Higher wages in store for foreign caregivers in Taiwan

Want China Times, CNA 2015-08-30

Foreign caregivers at a park in Taipei, March 30. (Photo/Fang Chun-che)

Foreign caregivers planning to work in Taiwan will receive a monthly wage of NT$17,000 (US$525) beginning on Sept. 1, the country's labor minister Chen Hsiung-wen announced on Friday.

That represents an increase of NT$1,160 (US$35), or 7.32%, from the current monthly wage of NT$15,840 (US$490), which has been the fixed rate for the past 18 years.

In contrast to the minimum monthly wage of NT$20,008 (US$617.34) for workers in Taiwan, which has increased 26% during the period, Chen said the 7.32% raise was reasonable.

Foreign nationals working as domestic caregivers in Taiwan are not covered under Taiwan's Labor Standards Act and therefore not entitled to the statutory minimum wage.

The higher monthly wage will only be applied, however, to new applicants from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, and not to those already working in Taiwan.

With the monthly pay for migrant domestic helpers in Hong Kong and Macau at NT$16,530 (US$510), Taiwan hopes that the wage increase can attract quality domestic helpers to work in the country, Chen said, after a meeting with officials from the four Southeast Asian countries earlier in the day.

Indonesia and the Philippines, the two countries that provide the most migrant domestic helpers in Taiwan, have pressed Taiwan for months to increase the wages for their workers to NT$17,500 (US$540) per month, and have been holding back new workers from employers unwilling to pay that amount.

It was not immediately clear if the new wage settled the differences between Taiwan and the two countries.

But Agusdin Subiantoro, deputy director of Indonesia's National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, told CNA on Thursday that Indonesia and Taiwan had reached the agreement to increase migrant caregivers' pay to NT$17,000 (US$525) after rounds of negotiations.

Groups of manpower brokers called for the ministry on Friday afternoon to require incoming migrant workers to have HIV/AIDS testing and pregnancy tests done.

But the Labor Ministry said that considering international human rights conventions and workplace gender equality, those tests should not be requirements for those workers.

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Pension fund in China not for stock market bail-out: official

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-08-29

People walking past a pension fund management center in Fuzhou, Fujian
province, June 30. (File photo/CNS)

Allowing China's pension fund to invest in the stock market was not intended as a bail out, but to create long-term and stable returns, said the vice minister of human resources and social security on Friday.

The change will eventually have a positive effect on China's real economy and support a healthy capital market, but the core purpose is to gain long-term and stable yields for the fund, vice minister You Jun said at a press conference.

The fund's management must prioritize safety, and the timing of the fund's entry into the stock market will be decided by the market, You added.

The State Council finalized guidelines on Sunday allowing the pension fund to invest in new products, including the domestic stock market.

The guidelines allow the fund to invest in more than 20 financial products, including high-risk stocks and equities, as well as low-risk bank deposits and bonds, which diversify the investment risk, You said.

To minimize risks, the guideline restricts the maximum proportion of investment in stocks and equities to 30% of total net assets.

The fund will also participate in major projects and purchase shares in state-owned enterprises to gain long-term yields, he added.

Around 2 trillion yuan (US$330 billion) of the funds total assets can be invested, You said, adding that the amount will increase as the fund grows.

China's pension fund, which accounts for roughly 90% of the country's total social security fund pool, had net assets of 3.5 trillion yuan (US$547 billion) at the end of 2014.

The pension fund was previously parked in banks or invested in treasury bonds with low yields, provoking calls for change as China faces the challenge of caring for its growing elderly population.

The new policy came as China's stock markets continue to decline, beset by shrinking turnover and greater volatility. The key Shanghai index plunged more than 30% from its June peak, wiping out most of this year's gains.

"Market-oriented operation of the pension fund requires more market supervision by authorities," said You.

The National Council for Social Security Fund (SSF), a social security strategic reserve for China's future aging population, played an exemplary role in increasing the fund's investment returns. The SSF has had an average yearly return of 8.5% over the past 14 years as of 2014 and outpaces the consumer price index growth.

The SSF has a bigger investment scope than the pension fund and is allowed to invest in domestic and overseas stocks as well as fixed income assets.

In China, private urban employees pay for their pension before retirement and usually get a pension equal to about half of their final salary.

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Humble Pie for Home Minister After Controversial Bid to Gag Foreign Pressi

Jakarta Globe, 27 Aug 2015

Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, left, has apologized to President 

Joko Widodo for a brazen attempt to curtail press freedoms. (Antara 

Photo/Andika Wahyu)

Jakarta. Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo has apologized for and withdrawn a regulation aimed at increasing government control over foreign journalists operating in Indonesia, following a public outcry over the move.

