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https://jakartaglobe.id/context/no-conf … -on-june-5

No Confusion This Year, All Indonesian Muslims Will Celebrate Idul Fitri on June 5

Seems the cops wasted no time in searching his house.
I would imagine the cops are having a nice chat with the bomber over a lovely cup of tea .. or something like that.

https://en.antaranews.com/news/126660/a … bers-house

Sukoharjo, C Java (ANTARA) - The National Police's Counterterrorism Squad, Densus 88, searched the house of a suicide bomber in Kranggan, Wirogunan Village, Kartasura Sub-district, Sukoharjo District, Central Java, on early Tuesday.

During the search, Densus 88 officers, with the assistance of their counterparts from the Central Java Provincial Police, confiscated several pieces of evidence believed to be employed in assembling a bomb.

Can i post about warning info?

This one looks more like internal politics rather than expat related, but local politics are often mixed with a touch of xenophobia, and reality in this case, so it could well impact on expats from more than just China.
Conversations with more vocal locals often produce less than favourable opinions regarding both Chinese expats and local people of Chinese extraction, so this story could well be of note to expats.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia … llout.html

Beware the debt trap. Chinese workers are invading us. We are losing our sovereignty.

These are some of the warnings that have emerged in the past month after Indonesia announced that it would go after the billions of dollars offered under China's Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) to finance the government's ambitious massive infrastructure program.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla touted 28 projects with a total price tag of US$91 billion to be financed under the BRI when he attended the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in April. The first reactions back home were one of caution and some even advised against the idea lest Indonesia follow countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Malaysia, who are experiencing problems with the Chinese projects.

An expat convicted of treason. Not quite sure how that works, but it's happened

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/ … 24467.html

Wamena, Papua, Indonesia - Polish traveller Jakob Skrzypski has been found guilty of treason and sentenced to five years in prison in Papua on the far east of Indonesia, the first foreigner to be convicted of such a crime.

Skrzypski is charged with meeting members of a pro-independence organisation in the restive region of the southeast Asian archipelago.

Maintaining his innocence, the 39-year-old Pole said the court's decision was politically motivated and that he was a victim of a show trial. Skrzypski will appeal the sentence, his lawyer said.

From an earlier story
One thief dead (That'll save the trial)
2 captured
One still on the run

https://jakartaglobe.id/vision/bali-pol … bbery-case

Officers accompany two of the four suspects who allegedly robbed a money changer in South Kuta, Bali, in March to the headquarters of the Denpasar Police on Monday. The two who have been arrested were identified as Georgii Zhukov, 40, of Russia, and Robert Haupt, 41, of the Ukraine. Another was shot dead by police while trying to escape while the fourth suspect is still on the run. (Antara Photo/Nyoman Hendra Wibowo)

Good news for some potential expats in Indonesia, but not quite so good for those in a couple of other countries

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/201 … nesia.html

Japanese and Korean electronics companies Sharp Corp. and LG plan to relocate their factories from Thailand and Vietnam, respectively, to Indonesia as part of their investment consolidation plans in Southeast Asia.

Industry Minister Airlangga Hartanto said the relocations would further strengthen their operations in Indonesia, where they have built their respective production bases for a number of electronics products.

Social media will require a telephone number before you can register

https://jakartaglobe.id/context/govt-su … roup-chats

Communications and Information Technology Minister Rudiantara said the police should be given the power to monitor group chats on the WhatsApp messaging platform to combat the spread of hoaxes and false information.

"It's [a] reasonable [policy] in my opinion," Rudiantara said before a meeting on Tuesday with Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR), which oversees communications and information technology, defense, intelligence and foreign affairs.

According to him, the "patroling" of group chats on WhatsApp should be done when someone in the group is suspected of breaking the law.

"The police will enter a [WhatsApp] group if a member of the group has committed a crime. I support it as long as [it is done to investigate a] crime. Not just any [arbitrary] patrol," Rudiantara said.

Flying to Bandung is about to become a pain. I took a look at the new airport when it first opened and, much as it's very nice, it's hard work to get to, even more if you're wanting to go to or leave Bandung. I'm quite close to the place but it's easier for me to go to Jakarta than it is to get to the new airport.
Yes, the airport is nice, but whomever decided where it should be be sited messed up and, to make it worse, the only link is via the toll road.
Bandung is three hours away from the place, more in heavy traffic. When it boils down to basics, nobody wants to use it and won't until there are decent links.

