In a rare spell of drop-in heaven rather than surf-break hell,
surfers in Bali have set a world record for the most people
to ride a single wave. A total of 53 surfers from Bali and
as far a field as Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, France and
Hawaii rode a wave at the popular “Halfway” break
on Kuta Beach, breaking the old world mark of 46 people set
at Sydney’s Manly Beach in May. “It was a case
of bodies and boards everywhere, but everyone’s pretty
stoked,” Quiksilver surf wear spokesman and attempt
co-coordinator Simon MacGregor said. The new record was set
in near-perfect conditions, although fewer than half of the
128 people who registered for the attempt made it onto the
wave at the same time. “With everyone strung out right
along the beach it was pretty hard to keep it all together,”
Mr. MacGregor said. “There were a few close-out waves
and then it was just a case of ‘OK, everybody go’.”
He said the new mark would be registered with Guinness Records.
The attempt was organized to remind international audiences
of Bali’s legendary beaches and surf, rather than recent
terrorist bombings which have seen tourist numbers plummet.
Co-coordinated by the Quiksilver Board riding School, the
record coincided with an international junior surfing contest
known as the “King of the Groms” and was organized
by Balinese surfers. The number of Australians visiting Indonesia
has fallen by half this year as holiday makers opt for breaks
in Thailand and Malaysia instead. (July 16th 2006, Sunday
Mail)
Indonesia’s Top Animal Health Official Removed From
his Job
Animal health director, Syamsul Bahri, was in charge of preventing
animal diseases including bird flu, which has killed 40 Indonesians.
Health Minister Anton Apriyantono has told the Reuters news
agency that he has been switched to a post as livestock breeding
director. It is not clear if Mr. Bahri’s transfer is
related to his performance in handling bird flu. The strain
of bird flu known as H5N1 is endemic in poultry in nearly
all provinces and has killed 40 Indonesians, the world’s
second highest human death toll from the virus. Critics say
Indonesia has been slow to fight bird flu. The government
has so far avoided mass culling, citing lack of funds and
the impracticality of the move in a country] with millions
of backyard fowl. Vaccination has been the preferred method
to prevent the spread of bird flu among poultry. (July 14th
2006, Reuters)
Bali Bombers ‘may be Executed’ in August
Indonesia may execute three militants sentenced to death for
the 2002 Bali bombings in August, an official from the district
attorney’s office on the resort island said. The men
- Iman Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Gufron - have been on death
row for more than two years after courts convicted them of
playing leading roles in the October 2002 nightclub bombings
in Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
“Last week, we sent letters to the convicts, their families
and their lawyers to notify preparation for the execution,”
said Made Suratmaja, the head of Denpasar’s district
attorney office. Suratmaja said the execution would be around
the third week of next month or at the end of August. Executions
in Indonesia are normally by firing squad, but the exact location
and time are kept secret. “Based on the law, the date
of execution cannot be published until it is done,”
Suratmaja said. He said the execution could be delayed if
the trio appealed for a judicial review of their case a day
before execution.
(July 25th 2006, AEST)
Teenager Murders his Mother over Rp. 10,000
I Kadek Pur alias Dek Ben (18) beat his 38 year old mother
Made Masni to death on Thursday (20/7). The teenager apparently
set upon his mother when she could only give him half of the
Rp. 20,000 that he demanded to buy petrol for his motor bike.
After beating his mother around the face and head, he then
locked the woman in a room for two hours before returning
to the room to find his mother vomiting in her bed. Despite
his mothers condition the boy went to his own room to sleep;
the woman was found next morning by her husband when he returned
from his job as a driver. The mother was then rushed to hospital
but died on Saturday (22/7). (July 23rd 2006, Bali Post)
Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia Protest Israel Attacks
Thousands of Muslims in Asia held angry protests yesterday
against Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon, denouncing
the Jewish state and demanding the United Nations take action
to halt the violence. Protesters gathered across Asia Friday
(21/7) after traditional Islamic prayers. In Jakarta, about
300 people blocked traffic at a key road junction in the
Indonesian capital waving banners and Palestinian flags. “We
condemned the attack by Israel on Palestinian territories
and Lebanon,” protest organizer Nana Juhana said. “Israel
should stop the atrocities against civilians in Lebanon and
Gaza Strip.” A similar protest involving about 500 people
was held in Ambon, a city in central Indonesia, which is home
to more Muslims than any other country. (July 23rd 2006, Arab
News)
Sulawesi Quake below Warning Threshold
An undersea earthquake near Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island
on Sunday was around 6.1 magnitude, under the threshold for
a specific tsunami warning, an official of the Pacific Tsunami
Warning Centre said. Speaking to Reuters by telephone from
Hawaii, Stuart Weinstein said: “The earthquake was 6.0,
6.1, in that range and our threshold is 6.5.” Earlier
Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency warned
of the possibility of a tsunami hitting Sulawesi after what
it said was a 6.6 strength earthquake. “We have informed
local officials to warn people in the areas that the earthquake
is likely to cause a tsunami in the area,” said Fauzi,
the head of the agency’s earthquake centre. “A
tsunami hasn’t taken place but people have been evacuated
to higher ground.” (July 23rd 2006, Reuters)
Indonesia Bird Flu Toll 42
World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed that the 42nd human
bird flu death in Indonesia makes the country the worst-hit
by the virus along with Vietnam, a senior official of Indonesian
Health Ministry said here on Thursday (20/7). The result was
positive, we received from the WHO affiliated-laboratory in
HongKong today,’’ Hariadi Wibisono, the director
at the Ministry told Xinhua. According to the director, the
44-year-old man, who died last week at a hospital in East
Jakarta, had the H5N1 virus. Two months ago, the biggest cluster
bird flu in the world was found in Indonesia’s North
Sumatra province, followed by one in the province of Surabaya.
