wounded and brought to a hospital in the provincial capital. Afghanistan is littered with unexploded munitions left over from decades of war, which along with roadside bombs kill or wound an estimated 140 people every month. — AP

HUMAN RIGHTS

Executions in China said to outpace world Matthew Brown ASSOCIATED PRESS/BEIJING

China’s use of the death penalty remains shrouded in secrecy and still outpaces the rest of the world combined, even after the nation’s execution rate fell sharply over the past decade, human rights activists said Tuesday. Amnesty International reported 1,032 state-sponsored executions worldwide in 2016, excluding China, where the true number is unknown because the government considers it a state secret. The group said it believes China executed thousands, but it did not offer a more precise estimate due to a lack of accurate information. The human rights group Dui Hua estimates about 2,000 executions took place in China last year, down from a 6,500 a decade ago, said the group’s executive director, John Kamm. The tally was based on research into lower-level court cases and contacts with government officials and Chinese and Western legal scholars, Kamm said. Amnesty said its figure for worldwide executions excluding China represents a 37 percent drop from 2015. The United States recorded 20 executions, its fewest in 25 years, in part because of court rulings and shortages of chemicals used in lethal injections. Yet as other countries shift away from capital punishment, China increasingly is seen as an outlier, said Amnesty International East Asia director Nicholas Bequelin. Government officials did not immediately comment on Amnesty’s report. But China’s chief justice, Zhou Qiang, told the national legislature last month that over the past decade executions

were limited to “an extremely small number of criminals for extremely serious offenses.” China has faced longstanding pressure from the international community to curb its use of the death penalty, which reached a frenzy in 1983 with 24,000 executions after provincial courts were given powers to mete out capital punishment, according to Dui Hua. The nation also has faced criticism for harvesting organs from executed inmates, including for sale to patients from overseas. China banned the practice in 2015 but Bequelin said it’s impossible to know whether organ harvesting for profit has ceased because the legal system operates within a “black box” with little transparency. “China is trying to have it both ways, both getting credit and allaying international pressure over the death penalty in the county, while maintain and enforcing an elaborate system of secrecy,” Bequelin said. Oversight of death sentence cases was returned to China’s highest court, the Supreme People’s Court, in 2007. Since that time, the government has narrowed which crimes can bring capital punishment but still lists more than three dozen eligible offenses, including treason, separatism, spying, arson, murder, rape, robbery and human trafficking. Chinese legal scholar Hong Daode contended that 90 percent of executions last year were for homicide cases. “There has been a long tradition in China that the one that has taken people’s lives should pay with his own life,” said Hong, a professor of criminal law at China University of Political Science and Law.

WORLD

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

BILATERAL MEETING

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Caring hands

Angola to support RI in UNSC bid Tama Salim THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

Angola has announced after bilateral consultations in Jakarta that it will support Indonesia in its bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2019 to 2020 period. The vote of confidence was jointly announced by Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and her Angolan counterpart, Georges RP Chikoti, after a bilateral meeting on Tuesday, which saw the two countries ink agreements encompassing a wide array of cooperation initiatives. The move was part of a push for greater political cooperation, which was formalized under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on political consultations, Retno said after signing the agreement. “Our two countries have shared views on a number of international issues and indeed, one of them is our cooperation on the [UN] Security Council,” Minister Chikoti said in the joint press statement. “We are more than glad to support Indonesia to join the Security Council in 2019-2020, [and] we will formalize that in writing in the next few days.” Indonesia last served on the UNSC in 2007 to 2008 and is seeking another term to assert its influence on the global stage. To win a seat, Indonesia needs to secure 129 votes from UN member states. While a nod from Luanda will boost Jakarta’s confidence in seeking more support in Africa, the ministry’s outgoing director general for multilateral affairs, Hasan Kleib, urged more caution. “It is uncommon for African countries or members of other regional groupings like Latin America or Europe to endorse a candidate [for the UNSC] from outside of their region, so we usually approach them individually,” Hasan told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. “But of course, there is hope that such support will positively affect the decision that other countries from that region make.” In addition to formalizing political consultations through the MoU, Chikoti also revealed a plan to open an embassy in Jakarta. “As soon as we have the next possibility of opening an embassy, definitely Indonesia will be one of

the countries where we do intend to have an embassy,” he said without specifying a time line. Angola currently maintains ties with Indonesia through its mission in Singapore, while Indonesia has an envoy based in Namibia. Retno and Chikoti also signed two other agreements: one on a visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and service passports, and another on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation. The latter will encompass information and expertise exchanges in at least nine sectors, including energy and water; agriculture; oil, gas and minerals; culture and tourism; and small and medium enterprises. Furthermore, Indonesia sought to eliminate a number of trade barriers with Angola, which Minister Retno said were one of the reasons for the sharp decline in the two-way trade volume last year. According to ministry data, Indonesia’s trade with its third-largest partner in Sub-Saharan Africa was valued at US$292.8 million in 2016, down 62 percent from 2015. “Our two countries are set to explore options to increase trade, one being the possibility of a preferential trade agreement, to which the Angolan foreign minister responded kindly,” Retno said. Jakarta also encouraged Luanda to explore trade relations outside of the oil and gas sector, including in the strategic industries. Minister Chikoti is expected to visit facilities of state-owned aircraft-maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia and weapons-maker PT Pindad Thursday. Angola’s top diplomat meanwhile showed interest in purchasing railway cars from stateowned manufacturer PT Industri Kereta Api and also offered Indonesian firms to invest in Angola’s agro-industry, which will be further discussed during his meeting with Indonesia’s Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto. Chikoti expressed Angola’s intention to partake in next year’s Indonesia-Africa Forum, a business-matching event, and the 2018 Maritime Dialogue, which will focus on law enforcement cooperation. Before leaving Indonesia, the Angolan minister will pay a courtesy call to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Reuters/David Rose

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, watched by Prince Philip, feeds an elephant during a visit to Whipsnade Zoo, where she opened the new Center for Elephant Care, in Dunstable, Britain, on Tuesday.

‘Washington Post’, ‘New York Times’ win Pulitzers Daniel Trotta REUTERS/NEW YORK

The Pulitzer Prizes on Monday honored The Washington Post for hard-hitting reporting on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and The New York Times for revealing Vladimir Putin’s covert power grab, praising their probing of powerful people despite a hostile climate for the news media. The Daily News of New York and ProPublica, a web-based platform specializing in investigative journalism, won the prize for public service journalism for coverage of New York police abuses that forced mostly poor minorities from their homes. Other winners included an international consortium of more than 300 reporters on six continents that exposed the so-called Panama Papers detailing the hidden infrastructure and global scale of offshore tax havens used by the high and mighty. The Pulitzers, the most prestigious honors in American journalism, have been awarded since

‘Washington Post’, ‘New York Times’ among winners of Pulitzer Prizes in 2017 Another winner is consortium of some 300 reporters exposing socalled Panama Papers 1917, often going to famed publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. But they are also won by smaller, lesser known publications across the country whose work does not always gain national attention when it is published. Reporter Eric Eyre of Charleston Gazette-Mail in West Virginia took the prize for investigative reporting for exposing a flood of opioids in depressed West Virginia counties with the country’s highest overdose death rates. The staff of the East Bay Times of Oakland, California, won the breaking news award for coverage of the “Ghost Ship” fire that killed 36 people at a warehouse party,

exposing the city’s failure to take actions that might have prevented the disaster. While the Pulitzer ceremony highlighted the news media’s importance to democracy, it has been challenged by so-called fake news, which once referred to fabricated stories meant to influence the United States election but has become a term used by Trump to dismiss factual reporting that is critical. Trump has frequently excoriated the media and in February called it “the enemy of the American people.” Operating in the glare of the 2016 presidential campaign, David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post took the national reporting award. The judges said he “created a model for transparent journalism in political campaign coverage while casting doubt on Donald Trump’s assertions of generosity toward charities.” Fahrenthold found that Trump’s charitable giving had not always matched his public statements. He also broke perhaps the biggest scoop of the campaign, re-

vealing Trump had been captured on videotape making crude remarks about women and bragging about kissing and grabbing them without their permission. The Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, a longtime Republican, took the commentary prize for a series of critical pieces about Trump during the real estate magnate’s successful run for the White House. The New York Times staff won the international reporting prize for articles on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to project Russia’s power abroad, a particularly pertinent story given US intelligence conclusions that Putin’s government actively tried to influence the US election in Trump’s favor. The Times revealed “techniques that included assassination, online harassment and the planting of incriminating evidence on opponents,” the judges said. The 19-member Pulitzer board is made up of past winners and other distinguished journalists and academics. It chose the winners with the help of 102 jurors.

FRANCE

Hundreds of migrants at large after fire ravages camp Jean-Baptiste Guilbert and Angela Charlton ASSOCIATED PRESS/GRANDESYNTHE, FRANCE

JP/Wendra Ajistyatama

Closer cooperation: Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi (right) exchanges documents after signing three memorandums of understanding (MoU) with her Angolan counterpart Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti in Jakarta on Monday. The MoUs cover economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation; political consultation; and visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and service passports.

Authorities and aid workers are searching for several hundred migrants who disappeared after a fire ravaged their camp in northern France, a shocking blaze that exposed anew the challenges and tensions around Europe’s migrants just 12 days before France’s presidential election. Police cordoned off the largely destroyed camp in the Dunkirk suburb of Grande-Synthe on Tuesday and investigators inspected the site to try to determine the cause of the Monday night fire, which broke out following a fight between rival groups of migrants. Three mobile police units were

deployed in the area to head off tensions prompted by the camp’s demise, the government said in a statement. The interior and housing ministers headed to the scene in a sign of the government’s concern about the issue. Most of the camp near the English Channel is now reduced to the charred remains of wooden shelters and sparse belongings of the migrants, who converged on northern France in hopes of reaching Britain as part of waves of recent migration to Europe. As many as 1,600 people were in the camp when the blaze broke out, according to Grande-Synthe Mayor Damien Careme and prefect Michel Lalande, the top government official for the region. Some 500 were taken to three local gymnasiums, including one set aside for children and families

VIOLENCE

— but most of the other migrants remain unaccounted-for, the mayor and prefect told reporters Tuesday. Doctors Without Borders, which set up the site a year ago to replace filthy makeshift camps in the region, is holding meetings Tuesday to decide what to do next. Other aid groups are planning to distribute meals Tuesday to migrants in the gymnasiums and anywhere else they are found around town. The first priority is to find migrants dispersed by the blaze, said Corenne Torre, head of the humanitarian group in France. “We just don’t know where they are,” she told The Associated Press. She estimated that at least 600 migrants remain unaccounted-for. Some are believed to be hiding because they fear the au-

thorities or because they fear rejoining a camp with rival gangs, she said. She said that 10 migrants are in local hospitals with light injuries following the fire. The prefect and mayor said authorities believe the fire was set intentionally and was linked to a fight earlier Monday between Kurdish and Afghan migrant groups involving up to 150 migrants. The camp will remain closed during the investigation, and local authorities will consider whether to open a new camp to replace it. It’s a sensitive issue in France ahead of the two-round April 23 to May 7 presidential election in which immigration is a key issue. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and conservative candidate Francois Fillon reiterated calls Tuesday for stricter border controls.

Solidarity

Brief marriage precedes fatal San Bernardino shooting Christopher Weber and Michael Balsamo ASSOCIATED PRESS/LOS ANGELES

A brief marriage and quick estrangement came before a man walked into his wife’s elementary school class and opened fire without saying a word, killing her and an 8-year-old student and wounding a 9-year-old student before fatally shooting himself, authorities said. Some six weeks earlier, 53-year-old Cedric Anderson was a newlywed calling his 53-yearold wife Karen Smith an “angel” in one of many social media posts professing his love. San Bernardino police have said nothing of what might have motivated Anderson to open fire in the special-education classroom at North Park Elementary

School on Monday. “No one has come forward to say they saw this coming,” Police chief Jarrod Burguan said, though Anderson had a history of weapons, domestic violence and possible drug charges that predated the marriage. What appears to be his Facebook page features many public declarations of his love for Smith between statements of religious devotion before his last public post on March 15. “She knows when to ignore me,” Anderson said with a laugh in a short video posted Feb. 27. “Well, it makes a happy marriage.” Anderson had posted that he “loved being married to Karen Smith-Anderson!” and posted a photo of the two of them on March 4 in what he described as a date night.

The page also had several photos of his wedding to Smith and their honeymoon among the scenic red rocks of Sedona, Arizona. But Smith left him about a month and a half after their lateJanuary marriage, police and family members said. Smith’s mother, Irma Sykes, said her daughter had been friends with Anderson for about four years before they got married. “She thought she had a wonderful husband, but she found out he was not wonderful at all,” Sykes told the Los Angeles Times. “He had other motives,” Sykes said. “She left him and that’s where the trouble began. She broke up with him and he came out with a different personality. She decided she needed to leave him.” She did not elaborate further. Sykes said her daughter was a

dedicated teacher who took up the profession about 10 years ago after her four children grew up. School staffers knew Anderson, who followed the proper protocol and got into the school through the front office by saying he had to drop something off for Smith, school district officials said. Smith was his target and the two boys were hit as he was firing at her, Police chief Burguan said. He emptied and reloaded the gun before turning it on himself. There were 15 students in the special needs classroom ranging from first to fourth grade, along with two adult aides, Burguan said. Eight-year-old Jonathan Martinez was airlifted to a hospital, where he was declared dead. The 9-year-old boy, whose name was not released, remained hospitalized Monday night.

AP/Ariana Cubillos

Demonstrators help a journalist who was injured in a leg while covering clashes between demonstrators and the Bolivarian National Guard during a protest in Caracas, on Monday. Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro protested on the streets of the capital as part of an ongoing protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam.

BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

DEVELOPMENT

ENERGY

JAM SESSION

RI seeks financing from wealth funds p14

China opens delayed Myanmar pipeline p16

Overcoming barriers with music p22

AGRICULTURE

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13

Talking business

Government says it is upbeat on food self-sufficiency The government says it is upbeat about its food self-sufficiency target, claiming success in increasing the production of several commodities over the past two years. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Agriculture Ministry planning bureau head Kasdi Subagiono said Indonesia had carried out effective “food reform” and the government had used necessary funds in an effective and efficient manner. “Indonesia managed to boost strategic food production throughout 2016 so that import volumes fell,” he said, adding that the country had already ceased to import rice, shallots and chili. The ministry said it recorded increases in several commodities and that rice exports had risen by 43.7 percent. According to its data, rice production volumes climbed by 11 percent to 79.1 million tons over the past two years, corn increased 21.8 percent to 23.2 million tons, chili surged by 2.3 percent to 2.1 million tons and shallots increased 11.3 percent 1.3 million tons. At the same time, beef production rose by 5.3 percent to 560,000 tons, chicken eggs increased 13.6 percent to 1.91 million tons, chicken meat was up 9.4 percent to 2.14 million tons and mutton increased 2.5 percent to 110,000 tons. During the first year of his administration, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo pledged to achieve food self-sufficiency targets by the end of his tenure in 2019. For instance, the rice production target is set at 82 million tons for 2019, while those of corn and beef are set at 24.1 million tons and 755,100 tons, respectively. The government also claims that it has made sure there is sufficient rice supply to meet demand during this year’s fasting month of Ramadhan, which falls in May and June. In the statement, Kasdi said rice stocks reached 2 million tons

at the beginning of 2017 and this figure only included stocks under the management of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog). “It doesn’t include rice stocks retained by the public,” he said. The ministry estimates that demand for rice from April to June will circle around 7.74 million tons. Kasdi insisted the government had achieved success in boosting food production despite a lower budget for the ministry. The ministry received Rp 22.1 trillion (US$1.66 billion) in its budget for 2017, down from Rp 32.8 trillion in 2015. However, data from the state budget shows that overall funding allocation for food self-sufficiency — disbursed across ministries and agencies — has remained above the Rp 100 trillion benchmark since 2015. In 2015, the allocation stood at Rp 121.03 trillion, equal to 6.1 percent of state spending. A year later, the figure reached Rp 118.72 trillion, 5.7 percent of state spending, and hovered at Rp 104.02 trillion this year, or 5 percent of state spending. The ministry is also looking to develop 1 million hectares of new paddy fields, including in border areas, by 2019. Of that figure, 142,000 hectares have already been developed over the past two years and an additional 125,000 hectares will be developed this year. In a national meeting of the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) in Jakarta on Monday, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said the work in the border areas would help jack up rice exports further. The President has instructed several ministries to build 30,000 embung (water deposits) water 4 million hectares of paddy field by 2019. To realize this, Rp 20 trillion has been allocated to the Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Ministry. —JP/ STEFANI RIBKA

Compact ride

Antara/Ferdi

A worker supervises the unloading of a Toyota New Agya at a relay facility belonging to PT Toyota-Astra Motor (TAM) in North Jakarta on Tuesday. TAM, the country’s sole distributor of Toyota products, reported that nearly 200,000 of the entry-level hatchback cars had been sold as of March.

JP/Jerry Adiguna

Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil (right) is greeted by Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) advisory council head MS Hidayat (second right) as Kadin chairman Rosan P. Roeslani (second left) and acting deputy chairman for property Eddy Hussy look on during the opening of the lobby group’s national meeting on the property sector in Jakarta on Tuesday. During the event, Kadin called on the government to help maintain stability in the property market by, for example, offering property and luxury tax exemptions.

RI urged to firmly oppose EU palm oil resolution Stefani Ribka THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

Palm oil businesses have urged the government to take strong action against the European Union, including retaliation, in response to a recent European Parliament resolution that they regard as detrimental to the local industry. In its resolution last week, the parliament demanded the bloc gradually reduce the use of vegetable oils, including palm oil, that are not sustainably produced in biodiesel production, in a bid to reduce deforestation. Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers of palm oil. Indonesia Oil Palm Producers Association (Gapki) executive director Fadhil Hasan called for solid measures ranging from retaliation to termination of ongoing talks on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with the 27-member bloc. “The government needs to think up concrete steps to retaliate,” he said during a press conference held by the National Palm Oil Board (DMSI) on Tuesday. Fadhil cited wine, aircraft, perfume and pharmaceutical products from the region as examples of goods against which to retaliate. Palm oil producers under the group view the matter as an issue that should be addressed at the government level and urged the country’s leaders to approach the EU directly. On April 4, the EU’s parliament called for a single certification scheme for palm oil entering the EU market. The non-binding resolution suggested that only palm oil supplied through sustainable methods, according to its criteria, could enter the bloc after 2020. Despite its non-binding nature, the resolution is likely to affect the EU Commission’s trade

Palm oil industry demands govt to act firmly against EU resolution Resolution ‘continuation of negative campaign’ against palm oil since 1970s policy-making, according to the DMSI. Several senior Indonesian officials have expressed their disappointment at the resolution. Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has described the resolution as an insult to the local palm oil sustainability scheme, the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO). Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman described it as a “black campaign” against the domestic palm oil industry. Voicing similar concerns to Gapki, the Indonesian Vegetable Oil Refiners Association (GIMNI) also urged the government to fight hard against the EU’s latest measure. GIMNI executive director Sahat Sinaga said the resolution was a continuation of a negative campaign since the 1970s directed at the Indonesian palm oil industry. This was attributed to the competitive edge of palm oil in comparison to other vegetable oils as well as its multi-functionality. “We knew such a thing would happen. The EU has launched various negative campaigns from time to time. Finally, Indonesian leaders need to take bold action to stop this from occurring again and again,” he said. On the same day, officials from Indonesia and its neighbor Malaysia, the world’s biggest palm oil producer, convened in the fourth ministerial meeting of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) in Jakarta. Coordinating Economic Min-

RI oil palm product export 2015-2016 Export destination

Volume (in thousand ton) 2016 2015

Change

China

3,227.97

3,990.52

EU

4,370.56

4,233.15

-19.11% 3.25%

India

5,783.85

5,798.78

-0.26% 42.76%

US

1,082.93

758.55

Pakistan

2,066.50

2,186.88

-5.50%

Bangladesh

922.85

1,092.18

-15.50%

Middle East

1,979.41

2,113.08

-6.33%

Africa

1,521.67

1,984.64

-23.33%

Others

4,156.83

4,242.71

-2.02%

World

25,112.57

26,400.47

-4.88%

Source: Indonesian Oil Palm Producers Association (Gapki)

ister Darmin Nasution co-chaired the meeting with his counterpart the Malaysian minister of plantation industries and commodities. The meeting decided that Indonesia and Malaysia would carry out a joint mission to meet EU officials next month to express their objections to the resolution and avert the implementation of the resolution. CPOPC ministers expressed deep concern about the resolution, which they claim will have negative repercussions on the palm oil trade. They also object to a number of issues, notably the single palm oil certification scheme, which they consider ignores existing certification schemes developed separately by both countries. “False allegations that perceive global palm oil production breaching fundamental human rights and adequate social standards neglect the reality that palm oil is an important economic enabler and provides employment opportunities and vital income for poor communities,” the ministers said in press statement issued by the CPOPC. Palm oil is one of the biggest contributors to Indonesia’s non oil and gas exports, amounting to

$18.23 billion, 13.8 percent of total exports worth $131.3 billion, last year. Oil palm plantations span 11.9 million hectares and produce more than 30 million tons of crude palm oil (CPO) and kernel oil each year, affecting the lives of at least 4.8 million smallholders, quite apart from those working in the refinery and processing sector. The EU, meanwhile, is Indonesia’s second-biggest palm oil importer after India. It imported 4.3 million tons of palm and kernel oil, or 17 percent of Indonesia’s total palm oil shipment of 25.1 million tons in the past year. Indonesian officials have complained that the domestic palm oil certification scheme, the ISPO, has struggled to gain global recognition, which they attribute to tight competition in the international vegetable oil market. Despite the government’s claim about the ISPO, local forest group Forest Watch Indonesia said that after four years, the implementation of the scheme was very slow, with last year around 800 oil palm plantation firms still awaiting certification, while 115 others were under assessment. As of December, only 226 firms were already certified.

FISCAL POLICY

Tax authority eligible for semi-autonomous status: Observers Prima Wirayani THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

After the “success” of the tax amnesty, the Directorate General of Taxation should be eligible for a golden ticket to become a semiautonomous body, despite worries with regard to its track record on integrity and transparency. Ten watchdog organizations, including Perkumpulan Prakarsa (the Center for Welfare Studies), Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) and Transparency International Indonesia, gathered under the Just Tax Forum, are of the view that the government should accelerate the establishment of a semi-autonomous tax body. The mandate is outlined in the 2009 General Taxation (KUP) Law, which is now under revision with the draft being sent back to the Finance Ministry for im-

provement to clear up several issues as part of long-term tax reform. Center for Welfare Studies executive director Ah Maftuchan said now was the right time to launch a tax “superbody,” as part of tax reform. The government must carry out institutional reform given the fact that various tax laws exist but there is nothing specific on the tax office. “The finance minister says the current [tax office’s authority] is enough because she doesn’t see [the need for it] in the next 10 to 15 years. I think she also doesn’t want to get busy because this task will add a load of work to the ministry,” he said during a discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday. The government, he continued, was in a less confident position to launch massive reform despite popular support for the

tax amnesty. “A sharp increase in public faith in the tax office is the most important lesson garnered from the tax amnesty,” he said. The government has deemed the tax amnesty program a success, underscoring the Rp 4.8 quadrillion (US$355.5 billion) worth of previously unreported assets declared by almost 1 million taxpayers and raking in more than Rp 114 trillion in penalty fees in the process, albeit lower than the targeted Rp 165 trillion. However, it failed to achieve some of its targets such as a lower than expected amount of repatriated funds. Although more than Rp 1 quadrillion worth of foreign assets were declared during the amnesty, only Rp 147 trillion in funds stashed abroad were repatriated. In response to the government’s plan to issue a regula-

tion in lieu of law (Perppu) that will allow the tax office to access banking data easily, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) cooperation specialist Putri Rahayu Wijayanti said such a practice was acknowledged in international best practice. “However, we have yet to issue such authority,” she said. “It is now possible to provide the access, but with a checks-and-balances mechanism in place.” Internal reform was also needed so that no tax officials could abuse their authority in the future, Putri said. As many as five corruption cases involving tax officers have been prosecuted by the anti-graft body so far. The KPK is currently working with the Finance Ministry, the Directorate General of Taxation, Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Fi-

nancial Services Authority (OJK) to carry out an assessment as a part of its roadmap to provide a database on companies’ beneficial owners. The government appointed a tax reform team last year to improve the performance of the tax authority. It is expected to dig into potential sectors that remain untapped by tax collection and enhance data and information sharing between regional offices and tax service branches. Tax office examination planning sub-directorate head Tunjung Nugroho said there should be an effort to strengthen the tax authority’s function, not limited only to raising state revenue. “Why do we see bribes? It’s because of the absence of a link to a tax database. If the tax office is able to control taxpayers and tax

data, we can run the checks and balances […] Our reform in the near future will focus on elementary issues, such as transparency and data access,” he said. Currently, the tax office has only around 40,000 officials across the archipelago, handling around 30 million individual and institutional taxpayers, of whom approximately 21 million are obliged to file tax returns (SPT). “From the capacity side, it is still far behind for a country such as Indonesia,” Tunjung said, pointing to the fact that not all regencies in the country had a tax office. Indonesia has a tax officer, population ratio of around 1:3,700, compared with Japan’s 1:1,000. “The problem is whether we want to increase the number of taxpayers or not. If yes, then it is important to add tax officers,” he said.

14

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BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

Banknote rates Selling Rp

Buying Rp

US dollar

Banknote

1

13,348.00

13,216.00

Australian dollar

1

10,017.67

9,908.04

Swiss franc

1

13,226.32

13,094.22

Euro

1

14,127.52

13,986.49

British pound

1

16,579.55

16,414.27

Hong Kong dollar Japanese yen

rates

1

1,717.78

1,700.64

100

12,057.81

11,937.49

Korean won

1

11.63

11.51

Malaysian ringgit

1

3,009.70

2,977.92

ASSET REDISTRIBUTION

Masters of the sea

Govt upbeat on start to land reform this month

Philippine peso

1

268.60

265.88

Fedina S. Sundaryani

Singaporean dollar

1

9,492.25

9,392.37

THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

Thai baht

1

385.78

381.63 Source: BI

World benchmarks Country Indonesia (JCI)

Index

Daily Change Points %

5,627.93

-16.37

-0.29

S. Korea (Kospi)

2,123.85

-9.47

-0.44

Thailand (SET Index)

1,583.26

2.07

0.13

Malaysia (FTSE BM)

1,735.84

-3.68

-0.21

Singapore (FTSE ST)

3,174.75

-6.70

-0.21

Japan (Nikkei 225)

18,747.87

-50.01

-0.27

Hong Kong (Hang Seng)

-0.72

24,088.46

-173.72

China (SSE Comp.)

3,288.97

19.57

0.60

Philippines (PSE Index)

7,601.40

-16.51

-0.22

India (S&P Sensex)

29,787.70

211.96

0.72

USA (DJIA)

20,658.02

1.92

0.01

UK (FTSE)

7,381.53

32.59

0.44

Australia (All Ordinaries)

5,964.61

15.75

0.26 Source: IDX

ECONOMY IN BRIEF ‘No smelter, no export license,’ govt says JAKARTA: Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said on Tuesday that the government would force PT Freeport Indonesia to revert back to its contract of work (CoW) should the mining giant fail to fulfill its promise of building a smelter in Gresik, East Java. The company, a subsidiary of United States-based mining behemoth Freeport McMoRan, was recently awarded an eight-month special mining permit (IUPK), which will end in October. During this time, the miner is expected to continue negotiating disputed terms on its contract conversion, including issues of divestment and smelter construction. The IUPK status maintains Freeport Indonesia’s right to export semiprocessed metals, including concentrates. “If the company insists on not building a smelter, it will have to return to its CoW until the contract expires [in 2021]. If the company doesn’t want [to build a smelter], it should just revert — but that means it can not export,” Jonan said on the sidelines of a seminar in Jakarta. Jonan issued on March 31 Energy and Mineral Resources Ministerial Decree No. 28/2017, a substitute to decree No. 5/2017 on adding value to minerals through domestic processing, just days before the ministry announced that it had awarded Freeport Indonesia the shortterm IUPK. Under the revised decree, the minister can award miners an IUPK once they submit a proposal to convert from their CoW. The short-term IUPK may either last until the CoW’s expiry or a “specific time period to accommodate adjustments to continued operations.” — JP

Bukalapak launches new sharia product JAKARTA: E-commerce platform Bukalapak, together with finance portal Bareksa and investment management company Mandiri Manajemen Investasi (MMI), introduced on Tuesday a new sharia mutual fund product to attract retail investors. The product, called “Reksadana Syariah Mandiri BukaReksa Pasar Uang,” aims to reach out to potential investors, primarily beginner investors of a low-risk profile. “With this sharia product, people’s interest in investing in Bukalapak is expected to increase. The sentiment toward sharia products is very positive as Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation,” Bukalapak chief executive officer and founder Achmad Zaky said during the product launch event at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). MMI has not set a high target for its assets under management (AUM), with investors only needing to put a minimum initial investment of Rp 10,000 (75 US cents) for the sharia product. The investment manager targets to collect Rp 20 billion in AUM at the end of this year, according to MMI director Endang Astharanti. The largest proportion of the customers’ investment of 60 percent would be placed in bonds, whereas the remaining 40 percent would be in time-deposits. “Although [we are] not certain, the average return is estimated at 6 percent per year,” Endang said. According to MMI, since the launch on March 24, around 2,000 people have purchased the new sharia investment product. Bukalapak also introduced in January a conventional mutual fund product called BukaReksa and recorded 25,000 in existing customers. — JP

Antara/MN Kanwa

State-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) I president director Bambang Eka Cahya (third right) hands a pilotage certificate over to an officer at a pilotage services launch event for domestic and foreign vessels as Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi (right) and director general for sea transportation A. Tonny Budiono (second right) look on in Batam, Riau Islands, on Monday. The Transportation Ministry has authorized Pelindo I to provide pilotage services in an effort to improve safety for vessels sailing accross the Malacca Strait.