“I’ve apologized to the president by telephone and immediately rescinded the internal regulation that was sent to regional governments which could have led to misunderstandings,” Tjahjo, from President Joko Widodo’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said late on Thursday.

“I as the minister am at fault … I was wrong,” he added. “I’ve also explained this openly to the foreign minister and to the press.”

The regulation in question, a circular sent out to regional administrations nationwide, demanded that foreign journalists and their local crew have permits issued by the Foreign Affairs and the Home Affairs Ministries. It also obliged foreign journalists to report their activities and acquire permits from all relevant levels of government, from the municipal or district level to the provincial level.

“The letter clearly implies disobedience of a president who is open to foreign coverage, as well as suspicion of the press and civilians,” Poengky Indarti, executive director of the rights group Imparsial, said on Thursday. “It will also lead to less investment and tourism income.

“Imparsial urges the Home Affairs Ministry to revoke the circular as it goes against President Joko Widodo’s position of welcoming foreign journalists covering Papua and other regions in the country,” she added.

Joko announced last May a lifting of restrictions on foreign  journalists reporting from Papua, saying he wanted to end the misinformation about the restive province by granting full access to outside media.

The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club also took issue with Tjajho’s circular, saying in a statement that the “continuation and expansion of restrictive state policies on visiting journalists is a sad reminder of the authoritarian Suharto regime, and a stain on Indonesia’s transition to democracy and claims by its government that it supports a free press and human rights.”

The JFCC statement added that it found the new requirements “particularly troubling given that the Indonesian government already takes weeks if not months to issue approvals for foreign journalists and film crews to visit Indonesia to work – if at all.”

Raising the issue of "whether the Ministry of Home Affairs understands or heeds orders from the Presidential Palace,” the JFCC also called on the US government to make freedom of the press “a primary topic of conversation” during the planned state visit of Joko to the US, at the invitation of President Barack Obama.

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Dutch staffing agency Brunel pulls out of Nigeria because of corruption

Dutch staffing agency Brunel pulls out of Nigeria because of corruption

DutchNews, August 26, 2015

Dutch stock exchange-listed staffing agency Brunel is pulling out of Nigeria because of the ‘continuing feeling of corruption and bribery’, chief executive Jan Arie van Barneveld says in Wednesday’s Financieele Dagblad.

‘The security risk and bureaucracy make it almost impossible to guarantee the quality of our services and the safety of our workers in Nigeria in the future,’ Van Barneveld is quoted as saying.

‘If it is actually impossible to do business without breaking the rules and putting our staff in physical danger, then I’ve had it,’ he said. ‘Even if we will notice the difference in our books.’ 

Brunel, which operates in almost 40 countries, has generated revenues of some €100m in Nigeria alone in the past few years, the FD says. The company is still owed several million euros by Nigerian clients and is not taking on any new customers.

Van Barneveld declined to go into specific details because of the legal implications but said: ‘We do business there with big oil and gas companies which are run by local bigwigs. They simply tell our staff that the bill won’t be paid unless a certain person is “facilitated” first. To be clear, that means to be paid.’ 

New president 

Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa but has been plagued by corruption and ranks 136th out of 175 countries on the Transparency International list of corrupt countries. 

However, newly elected president Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to make tackling corruption a top priority, the paper points out. 

Aldo Verbruggen, a former Dutch public prosecutor and now criminal investigator at Amsterdam law firm Jones Day, told the FD he expects pull-outs to become a trend.

 ‘In the coming years we will see more companies pulling out of countries because of corruption and being honest about it,’ he said. ‘Large companies are increasingly using risk models to assess the likely impact of corruption on their operations,’ he said.

Indonesia Wants to Use Yuan for Trades in Asean

Jakarta Globe, 2 August 2015

Jakarta. Indonesia is proposing the use of China's yuan for trade and investment purposes in Asean‎ countries in a bid to counter further impacts from the stronger US dollar against currencies in the region, a minister said on Tuesday.

The 10 members of the Asean region, including Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, mostly use US dollars for international trade. But a strengthening greenback has made imports and servicing debt more expensive, pushing some to consider turning to the yuan.

"We want to push [the use of the yuan] when Indonesia trades with China in particular," Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said at the House of Representatives. "Bank Indonesia is preparing the mechanism so it will be attractive for traders."

