Lifting Petrol Subsidy

The world oil price is steadily increasing with a little hiccups here and there in connection with the oil politics played by the US and Arab’s countries. As a negative oil producing countries, meaning, it is importing consumable oil products more than it is exporting crude oil; Indonesia suffers from the high oil price. In practice, the monopolistic one and only oil company, Pertamina, could not give away their profits in the form of public subsidy. Pertamina concerns is only to make a lot of profits, pay its dividend, pay bonuses to all members of boards: directors and commissaries, to ensure that the company is running as smoothly as possible. Therefore, the petrol price subsidy shall be burdened by the government.

To begin with I should underline the inefficiency of subsidy. In the standard supply and demand curve diagrams, a subsidy will shift either the demand curve up or the supply curve down. A subsidy that increases the production will tend to result in a lower price, while a subsidy that increases demand will tend to result in an increase in price. Both cases result in a new economic equilibrium. Therefore it is essential to consider elasticity when estimating the total costs of a planned subsidy: it equals the subsidy per unit (difference between market price and subsidized price) times the new equilibrium quantity. One category of goods suffers less from this effect: Public goods are—once created—in ample supply and the total costs of subsidies remain constant regardless of the number of consumers; depending on the form of the subsidy, however, the number of producers on demanding their share of benefits may still rise and drive costs up.

The recipient of the subsidy may need to be distinguished from the beneficiary of the subsidy, and this analysis will depend on elasticity of supply and demand as well as other factors. The net effect and identification of winners and losers is rarely straightforward, but subsidies generally result in a transfer of wealth from one group to another (or transfer between sub-groups).

OPTIONS AVAILABLE

In regards to the petrol subsidy in Indonesia, there are more and more opinions on lifting the subsidy due to the increasing amount of demand triggered by the fact (1) the oil supply is monopolistic by Pertamina, the state oil company, so that it is inelastic towards the low price (2) there is no strict control over the quota, because Pertamina can always ask the Finance Minister to pay for the price difference. Therefore, the possible options are (1) to give competing oil companies the right to freely sell Premium – the subsidized petrol (2) to limit the quota of Premium which can be used by a car; (3) to convert the use of Premium into its cheaper substitutes, e.g. LNG, LPG, electricity, bio-diesel; (4)  to ban private cars from using Premium; (5) to cross subsidize Premium with vehicle taxes.

LET THE INVISIBLE HAND OF COMPETITION DECIDE THE PRICE

There are oil companies selling petrol apart from Pertamina. They are Shell, Petronas, and Total, who can actually sell the higher quality petrol (Pertamina names it Pertamax) cheaper at least IDR2,000 per litre (as per 11/05/11). Many believe that this higher price of Pertamina is due to its inefficiency by only importing Pertamax, instead of self-producing the fuel, but I don’t think so. Under President Director Karen, Pertamina  has been reorganised to be very efficient – you can ask any of its employees about his/her now much reduced fringe benefits. The only reason for the higher price is the bigger bills, Pertamina can charge to the Finance Minister in the name of fuel subsidy. The president director Karen Agustiawan is an alumni from Mobil Oil and Haliburton, two of the most efficient oil companies operating in Indonesia. You can clarify this statement by examining how small, these companies pays their corporate taxes, but not by how unbelievably big these companies claim their cost recovery. Therefore, in order to stop president director Karen from doing her old bad habits of abusing the Indonesian government’s lousy system, we shall grant its competing oil companies the equal right to freely sell Premium – the subsidized petrol. I’m quite sure that all this mambo-jambo about subsidized petrol is rooted in the monopoly nature of Pertamina, combined with the lack of integrity of its president director.

LIMITING THE SUPPLY OF SUBSIDIZED FUEL

Theoretically, limiting or reducing the supply of goods in the market, ceteris paribus, will always push the price to increase. As the shadow price is higher, the shadow market will emerge. Efforts of smuggling Premium to a shadow market abroad will definitely be multiplied. And the shadow market  has already been existed. For example, on 27/08/11, Indonesian Navy patrol boats cornered and detained a North Korean-flagged ship off the Riau Islands. The vessel, the Mount Tioman, with an Indonesian crew, was carrying more than 18,000 barrels of oil and sailing toward China when it was caught offloading some oil to several smaller vessels. Officials arrested the crews of the boats and confiscated the oil. On 30/08/11, police also stopped several military trucks carrying gasoline to East Timor by land. In recent weeks seven employees of state oil company Pertamina have been detained for questioning in connection with smuggling. No charges have been filed.
On 15/10/11 police from Bintan Timur confiscated 1 ton of subsidized diesel, in Kijang, Bintan, belonging to Sarifudin (aka Edi), 41, a taxi driver, in his fuel kiosk in Kampung Tanah Kuning, Kijang Kota. He admitted reselling the diesel to local fishermen charging IDR500 extra per litre.
Hence, limiting the supply of subsidized fuel  is a very hard thing to do, if not impossible at all.

CONVERSION TO OTHER FUELS: GAS, ELECTRICITY, & BIO-DIESEL

This option in theory, is an idyllic and long-term one, because not only these fuel alternatives are cheaper, but they are also environmental friendly. Unfortunately, the conversion kit from petrol to gas will cost the car owner IDR30million. Government initially expected Pertamina to buy the conversion kits and do the conversion to as many cars as possible on a voluntary basis. But Ms Karen Agustiawan obviously has never joined a scout or any other voluntary organization before, as Pertamina finally refused to be in charge of the non-profit fuel conversion program.
In my humble opinion, this option needs to be supported not only by Government, but also by the industrialists. Instead of converting, they can simply produce and sell cars with hybrid fuel combustion system, be it petrol and gas, petrol and electricity, diesel and gas, diesel and electricity, and so on and so forth. How would the car manufacturers join this program when they can sell cars as easy as selling peanuts. Of course, the Government needs to give incentives to the car industry. Thai government already introduced this fiscal incentives package in 2009. Why can’t Indonesian government do something about it? Nonetheless, be careful, because Indonesia actually do not have much gas left. Due to stupidity, and maybe greed, someone signed a long term contract to sell natural gas cheaply to China. Therefore the solutions left are only electricity and palm oil biodiesel. Many of these palm oil plantations are now owned by Malaysian corporations. So, Indonesia therefore have limited options of either build expensive electricity generating dams all over the country, or build cheaper but high risk nuclear power plan.

NO SUBSIDIZED PETROL FOR PRIVATE CAR OWNERS

First of all, there are many small and medium size industry who do not have the resources to apply for public transport ‘yellow’ plate number. Secondly, how many cars out there that have ‘red’ government plate number. Try to multiply the number of Pemda, Pemkot, and Pemprov with the number of fleet they have. Also add the number of ‘green’ or ‘blue’ or ‘red’ military plate number. This option, therefore is not effective at all. Fourthly, the owner of those private ‘black’ plate number cars are tax payers. With the corruption are still rampant in most tax offices, many people on Facebook already gave ultimatum of not wanting to pay their taxes. This option will definitely make them really pissed off, hence their executing their ultimatum is just  a matter of time. Finally, the tension among the poor population against the the MPs, government officials, police,  satpol and so on is a bit high due the many recent cases where they do not show any sympathy for the poor people. Many experts believe that if the burden of disallowing drivers of private cars from buying subsidized petrol, poor people and  middle class people with turn to violence and anarchy. The easiest target would be the gas stations that are vulnerable to catch fire.

CROSS SUBSIDY FUEL PRICE WITH VEHICLE LOCAL TAXES

The fact that there are many big cars, like Toyota Land Cruiser, Pajero sports, Volvo, Mercs, BMW, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Infinity, Audi, VW, Ford, any brand you name it, the manufacturer must have a line of their big engine fitted cars for some reasons. In the name of speed and power, they put big engine that always thirsty for petrol into their expensive cars. In my humble observation, most of the owners of these luxury cars always buy Premium – the subsidized fuel. They are rich people, but they are smart. Understanding that their cars drink a lot of fuel, they do not want to buy the more expensive petrol, like Pertamax.

On the other hand, many poor to middle class car owners can only afford cheap small cars with their small fuel-efficient engines. Even these cars have only small capacity fuel tanks. These people only use very limited amount of subsidized petrol and when they have to buy the double more expensive petrol, they are the one that will be hit very hard. The difference petrol price could mean a tuition for their children schools. While for the rich people who are currently abusing the subsidy, the difference could only mean a change from having dinner in a very prestigious restaurant into a smaller but still luxury restaurant.

Since, there is a progressive rate of car tax rates depending on the size of the engine, why not ask local governments to help pay the subsidy. They can always increase the taxes they annually charge to luxury car owners without hurting the owner of small cars.

CONCLUSION

From all the options available, in my opinion the most pragmatic one is the cross subsidy with vehicle taxes. The local government’s SAMSAT office have the capacity to do further investigation as they have the actual number of cars with their engine size. It is time for the government to show that they really care for the poor and middle class people.

