*Link: ini baru pajak, yang di bawa kabur berapa?

*Link: Global Invasion by World Giant Corporations

*Link: Neoliberalism-and-Global-Invasion-by-World-Institutions

*Link: Tantangan-yang-harus-kita-hadapi-dalam-membongkar-corrupt-contract-atau-perampokan-di-tambang-freeport

*Tambang Freeport adalah asset dan sumber kekayaan nasional yang perlu diperjuangkan bukan hanya demi kepentingan rakyat setempat di Irian-Jaya, tetapi juga demi kepentingan dan kesejateraaan seluruh bangsa Indonesia secara merata.

*Kontrak yang ada sekarang ini jelas-jelas tidak menguntungkan negara dan bangsa Indonesia, apalagi penduduk Irian-Jaya. Karena itu kontrak Freeport perlu di reevaluasi dan di-PANSUS-kan di gedung DPR. Bila terbukti adakanya tindakan yang menyalahi konstitusi dan UUD 1945 dalam melindungi kekayaan alam Indonesia, maka corrupt contract ini perlu dibatalkan apapun resikonya dan penggalian tambang emas dan batubara di Freeport perlu di hentikan segera.

*Bila tekanan dan tantangan International terlalu besar, maka tambang Freeport perlu di nasionalisasikan sebagai jawaban dari tekanan dan tantangan International demi kepentingan penduduk setempat dan rakyat Indonesia secara menyeluruh.

*Sesuai dengan tuntutan di Konstitusi dan UUD 1945, semua sumber daya alam Indonesia harus dilindungi dan diproteksi dari cengkeraman dan invasion dari giant Corporations dari negera-negara maju. Karena itu, saya menghimbau kepada anggota DPR untuk segera mem-PANSUS-kan FREEPORT.

*Link to Videos:

Tambang Freeport I, Irian-Jaya

Tambang Freeport II

watch?v=QHZ_fXTva9I&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nuXtq_tY5I&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeedllH59n8&feature=related

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Link: Menguak-argumentasi-kasus-Bank-Century-edisi-ke-1

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Link: Menguak-argumentasi-kasus-Bank-Century-edisi-ke-2

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Keeping the spirit of check and balance between “Cicak vs. Buaya”

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Indonesian Legislatitive Building known as Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR), capital City of Jakarta

The recent arrest of 2 prominent members of KPK; Mr. Bibit S. Rianto and Mr. Chandra M. Hamzah, has created many political debates and protests toward the government, especially, toward President SBY for his unwillingness to intervene the matter. He further had a press conference to address the issue publicly and to explain his stand on the issue. I wish he does that with other critical issues, such as Indonesia massive foreign and domestic debts.

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What so great about Democracy government is the establishment of open competition amongst the members of the branches of government and other institutions within the government affair to do what is just and fair under the rule of law and not under the rule of man.

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The recent arrest by POLRI of 2 prominent members of KPK; Mr. Bibit S. Rianto and Mr. Chandra M. Hamzah, was an example of check and balance that shall be upheld under democratic government with one condition that any arrest of citizen by POLRI, a probable cause must first be established and an arrest warrant must be obtained from the Court. So, the arrest has to be an order from the Court and it is not in itself the power of POLRI, or KPK or other Judiciaries.

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Once an arrest warrant is obtained from the Court, POLRI has every legal ground uphold the rule of law by arresting those individuals regardless who they are. The job of POLRI here should be to uphold the rule of law by executing the Court’s orders either arrest warrants or, collection of evidents and investigations.

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Those Judiciaries such as: KPK, POLRI, Office for the Counsel of Prosecution (Kejaksaan) and other Judiciaries have to present and establish a probable cause first before the Judge to obtain such an arrest warrant. The Judge then will have to determine whether such a request of arrest warrant is warranted or not.

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So, once an arrest warrant is issued by the Court, the responsibility of the arrest lies on the shoulder of the Judge and not those who execute the order, in this case POLRI. The arrest warrant of citizen has been and will always be a Court order. If the people at large disagree with the arrest, then their disagreements shall be directed to those who issue the order, which is the Judge. The people will have to challenge the Judge in the Court and prove why the Judge’s oder of arrest warrant is wrong or unlawful.

