DECEMBER 17-23, 2012

INDONESIA’S NEWS WEEKLY

ISSN: 1411 - 6065 INTERLUDE OUTREACH
WWW.TEMPO.CO
RP30,000 BEST FILM OF 2012 FOOTBALL AND HOPE

E N G L I S H

LITTLE BROTHER
BIG TROUBLE

00017

9 771411 606501
 1317/DECEMBER 17-23, 2012

LITTLE BROTHER, 14
DECEMBER 17-23, 2012
INDONESIA’S NEWS WEEKLY
ISSN: 1411 - 6065
WWW.TEMPO.CO
RP30,000
INTERLUDE
BEST FILM OF 2012
OUTREACH
FOOTBALL AND HOPE

BIG TROUBLE
E N G L I S H
THE three Mallarangeng brothers—Andi, Rizal and Choel—rose alongside
LITTLE BROTHER their political patron, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. They had access
BIG TROUBLE
to the inner circle, enjoying unprecedented power and influence, until one
of them got caught in the corruption trap. Oldest brother Andi was recently
indicted for his role in the massive Hambalang project corruption case,
prompting his resignation as Youth and Sports Minister. Suspected along in
00017
Andi’s case is youngest brother Choel. While middle brother Rizal acts as the
9 771411 606501

family spokesman, Andi and Choel are banned from leaving the country.
Cover: Choel (TEMPO/
Dasril Roszandi), Andi
(Tempo/Ramdani) dan
Interlude Outreach
Rizal (TEMPO/ Amatul
Rayyani) Tempo’s Best Films 40 Football and Hope i
of the Year
WITH our national team seemingly in decline, hope rises
ALTHOUGH the crop of nationally produced from the east. In Makassar, youth foundation YPKDS is using
films is not as bountiful as last year’s bumper football to raise the confidence of young HIV/AIDS patients
harvest, filmmakers are back with fresh and drug addicts. In Papua, kids from poor families have a
ideas. They are more honest about creating brighter future when they join Emsysk Uni Papua Football
their art, producing what they can with limited School. These activities have not been in vain. t the Homeless
funding. Based on those criteria, Tempo has World Cup in Mexico last September, Indonesia, represented
made this year’s selections of best director, by YPKDS players, finished fourth. Last month, Emsysk was
actor and actress, supporting actor and chosen to represent Indonesia at the Ansa Cup championship.
actress. Tempo English reports from Makassar and Papua.
TEMPO/EKO SISWONO TOYUDHO

Prelude Opinion National International Profile Science &

Capital Events 10 Column 31 National 27 ASEAN & Beyond 71 Interview 78 Technology
Cartoon 10 Opinion 11 News Capsule 30 On the Record 76 Envirobrief 74
Indicator 7 Sidelines 82 Arts
Letters 6 Law Arts 74 Economy Lifestyle
Picture Window 8 Law 32 Economy 60 Sports 72

4 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012


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HOTEL Ciputra Jakarta offers interesting
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a New Year’s dining and entertainment
package is also available especially for those
who simply wish to enjoy dinner while
listening to jazz music brought to you by
“Art and Jazz Sensation”.
LETTERS
Salute to Andi
MY salute to Andi Alifian Mallarangeng for his decision to step down
from his position as Youth and Sports Minister. It was a commendable
act. I think he has shown responsibility over the case in which his name
is involved. If we trace our nation’s history, we would see not many state
officials willing to take such a courageous act and give up all the attri-
butes that came with their positions.
If we are consistent in nurturing this culture of responsibility and
moral shame, I believe that Indonesia can finally rid itself from trouble-
some people. I also believe that the country should apply a strict law,
and that every official would finally do what is best for the people—not
the other way around, in putting their personal or group interest ahead
of anything else.
Anggelita Putri
Pondok Gede Main Road
Villa Novo Housing Complex, Number 8 RT 02 RW 01
East Jakarta
An Open Letter
MY name is Midra Haidir, an inmate at Bekasi Penitentiary. I have
been in this institution for a year. I was supposed to be granted freedom
on November 9, 2012. Until now, however, I remain inside. The officials
told me that they are still waiting for my letter of exemption. That de-
cree has not been issued until now. How much longer do I have to wait?
There is one suspicion that the decree concerning my exemption is
being held back by an institution responsible for taking care of it at the
Directorate General of Correctional Facilities. The reason, perhaps, is
because they want to collect some fee from my case. I hope this com-
plaint will find its way to corresponding stakeholders because, as a citi-
zen, I find that there has been a violation of my rights.
Midra Haidir
Bekasi Penitentiary
Replacing Lessons on Religion
THE government, the Education and Culture Ministry in particular,
is busy modifying the school curriculum all the way from elementa-
ry school, junior high school, and so on. M Nuh said that it needs to be
done because the current curriculum is no longer relevant with today’s
conditions.
As a retired private school teacher, I would like to make some sug-
gestions. The subject on religion should be replaced, perhaps with a
lesson on manners using material collected from every religion. In
this way, we could cultivate a culture of tolerance among the students.
They would hopefully not claim that their religion is the most righteous
while others’ are not as good. As a Muslim, I feel that every person has
the right to choose his or her own religion. By replacing the subject of
religion with lessons on manners, religious and educational institu-
6 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
E N G L I S H
Chief Editor Wahyu Muryadi
Deputy Chief Editor Yuli Ismartono
Executive Editor Hermien Y. Kleden
Senior Editor Richard Bennett
Editor Lucas Edward
Reporter Sadika Hamid
Editorial Staff Syarifani
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Translators Aris Prawira, Brady Buddviar, Farlan William, Jafar Karim, Jennifer Lindsay
(Sidelines), Josh Mitchell, Kendisan Kusumaatmadja, Judistira Moeis Pontoh, Laura
Rotinsulu, Marianus Kleden, Marjorie Suanda, Mohamad Hamid, Nataya Ermanti, Oik Yusuf
Araya, Sakia Kyu, Tamalia Alisjahbana, Tatu Maulani
TEMPO WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE (INDONESIAN EDITION)
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Executive Editor Arif Zulkifli
Senior Editors Bambang Harymurti, Diah Purnomowati, Edi Rustiadi M, Fikri Jufri, Goenawan
Mohamad, Leila S. Chudori, Putu Setia, S. Malela Mahargasarie, Toriq Hadad
Managing Editors Bina Bektiati, Budi Setyarso, Hermien Y. Kleden, Idrus F. Shahab, L.R.
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Joko Suyono
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Diyah Prabandari, Wahyu Dhyatmika, Yandhrie Arvian, Y. Tomi Aryanto.
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 INDICATOR

Do you think that Garut Regent Aceng H.M.

Fikri should resign?
tions outside the school would be utilized more. Let us leave the (December 5-December 12, 2012)
matter of religion to every family as their own responsibility.

Pandu Syaiful
Retired Teacher of Cendana Private School
Riau

No No
4% 5.63%
Subdistrict Bureaucracy is Annoying (360) (18)

A FEW days ago, I went to the Tambora subdistrict office, West
Jakarta, to request a signature. But I was received with a sour smile
by the administrative employee. The red tape was made difficult. I
also had to pay ZIS (alms for the poor). I gave it, but the female em-
ployee there said that the ZIS I had given was insufficient. I gave
more, but angrily. Perhaps because the money I had given was still
not enough, that woman taunted me with annoying facial expres-
sions.
Subdistrict offices should provide good services to low-income
people like myself, instead of being a terrifying place for the poor. I
hope that the new Jakarta governor will significantly organize not
only the bureaucracy but also the office that provides services. Em-
ployees should be trained to be honest and to respect people.
ZULIA L
Jembatan Besi, Tambora
West Jakarta
Erratum
In the December 10-16, 2012 issue of Tempo magazine:
1. On page 31, the fifth paragraph of the Opinion section reads:
“The story of Banjar Regent Herman Sutriso became an evidence.
This leader of a regency in West Java…”. That sentence is incorrect.
What should have been written is: “The Story of Banjar City May-
or… Leader of a city…”. In the same paragraph “…94 percent of
Banjar citizens voted for him…”. It should have been: “92.17 per-
cent…”.
2. On page 81, Cover Story section, the second column of the first
paragraph contains the sentence: “… said Herman referring to the
Banjar District Attorney’s Office.” It should have been “… said Her-
man referring to the case handled by Banjar District Attorney’s Of-
fice.”.
3. A photo caption on page 97 reads “Brigjen Prasetyo”, while it
should have been “Irjen Prasetyo”.
4. In the Economy section, page 143, in an
article entitled “Increased Labor Wages and
Indonesia’s Economy”, there was a mistake
regarding Wicaksono Sarosa’s photo place-
ment. The photo of the writer, Fauzi Ichsan,
should be as follows: >>
We apologize for the errors.—Editor
Yes Yes
93% 93.13%
(7,539) (298)
Unsure Unsure
3% 1.24%
(183) (4)
Total: 8,082 (100%) Total: 320 (100%)
It’s Over Aceng
“YOUR mouth is your tiger” goes an old (Indonesian)
saying. Garut Regent Aceng H.M.Fikri should think
over this proverb. When his scandalous divorce from
an under-aged girl was first discovered by the media,
Aceng dismissed it, “When I buy something not in
accordance with the specification, I return it.”
This simple answer clearly shows Regent Aceng’s
true nature. He married a girl who was promised to be a
virgin. After four days, Aceng was not satisfied, he then
divorced his young wife by means of a text message.
As soon as the news broke, the public was furious.
Starting from bakso vendors up to the president, all
gave their comments. In general they all regretted how
a district leader can act that way: disdaining women,
violating ethics, promising money to be able to marry
teenage girls.
Aceng is now busy making amends, visiting every one,
trying to win over people he had disregarded. Through
his lawyers, he even threatened to instigate a riot if he
was impeached. But it is too late. “Your mouth is your
tiger”.
Last week’s polls on Tempo.co and Yahoo! Indonesia
showed a uniform result: Aceng should step down from
his position as regent. Both sites showed 93 percent of
readers agree. So it’s over Aceng.
Next Week’s Polls
Do you think that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should
intervene in the case of the former Malaysian Minister who
called BJ Habibie a traiter to his nation? We look forward to
your comments and answers at www.tempo.co
Also follow the polling at www.yahoo.co.id

DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 7

PICTURE WINDOW

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITY. Students of

Rancapinang Elementary Public School at
Pandeglang, Banten, cross the swollen Cijeruk
River, following heavy rains last week. Residents
have repeatedly asked the local government to build
them a bridge so their activities are not hampered by
seasonal flooding.

PHOTO: ANTARA/ASEP FATHULRAHMAN

CARTOON
CAPITAL EVENTS
SEMINAR
❭❭ Idea Internet & E-Commerce Policy Sem-
inar on December 18, 9am-4.30pm, at Le
Meridien Hotel, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav.
18-20 Karet Tengsin, Central Jakarta. For
more information on registration, con-
tact idea.or.id
❭❭ Indonesia Infrastructure Outlook 2013
on December 18, 1pm-4pm, at : Four Sea-
sons Hotel Jakarta, Jl. HR. Rasuna Said
Karet, South Jakarta. For more informa-
tion log on to www.fourseasons.com/ja-
karta
MUSIC PERFORMANCE
❭❭
Urbanology with Barry Likumahua and
Friends on December 20, 8pm-11pm, at
Marley Bar, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52 –
53, SCBD Area Lot. 11A Senayan, South
Jakarta. For more details log on to www.
10 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
*Well, it’s good that your meat is expensive, maybe now people will eat rat meat.”
marleybar.co.id
❭❭ Simak Dialog Jazz concert on December
21, 8pm-10pm, at : Gedung Kesenian Ja-
karta, Jl. Gedung Kesenian 1Pasar Baru,
Central Jakarta. Ticket Rp100,000. For
more detail please call Roelly 62-21-
3441892, email tiket@gedungkesenian-
jakarta.co.id or log on to gedungkese-
nianjakarta.co.id
FESTIVAL
❭❭ Memorable Christmas Mo-
ments on December 21-29,
9pm-12am, at : The Park
Lane Hotel, Jl. Casablan-
ca Kav. 18 Menteng Dalam,
South Jakarta. For inqui-
ries & order, please call 62-
21 828 2000 ext 2113or log
on to www.parklanejakar-
ta.com
❭❭ Mom & Kids Cooking Competitions on
December 22, 10am-2pm, at : Mall Ta-
man Anggrek, Jl. Letjend. S. Parman Kav.
21 Tanjung Duren Selatan, West Jakarta.
For more details email Sisko@Taman-
Anggrek-Mall.com or log on to www.ta-
man-anggrek-mall.com
MOVIE
Istituto Italiano di Cul-
tura Jakarta Cine Club Pro-
gram presents Suspiria on
December 19, 4pm, at IIC Ja-
karta, Jl. HOS Cokroamino-
to 117, Menteng. For more
CARTOON: PRIYANTO S
info, please call 62-21-392
7531/2, or log on to www.iic-
jakarta.esteri.it
●
 Opinion TEMPO, DECEMBER 17-23, 2012
LITTLE BROTHER, BIG TROUBLE
H
E plunged into politics, but landed
into the arms of the law.
The drama surrounding the for-
mer sports and youth minister,
Andi Alifian Mallarangeng is not
an original story. Many promising politicians in
many countries end up in the same corruption
trap. As long as our politics is dominated by trans-
actions, there will always be stories of the adven-
turer and the loser.
Andi Mallarangeng is not the first minister in the
history of the republic to be charged with the crime
of corruption. In the 1950s, Attorney General Soe-
prapto had the courage to drag a few ministers to
court, among them Foreign Minister Roeslan Ab-
dulgani. One was even arrested on suspicion of
graft and that was Justice Minister Djodi Gondokusumo.
Andi is currently the flavor of the month, the subject of every con-
versation on politics, mainly because he was once a close confidant
of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Andi once described him-
self as an intellectual whose goal was to bring about a clean govern-
ment. Which is why many cannot believe that someone so critical
during the launch of the reform era, could have tripped by being in-
volved in the graft and manipulation case involving the construc-
tion of the massive Hambalan sports complex in Bogor.
The charges against Andi are quite serious. He is suspected of
abusing his authority over a project valued at more than Rp1 tril-
lion. In fact, M. Nazaruddin, the former Democrat Party treasur-
er who is serving jail time for his involvement in the Wisma Atlet
(Athlete House) case, testified that Andi was paid Rp20 billion for
the project. He and his younger brother Zulkarnain Mallarangeng,
were later banned from leaving the country.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) must hold
enough proof to have indicted Andi last week. There is no need
to be awed by his decision to resign from the cabinet. That is what
public officials are expected to do when they get embroiled in a le-
gal case or find themselves indicted. That is the political credo that
must be upheld. Indeed, it would be unthinkable for a public offi-
cial to keep on going as if nothing happened.
The shameful stance taken by a number of legislators when they
refused to resign despite their guilty verdict and their eventual im-
prisonment for their involvement in the travelers checks bribery
case, must not be repeated. Their refusal to resign despite their
guilty status goes beyond political decency.
Andi’s case—like those of other politicians implicated in corrup-
tion—tells us that our body politic is still very fragile. Political orga-
nizations seem unable to abandon their culture of oligarchy which
had been deeply embedded by the New Order
government.
The freedom to express one’s view and to as-
semble and form political parties is laudatory.
People have been setting up parties since 1998,
when reforms were launched. Unfortunately,
these new parties don’t seem to be that much dif-
ferent from previous ones. Corrupt political ad-
venturers continue to dominate parties, like be-
fore. In hindsight, Abdurrahman Wahid may
have been right when he said these groups have
clearly hijacked democracy.
Andi Mallarangeng and his two brothers, Rizal
and Zulkarnaen, entered politics during that eu-
phoric era.
As a political scientist, Andi was asked to be a
member of Team Seven (1998-1999), which drafted the new politi-
cal laws and the fundamentals of democratic elections. He was also
chosen to be a member of the first General Elections Commission,
representing the government at the 1999 elections.
His presence in the two institutions meant that promising politi-
cal investment had been put in place. He distanced himself from all
political parties. Through the media, he contributed critical com-
mentaries. Understandably, the public placed their hopes on this
young man who seemed to hold firmly to his sense of idealism.
But pragmatism seems to have been a temptation for Andi. He
established a new party in 2002, but not long after, he switched to
the Democrat Party. He was the president’s spokesman until 2009,
when he was appointed to be a cabinet minister. At the Democrat
Party congress, he was seen as the president’s choice of ‘crown
prince.’ Such pragmatism seems to have gotten hold of his broth-
ers as well. Once a member of President Megawati Soekarnoputri’s
inner circle, Rizal later sidled up close to Aburizal Bakrie. In 2009,
he and his brother Zulkarnain jumped to the Yudhoyono camp,
where he managed the SBY-Boediono campaign .
To be sure, there is nothing wrong with taking the pragmatic
path. But when the party was piling up money and assets, the prag-
matic choice did not seem to be doing any good. The party, which
should subsist on members fees, subscriptions and donations as
regulated by the constitution, ended up being a place to seek more
funds. Even high-ranking officials were forced to become the par-
ty’s money machine.
Politics became a racing horse. Political ethics vanished. No lon-
ger are institutions to be trusted, except for the law, which could
bring any corrupt person down.
It was there that Andi tripped on a mine of corruption.
● FULL STORY PAGE 14
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 11
Opinion
RETURN GAMES
Placing Shia families of Sampang in refugee camps should be a temporary
solution. The government must return them to their home villages.
P
UTTING a stop to food rations and access to clean wa-
ter to the hundreds of Shia families of Sampang, is like
planning to kill them slowly. Since their homes were
burned down by a mob at the end of last August, the res-
idents of Nangkernang hamlet in the island of Madura, are now
forced to live inside a sports complex—tennis courts to be exact—at
the town of Sampang.
For the past four months, they have been unable to do much ex-
cept sit, mull over their fate and read the Qur’an, day in and day
out. They watch television in the evening. Like patients, they are
forbidden from leaving the premises. The entrance is guarded by
policemen. Some enterprising college students have come, at their
own initiative, to teach them skills, just to keep them busy while
they wait to be returned home. But they have never been given a
schedule on when they can go back to their village. Their uncertain
situation and boredom, have led to a few cases of depression.
This unfortunate condition came suddenly last November. The
Sampang regency administration stopped their food supplies, cit-
ing the lack of funds to purchase them. They claimed to have al-
ready spent Rp1 billion on the refugees. Strangely, the decision
seemed final. The Sampang administration appeared to have ex-
hausted their search for solutions, and they can ascertain only one
thing: the Shia cannot yet go home.
There is practically nothing the Shia families can do to seek a
livelihood themselves. Everything they owned was left behind in
their village, which had, in any event, been burned down by angry
mobs. These refugees should not expect to find anything of value in
their destroyed homes. Fortunately, they can still count on one so-
cial organization in Jakarta, to donate 1 ton of rice.
COW FLAP
Data on the government’s requirement to import beef is inaccurate.
The people’s needs should not be sacrificed.
M
ANY errors were committed as a result of the wrong
government policy in managing beef supplies. To-
day, the price of beef at the markets has skyrocket-
ed to Rp80,000-Rp100,000 per kilogram. This is
higher than prices in neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singa-
pore, Thailand and the Philippines, where beef costs somewhere
between Rp38,000 and Rp40,000 per kilogram.
Often, it’s not just the high price but the supply itself that is the
problem. Beef tends to disappear from the counters. Consequent-
ly, a number of food-processing plants run the risk of not producing
and going broke. The confusion about beef has been followed by
an equally worrisome rumor, that low-quality smuggled beef has
12 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
It would be truly unfortunate if the government decided to def-
initely relocate them. This policy was evident when the Shia were
offered modest homes in Sidoarjo, or build temporary homes in an
empty piece of land around Camplong, Sampang regency. These
options should not be seen as the final solution, particularly when
it goes against their hopes and desires.
Since the beginning, we were of the opinion that the government
was mistaken in how they identified the problem, hence leading
to the wrong solution. The root of the problem is not about a fam-
ily conflict between the Roisul Hukama which follow Sunni Islam,
with the Tajul Muluk who are followers of Shia Islam. Both groups
have members in jail. The Shia for the crime of blasphemy and the
Sunni’s for rioting. The Rois, leader of the Shia is not someone who
can mobilize masses of people. He was made the puppet of the real
leaders.
In fact, the main problem is the inability of the Sampang adminis-
tration to keep a check on the local ulama (Islamic religious leader).
These followers of Sunni Islam demand that the Shia followers stop
teaching the Shia faith, forcing this minority sect either to abandon
their religion or flee from the island of Madura. Until their reloca-
tion to a refugee camp, the local government still acts according to
the dictates of the anti-Shia ulama.
Relocating Shia families from their home village might be the
practical thing to do, but such solutions are bound to become time
bombs. Relocating them away from Nangkernan hamlet means
giving in to an anarchic group who are not only intolerant but also
kills any vestige of human rights. Such a policy can send a worrying
message: that the state is no longer capable of protecting their mi-
nority citizens. ● FULL STORY PAGE 28
been ‘magically turned’ into mixed beef and pork, in addition to
beef being sold in bulk because they have been forced to swallow
water in order to gain weight.
Furthermore, there is little likelihood that the ‘study trip’ of leg-
islators to France and China to learn about the beef business will be
of any help, particularly when their agenda is to prepare for the re-
vision of the Livestock Breeding Law. The revisions are intended to
contravene the Constitutional Court’s decision which decreed that
the importation of beef should be based on countries, not on zones.
There is enough evidence to show that these junkets are nothing
more than a waste of taxpayers’ money, particularly when the out-
put is uncertain.
 The beef issue in Indonesia began with the government’s am-
bition to achieve beef self-sufficiency by 2014. In presenting their
data, Agriculture Minister Suswono was able to convince people
that the local beef industry was growing and thus the need to re-
duce imports.
In 2010, beef imports reached 120,000 tons, out of the total na-
tional demand of 484,000 tons. This year, the government import-
ed only 85,000 tons and next year, it will be down to 80,000 tons. If
beef imports fall further to 10 percent of total demand, in line with
the standards established by the Food and Agriculture Organiza-
tion, Indonesia can be said to have achieved beef self-sufficiency.
Data provided by the Agriculture Ministry does not tally with
the numbers provided by the Trade Ministry. By calculating the
amount of local beef produced and the rise in beef consumption to
2.2 kilogram per capita per year, and considering the price stabili-
ty in the markets, Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan estimates that beef
imports next year should ideally be 100,000 to 105,000 tons.
Minister Gita’s calculations seem to make more sense. The sky-
rocketing price of beef simply indicates that there is a gap between
demand and supply, particularly when the Trade Ministry has be-
come adept at bringing foreign tourists. Today, they number about
FESTIVAL FAILS
The quality of the Indonesian Film Festival has sharply declined, despite
their large budget. This organization can no longer be relied on to assess
nationally produced films.
T
HE Rp16.2 billion budget to fund the 2012 Indonesian
Film Festival or FFI, must be questioned. The event that
took place in Yogyakarta on Saturday two weeks ago,
should have been a happy affair. Enthusiastic people lin-
ing up to watch quality films being screened everywhere in Yogya.
But nothing like that happened. The quality of the event was low
and lacked transparency. The FFI no longer seems to represent the
apex of national film production.
Even compared to the Sekaten event, it was still not on a par. In
fact, even Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X made critical
comments because the FFI was held at his city without prior notice.
He lamented the poor and unprofessional planning, plus the lack
of any kind of promotion. Additionally, Yogya was made to feel em-
barrassed because it did not have the right atmosphere.
From this alone, it is clear that the FFI is unable to be the measur-
ing rod for the development of the national film industry. With or
without the FFI, quality Indonesian films can survive and gain the
recognition of the national and international film publics.
The chairman of the 2012 FFI steering committee is Gatot Braja-
musti. He is indeed the head of the Association of Indonesian Film
Artists (Parfi). People used to know him as the kiai or spiritual guru
to artists. Today, however, there would be no harm in questioning
his capacity in organization grand events.
The judges, led by Mohammad Sobary, selected the film Tanah Sur-
ga… Katanya (Heaven… so they Say), directed by Herwin Novrianto, as
the best film. It is the judges’ prerogative to select that film and put
8 million a year, and are expected to increase by about 15 percent.
This means expatriates must also be counted as beef consumers.
Conversely, Agriculture Minister Suswono’s data on the increas-
ing production of local beef should be questioned. A number of lo-
cal leaders and cattle-raising offices in the province complain that
businessmen only promise to develop the cattle breeding business
but never deliver. There is concern that the Agriculture Ministry is
classifying female productive local cows as ready-to-butcher beef.
The problem is that in a number of abattoirs in Jakarta, it is a fact
that 30 percent of the 1,200 cattle butchered are cows.
To overcome the beef shortage and rocketing prices, the Agricul-
ture and Trade ministries must sit down together and review their
figures objectively. The needs of the people must be placed as high
priority, over and above the interests of companies and agencies.
The solution to the beef problem must be based on the funda-
mental issue of closing the gap between demand and supply.
The ambition to achieve beef self-sufficiency cannot justify all
means. The people should not be bearing the burden of this mess,
by having to pay astronomical prices for their beef.
● BERITA TERKAIT DI HALAMAN 126
aside the others. But the judges must also be willing to take on critical
questions on the reasons for the selection, because the film was pro-
duced by Gatot Brajamusti, a clear case of conflict of interest.
The Ministry for Tourism and Creative Economy as the sponsor
of the event must be aware that there are many problems within
the FFI. There is enormous wastage, for one. And still on the issue
of money, at the end of December the 2012 Indonesian Film Appre-
ciation party is to be held. This is like the FFI, except that it is orga-
nized by the Ministry of Education and Culture, and is estimated to
be costing massive amounts of money.
There seems to be an unbalanced and unclear division of labor
between the two ministries. We know that films in Indonesia get
extra facilities provided by the two ministries. This should be bet-
ter divided and shared. It needs to be determined which can han-
dle the upstream industry and which one the downstream. The fact
that each of them organize their own respective festivals seems re-
dundant, lacking in synergy and a waste of money.
Next year, perhaps it would be best to eliminate overlapping pro-
grams and activities, if necessary, dissolve the FFI. There must be
focus. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy can help to
promote Indonesian films overseas by gaining access to interna-
tional festivals because its task is to market Indonesian films, or to
support public institutions that are able to host more credible na-
tional film festivals.
Because the FFI can no longer make the cut.
● BERITA TERKAIT DI HALAMAN 66
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 13
15 PHOTO: DOC. TEMPO/ ADRI IRIANTO COVER STORY

PRESUMPTION
OF INNOCENTS
Rizal (Celi), Andi, and Zulkarnain (Choel)
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 15
THE MALLARANGENG
BROTHERS ANDI
ALIFIAN AND ANDI
ZULKARNAIN HAVE
BEEN CAUGHT UP IN
THE HAMBALANG
CORRUPTION CASE,
WHILE IT US UP TO
BROTHER ANDI RIZAL
TO GET THEM OUT OF
THE MESS.