 

Roots of Indonesian Official Religions

Apart from the hundreds of different ethnic speaking different languages within its archipelago, Indonesia has 5 official religions: Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hindu and Buddha. Therefore, Indonesia’s state motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Sanskrit) meaning “University” – Unity in Diversity, really has to be uphold dearly during its nation building period which could take more than two centuries as in case of the United States which has not grown up yet – as shown by the fact that they never had a female or non-white president, until Barack Obama.

While racial issues concerning Chinese foreign population, Ambonese and Papuan Dutch supporters, Javanese and Madurese migrants, etc. have not been completely sorted out; religion diversity has become a new challenge during the difficult time post the prolonging monetary, financial, economic and social crises.

The tension between its Muslim and Christian populations has reached its critical points, not only because missionary churches built in a 100% Muslim housing complex, or missionary activities targeting poor Muslim families, but also Christian private schools forcing Christianity RE on their Muslim students. IMHO the last case was absolute stupidity on behalf of the Muslim parents sending their students to expensive Christian private schools, while Islamic private schools are available in abundant with excellent quality as well.

It is not easy to create harmony – not to mention unity – among the religious diversity, but it is actually not as impossible just like what John Lennon wrote implicitly in his song Imagine :

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one.

The song is just for intermezzo, so that you can be relaxed a bit in reading whatever I’m going to write here. Because it is actually parents’ human right to send their children to any school that they think would be the best for their children education, we cannot tell these confused parents to be more pragmatic in their selection. On the other hand it is also unfair to burden Christian schools by asking them to hire a Muslim RE teacher to cater their minority Muslim students need.

My suggestion is to ban any exclusive religious teaching – theory and practice – at any school. RE should be taught as inclusive as possible, covering all the 5 official state religions. Doing this all the children will learn to appreciate other religious teachings. From this young age appreciation and understanding, children will be able to respect and accept others having different religions than themselves. Once they respect each other, harmony will come automatically. With social harmony, it will be easy – or at least less difficult – for the Government to promote unity.

While this idea is just daydreaming notion, I would like to try to create harmony and eventually unity among the 5 official religious population of Indonesia by writing about the roots that connect all the 5 state official religions into one.

The root of Judaism, Christianity and Islam can clearly be traced from Prophet Abraham PBUH (Peace be upon him). His great grand children from Sarah – the first wife – made up the Jewish population of today. From Prophet Isaac PBUH arrived great prophets of Solomon PBUH, David PBUH, Moses PBUH, and Jesus PBUH. While, his great grand children from Hagar – the second wife – made up the Arab population of today. No great prophet descended from Prophet Ismael PBUH, until the greatest last prophet of Muhammad PBUH. Therefore it is downright stupidity that the Jewish and Arab population have to fight over Palestine, while they are all originated from the same great prophet of Abraham PBUH. Anyway, it’s actually politics that split them apart.

What politics? Apartheid? Racism? Well, it is a well known fact that Jews do not consider other human races as equal, and name them as Gentiles. Christians, knowing that Jesus PBUH is a 100% Jew who was circumcised and did not consume pork, still broke all the rules by eating pork and rejecting circumcision, just because the Romans told them that Jesus PBUH died to pay for all their sins. Hence, it is free for any Christians to commit any sins, as Jesus PBUH paid their sins in advance with his life. No wonder, adultery, alcohol abuse, gambling, and so on – you name it! – are so rampant among Christians. Can’t they see that this is just an excuse to avoid retaliation due to the Romans had their hand dirty with the crucifixion? It is so illogical that sins can be transferred from one to another, even if they are from the riches and nobles to the peasants involving some transfer fee – just like footballers . Therefore the conflict of Israel-Palestine will not be resolved until the Israelis can accept the Arabs as equal human being.

I’m sorry to have written out of context, my excuse for you to forgive me is that the above complains are actually the truth and the only truth. Anyway, let’s return to investigating the roots of all the 5 religions. We have pointed out that between Islam and Christianity (both Catholicism and Protestant) the connecting roots are very clear:

(1) all the prophets in Christianity (and Judaism) are respected as true God’s prophets by Muslims. In my experience, most Christians do not know or are confused about their prophets and hence the seemingly non respecting attitudes towards them. This is probably emphasized by the slightly ‘immoral’ stories about them in the Bible. Again, please, I am trying to be objective here. At least they admit the existence of Adam PBUH, Noah PBUH, Abraham PBUH, Solomon PBUH, David PBUH, Joseph PBUH, Moses PBUH, John PBUH and Jesus PBUH – but not their prophethoods.

(2) in one of the Hindiusm religions, Brahma (Brahmeen), is taken as a form of God in the shape of men, the idea is slightly confusing, but the point is Prophet Abrahan PBUH once traveled through India and did some baptizing bath in the Gangga River, a tradition that is kept up to now.

(3) Many Muslim scholars believe that surah At-Tien is actually comparing the spiritual experience enjoyed by three great prophets: Buddha Gautama PBUH (under the tree of Tien), Jesus PBUH (under the tree of Zaitun) and Moses PBUH (on the mountain of Tursina). At least, I still remember the khatib of a Friday Prayer at a mosque in Colombo, reinstated this opinion.

(4) According to both Nahdatul Ulama (traditionalist) and Muhammadiyah (modernist), Shia belongs to Islam. Many prayers done by NU followers are praising the Ahlil Bayt. While the leader of the majority school of tought in Indonesia, Imam Syafii himself, clearly showed his love toward the Ahlil Bayt. Personally, I found that most of them are very religious, they go to Mecca for pilgrimage, and I haven’t found a modern leader with integrity as high as the humble Shiite Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Unfortunately, he has a big mouth about Israel which financially, militarily, politically is the US last state in Middle East. Well, nobody’s perfect, even a prophet can make mistakes.

(5) Ahmadiyyah is not Muslim, but Ahmadi. This is due to the fact that they are now taking Ghulam Ahmad as their last prophet, even though Ghulam himself never proclaimed his prophethood. They go to pilgrimage in India or Pakistan, depending on their branches, but not to Mecca. This in part is a history made by the British colonialism in India, so the head quarter of such misleading organisation must be established somewhere in the UK, if not in London, its capital city.

 

Hisab (Calculation) vs Rukyah Bil Fili (Naked Eye-Sighting)

Hisab-calculation-vs-Rukyah-bil-fili-naked-eye-sighting

One of the most commonly re-occurring problem hitting the Muslim population is the determination of the 1st of Syawwal. Not only, this issue has been splitting the Muslim world in (at least) two, the different Eid (al Fitr, mostly) date has also splitted the country and the families in two.   Could you imagine how inconvenience it is to celebrate the eid with nice food and drinks, while our own family members are still fasting? Or imagine fasting on the tashreeq day when some other members of the family are celebrating Eid-ul Fitr… hmm not nice, something is awfully wrong!

The one and only hadith used by those supporting the pro-rukyah group is:

قََالَ رَسُوْلُ ﷲِصَلَي ﷲعليه وَسَلَّمَ صُوْمُوْ لِرُﺅيَتِهِ وَٲَفْتِرُوْ لِرُﺅيَتِهِ فَٳِنْ غَمﱠ عَلَيْكُمْ فَاَكْمِلُوْ عِدﱠةَ ثَعْبَانَ ثَلاَثِيْنَ يَوْماً ﴿رواﮦ البخارى)                                                                                                                 ى

Said the Rasulullah PUBH: “start your fasting by sighting the hilal and you all stop by sighting the hilal. Should there be cloud, complete your Sya’ban counting to thirty days.” (Bukhari).

Bukhari is one of the most trustworthy hadith narrators, however nobody’s perfect, including himself. He might have incidentally forgotten to check the originality of this one. Based on the content itself, this illogical hadith is clearly flawed as it is talking about the length of Sya’ban month which is the month before Ramadhan. What the pro-rukyah group needs is a hadith about the length of Ramadhan month to decide the first day of Syawwal.

On the other hand, the pro-hisab group has got at least six reasons to claim what they believe is the truth. Before we go into details, please keep in mind that the hisab used is actually hisab wujud al hilal, which is a method of deciding the beginning of the new month emphasizing that the Qamariah month begins when the three parameters have been fulfilled:

1. that the conjunction (ijti’ma) already took place,
2. that such conjunction happened before the sun sets, and
3. that as the sun sets, the moon is over the horizon (ufuk).

Their logical reasons are as the following:

Firstly, the spirit of Al Qur’an is to use hisab. It is relected in the Quranic verses e.g. “Sun and moon orbit calculatedly” (Surah 55:5). This verse is not only informing us that the sun and the moon are orbitting in an exact manner so that it can be calculated or predicted, but also encouraging us to calculate them for their numerous advantages. In Surah Yunus (10) verse 5, their advantages are mentioned : to understand the calendar numeric system and the time calculation.

