An Australian painter has told a Bali court he uses drugs to free himself from pain from surfing and car accidents. Shane Christos Demos, 37, on Tuesday (25/11) faced Denpasar District Court on two charges, drug possession and consumption, which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. Demos, from Randwick in Sydney was arrested in the Double Six nightclub district in Seminyak in September and has been in custody since then. A police search uncovered 5.9g of dried hashish and 0.3g of heroin powder in two plastic bags secreted in a cigarette container in his pants. The court has heard Demos had admitted the drugs were his, and that he paid one million rupiah (about $125) for the hashish, while the heroin was given to him for free at a nearby restaurant. Urine tests later revealed drugs in Demos’ system, it heard. Demos testified he had been using drugs since a traffic accident in Australia, to eliminate pain. He also said he was wounded in heavy seas while surfing at Banyuwangi, in East Java. The trial continues next week. (November 25th 2008, AAP)
Indonesian AIDS Commission Rejects Plan to Tag Sufferers
Indonesia’s AIDS commission Thursday (27/11)strongly opposed a plan backed by lawmakers in Papua province to require some HIV/AIDS patients to be implanted with microchips to monitor the spread of the disease. “We’ve clearly rejected such a plan. This is a clear violation of human rights and operationally is not possible to be carried out,” said Nafsiah Mboi, chairperson of the National AIDS Control Commission. Lawmakers in Indonesia’s Papua province have thrown their support behind the controversial bill requiring some HIV/AIDS patients to be implanted with microchips in a bid to prevent them from infecting others.Under the new bylaw, which has caused an uproar among human rights activists, patients who had shown “highly active sexual behavior” could be implanted with a microchip to monitor their activity. If passed, anyone found guilty by a court of law of deliberately spreading the virus could be fined up to 50 million rupiah (4,100 dollars) or given six months in jail.(November 25th 2008, Topnews.In)
Bali Hospital Prepares Rabies Treatment Area
Health officials at Sanglah Hospital in Bali have prepared a special area to treat people indicated with rabies as officials announced a state of alert on the recent rabies outbreak. The hospital has prepared a special room isolated from lights and with limited ventilation consisting of six beds. Local officials announced the alert status on Tuesday (2/12) after two local residents in Ungusan, (Jimbaran) Badung Regency aged 28 and 8 died of rabies. The two residents died in September but test results on the two victims were only recently available. Bali is also conducting rabies vaccination on domestic animals throughout the province. (December 2nd 2008, Tempo)
Five Indonesians Trapped in Mumbai Oberoi Arrive in Bali
Some five Indonesian citizens who were trapped in the besieged Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai, India, arrived safely in the Ngurah Rai International Airport of Denpasar, Bali, on Sunday (7/12). The group left Mumbai, India, using a Malaysia Air Line plane and was welcomed by Bali Manpower and Transmigration Office Head Komang Rai Sujaka and also their families. “I am very happy to be back to my home town. We`ve been parted for a while. Now we can gather again,” I Wayan Sandat, grandfather of Kadek Edi Dharmayanti, said. The return of five Indonesian girls was facilitated by the Indonesian government, the agent of Oberoi hotel as their employer and the sponsors. “We are glad that everything had gone successfully, so we can meet again with our families. We are very thankful with the government’s effort,” Dharmayanti said. The five Indonesian migrant workers are Ni Kadek Dharmayanti, Ni Nyoman Sri Arini, I Gusti Ayu Putu Sari Rahayu, Anak Agung Komang Triastina and Ni Luh Gde Mahendrayani. They are all from Bali and work as spa therapists at the Oberoi Hotel. (December 7th 2008, Antara News)
Islamic Leader Regrets Mumbai Attack, Urges World to Fight Terrorism
Muhammamdiyah leader Din Syamsuddin has expressed regret about the Mumbai terrorist attacks, saying the incident should not be linked to Islam as the religion taught peace and love instead of killing people. The leader of the second largest Muslim mass organization in Indonesia urged all citizens of the world to unite and fight terrorism. The terror actions in Mumbai, he said, were a misuse of religious beliefs done by a minority of the Muslim community. (December 2nd 2008, Antara News)
Batik’s Recognition as World Heritage Expected in 2009
Indonesia is hoping the United Nations agency for cultural affairs will have named its Batik cloth as a world heritage by September, 2009, a culture ministry official said. I Gusti Nyoman Widja, director of traditions at the tourism and culture ministry, said here Thursday, that UNESCO would then provide funds for its preservation and it would also be safe from other countries` claims. The discussions in UNESCO, he said, were expected to run for a year and Indonesia should therefore know the result by September 2009. Batik would be the third cultural product from Indonesia named a World Intangible Heritage after the Wayang (traditional puppets used in narration-supported shadow plays) and the Keris (ceremonial dagger). (December 2nd 2008, Antara News)
