Here is the news

Tenang wrote:

Have you lived in Indonesia as a poor person? If you had, you would know what drugs like meth are doing to the younger generation, maybe the US can afford millions of useless addicts ripping each other off and committing crimes, but hey, that's what Chicago is for. I advise not to jump to hasty conclusions. I have had many years of dealing with Indonesian authorities and they are almost without exception helpful wise and tolerant and will not bung you up if you aren't actually harming anyone.

I’ve lived and worked in numerous places around the world, you don’t have to be poor to be a meth addict/ drug dependent, nor are the manufacturers hoping its the poor that get hooked, if police/ authorities are tolerant towards such drug use and the use of such drug then they are not doing a thing towards humanity or helping people, they are merely tolerating drug use, addiction and manufacturing, is putting millions or billions into rehab the answer? Short answer is no
One example of why a worldwide drug issue will only grow is Afghanistan, the number one opium producer, since coalition forces first invaded opium production has increased with the funding and assistance of “ALL” coalition governments, every single one has contributed financially towards the opium production, all the way from the America’s, Europe, Middle East to Asia, sadly its like any industry, if it has a demand it will be profitable
Are extreme punishments the answer?  No
Is education and scare tactics the answer? Possibly
Is the control of imports the answer? Will help
Will people in a position of authority who tolerate it help? Not a chance in hell

The cops aren't stopping

https://en.antaranews.com/news/114174/p … raffickers

Another three dead and one needing serious attention to his foot.
Regardless of any opinions, theories and ideals, don't mess about with drugs in Indonesia or you're very likely to get killed.

Don’t think it was a particular wise move to try and do a runner from armed police

After a long and hard struggle, the KPK can smell blood, and they're after it

https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2018/01/1 … ya-Novanto

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officially named ex-lawyer of Setya Novanto, Fredrich Yunadi, and Medika Permata Hijau Hospital doctor, Bimanesh Sutarjo, as suspects of a conspiracy.

KPK suspects that both men conspired to hamper KPK’s investigation against electronic ID card (e-KTP) graft suspect Setya Novanto.

“FY and BST suspected allegedly worked together to admit the suspect Setya Novanto to be hospitalized based on medical records that have allegedly been manipulated,” said KPK Deputy Chairman Basaria Panjaitan at his office on Wednesday, January 10.

According to Basaria, the medical records of Setya Novanto was manipulated after Setya was involved in the infamous road accident on November 16, 2017. Both men allegedly did that to help Setya avoid KPK investigation.

Gwmeath wrote:

Don’t think it was a particular wise move to try and do a runner from armed police

Probably not, but this is likely to be the reason they try.

https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2018/01/1 … -Smuggling

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Eight Taiwanese citizens who smuggled one ton of crystal meth from Taiwan underwent their first court hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday, January 10.

The defendants are Sun Kou Tai, Juan Jin Sheng, Sun Chih Feng, Tsai Chih Hung, Kou Chun Yuan, Liao Guan Yu, Chen Wei Cyuan, and Hsu Yung Li. They were accompanied by Susi Ong as their translator.

Today's trial that was held for 90-minute was to hear the charges presented by the state prosecutor. “The charges were read together to the eight suspects,” said public prosecutor Abun Hasbulloh on Wednesday, January 10.

According to Abun, the eight suspects are charged with the death sentence, which is the most severe penalty based on the crimes they had done.

The smuggling attempt happened in July 2017 at a hotel in Anyer, Banten. At the time, police ambushed the men when they were distributing the drugs with separate vehicles. Their leader, Lin Ming Hui, was shot dead by authorities after he resisted arrest.

Police seized 51 sacks, each was filled with 20 kilograms of crystal meth, that was expected to be worth Rp1.5 trillion. Previous to the police ambush, five of the suspects were arrested onboard the Wanderlust ship, a vessel that was used to smuggle the drugs. This arrest is considered to be one of the largest drug-bust ever to be executed by Indonesian authorities.

Caesar Akbar

No mercy for drug smugglers…period.

I don’t know any Indonesian who isn’t fully supportive of the death penalty for drug smugglers.  Obviously this ultimate penalty should only apply to those cases where significant quantities of illegal drugs are involved, and this case certainly more than qualifies in that regard.

Since Taiwan also has capital punishment on their books for drug smuggling, it would seem unlikely that there will be any political fallout or pressure on Indonesia to pass a lesser sentence should all eight be convicted by due legal process including the right to appeal.