I can see Bandung bound visitors simply ignoring this place in favour of landing at Jakarta and using the trains.

https://jakartaglobe.id/context/to-save … ti-airport

Jakarta. The government has decided that all domestic flights to Bandung, West Java, have to land at Kertajati International Airport by July 1.

The $245-million airport was supposed to be an upgrade to the old Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung and is projected to be the second largest airport in Indonesia after Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten, Tangerang.

But Kertajati has been left mostly barren since its inaugural opening in June last year, prompting many embarrassing images and headlines on local media that served as a snide to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's much-fabled infrastructure push. 

One of the snags at Kertajati has been that the local government has failed to provide better access to the new airport, making the three-hour travel to and from Bandung highly undesirable for both passengers and airline workers.

Meanwhile, skyrocketing airfares and the completion of the Trans-Java Toll Road meant many simply opted out of taking flights to Bandung.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi recently called a meeting with domestic airlines, West Java deputy governor Uu Ruzhanul Ulum, airport operators Angkasa Pura II and Bandara International West Java, and air traffic controller AirNav Indonesia to try to find a solution to the problem.

In the end, they decided all domestic flights at Husein Sastranegara International Airport will be transferred to Kertajati International Airport by July 1.

Bogor immigration

https://en.antaranews.com/news/127686/b … gn-workers

Bogor, W Java (ANTARA) - The Bogor Immigration Office in West Java has threatened to take stern action against illegal foreign workers who fail to complete their immigration documents and permit applications within four months. "We give them four months during this data collection operation. If during the October-November period we still find them failing to complete immigration documents and permit applications, we will initiate stern measures against them in accordance with Law No. 6 of 2011," Head of the Bogor Immigration Office, Suhendra said after socializing the immigration permit of stay among foreign nationals at the immigration office on Monday.

The airport train is the best way to get from Jakarta to SH, sometimes even more so

https://en.tempo.co/read/1217982/ap-ii- … ma_Click_1

TEMPO.CO, Tangerang - Local residents blocked Jalan Perimeter Utara near the construction project of Soekarno-Hatta Airport Runway 3, demanding compensation for the land cleared for the project. Besides blocking the road, the people flew kites until today, June 25.

State-run airport operator Angkasa Pura II (AP II) Vice President of Corporate Secretary, Yado Yarismano, said that the compensation payment for the land to be built as the airport Runway 3 was still in a consignment process in Tangerang District Court as referred to the Law No. 2 of 2012.

“The compensation cannot be disbursed yet because the lands are still in dispute,” Yado told Tempo, Tuesday, June 25.

Giant is quite a popular store for expats in Jakarta as it carries a wide range of good at reasonable prices, but they have changing things around for a couple of years now and a lot of their places are closing.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/201 … karta.html

Retail company PT Hero Supermarket has announced that it will close six Giant Ekspress and Giant Ekstra outlets in Greater Jakarta amid tough competition in the retail business.

PT Hero Supermarket director Hadrianus Wahyu Trikusumo said on Monday the closure of the six outlets to be conducted on July 28 was part of the company's business transformation.

“We have taken actions to reenergize Giant to ensure that it will be able to fulfill the changing preferences of our customers,” he said as quoted by tempo.co, but he did not elaborate on the action the company would take after the closure.

The six outlets to be closed are Giant Express Mall Cinere Mall, Giant Express Mampang, Giant Express Pondok Timur Tambun, Giant Extra Jatimakmur, Giant Extra Mitra 10 Cibubur and Giant Extra Wisma Asri.

Expat scientists - This offers opinion as much as fact so take it as such

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/201 … tists.html

A strict enforcement of visa rules on foreign scientists in the past three years and a legal initiative to criminalize illegal foreign research could hamper scientific development in the country, local scientists have said. Since 2016, the government has required that foreign scientists acquire a permit and a “limited stay” visa to conduct research in the country, a policy that critics say practically serves as “red tape” that hinders the work of scientists. The Immigration Office has denied entry to at least two renowned Australian scholars – Dave McRae of Melbourne University and Ross Tapsell of Australian National University – for alleged visa violations in the past three months. “The researchers allegedly abused the tourist visa as it was not suitable for the purpose [of their visit],” Immigration Office spokesperson Sam Fernan...