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This has been judicial process in the democratic countries. It is also critical that the arrest of any citizen and the subsequent court proceedings to follow have to be in compliance with due process to respect individual’s rights under the law and constitution.

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The next critical action that must be followed is that under Constitution, Habeas Corpus, Declaration of Human Rights and other International documents require that once a person is detained or arrested by an authority, within 3 days after the arrest takes place, the charge (s) must be submitted in the Court of law against that person.

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No entity shall be allowed to arrest any citizen longer than 3 days without any charge being submitted in the Court of law. If after 3 days no charge (s) being submitted against that person under the Court of law, that person must be released.

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The problem in Indonesia is the fact that it takes so long to submit the charges against individuals who are being arrested, often times the charges are bogus, made up and those Judges are supposed to work independently go along issuing an arrest warrant because of the pressures from other branch of Government, Religious Organizations, Public Demands, other political reasons and simply bribery. The arrest warrant shall be strictly issued based on the establishment of a probable cause and evidence under the rule of law.

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The second problem in Indonesia is the fact that for the last 3 decades or more, the Indonesian Judicial System is so broken and so corrupt. People do not have any confidence whatsoever with the judicial system there. Double that with corrupt Police Department and is still ranked number # 1 as being the most corrupt institution in Indonesia based on the latest edition of the Transparency International Indonesia (TII) perception of corruption survey done in 2007. So, what can the people expect from such broken and corrupt entities? Justice? It’s a joke.

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That is why, it is understandable when the Indonesian people react decisively to defend these 2 individuals who have been working in an institution that is proven to be working excellently to combat the massive corruption called: KPK (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi).

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Under the Court of law, POLRI shall be limited to present evidences, write tickets, undertake further investigations and execute Court’s orders. No citizen shall be arrested and no property shall be taken away by POLRI without any Court’s order. These are basic human rights and individual sovereignty that must be upheld under the rule of law in a democratic government. POLRI shall never be allowed to make any settlement on the street even as small as traffic violations. That is the job of the Judges at the Judicial System to judge any matters in the Court of law.

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In the recent arrest members of KPK; Mr. Bibit S. Rianto and Mr. Chandra M. Hamzah, POLRI through designated Judiciary (Kejaksaan) has an obligation to submit the charge (s) against Mr. Bibit S. Rianto and Mr. Chandra M. Hamzah 3 days after the arrest took place in the Court of law. This is the due process that must be followed. The Court then will have to decide whether these individuals guilty or not. If they are, the will go to jail and if not, they will have to be set free.

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In that court proceeding is the time for both parties to present the case and even to challenge Judge’s order of issuing an arrest warrant. This is the critical components in the establishment of justice and due process in a democratic government under the rule of law and not under the rule of man. So, mounting public pressures and demands can not and shall not be used to justify to release or the arrest of any individuals. Why? That will be a violation the rule of law. That is a reflection of the rule of man.

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What would happen then with the rule of law when such a massive public demand has to prevail and be allowed to prevail? The job of the government and the law enforcements are to defend and uphold the rule of law despite these massive public pressures for the shake of establishing the rule of law in a society and not the rule of man.

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The release or arrest of individual has to be based on the rule of law and not public pressure. This shall be kept in mind to avoid further political chaos and disaster in the future. The Judge has to undertake his role and responsibilities to uphold the law with clarity firmly, justly and decisively.

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The action by President SBY not to intervene or to get involved in this matter is correct. This issue belongs to judicial system of Government and the Executive Branch shall stay away from it.

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The allegation toward the government that there is an attempt to marginalize the power of KPK are yet to be proven in the Court of law, and so the charges used against these 2 individuals. It is the job of the judicial system to uncover the plot. If it is proven to be true, then it is the job of the Court to bring those people who involved in the plot to be held accountable under rule of law. This is a judicial process and this process belongs to judicial system. The people will have to wait and see before any judgments are made.

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The action by President SBY to immediately appoint the replacement of these two individuals to undertake their tasks at KPK in their absence due to this arrest is also correct.

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In a nutshell, President SBY action was not done with the intention to marginalize the power of KPK, but it is to continue the work of KPK and to maintain check and balance between KPK and POLRI. Secondly, President SBY’s actions show and demonstrate being President of the country he is in charge at the Executive Branch of Government, not Legislative or Judicative and that no one shall be above the law including members of KPK.