RI seeks financing from wealth funds Anton Hermansyah THE JAKARTA POST/NUSA DUA

Indonesia hopes to attract investment from fellow member countries of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) as it hosts the third IDB Member Countries Sovereign Investments Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said he hoped members with sovereign wealth funds would shift their investments from capital market-based instruments into direct investments in Indonesia, especially in infrastructure. “The world is currently changing, especially in Islamic countries. We are now making efforts so that direct investments will not only come from European countries,” Kalla said in his remarks during the opening on Monday. IDB Group president Bandar bin Mohammed bin Hamza Asaad Al Hajjar said the forum’s focus this year was on helping member countries with wealth funds mobilize their investments toward member countries with financing needs. Hajjar said the total investment needed for global infrastructure was expected to be US$3.3 trillion this year, but the amount of government spending worldwide was only $2.5 trillion, leaving a $800 billion financing gap. “Our members have an infrastructure financing gap of $200 to 240 billion annually. It will need cooperation from public and private sectors [to address the issue]. In this context, the IDB is working with the sovereign wealth funds, which play a significant role in mobilizing global assets,” Hajjar said. The IDB Member Countries Sovereign Investments Forum had been held twice previously. The first forum was held at the IDB’s headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the second forum was held in Rabat, Morocco. According to data from the

Top 10 IDB Member Sovereign Wealth Fund (based on assets) No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Country UAE A ha i ait Sa di Ara ia atar UAE ai Sa di Ara ia UAE A ha i UAE A ha i i a a akhstan Total

Name A

ha i In est ent A thorit ait In est ent A thorit SAMA oreign oldings atar In est ent A thorit In est ent Cor oration of ai P lic In est ent nd M adala In est ent Co an A ha i In est ent Co ncil i an In est ent A thorit a akhstan ational nd

Total Assets Incorporation (US$ Billion) 792 1976 592 1953 514 1952 335 2005 200.5 2006 183 2008 125 2002 110 2007 66 2006 64.7 2000 2982.2

Source: Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute www.swfinstitute.org, processed

Around $800 billion financing gap exists worldwide Most investments made by wealth funds are in oil and gas sector Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, there are 78 sovereign wealth funds in the world, with total assets of $7.37 trillion. More than half of the figure, $4.2 trillion, were oil and gas-based investments. Norway has the biggest sovereign wealth fund in the world, its Government Pension Fund, with total assets amounting to $922.11 billion. Among the 78 sovereign wealth funds, 32 belong to IDB member countries with combined assets of $3.32 trillion. Similar to the global figure, the assets are dominated by the oil and gas sector, with only 9.31 percent coming from non-oil and gas industries. Hajjar said the IDB had funded developmental projects worth $127.3 billion since its inception in 1975 until the end of 2016. More than half of the funds went to the infrastructure sector, while 10.7 percent was channeled to agriculture and around 9.3 percent was disbursed to the education and health sectors. The first IDB Member Coun-

tries Sovereign Investments Forum was held after the massive drop in oil prices that occurred in the middle of 2014. The IDB Group’s then group president Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al Madani said there was a need for the sovereign funds to diversify their investments amid global pressures, such as low oil and gas prices. The sovereign investment forum was established to foster cooperation among the sovereign funds, pension funds and investment companies of the member countries. During previous forums, Indonesia presented its massive infrastructure development plan, which will require Rp 5.5 quadrillion until 2019. However, only 40.1 percent, Rp 2.22 quadrillion of the funding needs can be met using the state budget. In this year’s forum, stateowned infrastructure financing company Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (SMI) signed a $1 billion memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the IDB. The MoU covers six areas of cooperation, including co-financing using debt structures and co-investing using equity structures, as well as technical assistance and capacity-building activities, particularly for SMI’s sharia business unit.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is optimistic about starting the redistribution of land in the next two weeks, after months of discussing how to successfully implement his agrarian reform program. Agrarian reform is an important part of Jokowi’s ambition to create a “just economic policy” to close the widening economic and social gap. His administration announced earlier this year that it would focus on the land reform agenda, which would see 21.7 million hectares of idle land granted to groups of people to improve their welfare and to narrow economic disparity. “We will have a People’s Economic Congress on [April] 24, and hopefully we will be able to start the redistribution. This is the responsibility of the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry and the Environment and Forestry Ministry,” Jokowi said during the opening of a closed-door meeting at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Tuesday. The agrarian reform program will redistribute 9 million hectares of land to citizens under the land objects for agrarian reform (TORA) scheme and 12.7 million ha to be managed by indigenous people. The TORA land comprises 4.1 million ha under the supervision of the Environment and Forestry Ministry, while 0.4 million ha comprises land left idle after the expiry of land cultivation permits and 4.5 ha is uncertified land. The redistribution plan for TORA land is already included in the government’s National Mid-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) for the period of 2015 to 2019, but it has yet to address the root of agrarian conflict, which often occurs between corporations and local people. The current administration believes that giving marginalized people greater access to land ownership will reduce poverty in the country. The poverty rate is expected to decline to 10.5 percent this year from 10.86 percent at present. Jokowi has also called on his Cabinet to increase capital access for those in the lower economic category in addition to the redistribution of land and assets. The government has been mulling whether it should follow in the footsteps of Malaysia’s Federal Land Development Authority, which is a government agency founded to handle the resettlement of rural poor areas into newly developed areas and to help organize smallholder farms growing cash crops. Meanwhile, Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil said there were several issues that needed to be discussed before the government could distribute the land. He emphasized that the government’s priority was to figure out how to formalize unregistered land.

ANALYSIS

Indonesian banking sector: Cautiously optimistic Andry Asmoro JAKARTA

Indonesia’s economy is still presented with mixed figures on its outlook. Positive macroeconomic indicators include low inflation and interest rates, a stable currency and improving foreign exchange reserves, boosting optimism among market players about Indonesia’s economic outlook. On the flip side, other indicators, such as retail, motorcycle and property sales, posted a weak performance during the first quarter of the year compared to the corresponding period of last year. These mixed figures inevitably affected banks’ loan performance during the first quarter. Banks have so far been careful in disbursing loans to avoid additional pressure from bad debt. Now, the million-dollar question is how banks will respond to the upcoming domestic situation? The economy is expected to improve in the next quarters, mainly supported by cyclical factors. In the second quarter, demand for loans should be higher, driven by rising economic activity during the harvest season and the Ramadhan fasting month. Throughout the second half of

the year, demand for loans will be driven by a major portion of state budget funds that is traditionally disbursed from September to December. Currently, despite negative month-on-month (mom) growth, loan disbursement increased by 8.3 percent year-on-year (yoy) in the first quarter. This shows a continuous improvement in the last four months, when loan growth fell below 7 percent, the rock-bottom level since 2009. At this juncture, we don’t see negative mom loan growth as an alarming signal pointing to another cycle of credit contraction. It is a normal cycle that happens every beginning of the year. It is worth noting that in January and February, loan disbursement contracted by 1.8 percent and 0.4 percent on a monthly basis but recovered quite significantly afterwards. Commodity-based sectors played a major role in boosting January’s loan growth. This is depicted by loan performance in the Kalimantan regions, which collectively recorded the highest loan

growth. We believe that this was supported mainly by the price rebound for coal and crude palm oil (CPO) in the final quarter of 2016, which spurred confidence among commodity players to begin to expand their businesses. Improvement in heavy equipment sales, especially in the mining and forestry segment, was a signal that commodity-based sectors could support this year’s performance. However, we should tone down our expectations, since the price improvement will likely not go too far this year and, hence, will not affect full-year loan growth too much. Banks will remain cautious about disbursing loans to several sectors and concentrate on segments that historically were proven to be resilient to downturns, reflected in low non-performing loan (NPL) ratios. Our latest data reveal that the average NPL ratio increased to 3.09 percent in January from 2.93 percent the previous month across all types of banks and regions. It is worth mentioning that loans also increased to Rp 218.4 trillion (US$16.4 billion) from Rp 184.3 trillion in December 2016, providing a signal that there is still a risk of a higher NPL ratio in the next couple of months.

It is very interesting that the regions that contributed most to higher NPL ratios are Kalimantan and Sulawesi. As mentioned above, Kalimantan-based business players should benefit from the coal price improvement. Yet banks should continue to keep an eye on this sector, since coal prices will stay volatile and be mostly supported by the supply side. In January, the NPL ratio of the mining sector reached 6.29 percent, the highest among all sectors. Going forward, the NPL ratio is still expected to trend up based on the rise of special-mention loans (SML), which increased by 5.48 percent mom in January, up from 4.51 percent mom in December. However, we still maintain our view that the banking sector will remain resilient this year with a moderate risk of rising bad loans amid global economic volatility. Given this situation, the authorities are present in the market and are ready to mitigate the risks and avoid further deterioration in the even of instability. Furthermore, we are of the view that measures by banks to restructure their bad loan portfolios will alleviate pressure on NPL ratios this year. This is reflected in a growing number of restructured loans in January. Average restructured

loans of the 12 banks have increased from 3.9 percent in 2015 to 5.9 percent in 2016. Of the restructured loans, the portion of performing loans increased from 2.4 percent in 2015 to 3.6 percent in 2016, while the portion of NPL also rose, from 0.7 percent to 1.7 percent. This means banks have both downgraded and upgraded special-mention loans to NPL and performing loans. Loans at risk, which consist of NPL, special-mention loans and performing restructured loans, have started to trend down from 11.3 percent in the third quarter of 2016 to 10.6 percent in the following quarter. Meanwhile, the portion of performing restructured loans increased to 3.6 percent from 3.2 percent, indicating that asset quality will improve in the upcoming quarters. Other than bad loans, we believe another important issue will be liquidity. In the first quarter of this year, banks should have no big issue with liquidity, as shown by a lower loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR). Faster deposit growth brought the LDR down to 89.4 percent in January, as opposed to 90.5 percent in December. Overall, ample market liquidity is expected in the first half of

this year, except in the May-June period. Currently, liquidity in the banking sector is quite sufficient. Banks’ liquidity, reflected in the Bank Indonesia (BI) open market operation outstanding stood at Rp 385 trillion as of March 17. We see that banks’ liquidity this year will be supported by accommodative fiscal policy and foreign flows into the capital market. Liquidity is seasonally expected to be tighter approaching Ramadhan and Idul Fitri, when banks prepare an average of Rp 100 trillion to accommodate massive cash withdrawal. Overall, we are of the view that banks will still have to manage bad loans and push for business consolidation this year before boosting loan disbursement. A significant game-changer for the banking sector would be faster economic growth that affects business expectations and spurs domestic liquidity. We believe that Indonesia’s economy strengthen this year and continue its growth momentum even faster next year. Thus, we should stay optimistic about the domestic banking sector. The writer is an economist at Bank Mandiri.

BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

United tracks

THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

JP/Dhoni Setiawan

State-owned lender Bank Mandiri senior vice president for transaction banking retail sales Thomas Wahyudi (left to right), state-owned Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) digital banking division head Dopo Lastiyomo, airport train operator PT Railink president director Heru Kuswanto, finance director Eri Dwi Prasetyo, private lender Bank Central Asia (BCA) executive vice president Mira Wibowo and private lender Bank Danamon e-channel head of business IG Ngurah Asthika Dhamasatya pose after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Railink and 10 local banks to support the payment system of the Soekarno-Hatta airport train, the operation of which is scheduled to start in July.

STARTUP

Printerous to expand business with new app JAKARTA

Technology makes everything easy nowadays, and that rings true when it comes to capturing the best moments in life with just a simple smartphone camera. While memories may last forever, pictures saved on gadgets can completely vanish all of a sudden. Inspired by his own experience of losing pictures from his cell phone, Kevin Osmond, CEO of digital printing service Printerous, invested Rp 100 million (US$7,501) to develop a smartphone application called Printerous Moments. The investment is part of $1.4 million in funds the company secured from Singapore-based Golden Gate Ventures with participation from United States-based

firm Sovereign’s Capital and Indonesia’s diversified group Gunung Sewu Kencana in February. Kevin said the widespread trend among Indonesian millenials who often posted their latest pictures in social media like Facebook and Instagram had inspired the startup to further digitize its printing business with a smartphone app. Previously it had only offered its services through a website. “After studying the market for a few years, we see that about 50 percent of users of our website access the service through a mobile browser. This is why we developed this mobile application,” Kevin said during the launch event recently. The app aims to attract 200,000 users this year. With the app, users can upload photos from their smartphones to the Printer-

ous system for printing on a wide range of products, such as photo paper, phone cases and tote bags. Kevin claimed that the app so far had received a positive response from customers, as it had seen 5,000 downloads in Android’s Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store after its soft launching a few months ago. Established in 2012, Printerous is a printing marketplace that connects users with about 50 online printing businesses. The startup offers printing services under three categories, namely Printerous Business for business purposes, such as name cards, Arterous for artistic purposes and Printerous Moments for personal products, such as photo albums. To expand its reach, Printerous is teaming up with Facebook and

Instagram to connect their users with its system, enabling them to directly print pictures from both social media services. Despite focusing its business on Jakarta, its biggest market so far, Printerous planned to reach new customers across the country, Kevin said. “We aim to expand our business to other cities, namely Surabaya and Medan, by the third or fourth quarter of this year,” he said. The startup gets 35 percent of its overall orders for all printing products from old customers, while the majority of orders comes from new customers. The most popular products ordered by its customers are photo albums, canvas art, polaroid photos and name cards, with prices for its products ranging from Rp 35,000 ($2.63) to Rp 900,000. (ecn)

CONSTRUCTION

Acset Indonusa revises up contract target Construction services firm PT Acset Indonusa has revised up its target of new contracts as it sees more business opportunities this year on the back of the government’s massive infrastructure development programs. The publicly listed company previously set a new contract target of Rp 4.5 trillion in 2017, mainly from the infrastructure sector. However, the target has been revised up to Rp 7.5 trillion (US$562.5 million). “There is a target revision. We aim for Rp 7.5 trillion [in new contracts]. This target fits our capabilities,” new president director Jeffrey Gunadi Chandrawijaya said after the company’s shareholder meeting on Monday. In the first quarter of 2017, the firm sealed Rp 6.9 trillion in new contracts from the Jakarta-Cikampek II toll road project, the Terbanggi Besar-Kayu Agung toll road project and soil improvement work in Central Java. The Jakarta-Cikampek II toll road project in Bekasi, West Java,