Secondly, if the spirit of the Qur’an is hisab, why then the Prophet PUBH used rukyah? According to Rasyid Ridha and Mustafa AzZarqa, the instruction to do rukyah is a reasonable (ilat) one. The reason was the Muslim at that time were illiterate (ummi), making it impossible to perform hisab. This was emphasized by the Prophet PBUH in a story narrated by by Al Bukhari and Muslim,“Indeed we are illiterate people; we could not read and could not write. The month is such that sometimes has twenty nine days and sometimes thirty days”  In the fiqhiyah section of Islamic law, such regulation is applicable or not, depending on the existence of the ilat. Should there be an ilat being the people’s illiterate condition so that no one could perform hisab, hence the rukyah instruction was applied. On the other hand, when the ilat does not exist (due to the existence of ahli hisab), hence the rukyah instruction was no longer applicable.  Yusuf Al Qaradawi stated that rukyah is not his aim, but just a means. Muhammad Syakir, ahli hadith from Egypt called by Al Qaradawi a pure salafi, emphasized that using hisab to determine the Qamariah month is obligatory in any condition, apart from in a place where no one understand about hisab.

Thirdly, with rukyah Muslims could not make a calendar. Rukyah cannot predict long enough to the future as new dates could only be identified on the H-1 dates. Dr. Nidhal Guessoum commented that it is a great irony that up to now Muslims do not have an integrated clear calendar system whereas 6000 years ago among Sumerian nation a well structured calendar alreday exsited.

Fourthly, rukyah cannot globally unite the starting of Islamic month. On the other side, rukyah force Muslim to differently start all Qamariah months, including ritual months. This is due to the fact that rukyah‘s visiblity  does not cover the entire earth’s surface. On the same day, there are some surface that can perform rukyah, while some others cannot. The earth’s region of 60 degrees North Lattitude and 60 degrees South Lattitude, is an abnormal region, in which one cannot see hilal for quite a long time or late to be able to see it which is when the moon is full. Furthermore, the artic and antartic regions whose days are more than 24 hours long in the summer and whose nights are more than 24 hours long in teh winter.

Fifthly, the coverage of rukyah is limited to only applicable within 10 hours eastbound. People in the East cannot wait for rukyah performed in the West with a distance more than 10 hours difference. Consequently, physical rukyah cannot unite the beginning of Qamariah months all over the world, due to its coverage limitation. Indeed, middle era ulamas stated that if a rukyah is made in a region, the rukyah should be applied world wide. Nonetheless, this view contradicts with astronomical facts and as the science of astronomy is rapidly growing, such argument cannot be well-defended.

Sixthly, rukyah created a problem in performing Arafah fasting. A possibility exists where in Mecca, a rukyah is not yet ruled, while in the western area is already ruled, vice versa. Thus, it is possible that one region is diferrent from another, in entering any Qamariah month. As a result, this condition causes the most western part of the earth cannot perform the Arafah fasting due to the Arafah residing (wukuf) happens on exactly the same day as Eid ul-Adha holiday there. The calendar system would shatter into pieces, should this western region pospone entering the Zulhijjah month, for the sake of the Meccan, eventhough hilal is clearly shown in their horizon (ufuk).

The above arguments shown that rukyah cannot provide an exact and comprehensive time marking and hence cannot manage the time for Muslims to perform their rituals synchronizedly all over the world. This is why in the efforts of organising international Islamic time system has now emerged a call for us to hold to hisab and no longer use rukyah. The 2nd Symposium for Islamic Calendar Formulation Research (Ijtima’ al Khubara’ as Sani li Dirasat Wad at Taqwimal Islami) in 2008 in Marocco gave conclusion and recommendation (at Taqrir alKhittami wa at Tausyiyah) as follows: “The problem of using hisab: all participants agreed that the solution to the problems of determining Qamariah months among Muslims cannot be implemented, unless by the acceptance of hisab in determining the start of Qamariah month, as per the usage of hisab to determine the shalat time. 

 

Flea Markets in Jakarta

List of flea markets in Jakarta. It is an unexhaustive list of places where those with limited budget to fulfill their needs, like new houses, new offices, new employed staff, students, anyone.

• Pasar Buku, Jl. Kwitang Raya CJ. Find used books, some of their covers might be not intact, but they are very cheap. New but close to genuine quality can sometimes be found as well.

• Pasar Toilet, Jl. Minangkabau SJ. For new families to have quality used toilet, sinks, etc. Maybe a bit old fashioned, but very robust and already refurbished like new.

• Pasar Kesehatan, Pasar Rumput, SJ. You can get used wheel chairs, adjustable patient beds. Offers buy back warranty.

• Pasar Furniture Kantor, Jl. Saharjo, Tebet, SJ. For new businesses and offices to buy chairs, safes, cabinets, desks, metal racks, and so on. Beware of cheaters, look thoroughly before bargaining for the price.

• Pasar Poncol, Senen, CJ. All for one flea market, you can almost everything here, from used cassettes, antique watches, garden lamps, cameras, mobile phones, electronics, bike or car accessories, and others. At least 70% cheaper than RRP of those new ones.

• Pasar Keramik, Rawasari, CJ. If you need tiles and other industrial ceramics, you can get them here half price.

• Pasar Loak, Jalan Surabaya, Menteng, CJ. Various used things. Nowadays, more focused on antiques, luggage, and other international tourists’ demand.

• Taman Puring, Kebayoran Baru, SJ. All fashionable branded items can be found here with a near to genuine quality but very low prices.

• Pasar Ular (PaUl), Plumpang NJ. All export rejects can be found here.

• Pasar Flohmak, BSD – outskirts of Jakarta. Quality used items and very cheap.

 

 

Kami Anti Indon

Today is the Gregorian New Year of 2009 and despite its wintry cold (minus 3 Celsius), dark and dull, I woke up early to read my fajr prayer. I quickly came across this article on detik.com about this blog while checking the news.

In the revitalised spirit of writing I’m commenting this notorious piece of blog written by an unhappy anti Javanese fellow (read her other blog about Indon=Javanese, and not Malay living in Sumatera) who enjoyed Indonesian government’s subsidy while doing her degree at Universitas Airlangga (how come she passed the entrance test?), Surabaya, East Java.

From this fact alone, we can conclude that she is a coward as she could have cleared all her misunderstanding about Javanese while living in Java. She is a hypocrite as she hated the people and the country, yet she enjoyed the subsidy she received for his study. Anyway, I myself probably am not the best jugde of somebody’s character, but from the idiotic images portraying Indons as being terrorists and pig lovers and the tone of language she is using, I guess she is simply a racist bigot glorifying Malay’s supremacy over Javanese.

FYI it was Javanese and not Malay, who ran the Hindu Majapahit empire which once controlled a territory as far as Cambodia in the west and northern Australia and most pacific islands in the east. The most succesful Malay kingdom of Buddhist Srivijaya whose capital was in Palembang, South Sumatera, was defeated by Siam (Thailand) and its king was exiled to die in Singapore. So, what is there to glorify?

Also FYI Javanese are very sociable and caring, even though they are comprising of more than 70% of the population, they do not mind adopting Malay language as their national language. So, a Malay who can hate a very nice and humble Javanese is most probably the one who suffers from low esteem syndrome.

Last but not least, I’m not a Soeharto’s follower as I don’t agree with some of his decisions. Yet, we have to put him in a bigger and better perspective and appreciate his contributions to the betterment of the country, and not only cursing him for the corruption, collusion and nepotism that once drove him gone astray.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Ten Things I Hate About Indonesia

New year is approaching. Let us take a quick recap on our environment: what is good and what is bad; and hope that things will change only for the better after the holidays. Therefore I present you with the ten things I hate and love about Indonesia and Hungary. I will start from “Ten Things I Hate About Indonesia” first…

comment: I am still waiting for your “10 things I love about Indonesia”… and of course about your beloved new country: Hungary

1. Corruption
How can you not hate it when the former president is still holding the world’s record for being the biggest corruptor ever with US$ 35 billion? The worst is that he’s still out there—free to watch his favorite show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and suddenly has to be treated in hospital everytime he hears attempt of bringing his case to the court. However his half brother will be spending the next four years in jail for another corruption case; while his youngest son, Tommy Suharto, was put behind the bars in 2000 for murdering a judge. What a big happy family!

comment: Nobody’s perfect, but God! Who can say that George Bush Sr or Jr are not corrupt? The main obstacle of punishing corruptors is proofing that they are guilty by court proceeding. Even the way an evidence is gathered and presented must be correct. Regarding  Soeharto’s family, I don’t think they are happy with all those haram money. In fact, we have seen how the family members fought each others for government contracts. Rumours say that even their mother was accidentally shot dead when two siblings were involved in a heated confrontation over a government project. The fact that  Soeharto’s half brother and his youngest son were punished has proven that justice is still prevalent in Indonesia.

2. Poverty
What can you expect after your president had stolen US$ 35 billion? What else but poverty:
More than half of Indonesia’s 210 million people are vulnerable to poverty. In 2002, the World Bank estimated 53% of the population – some 111 million – live below the international standard poverty line of US$ 2 a day.