Lion are moving their Bandung flights to that new airport in the middle of nowhere with no transport links except the toll road from July.
I mentioned before, I'm quite close to the place but it's far easier for me to go to Jakarta rather than use the new place unless I use my car and leave it at the airport - Not keen on that.

https://en.antaranews.com/news/127657/l … rt-in-july

Indonesia's low cost carrier Lion Air will start its operation in Kertajati International Airport in Majalengka, West Java on July 1, with 26 flights per day. "This has marked our full shift from Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Bandung, West Java," Lion Air's Corporate Communications Strategic Danang Mandala Prihantoro said in a statement here Monday.

Lion Air will operate 26 flights per day to 10 domestic destination cities, namely Medan, Pekanbaru, Batam, Surabaya, Denpasar, Mataram, Pontianak, Banjarmasin, Balikpapan, and Makassar.

Expats (and tourists) are about to have  harder time with foreign purchased mobile phones

https://jakartaglobe.id/context/govt-to … ile-phones

Jakarta. The government is finalizing a regulation to curb the use of illegal mobile phones in Indonesia.

The regulation will make it mandatory for the unique 15-digit international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number, assigned to every mobile phone, to be registered with the authorities. Local operators will not allow unregistered phones to connect to their cellular networks.

"[Mobile phone] operators would have to eliminate illegal mobile phones because the price difference between legal and illegal mobile phones on e-commerce platforms is between Rp 2 million and Rp 3 million [$141-$212]," Janu Suryanto, director of electronics and telematics at the Ministry of Industry, said over the weekend.

When the regulation is in place, mobile phones purchased abroad will have to be reported to the authorities and it will be subject to an additional tax.

Another East European ATM fraudster

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/201 … -bali.html

The police have apprehended a Bulgarian man, Krasimir Stoykov, 41, in Seminyak, Bali, for his alleged involvement in a card skimming case.

Bali Police general crime director Sr. Comr. Andi Fairan revealed Stoykov was nabbed on Tuesday morning at a Bank Mandiri ATM on Jl. Kunti, Seminyak.

Andi Fairan said the suspect had allegedly put a device inside the ATM to scan customer data and a hidden camera was also attached in the PIN cover of the ATM.

LGBT expats should be a little careful here as their sexuality could cause issues if they're too public. I'm not offering opinion on the subject as there's little or nothing to be gained by doing so, simply pointing out possible issues for some expats to note.

https://en.tempo.co/read/1227464/komnas … ma_Click_2

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) expressed rejection against the plan of Depok administration to pass a regional regulation concerning anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT).

“The government should not distinguish a person by differences in sexual preferences. Everyone has the same rights in the state,” said the commission member Amiruddin, Monday, July 22.

According to Amiruddin, such a regulation showed that the drafters denied the essence of the nation. He underlined that every citizen has the same position in the law regardless of their sexual orientation.

“State apparatus or those who run the state authority must understand this,” he asserted.


A total of seven factions in Depok Legislative Council (DPRD) submitted a draft bill to the DPRD chairman Hendrik Tangke Allo on December 31, 2018. The draft noted the agreement of the factions for the establishment of a regulation to curb LGBT in the city.

The seven factions are Gerindra Party, PPP Party, PAN Party, Golkar Party, Restorasi Nurani Bangsa Party, PKS Party, and PDIP Party.

Some ride hailing apps have been accused of data mining in the past, but we now have a man saying he can hack them externally, that giving him access to all any given user's data.

I have gojek and grab, but on a second phone that's only used for satnav and other non sensitive stuff. I suspect many expats have company data on their phones as I do, so I never install any such software on my main phone.
They can have the personal details - I have little care about them because there's buggar all they can do with them apart from spamming.

https://en.tempo.co/read/1228786/a-man- … ma_Click_2

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A Facebook user named Niko Tidar Lantang Perkasa claimed he could access user's data of Grab, Gojek, and Tokopedia by encrypting a financial technology (fintech) lending app.

“Not only that, this app can also record the history of your Grab and Gojek trips, I can see detailed data on pick-up location and destination, customer's and driver's phone number, email, GoPay balance, and vehicle plate of drivers,” said Niko as quoted from his Facebook on Thursday, July 25.

Niko said he was shocked to have been able to find many weaknesses and data from the third application which he refused to name.