I've seen quite a few immigration stories over the last few months, all similar to this new one.
Looks like immigration are doing some serious checking up on illegals of whatever sort.
The advice would seems to be, tourists keep your passports with you and residents keep at least a photocopy of appropriate ID with you at all times.
I suppose it would be best to check with immigration to see what they recommend you carry.
One interesting note, immigration say they will investigate the sponsors as well.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018 … ading.html

Authorities have arrested 42 Nigerian and Ugandan nationals for immigration violations in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta on Wednesday, with the majority reportedly failing to present their passports and other legal documentation.

The arrests were made during the Joint Immigration Operation of the North Jakarta Immigration Office and the North Jakarta Foreigner Oversight Team (Timpora).

Immigration division head Agus Widjaja of the North Jakarta Immigration Office said that of those arrested at a budget hotel, 40 were Nigerians and two were Ugandans, including two women.

“Only eight people had passports with them, [...] while the other 34 could not show their documents,” Agus said as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com on Thurday.

He added that his office still needed to verify the documents, and that it would pursue an investigation into the companies or individuals that had sponsored the foreign nationals.

It’s been asked about carrying ID/appropriate form of ID here in Batam for expats whether visiting or working etc. Here it’s acceptable to carry a COLOURED photocopy with personal details along with entrance stamp same with working here, it’s also acceptable to carry a photo of the same on your phone
It’s also worth noting that usually your Embassay request you let them know your in country
Like Fred says it’s worth checking with immigration in your area if this is acceptable, as from first hand experience with stolen passports (hence I carry a copy of any documents never original) both occasions West Africa, believe me it is not a straight forward process, if this does happen to you get all appropriate documentation from the consulate or you won’t be getting a new passport any time soon, in the uk it’s a government requirement to get police reports not just consulate documents/ emergency passport (apologies going a little of track)

Same for Surabaya area. 1 color copy of photo passport page, entry stamp page, SDMP police card, copy of ITAS and local registry card. Apology can’t remember all the acronyms. The immigrasi here are very understanding as long as you are able to produce copies on demand (normally stashed in the bosses purse 👜 When your passport is held at the immigrasi office for new KITAS I just carry the receipt they issue with their letterhead. Immigrasi checks in Surabaya are rare at best.

A few months back around 70ish got arrested in Batam in Kampung Bule, about 40 locals for not carrying ID few Philippine hookers, expats with no ID and a few Singapore military on leave who entered the country with no form of ID/ passport or dispensation notice from either government not really researched to see what, if anything came about the Singaporeans or immigration officials

The bank of Indonesia is getting serious about non-Rupiah transactions, this time taking aim at bitcoin with special attention to Bali.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018 … -bali.html

Bank Indonesia (BI) has teamed up with the National Police to prevent transactions using cryptocurrency bitcoin in Bali after the central bank declared it an illegal form of payment in Indonesia.

“We are looking out for bitcoin transactions in Bali, particularly in tourist spots. We will take measures against non-rupiah transactions,” said BI’s Bali office head Causa Iman Karana over the weekend in Denpasar as reported by tempo.co.

As a noted tourist destination, he said, Bali was an alluring place for those who wanted to carry out illegal transactions.

Oops, another politician

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018 … diaga.html

Indonesian courts have a habit of being funny places when it comes to the law but trying to take a role as a collaborator would normally be accepted as an admission on guilt.

https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2018/01/2 … llaborator

TEMPO.CO, Makassar - Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Deputy Chairman Laode Syarif stated that Setya Novanto proposed himself to be a justice collaborator in the electronic ID card (e-KTP) graft case.

“Pak Setnov offered himself to become a justice collaborator. It means he admits guilt,” said Laode Syarif in Makassar on Tuesday, January 23.

However, Laode is still unsure whether Setya Novanto’s proposal will be accepted by KPK.

Yesterday's quake, strong as it was, appears to have caused much less  damage than I expected to be reading about and, thankfully, no deaths.

http://jakartaglobe.id/news/eight-peopl … arthquake/

Jakarta. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BMKG, said eight people were injured and almost 500 houses damaged after a 6.1 Richter-scale earthquake struck off the coast of Banten in the western part of Java on Tuesday (23/01).

Eight highschool students in Cianjur, West Java, were injured, six of them badly, after the school's roof collapsed.

The Metereology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) earlier said the quake's magnitude was 6.4, but later revised it to 6.1.

The earthquake struck 43 kilometers southwest of Lebak, Banten, under the Indian Ocean.