Poverty is not just a matter of inadequate incomes and expenditures on food and daily necessities. Many of the poor and near poor also lack access to basic education, medical services and adequate nutrition. Some 25 million Indonesians are illiterate. Nearly 50 million suffer health problems, a similar number lack access to health facilities. Many communities have inadequate or non-existent basic infrastructure like safe water, adequate sanitation, transport, roads and electricity.

comment: Who fought poverty the hardest? Soekarno? wrong! It was Soeharto, under his Bappenas’ poverty alleviation projects. He tried giving the poor not fish but the boat and net to catch fish, cattle to breed, built dams for irrigation, subsidised farmers for fertiliser, seeds, and other farming materials, even spoke to directly to villagers and farmers to make sure that their need have been fulfilled. Healthcare wise, who built all the Puskesmas (Community Health Centre) in all villages and districts. Soekarno? Well, Soekarno might have started the idea late in 1962, but it was Soeharto who built all those Puskesmas, along with markets, schools and streets. Puskemas is heavily subsidised by the government, with only a couple of hundred rupiahs (1 GBP is approximately 18,000 rupiahs) everyone can have a real doctor (not just a nurse) examining his health problem and with also a couple of hundreds, everyone can buy the prescription right next door. Education wise, it was Soeharto who made the primary education compulsory, meaning it is free and paid by the government. Soeharto also subsidised secondary and tertiary education heavily. It was after the IMF and Soros collaboration that the educational system became expensive by forcing the government to lift most of the subsidies.

3. Natural disaster
And that was not enough. The country has been plagued with the tsunami last year and the earthquakes which sometimes still happens nowadays. They are so common that media no longer pay any attention to them. Nevertheless the effects are still there. Flood, volcanic eruption, and landslide remain constant threats.

comment: and who are you to blame the Javanese for natural disasters?

4. Diseases
SARS, malnutrition, bird flu, dengue fever, anthrax, …I have lost counts.

comment: We live in a very globalised world. Just recently there was an epidemic caused by a new strain of flu which is already common in Singapore. We know many Indonesians work there and commute regularly, so could we blame Chinese Singaporean for the unnecessary suffering? Malnutrition? In Africa maybe? Or in China, due to the contaminated milk? Never heard in Indonesia. When malnutrition takes place shortly after a natural disaster, no one can blame the government.

5. Social gap
It happens anywhere else, so why should it be special, I hear you ask. Whenever I watch Travel Channel’s report on Thailand, for example, most likely it would show the beauty of Bangkok city, the clubs, the leisure. Or in India, you would only see the beautiful women, the exotic dancers, or delicious chicken curry. But in Indonesia you would see poor fishermen hunting whale in order to live—not to earn money, mind you, but simply to live. You would see primitive tribes cook their meal in a poor fireplace inside their huts. And I kept asking myself why didn’t they simply show Tamara Blezynski who earns US$ 4,000 for each episode on her soap opera? Because there are more of these people, that is why. Poverty has been a problem since the beginning of civilization. Yet it is sad to see that nowadays some are still living in that age while their countrymen can afford a life that they could never imagine.

comment: Thailand sells its dodgy (you know what I mean) way of tourism. India sells its bollywood and curry way of tourism. Indonesia also sells its own way of tourism, if you watch it from the same travel channel. In the news, of course their faces are somewhat different: Thai military attacked the terrorists in its southern province or Indian hindus destroyed Babri mosque, and so on. I lived in Pasarminggu before and some of my school friends living next door to Tamara. Well, she is beautiful being half breed and people like to see her beauty on their TVs, what’s wrong with that? Look around you, the most highly paid actresses are they are who are blessed with beautiful faces. There are not many Indonesian women blessed with pretty faces, this is why it is wrong to put her face on tourism ads. But there many million people with beautiful hearts and minds that you can meet easily in Indonesia, therefore it is right to sell their hospitalities, creativities and creations along with the natural beauty of the archipelago. Wait a minute, you supposed to write about social gap. Most experts agree it was India who suffers social gap the most, not only between its Hindu majority and Muslim minority population, but also among their different level of castes. In Thailand, it is similar, the social gap exists not only between the Buddhist majority and Muslim minority, but also between the Chinese in north and Malay in south. In Indonesia, social gap might also exist between the Chinese minority and non Chinese majority population, but you know it yourself it was the Chinese minority who controls 90% of the economy and possesses 95% of the money. It is common to see companies having only Mandarin speaking Chinese employees in Indonesia, could you find any single company like that in Malaysia? No! because Malaysians are anti Chinese, and are a bit racist. Furthermore, this racism is legalised in a company act. Ask any historian of why Malaysian Chinese population in Singapore wanted independence from Malaysia!

6. School
Schools are never for free in Indonesia; especially now with the capitalization era coming. I heard now there is a special regulation which allows state-owned universities to receive students without any tests—the students with high grades in senior high, mind you. However they have to pay between US$ 500 to 7,500; not a small amount in Indonesia. I wonder whose money they would use. Only as a comparison, I learned in a state-owned university in Surabaya, had to compete with thousands of competitors in the entrance test; and paid only around US$ 30 in the end after passing the examinations.

comment: Already answered, the primary education was and probably is still free within the compulsory education policy. It was the lifting or reduction of the indirect subsidies post Soeharto that made them appear to be not free any more.

7. Resource monopoly
Although the amount is decreasing, monopoly still exists. There is only a company which can provide you with fixed phone, for an instance. I have no problem with it; had it been able to reach everyone. But it hasn’t. My parents built a house in 2000, in an area where most people have had their telephone. As soon as the house was ready, they registered themselves for a fixed phone. And even now they haven’t gotten it for the same reason: there are not enough people in that area who request it. As the consequence, they have no internet. That sucks! They have the money, and they want to spend it on the damn fixed phone to chat with their daughter who is living abroad—but they can’t.

Electricity is even worse. There is only one company in the whole country; so everyone must buy the electricity from it. Yet it has been operating at a loss.

comment: PT Telkom the owner of most landline networks is not a state company, it is as profit oriented as any other corporation and it is the share holders who decide its strategy and goals. PT PLN the owner of most electricity networks has been amputated by private electricity for many years. There was a time when PLN had to subsidise the private electricity companies (unfortunately, also during Soeharto’s time) and hence the loss.  In the UK, the US and many other countries, privatisation has been proven wrong. However, it was the money (and politics) behind privatisation that made many governments  fell into this capitalism trap. Regarding the landline problem, I can see that your parents live in a rather rural area where there is no nearby telephone exchange available. To build an exchange is very expensive and PT Telkom has to reach the BEP by having some number of new customers using this exchange. This also happens in those so called developed countries like the UK and the US, unless someone is willing to pay for the expensive investment, a telephone company will not lay down the wire. Even in countries, where the telecom company is owned by the state, there is a principle of maximising utility that they normally apply to decide whether or not to build a new exchange in an isolated area. Nonetheless FYI there are many ways to connect to the Internet in Indonesia, through a mobile phone network, a cable TV network, a wireless ISP, a VSAT satellite ISP, a radio wave ISP etc..

8. City bus
City bus is definitely a nightmare. In Surabaya, there are 111 buses which have been operating for 11-15 years; 170 buses for 16-20 years; and 112 buses for more than 20 years . To give you more views, it is not forbidden to smoke inside; there is no air conditioner; and there is no clear limit on how many passengers can be. At times you have to stand with somebody else’s arm pit only a few cm away from your precious nose; meanwhile you should give way to the street singers who get on and off the bus to earn a living.

comment: Surabaya is full of Javanese. Javanese are very kind hearted people, and even though they don’t smoke they don’t mind being a passive smoker just to be hospitable. FYI there are buses with air con but their fee is far more expensive. There is a road safety regulation regarding the number of passengers a bus can pick, but during peak hours, all just want to get to work in time to avoid cuts in their salaries or wages or students do not want to get detention for tardiness. Is is not nice and definitely not popular for a DLLAJR transport officer to stop a bus and ask some of the passengers to get off the overcrowded bus even for safety reason. People appreciate street singers for their willing to work despite the difficulties they face in finding the right job for their education. Yes, some of them are university graduates stuck in the widespread structural unemployment.

9. Low self esteem
Indonesians are mostly fed up with the frequent stagnation of their life that they think everything comes from abroad must be better: grass is always greener on the other side, true enough. But in Indonesia, it has come to the point where people start to lose their identity. For example, a friend of mine worked as a teacher in an international school among with expatriates from Europe. They all had the same occupation: teacher. While she received US$ 180 despite, her European colleagues got at least US$ 2,000—and nobody would ever say anything about it. Because they are European—expatriates; they deserve more! She did quit after some time; yet many would be more than willing to replace her for that amount.

There are many superficial matters, such as the women who are willing to spend extra cash (and risk some cancer also) to get whiter skin in order to look like the Indonesian beauties; the likes of Tamara Blezynski or Sophia Latjuba. But many more are misleading. People with low education believe that living abroad—no matter how bad—is still better than staying in the country. Thousands of them—mainly women risk to work abroad; as maids. Some receive their money—I read that in Singapore they are paid around US$ 200, that is huge compared to their wage in Indonesia. But it is not rare also that they went home, broke and distressed after having to deal with bureucracy and trafficking and physical harassment and heaven knows what else.

comment: It is not fair I admit, especially in a case where the Indonesian teacher is more qualified than her European colleague. However, this gold treatment for expatriate is also working the other way around. My distant relative – A Javanese working for BP UK, is enjoying all the luxury he can never dream when he was working for BP Jakarta.  His salary is higher than local UK staff, being an international staff. He can send his children to expensive private schools paid by the company. His luxury dwelling, executive car, its petrol, its maintenance etc.. are all paid by the company, and the list of the fringe benefits he receives is not exhausted. Beauty wise, due to the respectable Dutch ladies in the past colonial time were white European, along with the fact that magazines, tv and other media portraying white Caucasian women as possessing the ideal beauty, it is difficult to change the public opinion about it. Why do you think Michael Jackson changed his skin to white? Because he is a woman? No! Because he has got the money to do so! What the government can do is probably to ban the trade of dangerous cosmetics using mercury to whiten skins. Yet, this will definitely create a black market for such cosmetics and inflate their prices without a law enforcement and a transparent law enforcing body. About women worker, I think it is time for the government to deregulate this unsung foreign exchange heroes of international workers and to protect them from the greedy trafficking Mafia taking advantages of their vulnerability.