Dead Fish & Garbage Piling up on Bali’s Kuta Beach
After having been littered with tons of dead fish, Kuta beach in Bali is now being polluted by garbage brought there by sea waves including non-degradable plastic trash and animal remains. “No more dead fishes are to be found there but they have been replaced by garbage” said I Gusti Ngurah Tresna, chief of the Kuta beach task force. He said the phenomena recur during a period locals call “western wind season” before December. The task force chief noted that the garbage has been piling up for five days on the beach. Some 20 trucks were being deployed to clean up the area. “Everyday we, helped by local hawkers, collect the garbage and place them in the southern area near the cemetery to be taken by Badung sanitary workers,” he said. The garbage would be piling up in December, Tresna said, adding that last year its volume reached 1,000 truckloads. In the future, he expected that not only the task force and the government but also tourism businesspeople would be involved in the handling of the garbage. (November 27th 2008, Antara News)
Buaya Island Marine Park Damaged by Fishermen’s Explosives
Buaya Island Marine Park in Alor District, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province, has been seriously damaged by the use of explosives in fishing, a local official said. “It’s very saddening because the marine park used to be very beautiful but now is damaged,” Alor District Head Ans Takalapeta, said here on Monday. To preserve the local environment, Alor District had established cooperation with the WWF (Word Wide Fund for Nature) Indonesia and WWF Denmark, especially to protect biodiversity in the Pantar Strait , he said. Alor District abounds in marine resources, including coral reefs which are the habitat of marine wildlife. (December 1st 2008, Antara News)
“Tropical Transit” Front Man Fights for his Life after Horrific Accident
Lead singer of popular fusion music band Tropical Transit is fighting for his life in the intensive care unit of the Denpasar Sanglah Hospital following a horrific accident as he returned home from performing at the popular Padang Lapao Restaurant in Sanur in the early hours of Saturday morning (6/12). Bobby Toelle apparently collided head on with another motor bike that was traveling at high speed. He sustained severe head injuries and multiple fractures. Bobby had been performing as a vocalist for some three decades and entertained audiences throughout Indonesia, and more recently as the front man for popular local fusion music band “Tropical Transit”. A charity event at the Lapao restaurant on Monday (8/12) was attended by hundreds of local artists and well wishers to honor the popular singer. (December 9th 2008, Independent writers)
Indonesian Porn Law Threatens Papua Traditions
Wearing nothing but feathers and a long, tapering gourd jutting from his groin, Papuan tribesman Suroba says the Indonesian government cannot force him to wear pants. Suroba, who estimates his age in his sixties, remembers the last time the government launched a campaign to eradicate the penis gourd, known here as a koteka, in the 1970s. It was a dismal failure. “Back then we were wearing our traditional clothes, like the koteka, and we’re still wearing them now,” he said. The latest threat to the koteka, and traditions like it, is a new anti-pornography law passed in October by mostly Muslim lawmakers in the capital Jakarta, 3,500 kilometers (2,000 miles) away. The law, which criminalizes all works and “bodily movements” deemed obscene and capable of violating public morality, was pushed through by Islamic parties despite stiff opposition and years of rancorous debate. Opponents of the law say its definition of pornography is too broad and could threaten local traditions, from nude temple carvings on Hindu-majority Bali Island to tribal dances and phallic totems on Papua, a vast territory of untouched forests and mountains on the western end of New Guinea Island. The law, which is expected to be signed soon by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, contains provisions protecting local cultures, but opponents say they would do nothing to prevent a crackdown. Thousands of people on Bali have protested, and activists and politicians from Indonesia’s far-flung non-Muslim regions, such as mainly Christian and animist Papua, have begun murmuring of civil disobedience. Opposition lawmaker Eva Sundari, who voted against the law in parliament, said it could have its greatest impact outside of Papua in areas where Muslims predominate. With its much-criticized clause allowing civilian groups to enforce public decency, its real purpose was to allow Islamic hardliners to act as “moral police,” she said. “The goal of this law is to become a legal umbrella for groups pushing for sharia (Islamic law),” she said. But however it is enforced, many say the law has already damaged inter-communal bonds that have held together a diverse country that spans thousands of islands. “The law has already wrecked the feeling of togetherness,” Sundari said. (December 8th 2008, AFP)