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Now that the arrest have taken place, POLRI through the Office for Counsel of Prosecution (Kejaksaan) has to submit the charge (s) against these individuals and the accused’s lawyers have to present the line of defend. It is now within the judicial system of government to decide the matter whether these individuals guilty or not.

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For the last 3 decades or more under regime of ORDE-BARU, we have seen the corrupt Police Department and these public sentiments toward POLRI are not going away even in this era of reformation. I can understand the DISTRUST of the Indonesian people toward the POLRI because POLRI even until today has not-yet demonstrate their ability to be CORRUPT-FREE institution.

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Further more, KPK being a much smaller entity has proven their excellence works to hunt down those corruptors across the board and has generated excellence results compared to POLRI that have much bigger personnel. Those achievements deserve a credit in itself and the jobs as well as the people who have demonstrated their ability to combat corruption must be defended against those who are trying to marginalize their power to do the job. It makes sense and understandable.

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However, human beings are still human beings with their weakness that is prone to making mistakes and drawn into worldly temptations. It does not mean that those distinguished members of KPK, POLRI or members of other JUDICIARIES who are courageously working hard to combat corruption are free from committing corruptions and mistakes. Now that an allegation has been raised and an arrest warrant has been issued by the Court, we may have to let the court proceeding to take place and see what the outcome is and how the due process is taken.

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The people, members of Parliament and other Government bodies can express their voices and show supports to any of these entities that are now in competition in the Court of law. However, the President and members of Parliament can not influence or intervene against those people who are now working with the case at the judicial system. The subsequent actions shall be taken after the court proceeding took place and judgment is rendered by the Court.

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If the court’s decision deems to be unfair, unjust, not in the best interest of the country as a whole and to avoid further chaos and national instability in the country, members of Parliament as a whole shall have the right to vacate or nullify the Court’s decision with ¾ members of Parliament in favor. That is why in a Democratic government, there shall be no branch of Government that has an absolute power, such as Makamah Konstitusi. These 3 branches of Government must be co-equal and co-interdependence. This is the fundamental formula of Democratic government that can not be manipulated, altered or bargained to make Democracy works at best.

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The positive side with this situation occurred in Indonesia is that I strongly believe that now members of KPK and members of POLRI will continue to compete and this competition in itself will establish check and balance between the two government entities. When government entities are striving for goodness in healthy competition, the people get the benefits. This is the spirit of check and balance that shall be upheld. This is good and healthy.

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With a notion that everyone is innocent until proven guilty under the Court of law, the people will have to wait and see what kind of case and evident POLRI have against Mr. Bibit S. Rianto and Mr. Chandra M. Hamzah. We will also see what kind of defend these 2 individuals have in the Court of law. Again, Democracy is a government based on the rule of law, and not the rule of man. The Court has the role to judge and not the people at large, with one condition and expectation that the court will uphold their job and responsibility to be just and corrupt-free.

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This case should be a guiding example for those commissions or other public oversight agencies in Indonesia to undertake public-oversight role to establish transparency, check and balance for other government’s bodies and institutions. When businesses or government institutions compete, people get benefits. This kind of competition shall be established more in Indonesia.

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Indonesia needs to have PUBLIC OVERSIGHT BOARD across the level of government entities which consist of NGO’s, Independent Observers and volunteers from across walk of life who have the knowledge and expertise on the subject and get rid of many of those paid commissions established during the era of reformation that do not work and only wasting National Budget (APBN) Funds to oversee the work of the government entities, including but not limited to the following offices that have been reported and presumed publicly being the most distrusted and corrupted institutions in Indonesia:

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1.* Police Department
2.* Customs and Excise
3.* Immigration Office
4.* Traffic & Roads Authority (DLLAJR)
5.* City Government
6.* Land Department
7. * Port Authority (Pelindo)
8. * Courts
9. * Justice & Human Rights Department
10. * Airport Authority (Angkasa Pura)
11. * Regional tax offices
12. * Health Department (Depkes)
13. * Food & Drug Department (BPOM)
14. * Religious Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI)
15. * KPK
16. * KPU
17. * All BUMN (Badan Usaha Milik Negara)
18. * Parliament / House of Representatives
19. * Political Parties
20. * Registry & Permit Services
21. * Tax Authorities and Tax Offices
22. * Business & Private Sector
23. * All Utility Companies
24. * Military
25. * Education System
26. * Non-Government Offices (NGO’s)
27. * Medical Services
28. * Media
29. * Religious Bodies
30. * All Offices of Cabinet Ministers

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This public-oversight role toward the works of Government should be the job of members of Parliament (legislative) and the Indonesia Media at large. Since both entities are still lacking in accepting and executing this critical role, the people themselves either as individual or community based organizations or NGO’s will have to undertake this public oversight role by creating public oversight board that is recognized by the government and shall be regulated under the law that have a significant power.