“The app's database can be accessed publicly without authentication. From there I can see thousands users' data; starting from phone number, full name, full address, relatives' numbers, family card number, ID card number, until the photo of an ID card as well as users' selfie photo,” he added.

This could be a problem for expats bring their old mobile phones into Indonesia

https://jakartaglobe.id/context/only-ne … government

The government's plan to register the unique 15-digit international mobile equipment identity, or IMEI, number on each mobile phone sold in the local market will not apply retroactively to existing mobile phones already being used, an official said over the weekend. ...
...Once the new regulation is in place, Indonesians who buy a mobile phone in a foreign country must report it to the authorities and pay an additional tax or risk their device being blocked on local networks.

It doesn't mention expats, but I see problems ahead.

Bulgarians again..

https://coconuts.co/bali/news/4-bulgari … ing-cases/

This is getting to be a regular thing so check the ATM before you use it, and try to stick to ones in banks or supermarkets.

Let's hope these thieving scumbags get a very long holiday behind bars.

Sex might not be fun

https://coconuts.co/jakarta/news/austra … al-code-2/

The Australian government updated its official travel advice to its citizens living or visiting Indonesia today, warning them about the expected passage of Indonesia's revised criminal code (RKUHP) and highlighting that the new law would also apply to all foreigners, including its articles criminalizing sex and cohabitation outside of marriage.

I have absolutely no idea if expats could find themselves in hot water with this new law but it appears the first line will be the RT/RW system, so this is very locally monitored.

The slippery slope to extremism ,sad.

Jokowi put the breaks on this just this afternoon by delaying the bill's passage until the new parliament is inaugurated next month, meaning debate and a vote will begin again.

Anyone living in Indonesia for a long time is used to the never ending cycle of having conservative bills proposed (no booze, no bikinis, etc,) by the DPR only to have them eventually fizz out.

We are also used to the typical over reaction by DFAT...endlessly working to help promote Australian tourism.   

Not expat related as such but it doesn't hurt to know violent extremists are alive and well (expect their brains)

https://coconuts.co/jakarta/news/indone … with-isis/

Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto survived what appears to be an assassination attempt today, when he was attacked by an assailant wielding a sharp weapon during an official visit to Pandeglang, West Java.

It seems my post above was prophetic

https://7news.com.au/news/terrorism/fat … e-c-501075

2 arrested trying to attack Bali

"2 arrested trying to attack Bali"

Just for the sake of utter accuracy, they weren't arrested while trying to attack Bali...on the contrary, they were arrested while trying to flee Bali back to East Java. 

Indonesian law enforcement has been doing an awesome job in recent years staying at least one step ahead of would be terrorists.

I have to echo your praise of Indonesia's efforts to keep these murderous buggers in check but we need to know there are people out there willing to murder random strangers, and are weak minded enough to believe their warped imams that spout an extremely corrupt version of Islam that would kill by the thousand and leave Indonesia run by foreign masters from the middle east.

Independence, 17 August? Not if these foreign funded and controlled killers get their way.

LINK

An Australian woman, Susan Leslie O'Brien, 49, is standing trial for killing a local scooter rider. Earlier reports suggested she didn't have a local licence and was on the wrong side of the road. If found guilty, this could bring her a long prison sentence.

Garuda Indonesia used to have a terrible reputation as a lousy, dangerous airline but that's all changed. I've used them many times over the last few years and found their service to be nothing short of excellent - Even the in-flight food was nice - something that can't be said of many airlines.
This story, whilst only partially expat related, shows they are far away from their old days and take safety extremely seriously.

https://en.tempo.co/read/1259869/garuda … ver-cracks

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned airliner Garuda Indonesia has grounded one of its Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (NG) following the finding of cracks.

Garuda Vice Corporate Secretary M. Ikhsan Rosan stated that his side is waiting for decisions from the jet producer Boeing Co. “We are coordinating with Boeing for the maintenance,” said Ikhsan when met at The Tribrata, South Jakarta, Monday, Oct. 14.

Well done, Garuda.

For expats with offices, you might want to consider having photos of the president and vice president.
The official photos available here

https://www.setneg.go.id/view/index/fot … 19_sd_2024

Forget Transjakarta and the MRT, this report suggest a ski lift would be more useful - but I've a feeling the 'newspaper' might have their facts in a twist.

https://indonesiaexpat.biz/featured/jak … ow-motion/

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has stated that since 2013, Jakarta's ground level has dropped 40 metres and the sinkage is most marked in North Jakarta.