10. Law for mixed marriage
Despite all the grim facts about the fair country, Zsolt and I would still like to move there. Yet an Indonesian wife cannot sponsor her foreign husband to get a resident visa there: only the company which would hire him could. Afterwards, the resident visa is only valid for a year and it must be renewed in the origin country. Each month, a foreigner must pay US$100 tax.

That was not all. Children cannot have Indonesian citizenship until they reach 18, with the father’s permission. Therefore they would be treated as tourist in their mother’s land along with the taxation system which is way too expensive for native Indonesian. A rumor said that there may be new rule that a foreign man must pay US$ 50,000 in order to be able to marry an Indonesian woman. That sucks!

comments: I’ve never heard of $100 foreigner tax, but any policy of taxing foreigners more than citizens is really not fair and can be classified as racist under the European law. However due to some circumstances, the UK government still charges International students university fees at least three times more than local ones. This is downright racism, especially as the UK is now part of the Europen community, this policy should be abolished. Regarding your Hungarian husband, I believe once your husband Zsolt has become an Indonesian tax payer, he will pay tax as what  Indonesians pay. He can register to be an Indonesian tax payer after 180 days living in Indoesia. Immigration is one of the most non transparent government bodies, so check the regulation carefully. Most foreigners I know use lawyers to sort out their immigration problems.  Womenworker wise, I don’t know about the reasons why they valued Indonesian wife as highly as US$50,000, you should be happy as you are being overvalued. Not many Indonesian women are as lucky as you, some – I read somewhere – were sold only for a couple of million rupiahs to Batam island to work as escorts and prostitutes.I also heard somewhere that it is easy to get an ID card (KTP) and as a result it is also not impossible to get an Indonesian pasport. Well, I’m glad if this is not true.

Dec 26, 2004 – Nearly 132,000 Indonesians are killed and more than 37,000 listed as missing after a 9.15 magnitude earthquake off Indonesia and a tsunami triggered by it in the Indian ocean region. The toll in affected Indian Ocean countries reaches 230,000 dead.
Feb 21, 2005 - At least 96 are killed in landslide that sweeps through two West Java villages near a garbage dump.
March 28, 2005 - Nearly 1,000 are believed killed after a quake of magnitude 8.7 hits the coast of Sumatra.
July 20, 2005 - Indonesia confirms first deaths from bird flu. To date the disease has killed 63 people in Indonesia, the world’s highest bird flu death toll.
Sept 1, 2005 - Landslide on island of Sumatra kills 14 and leaves more than a dozen missing.
Sept 5, 2005 - Domestic airliner operated by local carrier Mandala Airlines crashes in residential area of Indonesia’s third biggest city Medan, killing 102 aboard and 47 local residents in an inferno on the ground.
May 15, 2006 - Mount Merapi volcano erupts with clouds of hot gas and rains ash on surrounding areas.
May 27, 2006 - Earthquake rocks area around ancient royal city of Yogyakarta killing at least 5,000 and destroying or damaging 150,000 homes.
July 17, 2006 - A tsunami after a 7.7 magnitude quake in West Java province kills at least 550 people. At least 54,000 people are displaced.
Dec 30, 2006 - A ferry with at least 600 aboard sinks during a stormy night voyage as it traveled between Borneo and Java.
Jan 1, 2007 - An Adam Air passenger plane flying from Surabaya to Manado with 102 people aboard crashes into the sea off the west coast of Sulawesi.
Feb 22, 2007 - At least 42 people are killed when fire breaks out aboard a ferry which was heading from Jakarta to Bangka Island off Sumatra.
March 6, 2007 - Two strong earthquakes kill at least 31 people and injure dozens in the West Sumatra provincial capital of Padang.
March 7, 2007 – Domestic Airliner operated by Garuda Indonesia crashes in Yogyakarta, killing many of its passengers.

comments: No comments for natural disasters. Some accidents were purely accidental, while some others are due to human errors. As long as we still rely on human to run the public transport, error may happen now and then, because to err is human. With an advance control system, accidents can be reduced to a minimum, but never to eliminate them.

 

Jatropha Oil and Sea Water as Alternative Fuel

Jatropha curcas, Barbados nut or Physic nut is just a plain old castor oil which was used long before the kerosene or any other form of petroleum product was known to Indonesians. However it is being touted as an alternative source of fuel as it is renewable and relatively cheap for tropical countries like Indonesia.

The head of the Bandung Institute of Technology’s Biotechnology Research Center said everybody knows we will run out of fossil fuels in the next 50 or 100 years which is a short period of life for the earth. Therefore we should start using alternative fuels now. He said among other alternative energy available in the country such as coal and nuclear power, jatropha was the best option as it offered not only renewable sources but also ensured the rehabilitation of over 59 million hectares of critical land across the country.

Jatropha could be planted in critical or abandoned land and it needs only sustainable sunlight and water to keep it alive. Such a condition surely makes it the best environmentally friendly fuel alternative. Experts believe increasing the consumption of biofuel would reduce greenhouse gas emissions mainly produced by fossil fuels which have worsened global warming increasing temperatures and raising sea levels.

Jatropha plantation projects would also create jobs for some 11 million unemployed people in the country and raise the livelihoods of the more than 60 million poor people living on less than US$2 per day and unlike oil, gas or coal businesses, jatropha plantations could be owned by anyone and not only by the government or companies

To help promote the use of castor oil the ITB in collaboration with National Geographic Indonesia and a local authorized Mitsubishi dealer PT Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian Motors plans to hold the 2006 Jatropha expedition.

The expedition will test-drive a Mitsubishi Strada car fueled with 100 percent castor oil. The sport utility vehicle will travel from Atambua in East Nusa Tenggara to Jakarta from July 12 to July 20. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to greet the car upon its arrival in the capital.

Unfortunately, a mass production of this green fuel will have exactly the same impacts as that of other alternative fuel: Palm oil which has been recently criticised by environmental activists like Green Peace and Friend of Earth for deforestation of tropical rain forests. Therefore, Indonesia which is considered as one of the lungs of the world, should never think of using this fuel by sacrificing the rainforests.

Well, Indonesia actually still has a lot of mineral fuel underneath its thousands of islands, but I think it is better to leave the secret lockup or else other nations would like to come and rob it by force if necessary, just like the Iraq case.

Hold on, a team of researchers at Yogyakarta’s Muhammadiyah University (UMY) has just patented their invention Banyugeni, which literally means “firewater”. Rector Khoiruddin Bashori said by mass producing Banyugeni, Indonesia would be able to allocate its annual fuel subsidy of Rp 50 trillion (US$5.50 billion) to pay off foreign debts.

Khoiruddin said the invention was the result of about a year of research, involving five researchers at the university’s Center for Regional Energy Development Studies: Drs Purwanto, Ir Bledug Kusuma Prasadja MT, Ir Tony K Haryadi MT, Ir Lilik Utari MS, dan Dra Nike Triwahyuningsih MP., tasked with researching and developing alternatives to fossil fuels. Banyugeni, according to Khoiruddin, currently has four different product variants — hydro-kerosene, hydro-diesel, hydro-premium and hydro-avtur. He said these were equivalent to their fossil-fuel counterparts kerosene, diesel, gasoline and airplane fuel. “In the future, we will also develop other product variants that are superior to existing variants,” Khoiruddin said. The newly invented fuel had been tested by PT CoreLab Indonesia, an independent international laboratory, and had been subsequently declared to meet the standards of the Directorate General of Oil and Gas at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. The test result, Khoiruddin said, was convincing. Hydro-premium, for example, proved to be non-corrosive, non-residual and to show low-emission rates. Hydro-avtur is similarly non-corrosive, low in emission rates and has a low freezing temperature of minus 45 degrees Celcius. “The test on aero-modeling crafts shows that hydro-fuel can be categorized as jet fuel,” said Purwanto, adding that this particular variant ran cool with an initial boiling point of 164 degrees Celcius. Similar results were shown from tests on hydro-diesel and hydro-kerosene variants, Khoiruddin continued. An experiment at the Surakarta aviation education and training institute Tutuko using an ultra-light Jora aircraft with a Rotax 582 engine on Feb. 11, 2008, according to Khoiruddin, confirmed Banyugeni’s variant of hydro-avtur could satisfactorily start the craft’s engine and achieve maximum take-off power.