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Indonesia has too many layers of government already and these layers of government make the administration process complicated, ineffective and inefficient besides draining much of the National Budget (APBN) funds. Remember in 2008 under SBY’s administration, the central government spent 77.88% of overall total revenue (APBN). That is a lot of spending by a single entity! So, the action taken to fix the corrupt and broken entities shall be taken in such a way not to add more layers or, get rid of those people who have made the institution broken and distrusted and replace with new people. If they can not be trusted and incapable of doing their jobs, it only makes sense to fire them.

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In the absence of trust toward the members of Parliament and Media at large to oversee the works of the government, the people will have to oversee directly the works of the government, agencies, representatives, elected officials and other departments that they have created.

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This process will retain the people’s ability to control over the instruments that they have created through process of general election, selection, referendum or appointment. This reflects the very spirit of Democracy as government of the people, by the people and for the people.

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Pengurus

Partai Masa Depan Indonesia Mandiri (PARMADIM)

www.parmadim.com

]]> http://parmadim.com/2009/11/01/peperangan-hukum-dalam-democracy-antara-cicak-vs-buaya/feed/ http://parmadim.com/2009/10/03/usa-a-compassionate-nation/ http://parmadim.com/2009/10/03/usa-a-compassionate-nation/#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:00:21 +0000 Chris Komari http://parmadim.com/?p=647 sumatra-indonesia

Northern California, October 1^st, 2009

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In the end when life is over, what most important thing in life is not what we have, it is not how much money we have in our bank account, how big and luxurious our houses and cars are, what it is what we do to others. That is the living legacy that last forever. (cfk)

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Dear Fellow Indonesians, Friends, Business Associates, Profit and Non-Profit Entities, Community Leaders and Organizers, Corporate Liaison and Citizen of the United States of America:

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I am writing you in response and at the request of NGO’s and non-profit entities in Indonesia that have reached us in their efforts to help the victims of the recent double Earthquakes that struck the Island of Sumatra, Indonesia.

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For the past 5 years, this Island of Sumatra has been bombarded with natural disasters one after the other. The great Earthquake and Tsunami disaster in December 26, 2004 seems still fresh in our memory. And now, double earthquakes just struck the same Island.

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To date at 3:37 PM, there are over 1,100 people have died and this number will rise up as the days go by and the evacuation efforts proceed. Our resource reported that on that faithful day, Department of Marine Affairs and Fisheries was holding a seminar at 4 stars hotel Ambacang in the city of Padang, attended by over 100 people and additional guests who were staying at that hotel. All of them were trapped inside the hotel when the hotel collapsed. Only 13 people were discovered and all of them were dead. The evacuation process was very challenging due to the difficulty and lack of access to the victims buried by the rubble.

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Indonesian Community Center (ICC) in Northern California, USA in cooperation with our partners in Indonesia, such as: International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) in Jakarta; Yayasan Cahaya Perempuan (Women Crisis Center) In Bengkulu, Sumatra; A forum of 27 different NGO’s under Learning Forum for Capacity Building/FBCB in Sumatra Island, Indonesia, are holding funds raising effort to help the victims of these double Earthquakes in Sumatra with whatever we can.

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We understand the economic challenges we face at home in America. However, the American people have been known as a nation of compassion and are always there to lend a hand when the call comes regardless of our differences and challenges we face at home. This compassion has been shown in the past for many years and will continue today. We thank you and appreciate your contribution and please, make your donations to those victims in the following way:

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1)>You can wire transfer directly to Indonesia in Bengkulu to Yayasan Cahaya Perempuan WCC, Bank Mandiri Bengkulu Branch Office, located at Jalan Ahmad Yani, Account # 113-0004367540, attention Ms. Teti Sumeri. She is the coordinator for disaster relief in Bengkulu from Learning Forum for capacity Building/FBCB and Women Crisis Center. She can be reached at (+62) 812782 5686 and (+62) 736 348 186.