15

Pertamina pushes for more efficiency Anton Hermansyah

The Jakarta Post

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is a joint-operation between state-owned builder Waskita Karya and Acset Indonusa worth Rp 13.5 trillion. Waskita holds a 51 percent stake in the project, while Acset holds 49 percent. Acset is currently bidding for two other projects, namely the Kunciran-Serpong toll road project and the Serpong-Balaraja toll road project. It submitted bidding documents for both projects are under its sister company’s name, Astratel Nusantara. Apart from the government infrastructure projects, Acset is also eyeing a property project being developed by Astra Group. The firm, however, did not provide further details about the project. In a bid to seal high-value contracts, the company plans to employ a joint-operation scheme with either private companies or state-owned companies. In terms of its revenue target, the firm is looking to realize all the Rp 5.1 trillion carriedover contracts, in addition to the Rp 6.9 trillion in new contracts

this year. “With a combined Rp 5.1 trillion in contracts on hand and Rp 6.9 trillion in targeted new contracts, we will have a total Rp 12 trillion in contracts. Hopefully, Rp 3.5 trillion of this can become revenue,” Jeffrey said. In the future, Acset is looking to become a more integrated construction company that engages in infrastructure, foundation building and construction. “Infrastructure projects offered more potential after Jokowi become President,” deputy president director Tan Tiam Seng Ronnie said, explaining the reason behind Acset’s strategy to focus on infrastructure throughout 2017. Acset’s revenues jumped 32 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 1.79 trillion in 2016. Its net profits grew 63 percent yoy to Rp 68.33 billion. During the company’s shareholder meeting, Acset announced a plan to funnel 40 percent of its net profits to dividend payments, equal to Rp 27.3 bil-

lion. The dividends will be distributed on May 9. In addition to this, shareholders also agreed to increase shares in its subsidiary PT Bintai Kindenko Engineering Indonesia (BINKEI) by purchasing new shares. BINKEI is Acset’s subsidiary that focuses on mechanical and electrical engineering and plumbing. Currently, BINKEI is involved in the development of the MRT project in Jakarta and the Gedung Indonesia 1 project. On Monday, Acset also announced changes to the positions of its directors and commissioners. The firm’s current president director is Jeffrey and its deputy president director is Tan. Its directors are Hilarius Arwandhi, Yohanes Eka Prayuda, Ellyjawati, while its independent director is Herjadi Budiman. The shareholders appointed Gidion Hasan to be the firm’s president commissioner from 2017 to 2019. —JP/ WINNY TANG

State-owned energy giant Pertamina aims to save up to US$100 million through the introduction of efficiency measures in the company’s integrated supply chain (ISC) activities. Pertamina ISC senior vice president Daniel Purba said the company expected to reach the target by, for example, finding cheaper suppliers and optimizing the newly upgraded facilities in Tanjung Uban and the Sambu islands, both in Riau Islands, to manage its own fuel blending process in an attempt to reduce imports of finished fuel products. “We will also import more crude oil from Asia, because we can obtain better margins there,” Daniel said recently. Pertamina’s ISC activities covers the trading, procurement and distribution of crude oil, gas and fuel. Last month, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati issued a ministerial regulation revoking the imposition of income tax for oil obtained from Indonesian fields but sold by a contractor’s trading arm overseas. Previously, the government charged 3 percent of income tax for oil transactions using such a scheme. However, it is common for foreign contractors to sell their oil through trading arm subsidiaries located abroad. Pertamina sees the change in regulations as an opportunity to boost domestic crude oil supply. Daniel said the company, for this year, was planning to secure 181.3 million barrels of oil from domestic procurement, a slight increase from the 176.6 million barrels secured in 2016. “With the revocation of the income tax rule, we expect there to be more contractors that are willing to sell their oil to us,” he said. Pertamina’s ISC unit was established in 2015 after the dissolution of its Singapore-based subsidiary Petral, the operation of which was cancelled as a result of allegations of corruption and illicit practices in procurement. Daniel previously served as Petral’s vice president. According to Pertamina, the unit has earned $523 million in efficiency from the introduction of streamlined fuel procurement. The full liquidation of Petral, meanwhile, is still pending the debt clearance of its two subsidiaries, namely Zambesi Investment Ltd., established in 1979 and based in Hong Kong, and Pertamina Energy Services Pte. Ltd., which was created in 1992 and incorporated in Singapore.

Energy giant seeks to save big from procurement reform Domestic fuel blending expected to reduce dependency on imports Although it has been frozen since May 2015, Petral remains a legal entity. If it loses the legal entity status, Pertamina will not have any legal claim to any remaining receivables. An audit shows that Petral’s receivables stand at $50 million. Data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, meanwhile, suggests that, starting this year, there will be a gap between the country’s oil supply and demand. By 2020, supply is forecast to decline to 1.8 million barrels of oil per day (bopd) from 2.19 million bopd in 2015, while demand could potentially increase to 2.6 million bopd from 2.19 million bopd. This year, Pertamina plans to import around 60 million barrels from Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam and Iran. The number increased by 172 percent compared to 22 million barrels in 2016. Daniel said the company was still waiting for the test of Iranian Light Crude to be out this week. If the oil was suitable to be processed in Pertamina’s refinery then it would not have to be processed abroad. The Iraqi oil, called Basra Light Crude and Basra Heavy Crude, is obtained from Pertamina subsidiary PT Pertamina Irak Eksplorasi Produksi’s 10 percent participating interest in the West Qurna I block. Pertamina’s refineries, however, are not suitable for processing oil from Iraq. They used to be processed at Shell’s facilities in Singapore before Pertamina’s contract with Shell expired late last year. The company also plans to run fuel blending activities in Tanjung Uban and the Sambu islands, a move that will reduce its dependency on imported finished fuel products such as Premium (RON 88). Pertamina imports of RON 88 fuel is expected to reach 62.05 million barrels in 2017, down by 15.8 percent compared to 73.7 million barrels coming into the country the previous year. “In Tanjung Uban and the Sambu islands, we can blend around 1.5 million barrels of oil per month, so we can reduce the import of final products by 18 million barrels in 2017,” Pertamina ISC vice president for crude product trading Hasto Wibowo said.

Smart tracker

Antara/Audy Alwi

State-owned logistics company PT Bhanda Ghara Reksa (BGR) president director R. Ruli Adi (center), commissioner Wiyardi Saputra (left) and the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry’s assistant deputy for energy, logistics, estates and tourism, Agus Suharyono, showcase tablets running the BGR Enterprise Logistics System (BELS) application during the launching of the customized business process management software in Jakarta on Tuesday. The application, launched on BGR’s 40th anniversary, allows customers to access various features, such as the trace-and-track function, customer support and fee information.

PLANTATION

Astra Agro sets focuses on downstream sector, alternative businesses Winny Tang THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

Publicly listed plantation firm PT Astra Agro Lestari is seeking to strengthen its palm oil downstream sector and explore other related business opportunities to overcome challenges in the palm oil sector. Astra Agro, a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate group Astra International, has allocated up to Rp 100 billion (US$7.5 million) this year to build a fertilizer blending plant with a prodution capacity of 100,000 tons per year in Sulawesi. It also plans to construct a palm

kernel oil (PKO) refinery in Central Kalimantan with an output capacity of 400 tons per day and investment cost of Rp 200 billion. “These facilities aim to meet the demand of our own plantations, as well as the market demand for plantations,” Astra Agro president commissioner Widya Wiryawan said Tuesday on the sidelines of the company’s shareholders meeting. By the end of last year, the company managed nearly 300,000 hectares of oil palm plantations scattered across Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. In recent years, the national palm oil sector has faced chal-

lenging conditions, primarily as a result of long dry seasons, causing a drop in fresh fruit bunch production (FFB). Affected by this, Astra Agro saw FFB production in its nucleus and plasma plantations slump by 13 percent to 4.9 million tons in 2016. As a consequence of declining FFB production, the company’s crude palm oil (CPO) production also decreased by 10.5 percent to 1.55 million tons in 2016. Fortunately, an increase in the average CPO selling price contributed to the improvement of the company’s financial performance throughout 2016. Last year, Astra Agro’s reve-

nue increased by 8.1 percent to Rp 14.12 trillion. Meanwhile, its net profit jumped by 224 percent to Rp 2.01 trillion. This year, the company expects an improved performance as a result of friendlier weather conditions. “According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency’s (BMKG) prediction, there won’t be a long dry season in our plantation areas [this year],” Widya said. As a strategy to improve its bottom line this year, the company also aims to strengthen its cattle farming business. The company runs two core

businesses in the sector, namely cattle breeding and cattle fattening. The cattle business was created to take advantage of the beef market in Indonesia. Currently, the company has 8,000 cows. Furthermore, Astra Agro also planned to focus on its mechanization and automation strategy to cut unnecessary costs. “In the next 10 to 15 years, we will continuously replant [oil palm trees] in order to have a stable production,” Widya added. At present, 70 percent of Astra Agro’s revenue is generated by the sales of CPO and palm kernels in the domestic market, while the remaining 30 percent

comes from CPO derivate products overseas. “Among our export destinations are Southeast Asian countries, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and South Korea,” outgoing finance director Rudy Chen said. During Tuesday’s meeting, Astra Agro announced the appointment of Mario CS Gultom as the company’s new finance director, replacing Rudy. The meeting also saw shareholders approved the payment of about Rp 900 billion in dividends generated from the 2016 net profit. The total represents 45 percent of its profits.

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FOOD BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017 CORPORATE PLANNING

Annyeong haseo!

As succession looms, a top Thai banker is off saving trees

Delivery sales drive up eateries' revenues

Chanyaporn Chanjaroen Lee Xin En

BLOOMBERG/SINGAPORE

THE STRAITS TIMES/ANN/SINGAPORE

Food lovers here are lapping up home delivery services for meals despite Singapore's abundance of cheap and accessible food outlets. Their appetites have been whetted by the lure of ordering in feasts ranging from Michelinrated briyani to humbler fare such as fried chicken and it is all driving up sales for happy restaurateurs. Some restaurants have seen revenues rise by 15 percent or more after partnering food-delivery firms. Arif Salahuddin, founder of Michelin-rated Bismillah Biryani Restaurant, teamed up with food-delivery platforms such as UberEats and Foodpanda last September. His revenue is up 17 percent. His daughter Zara, who spearheads the company's delivery business, said that within minutes of turning on the UberEats app last September, the restaurant had multiple orders, which surprised them as there was no marketing. The boost to their sales prompted them to employ more staff and invest in larger ovens, but Zara said that while 15 percent to 20 percent of revenue now comes from delivery, they are still hesitant to rely on it as delivery sales can fluctuate daily, based on factors such as the number of riders and weather. Lau Jiaxin, assistant marketing manager for fast-food chain Texas Chicken, said the firm was initially worried about "cannibalization", as people who order delivery would not dine at its outlets. However, after the firm put all 13 outlets on the Foodpanda platform, sales jumped 8 percent, with about 10,000 delivery orders a month. Nevertheless, Lau noted that the company is concerned about the commissions charged by food-delivery partners—a refrain repeated by several restaurants. Restaurants declined to disclose the commissions paid, owing to non-disclosure deals, but The Straits Times understands that these can range from 20 percent to 50 percent, depending on sales and the number of outlets. Andrei Soen, founder of Park Bench Deli, acknowledged that the commissions lower margins, but said that as delivery makes up a fraction of his sales, his margins are not significantly affected. He added that the delivery platforms have strong marketing campaigns that reach out to customers, and provide data analytics, which has been useful as he is deciding the location of his next outlet. Food-delivery companies, meanwhile, are doing a roaring trade. London-headquartered Deliveroo said that since launching in Singapore in November 2015, it has grown 30 percent month on month. It has more than 2,500 restaurants on its platform. Foodpanda Singapore managing director Aspa Lekka said awareness "has grown massively," adding that business has grown by 600 percent year on year since the company entered the market five years ago.

Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha

Generic view of the Show DC Korean-theme mall is seen before an opening ceremony in Bangkok on Monday. Hoping to capitalize on growing regional interest in South Korean pop culture, privately-owned SHOW DC Corp. Ltd. opened a US$275-million mall and entertainment complex to get 10 million visitors a year and become a major attraction in what was the world’s most visited city last year.

China opens delayed Myanmar pipeline Bloomberg HONG KONG/SHANGHAI

A crude pipeline to southwestern China through its neighbor Myanmar began operations after years of delays, allowing the world’s second-biggest oil user to receive supplies faster from the Middle East and Africa. A Suezmax-sized tanker, which can hold 140,000 metric tons (about 1 million barrels) of crude, began offloading oil for the pipeline on Monday at Myanmar’s Made Island, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. Operations on the line, which was completed in 2014 and originally scheduled to start the same year, are beginning after the government of Myanmar agreed to lower transit fees, Wang Dongjin, president of PetroChina Co., said last month. The link, which allows China to import crude from the Middle East and Africa without having to ship through the Straits of Malacca and into the South China Sea, is part of President Xi Jinping’s "One Belt, One Road" infrastructure and trade development plan stretching across Asia to Africa and Europe. "It may send a message to those countries that are still hesitating about whether to participate that the initiative is China’s top national strategy and can bring economic benefits to participants," said Fan Hongwei, an international relations professor at Xiamen University who specializes in Myanmar. Trial operations began in 2015

on the 771-kilometer pipeline, which is designed to carry 22 million tons of crude a year. Myanmar can take 2 million tons of crude annually from the line, Xinhua reported. For Myanmar, the initial benefits are probably minimal, said Suresh Sivanandam, a senior research manager for Asia refining at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. The country may get a small amount of oil and some revenue from oil storage and pipeline tariff fees, while experience from China in building energy infrastructure will be a boon for the country later, he said. The Suezmax tanker United Dynamic arrived at Myanmar around April 9 after loading oil from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan terminal in Turkey on March 5, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The pipeline ends in China’s Yunnan province, where PetroChina has built an oil refinery with the capacity to process 13 million tons a year of crude. China’s biggest oil and gas company is in talks with Saudi Arabian Oil Co. about investing in the plant, which will begin operations in June, Wang said last month. PetroChina finished building the refinery in the provincial capital Kunming about six months ago and has been waiting for pipeline deliveries to start, according to Sivanandam. It will take about 12 million barrels of crude to fill the pipeline before deliveries can start, he said. Once the refinery begins, it will

Link will allow China to import crude without having to go through the Straits of Malacca and into the South China Sea Trial operations began in 2015 sell products in southwest China, displacing gasoline and diesel from refineries in central and southern China, he said. That will likely increase the country’s net exports of refined products, which rose to a monthly record of 2.85 million tons in November. China and Myanmar on Monday signed an agreement on the pipeline, as well as eight other cooperation documents, after talks between Xi and Myanmar President Htin Kyaw, who is visiting China from Thursday to Tuesday, state-run China Daily reported. China’s crude imports rose almost 14 percent last year, the fastest annual pace since 2010, and touched a record in December of 8.6 million barrels a day. China is also fed by a parallel natural gas pipeline that runs through Myanmar to Yunnan province, designed to carry 12 billion cubic meters annually. PetroChina’s parent company, China National Petroleum Corp., began to import gas from Myanmar in 2013, according to a statement on its website. Shipments totaled 2.86 million tons last year, customs data show, accounting for about 5 percent of the country’s total imports.