The terrible traffic mess around Tanah Abang is now an official terrible traffic mess, prompting the police to call for the less than clever road closure to be stopped.
Jakarta's traffic is a mess in general but i would have thought it was obvious closing a major road was going to really mess it up.
Maybe not obvious to all.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018 … study.html

The Jakarta administration’s policy to close Jl. Jatibaru Raya near Tanah Abang Market in Central Jakarta has made traffic congestion worse in the area. Congestion has increased by 60 percent in the past month, a police report revealed on Friday.

As a consequence, the police have urged the city administration to reopen the road for both public and private vehicles.

Whatever your opinion on climate change, the flooding is getting worse and tidal floods are going to be a serious issue for Jakarta and many other cities.
The end of January looks like it could cause a few problems.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018 … rmoon.html

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has forecast that the coastal area in North Jakarta will see tidal floods during the supermoon, expected to appear later this month.

BMKG information subdivision head Hary Tirto Djatmiko said on Friday that the upcoming perigee full moon, expected to appear on Jan. 30 to 31, would be 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the previous phenomena, appearing on Jan. 1 and Dec. 3 last year.

“Residents living in coastal areas, particularly in Jakarta, should be cautious as tidal floods are expected between Jan. 28 and Feb. 3,” Hary said as quoted by tribunnews.com. He added that a tidal flood in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, was likely to occur during daylight hours.

The floods are also predicted to hit Pontianak, West Kalimantan.

Many of Jakarta's districts have houses, often made of timber, that are very close together.
I could imagine the blaze being very similar to the great fire of London in 1066.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018 … -fire.html

An inferno that broke out on Saturday morning razed 10 neighborhood units (RT) on Jl. Keutamaan Dalam, Krukut, Tamansari, West Jakarta, and left over 2,000 people homeless.

“The fire started around 2:30 a.m.,” West Jakarta firefighter chief Abdul Cholik told Kompas.com.

“No one died or was injured in the incident, thankfully, but 2,400 people lost their homes,” he said.

He added that the fire burned down an area of 3,500 square meters.

Fred, the Great Fire of London was in 1666, not 1066.

The Battle of Hastings between William the Conqueror and Harold (where Harold got shot with an arrow in his eye) was in 1066.

Brings back memories of my CSE Grade 4 in History....

abdulkhalil wrote:

Fred, the Great Fire of London was in 1666, not 1066.

The Battle of Hastings between William the Conqueror and Harold (where Harold got shot with an arrow in his eye) was in 1066.

Brings back memories of my CSE Grade 4 in History....

Just a typo.
I'm not very well with whatever bug is doing the rounds at the moment, and neither is my son who is sleeping very badly, woke me up at silly o'clock this morning, and I can't get back to sleep because I feel rubbish myself.

I am aware of Billy the basher's invasion of 1066 and the plague of 1665, as well as Pudding Lane's  large accidental bonfire of 1666, even to the point of having a 70x70cm picture depicting the latter in my classroom.

Back to the Jakarta fire of yesterday ..

I don't recall wandering around the street in question but I'm guess it was something like this, a street not too far away from the now destroyed one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC5TCPfZBZs&t=5s

Hey Fred, Eri and I hope you and your son recover soon! 

Cheers Amigo!

The rights and wrongs of this are unimportant but the note about being careful of defamation is very important.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018 … ation.html

A property buyer on a reclaimed islet off Jakarta's north coast was detained on Friday after developer of islet C and D PT Kapuk Naga Indah filed a defamation case against her.

Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono confirmed the arrest, saying the suspect, Lucia, will undergo confinement for 20 days, starting on Friday.

The dispute started in a meeting between PT Kapuk Naga Indah and property buyers on Dec. 9 last year. A commotion started when buyers questioned the status of their permits and rights for their paid-for properties.

After a recording of the meeting went viral on social media, Agung Sedayu Group, as PT Kapuk Naga Indah’s parent company, filed a police report through their lawyer, Lenny Marlina, on Dec.11.

Meanwhile, Lucia, who paid off two units of property, argued that while she indeed said the words “the developers are irresponsible,” she did not mean it as defamation or slander, as she felt that she had good reasoning.

“When we first purchased the property, we understood that they [the developers] had permits. We asked them to show the permits,” said Lucia, adding that consumers only found out that the developer did not obtain the necessary permits after the ongoing construction had been suspended.

The government is really going all out with the anti corruption drive.
They have a hard battle but it looks like they're winning.

http://jakartaglobe.id/news/lawyer-stan … e-speaker/

Jakarta. Antigraft investigators on Thursday (01/02) handed over to prosecutors a case in which a lawyer has been charged with hampering a corruption probe into former House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto, an antigraft spokesman said.