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2)>You can also send your donations locally through Indonesian Community Center (ICC); a non-profit entity under 501 (c) (3) with TAX ID # 59-3841158, Wells Fargo Bank, Account # 2348440609. All donations are tax deductible. You can simply mail your donations to one of the following addresses:

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>1007 West 2^nd Street, Antioch, CA 94509 (USA)

>1230 San Tomas Aquino Road, Suite #220, San Jose, CA 95117 (USA)

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On behalf of Indonesian Community Center (ICC), Ms. Tina Subana (Chairwoman) and I, Chris Komari (CFO), will guarantee that your donations will be wire-transferred or sent to Indonesia to Yayasan Cahaya Perempuan in Bengkulu, Indonesia. All list of donation will be available for public view and upon request.

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Public funds raising event in San Francisco and greater Bay Area is under consideration. We appreciate for your donations and participations to help those victims of the recent double Earthquakes in Sumatra, Indonesia. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you.

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Best Regards,

Chris Komari

Co-Founder/CFO

Indonesian Community Center (ICC)

With former Governor of DKI Jakarta, Lieutenant General Sutiyoso & a Presidential Candidate 2009

Saat ini ribuan caleg berlomba-lomba menjadi anggota DPR. Tapi ngomong ngomongberapa sih gaji mereka?

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Penerimaan anggota DPR terbagi menjadi tiga kategori, yaitu rutin perbulan, rutin non perbulan dan sesekali.

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Rutin perbulan meliputi :

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· Gaji pokok : Rp 15.510.000.

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· Tunjangan listrik : Rp 5. 496.000.

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· Tunjangan Aspirasi : Rp 7.200.000.

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· Tunjangan kehormatan : Rp 3.150.000.

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· Tunjangan Komunikasi : Rp 12.000.000.

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· Tunjangan Pengawasan : Rp 2.100.000.

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· Total : Rp 46.100.000/per bulan

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· Total : Rp 554.000.000/per tahun

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The magnitude of corruption in Indonesia without a doubt is very alarming. It is widespread in many major public institutions serving the public across the country.

Bribes paid by firms in Indonesia arise principally from red tape, in particular licenses, imposed by local government officials. Red tape generates direct revenues (fees) plus indirect revenues in the form of bribes. The public official at the local level (municipalities) are hampered by insufficient revenues from formal tax and transfer sources to pay competitive salaries to officials and meet public service expenditure requirements, because local tax rates are capped by the center and inter-governmental transfers are limited. Thus the DIRECT and INDIRECT (bribes) revenues from local red tape are very critical to local finances.

It does not surprise us why Indonesian Police Department has been ranking on the TOP list of those corrupt institutions in Indonesia consistently for several years despite denial from its Police Chief. This does suggest the magnitude of the corruption in Indonesia knowing that other critical institutions such as: Judicial System, Parliament, Political Parties, Tax Authorities and Local Government were taking the top 5 corrupt institutions.

The latest edition of the Transparency International Indonesia (TII) perceptions of corruption survey put the Immigration office as the third most bribed institution in Indonesia, with a third of those surveyed claiming they had paid bribes there. The full list and percentage figures refer to whether respondents claimed to have paid a bribe as below:

In the previous year in 2007, similar survey was conducted. The survey was taken based on questions asked to 1,010 people in Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung. It showed the competition for most corrupt institution was fierce, with the police narrowly winning as the public officials most likely to take bribes:

31% of people said they had paid a bribe to obtain services, higher than the 22% average for the Asia Pacific region.

March 14th 2007. A separate corruption index, for Asia, put out by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), has been released. Indonesia is still at the second most corrupt country in Asia as Thailand, while the Philippines takes the crown being the most corrupt country in Asia.