Trade Minister Thomas Lembong also brought up the issue on Monday after a meeting with the president.

He said Indonesia should push harder for broader use of the Chinese currency in the region because Asean economies were "much more in tune" with China.

The rupiah traded at an average of 14,700 per US dollar on Monday morning, its weakest point since 1998, according to the counter price at state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia. It has lost about 13 percent of its value against the dollar this year.

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"The U in Kundalini"- Oct 18, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Kundalini, Unification, EU, Nobel Peace Prize 2012, Middle East, South America, Only 5 Currencies on Earth, Old Souls, Duality will dismiss, 3D Humanity will melt with Multi dimensional higher self, Global Unity… etc.)

Red Tape Encumbers Families of Indonesian Migrant Workers: CIPS Study

Jakarta Globe, 21 Aug 2015

Indonesian migrant workers sent some $8 billion in remittance to their families

 in the first half of last year, according to the Center for Indonesian Policy 

Studies. (Antara Photo/Hafidz Mubarak)

Jakarta. A study by an Indonesian non-profit policy center is urging the government to simplify the procedure for Indonesian migrant workers to go abroad after it was discovered that massive red tape only lead to troubles for the workers and potential income loss for their villages.

The Center for Indonesian Policy Studies [CIPS] revealed a study on Thursday titled "Reducing Financial Burdens of Indonesian Migrant Workers," written by CIPS board member Arianto A. Patunru and Rofi Uddarojat, policy researcher.

The study found that 400,000 Indonesians had left their villages in 2014 to work abroad.

That same year, migrant workers (TKI) sent some $8 billion in funds to their respective families and to aid the development of their villages. The cash was used for education, housing, consumption and starting small businesses, the study found.

The amount is significantly higher than Indonesia's foreign direct investment (FDI) and overseas development assistance (ODA).

According to data from Indonesia's central bank, remittances from migrant workers grew 15.5 percent to $3.12 billion in this year's January-April period, compared to $2.63 billion in the same period last year.

The funds came from 1.5 million migrant workers in the formal sector and 2.2 million workers in the non formal sector.

World Bank estimated that remittances sent by migrant workers reduced Indonesia's poverty race to 26.7 percent through 2000 to 2007. However, the regulations set by the government  ̶  initially meant to protect the workers  ̶  have negative consequences and implementations.

"Government procedures for the recruitment and protection of migrant workers could take up to four months. The lengthy duration causes substantial income losses," the study said.

Rofi said that the government needs to recognize the financial contributions of migrant workers to equitable economic growth and village prosperity.

"Their remittances provide opportunities for the education of children and the development of local businesses," he said in a statement.

According to Rofi, complex and lengthy bureaucratic procedures place an excessive burden on poor and unskilled workers.

"The [procedures] also make them vulnerable to the exploitative practices of recruitment brokers and agents," he said.

The study revealed that the procedures include hefty charges of up to $600, indirectly borne by the workers themselves.

According to the study, bureaucratic obstacles do not protect migrant workers. In fact, from 2011 to 2013, only 0.5 percent of Indonesian migrant workers reported physical violence or sexual abuse abroad. Therefore, the government's unnecessary procedures would only create challenges for these workers.

The study urged the government to cancel the moratorium on sending workers to 21 countries in the Middle East which was issued in May.

"This policy will lead to annual losses of $3 billion in income for rural areas and it will encourage illegal migration," the study revealed.

CIPS' study also called on the state to drop the requirement of submitting a permission letter by heads of the migrants' households as all the migrants are adults and there has been no proof to support that these letters help reduce human trafficking.

CIPS has also asked state-run health care centers [Puskesmas] to conduct health checks for migrant workers to simplify the mandatory procedure.

The study also urged the government to cut mandatory training for the workers to four weeks.

GlobeAsia

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President Joko Widodo leads the “E-Blusukan” with Indonesian
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Joko to Scrap Indonesian Language Requirement for Foreign Workers

Jakarta Globe, 21 Aug 2015

A 2013 manpower ministry regulation requires foreign workers 'to be able to

 communicate in Indonesian,' but stops short of defining the level of proficiency

 the worker need to achieve in order to secure a working permit. (Antara Photo/

Dhoni Setiawan)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo will drop a regulation that would require foreign workers to take an Indonesian language proficiency test, as part of his effort to brush up the country’s investment appeal.

The president has instructed his aides to eliminate all regulatory barriers in the central and regional administration that could hampers investment, cabinet secretary Pramono Anung said on Friday.