A
GATHERING was
held one night at the
end of October 2009
at the home of Andi
Alifian Mallarangeng
at Cilangkap, East Ja-
karta. The host had just
been appointed Youth and Sports minister
a week earlier. He told his guests he want-
ed to improve facilities for training athletes
to increase the number of sporting achieve-
ments. The Ragunan School for Athletes,
which had been the backbone of athlete de-
velopment, was felt to be behind the times.
His guests were two top officials at the
state-owned company, Adhi Karya: Teuku
Bagus Mohammad Noor and Mohammad When Andi first became minister, the crat Party politician Muhammad Nazarud-

Arief Taufiqurahman. For some reason,
an official of the Semarang Office of Public
Works, was also present. Meeting for nearly
an hour, the core of their discussion could
be gleaned from a discussion between Teu-
ku Bagus and Arief after leaving Cilangkap.
“We should get that project,” said Teuku
Bagus, as told by a Tempo source. The proj-
ect in question was the National Sports Ed-
ucation and Training complex at Mount
Hambalang, Bogor.
After he was questioned by the Corrup-
tion Eradication Commission (KPK) last
week, Teuku Bagus, who at the time of this
case was Head of the First Construction Di-
vision at Adhi Karya, was not talking. On
Friday last week, Teuku Bagus’s secretary
said that he was at a meeting outside the of-
fice. There was no response to the request
for an interview. Arief Taufiqurahman, the
marketing manager, one of Teuku Bagus’s
subordinates, refused to comment. “Please
ask the KPK,” he said.
chief of the Planning Bureau of the Youth
and Sports Ministry, Deddy Kusdinar made
a presentation at the minister’s residence
regarding a plan to construct the Ham-
balang facility. Andi proposed adding
some buildings, such as a dormito-
ry for senior athletes and an am-
phitheater. Ministry secretary
Wafid Muharam noted that as
of May 2010 the design had
changed at least seven times.
Each of the changes was pre-
sented to Andi.
A month before the two Adhi
Karya officials met with Andi in
September, the Hambalang project—
which at that time was still called the Na-
tional Sports Achievement Improvement
Center—was already the subject of gossip.
The owner of Dutasari Citralaras company,
Machfud Suroso, had contacted Adhi Karya
for a possible collaboration. Mindo Rosalina
Manulang, who worked for former Demo-
TEMPO/ RULLY KESUMA (HAMBALANG), TEMPO/DASRIL ROSZANDI (NOOR), TEMPO/SETO WARDHANA (WQAFID)
din, also informed Adhi Karya that “(proj-
ect) Hambalang was already in sight.”
It seems that as far back as August 2009,
Wafid Muharam had calculated the cost of
building Hambalang. At the end of Octo-
ber, a team he put together estimat-
ed the project to be worth Rp2.5
trillion. The breakdown: Rp1.2
trillion for construction, and
Rp1.3 trillion for equipment.
Even though this was not an of-
ficial calculation, some of his
findings were used to formulate
the budget ceiling for the Ham-
balang project in 2010.
In early January 2010, Nazaruddin,
who said he was sent by Anas Urbanin-
grum, who at that time was Democrat Party
chairman at the House of Representatives
(DPR), met Andi on the 10th floor of the
Sports Ministry. Nazaruddin was accompa-
nied by members of the DPR Sports Com-
mission, Angelina Sondakh and Mahyud-

16 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012


National Sports Education and
Training complex site at Mount
Hambalang, Sentul, Bogor, West
Java.
din. The objective was to open the way for
budget deliberations at the DPR.
Not long after this meeting, a land cer-
tificate for Hambalang was issued by the
National Land Agency (BPN). In February
2010, armed with the anticipated certif-
icate, Andi told the DPR Sports Commis-
sion that the first stage of construction in
Hambalang required Rp625 billion of the
planned Rp2.5 trillion. This Rp625 billion
had grown from an initial budget of Rp125
billion, which had been made available in
2010. Every time Andi had a meeting with
the DPR Sports Commission, from Febru-
ary to April, he proposed raising the bud-
get.
Meanwhile, the Ministry had asked a
planning consultant to recalculate the bud-
get for construction costs. Following the
design changes, Metaphora Solusi Global, a
planning consultant, estimated the budget
would be some Rp800 billion, then Rp1.6
trillion or so, and finally Rp1.175 trillion—
nearing the figure of Rp1.2 trillion, as the
team had estimated in October 2009.
Wafid Muharam then presented this
Rp1.175 trillion figure to the Finance Minis-
try when they sought approval for a multi-
year contract, on June 28, 2010. When he
was asked to confirm this, Wafid—who is
currently incarcerated at Cipinang jail—
through a colleague, said that he was only
following the minister’s orders. Each time
he signed a letter, he did so in front of Andi.
“It would have been impossible for the min-
ister not to know,” he said.
When he announced his resignation two
weeks ago, Andi, 49, insisted he had done
nothing wrong. “All of those accusations
are untrue,” he said. Rizal, Andi’s young-
er brother, who has become the fami-
ly spokesman, said it was not true that his
older brother helped some people win the
Hambalang project.
Those top Adhi Karya officials who visit-
ed Andi’s home in October 2009, accord-
ing to Rizal, were uninvited guests. “Peo-
ple who have just taken office are usual-
ly visited by people asking for proj-
ects,” he said. When they said
they wanted to work on proj-
ects, said Rizal, Andi never
gave them any expectations.
“Perhaps to respect his guests,
Andi said ‘if you please’. How-
ever, that was not a commit-
ment.”
●●●
THE turmoil at the Democrat Party con-
gress in May 2010 interrupted the delib-
erations on Hambalang at the Youth and
Sports Ministry. With his image polished by
his younger brother, Andi Zulkarnain Mal-
larangeng alias Choel, 46, in charge of the
political consultancy Fox Indonesia, Minis-
ter Andi Mallarangeng became a candidate
for party chairman. He competed against
Anas Urbaningrum and Marzuki Alie. In
the end, Anas was chosen.
Nazaruddin, who was after the Ham-
balang project and the Athletes Dormi-
tory projects for the XXVI SEA Games in
Palembang through Duta Graha Indah, had
‘prepped’ Andi, so the project would fall
into his hands. Reportedly, Wafid accepted
bribes of Rp20 billion from April-May 2010.
Later, it turned out that Duta Graha only
COVER STORY
obtained the Athletes Dormitory project.
That is why Nazaruddin asked his subordi-
nates to take back half of those bribes.
The large monetary outlays made by
Nazaruddin made Adhi Karya nervous.
Teuku Bagus asked Arief Taufiqurahman,
his subordinate, to arrange a meeting with
Andi. This was to ask when bidding on the
project would begin. For some reason, Teu-
ku Bagus could not attend. Arief then went
to the 10th floor of the Ministry, to Andi’s
office.
Arief was surprised to see Choel Mal-
larangeng, who was there to meet him.
Feeling uncomfortable, Arief only made
small talk about the business plans of Adhi
Karya, including construction of the Indo-
nesia Tower, potentially the tallest building
in Indonesia, with 100 floors.
According to another version of the sto-
ry, Arief did want to meet with Choel. Wafid
Muharam and Muhammad Arifin from
Solusi Global, accompanied Arief. After Ari-
ef mentioned Adhi Karya’s plan to take part
in the bidding, Choel said, “Go ahead.” Af-
ter this meeting, Arief and Choel met again
at a restaurant, this time without Wafid and
Arifin. Planning Bureau chief Deddy Kusdi-
nar noticed their meeting.
After bidding began in August of that
year, Adhi Karya worked with Wi-
jaya Karya. Long before the
winner of the auction was an-
nounced on November 2 this
year, the word was that the
project would be carried out
as an Adhi-Wika collabora-
tion, although it remained un-
clear who said this. However, an
employee of Metaphora said that
in February 2010, they knew that Adhi
Karya would be the winner. This was con-
firmed when an Adhi Karya employee was
seen to calculate the construction costs.
One key factor was that Adhi Karya kept in
direct communication with Andi.
Nearing the announcement, Wafid Mu-
haram was visited by Nanny Ruslie and Her-
man Prananto from Global Daya Manung-
gal. They wanted to be the subcontractors
in the Hambalang project. Wafid felt that
this was out of his hands. “Subcontracting
is the authority of the collaboration (KSO)
chief,” said Wafid. He asked businessman
Paul Nelwan to take Nanny and Herman to
Adhi Karya.
Soon after this meeting at Wafid’s office
around October-November, Wafid received
a text message from Choel. “Has Pak Wafid
met with Pak Herman?” read the mes-
sage. “Yes he has,” Wafid replied, as told
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 17

by a Tempo source. According to Paul Nel-
wan, at first Adhi Karya declined Global’s
request. Later, without Paul’s knowledge,
Global’s request was granted.
While that was going on, Muhammad
Fakhruddin, a special staff for Youth Af-
fairs of the Youth and Sports Ministry,
summoned Arief Taufiqurahman to his of-
fice on the second floor of the Ministry. It
turned out that Nanny and Herman were
already waiting there. Conveying their in-
tentions, Nanny and Herman, along with
Fakhruddin, went to the office of the First
Construction Division of Adhi Karya, a few
weeks later.
A Tempo source said that Fakhruddin was
an extension of Choel’s hand at the Minis-
try. Speaking to the commitment-making
official for the Hambalang project, Deddy
Kusdinar, it was reported that Fakhruddin
once asked that some companies be named
subcontractors, which was requested in
the name of Choel. Speaking to Adhi Karya,
in addition to asking that Global Daya Ma-
nunggal become a subcontracting compa-
ny, he asked the same for an anti-termite
treatment company.
Feeling trapped, the senior executives of
Adhi Karya finally gave part of the project to
Global. This company received two packets
for structural and architectural work. The
first KSO Adhi-Wika contract with Global
was made on 29 December 2010, 19 days be-
fore the Hambalang project was signed by
KSO Adhi-Wika, which was represented by
Teuku Bagus and commitment-making of-
ficial Deddy Kusdinar. It was worth Rp139.9
billion. On January 11, 2011, they received a
second contract worth Rp2.4 billion.
Only Dutasari Citralaras, a company be-
longing to Machfud Suroso and the wife of
Anas Urbaningrum, Athiyyah Laila, pre-
ceded Global in being subcontracted by
KSO Adhi-Wika. Dutasari obtained
a Rp324.5 million project for me-
chanical and electrical work on
December 16. Over a dozen
other companies were sub-
contracted after January of
2011. It was later discovered
that Dutasari was regularly
subcontracted by Adhi Karya.
After the project was in hand,
according to official documents,
Global compensated Choel, with about
Rp2 billion. Global also gave Rp500 million
to someone in Choel’s circle. All of these
outlays were recorded in the company re-
cords confiscated by the KPK. In these re-
cords, Andi’s secretary at the Ministry
was also listed. One source said that, be-
18 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
After the project was in hand, according to official
documents, PT Global compensated Choel, with
about Rp2 billion. Global also gave Rp500 million
to someone in Choel’s circle. All of these outlays
were recorded in the company records confiscated
by the KPK.
fore the money was disbursed, Choel had
told someone at Global, “Two months have
passed but [we are] still empty.”
At a meeting with Tempo at the office of
Freedom Institute on Tuesday last week,
Choel declined to be interviewed. He en-
trusted the matter to his older brother,
Rizal. According to Rizal, Choel was not in-
volved in arranging the Hambalang project.
He also said that Choel never received any
money from anyone involed in the Ham-
balang project. At a press conference two
weeks ago, Choel said that he never fun-
neled money from the contracted compa-
nies to Andi. “I am not in any way connect-
ed with the Hambalang project,” he said.
Fakhruddin, reportedly Choel’s right-
hand man, denied helping to arrange the
subcontracted parties. He said he was not
“one of Choel’s people,” and that he does
not know any top officials at Global. Even
so, he said that many people had been to
his office at the Ministry, seeking informa-
tion about projects. “It is all right as long as
they go through the right procedures,” he
told Febriana Firdaus from Tempo. Herman
Prananto from Global did not deny this in-
formation. “All of it is in the file on me,” he
said.
●●●
RIZAL Mallarangeng, 48, was ac-
companying Golkar Party Chair-
man Aburizal Bakrie on his
trip to Majalengka, West Java,
when he heard the news that
Andi and Choel had been
banned from leaving the
country, two weeks ago. He
quickly called Anto—a nick-
name for Andi Mallarangeng,
who calls him Daeng—to confirm
the news. “At that time I didn’t believe
he was a suspect,” he said.
Along with Aburizal, Rizal flew to Jakarta
by helicopter. At around 6:30pm, Andi,
Rizal, and Choel gathered at Choel’s home
in Menteng. “Daeng, what’s up?” Rizal
asked Andi. “I am resigning,” said Andi. Ac-
COVER STORY
cording to Rizal, Andi’s decision was ini-
tially opposed. This was because his legal
status was not yet clear. Someone suggest-
ed that Andi resign after his suspect status
was announced by the KPK.
Andi insisted on resigning. He contact-
ed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s
aide, asking for a meeting the next morn-
ing. If he was given time that night, Andi
would have gone to meet the president. Ac-
cording to Rizal, since August, when his
name became increasingly mentioned in
connection with the Hambalang project,
Andi intended to resign. The reason was
that he did not want to be a burden on the
cabinet. However, the president turned
down his request.
Feeling uncomfortable at the meeting
in Choel’s house, they went instead to the
office of the Freedom Institute at Wisma
Proklamasi 41. Andi’s wife and Rizal’s wife
joined them. In Rizal’s office on the second
floor, the three brothers sat around a lap-
top. Rizal sat in front of the screen. He was
composing and typing Andi’s letter of res-
ignation, which was addressed to Yudho-
yono. Rizal also came up with the concept
for Choel’s press conference. Nearing mid-
night, Andi’s letter of resignation from the
cabinet and the Democrat Party was com-
pleted.
So, early Friday morning, Andi headed
to the Presidential Palace. Already wait-
ing there for him were President SBY, Vice
President Boediono, Minister-State Secre-
tary Sudi Silalahi, and Cabinet Secretary
Dipo Alam. Andi said that he did not want
to be a burden on the cabinet. Denying he
had committed corruption, he also said
that he needed time to prepare a legal de-
fense. Reportedly, the president and vice
president turned misty-eyed.
Rizal continues to be busy, given his two
brothers’ involvement in the case. He has
gathered documents and legal books. He
TEMPO/SETO WARDHANA
recently arranged for Harry Pontoh, Luhut
Pangaribuan, and Ifdhal Kasim to become
Andi’s legal counsel. For the moment, he is
the anchor for Daeng and his little brother.
● ANTON SEPTIAN

THE FALL OF AN ANTI-
GRAFT ACTIVIST
ANDI MALLARANGENG WAS A POLITICAL
SCIENTIST AND WORKED ON REGIONAL
AUTONOMY DURING THE START OF THE REFORM
PERIOD. HE STEPPED DOWN AFTER HE WAS
ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION.
T
HREE days after Wafid Mu-
haram, secretary of the Youth
and Sports Ministry, was ar-
rested by the Corruption Erad-
ication Commission (KPK), on
April 25, 2011, Ryaas Rasyid invited Andi
to dinner. Two other people from Makas-
sar joined their gathering at a European
restaurant, Gourmet World at Kemang, in
South Jakarta.
While dining on a steak, Ryaas men-
tioned the news about Wafid’s arrest in Is-
tanbul, Turkey, during a break in his con-
ference on local governance system. As re-
20 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
gional autonomy minister in the presiden-
cy of Abdurrahman Wahid, he wanted to
find out whether Andi was involved in the
corruption of the Athletes Dormitory con-
struction project for the XXVI SEA Games
in Palembang, which involved the then
Democrat Party Treasurer, Muhammad
Nazaruddin.
As a former government official, Ryaas
understood that as a cabinet minister, Andi
surely knew about the projects being run in
his institution. “I have two questions,” said
Ryaas, recounting his meeting with Andi,
last week. “First, did you meet with Naza-
ruddin to arrange projects? Second, did
Wafid report on the project and having re-
ceived money from Nazaruddin?”
According to Ryaas, Andi calmly an-
swered those two questions with one word,
“No.” The reason was that Nazaruddin
was in Anas Urbaningrum’s camp at a time
when they were competing in the election
of the Democrat Party chairman in Ban-
dung in 2010. They ended dinner with an-
other story and one piece of advice from
Ryaas: “If that is the case, carry on, and
don’t be afraid.”
After two years of “carrying on,” Andi
became entangled in another case: sus-
pected corruption in the National Sports
School Education and Training Center
project at Mount Hambalang, Bogor. A
number of people involved in this case said
that this Andi, who was once the presiden-
tial spokesman, had actively arranged this
Rp2.5 trillion project, and had proposed
that this project on 31 hectares of land be
expanded by asking the House of Repre-
sentatives (DPR) for an additional budget of
Rp625 billion.
Nazaruddin even said that this colleague
of his in the Democrat Party accepted a
bribe of Rp10 billion through his younger

Andi Alifian Mallarangeng
brother, Zulkarnain or Choel. Two weeks
ago, the KPK indicted Andi, charging him
with negligence in not naming the winner
of the bid on projects over Rp50 billion.
The next day, Andi resigned as Youth and
Sports Minister, a position he has held since
2009. “The charges against me are un-
true,” he said.
If he is found guilty, those accusations
will be a turning point for Andi. He is
known as a brilliant political scientist who
once called for a clean government. His ca-
reer also crossed paths with anticorrup-
tion bodies. He was once Head of the Policy
Committee of an NGO called Partnership.
Ryaas regards Andi as a kid brother. He
was the one who asked Andi to move to Ja-
karta in 1998, leaving his work as a sociolo-
gy lecturer at Hasanuddin University. Andi
joined the Team Seven to help prepare the
legislation on politics and governance dur-
TEMPO/SETO WARDHANA
ing the early years of the reform era.
When he was called to Jakarta, Ryaas re-
counted, Andi was confused because he
had nowhere to stay. He had just returned a
year earlier from the United States, having
just completed a doctoral program at Illi-
nois University. Born in Makassar on March
14, 1963, he was known among student ac-
tivists as a member of the Islamic Student
Association (HMI) at the University of Gad-
jah Mada (UGM).
When President B.J. Habibie asked Ryaas
to lead the Team Seven, he contacted (the
late) Afan Gaffar, a political lecturer at UGM.
Afan suggested Andi, one of his former stu-
dents at UGM, who had just returned from
the US, as a candidate. The four other mem-
bers of the team were Anas Urbaningrum,
Ramlan Surbakti, Luthfi Mutty, and Djo-
hermansyah Djohan, who is presently the
Director-General of Regional Autonomy at
the Home Affairs Ministry.
As a former dean of the Institute of Gov-
ernment Sciences (IIP), Ryaas suggested
that Andi become a lecturer at his campus
so that he could live at his official residence
in Jakarta. It was then that Andi brought his
entire family to the capital city. It was also
because of Ryaas that he purchased 1,000-
square meters of land at Cipayung, East Ja-
karta, where he now resides.
Andi was appointed a member of the
General Elections Commission (KPU) to
prepare the 1999 General Elections. He
resigned because Ryaas asked him to be-
come an expert staff at the Regional Auton-
omy Ministry. However, this only lasted 10
months, as the ministry was later disband-
ed. Andi’s popularity grew because he was
often interviewed by the media. He was of-
ten seen on television. Asiaweek magazine
dubbed him ‘A Future Leader of Asia’.
Ryaas and Andi continued to have close
relations when they established the Nation-
al Democracy Unity Party (PPDK) in 2002.
Andi resigned just two years later, saying
he disagreed with their party when it de-
cided to support General Wiranto, a Golkar
Party presidential candidate in the 2004
election. “I suggested joining the Democrat
Party, which had nominated SBY (Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono),” said Rizal, Andi’s
younger brother.
He made the right choice. Yudhoyono
won the election and became president.
Andi was named a spokesman. He has been
close to Yudhoyono ever since. After en-
tering the circle of power, Andi’s analyses
and views on national politics faded from
view. His political statements were most-
ly about presidential policies and clarifica-
tions about the issues affecting the Presi-
dential Palace.
Andi stepped forward as Yudhoyono’s
number-one defender. During the 2009
presidential campaign he made a contro-
COVER STORY
versial statement. When speaking at Mat-
toanging Field, this eldest child of the ma-
yor of Parepare said, “It is not yet time for
someone from South Sulawesi to become
a leader.” This immediately caused a con-
troversy, because Jusuf Kalla, a former vice
president who comes from this province,
was Yudhoyono’s rival in the election.
Jusuf Kalla was enraged. Mayor of Makas-
sar Ilham Arif Sirajuddin and City Secretary
Anis Kama, Andi’s uncle, took the initia-
tive to bring the two together. On the post-
Ramadan Eid-ul-Fitr holiday in 2009, the
Mallarangeng brothers—Andi, Rizal, and
Zulkarnain—visited Kalla’s home in Makas-
sar. At that time the election was over and
Yudhoyono was in office for a second term
as president.
Andi had already been appointed Youth
and Sports Minister. Kalla welcomed the
three brothers. “We wanted to have a
friendly meeting. As a new cabinet minis-
ter, I wanted to learn,” said Andi, as quot-
ed by Ilham. While eating a Makassar soup,
Rizal explained the context of Andi’s state-
ment, which had been quoted out of con-
text by the media.
Being in the circle of power, suspicious
data on Andi’s finances set off alarms at
the Financial Transactions Reporting and
Analysis Center (PPATK). This agency de-
tected a flow of funds from an unclear
source for Andi and his wife, Vitri Cahyan-
ingsih, last year.
According to their reports, Vitri bought
a condo in Kuningan for Rp3.5 billion with-
out any clear transaction. She had also pur-
chased at least Rp8 billion of stocks on the
stock exchange. The PPATK then sent their
report to the KPK in May of last year. In let-
ter number HA-306/03.1.129/05/2011/SR,
the PPATK said that a Rp4.43 billion trans-
action made by Andi’s family was catego-
rized as “suspicious.”
Rizal, Andi’s younger brother, who is the
family spokesman, felt there was nothing
unusual about the large amount of money.
“He has a wealth of Rp15 billion, so it makes
sense to have a condo and transaction in
that amount,” he said.
According to Rizal, his older brother be-
came the anchor of the family after their fa-
ther died at the age of 36 in 1972, and the
three brothers were living in different cit-
ies. Andi was studying in Yogyakarta, Rizal
was in Ragunan High School in Jakarta, and
Zulkarnain was being taken care of by their
uncle in Makassar. Now their anchor faces
embarrassing corruption charges which
could spell the end of his political career.
BAGJA HIDAYAT (JAKARTA), RASDIYANAH (MAKASSAR)
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 21
MEDIATING
POWER PLAYS
HE JUMPED FROM ONE POLITICAL LEADER TO
ANOTHER, IN THE SEARCH FOR THE WINNING CAMP.
RIZAL MALLARANGENG EVEN TRIED TO RUN FOR
THE PRESIDENCY HIMSELF.
R
IZAL Mallarangeng, 48, likes
one particular item in his spa-
cious, book-filled office. Look-
ing out of a glass wall, cov-
ered by wooden drop-down
screen, a statue of Sukarno and Hatta is vis-
ible, across the street from his office.
Having an office in a historical area has
long been Rizal’s dream. Located on the
second floor, Rizal’s room is bright with
sunlight, tempered by various plants. This
building stands on 2,500 square meters of
land, right across the street from the Proc-
lamation Monument in Central Jakarta,
where founding fathers Sukarno and Hatta
declared the country’s independence.
On the ground floor is the library of the
Freedom Institute, a think tank estab-
lished in 2001. The top floor is used by La-
ngit Timur Energy, a coal mining compa-
ny. Fox Indonesia, a political consultancy,
used to occupy that floor. Both companies
were established by Rizal and managed by
his younger brother, Zulkarnain or Choel.
“I feel there is a historical attraction here,
in addition to being an oasis,” said Rizal,
last week. Before he finally purchased this
place in 2009, his old office was in Men-
teng, Central Jakarta.
Born in Makassar, on October 29, 1964,
Rizal, who is usually called Celi, seems to
have followed in the footsteps of his old-
er brother, Andi. After Andi alias Anto
went to the University of Gadjah Mada, in
Yogyakarta, three years later Celi, who
graduated from Ragunan High School, Ja-
karta, did the same.
Even so, the two have different traits and
backgrounds. Andi is a calm character who
is active in the Muslim Students Association
(HMI). Celi is more temperamental and par-
ticipates in discussion groups. Celi also of-
ten writes opinion pieces for the mass me-
dia. When he was a university student, he
met Aburizal Bakrie. “Pak Ical still remem-
bers him,” said Lalu Mara Satria Wangsa,
22 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
who is close to Aburizal. and Megawati’s entourage, as well as on
After graduating, not wanting to be out- President Megawati’s trips abroad. When
done by his older brother, who studied in Megawati visited the United States, Rizal
the United States, Celi continued his stud- was also called on to write her speech. CSIS
ies at Ohio State University, in Columbus. was just a temporary refuge. “He was only
After earning a doctorate in political sci- there for three months,” said Indra J. Pil-
ence, he returned to Indonesia and joined iang, a CSIS researcher.
the Center for Strategic and International Although they are often seen together,
Studies (CSIS). There, he was often quoted Rizal was not actually in Megawati’s core
by the media. Surya Paloh, owner of Metro group. “Mbak Mega felt they did not have
TV, recruited him to preside over the Save the same ideology as Rizal,” said a Tempo
Our Nation television program. source. Rizal was seen as “one of Taufiq
When Abdurrahman Wahid was im- Kiemas’s people.”
peached by the People’s Consultative As- Nevertheless, this good relationship
sembly (MPR) and Megawati Soekarnoputri lasted even after her presidency ended. In
replaced him on July 23, 2001, Rizal made the 2004 General Election, Megawati ran
his way into the Megawati camp. He talked against Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. On
about the succession of power for hours on Election Day, Rizal took the important step
television. Taufiq Kiemas was impressed. of ‘leaving’ the losing candidate. Yudho-
On one occasion, Taufiq introduced Rizal yono had already been named the favor-
to Megawati in a very affable manner, say- ite according to some surveys. When the
ing, “This is Rizal, the person who defend- quick count announced a Yudhoyono vic-
ed you all-out on television.” tory, Rizal was already on television con-
Taufik liked this daring youth with ideas. gratulating the winner. Megawati and poli-
That is why Taufiq made Rizal a member ticians in the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Megawati’s campaign team in the 2004 of Struggle (PDI-P) were enraged.
presidential election. He was made an im- Rizal quickly jumped ship. Leaving a
age consultant. Taufiq felt that there was a sinking Megawati, he aligned himself with
need to improve Megawati’s image. “Rizal Yudhoyono, where he joined his own broth-
had that ability,” said a Tempo source. Rizal er, Andi, who had been appointed a pres-
was often seen together with Taufiq Kiemas idential spokesman. An old friend of his
Rizal quickly jumped ship. Leaving a sinking
Megawati, he aligned himself with Yudhoyono,
where he joined his own brother, Andi, who had
been appointed a presidential spokesman. An old
friend of his was also waiting: Aburizal Bakrie,
whom Yudhoyono appointed as the Coordinating
Minister for the Economy.