Hydro-fuel was produced using so-called “mechano-thermal-electro-chemical” technology involving four processes: mechanical, thermal, electrical and chemical, all using water as the raw material.“Water is basically flame. It comprises explosive hydrogen and flammable oxygen,” said Purwanto. The process of turning the water into hydro-fuel, he said, was basically keeping the two atoms in the water in such a position where the water could revert to its constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen.“The results are fuel products that are not polluting and are environmentally friendly,” said Purwanto, adding that the products’ elements and characteristics had made it possible for them to be directly applied on machines without any modification to the machines’ components.Hydro-kerosene, for example, can be directly used in kerosene stoves or lamps. Hydro-diesel, similarly, can be directly used to start a diesel engine while the hydro-premium can be used to run motorcycles or cars. The hydro-avtur, according to Purwanto, has also been tested on jet-fuel machines such as the ones propelling aero-modeling aircraft.

Researcher Nike Triwahyuningsih said for further processing of hydro-fuel, the water needed to be purified. Once processed, Nike said, a liter of pure water could produce about the same volume either of hydro-premium, hydro-kerosene or hydro-diesel, according to the desired results.“We used seawater for the research, but basically any water including liquid waste can be processed into hydro-fuel,” said Nike. Nike said the decision to use seawater was mainly made with a consideration that ground water was for human consumption. Thus, mass production of hydro-fuels would not disturb clean water supplies for humans, she said.“That way we create a good synergy between the people and the government for the prosperity of all, and not just for particular groups or parties,”

At about the same time, claiming to have the idea from the Qur’an, Joko Suprapto, a villager of Ngadiboyo, Rejoso, Nganjuk, East Java, invented Blue Energy – which was exhibited at the United Nation Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2007 in Nusa Dua, Bali. Just like Banyugeni, Blue Energy uses seawater as its raw material and 100% compatible with conventional petrol engine. Moreover a diesel variant of Blue Energy significantly reduce the vibration of tested diesel engine. Blue Energy is created by splitting the water molecules into H+ and O2-. Some catalysts and processing are needed to turn seawater into a specific carbon chained fuel. To prove the reliability of Blue Energy and to show the alternative fuel to the UNFCCC attendants, two double cabin Ford Ranger trucks, one Mazda 6 saloon car, one bus, and one Blue Energy tanker truck, were driven from Cikeas, Bogor, West Java to Nusa Dua, Bali.

There are some reservations from experts with regards to Banyugeni or Blue Energy mass production and costs. In my opinion, the energy required for the production can be sourced directly from the sea, utilising the OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) technique. Of course, the government, via PT PLN must build its rather expensive infra structure while charging the hydro fuel producing company e.g. PERTAMINA for the energy used. Technology wise, OTEC was invented in 1880s by a French physicist, Jacques Arsene d’Arsonval. As early as 1930, Cuba built OTEC plant with a low-pressure turbine generating 22kW of electricity. The work was led by Georges Claude who was d’Arsonval’s student. In 1974, The United States became involved in OTEC research, when the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority was established at Keahole Point on the Kona coast of Hawaii. The laboratory has become one of the world’s leading test facilities for OTEC technology. Japan also continues to fund research and development in OTEC technology. India piloted a 1 MW floating OTEC plant near Tamil Nadu. Its government continues to sponsor various research in developing floating OTEC facilities.

Investing in OTEC and hydro fuel, the government will definitely reap the benefits of (1) cheaper fuel price which can pull down inflation (2) increase export of oil products as we no longer need them domestically (3) diversifications of PLN (now selling OTEC electricity) and PERTAMINA (now selling hydro fuel) will significantly reduce their business risks and guarantee profitability. With a very prospective project proposal like this one, ADB or even IBRD will definitely offer funding, if not grants. Come on Mas Langgeng, use PIP to start this energy revolution!

 

Some Shariah (Divorce Proceedings) are Unavoidable

Welshman Dr Williams, 57, spent 24 years as an academic at Oxford and Cambridge before being appointed Bishop of Monmouth in 1992, then the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002, is now under fire after his intellectual observation on the need of implementing Shariah for Muslims in Britain.

Three months ago he gave an interview to a Muslim magazine called Emel in which he compared Muslims in Britain to the Good Samaritans, and praised the Muslim ritual of praying five times a day, but attacked “Christian Zionists” and claimed “the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday”.

He also angered victims of 9/11 by saying that Al Qaeda terrorists “can have serious moral goals” and arguing that the 9/11 terrorists should not be called evil.

Dr Williams said it “seems inevitable” that elements of Islamic law, such as divorce proceedings, would be incorporated into British law.

Dr Williams backs adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law

Dr Williams said the UK had to “face up to the fact” that some citizens do not relate to the British legal system, and argued that officially sanctioning Sharia law would improve community relations. “Nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that has sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states,” he told the BBC’s World at One programme.
“But there are ways of looking at marital disputes, for example, which provide an alternative to the divorce courts as we understand them.”
Dr Williams said the argument that “there’s one law (British which initially based on Christian law) for everybody” was “a bit of a danger” and called for “a constructive accommodation” with some aspects of Muslim law.

He said the Church of England was allowed to operate its own courts, as were Orthodox Jews, and the anti-abortion views of Roman Catholics and other Christians were taken account of within the law.
“We already have in this country a number of situations in which the internal law of religious communities is recognised by the law of the land as justifying conscientious objections in certain circumstances,” Dr Williams said. He continued: “It would be quite wrong to say that we could ever license a system of law for some community which gave people no right of appeal, no way of exercising the rights that are guaranteed to them as citizens in general.

But Dr Williams said people needed to look at Islamic law “with a clear eye and not imagine, either, that we know exactly what we mean by Sharia and just associate it with… Saudi Arabia, or whatever….
“I do not think we should instantly spring to the conclusion that the whole of that world of jurisprudence and practice is somehow monstrously incompatible with human rights just because it doesn’t immediately fit with how we understand it,” he added. Sharia law was originally more enlightened in its attitude to women than other legal systems, Dr Williams pointed out, but did now have to be brought up to date. “But you have to translate that into a setting where that whole area of the rights and liberties of women has moved on,” he said. “The principle and the vision which animates the whole Islamic legal provision needs broadening because of that.”

Responding to comments by one of his senior bishops that Islamic extremism was creating communities with “no go areas” for non-Muslims, he said it was “not at all the case that we have absolute social exclusion. But we do have a lot of social suspicion, a lot of distance and we just have to go on working at how that shared citizenship comes through”. The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, said last month that non-Muslims faced a hostile reception in places dominated by the ideology of Islamic radicals. He has since faced death threats. Dr Williams said the use of the phrase “no go areas” had sparked controversy because it reminded people of Northern Ireland. “I don’t think that was at all what was intended; I think it was meant to point to the silo problem, the sense of communities not communicating with each other,” he said. “Many Muslims would say that they feel bits of British society are no-go areas for them.” Dr Williams’s comments were welcomed by Mohammed Shafiq, the director of the Ramadhan Foundation, who said: “Sharia law for civil matters is something which has been introduced in some western countries with much success.”

Despite the rows, as a Muslim, I am struggling to understand how an intellectual Christian leader supported the Shariah as being better for women than the British law appearing to have benefited women from wealth split (in most cases the woman gets the house) and monthly allowance (alimony). There must be something he learned in the Quran before stating such opinions. Not to be partial, preventing my own misinterpretation here is a quote from another website detailing what God said in the Quran about divorce (slightly wider than divorce proceedings) which specifically mentioned by the Archbishop as being unavoidable:

From a reading of the Quran we learn that God does not favour divorces and in fact encourages the continuation of marriage. God has imposed prohibitions on certain category in marriage. However for those who comes to know of these prohibitions afterwards are commanded not to break existing marriages – see 4:22-23.

Divorce must be resorted to only in exceptional circumstances. The laws relating to divorce together with the relevant verses from the Quran are given below:

Appoint an arbitrator
[4:35] If a couple fears separation, you shall appoint an arbitrator from his family and an arbitrator from her family; if they decide to reconcile, GOD will help them get together. GOD is Omniscient, Cognizant.

Wait 4 months cooling off before divorce
[2:226-227] Those who intend to divorce their wives shall wait four months (cooling off); if they change their minds and reconcile, then GOD is Forgiver, Merciful. If they go through with the divorce, then GOD is Hearer, Knower.

If the estranged couple chooses separation they must go through with it equitably. There must be two equitable witnesses witness the divorce before GOD

[65:2] Once the interim is fulfilled, you may reconcile with them equitably, or go through with the separation equitably. You shall have two equitable witnesses witness the divorce before GOD. This is to enlighten those who believe in GOD and the Last Day. Anyone who reverences GOD, He will create an exit for him.

Divorced women to observe an interim period

[2:228] The divorced women shall wait three menstruations (before marrying another man). It is not lawful for them to conceal what GOD creates in their wombs, if they believe in GOD and the Last Day. (In case of pregnancy,) the husband’s wishes shall supersede the wife’s wishes, if he wants to remarry her. The women have rights, as well as obligations, equitably. Thus, the man’s wishes prevail (in case of pregnancy). GOD is Almighty, Most Wise.

