Prabowo’s intelligence contacts give him an edge

The presidential candidate with the strongest links to experienced intelligence experts will have an edge in the upcoming presidential election, political expert Arbi Sanit says.

Although the presidential partnerships of Kalla—Wiranto and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono—Boediono are made up of strong figures with either direct or indirect access to the military, with former intelligence personnel on their team, Megawati and Prabowo definitely have an advantage, Arbi said.

The Megawati-Prabowo team will probably have more access to pertinent intelligence, he said at a discussion on the participation of former generals in the election and the reform of the defence sector in Jakarta on Thursday.

Megawati and Prabowo have Muchdi, a former deputy of the country’s intelligence agency (BIN). Muchdi is deputy chairman of Prabowo’s Gerindra party, and was also a suspect in the murder of prominent human rights activist Munir. Despite the allegations, he was exonerated of all charges by the state court at the end of last year.

Arbi said the advantage of having military influence in a campaign team would be the links to the intelligence sector.

“With intelligence operations, the skeletons in your enemy’s closets can be investigated easily.”

He said the campaign period would most likely see tough battles between the former generals.

“Even if the presidential election goes smoothly and safely, what remains worrying is what will happen after the result is announced.

“The danger lies in the money being sourced from tycoons, or the use of military influence through families, to get an advantage,” he said.

Whether or not the candidates are still active in military duty is not important, he argued.

“I see these generals as having the same working methods. They still have the same culture of discipline and ability to organize people.”

Generals also have power over military territory, whereas political parties must share areas with other parties.

“True they [political parties] have branches, but they are different from military bases.”

Another dangerous possibility would be if active military personnel joined the campaign team, Arbi said.

Asrian Mirza, deputy director of the Megawati Prabowo Media Center, said the generals backing their team were all former military men who were aware that to contribute to politics in civil society they should be civilians themselves.

“There are no active military personnel in our campaign team or in the party,” Asrian said.

Mufti Makarim, executive director of the Institute for Defense Security and Peace Studies, said all three teams had former intelligence officials in their ranks.

Mufti said there were two factors that could influence participation by generals in the campaigns.

“First, there is the feudalistic nature of society that perceives a strong government as coming from a strong leader, and while a strong leader in the past was a king, in modern times the society sees this in a military figure,” he said.

“Secondly, there is the belief among the political elite that votes supported by the military will bring more influence in politics,” said the former secretary-general of Kontras, the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence.

“There is a view that if you don’t give the military a bargaining position, then you will lose support in politics,” he said.

One positive aspect of military involvement, however, is that “they are more aware that if they still want to contribute to the country, they have to follow the rules of democracy and enter politics via a party”.

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Character building: The missing link in Indonesia’s public school curriculum

Pria Saptono, a math teacher at Sevilla School in Pulomas, East Jakarta, thought he could squeeze in some character building lessons for his students by having them compete in an international math competition.

“The Gauss contest puts more emphasis on student’s abilities in figuring out logical solutions to mathematical problems, since children are free to use their own methods,” Pria said, referring to the 2009 Gauss test — a Canadian mathematics competition held at Sevilla School on Saturday.

This was one of Pria’s attempts to develop his student’s willingness to learn by making mathematics fun, as opposed to information-cramming to get students through the national exams.

“The national exams focus so much on solving problems using formulas, teachers are pressed to cram as much as they can into students’ minds, which I think causes students to forget the essence of learning.

“As a teacher, I would be doing a disservice to my students and their parents if I didn’t teach them the more fun aspects of problem solving.”

Many of the city’s teachers have questioned Indonesia’s education system since apparently it can produce International Science Olympics gold-medalists, and yet the country still ranks high among the most corrupt in the world.

In response to this perceived shortfall, many have begun investing in character education programs, social work and friendly competitions to develop students’ characters.

There is the aptly named Character School on Jl. Raya Bogor, Depok, which focuses completely on character training. Here teachers encourage students to find their main interests and focus on them.

The studies slip into cognitive learning, but focus on making sure children end up wanting to learn.

Then there’s Cikal School in Cilandak, which works to involve children’s parents in their schooling, with community work and psychological techniques to enable children’s characters to develop.

Teachers like Pria who do not teach at such schools, can only do their best to make sure children leave the classroom not just smarter, but also more responsible.

“I don’t think children from my school will grow up without morals,” said Betsy Eliana, a kindergarten teacher at the Al-Azhar mosque in Rawamangun.

“Morals are an important part of our lessons, which we impart using examples of how the Prophet acted.”