“It was asked specifically by the president to drop the Indonesian language proficiency requirement for foreign workers... to ensure the flow of investment,” he said.

Under a 2009 law on national language, the flag and national symbols, all locally-based businesses are required to use Indonesian as their main language of communication. The law also requires foreigners working in the country to take Indonesian language lessons.

A 2013 manpower ministry regulation requires foreign workers “to be able to communicate in Indonesian," but stops short of defining the level of proficiency they would need to achieve in order to secure working permit.

Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri had proposed in January to require all foreign workers to pass a standardized test for Indonesian language in order protect domestics jobs from a potential inflow of workers from neighboring countries as the Association of Southeast Asian Nation's Economic Community becomes effective next year.

The proposal met strong opposition from foreign and local investors alike, who were quick to point out that the severe lack of Indonesian study centers for foreigners would hamper their search for highly skilled workers, who they say are crucial for their businesses.

Indonesia attracted $6.8 billion of foreign direct investment outside the banking and petroleum sectors in the first half of 2015, a 18 percent rise from the same period last year, data from the Investment Coordinating Agency showed.

Investor Daily

Former Democrat Politician Sutan Bhatoegana Gets 10 Years in Oil Graft Case

Jakarta Globe, Erwin Sihombing,Aug 19, 2015

Sutan Bhatoegana at a hearing in his trial on Aug. 10. The former Democratic
 Party legislator was on Wednesday sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined
Rp 500 million ($36,000) for his role in rigging oil purchase contracts.
 (Antara Photo/Reno Esnir)

Jakarta. The Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court on Wednesday sentenced former Democratic Party legislator Sutan Bhatoegana to 10 years in prison for taking bribes in exchange for steering lucrative oil and gas contracts to private operators.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Artha Teresia also ordered Sutan to pay Rp 500 million ($36,000) in fines or serve an additional one year behind bars for failure to pay.

The ruling, though stiff by the court’s standards, was slightly less than the 11 years sought by prosecutors from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Sutan was charged in the case by the KPK in May last year, but only taken into custody in February this year.

He was charged with soliciting Rp 200 million in bribes from Rudi Rubiandini, the former head of oil and gas regulator SKKMigas, two years ago when the politician chaired the House of Representatives’ oversight commission for energy. The money was his cut of bribes paid by oil traders for purchasing contracts from SKKMigas.

Rudi was in April last year convicted over his role in the scandal and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Sutan told the court on Wednesday that he would appeal against his conviction.

“Seventy percent of the verdict is the same as the indictment. Of course we have to challenge it,” he said, failing to explain his reasoning.

He previously attempted to have the charges dismissed against him by filing a pretrial motion before his case went to court, but this was thrown out in April by the South Jakarta District Court.

New Economics, Trade Chiefs as Jokowi Reshuffles Cabinet

Jakarta Globe, Aug 12, 2015

The six ministers inaugurated on Wednesday. From left to right: Thomas Lembong,
Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Darmin Nasution, Rizal Ramli, Pramono Anung and
Sofyan Djalil. (Reuters Photo/Darren Whiteside)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has dropped five ministers and reassigned one, in a brief but long-awaited cabinet reshuffle aimed at addressing the administration’s widely panned performance on the economic front.

Sofyan Djalil, the coordinating minister for economic affairs, has been replaced by former Bank Indonesia governor Darmin Nasution, while Indroyono Soesilo, the coordinating minister for maritime affairs, has been dropped in favor of Rizal Ramli, who served as chief economics minister under the presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid, in the years 2000-01.

Sofyan replaces Andrinof Chaniago as minister for national development planning.

The key post of cabinet secretary, essentially the president’s closest adviser, goes to Pramono Anung, a politician from Joko’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which has been openly hostile to the previous cabinet secretary, Andi Widjojanto, who was widely seen as shielding the president from the influence of PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Also out of the cabinet is Rachmat Gobel, who as trade minister mired himself in controversy after controversy, including barring imports of used clothing because he claimed they could spread HIV.

Most recently, his decision to slash cattle imports led to beef prices surging, forcing the government to backtrack and increase imports.

The new trade minister is Thomas Lembong, a former investment banker and chief executive of Singapore-based Quvat capital, which manages $500 million in investments, mostly in Indonesia.

Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno has been replaced as coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs by Luhut Pandjaitan, the president’s chief of staff. Tedjo was always widely seen as a political appointee, given the post as a concession by Joko to Tedjo’s National Democrat Party (NasDem).

