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t was a bitter farewell for national badminton player Taufik Hidayat when he was forced to make an early exit at the Djarum Indonesia Open before the home crowd. Losing to Indian qualifier Sai Praneeth 15-21, 21-12, 21-17 in the first round of the tournament was not an expected finale to his career, which saw him win six Indonesia Open champion titles.

Winning the annual event in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006, Taufik had wished to leave his fans with a sweet memory. But his defeat was expected. Even if he had cleared the first hurdle, he would have met arch rival, world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the second round.

The Malaysian, a close friend of Taufik off the court, praised Indonesia'€™s former ace. '€œHe is one of the world'€™s best [badminton] players. He is the one who motivates me to train harder because he is my arch rival on the court, but off the court we are the best of friends,'€ Lee said.

Taufik, the 2004 Athens Olympics gold medalist, praised his supporters despite his disappointment with the defeat. '€œThanks for the support throughout my badminton career. This was my last game. It'€™s not a good ending. Don'€™t look at this [single] game [...] but look at all the other games.

'€œI do feel disappointed, but winning and losing is part of the game. Every athlete has experienced that. The hardest part of this is that I have to quit badminton,'€ said the 2005 world champion.

Indonesia should thank Taufik for his 15-year career. He began his contributions to the national squad at the tender age of 17. Despite his performance ups and downs and his emotional roller coaster '€” he was dubbed a bad boy for his somewhat rebellious attitude '€” all world-class players recognize his talents and skills.

Now that the 2002 and 2006 Asian Games winner has hung up his racket, Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) chairman Gita Wirjawan and his aides must find new talents to fill the spot Taufik has left vacant. Indeed, Indonesia still has Simon Santoso, Tommy Sugiarto and Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka in the men'€™s singles category, but they have yet to near Taufik'€™s outstanding achievements.

PBSI can rebuild Indonesia as one of the badminton powerhouses. With a good recruitment process and proper development program, the association can groom and develop new shuttlers who can restore the era when Indonesia'€™s '€œmagnificent seven'€ ruled the roost back in the 1970s and 1990s.

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There have been no signs of farewell from the ruling coalition for the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) despite its opposition to the government'€™s decision to raise subsidized fuel prices.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s Democratic Party has expected the PKS to quit the coalition, but the Islamic-based party has been playing the '€œ I-am-the-victim'€ card to woo support from the public by challenging the unpopular fuel policy.

Democratic Party secretary-general Andi Nurpati said on Thursday that it would be '€œmore honorable for the PKS to leave the coalition. The party should be more decisive and if they are firm about it, they should withdraw now'€.

Outspoken PKS deputy secretary-general Fahri Hamzah said a day earlier that the State Palace had shown the party the door. However, the party leadership said that PKS could leave the coalition but it wanted Yudhoyono to retain its three ministers within the Cabinet, namely Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring, Agriculture Minister Suswono and Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri.

Executive chairman of the Democratic Party ,Syarief Hasan, said the Coalition was deeply disappointed with the PKS'€™ move to reject the planned fuel price hike.

All Coalition members had agreed in April 2012 that Yudhoyono should '€œdiscipline'€ the PKS after his 2011 '€œpunishment'€ '€” reducing the number of PKS ministers from four to three '€” failed to deter the party from rebelling against the coalition.

Since the PKS has come in the spotlight following its executives'€™ involvement in the beef import scandal, the party'€™s popularity has been plunging. And the '€œno-to-fuel-price-hike'€ campaign is expected to jack up its popularity.

PKS faction leader at the House of Representatives, Hidayat Nur Wahid, said the President had the prerogative to dismiss the party'€™s Cabinet ministers. '€œThat'€™s why we are leaving it to the President to exercise his prerogative [regarding the three ministers].'€

And although the party has been visibly absent from recent Cabinet and coalition meetings, Yudhoyono is back to his indecisive mode, saying he is aware of '€œresistance from the public and political parties regarding the fuel plan'€.

The government plans to raise the price of subsidized fuel from Rp 4,500 (45 US cents) to Rp 6,500 per liter and diesel fuel from Rp 4,500 to Rp 5,000 per liter.

With global oil prices reaching US$100 per barrel, the government needs to take austere action to cut the ballooning subsidy, which does not reach the poor. In exchange, the poor will get direct aid to safeguard them from the impacts of the prices hikes.

In such a crisis like this, the public wants Yudhoyono to make up his mind. The prolonged debate on whether the PKS should stay or leave the ruling coalition will only exacerbate the public'€™s skepticism about the government'€™s policies.

'€” Primastuti Handayani