was also waiting: Aburizal Bakrie, whom
Yudhoyono appointed as the Coordinat-
ing Minister for the Economy. Aburizal ap-
pointed Rizal as a special staff member.
While he was a staff member of the Coor-
dinating Minister for the Economy, Rizal’s
duties were no picnic. Together with Lin
Che Wei and M. Ikhsan, Rizal was named
a representative of PT Pertamina to nego-
tiate a contract of cooperation for the Cepu
Block with ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia. The
negotiations resulted in a controversial de-
cision regarding a 30-year contract which
became effective in March 2006.
In early 2008, before his work as a spe-
cial staff of the Coordinating Minister for
Public Welfare ended, Rizal founded Fox
Indonesia, a political consultancy, togeth-
er with Saiful Mujani and Jeffrie Geovanie.
Rizal brought Choel on board as the com-
pany’s executive director.
The company’s first client was Alex No-
DOK.TEMPO/ SANTIRTA M
erdin, for the election of the governor of
South Sumatra. After successfully winning
the election, Fox was flooded with offers.
One was from Sutrisno Bachir, chairman
of the National Mandate Party (PAN), who
Andi Rizal Mallarangeng (Celi) with
Aburizal Bakrie.
wanted to run for president. In 2008, Su-
trisno paid Fox to increase his popularity,
signing a Rp120 billion contract.
This one-year contract only lasted a few
months before it was cancelled, because
while campaigning for Sutrisno to become
president, Rizal himself harbored aspira-
tions of becoming president. He offered
himself to be Sutrisno’s running mate for
the presidency. At that time, Rizal claimed
that he was supported by two business-
men.
This frustrated Sutrisno. He allowed
Rizal to step forward, but asked that the
contract be cancelled, even though the
money had been spent. Speaking to Tempo
in 2008, Sutrisno said that he did not want
to have any problems with Rizal. “He has
hopes, ambitions, obsession, and support-
ers,” he said. Last week, Sutrisno declined
to explain his decision back then. “I don’t
want to talk further about that period of ig-
COVER STORY
norance,” he said.
Rizal conducted a massive campaign, us-
ing billboards on main roads and television
ads. With the symbol ‘RM09’, Rizal’s slo-
gan was ‘If there is a will, there is a way’. He
appeared on television with destitute chil-
dren, talking about poverty, and discuss-
ing the lack of development in Papua. Lat-
er, after finding out that his electability
was low, he pulled out of the race. Regard-
ing this move, Rizal commented, “It was in-
deed outside of my calculations.”
Because of this and the cancelling of
the contract with Sutrisno, it was report-
ed that Rizal had a minor falling-out with
Choel. However, Choel at that time denied
that news. According to Rizal, he resigned
from managing Fox, “So that the compa-
ny is not held hostage by my affairs.” Nev-
ertheless, using the money from the Sutris-
no contract, Fox was able to buy a house at
Jl. Proklamasi 41, Central Jakarta. Failing
to become a contesting candidate, Rizal
joined the SBY-Boediono team—Megawati’s
competitor, who was once his ally.
● WIDIARSI AGUSTINA, FEBRIANA FIRDAUS,
WAYAN AGUS PURNOMO
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 23
BLOOD
BROTHERS
AFTER LEAVING A JOB
IN SINGAPORE, CHOEL
WENT ON TO PRESIDE
OVER FOX INDONESIA,
BEFORE GOING INTO THE
COAL BUSINESS.

T
HE two brothers got out of a
black Land Cruiser. Rizal Mal-
larangeng was wearing a T-
shirt, jeans, and a pair of Crocs.
His younger brother, Zulkar-
nain, wore an orange polo shirt and bell-
bottom jeans. A white Mitsubishi Pajero fol-
lowed behind. “What news, commander?”
said Zulkarnain, whose nickname is Choel,
to Tempo, who was waiting for the two at
their Freedom Institute office, last week.
At this place, five days earlier, Choel was
despondent. His eyes were teary when he
gave a statement to the press about being
barred from leaving the country by the Cor-
ruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
His older brother, Andi, in the meantime,
was named a suspect in a corruption case
over the Hambalang sports complex.
Choel was born on August 22, 1966 in
Parepare, South Sulawesi. He grew up sep-
arately from his two older brothers, Andi
and Rizal. When he was two weeks old, he
was adopted by Andi Sugira, his father’s
younger sister, whose husband was a well- cal Sciences. In 2008, Rizal brought Choel on board
known doctor in Makassar, Muhammad His first job was at Datascrip Indonesia the political consultant agency, Fox Indo-
Nazaruddin Anwar. in 1994, where he became general manag- nesia. When he was pioneering the estab-
Rizal still remembers when he and Andi er four years later. In 1998, he became a di- lishment of Fox with Saiful Mujani and Jeff-
took their younger brother to Makassar. Up rector at InFocus Corporation Asia-Pacific, rie Geovanie, Rizal said he was having diffi-
until junior high school, Choel knew his located in Singapore. culty finding reliable people in the market-
two brothers as first cousins. “It was only Rizal said that in Singapore, Choel was ing field. “Choel was finally chosen for the
after he graduated junior high school that able to buy a luxury car and large motor- job,” he said.
he knew we were his brothers,” said Rizal. cycle. His large salary at that multination- The position of executive director at Fox
Later, Choel changed his surname back to al company enabled him to buy expensive Indonesia paved the way for Choel to get on
Mallarangeng. goods. “I was once invited to ride on a large the national political stage. The first ma-
After graduating from high school in BMW motorcycle around Singapore,” said jor success for this agency was when Alex
Makassar in 1985, Choel went to Yogyakarta Rizal. Noerdin won the election for governor of
to be with his two brothers, who were al- In 2002, Choel returned to Indonesia South Sumatra in September 2008. The
ready studying there. After a year at the and set up his own business. Together with door was opened wider when Fox Indone-
Indonesian Islamic University (UII), he some friends, he also established a produc- sia was chosen to be a campaign consul-
switched to Jayabaya University in Jakarta, tion house and became a distributor for tant for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
and earned a degree in international rela- various electronic gadgets. “He went into Boediono in the 2009 presidential election.
tions from the Faculty of Social and Politi- different types of business,” said Rizal. This was the red carpet for Choel to gain ac-

24 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012


cess to the president’s circle in Cikeas.
A Tempo source who was once on the
Yudhoyono campaign team had a story
to tell about Choel’s exploits. According-
ly, Choel was always the one to present the
campaign materials and program supplied
by Fox Indonesia. Only the survey results
were presented by another, Saiful Mujani—
who at that time was executive director of
the Lembaga Survei Indonesia.
Choel was not only involved in Jakarta,
but was there for all campaign-related ac-
tivities all over Indonesia. According to that
former senior government official, Choel
TEMPO/SETO WARDHANA
was on Yudhoyono’s central campaign
team together with National Mandate Par-
ty (PAN) Chairman Hatta Rajasa and busi-
nesswoman Hartati Murdaya.
When Yudhoyono won his second term
Andi Zulkarnain Mallarangeng (Choel)
greets President Yudhoyono’s family
at a halalbihalal gathering at the State
Palace, Jakarta, 2011.
as president, the relationship between
Choel and the Cikeas camp grew stronger.
According to the source, this relationship
grew ever smoother because of his close-
ness to Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono alias
Ibas. “People felt he was the one who could
give Ibas some direction.”
Being in the inner ring at Cikeas was a
boon to Choel’s ambitions. He expanded
his business into the mining sector. Accord-
ing to some sources, he held a few mining
COVER STORY
businesses at Batu Licin regency, South Ka-
limantan. His closeness with Syamsudin
alias Haji Isyam, a man in the coal business
in that region, was his entry point into this
new business.
When Tempo interviewed Haji Isyam in
June 2010, it was Choel who arranged the
meeting and accompanied the business-
man. At that time, Choel said he was relat-
ed to the young businessman known to be
close to some important people. “He is a rel-
ative of my father in Makassar,” said Choel.
As his business grew, so did Choel’s
wealth. At the end of 2010, he purchased
a house in Menteng, Central Jakarta. This
luxurious 800-square-meter house was
previously owned by a businessman. “He
bought it for Rp40 billion,” said one of
Choel’s old neighbors, who was reluctant to
give their name.
This neighbor also noticed Choel’s lux-
ury automobiles. These included a black
Toyota Alphard, a two-door red Mercedes-
Benz Coupe, a Land Cruiser, and a Jeep
Wrangler. Three Harley-Davidson motor-
cycles were parked in the yard protected by
a 4-meter-high fence.
Early last year, a truck came and unload-
ed a sports sedan. According to this neigh-
bor, this sedan was a red California-type
Ferrari. The matter of these luxury cars
was questioned by lawyer Hotman Paris
Hutapea at the trial of Muhammad Naza-
ruddin, the former Democrat Party trea-
surer, on February 23. Andi Mallarangeng,
testifying as a witness, was quizzed by Ho-
tman regarding the purchase of a Ferrari
worth Rp6 billion by Choel.
Not long after the story of this luxury car
made the news, the neighbor knew that
Choel had parted with this Ferrari, selling
it for just Rp2.5 billion. “He sold it cheap be-
cause he was afraid the media would find
out about it,” they said.
At the Freedom Institute, Choel was ret-
icent when asked to comment on the var-
ious charges against him. He pointed to
Rizal, his older brother, who had been
named spokesman for the family. “Please
direct it to him.”
When he was asked about the house,
Rizal said he did not know its price. “He
never talked about that,” he said. However,
as for the Ferrari, he did not deny it. “I got
mad at him for buying that luxury car.”
At his press conference, Choel denied be-
ing involved in the corruption of the Ham-
balang project. He said that the case against
him and his older brother was a test: “Gold
is tested not with soap, but with mercury.”
● SETRI YASRA, PARLIZA HENDRAWAN
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 25

RIZAL MALLARANGENG:
WE WILL TAKE
WHAT COMES
A
FTER his brothers Andi and Choel got into trouble,
Rizal Mallarangeng has a new task on his hands: he
has become their spokesman. Rizal is convinced
that his brother Andi is not involved in any cor-
ruption, just as he is sure that his other brother Choel, nev-
er marked up projects. He spoke to Tempo last week about his
family’s predicament.
How big is your role in all this?
Like I said in the introduction of
my book Dari Langit (From the Sky),
my older brother Andi is a nice guy.
He’s had a big influence on me. From
the time we were small to universi-
ty, and today, he is not only a broth-
er and friend, but also a sparring part-
ner in many debates. When I was con-
fused about where to go after I grad-
uated from Ragunan High School, he
asked me to go with him and study in
Yogyakarta. He said, “Come on, fol-
low in Papa’s footsteps.” Our father
graduated from the Social and Polit-
ical Science Faculty of Gadjah Mada
University during the 1960s.
So you are what you are because of
Andi?
He is an important part of my life.
He showed me the right way.
Is it true Choel is the business ‘brain’
in the Mallarangeng family?
I wouldn’t say business brain. He
knows about business and market-
ing. That’s why when we formed Fox,
we needed Choel. Later, I asked him
to join us, although by then he had
his own company. I told Choel, “Help
me out, let’s not do things on our
own.” Even now I feel kind of guilty
for taking him away from the business
world. He had a good career there.
After Fox dissolved, did you and
Choel do some coal business togeth-
er?
Only me. Choel doesn’t own any shares.
(During the meeting on December 11, Rizal
said he officially dissolved Fox to become a
politician and a Golkar manager. “For my
daily food, I still have my coal business.”)
Did Choel ever own a Ferrari California?
I don’t know. I do know that my brother’s
26 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
hobby has always been cars and motorcy-
cles. When there was a rumor about Choel
buying a Ferrari, I scolded him, and said,
“What are you doing buying a Ferrari.” I
love my brother, but don’t ask me about the
Ferrari.
Choel’s house in Menteng, near the Sunda
Kelapa mosque, he bought for Rp40 billion.
COVER STORY
Don’t ask me. I don’t know. Maybe he got
a discount. I also don’t understand. Ask
him.
What business is Choel involved in?
For sure, his core [business] is electron-
ics. He is one of the persons who brought
the InFocus projector to Indonesia. He
brought in gadgets, TV, sound systems. Or-
ganizing events is a hobby he shares with
his friends.
Is it true Choel got paid by Global Daya
Manunggal company after he helped get the
Hambalang project?
As far as I know, that didn’t happen. It’s
hard for me to discuss legal aspects. Be pa-
tient, let the law take its course.
About Andi, did he help
Adhi Karya to win the Hambal-
ang project?
Be patient and wait for the
court process. We will reveal
the truth, not just to save
Andi or Choel. We all want
to learn about good gover-
nance. If an official gets in-
volved in a case, he should
resign. We will wait for the
court to decide. We help
with what we know. We will
take what comes.
Did Andi ever meet with the
Adhi Karya management?
The concept and budget of
the project was completed in
August 2009. If that was the
case, that means it couldn’t
have been done one or two
days. It must have been at
least six months before that.
Andi became minister on Oc-
tober 22, 2009. As a minis-
ter, Andi met a lot of people.
State-owned companies like
Adhi Karya could have come
to ask his permission. Andi,
as a minister, maybe said
yes. I have never asked him
directly, but I guess a state-
owned company that big
would have the right to meet
a minister.
When will Andi be able to
reveal everything?
He will definitely tell all. Otherwise he
would not have resigned. Did you see my
DOK.TEMPO/ HENDRA SUHARA
brother’s eyes during the press confer-
ence? He seemed to be saying, “Hey, this
is me. You want to put me in prison, go
ahead.” But that is not the point. Let’s find
out who is responsible. Let’s open every-
thing. ●
 NATIONAL KPK
THE INVISIBLE CLAUSE
The KPK has protested the president’s new regulation on
seconded investigators. They see an attempt to weaken the
anticorruption movement.
B
AMBANG Widjojanto sudden-
ly appeared among the crowd
of journalists. Reporters were
interviewing Administrative
Reforms Minister Azwar Abubakar, one
morning two Sundays ago. The commemo-
ration of World Anti-Corruption Day at the
National Monument, Jakarta, had just end-
ed.
Azwar was explaining the points con-
tained in the revision of Government Reg-
ulation (PP) No. 63/2005 on human re-
sources management for the anti-corrup-
tion commission. However, he was inter-
rupted by Bambang, the KPK deputy chair-
man. Azwar refuted Bambang’s statement.
Beneath the scorching sun, the two began a
heated argument.
+ “There should be a clause governing
the wishes of a KPK investigator after his or
her term of duty has ended. Before recall-
ing the individual, they should ask wheth-
ANTARA/WIDODO S. JUSUF
er or not he or she wants to continue the
work.”
- “It will be possible to extend the time of
duty after four years, if the KPK and insti-
tution from where the investigators came
from agree.”
+ “That’s why you must ask the investiga-
tors first, not only their institution.”
- “Let’s not argue anymore. Pak Sutar-
man (Head of the Police Crime Research
Unit) has already approved, so has Pak
Abraham Samad , the KPK chairman.”
+ “That’s Samad’s personal opinion. The
KPK is an institution.”
When Tempo met with Bambang last
Thursday, he was still ‘fired up’. He said,
“The government should involve the KPK
in the discussions right up to the end. They
have not done that. I still feel someone is be-
ing dishonest.”
A week ago, Minister Azwar said that
the revision was final and President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono just needed to sign
it. Regarding the discussion process, Az-
war said that it included other institutions,
such as the KPK and the Police.
The following day, when the KPK met
with the president at the palace, Bambang
Widjojanto asked specifically about the sta-
tus of the draft revision Azwar mentioned.
Bambang Widjojanto (left) with
President Yudhoyono (center) and
Abraham Samad.
“The president said he had not received it
yet,” said Bambang.
Later, it was revealed that President Yu-
dhoyono signed the draft three days later.
Tempo’s source said that since the be-
ginning of the revision process there have
been several strange developments. He
said Minister Azwar was inconsistent re-
garding the crucial regulations relating to
the KPK investigator’s fate. In question was
the clause regarding the term of duty of in-
vestigators seconded from the police force
and the district attorney’s office, and their
swap status.
A letter sent by Azwar to President Yu-
dhoyono on June 18 said that investigators
had a maximum of 12 years’ secondment.
Article 5 of that regulation does not men-
tion whether an officer wishing to transfer
to the KPK is obligated to request permis-
sion from his or her original institution.
However, surprisingly, in the regulation
signed by the president, the content of Arti-
cle 5 was changed, with tenure of investiga-
tors being reduced to five years. Bambang
was also infuriated by the additional article
that required a civil servant aspiring to a ca-
reer in the KPK to first get the approval of
their original institutions. “This article sud-
denly made its way in, just like that,” stated
KPK Deputy Chairman Busyro Muqoddas.
“The KPK leaders decided to send a letter of
protest to the president.”
Tempo’s sources suspected there was a
secret operation that smuggled in the con-
jured-up clause. Its aim was to thwart the
status of the nine police investigators, in-
cluding Novel Baswedan—a senior investi-
gator, who had progressed to become a top
KPK investigator exploring the driving sim-
ulator case that implicated senior police of-
ficials. “Someone is concerned about the
decision to switch the status of those nine,”
said the eyewitness.
It is unclear on who smuggled in the new
article in the regulation. However, Minister
Azwar stated that the clause is fair for ev-
eryone. “We do not want to make a regula-
tion that is against the law,” he said.
The Minister of Justice and Human
Rights, Amir Syamsudin, approved the reg-
ulation regarding the “permission from the
original institution.” He even suggested
that all police investigators whose term of
duty had ended to return to their original
offices. ● SETRI YASRA, TRI SUHERMAN, INDRA WIJAYA
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 27
NATIONAL RELIGIOUS CONFLICT
TRAPPED IN THEIR
OWN VILLAGE
The Shia community in Sampang is short of food, but they
are not allowed to leave their safe haven. There are signs
the Sunni community will accept them back.
F
EELINGS of resignation hung
over the Sampang Sports Cen-
ter in Madura on Tuesday last
week. As many as 250 Shia fol-
lowers stared emptily at a large
donated television in a corner of the room.
For 108 days, since August, they have been
trapped there. Going out of the premis-
es means having to get police permission,
which is difficult to obtain.
Several children were seen reciting the
Qu’ran, alongside the men who were sitting
forlornly in a corner of the room. In anoth-
er part of the area, some were in quiet con-
28 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
versation over a glass of cold coffee. “Ev-
ery day, this is all we do. We’re bored,” said
Matsali, a 45 year-old refugee from Karang
Gayam Village. He offered Tempo a cup of
the coffee that he had just gulped down.
Since moving to the center, Matsali has
not been outside the building even once.
His days are filled with prayer and reading
the Qu’ran, or cooking in the kitchen when
it is his turn. According to Matsali, the ref-
ugees went hungry for 10 days in Novem-
ber, because supplies from the East Java
government were halted. Aid of Rp 1 billion
had run out, and there were no extra sup-
Shia adherents sought refuge after
their houses were torched by their
opponents in Karang Gayam, Sampang,
late Agustus.
plies. In the end, the refugees pooled their
funds and purchased food and clean water.
Last week, they had tofu, tempe, and
on one occasion, eggs. A non-governmen-
tal organization from Jakarta contribut-
ed a ton of rice. Every day, 70 kilograms of
rice is cooked for these refugees. However,
for people like Matsali, concerns over food
are trifling when compared to their worry
about their children.
He feels a little more relieved now that
his his two daughters have gone back to
school. Through a sibling from Pasuru-
an, Matsali smuggled the children out of
the center. They are now going attending
the Shia Islamic boarding school in Bang-
il, which did not raise administrative has-
sle for documents, such as a letter of trans-
TEMPO/FULLY SYAFI
fer or a report from their original school –
which would be impossible for Matsali to
obtain.
Several other children have also been

smuggled out of the building when the po-
lice were not paying attention. Now, there
only remains 25 children aged between 3-
5 years old. Each morning, a teacher comes
to give lessons to the kindergarten-aged
children in a tent erected in the yard of the
sports center. “It’s OK, they can now play,”
remarked Iklil Almilal, a Shia leader from
Sampang.
Half a kilometer to the west of the center,
the office of the Sampang General Elections
Commission (KPU) was in high spirits. A
set of loudspeakers played a recording of a
Qu’ranic recitation by the Grand Imam of
Mecca’s Grand Mosque, Sheikh Su’udus Sy-
urem. On Wednesday last week, the Com-
mission organized polls to elect the regent
of Sampang.
The Shia refugees were given permis-
sion to vote at nine voting stations in the
Gunung Sekar Subdistrict of Sampang City.
They were picked up by trucks with close
police protection. “Thank God, while we
were voting no one bothered us,” said Iklil.
He is hopeful that the election will alter
the fate of the Shia community in Sampang.
The regent- elect, he said, could end the un-
resolved Shia-Sunni conflict. “We just want
peace. Hopefully, whoever is elected will
not treat us as enemies,” remarked Iklil.
TEMPO/FULLY SYAFI
According to the head of the Sampang
KPU, Dovier Syah, it was on purpose that
the refugees did not vote in their camp, so
that the Shia community’s vote could not be
detected. If a poll booth had been placed in
the center, any regent who won would im-
mediately be accused of being pro-Shia.
For that reason, not one of the six pairs of
candidates for the Sampang Regency visit-
ed the refugee center during the campaign,
much less provided logistical support.
The winning team, although still unoffi-
cial, is predicted to be Fannan Hasib and Fa-
dilah Budiono, who seems to have beaten
the incumbent Noer Tjahja and Heri Purno-
mo. Fannan, who still holds the position of
deputy regent, was not willing to comment
on how the Shia conflict would be resolved.
“Don’t ask too soon,” he said. “Ending this
conflict will have to involve sitting down to-
gether and letting go of mutual distrust.”
In a survey by
Kontras, some Sunni
adherents in Karang
Gayam claim they will
have no problem with
the Shia community
when they return to
their villages.
Some Syiah men in their camp at the
Sampang Sports Center, Madura, last
August.
Meetings between the Shia and Sunni
communities have in fact taken place. Ac-
cording to Iklil, a number of religious lead-
ers from both sides met secretly in Busan,
Sidoarjo, in early December. Facilitated by
the Interfaith Communication Forum of the
Religious Affairs Ministry, as many as 20
Sunni religious scholars from the Omben
and Karang Penang subdistricts met with
ten Shia leaders led by Iklik. “We discussed
Islamic tenets for tolerance,” he said.
Prior to Busan, they had already met in
Terawas, Sidoarjo, ten days before. There,
the meeting was tense and uncomfortable.
The participants from the two quarreling
communities were reluctant to speak to
each other, let alone hold discussions. “In
Busan, the atmosphere had thawed out. We
chatted and ate together,” said Iklik. What
is more, in Busan, signs of a peaceful settle-
ment could be detected.
Cleric Mukhlis, a Sunni leader from Ka-
rang Gayam, openly invited the Shia com-
munity to return to their villages with a
guarantee of security. However, a prob-
lem came from an Islamic clergyman from
Omben, who will accept Shia citizens only
as long as they re-embrace Sunni Islam. In
this regard, the two sides are negotiating.
The Sunni community itself is opening
up to accepting the Shia. In a survey con-
ducted by the Commission for Disappear-
ances and Victims of Violence (Kontras), a
number of Sunni residents in Karang Gay-
am confirmed that they had no issue with
the Shia when they return home. “Basical-
ly they said that they were willing to accept
their Shia neighbors,” remarked Andi Irfan
from the Commission.
If the Shias are finally able to return to
peaceful co-existence with the Sunnis, Ik-
lik promised that he would be more open in
explaining his branch of Islam, especially
to the Sunni majority. He admitted that he
to date he had been less than open, the re-
sult being the bloody conflicts in Madura.
The head of the National and Political
Unity Board in Sampang, Rudi Setiadi, is
supporting reconciliation efforts between
the two communities, including the return
of Shia residents to Nangkernang. “This is a
good solution,” he said. “The regency gov-
ernment will agree to any effort, as long as
it ends the conflict.”
● AGUS SUPRIYANTO, MUSTHOFA BISRI (SAMPANG),
SONY WIGNYA WIBAWA (SURABAYA)
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 29
NEWS CAPSULE