Present at the ceremony on Wednesday were Megawati, House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto and NasDem chairman Surya Paloh.

Puan Maharani, Megawati’s daughter, was the only coordinating minister not replaced on Wednesday. Puan remains the country’s chief welfare minister.

M. Romahurmuziy, chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), which is part of the coalition backing Joko, said at the palace that the reshuffle was done only to be able to meet economic challenges.

“This is purely about the economic trouble,” Romahurmuziy said. “We know exactly that global economic challenges have an impact on the rupiah. Because of that, our performance in the economic sector needs to be taken to another level after the reshuffle.”

Lucius Karus, a researcher from the group Concerned Citizens for the Indonesian Legislature (Formappi), said the decision to reshuffle the cabinet looks to have been made after careful consideration.

“Jokowi didn’t want to make a decision purely to respond to public desires without his own evaluations and thorough study,” Lucius said.  “With reliable ministers, Jokowi’s vision and mission to implement change can be realized.”

Another observer, Arie Sujito from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, said everybody should support the president’s move, as it comes at the right time.

“Minister have to be able to quickly take some concrete steps,” the political expert said, adding that the president should ignore whoever may feel that they didn’t get what they wanted out of the reshuffle.

.@jokowi drops five ministers & reassigned one, in a brief but long-awaited #ReshuffleKabinet http://t.co/fjw9DO5NaK pic.twitter.com/NLIkd43kme

— The Jakarta Globe (@thejakartaglobe) 12 augustus 2015

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Suharto Family Ordered to Pay Back $324m in Embezzled Funds

Jakarta Globe, Aug 11, 2015

Siti Hediati Hariyadi, popularly known as Titiek Suharto, is the late
Indonesian president's fourth child. (AFP Photo/Rahmat Pribadi)

Jakarta. The Supreme Court has ordered the family of former president Suharto to pay back to the state Rp. 4.4 trillion ($324 million) in funds misappropriated during the late strongman’s lengthy reign.

The court ruled in favor of the prosecution in a civil case against the now-defunct Supersemar Foundation, controlled by the Suharto family. The ruling, made on July 8 but not announced on the court’s website until Monday, revised an earlier ruling in 2010 which ordered the family to pay just a tiny fraction of the losses to the state.

The court repealed a 1976 government regulation issued by the former president ordering all state-owned banks to set aside 2.5 percent of their profits for the foundation. The court ruled that the funds accumulated since the foundation was established — a total sum of $420 million and Rp 185 billion — were largely embezzled and never used for their stated purpose: education.

The court has now ordered the foundation to pay 75 percent of the funds it had amassed over the years, while the 2010 ruling had ordered the Suharto family to pay $315,000 and Rp 185 million — a small sum for the once-powerful family — instead of the $315 million and Rp 185 billion the Attorney General’s Office had sought. The court claimed this was due to a typo.

The AGO only filed for a case review in 2013, around the same time the Suharto family filed a separate motion looking to reverse the order.

The court “granted the case review filed by the state [the AGO] and rejected the case review filed by the Supersemar Foundation,” the latest ruling states.

Hearing the case were Supreme Court judges Suwardi, Soltony Mohdally and Mahdi Soroinda Nasution.

Attorney General M. Prasetyo said on Monday that his office would follow up on the ruling.

“I haven’t read the ruling. I will read it first and then we will know what to do next,” he said, as quoted by Gatra magazine.

China Says Its High-Speed Railway Package for Indonesia Is ‘More Competitive’ Than Japan’s

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite & Novy Lumanauw, Aug 10, 2015

A high-speed train passes through Shenyang in northeast China in this March 2013
 file photo. China has offered to get Indonesia’s first high-speed rail service up and
running by 2018 if picked over a rival bid by Japan. (EPA Photo)

Jakarta. China says it is offering more “competitive” benefits for the construction of Indonesia’s first high-speed railway – compared to a rival Japanese offer – as the country completes a feasibility study on the project.

Xu Shaoshi, the chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, was in Jakarta on Monday to hand over the results of the study to President Joko Widodo.

“The financial plan that we’re offering is very competitive,” Xu told reporters at the State Palace in Jakarta after his meeting with Joko.

Xu did not disclose China’s final estimated cost for the construction of the railway line, which will connect Jakarta to Bandung.

Earlier reports put China’s offer at a cost of $4 billion, with a lending period of 25 years and an annual interest rate of 2 percent.

Japan, which is competing head-on with China for the same project, has submitted a lower offer. In a meeting with Indonesian Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel in Tokyo last week, Japanese officials said that under their proposal, the project would cost a total of Rp 45 trillion ($3.3 billion).