[65:4-5] As for the women who have reached menopause, if you have any doubts, their interim shall be three months. As for those who do not menstruate, and discover that they are pregnant, their interim ends upon giving birth. Anyone who reverences GOD, He makes everything easy for him. This is GOD’s command that He sends down to you. Anyone who reverences GOD, He remits his sins, and rewards him generously.

Exception for observing interim period

[33:49] O you who believe, if you married believing women, then divorced them before having intercourse with them, they do not owe you any waiting interim (before marrying another man). You shall compensate them equitably, and let them go amicably.

After the fulfilment of the interim the divorced women is free to do whatever she wants

Although the following verse is in context of widows, it appears to be applicable to a divorcees too.

You Shall Observe the Pre-Marriage Interims

[2:234] Those who die and leave wives, their widows shall wait four months and ten days (before they remarry). Once they fulfill their interim, you commit no error by letting them do whatever righteous matters they wish to do. GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do.

[2:235] You commit no sin by announcing your engagement to the women, or keeping it secret. GOD knows that you will think about them. Do not meet them secretly, unless you have something righteous to discuss. Do not consummate the marriage until their interim is fulfilled. You should know that GOD knows your innermost thoughts, and observe Him. You should know that GOD is Forgiver, Clement.

Divorced women have to be provided for.
This is probably one of the abused laws in the Quran. But God holds us responsible for our innermost thoughts. If one observes God’s laws then God makes it easy for him / her.

[65:7] The rich husband shall provide support in accordance with his means, and the poor shall provide according to the means that GOD bestowed upon him. GOD does not impose on any soul more than He has given it. GOD will provide ease after difficulty.

Alimony For Widows and Divorcees

[2:240] Those who die and leave wives, a will shall provide their wives with support for a year, provided they stay within the same household. If they leave, you commit no sin by letting them do whatever they wish, so long as righteousness is maintained. GOD is Almighty, Most Wise.

[2:241] The divorcees also shall be provided for, equitably. This is a duty upon the righteous.

Compensation when marriage is not consummated

Breaking the Engagement

[2:236] You commit no error by divorcing the women before touching them, or before setting the dowry for them. In this case, you shall compensate them – the rich as he can afford and the poor as he can afford – an equitable compensation. This is a duty upon the righteous.

[2:237] If you divorce them before touching them, but after you had set the dowry for them, the compensation shall be half the dowry, unless they voluntarily forfeit their rights, or the party responsible for causing the divorce chooses to forfeit the dowry. To forfeit is closer to righteousness. You shall maintain the amicable relations among you. GOD is Seer of everything you do.

Divorced women entitled to stay in the same house she stayed before divorce

Do Not Throw the Divorcees Out Onto the Streets

[2:231] If you divorce the women, once they fulfill their interim (three menstruations), you shall allow them to live in the same home amicably, or let them leave amicably. Do not force them to stay against their will, as a revenge. Anyone who does this wrongs his own soul. Do not take GOD’s revelations in vain. Remember GOD’s blessings upon you, and that He sent down to you the scripture and wisdom to enlighten you. You shall observe GOD, and know that GOD is aware of all things.

[65:6] You shall allow them to live in the same home in which they lived with you, and do not make life so miserable for them that they leave on their own. If they are pregnant, you shall spend on them until they give birth. If they nurse the infant, you shall pay them for this service. You shall maintain the amicable relations among you. If you disagree, you may hire another woman to nurse the child.

Divorce can be retracted

In other words, if the couple reconciles after the first divorce and wish to be husband and wife again, they can re-marry. This is allowed for two divorce only. If the couple divorces third time they have to observe God’s commandment in 2:230 (quoted below.) God makes it not-so-easy for the couple to divorce. This law serves as a deterrent for those who want a divorce for the third time and they would be very careful to take this step.

[2:229] Divorce may be retracted twice. The divorced woman shall be allowed to live in the same home amicably, or leave it amicably. It is not lawful for the husband to take back anything he had given her. However, the couple may fear that they may transgress GOD’s law. If there is fear that they may transgress GOD’s law, they commit no error if the wife willingly gives back whatever she chooses. These are GOD’s laws; do not transgress them. Those who transgress GOD’s laws are the unjust.

[2:232] If you divorce the women, once they fulfil their interim, do not prevent them from remarrying their husbands, if they reconcile amicably. This shall be heeded by those among you who believe in GOD and the Last Day. This is purer for you, and more righteous. GOD knows, while you do not know.

[2:230] If he divorces her (for the third time), it is unlawful for him to remarry her, unless she marries another man, then he divorces her. The first husband can then remarry her, so long as they observe GOD’s laws. These are GOD’s laws; He explains them for people who know.

Also note the words “It is not lawful for the husband to take back anything he had given her.” in 2:229.

In case there is a baby during the interim: If during the observation of the interim period it is discovered that the divorced women is pregnant then as stated in 65:4 the interim ends upon giving birth. God has decreed the following law dealing with the infant:

[2:233] Divorced mothers shall nurse their infants two fullyears, if the father so wishes. The father shall provide the mother’s food and clothing equitably. No one shall be burdened beyond his ability. No other shall be harmed on account of her infant, nor shall the father be harmed because of his infant. (If the father dies), his inheritor shall assume these responsibilities. If the infant’s parents mutually agree to part, after due consultation, they commit no error by doing so. You commit no error by hiring nursing mothers, so long as you pay them equitably. You shall observe GOD, and know that GOD is Seer of everything you do.

Conditions where a woman can divorce her husband.

Whichever party chooses for divorce must obey the laws as aforesaid. Normally divorce is mutually decided by the couple. If the aforesaid laws are observed, there could be a situation where either of the spouse may not give their consent but if the arbitrators from both the families decide that divorce is the best solution for the estranged couple then they would, nevertheless go through divorce. The divorce laws are applicable to both man and woman (4:35 and 2:237 indicate this) except that there are certain additional laws which a divorced woman has to observe.

The following seem to be the only conditions where a believing women leaves her husband without observing the above laws. In fact, I think in this case even a formal divorce is not required under Quran. However if the law of the land requires a formal divorce then one must follow suit.

[60:10] O you who believe, when believing women (abandon the enemy and) ask for asylum with you, you shall test them. GOD is fully aware of their belief. Once you establish that they are believers, you shall not return them to the disbelievers. They are not lawful to remain married to them, nor shall the disbelievers be allowed to marry them. Give back the dowries that the disbelievers have paid. You commit no error by marrying them, so long as you pay them their due dowries. Do not keep disbelieving wives (if they wish to join the enemy). You may ask them for the dowry you had paid, and they may ask for what they paid. This is GOD’s rule; He rules among you. GOD is Omniscient, Most Wise.

As an ending to this writing, I believe there will be more and more intellectuals who cannot hide their supports towards God’s teaching revealed in the Qur’an. Islamic economics, banking and finance will be the next field which can amaze related experts about God’s existence and His true guidance in the Qur’an. The problem is that there are millions Muslims out there who don’t even believe in the trueness of Qur’anic teaching, especially in the implementation of shariah. Most of them think that shariah is too strict, if not brutal and barbaric. They forget that crime deterrent is much more effective than any crime prevention. In China, a corruptor will definitely be given capital punishment. In Indonesia or even in Saudi Arabia, many corruptors still live peacefully. Is it a tragedy or this is just one of sign of the coming of the promised doomsday.

 

Need for More Economical Vehicles

Despite the achievement of Indian motor industry Tata in creating a small economical and affordable (only USD2500 new) car of its Nano, the world currently still needs a more petrol efficient car.

Decades ago, in reaction toward 1956 Suez oil crisis, the world had witnessed such engineering achievement of many motorcar industries which have already answered the challenge of increasing oil price, now reaching more than USD100 per barrel.

BMW for example introduced Isetta 300 following the Iso Rivolta’s success.
Messerschmitt introduced KR175 earlier in 1954 which subsequently replaced by a bigger engine KR200 in 1955.Its original specification (in German) is still available here.

The picture below shows the roadster version with the glass hardtop removed enhancing its aerodynamics.

These pictures are just a taster, you can have a long but not exhausted list of microcars at Wikipedia. In brief the smallest petrol engine ever used was 38cc (Fend Flitzer) and the biggest one was 700cc (Reliant Bond Bug).

My ideas of the future world involve smaller cars or microcars apart from smart buses and lorries which auto-off their engines after a couple of seconds(I will write about this at a later time).

The main characteristics of these microcars are their small engines mostly modified from motorcycle engine (exclude the electric motor please) and air cooled, with small wheels like those of scooters. Such characteristics were not able to be kept out in Tata Nano using a twin-cylinder, 623cc petrol engine powering it drives the rear wheels. The Tata Nano weighs around 600kg.

Developing 32bhp at 5500rpm, its parallel twin petrol engine delivers only modest performance – Tata claims 0-44mph in 14secs and between 66- and 70mph flat out.

And with high-profile 12in wheels as standard, and unas

sisted drum brakes at each corner, braking performance should be similarly modest.

Without modern cars comforts such as air conditioning, power steering and electric window at the moment Tata Nano gives 57mpg. Compared to Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid giving 60-70mpg, Tata Nano fuel efficiency can still be improved.