END OF YEAR JUNKETS FOR DPR MEMBERS

L
AST week, 26 legislators from the House of Repre-
sentatives (DPR) serving in the Livestock Commis-
sion, and their expert staff, undertook a study tour
to France and China. For six days, they studied cattle
farming as a background to revising Law No. 18/2009 on ani-
mal husbandry and health.
The strange thing is, the majority of Indonesia’s meat im-
ports are not from China or France, but from Australia and
New Zealand. Almost instantaneously, they have been ac-
cused of wasting public funds and finding mere excuses for
a junket.
They were not alone. Twenty members of the Research and
Technology Commission also undertook a study tour to the
United States and Brazil. Travelling in two teams, they were
accompanied by officials from the National Institute for Aero-
nautics and Space, purportedly to draft an aerospace law.●

VISITING CATTLE
TO ROCKETS
CATTLE
France
Head of Delegation: Romahurmuziy,
United Development Party
Members: 13 people
Cost: Rp 938,601 million
China
Head of Delegation: Herman
Khaeron, Democratic Party
Members: 11 people
Cost: Rp 632 million SATELLITES and ROCKETS
Places visited: United States of America
- Office Internationale des Head of Delegation: Ahmad Fahrial Places visited:
Epizooties in Paris Members: 7 people - Boeing International
- Integrated Quarantine Installations Cost: Rp. 975,7 million - NASA Ames Research Center
- Veterinary authorities Brazil - George Washington University
- Abattoirs Head of Delegation: Sutan Bhatoegana - Brazilian Technological Institute of
- National Reference Laboratory Members : 13 people Aeronautics
- Observation of Livestock locations Cost: Rp 1,91 billion - Brazilian Ministry of Defense

TIME IS RUNNING birthday celebration and strate-

OUT FOR
DEMOCRATS
FOR two days, on Friday and Satur-
day last week, the Democrats assem-
bled thousands of their party mem-
bers in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, to
consolidate their position. The meet-
ing was widely assumed to be an ef-
gic meeting to attain victory in the
2014 General Election, highlight-
ed a special address from the chair
of its Board of Patrons, Susilo Bam-
bang Yudhoyono. SBY asked that
members and administrators carry
out introspection regarding party
management, so that the institution
cleans up, and becomes healthy and
supportive.
TEMPO/FATKHURROHMAN TAUFIQ

fort by the Democrats to close ranks
after one of their members, Andi Mal-
larangeng, was indicted in the Ham-
balang corruption case. Two weeks
ago, Andi resigned from his position
as Minister of Youth and Sports.
The program, planned as an 11th
On Sunday two weeks ago, the
elite of the party gathered together at
the official residence of the chair, in
Puri, Cikeas, Bogor. At the meeting,
Yudhoyono repeatedly emphasized
that cases such as that of Andi must
not be repeated. ●

30 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012

Column

POLYGAMY AND AN
84-YEAR OLD ARGUMENT DEBRA H. YATIM*

T
HOSE who don’t remember the past are condemned Aceng is not alone. In 1954, when President Sukarno took an-
to repeat it, said a philosopher. And the regent of Ga- other wife, and First Lady Fatmawati moved out of the palace
rut, West Java, Aceng Fikri, got condemned in spades taking along their five children, imagine the man’s shock (con-
this month. sidering that up to that point he was much-revered) when a gag-
What didn’t he remember? Only a little matter, polygamy. I’m gle of women conducted a rowdy march against him at the pal-
not being facetious. Polygamy is never on the national agenda. ace.
Whenever it’s dredged up for discussion, men will quickly de- Fast forward 2006, to one Abdullah Gymnastiar, popu-
fend the practice, calling upon God, no less, to side with them. lar cleric, media personality and head of the Daarul Tauhid
They will haul in clergy and scholars and singers, the odd po- Pesantren in Bandung. A savvy owner of many enterprises in-
lygamist or two, and tell us vehemently that the Book permits cluding a publishing house, a radio station, a broadcast house,
it. We could say that therein lies the matter. Because, as texts and a training facility, for a whole period, Gymnastiar was con-
go, the written word can be interpreted, reinterpreted and mis- stantly on TV, mouthing platitudes and dispensing advice. His
interpreted till kingdom come. ratings were an ad-person’s dream. Until he took a second
But polygamy raises an old argument. You’d think wife. Almost overnight his congregation (mostly wom-
that after more than 80 years, a discussion would at en) left him, his ratings plummeted, and his business
least reach a set point. But no. As the Aceng ruckus
That crashed.
proves, the argument rages on. While Indonesia some men Marshall Clark wrote that most Indonesian
has the largest Islamic population, on this one openly flaunt women, including those who recognize polyg-
purportedly most Muslim of issues (though po- their polygamy and amy as sanctioned in the Quran, are strongly
lygamy is not a Muslim monopoly), the popula- claim it as evidence against it. Agreeing, political scientist Ery Seda
tion stands almost fifty-fifty on different sides of of their Islamic told the press that “sometimes men just don’t get
a schism: for, and against. identity has it.”
In 1913, Siti Soendari in Wanita Sworo, related In Suharto’s New Order, a 1974 Marriage Law
advancements by women, stressed their need for
alarmed many made monogamy the official norm. The law, strong-
education – and scathingly attacked polygamy. In women. ly opposed by Islamic factions, imposed restrictions
1915, the Putri Mardika denounced it and child-mar- on polygamy (including a requirement that would-be
riage as “old-fashioned and should be abolished”. The ef- polygamists obtain permission from the first wife before
forts of many pushing for education and advancement of wom- marrying again). In 1983, a clause was added: to commit polyg-
en culminated when on 22 December 1928, some 200 women amy, civil servants have to also seek permission from their su-
representing 30 organizations held a congress in Yogyakarta, periors. Anthropologist Suzanne Brenner wrote, “Ironically,
to discuss issues faced by women. These included a demand for it was Indonesia’s transition to democracy after Suharto that
education, a halt to child-marriage and women-trafficking, and made it possible for polygamy openness.” President Megawati -
the sticky point of - you guessed it, polygamy. incidentally the daughter of the aforementioned Sukarno - had
Some 84 years on, the married Aceng Fikri tied nuptials with a vice-president, Hamzah Haz, who, despite the 1974 law, had
a 17-year old girl, then divorced her four days later because “she three wives, taking his third wife while still in office.
was not a virgin.” He is threatened with breaking several laws, This de facto openness attests to the state’s lack of interest.
including abuse of power and being party to female traffick- That some men openly flaunt their polygamy and claim it as
ing – to an under-aged female to boot. But arguably, his mistake evidence of their Islamic identity has alarmed many women,
was underestimating how heatedly his female constituents feel wrote Susan Blackburn. So here we are, with George Santaya-
about polygamy, seeing how hundreds of jilbab-covered wom- na’s admonition going unheeded.
en picketed for him to be sacked. *DEBRA H. YATIM IS WRITER, POET AND JOURNALIST.

DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 31

HUKUM PEMECATAN HAKIM YAMANIE

LAW

WHEN JUDGES
ARE JUDGED
Supreme Court Judge Achmad Yamanie was found guilty of ethical
breaches and has been dismissed.

32 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012


I
T was the first ever dishonorable
dismissal of a justice. His bribery
allegation is being investigated. It
took only 15 minutes for the Eth-
ics Council to discuss the punish-
ment to be imposed on justice Ach-
TEMPO/DHEMAS REVIYANTO
mad Yamanie. Last week, the pan-
el of three justices and four commissioners
of the Judicial Commission agreed that the
deed perpetrated by Yamanie was a grave
ethical violation. Using the room of Su-
preme Court Deputy chairman Ahmad Ka-
mil on the second floor of the MA building,
the meeting to reach the decision was al-
most without debate.
After the consultation, a draft decision
was delivered to council secretary Sety-
awan Hartono for typing. While awaiting
the document to be ready, nine members
of the Honorary Council had their lunch
served in boxes, comprising rice, fried
chicken and salad.
Two hours later, after being neatly
typed, the decision was read out direct-
Achmad Yamanie (front) during the
Judges Ethical Council session at
the Supreme Court, Jakarta, on 11
December.
ly before Yamanie. “A strict sanction shall
be imposed in the form of dishonorable dis-
charge from the office of justice,” said Pau-
lus Effendi Lotulung, a member and chair-
man of the Judges’ Ethics Council.
It was the first time that a justice was
dismissed after being proven to have made
a grave breach of ethics. Yamanie was ap-
parently hit badly by the decision. After
listening to his dismissal, the former dep-
uty chairman of the South Kalimantan
High Court bowed his head listlessly. As he
rose to leave the room, the 67-year old stag-
gered. Fortunately, several security offi-
cers in the room promptly held him up and
supported Yamanie out.
On that day, the Supreme Court and the
Judicial Commission convened a session of
the Judges Ethics Council to evaluate Ach-
mad Yamanie. He was accused of violat-
ing the ethical code and good conduct for
judges, by changing the verdict of Surabaya
drug lord, Hanky Gunawan.
Along with justices Imron Anwari and
Nyak Pha, Yamanie was a member of the
panel reviewing the case of Hanky. On 16
August, 2011, led by Imron, the judges re-
duced Hanky’s death sentence to 15 years
imprisonment. Later it was found, the writ-
ten decision received by the Surabaya Dis-
trict Court and Hanky was different from
that of the panel. In the hard copy, Hanky
had 12 years in jail, while in the original ver-
dict and the Supreme Court’s version, his
sentence was 15 years in prison.
In an internal examination within the
Supreme Court in October, Yamanie was
proven to have changed Hanky’s verdict.
He was assisted by computer operator Ab-
dul Halim. Before the team of judges, Halim
confessed he had changed a provision on
Hanky’s verdict at the behest of Yamanie.
The team requested Supreme Court chief
justice, Hatta Ali, to dismiss Yamanie.
But on November 14, Yamanie unex-
pectedly submitted his letter of resigna-
tion to the President through the Supreme
Court chairman. In his letter, Yamanie,
who should have retired in April 2015 said
he could not continue his duty because he
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 33
LAW DISMISSAL OF YAMANIE
suffered from sinusitis, vertigo, prostate
problems and an acute stomach disorder.
Unwilling to let the case go unresolved,
the Judicial Commission requested the Su-
preme Court chief justice to ask that Ya-
manie’s letter of resignation be prevented
from reaching the President. According to
Suparman Marzuki, the head of the Super-
vision and Investigation Unit under the Ju-
dicial Commission, if Yamanie had lost his
case, he would not have been investigat-
ed. In fact, he said, the smell of collusion
was strong. His charges not only went to
Yamanie, but also to Imron and Nyak Pha.
“We sought a session of the Judges Ethics
Council,” added Suparman.
Following pressure from the media and
various circles, Supreme Court chief justice
Hatta Ali finally agreed to work with the Ju-
dicial Commission to convene a Judges Eth-
ics Council session for Yamanie. Apart from
probing the involvement of other justices in
the verdict on Hanky, the session was held
to give an opportunity for Yamanie to make
his defense.
Hatta Ali then named three justices as
members of the council. They were Paulus
Effendi Lotulung, Artidjo Alkostar, and Mo-
hammad Saleh. The Judicial Commission
was represented by four commissioners:
Imam Anshori Saleh, Suparman Marzuki,
Taufiqurrohman Syahuri, and Jaja Ahmad
Jayus.
■■■
34 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
Accompanied by several relatives on
Tuesday last week, Yamanie fulfilled the
summons to appear at the ethics session.
His presence was first doubted, given his
recent treatment at Pondok Indah Hospital
due to a relapse of vertigo and sinusitis. In
a white shirt and black jacket, that day Ya-
manie, looking quite healthy, walked ram-
rod straight as he entered the court. He sat
flanked by justices Andi Samsan Nganro.
Based on the document of the Supreme
Court internal team’s examination, a copy
of which was obtained by Tempo, Yamanie’s
confession that he had changed Hanky’s
verdict was made when questioned by Ah-
mad Kamil, one of the five justices appoint-
ed to examine him.
+Just make it plain about the change by
crossing out the figures 15 to become 12, is it
The Ethics Council
matched the
sample with the
handwriting that
changed Hanky’s
verdict. They turned
out to be precisely
the same.
Achmad Yamanie. Claims to know
nothing about the verdict change from
15 to 12 years.
your handwriting in the draft or not?
-Yes, it’s my handwriting.
+What was your motivation?
-There was no motivation or compelling
condition, it came purely from me.
At the ethics session, Yamanie admitted
only to have written “merely if the length
of the penalty is to be improved” in the ver-
dict’s consideration. “As for the change of
the provision from 15 years to 12 years, I
have no idea,” he said.
To avoid being misled, an Ethics Council
member, Jaja Ahmad Jayus, asked Council
chairman Paulus Effendi Lotulung to pres-
ent a piece of evidence of the provision al-
ready changed by Yamanie. The draft
showed a line drawn across with a hand-
written correction in the verdict’s provi-
sion, where the figure 15 years was replaced
with 12 years in jail. When the handwrit-
ing changing the provision was brought to
him, Yamanie kept denying. “It’s not my
handwriting,” he said.
In order to test Yamanie’s claim, Paulus
asked the man serving as a judge for over
20 years to give a sample of his handwrit-
ing on a sheet of paper. The Ethics Council
matched the sample with the handwriting
that changed Hanky’s verdict provision.
They turned out to be precisely the same.
In his defense, Yamanie also mentioned
Imron’s alleged involvement. At the time,
he claimed he had only received a draft deci-
sion and had no time to re-read it. Since Im-
ron as judicial panel chairman had put his
signature, Yamanie finally signed the draft.
He said he had signed the draft as ordered
by Imron. “The copy was delivered by alter-
nate secretary Dwi Tomo and computer op-
erator Halim,” added Yamanie, “They said it
came from the panel chairman.”
Though he referred to the roles of Imron
and Abdul Halim at the ethics session, Ya-
manie refused to be confronted with the
two at the sitting. The request of Yamanie
not to be confronted with Imron and Abdul
TEMPO/DHEMAS REVIYANTO
Halim was granted by the council. “We con-
sidered all evidence already solid enough
to point to Yamanie, so a confrontation was
unnecessary,” said Suparman Marzuki, an
Ethics Council member.
Examined by the Supreme Court inter-
 nal team on October 17, Yamanie had ac-
tually confronted with Abdul Halim. The
team of examiners had asked Abdul Halim
to come to the chambers of Deputy Chief
Justice Kamil, where they were question-
ing Yamanie. A week earlier, the Supreme
Court’s Supervisory Board examined Ab-
dul Halim over the case.
When confronted with Yamanie, Halim
admitted he had changed the consider-
ation and penalty provision of Hanky’s ver-
dict, as ordered by Yamanie. The order, he
said, came after the draft had been signed
by Imron Anwari and alternate secretary
Dwi Tomo. Halim was prepared to follow
the order because Yamanie promised to
notify the change to Imron. “Just change it
first, I’ll notify it later and coordinate with
MAHKAMAHAGUNG.GO.ID
the panel chairman,” said Halim quoting
Yamanie, as recorded in the examination
document.
Besides examining Yamanie, the MA in-
ternal team questioned Imron Anwari and
IK L A N
Nyak Pha. The two claimed they only got
to know about the verdict change several
days after Yamanie resigned. To the exami-
nation team, Imron said he had summoned
Yamanie and Abdul Halim to ask about the
change of the verdict. At the time, noted Im-
ron, both admitted having changed the ver-
dict. “I don’t know what was behind this,”
he told the team.
The Supreme Court’s internal examina-
tion results served as material for the Judg-
es’ Ethics Council to impose its sanction on
Yamanie. As the defense of Yamanie at the
Honorary Council session wasn’t support-
ed by evidence, the recommendation of the
internal team that Yamanie should be dis-
missed was approved by the Judges Honor-
ary Council.
For the Judicial Commission, however,
the discharge of Yamanie wasn’t the end of
the case. The commission that preserves
the dignity of judges will shortly delve into
the motive behind the change of the ver-
dict. The MA internal examination and the
Judges Honorary Council session couldn’t
unveil Yamanie’s motive to make the
change. Chairman of the MA Criminal Di-
vision, Djoko Sarwoko, also smelled a rat in
the case. “Just investigate it in case any evi-
dence of bribery crime is found,” he said.
The Judicial Commission will soon sum-
mon Imron Anwari and Hakim Nyak Pha to
probe their involvement in the case of ver-
dict change. Imron becomes the main tar-
get. “It’s because Yamanie claimed to have
changed the verdict’s consideration as re-
quested by the panel chairman,”said Imam
Anshori, Deputy Chairman of the Judicial
Commission.
Moreover, this week the Judicial Com-
mission will also visit the National Police
headquarters to inquire about the develop-
ments of alleged reports of falsification by
Yamanie in connection with Hanky’s ver-
dict change.
● ANTON APRIANTO, FRANSISCO ROSARIANS
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 35
LAW ITALIAN MAFIA ARREST
ARREST AT VILLA
ATHENA
A fugitive Italian mafia boss has been arrested in Seminyak, Bali.
He was traced through e-mails to his relatives.
T
HE villa caretaker was sud-
denly alert, startled by the ar-
rival of a dozen men at 1.30
a.m. Hours before, the atmo-
sphere at the villa named Puri-
Puri Kecil was quiet because the guests
were in their rooms. “We said that we want-
ed to search for a fugitive,” the Bali Police
Crime Investigation Unit chief, Commis-
sioner Pande Putu Sugiarta, told Tempo.
Pande handed over a photograph and
mentioned the name of the wanted man,
Antonino Messicati Vitale, an Italian na-
tional. The caretaker then guided his po-
lice guests to villa Athena 2, located at the
far end of the complex. They knocked on
36 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
the door while other police were on stand-
by with their pistols drawn, aiming at the
direction of the entrance. Several more po-
lice held flashlights as the villa was dark.
After ten minutes of knocking, the door
to the room had still not been opened by its
occupant. Around ten meters from where
the investigators were standing, a whis-
pered conversation in a foreign language
between three men was heard. The police
then moved in the direction of the room
where the voices were coming from, and
arrested the three because one of them was
suspected of being the fugitive they were
looking for.
Andrea Vitalone, an Italian Interpol agent
Antonino Messicati Vitale relaxing
in Bali.
based in Bangkok, took part in the arrest.
He examined the passports of the three
men and phoned his police colleagues in It-
aly. It turned out that they were mistaken,
the three were ordinary tourists. The villas
are routinely occupied by tourists from Ita-
ly and France. “We apologized to the three
and returned to Athena 2,” said Pande.
After knocking again, the door of villa
Athena 2 opened. A brown-skinned man
approximately 180 centimeters in height
appeared from behind the door. He was
dressed in only a shirt and underwear.
Two officers immediately restrained him.
Andrea confirmed his identity. This time
they got their man. It was the Vitale who
had been hunted by Italian Police for the
past year.
Initially, Vitale would not identify him-
self. However, he gave up after Andrea
checked his face against a photo from his
AP/CARABINIERI
cell phone. He was handcuffed. He did not
resist arrest and was escorted out of the vil-
la where vehicles, along with dozens of po-

lice, were on standby. “That morning Vitale
was taken into the custody of the Bali Po-
lice,” reported Pande.
According to Andrea, Italian police had
been chasing Vitale for months. In his own
country, the 40 year-old has been sen-
tenced to ten years in prison for leading a
crime syndicate in Palermo, Sicily. Previ-
ously, the network was headed by Vitale’s
father who was shot to death in 1988.
Andrea said Vitale’s network was known
for carrying out extortion, narcotics, hu-
man trafficking, and weapons trading.
“Last year he was involved in a murder
case,” Andrea told journalists at the Bali Po-
lice headquarters after the arrest.
The Bali Police, said Pande, had received
an international arrest warrant or Red No-
tice from the Italian Interpol on December
TEMPO/KETUT EFRATA
4. A team made up of members of the Vio-
lent Crimes Unit and members of the Ital-
ian and Indonesian Interpol, spread out to
various resort locations usually popular to
Italian tourists, such as Kuta.
They succeeded in locating and tailing
Vitale. On the day of the arrest, the police
in Palermo had released a close-up photo
which showed Vitale relaxing bare-chested
on a beach chair. The photo is thought to
have been taken while Vitale was sunbath-
ing on the beach near Kuta.
Italian Police were able to trace Vitale to
Bali after examining the Internet Protocol
(IP) address of e-mails sent by Vitale to his
family in Palermo. On his arrest, the po-
lice also seized Vitale’s laptop and tablet.
“We provide free Wi-Fi for guests here,”
said Kadek Puriani, a staff member at the
villa.
Kadek said that Vitale had been at the
traditional Balinese style villa from March
to April last year. After less than a month,
he moved to another place. Then in Sep-
tember 2012, he returned to Puri-Puri Ke-
cil and rented villa Athena 2. The villa is
made up of a bedroom and kitchen. The
price of rent is Rp 350,000 per day. At the
time of his arrest, Vitale owed Rp 3.5 mil-
Location of Antonino Messicati Vitale’s
arrest at Villa Puri-puri Kecil, Bali.
The room (bottom) where Vitale was
staying.
lion in rent. “He usually paid on time ev-
ery ten days,” said Kadek.
Ali Masaud, a staff member of the vil-
la, said that the other employees were
shocked when Vitale was arrested. Until
then, there was nothing to show he was the
head of a mafia network in Italy. His person-
ality and appearance were unlike mafia fig-
ures in the movies. Vitale was known by
the staff for being friendly and always hav-
ing a smile. He would often greet them with
Indonesian phrases such as “apa kabar?”
(how are you?) and “selamat pagi” (good
morning). “He sometimes treated the staff
to a meal,” said Ali.
The staff at Puri-Puri Kecil did not know
what projects Vitale had been working on to
maintain his lifestyle. While at the villa, Vi-
tale engaged in the usual tourist activities.
Almost every morning he would take a dip
in the swimming pool, and during the day
he would leave on his rented Honda Beat
scooter. “In the afternoon he would return
and stay in his room before going out again
at night,” said a staff member who did not
want to be named.
Although he came from a rich family in
Palermo, Vitale was known as a miser, be-
cause he always bargained over prices.
“While he was here he never gave a tip,”
said the staff member. Vitale was never
seen to be drunk like other tourists who are
constantly partying.
Vitale was known only as a playboy. Al-
most every night he returned home with a
different woman – from bar singers in Kuta
to other foreign tourists whom he met. On
the day of his arrest, Vitale brought a vo-
luptuous blond-haired woman back to his
room. “But the woman had already gone
home an hour before Vitale was arrested,”
the staff member said.
Vitale is now being held in a cell at the Bali
Police headquarters. Indonesia and Italy do
not have an extradition treaty. “This is In-
terpol cooperation,” said Andrea. The po-
lice will not question Vitale, either, because
there is no legal issue, and he entered Indo-
nesia legally. Bali Police are yet to confirm
when Vitale will be returned to his country.
At this moment, said Pande, the extradi-
tion documents are being arranged by the
police in Italy.
● MUSTAFA SILALAHI, KETUT EFRATA
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 37
LAW LAWSUIT
THE HEAT ON PETRONAS
A number of Indonesian businessmen are sueing Petronas,
Malaysia’s oil company. Mediation always ends in a deadlock.
T
HE Petronas gasoline station on
Jalan Fatmawati, South Jakar-
ta, stopped operating over three
months ago. The station, twice
the size of a tennis court, is now deserted,
in contrast to a Pertamina station where
motor vehicles line up for refueling.
A restaurant behind the gas station ap-
peared deserted as well. Refusing to suf-
fer the same fate as the station in front of
it, this modest eating house put up a poster
reading “Open As Usual” to attract custom-
ers. Desolation is also apparent at the car
wash not far away from the Petronas sta-
tion. “This gas pump has been closed a long
time,” said Togen, who sells safety helmets
near the gate to the gasoline station.
The gas pump on Jalan Fatmawati is on
the list of 15 Petronas-owned gas stations in
Jakarta and in Medan that have stopped op-
erating. Only four remaining stations con-
tinue to serve customers despite the on-and-
off fuel supplies. The clinical death of a num-
ber of the said gas pumps is caused by the
fact that Petronas Niaga Indonesia has uni-
laterally discontinued supplying them fuel.
Petronas started to partner Indonesian
38 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
gas station operators in 2005. Until this
year, they have operated the gas stations
only in Jakarta and in Medan. The Petro-
nas stations sell non-subsidized fuel, such
as octane 92 gasoline (or Primax 92), oc-
tane 95 gasoline (or Primax 95), as well as
diesel oil. Unlike in Jakarta, in Medan since
2009, Petronas had the license to sell sub-
sidized fuel.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory (BPH Migas)
noted in its records that Petronas’ market
share in the second quarter of 2012 was
only 0.5 percent. Petronas only occupies
10th place, selling 38,300 liters of fuel in
Indonesia. This rating is in danger of going
even lower after most Petronas gas stations
shut down because they no longer get gas
supplies.
The unilateral discontinuation of the
fuel supplies angered pump operators who
worked in cooperation with Petronas. Yus-
ti Arubadewi, one of the station owners in
Cibubur, West Java, resented the unilater-
al discontinuation by Petronas of its fuel
supply to his gas pump, given the fact that
he said his contract with Petronas was not
due to end for another three years. What
Petronas Gas
Pump closed
down on Jalan
M.H. Thamrin,
Kebon Nanas,
Tangerang.
caused Yusti greater resentment is the fact
that Petronas had not notified him with
a clear reason why the fuel supplies were
stopped.
Refusing to be treated arbitrarily, Yus-
ti and seven other gas station proprietors
filed a suit against Petronas Indonesia on
19 October, 2012. But this attempt was un-
successful. Therefore, early in November,
along with the seven station owners, Yus-
ti filed a lawsuit against Petronas through
the South Jakarta District Court, request-
ing the court penalize Petronas by paying
Rp 200 billion in damages for the unilater-
al discontinuation of fuel supplies to their
gas stations. “Petronas has violated the
rights of the dealers,” declared Florianus
Sp. Sangsun, the attorney to the seven sta-
tion owners.
Mediation efforts have been made. Three
meetings have been held with Petronas,
but all came to a deadlock. Next week, the
two opposing parties will meet in the South
Jakarta District Court. At the hearing, the
judge will offer the two disputing parties
the option of settling the case out of court,
or to continue the case
Petronas’s attorney, Eri Hertiawan, re-
fused to comment on the lawsuit institut-
TEMPO/MARIFKA WAHYU HIDAYAT
ed by the gas station proprietors. He hint-
ed that he would fight the plaintiffs. “Based
on law, the mediation process is closed,” he
stated. Eri cited the secrecy clause in the
Dealer License Agreement as to why they
kept mum regarding the unilateral stop-
page of fuel supplies. ● ISMA SAVITRI, ROSALINA
filmice
cho 2012
 Best Film
of 2012
National film production was down this year. Even
so, there have been many fresh ideas during this
drought. Filmmakers also dared to be more honest
in their work. In fact, some filmmakers raised their
own film budgets in order to maintain their creative
integrity.
We chose the best of these fresh and independent
films. They deserve appreciation and recognition.
Thanks to their hard work, we are able to watch qual-
ity films.
Here are the best film, director, actor, actress, and
supporting actors according to Tempo.
ILLUSTRATION: KENDRA PARAMITA

DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 41

 film
choice
2012

I
T was not easy for us to
select the best film of the
year. Unlike last year,
when many good films
were in the theaters,
this year there was a bit
of a drought in the Indo-
nesian film world. Pri-
ma Rusdi, a film observ-
er who was on the jury
for Tempo’s Best Films of
2012, said that this may
be part of a cycle which
has been going on for the
past several years. “Because they released
films last year, this year’s filmmakers took
a break to prepare films to be released next
year,” he said.
However, this certainly does not mean
there were no good films to select from
over the past year—from December 2011 to
3 December 2012. Even though there were
not as many, and none as good as last year,
SPECIAL REPORT TEAM FOR TEMPO’S FILM CHOICE
this year’s films had something new to of-
fer. This made us optimistic that the Indo-
nesian film world still had fresh things to of-
fer—even during this production drought.
One interesting phenomenon was the re-
lease of a number of omnibus films—films
which consist of a number of short mov-
ies with a common theme. These included:
Parts of the Heart directed by Paul Agusta,
Jakarta Hati from Salman Aristo, Sanubari
Jakarta directed jointly by Lola Amaria and
friends, and Dilema from five directors.
Some did not categorize the latter film as an
omnibus, but as a multi-plot picture.
This film format is a good way
to showcase new talent in the
film world. It gives young di-
rectors a place to start cre-
ating films on a smaller
scale. Unlike short films,
which cannot possibly be
shown commercially in
movie theatres, an omnibus
picture can bring jointly-produced short
films to the public. The shortcoming of an
omnibus film is the varying quality of the
short films.
Homosexual or lesbian-gay-bisexual-
transsexual (LGBT) themes also appeared
in some films. These included Parts of the
Heart and Sanubari Jakarta. This, of course,
was not a new theme. Last year there was
The Lovely Man, which was very good. We
saw some interesting dilemmas, especial-
ly in Parts of the Heart, which culminated in
their choice of sexual orientation.
The dilemmatic situation, according
to Prima Rusdi, was evident in the
film Parts of the Heart, and in other
films as well, but with different
problems. “Unlike the past few
years, when the struggle be-
tween pro and contra was in-
dicated as the protagonist ver-
sus an antagonistic figure, this
year we watched as the protag-
onist (or antagonist) had to face
their own values or beliefs,” said
Prima.
TEMPO/ NITA DIAN (PRIMA)

Head of Team: Qaris Tajudin Project Head: Nunuy Nurhayati Coordinator: Nunuy Nurhayati Take Atambua 39º Celcius, for instance.
Editor: Seno Joko Suyono Writers: Leila S. Chudori, Qaris Tajudin, Nurdin Kalim, Nunuy Nurhayati, Evieta
The main character in this film was a father
Fadjar Pusporini, Prima Rusdi (penulis luar) Contributors: Kurniawan, Dian Yuliastuti
Language: Uu Suhardi, Iyan Bastian Photos: Nita Dian (koordinator), Jacky Rachmansyah, Suryo Wibowo,
who deeply loved Indonesia and decided to
Wisnu Agung Prasetyo Photographic Development: Agustyawan Pradito Design: Agus Darmawan Setiadi, leave East Timor after the referendum. He
Aji Yuliarto, Kendra Paramita, Eko Punto Pambudi swore he would not return to East Timor,

42 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012

even though to do so he had to leave his wife
and youngest child. However, at the end of
the story, he has to reconsider what is more
important to him: nationalism or family.
However, the real dilemma took place off
screen. This was the choice between mak-
ing a quality film according to the vision of
the filmmaker, or following the demands
of financial backers. In the film Demi Ucok,
Sammaria Simandjuntak and friends tried
to overcome financial limitations by us-
ing crowd funding. This was also done by
Mira Lesmana and Riri Riza when produc-
ing Atambua 39º Celcius. Paul Agusta and
his team even made a proposal and tried
to raise individual donations. Despite min-
imal funding, the quality of films like these
is just as good as high-budget films.
We saw such quality when we watched
Demi Ucok and Parts of the Heart. We felt
these two films stood out the most this year.
At first we had difficulty deciding which of
these two films would be Tempo’s choice for
Best Film. They had the same result in the
initial scoring. Both Demi Ucok and Parts
of the Heart offered something new. Demi
Ucok did not take the typical approach used
by filmmakers when portraying the rela-
tionship between a mother and child. Parts
of the Heart did not portray gays as stereo-
typical victims of public stigma.
If in the end we chose Demi Ucok as Best
Film, this was based on the overall produc-
tion quality. There was a consistency which
ran throughout the plot, scenes, directing,
and other elements.
Parts of the Heart was not as consistent,
yet it did excel in directing. That is why
we chose Paul Agusta as Best Director this
year. He was able to package his omnibus
film as a compelling story. The decision to
use different actors for the same charac-
ters in each short film supported this con-
clusion.
An actor’s performance can sometimes
“rescue” a weak film. This is what we saw in
Tio Pakusadewo’s performance in Rayya.
Although this film had some overall weak-
nesses, Tio’s appearance was incredible.
His role as a photographer in the film was
more natural compared to his role as a po-
liceman in Dilema. He is a strong actor, but
his background as a photographer might
have helped prepare him for this role.
It was more difficult to choose Best Ac-
tress. This year we did not see many strong
leading ladies. The film shortage was more
evident in the matter of Best Supporting
Role. For the leading actress, initial scoring
resulted in a tie between Wulan Guritno in
Dilema and Mak Gondut in Demi Ucok. Both
gave strong and natural performances.
We finally chose Wulan, mostly because
in that film she played a character which
is much different from herself: a lesbian
ecstasy dealer. Meanwhile, Mak Gondut
played a mother who we feel is not far from
her everyday life. Wulan clearly had a big-
ger acting challenge. We hope to see Mak
Gondut playing different characters in fu-
ture films.
For supporting roles, the performance
of Slamet Rahardjo in Dilema as a long-
time gambler stood out. His theater expe-
rience showed wonderfully in his acting.
He was calm but full of emotion. The audi-
ence could pick up on his subtle emotional
changes at the gambling table, even though
he could not be so obvious as to tip off the
other gamblers. His acting in Jakarta Hati
as a member of parliament was also good,
but not as compelling as in Dilema.
When the panel of judges selected this
year’s finalists, it was clear there was a ten-
dency to appreciate the courage of those
filmmakers who began to question if there
was really a need to be haunted by the ques-
tion: “What will people say?” We appreci-
ated the honesty of the filmmakers in their
work. This does not come without risks. Dar-
ing to take a stand means taking responsibil-
ity for the result. This is what was reflected
in Demi Ucok and Parts of the Heart. ●
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 43
PAUL AGUSTA | PARTS OF THE HEART
BEST DIRECTOR AND SCREENPL AY WRITER

The Struggle
to be Honest
A bold personal film portrays
the life of a gay man, from a
pre-teen ager to his forties.

PHOTO: JACKY RACHMANSYAH

 film
choice
2012
PRIMA RUSDI, FILM BUFF
H
IS BIG build is far from in-
timidating. He always
speaks in carefully chosen
sentences (both in Indone-
sian and in English) in a soft
tone, and frequently avoids the gaze of the
one he’s talking to.
This is Paul Agusta, 32. To film people
who have been active over the last decade,
he is already familiar. When the Jakarta In-
ternational Film Festival (JiFFest) was still
organized and became one of the meeting
arenas between filmmakers of the younger
generation, Paul served as a volunteer. At
the time, he also regularly analyzed films
for The Jakarta Post. Paul once also wrote
the subtitles for the film Banyu Biru (direc-
tor Teddy Soeriaatmadja, 2005).
Perhaps after he has had to face various
forums of dialogues in a number of film fes-
tivals, and in last few years has also often
been teaching, Paul now seems more com-
fortable in talking before many people, and
with those he has just met.
He has made three pictures, all reflecting
personal struggles. Kado Hari Jadi (Birth-
day Gift, 2008), the first movie he directed,
unveils Paul’s interest in the dark side of hu-
manity. Kado depicts a person’s emotion-
al condition triggered by a grudge. His sec-
ond flick, Di Dasar Segalanya (Beneath Ev-
erything, 2010), tells about a woman affect-
ed by bipolar syndrome. The unique fea-
46 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
ture of Paul’s rendering of the syndrome is
how he draws the audience into the logic of
a person with the disorder, who often un-
dergoes extreme upheavals, and even en-
dangering him- or herself.
Paul knows the trouble well, as he him-
self has suffered from the syndrome. He
once tried to commit suicide due to the
disease. But he has never hidden his con-
dition, even readily serving as a reference
point for anybody wishing to be more in-
formed about it.
His third movie, Parts of the Heart, is
even more steeped in a personal struggle.
This was what attracted Tempo’s attention.
Parts of the Heart (2011) illustrates the path
of life of Peter, a gay, from his pre-teen age
to the early forties through eight separate
segments. Paul is also a gay. So each seg-
ment of the film reflects the emotional ex-
perience he has gone through or been able
to feel.
“The idea of making this film emerged
when I got married in June 2010. What I’ve
longed for in my life is to find somebody
with whom I can spend my whole lifetime,
and be happy,” he said. According to Paul,
when he was married, he was battered with
existential questions of what made him
reach this point. “Parts of the Heart actually
presents my introspection of whatever mo-
ments that have so far formed my present
figure.”
Segments 1 to 5, telling about teenage Pe-
ter, virtually constitute Paul’s biography.
Segments 6 to 8 are more in the form of fic-
tional episodes, but remain based on Paul’s
emotional and mental states.
For screenplay writing, Paul strived to
recall in greater detail everything happen-
ing in his life. “For instance, I painstaking-
ly tried to recollect how my emotions re-
sponded in my first kiss, what the dialogue
was about. The dialogue may be 95 percent
the same.”
The character of Peter was played by dif-
ferent actors (one of whom was director
Joko Anwar). “To be frank, some segments
were indeed hard to write because they
forced me to remember distressing events I
had experienced,” explained Paul.
The segment depicting the demise of Pe-
ter’s sweetheart, for example, was among
those Paul admitted to have been difficult
to compose as they in fact described how
his darling had died. For the moments that
really took place, Paul had from the begin-
ning decided to fully reveal with hones-
ty, rather than halfheartedly. He indicat-
ed that the process of finishing Parts of the
Heart had not always been pleasant. “It’s
because recalling something we don’t like
entails tough healing. Its shooting was also
FOTO-FOTO: KINEKUMA PICTURES
upsetting.”
Each segment on average took two days
to write and one month to prepare for
shooting after the screenplay was ready. In-
terestingly, the number of characters and
locations was small in Parts of the Heart.
Each segment was played by two main fig-
 BEST DIRECTOR AND SCREENPL AY WRITER

Some scenes in the omnibus

movie, Parts of the Heart,
directed by Paul Agusta.

ures. They had to interact within limited

space (one location in the form of a closed
room). Such a situation necessitated Paul to
develop the characters and be efficient in
dialogue.
Technically the writing process started
in mid-2010, though this film was totally
completed at the end of 2011. As is the case
with most Indonesian filmmakers, Paul
had to raise funds. Therefore, Parts was
made in installments.
“The first three segments were finished
and used as a means to search for funds for
the next,” said Paul, describing the meth- sumed around Rp 91 million. “Certainly it Openly Paul acknowledged he was for-
od applied along with the team of the pro- wasn’t a ’normal’ budget. Lots of aid came tunate to have been brought up in a fami-
duction house, Kinekuma. He even tried to from various circles and crew members, ly (his father being poet Leon Agusta, and
secure personal donations by offering pro- who were already experienced and helped his mother, Margaret Agusta, an editor and
posals. us without ’fixing prices’,” said Paul, add- translator) that could accept him as being
Later Paul met with a donor who liked the ing to Kyo’s information. gay, which he considered a luxury.
idea of Parts of the Heart and was prepared One thing that made Paul proud was the Anyway, in the view of Paul, in Indone-
to cover the cost shortage. “I was lucky to comment of a moviegoer after watching sia, so far the social/environment factor
be able to work with (director of photogra- Parts of the Heart in Yogyakarta. “He said has remained highly likely to enter person-
phy) Faozan Riza, with the support of effi- this film was imbued with Indonesian fea- al domain. For most people, this can be a
cient players and production mechanism.” tures. It was opened with a mountain im- pressure that makes it difficult to assume
For the implementation of production in age and closed with a narration by a da- an honest attitude.
an efficient manner and with a budget be- lang (puppeteer). For me the comment is to “Forcing oneself to be fully honest in emo-
low its target, the most responsible person be proud of because it means I’ve become tional terms is sometime rather painful,” he
was Paul’s close partner, Kyo Hayanto. The more Indonesian than what was in my said. But it’s just the struggle to stay “hon-
making of Parts of the Heart, said Kyo, con- mind,” he pointed out. est” that’s exposed in Parts of the Heart. ●

DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 47

TIO PAKUSADEWO | RAYYA, CAHAYA DI ATAS CAHAYA
BEST ACTOR

An arrogant
Photographer
and Model
Tio’s role as a calm and seasoned
photographer is extremely attractive.
He was able to maintain an emotional
stability throughout the film which was
not an easy task for the actor.
PHOTO: JACKY RACHMANSYAH

DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 49

 film
choice
2012

W
EARING a blue flannel
shirt and cream colored
trousers with trekking
shoes, Arya sprightly
takes aim with his man-
ually operated Nikon F4 camera. With
great agility he is able to capture interesting
poses as the model in front of him moves
amongst the trees and long grasses. Arya
knows the exact moment when to click the
camera. One senses that he has truly mas-
tered the technique of manipulating man-
ual cameras still using film, despite also be-
ing very adept at using automatic digital
cameras.
His agility and sprightliness in manipu-
lating the camera are in sharp contrast to
his calm and relaxed attitude. Arya han-
dles with extreme calmness, Rayya, a high-
ly successful diva, actress and model whose
loud manner of speaking explodes across
the room and who behaves like a prima
donna. He later becomes involved in pro-
ducing the photographs for for an autobi-
ography project of Rayya. During the proj-
ect, he and Rayya are thrown together dur-
ing a long drive from Jakarta to Bali, search-
ing for attractive locations in which to pho-
tograph the diva.
Arya – the figure of the photographer in
the film Rayya, Cahaya di Atas Cahaya, or
“Rayya, Light Upon Light” – is played beau-
tifully by Tio Pakusadewo. Through his ex-
tremely natural gestures and style, Tio is
able to exactly portray the character of a
professional photographer. As usual the
49- year old actor, who has appeared in
dozens of films in which he has nearly nev-
er given a disappointing performance, has
also given an outstanding performance in
Rayya under the guidance of film director
Viva Westi.
It may well be that the actor’s brilliant potong Roti (Love in a Slice of Bread) which ing at analogical as well as digital photogra-
performance in Rayya was in part possi- was directed by well-known Indonesian phy, he turned to a photographer at one of
ble because the world of photography is in- film director, Garin Nugroho. It is quite Indonesia’s foremost media houses. “I also
deed not unfamiliar to the actor, whose full by chance that the film which brought his studied his views on photography,” he re-
name is Irwan Susetyo Pakusadewo. Be- name to fame is very similar to Rayya. Both marked. “I observed the world of photogra-
fore completely immersing himself in the are road-movie films, telling the story of phers for about a month.”
world of acting, Tio was once the photogra- one (or several) characters on a journey Tio, who was born in Jakarta on Sep-
pher of a magazine. He was also a fashion from one place to another. “I was following tember 2, 1963, has since childhood want-
FOTO-FOTO: PIC[K]LOCK PRODUCTION

photographer. “Quit by accident as it hap-
pens, my hobby is actually photography. So
I already know the basics of photography,”
he explained.
And this has not been the first time that
Tio has portrayed the role of a photogra-
pher in a film. In 1990 he acted as Topan,
a photographer in the film Cinta dalam Se-
a similar journey. It was as though I went
on a journey following the traces of the film
Cinta dalam Sepotong Roti,” he declared.
Nevertheless, Tio still had to study and
prepare for his photographer role in Rayya.
To better understand the way of think-
ing and of viewing things by a professional
photographer, including their way of look-
ed to become an actor. In his youth, he
was already active as a member of Teater
Sendiri, - which translated roughly means
“One’s Own Theatre” - and was under the
directorship of Nawir Hamzah. Later he in-
creased his knowledge about the science of
film making at the Cinematography Facul-
ty of the Institut Kesenian Jakarta (Jakarta

50 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012


Tio Pakusadewo as Arya in
the movie Rayya, Cahaya di
Atas Cahaya.
Institute of Art), from where graduated in
1986. Before beginning wrestling with the
film world, Tio was for a while a model. His
debut as an actor was when he appeared as
a servant in the film Bilur-bilur Penyesalan
(Slivers of Regret), which was produced in
1968.
Tio became well known after he starred
in the film Love in a Slice of Bread. His ca-
reer first attracted attention after he was
chosen Best Actor in the 1991 Indonesian
Film Festival, for in the movie Lagu un-
tuk Seruni (A Song for Seruni) directed by
Labbes Widar. Since then his rise has been
unstoppable. He has starred in dozens of
films, including Berbagi Suami (Sharing
Husbands), Quickie Express, Lastri, Pintu
Terlarang (Forbidden Door), Identitas, Kata
Ma’af Terakhir (Last Apology), Alangkah
Lucunya Negri Ini (How Funny this Country
Is), Tebus (Redemption). Dilema and Perahu
Kertas (Paper Boat).
Tio disclosed that, of the many films that
he has starred in, he feels his role in Rayya
has been among the most difficult to play.
The hardest thing about the film for him
was that he had to keep his emotions un-
der control all the time. “I had to keep my
emotions stable so that they remained the
same throughout the film. I tell you that
was not easy for me,” he said. “Especially,
as throughout the film, the figure of Arya
is constantly being confronted by that of
Rayya (played by Titi Sjuman), whose emo-
tions are portrayed as constantly going up
and down.
Later the climax of the film centers on
the movement of Arya’s hand and not on
his expression. This occurrs when, to-
wards the end of the film, Arya is forced to
sign the divorce papers handed to him by
his wife, Dea. At that moment Arya as a hus-
band has to make the most difficult deci-
sion of his life.
In that scene, Tio is required to display
the accumulation of emotions of the fig-
ure of Arya in the movement of his hand.
And he succeeds. The scene where Arya’s
hand scratches his signature on the divorce
papers that his wife thrusts at him is high-
ly dramatic. “The scene was only shot once
and not repeated,” crowed Tio. “And after
that scene was taken, the shooting was fin-
BEST ACTOR
ished.”
For Tio, Rayya is a film that took long in
the making. His reading and study prepa-
rations before filming began took about a
month. Since receiving the script from the
screenwriter, Emha Ainun Nadjib, Tio had
to start to really try to understand his di-
alogue. “In the dialogue, there are many
winged words and philosophical turns of
language that are specifically Ainun Nad-
jib’s trademark,” he confided.
The filming also took a full month. Oth-
er films that he has starred in have not tak-
en so long. “From pre-filming preparations
to the end of filming usually lasts not more
than a month,” Arya noted.
One of the challenges faced in the mak-
ing of Rayya was shooting in the crater of
the Ijen volcano in East Java. Tio almost
gave up as he attempted to climb its steep
incline. There came a point where he asked
that filming be stopped, and asked to with-
draw from the contract. However, he later
felt ashamed when he saw the whole film
crew, including those who were quite over-
weight, climb to the peak. So in the end
with great difficulty, he too climbed to the
top. “Good heavens, I was limping by the
time I was done,” he exclaimed. ●
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 51
WULAN GURITNO | DILEMA
BEST ACTRESS

The
Lesbian
Drug
Dealer
She plays the role of a lesbian
so naturally in her first film
production.
PHOTO: TEMPO/WISNU AGUNG PRASETYO

DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 53

 film
choice
2012
D
IAN, the beautiful girl, is
startled when a kiss lands
on her lips, warm and affec-
tionate, like the kiss of a male
lover. The only difference is
that it’s a kiss from another woman, named
Rima. Physically, Rima looks mannish,
her hair in a crew-cut, her body heavy-set,
her voice husky, and her demeanor a little
awkward. Yet she’s capable of breaking the
ice. The kiss in the room brings both wom-
en closer to each other.
Dian comes from a broken home. She
flees to Bali in sorrow after the death of her
mother in an accident. Her relations with
her father have long been strained. The
presence of Rima, whom she met on the
beach, restores her passion for life. In her
eyes, Rima is guardian angel very under-
standing of her sorrow. What Dian doesn’t
know is that Rima has come to destroy her
life. She’s a drug trafficker preying on chil-
dren of broken homes.
Rima’s role is played flawlessly by Wulan
Guritno. With Pevita Pearce acting as Dian,
Wulan shines in the film. Born in London
on April 1980, Wulan acts very naturally as
a lesbian in the way she gestures and talks.
Not only allowing herself to get a crew-cut
and kissing a person of the same sex with
no camera trick, Wulan demonstrates a ca-
pacity to metamorphose from a truly fem-
inine character, into Rima the lesbian, a
complex character, friendly at one time
and cold and unfeeling at another.
54 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
It’s not easy for Wulan to metamorpho-
se into Rima. She confides that it took her
three to four week to learn mannerisms to
convey being a lesbian. Two friends, who
incidentally are lesbians, served as refer-
ence points for Wulan, who closely observe
the way they walked, talked, laughed, and
acted in their everyday lives. “But I didn’t
emulate them. I only observed for the sake
of my acting in the film.” Satisfied with her
observation, Wulan went on to research
other lesbians before going through the
screenplay.
Most importantly, Wulan worked hard
on building the masculine side of the role
she was to play, an important factor that
led her to perfect the characterization of
Rima. It paid off. Even her husband, Adil-
la Dimitri, praised her acting. “He (Dmi-
tri) said my body movements were man-
like,” says Wulan. Problems arose when
Wulan, carried away by her characteriza-
tion of Rima, continued to act a lesbian
long after the completion of the shooting
sessions.
The real challenge to Wulan is to play not
only the role of Rima, but also that of herself
as a film producer. After a long list of acting
in such productions as Gie, Nagabonar Jadi
2, Rumah Maida, Suster N, and Demi Dewi,
Wulan decided to produce a film of her own.
In 2001 she set up WGE Pictures. Jointly with
four young directors, including her hus-
band Adilla Dimitri, Robert Ronny, Rinaldy
Puspoyo and Robby Ertanto, she produced
BEST ACTRESS
Wulan Guritno as Rima, a
drugdealing lesbian in the
film, Dilema.
a detective drama genre film called Dilema.
“It was a joint project,” says Wulan, who di-
rected a part of the film. The four young di-
rectors wrote the screenplay.
Dilema is unlike most othe feature films.
It’s more like an omnibus carrying sever-
al stories. Wulan calls Dilema a film with
many plots linked to one another into a uni-
ty. Five plots make up the story, each one
worked on by a different director, depict-
ing varous aspects of life in Jakarta in five ti-
tles, The Officer, Hardline, The Gambler, The
Big Boss, and Rendezvous.
Rima appears only in the final moments
of the story, after all the other characters
have played their parts. Rima appeared in
Rendezvous alongside Dian. It wasn’t easy
to find the right person to play the role of
Rima. In the end, Wulan herself took the
role. “I took it as a challenge to play the role
when it was offered me,” says Wulan.
So it was that Wulan played two roles, as
an actress and as producer. As an actress,
she had to transform herself into the char-
acter she was to play. As a producer, she
had to look for people willing to finance the
production, find the performers, and han-
dle all sorts of problems, from production
to the post-production phase.
FOTO-FOTO: WGE PICTURES
Wulan was pregnant during the filming
of Dilema, which made her perform bet-
ter in the role of a stout, mannish female.
“I was pregnant with a baby boy,” she says.
“Maybe because I emulated a lot of male
hormones at the time.” ●
56 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
 DEMI UCOK

Sammaria’s
BEST FILM

Far Leap
This year, Tempo’s Film
of the Year choice goes
to a family comedy that
represents us all.
PHOTO: TEMPO/SURYO WIBOWO

DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 57

 film
choice
2012
T
HE film has not been circulat-
ed widely, however it has al-
ready captivated and gripped
those who have seen it. With-
out any meaningful debate
among the jury, the movie Demi Ucok (For
Ucok), the work of film director Sammaria
Simanjuntak became Tempo’s Film of the
Year.
The movie tells the story about the ‘tug-
of-war’ between a Batak girl, Gloria, and
her mother, Mak Gondut. The daughter,
like any other girl, said, “I don’t want to
become like you, Mom - get married, for-
get her dreams, and live boringly ever af-
ter.” Glo is a young film maker struggling to
make her second film. The mother is con-
58 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
cerned over her lack of a life partner. So she
offered to fund the film provided that her
only child is willing to be matchmade with
a Batak man of her choice.
Funny, honest and brisk, the movie
speaks with ease and quickly captures the
audience’s hearts. The director made the
film through crowd-funding and with the
help of her mother, who in real life is the
movie’s producer. The film uses humor to
bring light on the attitude of the young gen-
eration, who want to be independent but
still live with parents. There is also a touch-
ing scene where the mother finally agrees
to play in her daughter’s movie, despite the
fact that she has to run around wearing a
white dress and a crown on her head.
Demi Ucok was chosen as Tempo’s best
Film of the Year not just because of it be-
ing a honest and solid comedy, but also be-
cause it uses a light approach to the issue,
and manages to make the audience real-
ize that the issue is after all a collective so-
cial issue. Sammaria’s personal story about
a relationship between a mother and her
daughter, with all its complexity, becomes
our own story.
FOTO-FOTO: KEPOMPONG GENDUT
Born on May 4, 1983, Sammaria Siman-
juntak is the youngest of three siblings.
An alumnus of the Architecture Faculty of
Bandung Institute of Technology, she has
long been attracted to the film world, since
she participated in a student exchange pro-
gram to Germany in 2004. “Since they have

A scene from the film,
Demi Ucok produced
by Kepompong Gendut
and Royal Cinema
Multimedia.
great well-stocked libraries, my activities
there - apart from learning the German lan-
guage - was watching a lot of movies,” Sam-
maria recalled. She said one of her favorite
movies was Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dic-
tator.
But she put aside the desire to make films,
because she knew that producing a film re-
quired money and organization. “Each
day, all I talked about was making films –
I want make this or that film – but I didn’t
have any vision about the type of stories.
Perhaps my friends got tired of listening to
my dream,” she said.
The flame inside her was ignited by the
late Malaysian filmmaker, Yasmin Ahmad,
who stressed that everyone must have
a dream. In 2009, with a capital of R 100
million, Sammaria produced her first film,
Cin(T)a, which told of a love story between
a couple of lovebirds with differing faiths.
Producing the film based on a script writ-
ten together with Sally Anom Sari, and us-
ing limited artists, she managed to garner
the original screenplay award for the mov-
ie at the 2009 Indonesian Film Festival.
In the following year, Sammaria began
to show maturity. Along with several other
movie directors under the sponsorship of
Kalyanashira Foundation, Sammaria and
Sally produced a segment called 5 Menit
Lagi (Five More Minutes) as a part of Work-
ing Girls series. In the segment, they told a
story of a young dangdut singer whose life
BEST FILM
is more like the life of an ‘adult’. The bitter-
ness was subtly portrayed. Sammaria and
Sally begin to show their ‘class’. They were
not pedantic in the movie. Everything was
depicted in picutres, and the audience can
feel with them without spoken words.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Demi
Ucok became their next success. A second
film still made with a limited budget is Sam-
maria’s far leap. Demi Ucok is not only an
entertaining movie, it also illustrates emo-
tions very well, while subtle social pres-
sures and people’s problems are embed-
ded in the comedy. If Sammaria develops
her talents well, she will eventually be able
to follow the footsteps of Indonesia’s film
greats . ●
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 59
ECONOMY BUMI RESOURCES

A WAY-OUT
FOR
BAKRIE

A coal mine in Berau, East

Kalimantan.