Sri Sungging Sumunan, also a kindergarten teacher at Al-Azhar, said children did not get enough character education.

“Especially students at public schools. I think private school teachers have more time to impart important moral lessons,” Sri said.

Character School executive director Rahma Dewi criticized public schools’ moral education (PPKn) programs under the national curriculum.

“Just compare the amount of time given to moral education, and even art lessons, to math and science classes. It’s astounding how much the government is ignoring this important facet of children’s development,” she added.

Earlier this month, the Sampoerna Foundation funded a training workshop for teachers, led by Thomas J. Martinek, an education professor from the Kinesiology department of the University of North Carolina.

Martinek said Indonesian students shared similar problems to students in the United States, with teachers in Indonesia unable to figure out ways to develop students’ characters.

Thomas urged the government to support character education in through the curriculum, instead of just slipping moral lessons into schools without correct implementation.

“The Obama administration has poured a lot of money into character education and I do think it is a growing trend. In fact, it should be the logical trend because it is certainly the most important aspect of educating children.”

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Tangerang Council rejects bird flu regulation draft

Tangerang Regency Council considers a regulation draft on bird flu, currently being discussed by the administration, would have severe impact on local residents bird farm.

Daka Udin, a councillor, said that the regulation draft contains articles on limitation on fowl numbers in a farm and prohibition of setting up coops near residential houses.

He said the regulation would send a blow to small farmers.

“The administration needs to reconsider these articles,” he said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Tangerang Council Speaker Endang Sudjana also said that small farmers in the area have put their coops near their residence for ages.

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Dutch documentary immortalizes Indonesian heroine

The pen is sharper than a blade. This was an adagium used by social observer and woman activist Debra H. Yatim to describe the struggle of the Javanese lady aristocrat Kartini in breaking the old customs that barred women from access to education and the right to self-determination.
She was the moderator of a film discussion on the national heroine’s life story held at Erasmus House on April 18.

The event started with a film screening Just Call Me Kartini.

The original title was in Dutch Noem Mij Maar Kartini, a documentary written and directed by Hans Hulscher.

The documentary is about Raden Adjeng Kartini’s life based on her letters written in Dutch to her friends, black and white archive film and photos of Kartini and her Java traditions from the 19th century.

The films opens with Javanese gamelan music; continued by a narrator speaking in Dutch who read Kartini’s letters to her friends in the Netherlands.

Kartini’s letters reflect her rebellion against the old customs in Central Java, revealing her deep thoughts on women’s emancipation, education, the fight against polygamy, and finally her understanding

of her social environment. Kartini’s big dream, which was to fight for her freedom and women’s rights was not realized in her own lifetime.

She had to marry the regent of Rembang who already had three wives and seven children, in a show of loyalty to her father.

Dutch ambassador Nicholas van Dam said in his speech after the movie that the whole event was held to commemorate Kartini Day on April 21.

In her speech, State Minister of Women’s Affairs Meutia Hatta highlighted that despite modernization, a lot of women were still thinking in a backward way, far from Kartini’s forward thinking. She hoped there would be more modern Kartinis in these present days.

“Kartini, who lived 130 years ago, used letters to communicate and share her thoughts. Nowadays with the rise of technology, women could communicate their concerns much more easily, such as by Facebook, which is known by most city people, as a great tool for communication,” said Debra, starting off the discussion.

Irma Alansyah, on the specialist staff from a state ministry, drew attention to the spirit of communication, better education, humanism, and the changes in the mindset of women moving from domestic to public life, as making relevant Kartini’s message for modern times.

“In Kartini’s era, there was a need of emancipation. But, nowadays men and women have the same rights. Nevertheless, there are still a lot of problems including poverty, domestic violence, polygamy, human trafficking, low job opportunities, and low involvement of women in government policy,” added Yuda Irlang from the Institute of Women’s Voice Development Movement (Yayasan Gerakan Pemberdayaan Swara Perempuan).

Reza Dyan Perdani, a medical student at the University of National Development “Veteran” (UPN) Jakarta, said Kartini had changed the nation into what it is today.

“I’m proud of Kartini … she deserves the title of Indonesian heroine. I feel blessed that I can have a proper education, freedom to express myself, and freedom to choose from my own free will, unlike in Kartini’s era.”

Barbara Brouwer, the event organizer, said: “The public responded very much. Maybe some people miss the spirit of the women’s movement. Years before, Kartini Day commemorations were always a little stiff; people just used kebaya and traditional clothing [to remember her contribution]. Now, by discussing and working out the solutions on women’s issues , we can make a real contribution on Kartini Day.”



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