The Japanese government is also offering a soft loan to cover 75 percent of the funding, with interest of as little as 0.1 percent and a repayment period of 40 years. Under the terms of the soft loan, the Indonesian government will only have to start repaying the debt 11 years after the project has started operation.

Xu said on Monday that China was proposing a joint venture with the Indonesian government, in which Indonesia will hold a 60 percent stake in the project and China the remainder.

Addressing concerns about the safety of a Chinese-built high-speed train, Xu promised that China would do its best work in the construction and management of the project.

He also noted that the majority of high-speed train networks in the world were built by China.

Both China and Japan lay claim to having the most developed high-speed train networks in the world.

Japan, which rolled out its first Shinkasen bullet train in 1964, has a decades-long head start on its regional rival. But, China, which launched its first high-speed train service in 2007, now claims more than half of the world’s 23,000 kilometers of high-speed railway tracks.

“Our high-speed train technology is quite developed,” Xu said.

He added that China projected the opening of 40,000 new jobs with the development of the Jakarta-Bandung line, with economic activity in the areas lying along the proposed line expected to get a boost from new hotels, apartment blocks and residential estates.

Xu said China would help Indonesia form its own expert team to support the construction, management and maintenance of the line.

China is also offering to build a factory in Indonesia that will produce train components – the same offer made by Japan last week.

China is also offering Indonesia a partnership to jointly develop high-speed train projects elsewhere in Asia.

Under the Chinese proposal, there will be eight railway stations along the  150-kilometer Jakarta-Bandung tracks, with each train capable of speeds of 350 kilometers per hour – cutting travel time to as little as 26 minutes.

The Japanese proposal calls for a longer line, at 180 kilometers, and trains with a top speed of 300 kilometers per hour, for a commute of as little as 36 minutes.

China claims its project can be completed by 2018 if it is permitted to start as early as next month.

Japan, meanwhile, has offered to kick off construction early next year. After that, Indonesia’s first bullet train is forecast to have a test run in 2019, with full operation only expected in 2021.

Independent consultant

Sofyan Djalil, Indonesia’s chief economics minister, who was present at the meeting between Xu and Joko, said the government would this week appoint an independent consultant to help it decide which offer to take.

He said 11 consultancies had applied for the job, but the government was planning to hire only one.

“Let’s see which one is more competitive,” Sofyan said, adding that the chosen candidate would be given two to three weeks to study both the Japanese and the Chinese proposals.

In the mean time, the government will study the results of the Chinese feasibility study.

“The Indonesian government has received the results of the feasibility study by the Chinese and will study it and will make a decision as soon as possible,” Sofyan said.

Indonesia aiming to outlaw insulting the president

Indonesia's government is seeking to make insulting the nation's president illegal. While proponents say such a law is required to protect the presidency from slander, opponents fear it could be used to silence critics.

Deutshe Welle, 7 August 2015

The government put forward the proposal as part of its efforts to modify the country's criminal code. The clause stipulates criminal charges and prison terms for defaming the country's president or vice president. However, the government says the proposal only covers cases of slander or "personal insults," and does not apply when criticizing its decisions or policies.

Indonesia had a similar law in place during the 32-year long dictatorship of Suharto, when it was used as an instrument to muzzle the opposition.

But in 2006, the country's Constitutional Court scrapped the provision, deeming it incompatible with the essence of democracy. But despite the court's verdict, experts say, the provision enjoys significant political support across party lines.

The proposition to revive the controversial law was first tabled in 2012 under former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. But since it failed to become law during his term in office due to parliamentary opposition, it was passed on to the next government.

The country's current president, Joko Widodo - commonly known as "Jokowi" - also believes such a law is necessary.

The proposition to revive the controversial
 law was first tabled in 2012 under former
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

"I am personally fine with people insulting me. I deal with them every day. But we have to think about the long term: protecting the presidency as a symbol of the state, not just me personally," Jokowi was quoted by The Jakarta Globe as saying.

A 'terrible' setback?

Nevertheless, he assured that the prosivion would not be used to either obstruct free speech or silence government critics.

Jokowi also noted that he would leave it to the country's parliamentarians to decide on whether to pass the defamation clause, saying that "after all, they are the voice of the people," according to local media reports. The parliament is set to debate the law this August.