Bird flu has killed at least 132 persons worldwide since it
started ravaging Asian poultry stocks in late 2003, according
to WHO. (July 21st 2006, Xinhua)
Dutch Man Loses 850 Million in Deal with Driver
A 63 year old Dutch man has lost 850 million rupiah in various
business deals with his driver. Mr. Heng has been coming to
Bali regularly since 1992, and had formed a close friendship
with his driver Wayan Sudiana (36). Wayan had solicited funds
from Heng on several occasions for such investments as property
and a vehicle that he intended to use for business. Unfortunately
the driver had failed to accept that the money given to invest
in these various projects was a “loan” and not
a “gift”. (July 24th 2006, Radar Bali)
Three Moderate Quakes Rock Singaraja, Bali
Three earthquakes of magnitude 3.67 on the Richter Scale shook
Nias Singaraja, North Bali on Sunday (23/7),
sparking panic as residents fled their homes for higher ground
fearing a possible tsunami. The Indonesian
Meteorological and Geophysical Agency in Jakarta said the
epicenter was about 5km east off the coast of Singaraja,
Sunday’s 15km deep undersea quakes struck at 5.07 pm,
5.21 pm, and 6 pm, but there were no reports of casualties
or damage. (July 24th 2006, Radar Bali)
Baby Twin Survives Deadly Tsunami
At three weeks old, tiny Rizki should be dead. His twin sister,
Rizka, is one of the youngest victims of the latest tsunami
tragedy to strike Indonesia. However Rizki somehow survived
being ripped from his mother’s arms, and tumbled about
in the filthy water. He was found, covered in sand and dirt
in the long grass one hour later, about 300m inland from the
family’s home. His cries were heard by a stunned resident
who delivered him back to his grief-stricken parents. The
baby’s father, Yanto, searched for his little girl hoping
for another miracle near the site where their bamboo shack
once stood, about 150m from Pangandaran’s beach. But
the little girl’s body was later found. (July 21st 2006,
Sunday Herald)
Beach Boy Survives 16 Hours Washed Out to Sea
Didin Hendriawan (17) along with several other friends survived
sixteen hours at sea before being assisted to shore following
the Pangandaran Tsunami. Didin, a keen surfer had been returning
from a surfing expedition with a group of other surfers when
their perahu (traditional boat) was tossed into the air by
a massive set of waves, seriously damaging the vessel. The
boys managed to cling to the remainder of the boat for sixteen
hours, while other vessels passed them by, not hearing their
cries for help. The crippled vessel was eventually spotted
by another perahu, and they were assisted to Pangandaran Beach,
where they were shocked to find their Surf Club had been flattened.
Despite his ordeal, Didin says that he will not stop surfing
and cannot wait to get back into the waves. (July 23rd 2006,
Bali Post)
Plans for Tsunami Warning Sirens / Seismographs on Bali Beaches
The Bureau of Meteorology and Geophysics (BMG) says it will
install 160 seismographs in strategic off-shore locations
around Indonesia such as Aceh, West Sumatra. Java and Bali.
The bureau says that it hopes that 70 - 80 of the units will
be installed by the end of this year, the remaining units
to be in place by the end of 2008. Plans are also in the pipeline
for erecting sirens on beaches to warn local people to vacate
the shoreline if approaching tsunamis are
detected. (July 23rd 2006, Bali Post)
Possible Mutation in Bird Flu Virus
A leading science journal, Nature, says multiple mutations
have been found in the bird flu virus which killed seven family
members in Indonesia. The journal says researchers are unsure
of the significance of the mutations in the H5N1 virus, but
the discovery reinforces the need for better availability
of data. An analysis of virus samples from six of the eight
members of the family showed 32 mutations accumulated as it
spread, according to the confidential research obtained by
the journal. The analysis had been presented by virologist
Malik Pereis of the University of Hong Kong at a closed meeting
of animal and human health experts in Jakarta in June. The
first infected member of the family was a 37-year-old woman
who probably caught the disease from poultry and then transmitted
it to relatives before she died. The World Health Organisation
(WHO), which has admitted that the cluster of cases was probably
caused by human-to-human transmission, had said in May that
there had been no significant mutations in the strain found
the in family. The mutations found in the virus from the Indonesian
cluster were not significant enough for the virus to spread
beyond the family. Scientists fear the H5N1 virus that has
killed more than 100 people and millions of bird since 2003
as it spread from Asia to Europe and Africa could mutate into
a strain that could spark a human pandemic. (July 13th 2006,
AFP)