60 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012

 Bumi Plc has taken Bakrie’s
offer to quit and buy back
Bumi Resources, a move that
angered Rothschild.

T
HE Bakrie Group can now
breathe a sigh of relief. Its in-
tention to buy back its 29 per-
cent stake in Bumi Resourc-
es, controlled in the past year
by Bumi Plc, will soon be realized. A sev-
en-hour meeting of Bumi Plc’s board of di-
rectors at its headqurters on the 4th floor of
Grosvenor Place in London on Wednesday
last week, decided to follow up on Bakrie’s
offer, rather than an alternative proposal
by Nathaniel Rothschild.
Bumi PLC, however, will not make any
recommendations to shareholders until af-
ter all pertinent regulations have been met.
“The board of directors will continue work-
ing towards taking the Bakrie Group out of
the Bumi Plc, and revoking the company’s
minority rights in Bumi Resources,” a state-
ment on the company’s website said after
the meeting.
Last October, the Bakrie Group, through
Bakrie & Brothers and Long Haul Holdings
Ltd, offered to sell its 23.8 stake in Bumi
Plc, a company jointly set up with Recapital
Group and Nathaniel Rothschild.
Bakrie wanted to swap the stake with 10.3
percent of Bumi Plc’s 29.2 percent stake in
Bumi Resources, and buy the remaining
18.9 percent before Christmas for US$ 278
million.
Bakrie also wants to buy all 84.7 percent
stake of Bumi Plc in Berau Coal six months
after. If realized, the whole deal will cost
Bakrie an estimated US$ 1.2 trillion.
Despite Bumi Plc‘s decision to keep Berau
Coal, Bakrie Group’s Vice President Com-
munications, Christopher Fong, welcomes
that decision. For Bakrie will then not only
buy back Bumi Resources, but also, most
importantly, quit Bumi Plc and sever rela-
tionships with Rothschild.
ANTARA/MUHAMMAD IQBAL, TEMPO/JATI MAHATMAJI

Bakrie’s decision followed a report by

a whistleblower alleging misappropria-
tion of funds in Bumi Resources and Berau
Coal. The report led to Bumi Plc’s decision
to have the Macfarlanes law firm investi-
gate the case as of last September.
REUTERS/YUSUF AHMAD

Bakrie believes Rothschild was behind

the allegations, after hacking e-mails be-
tween Bakrie and its affiliates “They should
say where they get their information from,”
said Chris, declining to name Rothschild as

DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 61

ECONOMY BUMI RESOURCES
the person behind the allegations that have
been reported by Bakrie to the Indonesian
police.
Last week Macfarlanes presented results
of a preliminary investigation. But it wasn’t
clear what its findings were. Meanwhile,
Bumi Plc announced in a statement that
it would look into the alleged hacking of
Bakrie’s e-mails. “But this won’t affect the
board of directors’ seriousness in respond-
ing to the charges.”
Nick von Schirnding, head of Bumi Plc
Group Communications, said investiga-
tions were continuing. He could not ascer-
tain when Macfarlanes would present the
final results of the investigation. What’s
clear is that “we have already reduced our
assets (of the company) with no further in-
vestigation being considered necessary,”
said Nick in an e-mail to Tempo.
●●●
UNLIKE a contentious meeting in Octo-
ber on the 8th floor of Hotel Mandarin Or-
chard in Singapore, last week’s meeting
went peacefully. No conflict occurred be-
tween members of the board of directors,
thanks to the absences of both Nathan-
iel Rothschild and Indra Bakrie. “Every-
one was nice and courteous,” said a Tempo
source who attended the meeting.
Followng the Singapore meeting, Roth-
schild resigned as Independent Director.
On Friday two weeks ago, Indra Bakrie re-
signed as Co-Chairman of Bumi Plc, as part
of Bakrie’s decision to delist from the Lon-
don stock exchange.
Only about a year after they agreed to
set up Bumi Plc in a swap-stake of Bumi Re-
sources, Berau Coal and Vallar Plc in mid-
2011, Rothschild and Indra parted ways.
In a letter in November last year to Bumi
62 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
Rothschild has
charged the Board
for giving Bakrie a
way out to avoid the
consequences of a
possible breach of
British law.
Nathaniel Indra
Rothschild Bakrie
Resources, Rothschild demanded a radi-
cal clean-up of the coal operation, for poor
performance.
Bakrie was furious. It suspected Roth-
schild for trying to destroy Bakrie, and take
over its biggest coal operation. Meanwhile,
the company at the time was in desperate
need of money to pay maturing debts.
Early this year, in a move that angered
Rothschild, Bakrie sold half of its 23.8 per-
cent stake to Samin Tan, owner of Borneo
Lumbung Energy & Metal. Tan, dubbed by
Rothschild as an ally of Bakrie, was named
chairman of Bumi Plc. Tan acknowledged
in a recent conversation with Tempo that
he had for the past two decades been close
to the Bakrie family.
●●●
BUMI Plc’s decision to take Bakrie’s of-
fer over the alternative proposal infuriat-
ed Rothschild, charging Bakrie with con-
trolling the board of directors. “We are dis-
appointed that the board did not support
our alternative proposal for the sake of the
company’s future,” he said in an e-mail sent
to Tempo by his spokesman Ian Middleton,
on Thursday last week.
Aware of the potential loss of his 11 per-
cent stake in Bumi Plc, acquired through
NR Investment Ltd, Rothschild submitted
a counter-proposal to block Bakrie’s move.
Rothschild claimed to have US$ 342.5
million in funds, US$ 75 million of which
comes from his own pockets, for an injec-
tion of fresh capital.
Rothschild also claimed that several mi-
nority shareholders, with a combined 28
percent of voting rights, supported his al-
ternative proposal. These include the Abu
Dhabi Investment Council, Schroders In-
vestment Management Limited, Standard
Life Investments, Taube Hodson Stonex
LLP, and Artemis Investment Management
LLP.
However, instead of acting in the inter-
ests of the minority shareholders, Roth-
schild charged the board of directors with
providing a way out for Bakrie to avoid the
consequences of investigations being car-
ried out for a possible breach of British law.
“Meanwhile they place their people to get
more voting rights in Bumi Plc, and control
the management of Berau Coal,” said Roth-
schild.
A Tempo source said the failure of the NR
Investment proposal was because it was
too straightforward, relieving Samin and
Rosan Roeslani as Bumi Plc’s non-execu-
tive directors, and forcing Borneo Lum-
bung and Bukit Mutiara to sell their stakes.
Both shareholders ignored Rothschild’s
offer. ”Both informed the board of direc-
tors they have no intention to sell,” Bumi
Plc said in a statement.
Bakrie may score a slim win, but Roth-
schild won’t easily give up. He told Bloom-
berg that the board of directors should be
dissolved as promptly as possible to pro-
tect the investors’ interests and to prevent
further damage to Bumi Resources and Be-
rau Coal. “Unless the board of directors
REUTERS/BAKRIE & BROTHERS, TEMPO/ADITIA NOVIANSYAH
dramatically changes, surely this is what
we are going to do in the coming week,”
Rothschild said.
It’s only a matter of time before the con-
flict between Bakrie and Rothschild comes
to an end. What’s clear is that the ball is
now in the court of the shareholders. Un-
fortunately, Tan declined to comment. ”A
shareholders meeting is scheduled for the
first quarter of next year,” said Nick von
Schirnding who was named last week as
Bumi Plc Chief Executive Officer.
● AGOENG WIJAYA
 HACK ATTACK AT BUMI
B
UMI Plc board of directors responded seriously to
allegations of illegal hacking into the information
system of the Bakrie group and its subsidiaries. This
issue was brought up for discussion at the board of
directors meeting in London, UK, last weekend. According to
a technical check they had conducted, the report of fund em-
bezzlement in Bumi Resources was done through e-mail hack-
ing.
Bumi Plc in fact confirmed that the e-mail hacking case
would not affect the board of directors’ seriousness in treating
the Bumi Resources embezzlement accusation. However, they
would still take it into consideration.
The London Stock Exchange-listed coal mining investment
company did not mention who the culprit was, how the hack-
ing was done and the action the company would take regard-
ing the issue. However, the charges were implicitly pointed to-
wards Nathaniel Rothschild, the English investor who found-
ed Bumi Plc together with Bakrie Group through a stock-swap
middle of last year.
At the board of directors meeting in Singapore mid-October,
a Tempo source revealed, Rothschild had access to and read
the e-mails of Bakrie and its subsidiaries’ executives. Roth-
schild’s intimidation was particularly directed to Bumi Plc
Chairman, Samin Tan.
Due to Rothschild’s pressure, Samin Tan sent a letter to
Bumi Plc Senior Independent Director, Sir Julian Horn-Smith,
REUTERS/THOMAS PETER
two days after the meeting. The owner of the cooking coal pro-
ducer, Borneo Lumbung Energy & Metal, threatened that he
would resign if there were no guarantee that Rothschild would
be withdrawn from the BoD. “If this case is proven, you (Ju-
lian) would agree that it is a serious crime under any jurisdic-
tion,” wrote Samin in his letter.
Bumi did not stop there. It hired Context, a London-based
information security service company. Like in an espionage
story, Context’s preliminary examination’s results last No-
vember indicated that during July 2012, Samin Tan’s e-mail ac-
count was targeted by advanced attacks aimed at breaking the
computer system and to obtain information.
With reference to the website registration used in the at-
tacks, it was alleged the hacking had started six months be-
fore. During that period, three mysterious accounts assumed
to be linked to the hacking were created. One of these accounts
is isfan@bumiresources.com, which came as the ‘whistleblow-
er’ over company secrets - ones that Samin Tan alone could
own. “After examination, there is no such account in Bumi Re-
sources,” said the Tempo source.
Samin Tan did not comment on this break-in. Neither did
Nathaniel Rothschild. Yet, this finding clearly backs the ac-
cusation of the Bakrie Group, which had reported the e-mail
hacking allegation to the RI National Police several hours after
the Bumi Plc BoD meeting in Singapore, two months ago.
The National Police Information Bureau Chief, Brig. Gen.
Rafli Amar said the case was being handled by the Jakarta Re-
gional Police Cyber Crime team. “Currently further investiga-
tion into the accused culprits is in process,” he said in an SMS
to Tempo last Friday. According to Jakarta Regional Police Pub-
It is estimated that the hacking had
been designed since five months
before. In that period, three
mysterious accounts popped up
allegedly connected to the hack. One
of them, ishfan@bumiresources.com,
that turned up as a ”whistle-blower”,
gave out company secrets that only
Samin Tan could have known.
lic Relations Chief Comm. Rikwanto, the investigators had ex-
amined two witnesses in the case, informant Fuad Helmy and
Bumi Resources IT Consultant, Harry Soeriaatmadja.
Bakrie Group Communication Vice President Christopher
Fong preferred not to comment on Nathaniel Rothschild’s as
the alleged hacker. “We only want the culprit, whoever he is,
to be captured either here or abroad.”
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 63
ECONOMY BEEF
A WILD BOAR INVASION
Wild boar meat to replace scarce beef was widely rumored
to have been used around town. The government refuses to
add import quotas.
T
HE call to dawn prayer had
just filled the air. Asnawi
rushed to perform ablutions
and prayers. Although the air
was still cool, Asnawi’s emo-
tions were at fever pitch. He could not wait
to hear what his men had to say. They were
hunting for pork at Cipete Market in South
Jakarta on November 29. It was their ninth
hunt within the past two months.
His eyes repeatedly darted to the screen
of his mobile phone. At fifteen minutes be-
fore 5 o’clock, the phone finally rang. It was
one of his men. Asnawi listened anxiously.
After several minutes, his face broke into
a smile. “I finally got to the meat,” he told
Tempo on December 13.
The head of the Import Export division
of the Indonesian Association of Meat Trad-
ers was outraged because the sale of pork at
Cipete Market caused the turnover of beef
traders to plummet by 60 percent. Togeth-
er with other beef traders, he developed a
strategy to collect evidence on the sale of
wild boar meat that was neatly hidden.
Based on the information that he collect-
ed, a ‘bakso’ (meatball) grinding facility lo-
cated 20 meters from his store had been
selling beef cheap beefly. “It was odd; pre-
viously, they only ground meat.”
The meat, neatly wrapped with the
words “Halal (Legal) Frozen Beef” was sold
for only Rp 35,000 to Rp 45,000 per kilo-
gram. It was much cheaper than pure beef
that would normally sell at an average of Rp
95,000 per kilogram.
Asnawi suspected that the “beef” was
nothing but wild pig or boar meat that was
mixed with chicken, and processed into
the raw material for bakso dough. “There
was no beef whatsoever,” he said.
After obtaining evidence of the meat con-
sidered ‘haram’ (not fit for consumption)
for Muslims, Asnawi tested it at the Veter-
inary Public Health Laboratory owned by
the South Jakarta Office of Husbandry and
Fishery. And the result? “Positive for pork,”
said Nurhasan, head of the Control Sec-
tion.
At dawn on Monday last week, togeth-
64 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
er with officials from the Office, Asnawi
returned to stake out Cipete Market. Two
days later, the Jakarta Police conducted a
raid. They seized 50 kilograms of wild boar
meat, 15 kilograms of processed meat, ar-
rested Eka Prayitno—owner of the grinding
facility, and shut the shop down.
Grumblingly, Asnawi blamed the cir-
culation of boar meat on the beef supply
crunch. “As a result, beef prices soar.”
■■■
WHAT Sigi Asnawi and his colleagues did
two weeks ago, were in line with the debate
on meat import quotas at the central gov-
ernment level. Quota setting began with a
limited meeting of the Coordinating Min-
ister for Economic Affairs, Minister of Ag-
riculture, Minister of Trade, and Minister
of Industry. It was followed by a meeting of
their first and second echelon officials.
Following the meetings, import quotas
were set at 80 thousand tons for meat, con-
sisting of 32,000 tons of frozen beef and
267,000 heads of cow calves. Sixty per-
cent of the frozen meat will be imported in
the first half of the semester and the rest at
the end of the semester. The import of cow-
calves will be arranged on a quarterly ba- ation officials lobbied the government and
sis. successfully secured an allocation of 1,800
With regard to frozen meat, the govern- tons.
ment stipulates that 19,400 tons will be for This made ASPEDATA the envy of the
the industry and 12,600 tons will be for ho- other associations, because they became
tels, restaurants, cafés, and catering busi- victims of quota reductions. NAMPA’s was
nesses. The lucky associations were the Na- reduced to 500 tons; APMISO, 300 tons;
tional Meat Processor Association (NAM- and non-industrial allotments, 500 tons.
PA), the Noodles and Meatballs Merchant Diana Dewi, ASPEDATA secretary gen-
Association (APMISO), the Association of eral, said the miniscule allocation was not
Indonesian Meat Distributors Industry proportionate to the number of its mem-
(AIDDI), and the Association Of Meat Pro- bers. She charged that the surveyor’s calcu-
cessing at Small and Medium Enterprise lations were inaccurate. A quota of 500 tons
And Household Scales (ASPEDATA). The is far below the needs of association mem-
quota calculation for each association took bers, which purportedly reached 6,000
into consideration the number of members tons. Although their demand was not met,
surveyed by Sucofindo. Dewi was relieved after the quota was in-
A Tempo source said, the associations creased to 1,800 tons. “We realize that self-
fought long and hard to secure the quota al- sufficiency in meat must be achieved,” she
locations they wanted. ASPEDATA, which said.
was established only this year, received a Diana counter-charged that the two oth-
quota of 500 tons. Dissatisfied, the associ- er associates received preferential treat-

ment. “The big question mark is the data
verification on the associations of distrib-
utors, and the noodles and meatballs trad-
ers,” she said.
Director of Food Industry, Industry Min-
istry, Faiz Ahmad, denied the government
treated the associations differently. The
TEMPO/DHEMAS REVIYANTO, TEMPO/MARIFKA WAHYU HIDAYAT (KANAN)
increase for ASPEDATA was a joint agree-
ment. He had cautioned the Agricultur-
al Ministry to calculate import quotas to
guarantee meeting the demand for beef as
a raw material. “There should not be a def-
icit,” he said.
The quota allocation also drew fire from
the Trade Ministry. Although they did not
insist the import quotas be changed next
year, Bachrul Chairi, Acting Director Gen-
eral of Foreign Trade, Trade Ministry, re-
quested that the formula for the calcula-
tions for 2014 be amended.
The current formula, said Bachrul, did
not take into consideration the number
Beef balls mixed with
pork in Kopro Market,
Tomang, West Jakarta
(above).
Ingredients for
meatball production
seized in a raid at
a meatgrinding
facility behind the
Cipete Market.
of tourists and expatriates, which ranged
from 125,000 to 130,000 people. In fact,
the average meat consumption of this
group was above the national consump-
tion. “ There must be an approach to re-cal-
culation. We see a trend for rising prices,”
he said.
Minister of Agriculture Suswono, on the
other hand, refused to re-calculate the for-
mula on imported meat, because changing
the formula would require an evaluation.
Suswono believed that local supplies could
meet the national needs for meat. “Gover-
nors at cattle centers are ready to provide
back up,” he said.
Sarman Simanjorang, chairman of the
Jakarta Raya Beef Committee, was disap-
pointed in the low quotas on beef import. In
his opinion, the government simply turned
a blind eye to the scarcity of meat, which
was detrimental to society. He believed that
the meat self-sufficiency program was only
politically oriented; it was not about meet-
ing the rights of the public for availability of
food. “Do not use self-sufficiency as a rea-
son, at the expense of the people.”
Abud Hadiyanto, Chairman of the Associ-
ation of Indonesian Butchers, doubted that
there was enough local supply. Since the
meat scarcity started, the slaughterhous-
es were inundated by demands to slaugh-
ter productive cows, which was actually
banned. Of the 1,200 head of cattle slaugh-
tered in Jakarta, 30 percent were female.
These findings, Abud said, made non-
sense of the government’s claim that there
was enough supply. Abud believed that
the government data included productive
cows. “If female cattle were slaughtered,
what can you expect from self-sufficien-
cy?”
Fauzi Luthan, Director of Livestock
Farming, Directorate General of Animal
Husbandry and Health, Ministry of Agri-
culture, denied allegations that the govern-
ment was ignoring the sustainability of fe-
male cattle. This year alone, the govern-
ment, he said, had budgeted Rp 500 billion,
and disbursed Rp 500,000 to Rp 750,000
directly to each cattle breeder.
The purpose of the policy is to prevent
farmers from slaughtering productive fe-
male cattle. Fauzi counter-attacked by ac-
cusing businessmen of having no inten-
tion of achieving self-sufficiency in national
beef production. “They said they support-
ed self-sufficiency, but they constantly ask
for more imports.”
As a result, who knows how long beef will
continue to remain expensive and often
disappear. Through it all, wild boar meat
will likely reach the plates of those who do
not want it.
● AKBAR TRI KURNIAWAN, ROSALINA, SYAILENDRA
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 65
ECONOMY FUEL BROKERS
RISING FUEL THEFT
Illegal brokers of subsidized fuel are found every
where, offering stolen diesel fuel to industries. BPH Migas
hopes that the additional quota of 1.23 million kiloliters
would not be used.
T
UESDAY of last week was the
end of Yukong’s business. The
50-year old man was caught
filling solar at Batu Ampar gas
station in Sanggau Regency of
West Kalimantan. A Joint Forces Team of
the Regulatory Agency of Downstream Oil
and Gas Activity (BPH Migas) found three
drums of diesel fuel and a drum of premi-
um in his car.
The team went further by investigating
his warehouse in the rural Dusun Tanjung,
where they found even more of the same.
“There were 31 drums of diesel fuel and
three drums of premium. When totaled,
the number reached 6.8 tons,” said Head of
Team 1 of the Joint Oversight Force on Fuel,
Grand Comm. Wirdan Dani, from West Ka-
limantan Regional Police.
Besides Yukong, on that same day, sever-
al others like him were arrested in different
parts of Indonesia. In Banjarmasin, South
Kalimantan, for example, a compa-
ny was suspected of misusing its
trade license. The Task Force
found a pile of 637,533 liters
of diesel and three barge
units.
In Pekan Baru and Du-
mai, Riau, still on the same
day, the team found anoth-
er stockpile of subsidized
fuel. “We are increasing our
surveillance throughout De-
cember,” director of Subsidized
Fuel Oversight, BPH Migas, Djoko Siswanto
told Tempo on Thursday last week.
Some teams were sent to areas prone to
theft. “Some of the teams have not sent in
their reports yet, so let us wait for the re-
sults,” said Djoko. He hoped that the De-
cember operation would reduce subsi-
dized fuel abuse.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minis-
ter Jero Wacik once said that 77 percent of
the subsidized fuel was actually enjoyed
by those who did not deserve it, i.e. owners
of luxury car and industry players. Mean-
while, fuel subsidies continue to rise every
66 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
year.
The quota in the Amendment to the 2011
State Budget reached 40.49 million kiloli-
ters. In reality, this was topped by an addi-
tional 1.3 million kiloliters used. This year,
the quota is 44.04 million kiloliters in the
Budget Amendment, but is expected to
exceed that figure as the year comes to a
close.
In the field, this situation led to a variety
of incidents, from the riots in West Kutai to
demands to increase quotas by the gover-
nors of Kalimantan. Three weeks ago, the
House of Representatives (DPR) finally ap-
proved the addition of 1.23 million kiloli-
ters for subsidized BBM. “We hope the ad-
ditional quota would not need to be used,”
said Djoko. The government, he said, had
allocated a special budget for oversight this
year. “We now have 1,400 personnel,” he
said.
In connection with that, findings on sub-
sidized fuel abuses increased, from
last year’s 1.1 million kiloliters to
2 million kiloliters.
The figures did not in-
dicate actual conditions.
“That figure is nothing
compared to actual abus-
es. It is like the tip of an ice- Mahakam River, West Kalimantan, the wa-
berg,” he said. ters of Surabaya, East Java, to the waters of
According to Djoko, the Batam, Riau Islands. Around 348,000 li-
thieves used a typical modus ters of diesel and 249,000 liters of non-sub-
operandi. “They modify the sidized fuel were seized.
tank, then they fuel up at several In some locations, the abuses involved
different gas stations in the night,” he said. members of the military. In June, for exam-
Or else, the fuel ‘disappears’ on the way ple, there was a commotion in Palembang
from the depot to the gasoline stations. with the findings of 365 tons of diesel fuel
Djoko said that the Department of Indus- in a residential area. Hundreds of drums
try and Trade in South Kalimantan con- of diesel fuel were found in five bunkers in
ducted a survey in May of this year and the offices of Musi Energy Facility, on a plot
found that 1.740 kiloliters of subsidized fuel next door to the office, and in a warehouse.
never reached the gas stations. “Which par- Also found were a number of tank vehi-
ties took the fuel, we do not know,” he said. cles, trucks bearing the name of another
Smuggling is done both by land and company, and a car whose tank had been
by sea. “If by sea, it is smuggled out of the modified. Two sergeants of the military
country,” said Djoko. According to BPH Mi- were declared suspects. “The legal pro-
gas data, several smugglers were caught on cess is on-going in the Military Court,” said
the rivers and in sea territories, from the Djoko.