But the move has already triggered criticism and sparked fears the provision might be misused to abuse power. Zachary Abuza, an independent researcher on Southeast Asia, told DW that "if lawmakers were to pass a revised law that could withstand constitutional muster, it would be a terrible setback for both freedom of expression and democracy."

In this context, the analyst pointed out that it was the repeal of a similar provision in 2006 that helped Indonesia move up in press freedom rankings. The progress achieved so far on that front would be imperiled, should the provision become law, said Abuza.

What constitutes an insult?

Yohanes Sulaiman, a political analyst and lecturer at the Indonesian Defense University, believes the biggest problem with this provision lies in clearly defining what constitutes an insult.

"There are some people who are so thin-skinned that they view any mild criticism as a declaration of war. How do you know if the person is saying that in bad faith?"

The expert told DW that even if Jokowi didn't use this law against his critics - as he promised to do - there would be no guarantee that his successors would do the same.

Analyst Abuza explained in this regard that there is only a fine line between criticism of government policies and what the government views as slander.

"While the government might say that legitimate criticism of a policy would not be prosecuted, what about questioning the president's motivations for pushing for a certain policy or suggesting that the president has ulterior motivations for doing something that is not in the public good? They could be prosecuted," the expert said, adding that there is no way that the government can be trusted not to abuse such a law.

Parliament vs Constitutional Court?

Although the proposal had to be shelved in 2012, it now enjoys significant political backing from both the ruling and opposition coalitions, observers say.

However, analyst Sulaiman indicated that Indonesia's Constitutional Court is also looking askance at the proposal. "So even if the government managed to pass it into law, the court seems to be in the position to strike it down yet again."

Kim Jong Un Hailed as Global Statesman by Sukarno Center

Jakarta Globe, Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jul 30, 2015

Kim Jong Un has somehow joined the likes of Aung San Suu Kyi and Mahatma
 Gandhi as a global statesman, at least in the bizarre logic employed by
 Indonesia's Sukarno Center in awarding awarding him its annual prize for
world peace and development. (Reuters Photo/KCNA handout)

Jakarta. The Bali-based Sukarno Center will this year award its annual prize for global statesmanship to Kim Jong Un of North Korea, hailing him as a champion in the fight against neocolonialism and imperialism.

Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, a daughter of Indonesia’s founding president, after whom the award is named, made the announcement on Thursday following a meeting with Ri Jong Ryul, Pyongyang’s ambassador to Jakarta.

“We will give the award to President [sic] Kim Jong Un because he has been consistent in carrying out the ideals of the great leader, Kim Il Sung, which is to fight imperialism,” Rachmawati said.

The Sukarno Prize, traditionally handed out in recognition of contributions to world peace and development, has previously been awarded to luminaries such as Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar and India’s Mahatma Gandhi.

It is unclear how Kim Jong Un, whose saber-rattling and bellicose policies have exacerbated already strained and frosty ties with South Korea, Japan and the United States, has contributed in any way to world peace or compares even remotely with the above democracy icons.

Rachmawati noted that the Sukarno Center had previously presented the award to Kim Il Sung, whom she called a hero of independence and peace.

“So this will be a sequel, where we give the award to Kim Jong Un for his persistence in fighting neocolonialism,” she said.

Rachmawati has been appointed the honorary Asia-Pacific chairwoman of Pyongyang’s Korean reunification preparation committee – a body not recognized beyond the borders of the hermit kingdom.

North Korean people raise their fists during an anti-US rally at Kim Il-Sung

stadium in Pyongyang on June 25, 2015 (AFP Photo)

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"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa, Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)

“…  I want you to watch some countries. I don't have a clock [this statement is Kryon telling us that there is no time frame on his side of the veil, only potentials]. I'll just tell you, it's imminent [in Spirit's timing, this could mean as soon as a decade]. I want you to watch some countries carefully for changes. You're going to be seeing changes that are obvious, and some that are not obvious [covert or assumptive]. But the obvious ones you will see sooner than not - Cuba, Korea [North], Iran, of course, and Venezuela. I want you to watch what happens when they start to realize that they don't have any more allies on Earth! Even their brothers who used to support them in their hatred of some are saying, "Well, perhaps not anymore. It doesn't seem to be supporting us anymore." Watch the synchronicities that are occurring. The leaders who have either died or are going to in the next year or so will take with them the old ways. Watch what happens to those who take their place, and remember these meetings where I described these potentials to you. …"

THE OLD SOUL 2013 TOOLKIT" – Jan 13, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll)  (Text version)

"... The Change in the Way Things Work

Now I'm going to be very cautious with number five, and I'm going to change a paradigm of the way we channel. For 23 years, we have given you information in the soup of potentials that we read around you as the highest probable potential that exists. These things eventually become your reality because they are your free choice, and we know what you're thinking. We know what the potentials are because we know what the biases are, and we see all of humanity as a whole. Potentials are energy, and it gives us the ability to project your future based on how you are working these potentials. We have done this for a long time. Twenty-three years ago, we told you about many things that were potentially going to happen, and now they are your reality.