AUTOMOTIVE

PH vehicle sales surged 23% in first quarter Roy Stephen C. Canivel PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ANN/ MANILA

In spite of sales growing in the first quarter of the year, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (Campi) said its members were “cautious” of what the industry should aim for in 2017. Based on joint data from Campi and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA), vehicle sales surged 23 percent in the first quarter of this year, delivering 94,026 units from 76,473 units a year ago. The industry groups said that vehicle sales in March alone soared 32.9 percent from 27,515 a year ago to 36,561. This was a welcome development to a rather modest growth in February, which only increased by 7.5 percent.

Campi president Rommel Gutierrez said that the industry still continued down the path of motorization. However, he hinted at caution for 2017. “While the first quarter performance gives us reason to be optimistic, we are still cautious about our own target for the year,” he said in the statement without explaining. While he did not respond to questions for comment as of press time, he previously said that 2017 would be a “challenging” year for the industry. Car sales are expected to dampen following a strong move in Congress to raise the excise taxes on automobiles as one of the expanded sources of government revenues to offset losses that would result from a proposed lowering of personal income tax rates, as indicated in the Presi-

dent Rodrigo Duterte’s administration’s first package of the comprehensive tax reform program.

“While the first quarter performance gives us reason to be optimistic, we are still cautious about our own target for the year.” Campi, along with the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (Avid), already submitted a position paper requesting for a watered down increase — a plea which the Department of Trade and Industry refused to support. Both passenger car and commercial vehicle segments in-

creased sales in the first quarter in light of new model introductions, aggressive marketing promotions and attractive financing offers, Campi and TMA said. The commercial vehicle category, which accounted for more than half of sales, showed a jump of 33 percent to 62,075 units sold for the first quarter from 46,677 units in the same period in 2016. Passenger car sales, on the other hand, were up 7.2 percent to 31,951 in the first three months from 29,796 units a year ago. Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. had the biggest market share at 43.27 percent, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 17.56 percent, Ford Motor Company Philippines Inc. with 8.27 percent, Honda Cars Philippines Inc. with 7.82 percent and Isuzu Philippines Corp. with 6.94 percent.

These days, the head of Thailand’s Kasikornbank Pcl spends much of his time saving trees in the remote province of Nan and promoting his romantic novel, rather than running the country’s second-largest lender in Bangkok. “I have the forest to worry about," Banthoon Lamsam, who as CEO took over 25 years ago from his father, said in a March interview at his teak home, built according to the influence of feng shui and characters from his 600-page book, on nine wooded acres near the Lao border where he has moved his official household registration. Yet back in Bangkok, it’s succession at the bank that’s cause for concern. Banthoon, 64, wants to retire. None of Banthoon’s three children wants to take over the bank, and it’s unclear which, if any, of the three presidents he has appointed will take his place. “The succession issue can be very problematic given that this is a big bank with no clear plans on who will be the next leader,” said Yupana Wiwattanakantang, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Business School. What does seem certain is that Kasikornbank will become the next of Thailand’s lenders to pass from family hands, leaving Bangkok Bank Pcl as the only major family-run bank not to have succumbed to the business pressures of modern finance and disobliging genealogy. Since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, many of Southeast Asia’s family banks have either been merged because of bad debts or sold to international players. In the interview, Banthoon was sanguine about the prospect of handing over to an outsider, who would become the first nonLamsam family leader since Kasikornbank was founded as Thai Farmers Bank in 1945. “It doesn’t matter one bit,” said Banthoon, wearing a cowboy hat and giant, angular sunglasses while sitting in a covered patio at his Swiss-chalet house on stilts. Tightening regulations and a changing industry mean skilled management and finance proficiency are more valued than the family connections of old. “These days, banks do not only face domestic competitors, but also non-bank companies looking to take on their market share in financial services and payment systems, the likes of Alipay and Facebook,” said NUS’ Yupana. Banthoon gave up a dream to become a medical doctor and ended up finding banking interesting only when he focused on the challenges of management and organizational structure, he said. Kasikornbank was founded by Banthoon’s grandfather at the end of World War II in order to help Thailand, then known as Siam, rebuild its economy. Banthoon’s main achievement is having steered the bank through the 1997 crisis that wiped out a number of other Southeast Asian family-run banks and reduced the Lamsam family’s shareholdings. Their current level is less than 5 percent, spread among various family members. Known as iconoclastic in his management style, Banthoon brought in foreign consultants, aggressively wrote off bad loans during the crisis, and introduced a performance culture for employees, who now number more than 20,000. Banthoon grew the bank’s assets from US$14 billion to $79 bil-

lion as of 2016. An investor who bought the bank’s stock 10 years ago would have seen a 236 percent gain through March from the investment, including dividends. That compares with a 197 percent return from the Thai benchmark stock index during the same period. Banthoon said that despite spending much of his time in Nan, 560 kilometers north of Bangkok, he’s still responsible for the bank’s bottom line, yet leaves the bank’s day-to-day functioning to his managers. He plans to give up the CEO title when he has full confidence in a successor, he said. Back at the bank headquarters, a 40-story glass and steel tower on the Chao Phraya River, there had been four presidents, all veterans with at least 20 years at the lender, handling daily operations. On April 3, one of them, Teeranun Srihong, 51, resigned by mutual agreement. The remaining three presidents are Predee Daochai, 58, who handles risk management; Kattiya Indaravijaya, 51, who handles finance operations and human resources; and Pipit Aneaknithi, 49, who oversees international banking, including branches and offices in China, Cambodia and Laos. In an interview in February, Kattiya, the most senior woman at Kasikornbank, said she felt fortunate to have been able to join the lender, where women now outnumber men 2-to-1. For now, Banthoon is not ready to choose — nor say whether his successor will necessarily be among the three. “It’s still too early to decide,” Banthoon said, noting that the presidents get paid the same salary and bonuses. Succession probably won’t change the bank’s strategy, said chief investment officer Adithep Vanabriksha at the Thai unit of Aberdeen Asset Management plc, one of the top 20 shareholders in the bank. One difficulty Banthoon has in transferring power is that he is also the bank’s chairman, a rarity for Thai banks. He assumed the chairmanship in 2013 when his uncle, Banyong, retired. The arrangement for the dual role came with a six-year permit from the Bank of Thailand, on the condition that Kasikornbank has a board of independent directors. By the end of 2019, he will need to relinquish one of the titles. He will have stepped down down as CEO, though he may remain chairman “for a while,” he said. "I hope it’s not a long while." Banthoon has been traveling to Nan province with increasing frequency since 2010, when he purchased a old wooden hotel in the capital city of Nan that he turned into high-end boutique lodging with rooms from about $60 to $100 a night. In 2014, he started his campaign to protect the local forest, engaging Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, a sister of the current king, as well as the Thai prime minister, to raise awareness and halt deforestation through better land management. He said he hopes his presence in Nan can halt more encroachment of the forest. Nearly 30 percent, an area slightly larger than the Unitee States state of Rhode Island, has been lost as villagers have cut down trees to grow corn for animal feed. Banthoon described the practice as “a very stupid trade-off ” that damages the source of Thailand’s major rivers. “The challenge is for me to be here before I get too old,” he said.

Public attraction

AP/Daniel Chan

A Muslim woman takes photograph of the Smurfs toys displayed inside a mall in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. Bank Negara Malaysia has recently announced the official 2017 gross domestic product forecast for Malaysia at a range of between 4.3 percent and 4.8 percent.

INTERNATIONAL

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017 CURRENCY

Coming in strong

17

BUSINESS BRIEF

China seen allowing bigger yuan declines

UK inflation pickup takes Easter break LONDON: United Kingdom inflation’s upward trajectory paused in March as the timing of Easter led to a drop in airfares, offsetting increases in the price of food and clothing. While the rate was unchanged compared with February, at 2.3 percent, that’s still up from just 0.5 percent a year ago. The increase over the past year reflects higher fuel costs and the pound’s decline since the Brexit vote in June. On the month, prices rose 0.4 percent, the Office for National Statistics said. Airfares fell 4 percent, compared with a 23 percent jump a year earlier, when the Easter holiday fell in March. The inflation pickup is already squeezing workers, and the British Retail Consortium reported on Tuesday that retail sales fell the most in six years in the first quarter. With wage growth forecast to have slowed to 2.1 percent in the past three months, the situation for households may worsen. The Bank of England sees inflation hitting close to 3 percent by the end of the year — well above its 2 percent target. — Bloomberg

Bloomberg BEIJING/HONG KONG

China will probably let the yuan weaken further now that trade tensions with the United States are receding and capital outflow pressures are easing, according to Natixis SA and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. Last week’s meeting between the nation’s presidents has reduced the chances of the US labeling the Asian country a currency manipulator in the near term, said Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Natixis. Signs of a stabilizing economy are adding to the case for Chinese policy makers allowing bigger moves, according to DBS. Expectations that the yuan will weaken are showing up in the market, with the offshore yuan headed for the longest stretch of declines since October and a gauge of onshore volatility rising to a one-month high. The exchange rate has weakened 0.5 percent so far this month, after recording its strongest quarter in a year. China’s real effective exchange rate climbed 36 percent in the past 10 years, according to a Bank for International Settlements gauge. “China is still motivated to depreciate the yuan," said Hong Kong-based Garcia Herrero. "The US is unlikely to announce China a currency manipulator right after the presidents’ meeting. China has bought time — maybe one year — on the currency manipulation issue." Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump agreed on a “100-day plan” to address the two nations’ trade imbalance during a meeting in Florida last week, with investors seeing the outcome as generally positive for bilateral relations. This came before the US Treasury Department is set to publish a semi-annual report on trading partners’ foreignexchange policy as early as this week. Trump has described China as the “grand champion” of manipulation and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on the country’s exports. The onshore currency’s onemonth implied volatility, which is used to price options, rose to 3.97 percent on Monday, the highest since March 10. The yuan will drop 2.5 percent through the rest of this year in Shanghai, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. China’s capital flows turned positive in February for the first time since January 2015, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence estimate, and foreignexchange reserves increased for a second straight month in March. “Against the backdrop of stabilizing growth and a calm outflow picture, China has been more flexible on the yuan’s exchange rate and comfortable to see a bit more depreciation," said Nathan Chow, an economist at DBS in Hong Kong. "The yuan’s weakness in April also shows the PBOC’s intention to let the yuan become more market-driven in the mid-term."

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Russia may suspend flights to Turkey

Reuters/Bobby Yip

Cars are built at a BYD weld line in Shenzhen in May 2016. China auto sales grew 7 percent in the first quarter, China’s automakers’ association said on Tuesday, with the strongest January-March period since 2014 setting up the world’s largest auto market for a better-than-expected year.

Investors flee risk assets, tensions heat Nichola Saminather REUTERS/SINGAPORE

Asian stocks fell on Tuesday as the political tinderbox in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula added to uncertainty over the looming French vote, pushing nervous investors into safer assets such as the yen and Treasuries. Even oil, which advanced earlier on supply concerns in the wake of United States missile strikes on a Syrian air base last week and a shutdown at a Libyan oilfield, reversed to trade lower, breaking its multi-session winning streak. European stocks were also on track for a subdued start, with financial spreadbetters tipping Britain's FTSE 100 and France's CAC down 0.1 percent, and Germany's DAX off 0.2 percent. MSCI's broadest index of AsiaPacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.3 percent. "Most Asian markets could be seen with moderate changes this morning amid a mixed trend," said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore. "Price movements here appear to be largely mirroring those in the US, with key corporate earnings due later in the week and could be the reason that investors are still holding onto equities." The heightened geopolitical risks come at a time when the global economy has shown steady improvement, led by the US and encouraging momentum in export-reliant Asia. Tokyo's Nikkei closed 0.3 percent lower, dragged down by a stronger yen. Toshiba Corp. was among the biggest decliners, ending the day 2.7 percent lower, with the conglomerate expected to file its twice-delayed earnings results on Tuesday, without a full sign-off by auditors. Accountants question the numbers at the company's US nuclear subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co., where massive cost overruns have pushed the Japanese parent company to the brink. Chinese shares lost 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong stocks slumped 0.9 percent. South Korean shares and Taiwan were also lower.

Australian stocks reversed earlier losses to climb 0.3 percent, after a measure of business conditions hit the highest level in a decade. They earlier hit their highest level since April 2015 for the second session in a row. The Australian dollar was flat at US$0.7501, paring earlier gains. Overnight, Wall Street ended a choppy session little changed, weighed down by nervousness about quarterly corporate earnings later this week. The depressed sentiment pulled 10-year US Treasury yields down to 2.3427 percent on Tuesday from Monday's 2.361 percent close. British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke on Monday with US President Donald Trump and agreed that "a window of opportunity" exists to persuade Russia to break ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, May's office said. Trump is open to authorizing additional strikes on Syria if the use of chemical weapons continues in the country, the White House said on Monday. Investors are also nervous about the possibility of US military action against North Korea after the strikes in Syria. A US Navy strike group headed toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula as a show of force, while South Korea's acting president ordered the military to intensify monitoring of the North's activities. China and South Korea agreed on Monday to tougher sanctions on North Korea if it carries out nuclear or long-range missile tests. In France, polls for many weeks have been showing centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen on track to top the first round of voting on April 23 and go through to a May 7 runoff. While Le Pen's plans to ditch the euro and hold a referendum on European Union membership have spooked many investors, recent polls have pointed to a tighter race, with support for far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon surging recently. That has sent the spread between German and French 10year government bonds soaring

Asia ex-Japan down, Nikkei closes lower on yen strength European stocks headed for lower open Wall Street ended choppy session, little changed to the widest since Feb. 22. "After Britain’s Brexit referendum and the US presidential election surprised markets in 2016, could this event do the same?" Mark Burgess, global head of equities at Columbia Threadneedle in London, wrote in a note. "As a Le Pen presidency is perceived to increase the likelihood of France’s withdrawal from the EU, the uncertainty is likely to continue about what this could mean for the euro, along with a potential wider hit to global markets." The euro pulled back 0.1 percent to $1.0587, ahead of data including German economic sentiment, UK price inflation and Eurozone industrial production later on Tuesday. The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 110.65 yen, extending losses from Monday. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major trade-weighted peers, was flat at 101.03, failing to rebound from Monday's 0.16 percent loss. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said on Monday the central bank's plans to raise interest rates gradually are aimed at maintaining employment and inflation rather than boost growth. Crude retreated from fiveweek highs hit earlier in the session as concerns about rising US shale production offset a shutdown at Libya's largest oilfield over the weekend and the US strikes against Syria that had supported prices. US crude pulled back 14 cents to $52.95 a barrel, after rising for the previous five sessions. Global benchmark Brent fell 10 cents to $55.89, breaking a sixsession winning streak. The market jitters and a weaker dollar supported gold, which advanced for a third straight day. Spot gold was 0.2 percent higher at $1,256.50 an ounce.