• 1: Singapore, scored 1.20 (1.30, last year)
• 2: Hong Kong, 1.87 (3.13)
• 3: Japan, 2.10 (3.01)
• 4: Macau, 5.11 (4.78)
• 5: Taiwan, 6.23 (5.91)
• 6: Malaysia, 6.25 (6.13)
• 7: China, 6.29 (7.58)
• 8: South Korea, 6.3 (5.44)
• 9: India, 6.67 (6.76)
• 10: Vietnam 7.54 (7.91)
• 11: Indonesia, 8.03 (8.16),
• 12: Thailand, 8.03 (7.64)
• 13: Philippines, 9.40 (7.80)

The current President of Indonesia, Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has undertaken vigorous efforts to eradicate much of these corruption debacles. In the absence of Judicial System credibility, KPK (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi) was then established to undertake the task. The efforts may have generated some results and deter some of those institutions from committing such a crime wildly and openly.

However, there is a deeper question to ask.

Using one of the current Presidential candidates; Mr. Rizal Malarangen’s slogans: “If there is a will, there is a way”. This applies to corruption as well, doesn’t it? It neither surprises us nor puzzles us when those institutions are going to develop a different way, much of a tighter and organized way to commit such a crime to circumvent KPK. KPK can continue to hunt down those corruptors and put them in jail. Will this effort eradicate much of the corruption in Indonesia? The answer is absolutely NOT!

There are underlying corruption issues that must be addressed. Unless these underlying issues of corruption are addressed and resolved, the corruptions in Indonesia are yet to continue using new methods and tactics.

What are the underlying issues of corruption?

Corruption is a crime. And a crime happens because of 2 things that happen concurrently, which are:

1. A desire to commit crime
2. An opportunity to commit such a crime.

Both of these issues need to be addressed by Indonesian Government with whatever means, ways, and capacities she can. What is a better way to minimize gap of opportunity to commit such a crime then establishing PUBLIC OVERSIGHT in every public institution? Public Oversight does not necessarily mean that the public have to be there working in those institutions monitoring their works. The work mechanism and the accounting system or procedures in those institutions shall be open for public scrutiny where all fares or fees are published and there will be no hidden fees. Let’s the public oversee the institutions who serve them. Creates a system of government where the people who work in those institutions responsible directly to the public.

One other major factor that must be addressed is of course, the much needed funds (budget allocation by Central Government) for those public institutions who serve the people across the country. No body can run an institution efficiently with lack or insufficient funds. That fund allocation shall include descent salary for the officers or employees to support family to live a descent life. This brings to the next point.

One issue that I label it as the circle of the devil why the Indonesian Government is NOT able or incapable of providing the needed funds for those public institutions, especially, at the municipality level is because Indonesia is still in a deep debt trap. Are you aware the significant amount of Indonesia’s current foreign and domestic debts?

Double that with the wasteful monstrous Central Government spending over 66% of national budget in 2007, and triple that with insignificant economic policy by the Indonesian government to address the weakening currency Rupiah for the last 28 years, making millions and millions Indonesian people continue to suffer living under poverty for many and many more years if not for a generation to come for lack of employment and job opportunities. It is a sobering reality.

I have pointed out over and over again; a broken record on my own through out my political engagements in this election season alone that Indonesia’s Foreign and Domestic Debts are the CIRCLE OF THE DEVIL; the one problem that must be resolved once and for all if we want to see any significant change in Indonesia. This is biggest of the biggest, the number #1 top priority issue that must be resolved by any new President of Indonesia, regardless who they are. Unless this issue is resolved, I don’t see how any significant change to the millions and millions life of Indonesian people can be profoundly claimed.

For any President candidate who says otherwise if fooling nobody but herself or himself! The fact, reality and figures are there! Any Presidential candidate who does not mention Indonesia’s massive foreign and domestic as the most depressing issue that must be resolved first in his/her Presidential campaign issues will do nothing but maintaining status quo if elected. Those are Presidential candidates who have style but lack of substance that shall not be supported.

It is very unfortunate that as the Presidential election in Indonesia is approaching very rapidly there is not even a single Presidential candidate until today who has the vision and courage to bring up this issue openly and publicly, let alone of coming up with a comprehensive plan to resolve Indonesia’ monstrous debts. All what we see and hear are nothing but empty slogans, empty promises and rhetoric. It is a pathetic reality that remains the same. Do you care? Wake up people!

Further down the list, real estate mogul Trihatma Haliman amassed $900 million selling apartments in Jakarta. Others, like Eddy William Katuari’s Wing Group and Liem Sioe Liong’s Indofood are involved in retail laundry detergent and instant noodles respectively. Aburizal Bakrie, the current minister for the economy, was ranked 6th. Upon being asked as to why he was not ranked first he is reported to have said only “I wish”.