But now I'm going to depart from that scenario and I'm going to give you a potential on Earth that is not the strongest. I am going to tell you about a Human Being who has a choice. This potential is only about 50 percent. But I'm going to "read a potential" to you that you didn't expect. It's about a paradigm that is starting to shift.

Let's talk about North Korea. There's a young, new leader there. The potential is that he will never, ever hear this channel, so I can talk freely about him. He is facing a dilemma, for he is young and he knows about the differences in the energy in his land. He feels it. The lineage of his departed father lies upon him and all that is around him expects him to be a clone of this lineage. He is expected to continue the things that he has been taught and make North Korea great.

But he's starting to rethink them. Indeed, he wants to be a great leader, and to be heard and seen, and to make his mark on North Korea's history. His father showed him that this was very important. So he ponders a question: What makes a world leader great?

Let's ask that question to someone in an older earth paradigm from not that long ago. He will be an expert and a successful one. So this is a valid exercise, asking someone from the past who knows. We will ask that question to a man who you know and whose name is Napoleon. For us, this was yesterday and some of you were there. 

If you asked Napoleon, "What makes a world leader great?", he will say, "the size of the army, how much area can be efficiently conquered with a given amount of resources and men, how important the leader appears will then be based upon how many citizens call him emperor or king, the taxes he can impose, and how many fear him." Not only was that Napoleon's reality, but he was right for the energy he was part of at the time. So Napoleon went back and forth between world leader, general and prisoner. He accomplished almost everything he set out to do. His expertise was obvious, and you remember his name to this day. He was famous.

What makes a world leader great? What I am showing you is the difference in thinking between then and now. There are some choices that this evolving young Human Being has that could change everything on the planet if he wanted. His father would tell this boy that what makes a world leader great is the potential of his missile power, or how close he can get to having a nuclear weapon, or how he stands up against the power of the West, or how he continues to aggravate and stir drama as a small country - getting noticed and being feared. His father would tell him that this is his lineage and that is what he's been told all his life. His father did it well and surrounded himself with advisors who he then passed on to his son.

Now, there's a 50 percent chance of something happening here, but this is not a strong potential, dear ones. I'm bringing this forward so you can watch it work one way or the other. For if the son continues in his father's footsteps, he is doomed to failure. The energy on the earth will see it as old and he will be seen as a fool. If, however, he figures it out, he could be the most famous man on the planet... which is really what his father wanted.

If Kryon were to advise this man, here's what I would tell him. He could be the greatest known leader the current world has ever known, for what he does now will be something the world will see as a demarcation point from the old ways. Not only that, but what he does now will be in the history books forever, and because of his youth, he has the potential to outlive every other leader on the planet! So he's going to have longer fame than anyone ever has.

I would tell him this: Tell the border guards to go home. Greet the south and begin to unify North and South Korea in a way that no past prophet ever said could happen. Allow the two countries to be separate, but have them as two parts of a larger Korean family with free trade and travel. Start alliances with the West and show them that you mean it. Drop the missile programs because you will never need them!

This will bring abundance to the North Korean people that they never expected! They will have great economic sustenance, schools, hospitals and more respect than ever for their amazing leader. The result would be fame and glory for the son, which the father had never achieved, something that the world would talk about for hundreds of years. It would cause a United Nations to stand and applaud as the son walked into the Grand Assembly. I would ask him, "Wouldn't you like that?"

Doesn't this seem obvious to most of you? He could achieve instant fame and be seen as the one who made the difference and started something amazing. But watch him. He has a choice, but it's not simple. He still has his father's advisors, but one of which he's already dismissed. He may get it, or he may not. There is a 50 percent chance. But I'll tell you that if he doesn't do it, the one after him will. Because it is so obvious. 

We show you this to tell you that this is the evolvement of the Human species. It is the slow realization that putting things together is the answer to all things, instead of separating them or conquering them. Those who start promoting compromise and begin to create these energies that never were here before will be the ones you're going to remember. Dear ones, it's going to happen in leadership and politics and in business. It's a new paradigm...."