Have a read before they realise the error and edit it, then remember news should never be assumed truthful/accurate until you know it is.

New (ish) - Could be handy for expats from China

https://jakartaglobe.id/tech/indonesia- … n-december

Hong Kong. A major exhibition to facilitate business interactions between buyers and Asian mobile electronics suppliers will be held in Jakarta in December, with at least 400 booths already booked to make it the biggest electronics show ever in the country, an executive with the organizer said in Hong Kong on Friday.

The event is organized by Hong Kong-based trade company Global Sources, which has been running similar events in Asian cities since the early 2000s.

"There will be around 400 booths in the upcoming event. Next year, we will expand to 650 booths in Jakarta," John Kao, the vice president of Global Sources, told the Jakarta Globe.

The Jakarta show will occupy a 7,500-square-meter space at the Jakarta Convention Center on Dec. 5-7, arranged by local subsidiary Global Sources Indonesia.

More than 10,000 potential buyers are invited, mostly traders from Indonesian e-commerce platforms, John said.

Some people are just too stupid to learn

https://en.antaranews.com/news/135239/r … possession

Denpasarm, Bali (ANTARA) - The Denpasar district court in Bali province has sentenced a Russian national to seven years' imprisonment for possessing 200 grams of narcotics of N-N Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) type purchased online. The defendant was lawfully and convincingly proven guilty of possessing, keeping, controlling or providing class I narcotics in the form of a plant, the panel of judges presided over by Dewa Budi Watsara said Wednesday.

The court also fined the defendant Rp800 billion or spend another two months in jail.

Probably a good idea to avoid Greenpeace at the moment.  They might be right,. or they might be wrong, but they're likely to attract attention they don't like if they carry on doing stupid stunts.

https://en.antaranews.com/news/135236/g … is-cabinet

At least a dozen environmental activists climbed atop the two main monuments in Jakarta on Wednesday, to unfurl a yellow fabric sheet with messages of "Good People Choose Clean Energy" and "Fight Against Forest Destroyer". The campaign might act as alerts to the new ministerial cabinet of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) that was inaugurated here, Wednesday.

The campaigns which were organized at the "Selamat Datang Monument" in Central Jakarta and "Dirgantara Monument", South Jakarta, aimed to call on Indonesia's government and its new cabinet to halt use of coals, and immediately switch to cleaner and renewable energy, the Greenpeace Indonesia's forestry campaign manager, Arie Rompas stated in Jakarta.

Less expat related, more tourist related, and what could be a nice idea.
Indonesia has an amazing variety of wonderful dishes so pushing this could well be a very interesting way of attracting tourists

https://en.tempo.co/read/1263760/wishnu … ry-tourism

PS, minister, if you see this, remember to push the new education minister for more and better English lessons in school or your idea is a dead duck. You can't get tourist Dollars if you can't communicate with the tourists.

More for the less intelligent, or just plain idiotic, tourist than expats, but it tells a tail.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-u … 016b2e4773

Australian Scott James Harrison was lucky because the people he attacked accepted cash and their medical bills, but he might very easily have found himself locked up for a long time.
However, his wife might take very badly to him booting her out of their hotel room at 2 am so he could find himself single again.

Environmentally aware expats may take an interest in this

https://en.antaranews.com/news/135860/e … ew-station

Jakarta (ANTARA) -  Owners of electric vehicles (EVs) in Jakarta have no more needed longer time to charge their EV batteries. They just take 20 minutes to do that at an ultra-fast public charging station that state-owned electricity firm PLN had set up last month.

ANTARA observed on Sunday that the EV owners could shorten the length of time needed for charging their EV batteries from at least an hour to some 20 minutes at the ultra-fast charging station at the PLN office in Gambir, Central Jakarta.

At the moment, PLN has built one charging station with ultra-fast technology in Indonesia.

Apart from this ultra-fast charging station, PLN has also set up five regular power stations with 25 KWs to 50 KWs capacity in certain places  in Jakarta and South Tangerang.

These charging stations are located at PLN's Jakarta Raya Office; PLN's Bulungan Office, South Jakarta; Senayan City Mall; and AEON Mall BSD, South Tangerang City.

Expats might like to take a little care what they post on social media. Defamation laws here are criminal, and sentences can be harsh.

https://jakartaglobe.id/news/university … ernor-meme