He estimates that 50 percent of the subsi-
dized fuel abuse went to the mining indus-
try, 30 percent were smuggled out of the
country by sea, and the remaining 20 per-
cent to other industries. “The gap between
subsidized and non-subsidized diesel fuel
is too big,” he said.
ANTARA/MUHAMMAD IQBAL, TEMPO/JATI MAHATMAJI (FAHMI)
Subsidized diesel fuel costs Rp 4,500 per
liter, whereas the price to be paid by indus-
tries is Rp 9,000 per liter. People like Yu-
kong take advantage of the disparity.
Yukong did not work alone. Behind him is
a long chain right up to the fuel’s final desti-
nation. Yukong admitted to selling through
brokers. For every liter, he made a profit of
Rp 1,500. The brokers would offer the fuel
to companies in Kalimantan.
Amat, who stockpiles subsidized fuel,
complained to Tempo the increasing num-
ber of “competition” in Pontianak. “There
is an increasing number of players in die-
sel fuel. So, we are better off buying from
stockpilers,” said Amat, who had been in
the business for five years.
Usually, Amat bought from hoarders at a
price of Rp 5,500 per liter. When the supply
reached two to three tanks, he would sell to
buyers. Of course using forged documents.
However, lately Amat would more often be
seen at Siantan Market, North Pontianak.
“We know that supervision is tighter. So,
we have to keep a low profile,” he said.
■■■
It was 3 a.m. when the truck with license
plate number B 9223 WQA entered the gas
station 34-15418 on Jalan RE Martadinata in
Ciputat, Tangerang, Banten. It is the eighth
gas station visited by the truck.
From outside, the truck looked like it was
Perpetrators at the Ciputat Police
HQ, South Tangerang, suspected of
smuggling subsidized diesel oil.
Fahmi Harsandono (bottom).
carrying bags of fertilizer. It was actually
carrying subsidized fuel neatly arranged in
square steel tanks. The tanks were covered
by boards and hidden with bags of fertiliz-
er. The smell of diesel was, of course, cam-
ouflaged by the smell of manure.
The plan was for the diesel fuel that had
just been bought at eight gas stations to be
taken to a landfill in Cakung, East Jakarta,
and then re-sold. Before they could proceed
with the plan, the Task Force appeared and
arrested the three men at the last station.
“I am new to this business, Pak. I am in the
wrong,” said Djoko, quoting the perpetra-
tor. “In fact, old-hands or new, we can see
just by looking at the truck.”
From January to September, there were
45 cases of fraud in Jakarta and the sur-
rounding areas, with 65 people examined
and 30 people arrested. “The evidence to-
tals 150,705 liters,” said head of the Sub-Di-
rectorate III on Environmental Resources,
Police Comm. Nazly Harahap to Tempo on
Wednesday of last week.
This abuse of subsidized fuel under the
guise of transporting fertilizer in early De-
cember has not been included in the Jakar-
ta Police data. According to Nazly, some
hoarders were repeat offenders.
Vice Chairman of BPH Migas, Fahmi Har-
sandono Matori, said that subsidized fuel
can be constrained by limitation regula-
tions. “However, restrictions are often re-
jected because they are considered to vi-
olate rights,” he said. He believed that the
distribution monitoring system using in-
formation technology, currently being test-
ed out at 112 gas stations in Central Kali-
mantan and South Kalimantan might pro-
mote the distribution of subsidized fuel
that is on target.
This system will be implemented in Indo-
nesia next year. But the form of technology
that will be used is still unclear. One meth-
od proposed is to put sensors in the pump
hose. “Depending on offers from bidders.
We will implement the best,” said Vice
President of Fuel Retail Marketing Fuel,
Pertamina, Muchamad Iskandar to Christi-
na Bernadette from Tempo.
Even to begin saving, the government
and Pertamina must spend more money
first.
● AMANDRA MUSTIKA MEGARANI,
HARRY ADYANTO (PONTIANAK)
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 67
ECONOMY TRADITIONAL FOODS

FROM SHREDDED [1]

SWEETS TO COMB
BREAD
East Java, rich in its own traditional snacks,
does not yield to the variety of new instant
snacks. Some stores have survived for three
generations.

W
HAT does roti sisir (lit- [1] Matahari
erally “comb bread”) bakery in
taste like? Before the Pasuruan.
bread even touches our
tongue, our eyes have al- [2] Lauw Soen
ready sent signals to the brain regarding its Djing and his
flavor: sweet and a bit salty. We can guess yellow tofu.
the taste of the bread from its appearance.
Just take a look. The bread is rectan- [3] Bikang cake.
gle, curved and tapering on one side. The
bread is usually a triple-decker, with but- [4] The sweet
ter spread on each layer. There are two ver- Roti Sisir
sions: the dry and the soggy. Matahari. [4]
That is roti sisir, which tastes pretty much
the same today. The soggy bread was first [5] The Keciput
produced in 1955 by the Matahari bread Bo Liem Onde-
manufacturer in Pasuruan, East Java, onde Company,
which explains the full name of the bread, Mojokerto.
roti sisir basah Matahari. For over half a
century, the bread is still much wanted.
“That’s the customers’ favorite bread,”
said Nurakhman, a customer of the Ma-
tahari Bakery, Pasuruan. According to the
bakery records, at least 1,000 pieces of
bread are sold each day. The one that sells
the most is the comb bread.
It so happened that in 1955, Jacobus Laks-
mana and his wife Maria Wurilatsih pro- the torrents of instant snacks. In some ar- has cooled. The crisp bottom part gives the
duced the soggy comb bread, at the start of eas, the flavor of these traditional foods is cake a sweet and salty aftertaste.
his business. After five years, the company maintained, although open to modifica- Cintia, 22, continues to run the bikang
also made other kinds of products includ- tion. business. She is the granddaughter of Le
ing dried blencong, roti kasur basah (a type In some corners of the streets in Penel- Giok Swat, who started the business in the
of breadl), wet ronde (glutinous rice balls) eh area, Surabaya, the smell of coconut 1970s. “At first Grandma sold the cake with
and dried white ronde. milk and fragrant pandanus traveled the a pushcart,” she said. Apart from Cintia,
Samuel Laksmana, 23, the current own- air. That is the aroma of Peneleh bikang, a other members of the big family run the bi-
PHOTOS: TEMPO/SONY WIGNYA WIBAWA

er of the bread company, maintained and
developed his grandfather’s heritage. “We
are very careful in using the ingredients,”
he said. Samuel expanded the sales to the
west and east of Pasuruan.
Comb bread is only one of the traditional
food varieties in East Java that still lasts un-
til today. Many of these foods have survived
spherical cake whose textures resemble
ants’ nest. This area is in fact famous for its
bikang. The cake is still in demand.
From its overall looks, Paneleh bikang
is not too different from the common bi-
kang. But it does have something special. It
is very tasty and sticky and the top crust of
the cake remains soft, even when the cake
kang business.
In Jember, East Java, there is also a snack
that has endured time. The snack is rectan-
gular, about 3 x 1 centimeters in width and
length, with a thickness of one to two centi-
meters. It is wrapped in tissue-thin plastic
paper, like candy. It tastes very sweet and
the smell is distinct.

68 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012


[2]
[3]
[5]
Those with sensitive teeth must chew
this snack carefully. After a few minutes—
apart from the sweet sticking in the mouth
and teeth—warmth will start to radiate
throughout the body. That is suwar-suwir, a
traditional snack from Jember.
Actually, this snack was created by im-
provising on a snack originating in Bondo-
woso: tapai (fermented cassava). The main
ingredient is cassava (manioc, Manihot escu-
lenta). It is believed that this snack has been
in the area since the Dutch colonial times.
“Since I was little, Father and the neighbors
here have been making suwar-suwir,” said
P. Ali, also known as Abdurrohim, 72, own-
er of the Rama brand suwar-suwir house-
hold business.
Back then, he said, suwar-suwir was
made of tapai, sugar, and soursop. These
ingredients were put together and cooked
until they became thick and sticky like
dodol (a toffee-like, sweet food delicacy).
The soursop creates the unique texture of
the mixture. It can be eaten by tearing it, or
suwir. “After some time, people started to
call it suwar-suwir,” he said.
As time passes, suwar-suwir undergoes
modification in its texture, smell, and taste.
“In the beginning there’s only soursop and
tapai flavors, but since the 1980s there have
been many,” said Amsal Holis Asik, 69, who
owns the Jember snack business named
Primadona. In addition to tapai, there are
now other flavors such as durian, choco-
late, strawberry, mango, and pineapple.
Suwar-suwir producers said that for tens
of years they run the business with a sim-
ple management. The business has only
been run seriously since the last decade or
two. But now, the snack has become a ma-
jor business.
“The market response started to in-
crease. That compelled us to renew the
business,” said Rendra Wirawan, 37, Am-
sal’s son who inherited his father’s busi-
ness. The new ways he was speaking of in-
clude using new tools in producing suwar-
suwir, including gas stove and electric mix-
er; also, the packaging model and the mar-
keting.
While Jember has suwar-suwir, Mojoker-
to has its own top snack, onde-onde. A vis-
it to this city will feel incomplete without
a taste of the sesame covered balls. Onde-
onde is so specific to Mojokerto that the city
is also called Onde-onde City.
The Bo Liem couple was the pioneer in
the Mojokerto snack production. It was
started in Sentanan, Mojokerto, East Java,
in 1929. Mojokerto onde-onde has its ups
and downs. Yet, the generation that suc-
ceeded Bo Liem’s intended to keep produc-
ing. “The business must be kept ongoing no
matter what happens so that Mojokerto has
something to be proud of,” said Ida Sety-
awati, 75, the sixth of Bo Liem and Mak Bo
Liem’s 12 children.
Traditional snacks are indeed insepa-
rable from their place of origin. Here the
Kediri tofu is worth mentioning. The yellow
tofu, Chinese tofu, and Kediri tofu seem like
three distinct products. For years the Chi-
nese who settled in Kediri have made and
sold yellow tofu on a daily basis. Although
many Javanese finally followed in their
footsteps, the food has become known as a
Chinese product.
Lauw Soen Hok was the first one to make
and sell yellow tofu in Kediri, in 1912. Using
the soy-based food recipe he brought from
China, Lauw succeeded in making the yel-
low tofu. Although the locals were already
familiar with tofu, which was a part of their
daily menu, the firm, yellow tofu was some-
thing new to them. “The process took so
many trials until the perfect form and taste
were achieved,” said Lauw Soen Djing, the
grandson of Lauw Soen Hok. He is now run-
ning the tofu business.
Because he had never stopped producing
the yellow tofu, Lauw Soen Hok thought of
marketing the tofu professionally. Besides
improving the production process to be in
accordance with the original Chinese reci-
pe, the packaging was made more appeal-
ing, with a distinct yellow. The product was
sold under Bahkacung, the yellow tofu pio-
neer brand that still remains today.
Bahkacung tofu and other traditional
foods have survived throughout the years.
According to culinary consultant Hendri
Sofyan, local culinary has the fundamental
strengths, especially when it comes to fla-
vor and the packaging. “Because the flavor
will always be remembered. Plus, the tradi-
tional packaging has an enticing look.”
● HARUN MAHBUB, SONY WIGNYA WIBAWA,
HARI TRI WASANA, MAHBUB DJUNAIDY
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 69
ECONOMY SMES
CARVING POTEHI,
PRESERVING TRADITION
The original characters of wayang potehi made at the Hong San
Kiong Temple in Jombang are still preserved.
A
T Hong San Kiong Temple, a
Chinese shrine in Gudo village,
Jombang Regency, the hands of
the craftsman outlined every
curve of the wayang potehi (wooden hand-
puppets) figure he was shaping with preci-
sion. He slowly carved the eyes, nose, and
mouth of a wayang character, Unkow.
Chisels of various sizes, ready to fash-
ion any wayang figure, were laid in a row
at the man’s side. “I’ve crafted potehi for
11 years, since I met Pak Toni,” said Supan-
gat, pointing at the man overseeing the
wayang making.
Toni Harsono, the man watching over
him, thoroughly examined every detail
carved by Supangat. Supangat’s work was
done, as the basic forms of wayang potehi—
now plain, without paint and other acces-
sories—were finished. Then Toni took over
the job by painting and dressing the wood-
en hand-puppets of Chinese origin. “He’s
70 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
the only man who understands the philos-
ophy of every wayang character,” said Su-
pangat.
The completed wayang figures are kept
in a special room. Toni supervises the en-
tire wayang crafting process in the shrine,
until the puppets are later used for public
shows. Toni has virtually spearheaded the
revival of wayang potehi in the country.
The wooden puppet art died out after Su-
harto issued the Presidential Decree No.
14/1967, banning the performance of Chi-
nese traditions openly in public. After the
reform era, during the office of President
Abdurrahman Wahid in 2001, the presi-
dential decree was revoked. Toni then ini-
tiated the wayang potehi shows.
Toni’s relationship to wayang potehi
dates back to his childhood. His grandfa-
ther, Tok Su Kwie, was a founder of the Chi-
nese Puppet Masters Association Hok Ho
An. His father, Tok Hong Kie, was a famous
Carving wayang potehi in Hong San
Kiong Temple, Gudo village, Jombang,
November 27.
puppeteer in his time.
In order to revive wayang potehi per-
formances and the Hok Ho An club, Toni
learned from Tio Tiong Gie, a surviving
Chinese puppet master or sehu from Se-
marang who is in possession of 20-30 old
wooden hand-puppets. “I want to reawak-
en the original characters of potehi,” said
the gold shop owner.
Hok Ho An, which means fortune and
safety in the Fujian language, is now grow-
ing. Recently the club staged wayang po-
tehi shows in several places, one being the
Sangkring Art Space, Yogyakarta.
The originality of the wayang potehi fig-
ures made by this club is their strength. To
this end, Toni has entrusted Supangat with
the task. His craftsmanship manifests the
wayang characters according to the orig-
inal wayang potehi stored in the shrine
throughout generations. “Potehi isn’t just
an art; it also has some elements of religion
and tradition,” said Toni when Tempo visit-
ed last week.
Supangat started out as a furniture sculp-
tor. He claimed to have been interested
when Toni offered him the wayang potehi
crafting job. The man who moved to Jom-
bang in 1979 said at first it was quite difficult
to make one potehi character. Each pup-
pet had to be crafted according to Toni’s
design. “Each potehi has its own character
and history,” said the 48-year-old.
When it comes to originality of wayang
potehi, Toni is indeed very strict. Although
he is not a puppeteer, he observes the
wooden puppet making with meticulous
eyes. Thanks to the perseverance of Toni
and Supangat, now wayang potehi is gradu-
ally regaining its place. The wayang, mostly
kept in shrines to show reverence for gods,
is now performed in many locations. Ard-
ian Purwoseputro, a promoter of Toni’s
wayang potehi, even plans to present this
art to Singapore in the upcoming lunar new
year holidays.
Ardian regrets the government’s negli-
gence in the preservation of wayang pote-
hi. The Jombang Regency administration
admitted it had not yet provided funding
for this art. According to Head of the Jom-
bang Tourism Office, Suyoto, the govern-
TEMPO/FULLY SYAFI
ment has only assisted in issuing permits
and recommendations for wayang potehi
shows. “There’s actually no funding,” he
said. ● JULI HANTORO, AGITA SUKMA LISTYANTI
 ASEAN & BEYOND MALAYSIA
ZAINUDIN MAIDIN:
HABIBIE DEFENDS ENEMIES
OF MALAYSIANS
R
ELATIONS between Indone-
sia and Malaysia are being test-
ed once again. This time, the for-
mer Malaysian Information Min-
ister, Zainudin Mainin, wrote in Utusan Ma-
laysia an op-ed piece titled, “Similarities
between B.J. Habibie and Anwar Ibrahim.”
In the article, which was published on De-
cember 10, he said the former Indonesian
president had interfered in the internal af-
fairs of Malaysia by supporting Anwar. He
also said that Habibie had betrayed his own
country.
He made the charges after Habibie gave
a lecture at Selangor University at the invi-
tation of the People’s Justice Party, Anwar
Ibrahim’s party last December 6.
According to Zainudin, who served un-
der Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad, the
visit showed that Anwar still has the back-
ing of Indonesia. “He came to support
someone who is an enemy of the Malay-
sians, Anwar Ibrahim,” said Zainudin last
week.
Zainudin’s piece offended a number of
people in Indonesia. In fact, the House of
Representatives (DPR) plans to submit a
protest to the Malaysian government. The
Habibie Center will take a position. Polit-
ical scientistist Indria Samego from the
Habibie Center said the op-ed can affect re-
lations between the two countries. But, as
quoted in the Twitter account of the Habi-
bie Center, President Habibie seems uncon-
cerned about the furor. He is taking the in-
sult as a compliment.
This is not the first time the Malaysian
politician has made charges of foreign in-
terference in the opposition movement.
Last September, Mahatir said funds were
coming into Malaysia to oust the govern-
ment. He believed some of the money was
being channeled to back Anwar.
There is no question that the opposi-
tion movement in Malaysia is spreading.
They launched a new movement on March
TEMPO/MASRUR DIMYATHI
2013, in preparation of the upcoming gen-
eral elections: the People’s Awakening As-
sociation. This movement is supported by
the three-party People’s Coalition: Peo-
ple’s Justice, Democratic Action Party and
This is not the first
time the Malaysian
politician has
made charges of
foreign interference
in the opposition
movement.
the All-Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS).
Zainudin Maidin spoke to Tempo journal-
ist Masrur, who met him at his residence in
Putrajaya last Tuesday. Excerpts of the in-
terview:
What was the objective of your article?
The objective was to show Habibie’s in-
terference in Malaysia’s internal affairs
from era to era. Since Anwar Ibrahim chal-
lenged Tun Mahatir, he has been support-
ing Anwar. And this has gone on to show
that Anwar was being supported by Indo-
nesia. He does not have the right to come
here, even though, in his words, he
came only to explain the changes in
Indonesia. He came to support a man
who is the enemy of Malaysians, An-
war Ibrahim.
Why do you call Habibie a traitor to
his country?
Because the gave away East Timor
to foreign forces. If he had not agreed
to hold a referendum, this would not
have happened, because East Timor
was won over with blood. I know why
Indonesia entered East Timor, be-
cause we (Indonesia and Malaysia)
did not want to be a tool of the West.
We needed East Timor to fight against
the spread of a new imperialism. The
West was afraid that Indonesia and
Malaysia would become strong mod-
erate Islamic states. With our eco-
nomic force, the West would find it
more difficult to face than to over-
come extremism.
How did you feel after you wrote that
article?
I felt satisfied because I conveyed
the message and my good intention to
bring Indonesia and Malaysia closer. Be-
cause Habibie has damaged relations be-
tween the two countries ever since Mahat-
ir was prime minister.
In fact, your article has raised the tension.
I don’t know about that, but who am
I? I am just a former minister. Today I am
merely a writer and lecturer at the Uni-
versitas Utara Malaysia. So, when Anwar
said that I made the statement because I
was upset at being beat by a PKR candidate
from Merabok, it is not true. I never en-
joyed being the Information Minister.
Were you aware your article could offend
Indonesians?
I didn’t know. I just thought that Habibie
should have understood that Malays in Ma-
laysia don’t like foreigners interfering in
the politics of their country.
Will you apologize to Habibie?
I don’t see the need to apologize, because
I feel what I said was right and there was
no intention to insult anyone. Besides, Pak
Habibie no longer represents Indonesia. ●
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 71
SPORTS
THE PLIGHT OF
PLAYERS
Almost every foreign soccer player in Indonesia has not
received a part of their rightful payment. They have to play in
village tournaments just to survive.
I
” JUST want them to give me what is
rightfully mine. Do I have to die first
before they pay my salaries, like what
happened to Diego (Mendieta)?”
That sentence, which implies some
degree of accusation, came from Cama-
ra Abdoulaye, a former player of Persipro
(Probolinggo), when Tempo met him at his
rented house in Serua, South Tangerang,
Banten, last Tuesday. There was a sense of
desperation in the words of this man, who
happens to be a citizen of Guinea.
Camara seems to have no idea where else
he should turn to earn his rights. This 27-
year old Persipro soccer club player has not
received his salary from December 2011 to
June 2012. The sum amounts to Rp 125 mil-
72 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
lion. He does not know how much longer
he should wait. “At the same time, I have to
feed my child and wife,” he said. Camara is
married to a woman from Pacitan. The cou-
ple have a young boy, Abu Bakar Camara,
aged 2 years and three months.
Now he has no choice but to live a mod-
est life in a simple rented home, which his
family started to occupy in September. It
is a square construction divided into four
rooms. Of these, only the guest room is
adorned with furniture. The other three
are relatively empty, containing little else
than a bed and a stove.
Measuring 3x3 meters, there isn’t a ta-
ble or chair inside the living room, only a
red carpet on the floor. A 21-inch CRT tele-
vision and a single-door refrigerator are
lined up against one side of the wall. “This
is what my situation looks like,” said Cama-
ra while serving a glass of hot tea. Little Abu
Bakar sat next to him. “The house costs Rp
800,000 a month to rent, not including the
electricity bill.”
In order to survive, Camara has to do
whatever he can to obtain money. He joined
village football tournaments, known as
tarkams, getting paid between Rp 300,000-
500,000 per game. The problem is, he can-
not not rely on tarkams because they are
held only every few weeks. Once, the situ-
ation grew so desperate, Camara had to get
down to the streets carrying a cardboard
box to ask for donations from passersby.
This is tragic.
As Camara said, this is not the first time
his payment has gotten delayed. When he
was playing for Medan Jaya in 2007, the
TEMPO/MARIFKA WAHYU HIDAYAT
club failed to pay eight months worth of his
salary. After being pressed over and over
again, the club finally disbursed the sum,
some Rp 75 million. Unfortunately for Ca-
mara, his agent ran away with the money.
“I have not received my payment to this
day.”
This kind of consecutive bad luck never
 Camara
Abdoulaye (left)
in his rented
house in Serua,
South Tangerang,
Banten.
Masahiro
Fukusawa (right),
in action during
the Indonesia
Prime League.
came across his mind when he decided to
move to Indonesia in 2006. Camara previ-
ously spent three years playing for a club
in Egypt. “But I am not disappointed with
Indonesia,” he said. “It is the club that I am
disappointed with.”
Camara is not the only one. Two of his
partners in Persipro, Syilla Mbamba from
Mali, and Salomon Begondo from Kame-
run, share a similar fate. The club suspend-
ed their salaries for six months. Mbam-
ba confessed that he has only obtained 15
percent of his contract value of Rp 200 mil-
lion.
The money was given to him when he
signed the contract on December 2011. Af-
ter that, the club never paid the rest of his
salary. “I held on using that 15 percent mon-
ey throughout one season in Probolinggo,”
he said. “After that, I played in village tour-
naments.” Salomon also survives by play-
ing in village matches. “I have become a
gun for hire,” he said, describing his situa-
tion in bitter humor.
Mbamba now rents a house in Karawaci,
while Salomon lives in a small home in
Tangerang. Mbamba’s home contract will
reach maturity end of this December. If he
ANTARA/AKBAR NUGROHO GUMAY
cannot pay the rent by then, he might end
up being kicked out from his home. “The
rental fee is Rp 17 million a year,” he said.
These stories describe the grim situation
our football world has fallen into. There
is no story of brilliant achievements to be
heard, only sad tales of people involved in
it, from an increasingly embarrassing con-
flict between the football elites to the ill
fate that befall professional players who
are not getting paid for months. The death
of Diego Mendieta, a player of Persis Solo,
which is connected to a story of months of
delayed payment, appears to have no ef-
fect for those clubs. These poor players are
playing for clubs under the Indonesian Su-
per League and the Indonesian Premier
League.
Take a look at Masahiro Fukusawa, who
was forced to move from one place to an-
other due to his seven months delayed
worth of payments. His contract with a
club in East Kalimantan ended last Novem-
ber, but he has yet to receive any amount of
money from the postponed salaries.
Fukusawa refused to disclose the ex-
act amount of money that he should have
earned, only explaining that his salaries
were often paid in arrears of two to three
months. He frequently had to reach into
his own pocket to pay for apartment rents.
“Fortunately, the living cost here in Bon-
tang is not as expensive as in Jakarta,”
he said. He is currently forced to stay in a
friend’s home.
Jhonny van Beukering had his share of
similar stories when playing for an elite club
in West Java in 2011. He said that the club
did not pay his salary for months. “That
was very disappointing,” he said. Jhonny,
however, refused to be bothered too much
by this. This former Feyenoord player who
was once part of the national squad, decid-
ed to return to the Netherlands.
Not every player, however, share Jhon-
ny’s indifference. Those who insist in
claiming what is rightfully theirs came to
the office of the Indonesian Football Asso-
ciation (PSSI). Camara and Fukusawa did
so last Wednesday, urging the committee
to intervene into their case. But that meet-
ing with PSSI Director of Transfer and Sta-
tus Change, Marco Paulo, yielded practical-
ly nothing.
Mbamba and Salomon said that they
have grown tired of asking the PSSI for
help. “I have reported my case two months
ago, but there has been no response,” said
Salomon. Mbamba gave a similar view. “We
have grown tired of it, still they give no re-
sponse.”
Persipro Technical Director Haris Nasu-
tion said that Bondowoso United should
bear responsibility over the fate of these
three African players. Because, according
to him, since Persipro joined Bondowoso
United in November 2011, every policy, in-
cluding that concerning the players’ sala-
ries, has been handed over to the club. “Go
ask them about it.”
CEO of the Indonesian Professional
Players Association, Valentino Simanjun-
tak, said that almost every foreign play-
er in Indonesia has experienced the case
of delayed payments. However, only a few
of them dare to speak up about it. “At the
same time, the club managements are not
being serious in honoring their contracts,”
said him.
PSSI Competition Director Sihar Sito-
rus said that the case of delayed payments
could actually be minimized, if football
clubs agree upon the deposit concept pro-
posed by PSSI. At the start of 2011/2012
competitions, PSSI suggested that each
club should deposit an amount of money
before taking part in the matches. Clubs
at the highest level would have to deposit
Rp 5 billion, while those in the main divi-
sion would deposit Rp 2 billion. The mon-
ey would then be used to ensure the cor-
responding club’s financial health during
that one season.
Among other purposes, the deposited
fund could be used to pay for the players’
salaries, in case the club’s financial situa-
tion goes on a decline. But this scheme was
rejected. The clubs then entered the com-
petition without the backing of a solid fi-
nancier. The result has been pathetic. Play-
ers’ salaries are left unpaid, not to mention
their health insurance.
As with any other player, Camara does
not want to end up like Diego Mendieta.
● DWI RIYANTO AGUSTIAR, UKKY PRIMARTANTYO (SOLO)
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 73
ENVIROBRIEFS
BALI POLICE SEIZE 33
ENDANGERED SEA
TURTLES
I
NDONESIAN police seized 33 endangered sea tur-
tles from alleged traders of endangered animals last
Sunday, the Associated Press reported.
The turtles — including green turtles and hawksbill
turtles weighing between 30 and 60 kilograms — were res-
cued from a boat off the coast, Bali police spokesman Col.
Hariadi told the Associated Press. He said crewmen, who
were believed to be waiting to unload them, escaped as po-
lice arrived.
Police named one alleged trader, Evaritus Sobi from
Flores, as a suspect, according to the Jakarta Post. Conser-
vation officials released 24 endangered sea turtles back to
the sea at Sanur, Bali.
Indonesia has banned trade and consumption of endan-
gered turtles, but turtle meat remains a delicacy in Bali. ●
ILLEGAL LOGGING DAMAGES
MOROWALI CONSERVATION PARK
THE Morowali Conservation Park in Central Sulawesi has been da-
maged by illegal logging and mining activities, allegedly authorized by
Morowali Regent Anwar Hafid, according to reports from the Mining
Advocacy Network (Jatam).
A researcher from Jatam’s Central Sulawesi chapter said a nickel
mining company, PT Gemah Ripah Pratama, had cleared an estima-
ted 18 kilometers of mangrove jungle in a protected area, and later
converted the forest land into a port, the Jakarta Post reported last
Wednesday.
Local communities reported that illegal loggers from PT Eny Prata-
ma Persada also had cleared some mangrove forests. “We have tried
to meet the regent to ask for his explanation in these cases, but he
always avoids us,” Jatam researcher Andika said, as quoted by the Ja-
karta Post.
Separately, the regent, Anwar, and his subordinates are being sum-
moned by the Attorney General’s Office in connection to a graft case
on the issuance of mining site permits. ●
74 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
NEW BOOK FEATURES REDD+
IN INDONESIA
THE evolution of REDD+ in Indonesia, the government’s landmark
program to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation, is featured
in a new book A Catalyst for Change, which chronicles the exciting
milestones marking the program’s journey into unchartered territo-
ry from its launch in 2010.
Launched by the National REDD+ Task Force at the UN climate
change conference, held Nov. 26 to Dec. 8 in Doha, Qatar, the book
presents a comprehensive overview of Indonesia’s REDD+ program.
“Indonesia is now engaged in customizing its own version of
REDD+, as an instrument closely related to building a green econo-
my that will drive the principles of sustainable development,” Kun-
toro Mangkusobroto, chair of the National REDD+ Task Force and
head of the Presidential Unit for Development Monitoring and Over-
sight (UKP4), writes in the book’s introduction. ●
NEW LORIS SPECIES DISCOVERED
IN BORNEO
A new primate species has been identified in the jungles of Bor-
neo, scientists reported. The Kayan loris, a nocturnal primate dis-
tinguished by its “facemask,” or facial fur coloration, which differs
from that of other lorises, is found in the central-east highlands of
Borneo, researchers reported in the December issue of the Ameri-
can Journal of Primatology.
The study, by Anna Nekaris of Oxford Brookes University in the
UK, Susan Ford of Southern Illinois University, and Rachel Munds
from the University of Missouri, also elevated two sub-species of lo-
ris to the species level.
“Historically, many species went unrecognized as they were fal-
sely lumped together as one species,” lead author Munds said in a
TEMPO/FULLY SYAFI (SEA TURTLES), TEMPO/ SUARDI GATTANG
statement. “Technological advances have improved our knowledge
about the diversity of several nocturnal mammals.”
The Nycticebus kayan is named after the Kayan, a major river
that flows through the region. Scientists say the animal’s elevated
status as a distinct species will offer additional protection against
threats related to illegal wildlife trade.
“The pet trade is a serious threat for slow lorises in Indonesia,
and recognition of these new species raises issues regarding where
to release confiscated Bornean slow lorises, as recognition by non-
experts can be difficult,” said co-author Nekaris.
According to the study, survey data from Borneo suggests the
new species are either very difficult to locate, or there may only be
a small population of Kayan loris in the Borneo forests. ●
 ON THE RECORD
SURENDRA SHRESTHA
DIRECTOR, UN FOCAL POINT FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
ROAD TO
SUSTAINABILITY
A
S the 2015 target date for
achieving Millennium De-
velopment Goals (MDGS) ap-
proaches, world leaders have
begun to consider a new de-
velopment agenda for the coming decades.
At the United Nations Rio+20 conference in
June, government delegates agreed that a
framework based on sustainable develop-
ment goals (SDGs) must be the new over-
arching goal for the 21st century. Surendra
Shrestha, Director of the UN Focal Point
for Sustainable Development Goals at the
Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Devel-
opment, spoke with Tempo English report-
er Rachel Rivera at a recent gathering of
development experts at the Asia Europe
Foundation in Singapore, about the new
priorities for development beyond 2015.
When you speak of sustainable develop-
ment goals, what do you envision?
This new set of goals is based on grow-
ing concerns about a growing world pop-
ulation. Natural resources are finite and
getting depleted at a very fast rate. So we
need a new development paradigm to car-
ry us forward into the next century — one
in which poverty eradication continues to
be a priority but which also addresses con-
sumption.
When the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) were established, the devel-
opment framework behind that used an
approach that focused on the world’s poor-
est nations, which were given money and
told what to do by the developed countries.
Today, there’s a growing awareness of how
we are all interconnected, and that devel-
opment cannot just focus on the poorest of
the poor.
We have to look at development in a
more holistic way. Sustainable develop-
76 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
ment is based on the idea that we should
aim not just to eradicate poverty, but we
must take into account the planet’s limit-
ed resources in order to ensure the well-be-
ing of the planet as a whole. We cannot just
consume, consume, consume and expect
there will be more to come. We don’t have
other planets to support us. We have only
this one. So we need to address both con-
sumption and poverty together.
How will environmental sustainability be
addressed in this new sustainable develop-
ment framework?
The MDGs were focused on poverty al-
leviation, and environmental sustainabili-
ty was one of the eight goals. But there was
very little attention, if any, given to that.
The SDG agenda aims to prioritize environ-
mental protection and slow down the de-
pletion of environment services from land
and water resources. The idea is to build a
new development roadmap based on the
concept that equal attention must be giv-
en to economic growth, social equality and
environmental sustainability. So it’s a tall
order.
There is plenty of talk in Indonesia about
developing a green economy. Can you ex-
plain what exactly is meant by green
growth in the context of development?
There are two forces that make our
world go round. One is Mother Nature, and
the other is Markets. They have been on di-
vergent paths and have not been talking to
each other. So we need to bring these two
forces together.
If we want to achieve sustainable devel-
opment, we must begin to look at econom-
ics and markets in a different way. Current-
ly, the production chain and markets give
no value to natural resources or the envi-
ronment. Natural resources on the planet
are finite, but markets don’t regard these
resources as finite. They are seen as infi-
nite and they’re free.
Today we have a middle-class global
population of about one billion. In 10 years
time, we’ll have three billion, who will be
concentrated in Southeast Asia, India, Chi-
na, Brazil and South Africa. What kind of
lifestyle will this growing middle class as-
pire to? If they aspire to achieve the cur-
rent American lifestyle, clearly there are
not enough resources. And resource wars
will start. So if we know that is coming, we
need to change now.
But a middle class that is buying more
products and spending more is general-
ly regarded as a positive sign of econom-
ic growth.
Well, that’s the change we need to bring
about — the idea that if we want economic
growth we have to buy more stuff, wheth-
er we need it or not. And then the econo-
my goes up. Because as you buy more stuff
and throw away more stuff, people pro-
duce more stuff. And that’s employment,
and that’s seen as positive. But as you go
further down the supply chain, that will re-
quire more natural resources, more ener-
gy. So as we move forward, clearly the phi-
losophy that ‘greed is good’ cannot work in
the 21st century.
So you’re talking about measuring econ-
omies and measuring wealth in a different
way. Is this new way of thinking what you
hope will be incorporated in the new devel-
opment agenda after the MDG timeframe
expires in 2015?
That is the hope, yes — to have a new de-
velopment paradigm based on new indi-
cators that measure growth and progress
in terms of sustainability. We need to find
a way to measure the whole human well-
being, as opposed to just measuring in-
dustrial production or GDP (gross domes-
 tic product). If we’re talking about sus-
tainable development, we must look at the
economy in a different light.
What kinds of challenges do you think
that will pose for nations to come together
to agree on new development indicators for
measuring human well-being?
The challenges are many. First of all
there are 193 countries that need to sit and
agree. And the divides among all these
countries are wide and deep.
That’s why we need the media to inform
the public. At the end of the day, it is only
through public pressure that we will bring
about change that political leaders will
support.
Can you comment on the special chal-
lenges Indonesia faces around sustainable
development, for instance on how it relates
to REDD+?
The President of Indonesia was very bold
in declaring a commitment to cut carbon
emissions by 26 percent, and by 41 percent
with international assistance. That’s a huge
commitment to translate into action. But if
you look at countries like Bhutan and sev-
eral others that are doing sustainable for-
est management, clearly there are ways to
do sustainable forestry. One year you can
take half a hectare here, but plant anoth-
er hectare somewhere else. So mining and
oil palm plantations can continue their op-
erations, but they must be given guidelines global level there is more cohesion at the need to focus on informing the public to
to do it in a sustainable way, without de- local, national and regional levels. But we move our political leadership — leadership
pleting all the forests and peatlands. There can come down and focus at the local com- that is bold and leadership that is going
must be policy and action and partnership munity and country level, which can then to look ahead, not just for the length of an
between the private sector and the govern- be taken as examples for an internation- election term but for another two or three
ment whereby it’s a win-win for all. al agenda to be set at the global level. In- generations, which is another way of say-
The other key factor that has not yet donesia has a special role to play in this ef- ing ‘sustainable development.’
been explored fully in Indonesia and oth- fort because the President of Indonesia has How can sustainable development play a
er parts of the region is the carbon market. been appointed by the UN Secretary Gen- role in creating an attractive business cli-
We must engage both the government and eral to co-chair, along with the President mate for investors? How do you engage the
the private sector, with the carbon mar- of Liberia and the UK Prime Minister, the private sector to participate in this effort?
ket as the meeting point. Each time Indo- UN’s High Level Panel that is coordinating We cannot go to the private sector and
nesia can save a ton of carbon, there is val- regional and global consultations for a new just tell them to cut emissions and expect
ue to that. development framework that will priori- them to agree. We need to promote a di-
And we must engage the individual tize SDGs. alogue and engage companies in discus-
farmer and the local community. It’s the You were previously the Asia Pacific Di- sions about how a product can be more ef-
only way a program like REDD+ can suc- rector for the UN Environment Program. ficiently produced. And we need more effi-
ceed. They have to participate in it. Yes, we What special challenges do you think the cient production systems that will reduce
have to change the local, provincial and region faces in terms of sustainable devel- resource and energy use. The private sec-
national institutional setups. But we have opment? tor will participate if they know they are
to give priority to the individual farmer to Asia is going to be the leader in the 21st going to make a profit.
participate. Try it in one village and make century – in economic terms, in produc- Indonesia has the resources for econom-
it a success. Then get the other provincial tion terms, in population terms. Asia is ic growth. But it needs an educated, skilled
governors to replicate it. now the manufacturing hub for the whole labor force to develop the technology and
So what has to happen to bring the inter- world. You go to markets in US or Europe industry to make that happen. So govern-
TEMPO/PRIMA MULIA