Forget about Acabion (below left) which looks too motorcycle giving 342mpg at efficient slow mode or 100mpg at 100mph high-speed mode,

the world needs a car more than a motorcycle. I don’t think the answer to the prayer would be Aptera (below right) by Accelerated Composites, San Diego, which prototype gives 330mpg with acceleration and handling similar to Honda Insight as it sells just under USD20,000, almost 8 times of Tata Nano.

In order to achieve the balance between the price, the mpg and the usability (transporting 4 people, rather than just one or two), we have to considers all influencing factors. Factors of price include R&D cost, production scale and materials used.

Factors of mpg include mass, aerodynamics, and engine used. Factors of usability include space size, access doors, and boot/compartments.

To cut the R&D cost, my suggestion is to use existing designed like EV1 from GM (see

picture below) or Honda Insight (further below), yet we need to ensure that they are four seats models.

EV1 offers drag coefficient of just 0.195, while Insight Cd=0.25. These are acceptable to my laymen understanding.

The materials should be composite with aluminium frame to minimise its weight. The engine size and type should match the final gross weight including 4 adult medium weight passengers. If possible, use an existing engine either 2 (from big motorcycles) or 3 (from small cars) cylinders petrol, water cooled and lightweight (e.g. ceramic or

intermetallic-alloys one).

Having said that, I would not neglect the need for one person car like those bubble cars for commuting to work.

These bubble cars would help cut the traffic jams and the pollution. But what sort of bubble-cars would be acceptable for today’s need.

In my opinion if becak (see below) can be enhanced, we can have a motorised tricycle which will look like the Isetta, but allow 3 people instead of only 1 person.

To enhance its efficiency, the size of the wheel needs to be reduced. The front opening needs a proper tempered glass door and the body needs to be made by resin, instead of heavy wood. Hmm maybe it won’t look like becak anymore.

Last but not least, we need to promote the green diesel. Not only for its less pollution, but also for the state’s balance of payment. We have been importing loads of fossil fuel products, much more than our crude oil export. Forget about habitat, ecosystem etc.; a palm tree is as good as other tree in absorbing carbon dioxide at daylight. Alternatively, we can use methanol for petrol engine. With current development of lithium ion battery, electric engine is equally good alternative to the green diesel. To mention one, ZAP (Zero

Air Pollution) 3 wheeler cars have been mass produced by a public company based in Santa Rosa, California, since May 2006.

The top speed of the Xebra is 40 mph (65 km/h), with a range of about twenty five miles with the standard batteries, or forty miles (64 km) with the optional extended range batteries. The sedan version can carry up to 4 people. The listed cargo weight for both the SD sedan and the PK pickup is 500 lb (230 kg), although PK owners have carried more weight than that. The SD sedan lists for US$10,500, and the PK pickup truck model with dump bed for US$11,900 in December 2006.

Of course, the government needs to influence the population for example by exempting the bubble cars, especially the electric ones from road tax or even 3-in-1 zone.

Well, see you in your cool bubble car!

 

Non, je ne regrette rien

Non ! Rien de rien
Non ! Je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait
Ni le mal tout ça m’est bien égal !

Non ! Rien de rien
Non ! Je ne regrette rien
C’est payé, balayé, oublié
Je me fous du passé !

Avec mes souvenirs
J’ai allumé le feu
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
Je n’ai plus besoin d’eux !

Balayées les amours
Et tous leurs trémolos
Balayés pour toujours
Je repars à zéro

Non ! Rien de rien
Non ! Je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien, qu’on m’a fait
Ni le mal, tout ça m’est bien égal !

Non ! Rien de rien
Non ! Je ne regrette rien
Car ma vie, car mes joies
Aujourd’hui, ça commence avec toi !

No Regrets, the song which originally was written in French and sung by Édith Piaf, is now being used in a Specsaver commercial on British TVs. Édith dedicated the song to the French Foreign Legion who in April 1961 helped the Premier Regiment Etranger de Parachutistes in Algerian independence conflict. I’m not going to praise her for supporting the Legion against the Algerian Muslims, nor to criticise the Legion over-actingly taking Edith’s video off YouTube. What I want you to remember is that the same song had inspired Johan Cornelis Princen – ex KNIL soldier – who joined the Indonesian guerillas against the Dutch Colonial Goverment. It is not clear whether he reverted to Islam before joining the Indonesians fighting for their independence, but it is crystal clear that Princen is a true hero who always fights for what he believes is right – a sort of the Islamic principle of social responsibility based on the concept of amar bi al-maruf wa nahi an al-munkar (commanding right and prohibiting wrong).

He was initially imprisoned by German Nazi for trying to flee to Spain, to sneak to the UK, in order to enlist to the British Allied Army who was fighting against the Hitler’s Germany. He was later imprisoned (at Schoonhoven) by the Dutch for deserting the KNIL. He later on was also imprisoned by President Soekarno for criticising his policies, e.g. the unequal division of national resources and income between the central island of Java and the outlying islands, being an MP for IPKI. Finally, he was also imprisoned by President Soeharto for criticising his human right abuses, especially on those communist supporter victims in Purwodadi, Central Java.

He is a real hero who can never be allured with gold and silver (unlike Soeharto) or pretty faces (unlike Soekarno). Yet, all heroes must suffer, including him. Laksamana.net stated that Princen’s work as a lawyer never earned him much in the way of material wealth. Unlike other prominent human rights lawyers whose careers benefited from their high profile on the human rights front, Princen remained a figure whose only interest was in defending the rights of the small. Visitors to his succession of poky offices in the early ’90s remember calling on him to find themselves welcomed by Princen resting in his underwear, and his close friends recall that it was seldom that they were able to leave before parting with a contribution to help pay his driver or his phone bill.

Well, to close today’s blog, I’d like to quote a French song for my big sister who I assume has forgotten the French language which we learned at Jakarta’s CCF about two decades ago. This romantic song was her favourite one, unfortunately at that time her French native speaker teacher could not jot down the lyrics in full.

Aline (by Christophe)

J’avais dessiné
Sur le sable
Son doux visage
Qui me souriait
Puis il a plu
Sur cette plage
Dans cet orage
Elle a disparu

Et j’ai crié, crié, Aline!
Pour qu’elle revienne
Et j’ai pleuré, pleuré
Oh, j’avais trop de peine

Je me suis assis
Auprès de son âme
Mais la belle dame
S’était enfuie
Je l’ai cherchée
Sans plus y croire
Et sans un espoir
Pour me guider

Et j’ai crié, crié, Aline!
Pour qu’elle revienne
Et j’ai pleuré, pleuré
Oh, j’avais trop de peine

Je n’ai gardé
Que ce doux visage
Comme une épave
Sur le sable mouillé

Et j’ai crié, crié, Aline!
Pour qu’elle revienne
Et j’ai pleuré, pleuré
Oh, j’avais trop de peine

 

The Passing of the 5-star General

Kudos to Wikipedia voluntary editors, when the BBC TV news only gives 5 second for the news, they wrote:

His death was noted widely, and condolences were offered by a number of regional heads of state. Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared a week of mourning^[42]. Furthermore, all Indonesian government offices and departments will fly their flags at half-mast for one week, in respect for Soeharto’s passing. Antara Media reported two metric tons of jasmine flowers and 100 kilograms of red roses had been prepared for the funeral ceremony.

Residents of Kemusuk in Bantul, Yogyakarta, lowered flags and went into mourning Sunday for former president Soeharto, who was born in the village. Soeharto’s nephew Aryo Notosuwito said villagers, “admired and loved the former president for the concern he showed for their welfare during his life”. Residents gathered Sunday evening at the house of Soeharto’s late younger brother R. Notosuwito to pray .^[43]

It is difficult for any Indonesian to comment on his contributions to the nation, because as most of us, there are two sides of him: good and bad. The good side include the attention towards farmers with his Inpres program (he was from a farmer family); towards education when he promoted the compulsory education; towards public health by building Puskesmas in all nooks and crannies of the vast country; and towards technology (he helped Habibie with IPTN when his own Berkeley’s economists opposed it). But , his bad side ranges from corruption to human right abuses. He did not do the corruption himself, but he recruited Sudono Salim (Lim Sioe Liong) to do his dirty jobs of state  embezzlement. He did not oppress and torture Muslim preachers dare to criticise him as a Muslim leader, but he ordered Sudomo (retired Admiral) to do his nasty jobs. Therefore it is difficult to proof that he is guilty of these misconducts, NOT.

The problem is not that our law graduates are substandard intellectually (as most choose other better professions), nor that our law books are not enough. I believe the problem is because all of us (sorry, most of us) were involved in the corrupt environment, including the judicial bodies. So, if we are serious in leaving corruption behind – this is the best time – we have to reorganise our legal system. Trust me, no big countries exist without a strongly established legal system and furthermore they keep on updating the seemingly perfect system with full transparency.

I can only urge President SBY to use this momentum to straighten the people of the country into the right path, the path that is blessed by our Creator. Tell the people that we mourn for the goodness that Suharto brought to the country, but we celebrate his passing for the badness that will no longer have a place in the country.