MOSCOW: Russia may suspend charter flights to Turkey due to the “difficult political situation” there, the Federal Air Transport Agency has warned airlines, a source at one of the companies told Reuters. Russia and Turkey have a history of rolling trade and financial restrictions out against one other in political rows. Ties between Moscow and Ankara have become strained in recent days after Turkey called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a staunch Russian ally, to step down. The Federal Air Transport Agency declined to comment. If Russia goes ahead with the suspension, it could seriously hurt Turkey’s already battered tourism industry which relies heavily on visitors from Russia. The Kommersant newspaper reported that, according to preliminary data, Russian travel agents have already sold up to 400,000 package tours to Turkey. In total, it said 3 million Russian tourists were expected to visit this year. — Reuters

Toshiba reports earnings TOKYO: Toshiba Corp. reported earnings on Tuesday after twice failing to meet deadlines, but the third-quarter figures have not been approved by its auditor. The Japanese company said it sees doubts over its assumed going concern after the bankruptcy filing of its Westinghouse Electric nuclear power unit in the United States. It posted an operating loss of ¥576.3 billion (US$5.2 billion) for the nine months ended Dec. 31, according to an earnings statement that was not cleared by auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata. Toshiba’s CEO Satoshi Tsunakawa will address the media at 6:45 p.m. in Tokyo. Toshiba has been at odds with its auditors over internal controls at its Westinghouse nuclear unit. The company has said it uncovered reports of “inappropriate pressure” internally to push through the acquisition of a US construction firm specializing in building atomic plants. Toshiba had extended the earnings filing deadline twice, intensifying speculation of a possible delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange and pushing the shares 20 percent lower this year. — Bloomberg

El Salvador defends finances SAN SALVADOR: El Salvador on Monday defended its financial stability in response to rating agency Fitch’s assessment it was in default of debt obligations, after the government failed to secure political backing to service interest payments due in April. Fitch earlier said it judged the tiny Central American country “to be in default on its sovereign obligations” for failing to make interest payments on debt to private pension funds worth nearly US$29 million. Last week, the government, headed by the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), could not get the necessary support from the conservative opposition to approve a financial package that covered the interest payments. The government was solvent, said Ricardo Perdomo, who heads the Superintendence of the Financial System, a state-run body charged with overseeing market stability. El Salvador’s finance ministry said the government had the means to meet its obligations, and just needed to secure the necessary parliamentary approval to proceed. — Reuters

Optimistic

Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde attend a news conference following a meeting of the heads of international economy and finance organizations at the Chancellery in Berlin on Monday. The IMF sees a more favorable outlook for the global economy this year and next than in 2016, but it has concerns beyond the near term, Lagarde said on Monday.

MARKET MANIPULATION

Bond rigging suit quotes cache of chats to boost accusation Christian Berthelsen and Matthew Leising BLOOMBERG/NEW YORK

Hundreds of electronic chat transcripts prove some of the world’s biggest banks rigged an obscure, multitrillion-dollar corner of the bond market, according to an amended lawsuit from investors allegedly harmed by the behavior. The bonds in question are known as supranational, sub-sovereign and agency debt — often called SSA bonds. A Bloomberg analysis last year pegged it at a US$9 trillion to $15 trillion market. Issuers include international development organizations, government-sponsored agencies like Fannie Mae, and some sovereign issuers including German states. The amended complaint filed Monday added five more banks

as defendants: Citigroup Inc., BNP Paribas SA, HSBC Holdings plc, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Royal Bank of Canada, plus a former trader who worked for Bank of America Corp., Citi and TD. They either declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Dozens of pages of the transcripts are quoted in the filing, but they were redacted in the publicly available version. The investors, led by the pension plan for an iron workers’ union in Pennsylvania, said they obtained the chats under a confidentiality agreement. There was no detail on who furnished the information or why. The case has not reached the stage where the parties exchange evidence, and it is rare that such detailed information is made available at this stage.

“Rare is the antitrust case where smoking gun evidence exists, and rarer still does it exist at the pleading stage,” according to the lawsuit. “Nevertheless, that is the situation here.” The chats are said to cover more than 300 trading days. Bloomberg has previously reported that the United States Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into whether this bond market was rigged. The United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority and European Union are also looking into the matter. Banks have been accused of manipulating other markets, including currencies, interest-rate derivatives and precious metals. In some instances, those cases have led to multibillion-dollar settlements, penalties and criminal prosecutions.

One of the lead law firms for the plaintiffs in the SSA case, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, reached a $1.87 billion settlement in 2015 with banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a case alleging the brokers conspired to limit competition in the market for credit-default swaps. SSA bonds are fairly illiquid and trade privately between banks and their customers, giving financial firms an upper hand when pricing them. But investors like them because they are perceived as highquality assets — similar to government debt, but with higher yields. The pension fund’s lawyers hired experts to review market data in the SSA market, finding the difference in prices to buy and sell the bonds were much further apart than similarly rated sovereign debt.

The spread on some bonds was 7 basis points, compared with 1.5 basis points if the SSA securities were traded competitively. A basis point is equal to 0.01 percent. The lawsuit — which also accuses Bank of America, Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Agricole SA, Credit Suisse Group AG and Nomura Holdings Inc. of wrongdoing — said the collusion between the traders began as early as 2005, and that they stayed in constant contact through telephone calls, inperson meetings and chat rooms on the Bloomberg terminal. Some chat rooms were permanent, while others were created and shut down each day. The filing accuses the banks of fixing prices that were quoted to investor clients, steered business to each other and shared confidential client information with each other “whenever it could

help them rip off their customers,” according to the lawsuit. “As a direct result of the dealer defendants’ agreement not to compete, investors unwittingly transacted at prices worse than one would expect in a normally operating, competitive market,” according to the lawsuit. The individual traders named as defendants in the case live in the UK and maintained close social ties in addition to working together, according to the complaint. “During the period of this conspiracy, collusion was rampant at these Wall Street banks,” according to the lawsuit. “They had a pervasive culture of pursuing short-term profits at any cost.” The case is In re. SSA Bonds Antitrust Litigation, 16-cv-03711, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

18 |

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

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PRODUCT HIGHLIGHT YOGYAKARTA

VIT Levite launches new flavor, installs inflatable water slide

CLADS

Mineral water brand VIT has just launched a new green grape flavor for its VIT Levite product line, mineral water with fruit flavors, and marked the introduction by setting up an inflatable water slide. The 146-meter-long, two-meter-wide water slide was installed on April 9 in the Epicentrum Kuningan shopping center, Jakarta, where the public could enjoy it. The large slide has been recorded in the Indonesian Records Museum (MURI). Prior to the launch of its new variant, the VIT Levite product line already had several flavors: orange, guava and soursop. Before introducing new flavor variations, the brand always conducted a number of market research studies to test them on consumers.

For queries on ad placement and rates in The Jakarta Post’s Yogyakarta section, call Sekar Ardiayosita at 0856 296 1644 or send an email to [emailprotected]/ [emailprotected]

Island Spot LOCAL BEAT

To place your ad

S. Korean tourism agencies try to attract Muslim RI tourists

in this section, contact Opie or Mirah on 0361 265436 or email opie@ thejakartapost.com & mirah.adi@ thejakartapost.com Courtesy of VIT

A number of South Korean institutions for the Southeast Asian region, including the Korea Tourism Organization and KSmile, are now working together in an effort to attract Indonesian Muslim tourists to travel to the country, particularly to the three provinces of Gyeongsangnam, Ulsan and Busan. In an effort to attract more Indonesian tourists to these three provinces, Korea launched a promotional program on April 10. This program serves as a strategic action to respond to tourism market diversification in light of the termination of Korean tourism products by the Chinese tourism administration on March 15. Specifically, the program seeks to attract Indonesian Muslim tourists, which has great market potential. Last year, for example, about 980,000 Muslim tourists visited Korea. By targeting Indonesia, which has the world’s biggest Muslim population, the institutions will deliver a number of presentations on tourism to Indonesian travel agents, as well as a number of business-to-business (B2B) sessions and a number of other marketing activities. The Korea Tourism Organization will also make an effort to promote Muslim-friendly restaurants, as well as places of worship in its country to further attract Muslim travelers, particularly from Indonesia, to visit.

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

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19

WHERE TO GO CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOREIGN CULTURAL CENTERS •Goethe Institut Jakarta German Language Courses Registration from Monday at 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday at 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday in the 1st and 3rd Saturday in the month 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Goethe Institut Jakarta. Contact: 021-23550208/0213983 0888 or kursus@jakarta. goethe.org • Institut Francais Indonesia France Language Courses IFI Thamrin, address: Jl. MH Thamrin No. 20, Jakarta Pusat, CP: 021-23557951/52 IFI Wijaya, address: Jl. Wijaya I No.48, Jakarta Selatan, CP: 0217247064/7208133 kursus@ifi-id.com/ifi-id.com • Erasmus Huis Dutch Language Courses Address: HR Rasuna Said Kav. S-3 Kuningan Jakarta Contact: 021-5241069/[emailprotected]/erasmushuis-in. nlmission.org

TOUR GUIDE • Indonesian Heritage Society provides free tour at National Museum in English. Every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Every second and fourth Saturday of the month at 10:30 a.m. CP: Indonesian Heritage Society Library 021-5725870/ heritagejkt.org

Motion Blue Jakarta motionbluejakarta.com

• Harry Toledo & Turbulence of Soul April 14-15 at 6 p.m. Motion Blue Jakarta motionbluejakarta.com

• Wanita Kekinian by Nonaria feat Danilla April 15 at 3 p.m. Galeri Indonesia Kaya www.indonesiakaya.com

• Perempuan di Bawah Langit Lembayung by Mian Tiara with Ine Febrianti April 16 at 3 p.m. Galeri Indonesia Kaya www.indonesiakaya.com

• Saturday Night Live: Jay James April 29 Cascade Lounge, Hotel Mulia Senayan - Jakarta Cp: 021 5747777 ext.4388/4488 • Saturday Night Live: Chris Mann May 20 Cascade Lounge, Hotel Mulia Senayan - Jakarta Cp: 021 5747777 ext.4388/4488

THEATER PERFORMANCE

• Panggil Saja Aku Kartini by Annisa Hertami and Sri Krisna Encik (Script: Landung Simatupang) April 29 at 3 p.m. Galeri Indonesia Kaya www.indonesiakaya.com

April 15 at 7 p.m. Kinosaurus - Jakarta kinosaurusjakarta.com In this animated feature, the world is engulfed by a mighty flood, and farmer Ferdinand (Michel Piccoli), his wife, Juliette (Laurentine Milebo), and their son struggle to survive. Ferdinand, a former ship captain, converts his barn into an ark and rounds up animals from the nearby zoo. The rescued animals get along well, until food runs short and the carnivorous creatures began to view their companions as lunch. Ferdinand must convince everyone to work together until the waters recede. This movie will be screened at Kinosaurus Jakarta on April 15 at 7 p.m. For more information, visit kinosaurusjakarta.com.

FILM SCREENINGS

That’s Life Coffee thatslifecoffee.com

• ‘Masseria delle allodole’ April 21 at 6:30 p.m. IIC Auditorium Jakarta

• The Crab April 20-21 at 6 p.m. Motion Blue Jakarta motionbluejakarta.com

• Misi Nomor Satu by Putri Ayudya April 30 at 3 p.m. Galeri Indonesia Kaya www.indonesiakaya.com

PERFORMANCE

• ‘Alla luce del sole’ April 28 at 6:30 p.m. IIC Auditorium Jakarta

CLASS

• Angels By The Murky River April 22 at 6 p.m. Serambi Salihara - Jakarta salihara.org • Leonardo & His Impeccable Six April 22 at 6 p.m. Motion Blue Jakarta motionbluejakarta.com

April 26 at the Grand Sahid Jaya in Central Jakarta. This event will be the country’s largest symposium on arbitration and mediation. It has the support of Indonesia’s Supreme Court, Attorney General’s Office, the government as well as various domestic and international arbitration and mediation institutions. For more information, please visit: http:// medarbid.org/en/event/upcomingevents.

• Color Me Purple - HFGM Liga Medika 2017 April 29 Komunitas Salihara Ligamedika.com

• Love Box April 17-19 at 6 p.m. Motion Blue Jakarta motionbluejakarta.com

TALK

MUSIC PERFORMANCES

‘Raining Cat and Frogs’

• TEDed Club by Beacon Academy April 12 at 1:30 p.m. Beacon Theatre

EXHIBITIONS

• Fashion Nation Eleventh Edition April 6 – 15 Senayan City Jakarta

• Piano Recital by Tobias Borsboom April 15 at 7:30 p.m. Erasmus Huis, Jakarta CP: 021-5241069 [emailprotected]

• Kelas Fotografi Jalanan March 8 – May 6 at 2 p.m. Serambi Salihara salihara.org

• Short Films by Yosep Anggi Noen April 14 at 7 p.m. Kinosaurus - Jakarta kinosaurusjakarta.com

• The Wonderful World of Disney On Ice April 20 at 2:30 a.m – 4:30 p.m. April 21 at 2:30 a.m – 4:30 p.m. ICE — Indonesia Convention Exhibition disneyoniceindonesia.com

SEMINAR

3

rd

• Archeological Seminar “Pompeii: life, death and rebirth, the story of a city and of a population through the archeological and anthropological data” April 20 at 4 p.m. IIC Auditorium Jakarta e-mail: [emailprotected]

ANNUAL symposium for ARBITRATORS AND mediators

“COLLABORATION BETWEEN NATIONAL COURTS AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROFESSIONALS” ,&:/05&41&",&34 t t t

• Griya Feat Olivia Pardede April 10-12 at 6 p.m. Motion Blue Jakarta motionbluejakarta.com

• Mister Moonlight Show April 13 at 6 p.m.