national community together to agree on and where are the products made? They’re ment must invest more in education and in
a set of sustainable goals for all nations to made in China and Laos, Cambodia, Ban- R&D (research and development) for green
aim for? gladesh. Asia is on its way to being #1. technologies. We must invest for the future
While there are many challenges at the The challenge is in the leadership. So we generations.●

DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 77

78 | | 23 DESEMBER
DECEMBER 23,2012
2012
 INTERVIEW

Y U R Y F E D O T O V :

THERE MUST
BE A LAW
ENFORCEMENT
COORDINATING
BODY
W
HEN Russia sub- ing 2 million Russians into addicts.
mitted his name His opponents were also worried about the ‘Fedotov
to become Execu- effect’ on efforts to eradicate corruption, one of UNO-
tive Director of the DC’s areas. He is perceived to be supported by a cor-
United Nations Of- rupt regime. After all, from a list of perception index re-
fice for Drugs and leased by Transparency International, Russia is num-
Crime (UNODC) in ber 133, nelow Indonesia, which stands at 118. Russia is
2010, international also known for its syndicated groups operating across
public opinion was borders.
divided. After all, four decades of working at the Rus- At the end, however, Russia’s lobbying of Ban Ki
sian Foreign Ministry has given him the experience of Moon had the desired effect. With Fedotov in UNODC,
international diplomacy. His country once assigned the hierarchy, once led by countries which contributed
TEMPO/WISNU AGUNG PRASETYO

him to a number of UN organizations, on a level just be-
low that of Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.
Yet, his appointment met with criticism, many
claiming that Fedotov had no experience in this area.
But Russia insisted he take the post, to eradicate opium
fields in Afghanistan, which is suspected of being both
the source of Taliban funds, and responsible for turn-
the most, changed radically.
Last week, on International Anti-Corruption Day,
Fedotov met with Tempo reporters Adek Media Roza,
Purwani Diyah Prabandari and Sadika Hamid for an in-
terview at the UNODC office in Jakarta. His trip to In-
donesia was part of a 12-day trip to a number of ASEAN
countries. Excerpts of the interview:

DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 79

INTERVIEW YURY VIKTOROVICH FEDOTOV

What is the focus of UNODC programs in
Indonesia?
We have five major priorities, and it is
hard to say which are the most important. I
would say the highlights are illegal logging,
HIV/AIDS and corruption. But clearly, In-
donesia is a strategic partner for UNODC
in Southeast Asia, to strengthen interna-
tional cooperation in fighting corruption—
which has a transnational dimension. All
forms of transnational organized crimes
exist because they are fueled by corrup-
tion. The proceeds from organized crime
are then laundered and becomes a source
for new corruption. It is a vicious circle and
we need to do more to break it.
You met several government officials and
law enforcers during your visit. What did you
discuss with them?
I had a very good discussion with the
KPK and I met with the governor of Cen-
tral Kalimantan to discuss corruption. But
there is also another dimension of what we
are doing in conjunction with corruption,
which is illegal logging. On my return to Vi-
enna, I will discuss with potential donors
on how we can raise more funds for this
area of anticorruption in Indonesia.
Do you think the Indonesian government
has the political will to eradicate corrup-
tion?
I met government officials. I have to be-
YURY VIKTOROVICH FEDOTOV
Place & Date of Birth:
Russia, December 14, 1947
Education:
» Moscow State Institute of International
Relations (1971)
Career:
» Dep. Director, Department of
International Organizations, Foreign
Ministry (1988-1993)
» Dep. Permanent Representative of
Russian Federal Republic to the United
Nations (1993-1999)
» Dep. Permanent-Permanent
Representative, for the Russian Federation
in the UN in New York (1993-1999)
» Dep. Director, Department of
International Organizations, Foreign
Ministry (1999-2002)
» Russian Dep. Foreign Minister (2002-
lieve what they told me, that they are com-
mitted and well-prepared to support their
commitment.
But there are many corruption cases in-
volving senior officials and politicians. And
Indonesia’s Corruption Perception Index has
just declined.
If there are many legal cases against cor-
rupt officials, to my mind, it should not be
viewed as a lack of effort but rather a suc-
cess in fighting corruption. Public disclo-
sure, persecution, trials and other legal
measures create public awareness that cor-
ruption can no longer be tolerated.
Investigation on corruption cases often
works poorly because of the lack of coordi-
nation between law enforcement agencies.
One recent example is the investigation of
the procurement of driving simulators. This
has pitted the KPK against the police. Will
this have an impact on our reform efforts?
Indonesia is not an exception. These
problems happen in many countries be-
cause corruption and other transnation-
al crimes are within the areas of responsi-
bility of many government agencies, minis-
tries and institutions.
What do you suggest we do to address
this?
It would be advisable to have some sort
of coordinating commission that would
bring together all issues related to orga-
nized crime such as corruption, drugs and
human trafficking. But even with the cur-
rent system, we can work with Indonesia’s
agencies and ministries and we look for-
ward to continuing to do that.
In what countries have such coordinating
commissions succeeded?
I just came from Vietnam, and they have ness and education. We need to start teach-
an interagency commission chaired by ing students at school on what corruption
their deputy prime minister. Each agency is, how to resist corruption in early ages
and ministries have to play their own role, and at post-graduate studies. We are de-
but there is a coordinating structure that veloping a curriculum and are prepared to
lets them understand each other. share it soon to our member states.
Corruption does not only occur in the bu- In 2007, the UNODC and the World Bank
reaucracy, it also involves the private sec- launched an initiative to recover stolen as-
tors. How does UNODC deal with that? sets and you cooperated with Indonesia on
The private sector sometimes can be a this. What has been the result?
source of corruption but they can also be The UNODC is not a law enforcement
the victim. Because of corruption, com- and intelligence agency, so we cannot
panies cannot be as cost-effective as they track money. But what we can do to help is
want to be, and they cannot have a level build a network between different law en-
playing field. That is the reason the UNODC forcement agencies and provide technical
will help countries improve their legisla- assistance. We can encourage a country to
TEMPO/TONY HARTAWAN

2005) cooperate within their national jurisdic-

» Russian Ambassador to Great Britain
(2005-2010)
» Exec. Director, Illegal Drugs and Crimes
(UNODC) and Dir. Gen. of UNOV, Vienna,
Austria (since 2010)
tion to provide the private sector with fair
business condition.
What have you done to promote anticor-
ruption programs?
We try to be active in the area of aware-
tions, especially on final decision-making.
Regarding our cooperation with Indone-
sia, I have not heard anything that worries
me or that something is going wrong.

80 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012


What about the future of this coopera-
tion?
We are prepared if Indonesia wants to do
more and we would consider making a new
agreement.
Beside corruption, Indonesia also faces
major problems fighting drug trafficking.
Indonesia is the final destination for
many trafficking drugs, such as synthet-
ic drugs, amphetamine, methamphet-
amine, heroin and other drugs. So we need
to see what can be done through regional
cooperation. In this region, one of the ma-
jor sources of drugs is still Myanmar. But
they have a political will to stop it. I met
with their government officials and oppo-
sition leaders recently. They are prepared
to eradicate drugs but they need more sup-
port. And of course, we cannot address
drug issues without reducing demand. In-
donesia, on the other hand, has adopted
Packs of drugs smuggled from
Malaysia via sea to the coastal town
of Bagan Siapiapi, Indonesia.
important measures, like the anti-drug law
in 2009.
Indonesia remains an important drug mar-
ket despite the threat of a death sentence
for perpetrators.
In some countries death sentence is still
applicable. But we don’t have any data and
evidence saying that in countries where
death sentence is enforced, the situation is
better than in countries where that is not
the case. So it does not have serious im-
pact on the prevalence of drugs. That is
why UNODC advocates the abolition of the
death sentence or if it is not possible, to
limit the death sentence only to most seri-
ous crimes which involves taking the life of
another person.
Did you discuss it with the government?
We did not discuss it at length. But we
have our well-known position and I don’t
think there is much communication be-
tween us and the government of Indonesia
on this issue.
So, what are the best ways to fight drug
trafficking?
We need to reduce or stop both the sup-
ply and demand of drugs. To reduce sup-
ply, we need to intercept trafficking.To re-
duce demand, we need to take drug pre-
vention measures. To save lives we need to
bring (messages of the danger of drugs) to
families, schools and communities. Also,
the UNODC is about to launch a paper on
international standards on drug preven-
tion which may serve as a reference. Of
course it needs to be adopted at the nation-
al level but we believe it is a good idea to
have it, given our experience in developing
response prevention.
Our navy patrols are under-equipped so it
is difficult to intercept drug traffickers. Has
there been any discussion on how UNODC
and the Indonesian government can solve
this problem?
I’m afraid that with Indonesia’s geo-
graphical condition, even a very strong
navy would be unable to control it. That is
why it is important to intercept drug traf-
ficking at the source. We need to work
more to reduce the cultivation and produc-
tion of drugs in countries such as Myan-
mar, Afghanistan and Latin America.
More importantly, to have a closer region-
al cooperation. ASEAN objective by 2015 is
to be drug-free, so there should be a prece-
dence for it.
Wildlife crimes are also a UNODC priori-
ty. How do you see the Indonesian govern-
ment’s commitment in protecting the envi-
ronment?
In some cases there may be a lack of co-
ordination, but overall there is full under-
standing on the goals of protecting the cli-
mate, especially on the moratorium of log-
gings in primary forests.
Sometimes, conservation clashes with
people’s economic needs. What solution do
you propose?
That is beyond the UNODC competence.
But a balanced solution may be found
which could both help to preserve the en-
vironment and ensure job opportunities
for people.
What kind of balanced solution?
That’s the million-dollar question
(laughing)! ●
DECEMBER 23, 2012 | | 81
Sidelines
RUSHDIE
I
T was a bright Tuesday in London, February 14 to be exact,
Valentine’s Day, and Salman Rushdie answered a call from a
BBC journalist. “How does it feel, to know that you have just
been sentenced to death by Ayatullah Khomeini?”
“It doesn’t feel good,” he replied. But in his heart he knew, “I
am a dead man.” He put down the phone, closed the shutters and
locked the front door.
And from then, one year after his novel The Satanic Verses had
been published and condemned by Islamic leaders the world
over, Rushdie went into hiding for nine years—an experience he
has just written about in his memoir, Joseph Anton. Rushdie at-
tempts to recreate his memory of fear during that time, almost a
decade, when he had to move from house to house, knowing that
Khomeini’s fatwa—authorising his murder by any Moslem any-
where—could be carried out at any time. And during those nine
years, as a British citizen, he was guarded night
and day by special forces of the Metropolitan Po-
lice. Over the same time, he also had to assume an-
other identity. He chose the name ‘Joseph Anton’,
a combination of Joseph Conrad and Anton Chek-
hov, his two favourite writers. Rushdie became a
new ‘self’.
This is why, in the memoir, he uses not ‘I’ but
‘he’. As though he is talking about someone else.
For what is self, actually? It is not any permanent
‘I’, nor an ‘I’ that is transparent and fully formed.
He was no longer the ‘Salman’ that he was to his
friends, but ‘Rushdie’, the author of The Satanic
Verses. He even changed, as not the writer of the
novel with that title, but the writer of ‘satanic vers-
es’. He was considered the Devil’s secretary.
Some say that Joseph Anton shows he was not
merely a writer of fiction ‘who invented characters for a living
and had now turned himself into a sort of fictional character as
well.’ Rather, the opposite: Rushdie is typical of writers in that
he never invented his characters alone, even less invent himself.
Like Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha in his novel, Salman
and Rushdie are names bestowed by others. The character is also
the product of the interpretation of others—interpretation that
can change and differ.
Again, there is no completely transparent ‘I’. There was no (nor
is there is need for) ‘him’ as such. When people burned his pho-
tograph in demonstrations, it was increasingly unclear what and
who Salman Rushdie really were. There was only ‘an effigy, an
absence’.
As an effigy, as an absence, he could be projected in more than
one way. Joseph Anton is the story of someone who views himself
and his own flaws sharply, but also someone who puffs up the
ego. Probably because every life story, like every novel, does not
appear in a vacuum: there are always others watching, expected
82 | | DECEMBER 23, 2012
to applaud or be angry, because of their desires and traumas. Be-
cause of their histories.
Rushdie himself once talked of the strong role history plays in
our attitudes viewing the world (and literature). ‘We are all irradi-
ated by history, we are radioactive with history and politics’. We
live in a world ‘without quiet corners’, and there is no easy path to
escape from the ‘terrible, unquiet fuss’.
This is what happened in the story of The Satanic Verses. As a
novel more often talked about than read, it could not be free of
the ‘irradiation of history’. It entered the world ‘without quiet
corners’.
Rushdie’s self defence was that in his novel the bad image of the
Prophet Mohamad appears not within a factual description, but
rather in the fantasy of Gabriel Farishta, a schizophrenic. But all
the novelist could do was explain. Despite everything, his novel
reached corners unquiet and unliked, or unusu-
al, with blending and paradox between the ‘real’
and the ‘magic’ in magic realism—a narrative style
Rushdie also used brilliantly and amusingly in
Midnight’s Children.
One might doubt whether he really was un-
aware that his novel would be provocative. At the
very least, he surely knew a premise that has been
familiar in literary theory since the 1960s: in ev-
ery text, in every conversation, there is always
aporia or uncertainty of meaning. No novel can
offer one complete and pemanent purpose. ‘To
read’ is something infinitely more complex than
usually assumed. Within every process of reading
is always implicit the process of misreading.
By choosing the title The Satanic Verses, Rush-
die himself actually took on this issue of reading.
What happens in ‘reading’ and in the text that is read? When de-
termining a ‘good’ and a ‘satanic’ text, can we really say we are
not influenced by our interests or shaped by our practical consid-
erations in the world? Why do people not want to admit this? And
is it wrong when we are influenced by practical ‘worldly’ consid-
erations?
It seems that we are so intent on ‘correct’ interpretation that
we forget about ‘just’ interpretation…
I am reminded of Althusser. He said that the word ‘juste’ is an
adjective not from justice, but justesse. And within it is an attitude
of ‘adjustement’ or adjusting, putting interpretation as praxis in
the midst of the world that changes from one moment to the next,
contingent. So ‘just’ interpretation contains wisdom about what
happens in life.
ILLUSTRATION: EDI RM
This is why reading is not something done in a static situation.
We, the readers of novels, the interpreters of Holy Books, are al-
ways on the move, shifting, although not always in secret.
● Goenawan Mohamad