The move ended about a month of investigation into Setya's former lawyer, Fredrich Yunadi, and means he will soon stand trial.

This is interesting.

The University of Indonesia already enjoys what I'm assured is a well deserved excellent reputation for everything it touches, but it seems Jokowi wants even more.
I suppose a reputation for being the best in the country doesn't mean you can't improve more so, full steam ahead, UI, and good luck with all you do.
Indonesia is starting to expand its position on the world stage so anything that assists Indonesian students to achieve world standards has to be a good move.

https://en.antaranews.com/news/114487/p … et-example

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo has asked University of Indonesia (UI) to set an example by creating innovation.

"I believe UI can set an example with innovation in organization, curriculum and methodology to produce prime and competitive individuals and human resources," he said in his speech at the 68th anniversary event of the university here on Friday.

"UI can set an example in research and downstream industrial development that will improve the welfare of the people and help Indonesia win at global competition and rivalry. I am convinced UI is able to contribute a great deal for Indonesia to advance to meet our goals," he noted, drawing applause from students and lecturers attending the event.

As I mentioned, UI has a great reputation so they seem to be an ideal  institution to drive improvement and change.

Good article Fred!  We're trying to get our oldest son, Bima into UI. 

If we are successful I might be asking you to check up on him once in while for us!   

Cheers amigo!

Ubudian wrote:

Good article Fred!  We're trying to get our oldest son, Bima into UI. 

If we are successful I might be asking you to check up on him once in while for us!   

Cheers amigo!

No worries, just give me a ring if you need anything.

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This is not only big news, but it's good news for a change!

"Indonesia's Sri Mulyani receives Best Minister Award at World Government Summit"

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asi … ent-summit

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The police are showing no sign of easing their shoot to kill policy.
Quite how he was shot in the chest whilst running away is a mystery, but not a question anyone who matters is likely to bother asking about.
Regardless of opinions about these shootings, the best advice is not to bother with drugs over here as the dealers' chances of survival are getting lower by the day.

https://en.antaranews.com/news/114788/m … -to-escape

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A narcotic drug dealer who is a member of a Malaysian drug ring has been shot dead for trying to escape following his arrest by law enforcers.

"Suspect Amri was shot and died for trying to flee while the officers were taking him to Tamia g on the Aceh-North Sumatra border to develop the case," deputy for law enforcement affairs of the National Anti-Narcotic Drugs Agency (BNN) Insp Gen Arman Depari said in a text message received by ANTARA here on Tuesday.
The suspect was hit in the chest and died on the way to a hospital, he said.

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I'm always a little surprised when I hear stories about duff immigration officials causing trouble for expats because I've found them so helpful.

This one makes my point

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018 … -wife.html

Yet another foolish, "It's legal in my country" defence.
In an extremely daft move, he had dope (good word in this case) sent to him from wherever it was, hoping no one would notice, but it seems the cops did, and arrested him.
The moral of this story is easy, if you're too stupid to lay off drugs, don't come to Indonesia or you're likely in for a rough time.

http://www.newsweek.com/american-held-b … ing-826561

An American who escaped from the infamous Kerobokan prison in Bali and was recaptured shortly after received a five-year sentence on Monday.

The prosecutor asked for 10 years and a one billion rupiah fine ($80,000 dollars) for 32-year-old Christian Beasley, who was caught with 5.7 grams of hashish at a post office in August. If the fine is not paid, he will have to serve a further six months.

Beasley was one of two American prisoners who escaped from the Kerobokan jail in December by cutting the bars of the prison’s ceiling and using a ladder to climb the 20-feet high wall. While the other fugitive, 57-year-old Paul Anthony Hoffman, was captured shortly afterwards, authorities carried out a five-day manhunt before they arrested Beasley on the neighboring island of Lombok.

I agree wholeheartedly with you Fred. Indonesia is Indonesia and other countries is other countries, and when peoples from other countries come to Indonesias they must follow the laws, the Indonesian laws.

The rights and wrongs of Indonesian law are of little concern as drug dealers and users will still end up in prison or in front of a firing squad regardless of their home country's laws,
That isn't going to change any time soon so it would be very handy for the dealers if they listen to my advice and stay away from Indonesia.

I'm sure there must be some drug dealers reading this thread and hopefully they will heed your advice and stay away from Indonesia.

ATM fraud isn't that common here but it happens.
I saw one and reported it to the bank a few weeks ago, that one being in Bintaro.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018 … -case.html

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