A week of big cultural events make way for a week of violence. No sooner had world-class musicians mesmerized the Jakartan audience at the Java Jazz festival, terrorists stole their attention. It is as if the week sorts out events by itself, one after the other.
We witnessed the smile on the face of National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri on Wednesday when he reported to Vice President Boediono that one of the top fugitive terrorists in the region had been killed in a raid a day earlier in Tangerang.
Dulmatin, a terrorist responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings, was one of three terrorists killed in the raid near Jakarta. His death put President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, making a trip to Canberra, in favorable light.
The question is who is killing whom. Terrorists would have smiled if policemen or civilians were killed. They would have gnashed their teeth in their hiding places to learn that Dulmatin had been killed. In the same line, Iraqi hardliners would consider Americans terrorists and vice versa.
A much-deserved smile was worn by Kathryn Bigelow when she became the first woman to win the Oscar for the top-directing honor in The Hurt Locker, an intimate Iraq war. Her film took six awards including best picture.
Although women have won more respectful places in Indonesian society, violence against females almost tripled last year with 140,000 cases as compared to 54,000 cases in 2008 according to the National Commission on Violence Aganst Women.
This is a grim reality check indeed. This does not necessarily mean that there had been more cases of violence against them, but more women have dared to speak up to voice their plights, according to commission head Yuniyanti Chuzaifah.
This is so despite the presence of a feminist in Asia 800 years ago according to a new book authored by American Jack Weatherford, who made the claim in The Secret History of the Mongols that Genghis Khan, the conqueror of Asia, was Asia’s first feminist.
The fight against terrorism and the visit of Yudhoyono to Australia topped the news this week. Could the killing be timed with Yudhoyono’s visit to Canberra and prior to the visit of President Barack Obama to Indonesia, knowing fully well that US and Australia are the two nations that are dead serious in fighting terrorism? If so, Indonesia will be regarded as a key security partner in the region in the fight against terrorism.
Key partner aside, Yudhoyono was conferred Tuesday the highest civilian honor, the Honorary Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia on his arrival in Canberra. The honor has made him only the fifth head of state to receive such an invitation in Australia’s history.
Emerging from their bilateral meeting, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Yudhoyono agreed to intensify cooperation in handling problems related to boat people and speed up the process of relocating asylum seekers.
Indonesia is also planning a law to criminalize people smuggling, with a conviction of up to five years in prison
However, in a crime some see as more dangerous than terrorism, Indonesia overtook Cambodia this week as the most corrupt country in Asia according to an annual survey by Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
This does not bore well with Indonesia’s efforts to boost foreign investment.
The Philippines, India, Thailand and Vietnam were seen as the most corrupt countries in the Asia-Pacific after Indonesia and Cambodia.
Australia, Hong Kong, the US and Japan were seen as the least corrupt countries following Singapore.
Indonesia was seen as the second-most corrupt country in the survey last year.
We don’t have to look far for proof of the country’s notoriety in this sector. The Corruption Court in Jakarta tried Monday a former lawmaker, one of 19 politicians from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), charged with receiving bribes.
The Rp 9.8 billion (US$1.1 million) bribes were re-ceived from a third party to back the election of Miranda Swaray Goeltom as Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor. The 19 politicians include some top-brass party leaders.
It is an irony for the party that had called for an investigation into alleged corruption surrounding the government’s decision to bail out Bank Century in 2008.
Legislators at the House of Representatives are mulling over this week to boycott future hearings with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati in the latest fallout from the inquiry into the Bank Century bailout.
In eastern Turkey, a strong earthquake struck on Monday with a preliminary magnitude of 6 killing 57 people and knocking down houses in at least six small villages.
The quake came only four days after a 6.4 strong quake devastated Taiwan and the eight in a string of quakes that had struck the earth since a 7.1 strong quake Solomon Islands on Jan. 3.
As the week was coming to a close, Forbes magazine picked up seven Indonesians to join the 2010 list of the world’s billionaires.
Michael Hartono and Budi Hartono of PT Djarum Indonesia shared the top position as the richest Indonesians on the list, each with a total wealth of $3.5 billion. They both ranked 258th in the world listing.
Claiming the top spot this year is Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim Helu and family who are worth $53.5 billion.