130'%3).VIBNNBE)BUUB"MJ 4) .)(Indonesia - Chief Justice, Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia) +FOEFSBM5/* 1VSO %S)8JSBOUP 4) Indonesia - Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs) %ST).VIBNNBE1SBTFUZP 4) .) (Indonesia - Attorney General)

THE TOPICS INCLUDE:

• Lagu Untuk Perempuan by Ifa Fachir and His Mini Orchestra April 22 at 3 p.m. Galeri Indonesia Kaya www.indonesiakaya.com

• ‘Bukaan 8’ April 14 at 9:30 p.m. Kinosaurus - Jakarta kinosaurusjakarta.com • America Latin Dance Club: Salsa April 11, 18, 25 Salihara - Jakarta salihara.org

ARTS FESTIVAL • Mixed Feelings 02 Illustration Exhibition April 2 – May 6

t t t t

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VENUE: HOTEL GRAND SAHID JAYA, JAKARTA DATE: 26 APRIL 2017

• 3rd Annual Symposium for Arbitrators and Mediators (ASAM)

Aphrodite Club Rasuna, Jl. Rasuna Said, Kuningan, South Jakarta. Anomali Coffee Jl. Senopati No. 35, South Jakarta. Telp. 529-20102 Antipodean Hero Kemang Complex, Jl. Kemang Selatan No. 1, South Jakarta. No fuss super-fresh brekkies at this laid-back Aussie-Kiwi Café. BUNK Pullman Jakarta Central Park Podomoro City, Jl. Let. Jend. S. Parman Kav. 28 Telp. 021 29 20 00 88 Bloeming FX Sudirman, South Jakarta. Telp. 2555 4182 Bakoel Koffie Jl. Cikini Raya No. 25, Central Jakarta. Telp. 3193 6608 CJ’s Bar Hotel Mulia Senayan. Jl.Asia Afrika Senayan, South Jakarta.Telp. 575 3275, 574 7777 ext. 4008, 4018 Bar and cocktail.

RESTAURANTS ASIAN FUSION Chatterbox Plaza Senayan and branches city- wide. Singaporean and western dishes in cozy setting. No MSG. Mamacita The Wine Kitchen Senayan City, LG Unit 52, South Jakarta. Telp. 7278 1477

CONTINENTAL Cacaote Jl. Senopati Raya 80, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. Telp. 293 0612. Place to see and be seen, melt-in-your-mouth cakes and pastries

CHINESE Ah Yat Abalone Mid Plaza 2, LG, Jl. Sudirman Central Jakarta. Telp. 570 7333 Chiao Tung Hotel Rekso Hayam Wuruk, Jl. Hayam Wuruk 2F West Jakarta. Telp. 624 8680

INTERNATIONAL

Alto Restaurant & Bar Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto Kav. 18 Kuningan Barat, Jakarta 12710 Opening time: Alto Bar (Daily) 5 p.m. – 12 a.m. Alto Restaurant (Daily) 6 p.m. – 10.30 p.m. Tel: 021 2277 1888

ITALIAN AWkitchen Plaza Senayan Level P4 Unit No. CP 409 Jl. Asia Afrika No. 8 Jakarta Pusat 10270 +6221 5790 6071 AWkitchen Plaza Indonesia Level 2, No. E0206 Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 28-30 Jakarta Pusat 10350 +6221 2992 4325

INDONESIAN

Beautika Jl. Hang Lekir No. 1, South Jakarta. Telp. 722 6683 A spicy culinary journey to North Sulawesi (Manado). No frills but you will definitely feel hot under the collar from the chilli dosage. Bengawan Solo Hotel Sahid Jaya, Jl. Sudirman No. 86, Central Jakarta. Telp. 570 4444 Bumbu Hotel Sheraton Bandara, West Jakarta. Telp. 559 7777

Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta

WINE & DINE Bacco Lotte Shopping Avenue, Main Lobby, LG 38, Kuningan, South Jakarta. Decanter Wine Lounge Plaza Kuningan, North Tower, Ground Floor, South Jakarta.

Telp. 5296 3888 Loewy Bar & Restaurant Oakwood Premier Cozmo, Kuningan, South Jakarta. Telp. 25542378 The Lounge Le Grandeur Mangga Dua, Jl. Mangga Dua Raya, North Jakarta. Telp. 612 8811 SAKE+ Jl. Senopati 54, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. Telp. 7250002. Japanese bar & lounge. VIN+ Arcadia Plaza Senayan Arcadia Lantai 1 Unit 106-108, South Jakarta. Telp. 57901477 VIN+ PIM Street Gallery Pondok Indah Mall 1st Fl Unit 106 South Jakarta. Telp. 2952 9753 VIN+ PIM soft opening specials: - Get a glass of sangria if you follow us on twitter and facebook. @vinplusid and VIN+ wine and beyond Lunch promotion. Buy 2 main courses and get 20 percent off (food only) High Tea Promotion: 1 Tapas + 1 Glass of wine only Rp 100,000 (tax included). VIN+ Central Park Central Park Mall at Tribeca Park Ground Floor TG. 03 Jl. Let. S. Parman Kav. 28, West Jakarta. Telp. 5698 5768 VIN+ Kemang Jl. Kemang Raya No. 45B, South Jakarta Telp. 7179 2577

in The Jakarta Post’s WHERE TO GO section, please send an email to [emailprotected] / [emailprotected] or

The Indonesian Academy for Independent Arbitrators and Mediators will be hosting the third Annual Symposium for Arbitrators and Mediators (ASAM) on

WHERE TO EAT IN JAKARTA CAFES

PROMOTE YOUR EVENTS For queries on placement of your events

AWkitchen

call Endang at (021) 5300478 ext. 2034.

20

| ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

WEDNESDAY April 12 , 2017

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD PUZZLER

SUDOKU Instructions: Fill the cells in such a way so that all rows, columns and every 3-by-3 subsquare contains every digit from 1 to 9, with no repetition of each digit.

ROSE IS ROSE

THE BORN LOSER

CHESSQUIZ

FERDNAND

By Shelby Lyman

GARFIELD

TECHNOLOGY

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

How artificial life spawned a billion-dollar industry

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21

Up close: A DNA double helix is seen in an undated artist's illustration released by the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Reuters/National Human Genome Research Institute

Ben Hirschler

Scientists are getting closer to building life from scratch and technology pioneers are taking notice, with record sums moving into a field that could deliver novel drugs, materials, ateria chemicals and even perfumes. ev

REUTERS/LONDON

D

espite ethical and safety concerns, investors are attracted by synthetic biology’s wide market potential and the plummeting cost of DNA synthesis, which is industrializing the writing of the genetic code that determines how organisms function. While existing biotechnology is already used to make medicines like insulin and genetically modified crops, synthesizing whole genes or genomes gives an opportunity for far more extensive changes. Matt Ocko, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist whose past investments include Facebook (FB.O), Uber (UBER.UL) and Zynga (ZNGA.O), believes the emerging industry has passed the “epiphany” moment needed to prove it can deliver economic value. “Synthetic biology companies are now becoming more like the disruptive, industrial-scale value propositions that define any technology business,” he said. “The things that sustain and accelerate this

Reuters/Mike Segar

Work in progress: A robotic DNA sample automation machine works on DNA samples at a Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. laboratory at the biotechnology company's headquarters in Tarrytown, New York, US.

Reuters/Robert Pratta

Lab work: A researcher, seen through a window, prepares DNA in a laboratory at the Bioaster Technology Research Institute in Lyon, France.

industry are today more effective, lower cost, more precise and more repeatable. That makes it easier to extract disruptive value.” Ocko, whose Data Collective firm has invested in companies including organism design firm Gingko Bioworks and bioengineer Zymergen, is not alone. Other tech veterans backing the new wave of “synbio” start-ups include Jerry Yang, Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel and Eric Schmidt, famous for their roles at Yahoo (YHOO.O), Netscape, PayPal and Google respectively. Experts meeting in London last week said the science toolkit was improving fast and the cost of synthesizing DNA was now 100 times cheaper than in 2003, although uncertainties remain about regulation and the public’s appetite for tinkering with life. The global conference hosted by Imperial College London, bringing together scientists and money people, came four weeks after researchers announced they were close to building a complete artificial genome for baker’s yeast. This ambitious project has brought complex artificial life a big step closer because yeast is a eukaryote, an organism whose cells contain a nucleus, just like human cells. The yeast work shows how DNA can be manipulated on a large scale, with genetic code increasingly treated like a programming language in which binary 1s and 0s are replaced by DNA’s four chemical building blocks, abbreviated as A, T, G, C. A growing emphasis on computing is closing the gap between biology and traditional tech, even though this is an area that remains unpredictable, variable and complex. “The intersection of biology and technology is a difficult place to be because of different cultures and languages, but I think we are breaking through some of those barriers,” said Thomas Bostick, former head of the US Army Corps of Engineers who now leads biotech firm Intrexon’s (XON.N) environment unit. The idea that engineering life can be broken down into data and coding is part of the appeal for tech investors. “DNA is seen as the next programmable matter and that is what a lot of the Silicon Valley investors are excited about,” said John Cumbers, founder of synthetic biology network SynBioBeta. “They’ve witnessed the power of software over the last 25 years and they are looking for the next big thing.” Data from SynBioBeta shows a record US$1.21 billion was invested in the sector worldwide in 2016, a threefold increase from five years earlier, while the number of firms in the sector has almost doubled to 411. A range of companies are springing up, from those producing new chemicals for industry to providers of DNA synthesis and related software, like US-based Twist Bioscience and Britain’s Synthace. Work is also advancing by leaps and bounds in the complementary area of gene editing now

Betting on synthetic life Global investment in synthetic biology. $1.5 bln

$1.2 bln 2016

1.0

0.5

0 2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Source: SynBioBeta.

being embraced by many of the world’s top drugmakers. The current product focus represents a change of tack from the first widely tipped application of synthetic biology in making biofuels from engineered algae. In the event, algal biofuel proved a lot harder to scale up than expected and a tumbling oil price during the Great Recession of the late 2000s undercut the business model. Drew Endy of Stanford University believes the case for using synthetic biology to take on gasoline never stacked up. “Why would you bank your whole platform on a bulk high-volume, low-price, low-margin product? It’s baffling, not strategic,” he said. Today’s synbio firms are looking at more niche and expensive products, such as potent painkillers and cancer medicines made in yeast cells or fabrics with novel properties, although some have only reached demonstration stage. California-based Bolt Threads recently debuted a limited edition $314 necktie made from yeast-derived spider’s silk and Japanese rival Spiber has made a concept piece spider-silk parka jacket. Boston-based Gingko Bioworks, meanwhile, is developing a rose oil for French fragrance house Robertet (ROBF.PA) and Switzerland’s Evolva (EVE.S) has developed a vanillin, or vanilla extract, that, unlike most vanilla flavoring, is not made from petrochemicals. In some areas — especially anything to do with food or the environment — synthetic biology is already running into criticism. Friends of the Earth was quick to condemn the new yeast-derived vanillin as “extreme” genetic engineering. Other controversies appear inevitable as synthetic biologists push the envelope with more extreme projects, such as a Harvard team’s Jurassic Park-style proposal to resurrect the woolly mammoth by adapting the Asian elephant genome. Intrexon’s Bostick, whose firm is releasing millions of genetically manipulated mosquitoes in Brazil in a bid to slash populations of Zika-carrying insects, believes each synthetic biology scheme has to prove its benefits outweigh the risks. “There are always pros and cons, and we owe people a fair and balanced assessment.”

MY GADGET

CHEF BUDI LEE

Social Media

IN FAVOR OF EASY GADGETS Stevie Emilia THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

P

aris is still on chef Budi Lee’s mind. He traveled to the City of Lights mid-February as part of the Tourism Ministry’s Wonderful Indonesia culinary campaign team alongside renowned chef William Wongso. The team introduced the French capital to the best traditional dishes the archipelago has to offer. Playing host to the International Academy of Gastronomy (AIG) Gala Dinner at Le Bristol

Courtesy of Budi Lee

Hotel, the chefs served a guest list of inH ternationally renowned names from te the world’s exclusive gastronomy scene. th They also brought their culinary skills to T the Shangri-La Hotel for a six-day event th that saw them catering to 756 guests for th lunch and dinner. lu Their menu was a fine-dining twist on traditional Indonesian dishes, such o aas rendang (beef cooked in coconut milk and spices), ayam bakar bumbu rum jak (grilled chicken with chili coconut ja sauce) and sate ayam (chicken satay). sa “The events were very successful and went beyond our initial expectations,” w said Budi, who has worked at several top sa restaurants and represented Indonesia at re the World Association of Chefs’ Society. th In between his busy schedule, the cchef, who also works as a food consultant for up-and-coming restaurant businessfo ees, relies on his gadgets both for work and to communicate with friends and family. “I’m not really a person who closely follows gadget trends. I tend to fall behind in technology. The most important thing for me is that my gadget can be used for work and to communicate,” he said.

Samsung Note 4 I am using Samsung Note 4 because it has a big screen and it’s easy to use. I am a fan of Samsung because it’s user friendly. My laptop is also from Samsung. Maybe I’ll have more gadgets in the future, but I prefer to buy one that is easy to handle and has accessories that are easy [to find]. The most important accessory for me is a USB connector that allows me to access all my files. [Phone] specifications are not too important, as long as I can access pdf files from work and so on. And another important factor is a long-lasting battery, because many phones nowadays have batteries that run out quickly.

I usually use Facebook to connect with friends, and YouTube as I hardly watch TV anymore. But I use Instagram more because it’s easier to access and [I enjoy] viewing inspirational posts from people. I usually post [my] ordinary routines, especially something that will make other people smile. I really don’t like reading posts from those who only grumble and complain. And of course I post pictures of food, fresh food ingredients in the market and, recently, I post pictures of my daughter.

Apps For apps, my favorites include WhatsApp to chat; Plan Do to organize my activities and to give me reminders because I easily forget [my schedule]; and Note, which is very handy for taking notes because I don’t always have paper and pen with me.

22

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FEATURES

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

Overcoming

barriers

with

music Different worlds: The audience watch Meryem Aboulouafa and Italian musicians perform at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC).

The world is on the brink of madness these days, and perhaps music can work to attenuate the ever-growing threats of hate and prejudice directed against humanity.

Grace: Moroccan singer Meryem Aboulouafa sings while playing the guitar during a recent performance at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC) in Central Jakarta.

Hans David Tampubolon Feel the rhythm: Italian musician Andrea Cangianiello uses a simple percussion instrument in the recent performance.

THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

T

oday’s society reminds us of the periods before the two world wars began. There is a lot of joyfulness and opportunity among middle class youth, yet beneath this carefree visage, there is the rise of fascism and hard-line nationalism that divides humanity with borders and divisions. Superpower United States currently hosts ultra-nationalist Donald Trump as its president with his narrow-minded nationalist rhetoric of “us” versus “them”. In Indonesia, the candidacy of a Christian, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, has sparked a widening division between moderate Muslims and conservatives who refuse to accept that a non-Muslim can hold a public leadership position in the largest Muslim-majority country in the world. A recent music jam session promoting inter-cultural interaction at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC) in Central Jakarta provided a much-needed spark among Indonesian youth to break down the boxes that their leaders have been trying to put them into. In collaboration with the Institut Franais d’Indonesie (IFI), the jam session featured singer Meryem Aboulouafa from Morocco, four Italian musicians — Francesco Santalucia, Giordano Tricamo, Andrea Cangianiello and Ruggiero Balzano — and Indonesian artists from the Sjuman School of Music. To open the jam session, Aboulouafa and the Italian musicians performed a medley of four songs; “Agharo,” “Ya Qalbi,” “Smile” and “Harmonie du Soir.” Santalucia’s piano play combined with Cangianiello’s percussion and Aboulouafa’s hypnotic and soothing vocals formed a unique European sound that brought out an aura of exotic middle-eastern deserts and culture. Afterwards, Indonesian musicians, including jazz singer Nesia Ardi, spontaneously joined the next musical session with Aboulouafa and her colleagues, playing random notes that produced a melodic harmony despite the

In the moment: Pianist Francesco Santalucia plays his composition during the performance.

fact that it was their first time meeting and playing together. Santalucia, after the performance, thought the jam session with the Indonesian musicians was a blast and showed how music was very powerful force in breaking down the walls that segregate people from different cultures, races and religions. “You build an instant connection in a jam session,” Santalucia said. Aboulouafa added that she did not learn the Indonesian language before collaborating in a humming performance with Nesia during the jam session, but both of them showed how they could build chemistry instantly and produce

music on the spot. “She [Nesia] has a lot of groove. The way she sings offers a lot of freedom, which is very surprising to me because I was expecting a more traditional form of music but she showed that Indonesians are also very connected to international genres, which is very nice because I don’t like borders in music,” Aboulouafa said. “We all speak differently but music is our common language,” she added. Other than the jam session at the IIC, Aboulouafa and the Italian musicians were also in Indonesia to play gigs in different cities to promote their unique music that combines two different cultures — European and Morrocan — into one.

Aboulouafa’s collaboration with the Italian musicians began two years ago when she met Santalucia at an event in Rome. From the meeting, both of them saw that they had a similar taste in music and believed that their collaboration could produce something refreshing and exciting. “I think we have the same way of seeing music, the same attraction to the genres of music and we both go in the same direction. We share the same inspirations and this is why we decided to collaborate,” Aboulouafa said. After playing in Indonesia, Santalucia said they planned to travel to other countries to introduce their unique style of music so that the younger generation could see the power of music to connect people together amid ever-growing tensions between state leaders. “I think music is the most important way to create a connection from different places. We are here and we travel for this reason and we share our ideas with different people from different parts of the world. We are in a band, we have different cultures and religions but we always share music any way we can,” he said. “We grew up in different places. I was in Europe and she was in Casablanca and this is why I love the disparity in our group because it makes our music very special.” — PHOTOS BY JP/JERRY ADIGUNA

GUESS UESS WHAT?? Jenner getting reality eality TV show

Ku Kutcher thanks wife fo for award

Rossa to w wear 15 kg costume iin concert rt

LOS ANGELES: Kylie Jenner iss getting an E! reality series of her own. nThe cable network has ang up with nounced plans for a Keeping d Life the Kardashians spinoff titled of Kylie. E! says the eight-episode series will document the life of the 19-year-old makeup entrepreneur as she juggles being a celebrity, a businesswoman and a teen. The show is set to premiere this summer. It will in-clude other members of the Kardashian clan and some off Jenner’s friends. Jenner is the daughter of Caitlyn Jenner and Kris Jenner er and the younger sister of model Kendall Jenner. Her older half siblings include Kim Kardashian West. — AP

IOW Ashton Kutcher has offered IOWA: ffered emotional pra s, his twin brother praise for his wife Mila Kunis, and the rest of his family while hile accepting an award for character in n his nat native Iowa. K h Kutcher was honored with a Pillar Pi of Character award att Drake University recently. The Dra e Des Moines Register capture tured video of the speech. A After receiving the honor, Kutcher noted that he learned Kut ed by growing up as a to share s twin. He says his brother Mi-twi chael, who has cerebral palsy, cha y, taught him that “loving people tau ple isn’t a choice.” isn’ Kutcher added that he and K d Kunis’ two young children Kun taught him the “greatest lesson tau son He says he wanted in character.” c nted to call c his parents when his children were born to tell them he dre never knew how much theyy loved ne him. him — AP

JAKARTA: Singer Singe Rossa has promised omised to serve up a musical fea oming solo feast for her upcoming concert, which w elebration of her will also be a celebration usic. illustrious 21-ye 21-year career in music. “There will be a four-story ry stage, which is going to be b awesome,” Rossa said as quoted by kapanlagi.com. k “In addition, a lot of designers addit esigners have participated in creating my costumes, and one of them weighs around 15 kilograms, she revealed, d, adding kilograms,” that it had required quite e a bit of practice to t move around d in the heavy outfi ou t. “The costume will definitely limit my mobility, but I cannot wait to wear it,” she said. Rossa Ross skyrocketed into national music scene with m ith the release of her single “Tegar” (Steadfast) in 1996. — JP (Steadf

AP

AP

Kapanlagi.com

FEATURES

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

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23

Fitbit Charge Courtesy of fitbit.com

Courtesy of

A m az on . c

om

Activity trackers not always great

FOR MONITORING EXERCISE HEART RATE

Mio Fuse

Some people who rely on fitness trackers to see how hard they work out may want to rethink this approach. Lisa Rapaport REUTERS/NEW YORK

A

study suggests the increasingly popular devices may get more accurate heart rate readings when users are at rest than during exercise. The study tested four popular wristbands, each of which has a lightemitting diode (LED) that measures heart rate from tiny changes in skin blood volumes by using light reflected from the skin. Participants in the small study — 40 healthy adults — wore two trackers on each wrist and compared resting and exercise heart rate readings on the devices to the gold standard

used by doctors: an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) test. At rest, the Fitbit Surge got heart rate measurements that most closely matched the ECG results, and the Basis Peak was furthest off. In tests that also included the Fitbit Charge and Mio Fuse, none of the trackers got exercise heart rate readings that came close to the ECG. These results suggest that while the trackers may help monitor daily activity, it’s not clear the heart rate readouts would be accurate enough to help patients with certain health problems make medical decisions, the authors note in Annals of Internal Medicine. “At any moment, the tracker could

be off by a fair bit, but at most moments, it won’t be,” said lead study author Lisa Cadmus-Bertram of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. “This is why our paper doesn’t suggest that the commercial trackers we tested would be sufficient for medical applications where high precision is needed during exercise,” Cadmus-Bertram said by email. “Yet for the typical recreational user, they may still provide feedback that’s useful and motivational.” To assess the accuracy of the trackers, researchers examined heart rate data for participants who were 49 years old on average and slightly overweight. First, they looked at the amount of

Pick me: Fitness trackers ( from left) Basis Peak, Adidas Fit Smart, Fitbit Charge, Sony SmartBand and Jawbone Move, are posed for a photo next to an iPhone in New York.

BILL OF HEALTH

among patients with specific disease states, such as heart failure, atrial fibrillation and other chronic medical problems, where it is possible that additional variation will occur with physical activity,” Cantillon said by email. In particular, patients with the most common heart rhythm disorder, atrial fibrillation, shouldn’t rely on the trackers to detect abnormal rhythms, said Dr. Sumeet Chugh, a researcher at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles who wasn’t involved in the study. “There is a lot at stake here,” Chugh said by email. “When it comes to the use of wrist-worn trackers, we need to be confident of accuracy comparable to treadmill testing if we are going to use the information for patient care.” A spokesperson for Fitbit told Reuters Health that Fitbit trackers “are not intended to be medical devices” but instead “to give a more informed picture” of overall health. “Extensive internal studies [...] show that Fitbit’s PurePulse technology performs to industry standard expectations for optical heart rate on the wrist,” the spokesperson said. Mark Gorelick, chief science officer at Mio Global, said in a statement that the company’s technology “helps consumers understand the intensity of their exercise, based on their personal profile and heart rate data, and empowers them to proactively manage their health and reduce risk of lifestyle-related diseases.”

AP/Bebeto Matthews

WEIGHT SWINGS MAY BE RISKY FOR OVERWEIGHT PATIENTS CHICAGO: Losing and regaining weight repeatedly may be dangerous for overweight heart patients, a study suggests. Heart attacks, strokes and death were more common in patients whose weight changed the most over four years. For some, weight changes might have reflected yo-yo dieting, which some previous studies have suggested may be unhealthy for people without heart problems. That means a hefty but stable weight might be healthier than losing but repeatedly regaining extra pounds. But big weight fluctuations in heart patients studied could also have been unintentional and a possible sign of serious illness that would explain the results, the researchers and outside experts said. Doctors not involved in the study called it interesting but not proof that “yo-yo” weight changes are risky for overweight heart patients. Regardless, the recommendation from New York University cardiologist and lead author, Dr. Sripal Bangalore, echoes standard advice for anyone who’s overweight: “Lose weight but try to keep that weight off.” The study was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. It’s an analysis of about 9,500 patients involved in a different study that didn’t examine reasons for weight changes. Weight was measured an average of 12 times over four years and some patients lost and regained several pounds in between each measurement. Among the 1,900 patients with the biggest weight changes, 37 percent had fatal or non-fatal heart attacks, strokes or other heart trouble during the study. That compared with 22 percent of the 1,900 patients whose weight changed the least. Weight changes in the highest-risk group averaged about 5 kg over four years. In the lowest-risk group, weight

agreement between the readings from the trackers and the ECG tests. When participants were seated, researchers took readings for the trackers and the ECG tests at one-minute intervals for 10 minutes. The narrowest range of differences between the trackers and the ECG, indicating the most accuracy, was for the Fitbit Surge. The range for this tracker ranged from an underestimation of 5.1 beats per minute to an overestimation of 4.5 beats per minute. The widest range of difference at rest was for the Basis Peak, which ranged from an underestimation of 17.1 beats per minute to an overestimation of 22.6 beats per minute. When participants exercised on a treadmill, the ranges were even wider. The Mio Fuse ranged from an underestimation of 22.5 beats per minute to an overestimation of 26 beats per minute, for example, while the Fitbit Charge range from an underestimation of 41 beats per minute to an overestimation of 36 beats per minute. The study is small, and researchers found only limited repeatability with results for the same participant under the same conditions. Still, the findings are an important first step in understanding the clinical validity of wrist trackers many patients already use, said Dr. Daniel Cantillon, a researcher at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio who wasn’t involved in the study. “We need data testing these devices

FDA APPROVES MORE DRUGS, AND FASTER

AP/M. Spencer Green

changes averaged less than 0.9 kg over the same period. Deaths totaled almost 500 and were more common in patients with the biggest weight swings. Most patients lost and regained weight repeatedly, but the researchers didn’t calculate health risks based on the number of times weight changed. Weight fluctuations in normal-weight patients were not linked with heart problems or deaths. University of Colorado heart specialist Dr. Robert Eckel called it an interesting study, but said it doesn’t prove that weight changes were dangerous. He also said a major limitation is not knowing if weight loss-regain was intentional. Dr. Clyde Yancy, cardiology chief at Northwestern University’s medical school in Chicago, said there’s no clear biological explanation for how yo-yoing weight might cause harm and that the study results could be merely due to chance. “The takeaway? Simple messages still prevail,” Yancy said. “A heart-healthy lifestyle both prevents and treats cardiovascular disease.” — AP

WASHINGTON: Contrary to some political claims, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved more drugs, and two to three months faster on average, than European regulators did in recent years, new research shows. “It’s an urban myth” that the FDA is slower than other countries to clear promising treatments for patients, said the agency’s longtime cancer drugs chief, Dr. Richard Pazdur. He had no role in the approval rate research, which was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The new research compared how new drugs fared before the FDA and the European Medicines Agency between 2011 and 2015. The FDA approved more drugs than the Europeans — 170 versus 144 — with a median review time of 306 days versus 383 days in Europe. Reviews were speedier at the FDA for drugs for cancer and blood diseases, but not other maladies, compared to the Europeans. The FDA also moved quicker on so-called orphan drugs, for relatively rare conditions. The results are similar to a previous analysis that some of the same researchers did for therapies approved between 2001 and 2010. The latest

AP/Robert Dawson/Amgen

study was done by Dr. Nicholas Downing at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Audrey Zhang at New York University and Dr. Joseph Ross at the Yale School of Medicine. President Donald Trump has called the FDA’s drug approval process “slow and burdensome,” and his nominee to head the agency, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, has criticized what he calls unnecessary regulations. Gottlieb’s confirmation hearings began on Wednesday. Some other doctors defended the FDA’s track record. “We’re the best in the world. Our FDA is great,” said Dr. George Demetri of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is a board member of the American Association for Cancer Research, and spoke from the group’s annual meeting in Washington, attended by some 20,000 cancer scientists from around the world. — AP

IMAGES

WEDNESDAY April 12, 2017

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PRESERVING KARIA’A TRADITION

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Cultural bliss: A young woman wears a traditional Lariangi costume for the Karia’a ritual in Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi.

Getting a ride: A group of men carry sedan chairs, locally known as Kasonda’a, to transport young girls to the Karia’a ceremony.

First, let me take a selfie: Girls in traditional costumes immortalize their special day with a selfie.

Jerry Adiguna THE JAKARTA POST/WAKATOBI, SOUTHEAST SULAWESI

K

aria’a means cheerfulness in the local language of Kaledupa, Wakatobi, in Southeast Sulawesi. It is also an annual Wakatobi ritual held to mark early teenagers’ entry into adolescence. The Karia’a procession for young girls serves as a means of inculcating ethical, moral and spiritual values among youngsters entering adolescence. Families joining Karia’a register their girls by delivering agricultural produce like corn, tubers and coconuts, as determined by the local customary body called Sara, to symbolize their gratitude and respect for ancestors.

Before the peak of the ceremony called Henauka Nu Mo’ane, female Karia’a participants are confined and accompanied by traditional songs for more than two weeks, during which they are required to face left while sleeping for eight nights and then face right for nine nights. Every day they have to tell their dreams to customary leaders who interpret them for their future lives. In the morning before the Henauka Nu Mo’ane parade, the Karia’a girls are dressed in Lariangi attire and carried by sedan chairs called Kasonda’a to the place of celebration known as Batanga. Along the way their families and relatives yell “Lego!”, meaning new or not something borrowed, as a manifestation of joy and pride. At the celebration site, the Henauka Nu Mo’ane participants sit on chairs

lined with pillows to show respect while waiting for Sara to give them blessings by smearing turmeric on their arms and feet to ward off evil spirits. Following the procession, the participants perform the Lariangi dance while singing verses in the Kaledupa language that contain advice and guidance. Women have a sacred position in the Kaledupa tradition. As mothers in the center of families, women are seen as playing a vital role in bringing up and protecting their children. By preserving Karia’a and bequeathing it to the younger generation, the moral and spiritual values of Kaledupa will be a cultural treasure amid the inevitable waves of modernization and globalization today.

Under the spotlight: A resident of Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, prepares a traditional dish for the Karia’a ritual.

Get in line: Girls attending the Karai’a ritual line up as they wait for the procession.

Face to face: Young girls dressed in traditional costumes strike a pose before the Karia’a ceremony.

Little gem: A young girl gets ready to participate in the Karia’a ritual.

— PHOTOS BY JP/JERRY ADIGUNA