The complete list of the forty richest men in Indonesia is as follow:

1. Sukanto Tanoto & family
2. Putera Sampoerna & family
3. Eka Tjipta Widjaja & family
4. Rachman Halim & family
5. R. Budi Hartono & family
6. Aburizal Bakrie & family
7. Eddy William Katuari & family
8. Trihatma Haliman
9. Arifin Panigoro
10. Liem Sioe Liong & family
11. Mochtar Riady & family
12. Peter Sondakh
13. Prajogo Pangestu
14. Martua Sitorus
15. Paulus Tumewu
16. Murdaya Poo and Siti Hartati Cakra
17. Husein Djojonegoro & family
18. Chairul Tanjung
19. Hadi Surya
20. Tan Kian
21. Sjamsul Nursalim
22. George and Sjakon Tahija
23. Edwin Soeryadjaya
24. Kartini Muljadi and Dian Paramita Tamzil
25. Harjo Sutanto & family
26. Soegiharto Sosrodjojo
27. Tan Siong Kie
28. Aksa Mahmud
29. Soetjipto Nagaria
30. Ciputra & family
31. Kris Wiluan
32. Sutanto Djuhar & family
33. Husein Sutjiadi
34. Boenjamin Setiawan & family
35. Tomy Winata
36. Jusuf Kalla
37. Soedarpo Sastrosatomo & family
38. Alim Markus & family
39. Jakob Oetama
40. Tjandra Kusuma

December 14th, 2007

Aburizal Bakrie is Indonesia’s richest man. Forbes Asia list of Indonesia’s richest men and families, the top ten:

1. Aburizal Bakrie and family (Bakrie Group): $5.4 billion
2. Sukanto Tanoto (April and Asian Agri): $4.7 billion
3. R. Budi Hartono: $3.14 billion
4. Michael Hartono (Budi & Michael Hartono, part owners of Djarum & BCA): $3.08 billion
5. Eka Tjipta Widjaja and family (Sinar Mas Group): $2.8 billion
6. Putera Sampoerna and family (Sampoerna Strategic): $2.2 billion
7. Martua Sitorus (Wilmar International): $2.1 billion
8. Rachman Halim and family (Gudang Garam): $1.6 billion
9. Peter Sondakh (Rajawali Group): $1.45 billion.
10. Eddy William Katuari and family (Wings Group): $1.39 billion
    

Last year Aburizal Bakrie, the Co-ordinating minister for the Peoples’ Welfare, came in at sixth, with wealth of $1.2 billion, and Sukanto Tanoto led the rankings.

Vice-president Jusuf Kalla ranked 30th while Bambang Trihatmodjo was at 33rd. In general Indonesia’s richest men have seen huge gains in wealth on last year, with their combined net worth rising to $938 billion, up from $575 billion in 2006, which Forbes says was due to strong equity values and healthy real estate markets, as well as the weak dollar.

December 18th, 2008,

The Forbes list of the top 40 richest businessmen sees a downturn in fortunes for Indonesia’s wealthiest.

Sukanto Tanoto heads the 2008 Forbes’ list of Indonesia’s richest men, up from 2nd last year, while Aburizal Bakrie drops from 1st to 9th:

1. Sukanto Tanoto ($2 billion net worth)
2. R. Budi Hartono ($1.7 billion)
3. Michael Hartono ($1.6 billion)
4. Putera Sampoerna ($1.5 billion)
5. Martua Sitorus ($1.3 billion)
6. Peter Sondakh ($1 billion)
7. Eddy William Katuari ($1 billion)
8. Eka Tjipta Widjaja ($950 million)
9. Aburizal Bakrie ($850 million)
10. Murdaya Poo ($825 million)
11. Anthoni Salim ($690 million)
12. Wonowidjojo family (Rachman Halim) ($640 million)
13. Chairul Tanjung ($625 million)
14. Trihatma Haliman ($470 million)
15. Arifin Panigoro ($430 million)
16. Sjamsul Nursalim ($425 million)
17. Mochtar Riady ($420 million)
18. Harjo Sutanto ($340 million)
19. Husein Djojonegoro ($300 million)
20. Soegiharto Sosrodjojo ($275 million)
21. Aksa Mahmud ($260 million)
22. Hary Tanoesoedibjo ($240 million)
23. Garibaldi Thohir ($216 million)
24. Theodore Rachmat ($215 million)
25. Low Tuck Kwong ($214 million)
26. Edwin Soeryadjaya ($210 million)
27. Prajogo Pangestu ($200 million)
28. Paulus Tumewu ($190 million)
29. Jusuf Kalla ($185 million)
30. Tan Kian ($175 million)
31. Sutanto Djuhar ($165 million)
32. Kartini Muljadi ($130 million)
33. Soegiarto Adikoesoemo ($120 million)
34. Alim Markus ($115 million)
35. George & Sjakon Tahija ($110 million)
36. Kris Wiluan ($105 million)
37. Jakob Oetama ($80 million)
38. Hadi Surya ($70 million)
39. Eka Tjandranegara ($60 million)
40. Ciputra ($55 million)
    

Fourteen men or families lost at least half of their fortunes, including ex-billionaires Aburizal Bakrie and Eka Tjipta Widjaja, while only two of the 40 added to their fortunes, but Forbes suggests this was due to improved detective work on their part rather than any appreciation of assets or business success. The three new-comers to the list, Low Tuck Kwong (Bayan Resources), and Garibaldi Thohir and Theodore Rachmat (Adaro Energy) are all involved in the coal industry.

What is so significant with this list of Indonesia richest men?

First, majority of those richest men in Indonesia from 2006, 2007 and 2008 adopted Javanese-names. But in reality, those guys are not Javanese descent. Majority of those richest men listed are Chinese descent wrapped themselves around with Javanese names to blend in. This does not suggest that I am a racist person in any stretch of imagination. I am presenting the facts as is. I respect those Chinese-Indonesian brothers and sisters who work hard to accumulate wealth.

Second, the fact that majority of those richest men are non-native Indonesian, this phenomenon warrants public question on public policies how Indonesia’s domestic economic policies were undertaken by the previous and the current administration in such a way that such a massive Indonesian wealth are now being held by non-native of Indonesian. Such an imbalance wealth between native and non-native Indonesian create social and economic jealousy. The widening gap between the richest and the poor; between the Chinese descent and the native Indonesian shall be remedied if we don’t want to see the 1998 tragedy to be repeated.

Third, it is obvious that when things go wrong in Indonesia, those funds that are now held in Indonesia’s banks can be easily transferred to other Banks overseas and thus, it does not benefit Indonesia at the time of crisis and desperate needs, such as WAR. This is where banking policy and procedures in Indonesia needs to be reformed to protect Indonesia national interest.

Fourth, Forbes Magazine measures their wealth based on public holding of shares, stocks, bonds and securities. There is no doubt that there are plenty rich Indonesians who do not have public holding in terms of owning shares, stocks, bonds or securities. Thus, there are many other richest Indonesians categorized as millionaires or billionaires that are not included in those lists.

Fifth, If Forbes Magazine report was true that the total combined wealth of these richest men in Indonesia closed to $1 trillion US dollar; precisely stood at $938 billion, as Forbes reported. These figures are in direct contrast with Indonesia’s massive debts that stood at $ 140.9 Billion in 2007. That shows you how insignificant is Indonesia’s debts compared to the wealth that these 40 Indonesian richest men have.

Sixth, now compare these figures with Indonesia’s national budget figure (2007-2008), which states that Indonesia total revenue was projected to stand at Rp.723.100.000.000.000.00 (Rp. 723.1 trillion or $80.3 billion). Meanwhile Indonesia’s total spending was projected to stand at Rp.763.600.000.000.000.00 (Rp. 763.6 trillion or $84.8 billion), which results in Rp.40.500.000.000.000.00 trillion in deficits or $4.5 billion. These budget projections were based on OIL price at $63 per barrel.

Wow, what a zero……! I am just dizzy by looking at it. Those are real zeros that we; the Indonesian people owe to dozens of foreign and domestic creditors.

Seven, the fact that Indonesia and its million citizens continue to suffer because of this massive debt trap and these 40 richest men do not seem to care but their own wealth show that Indonesia needs a new leadership who understand the big picture of the issue.

Imagine this!

If the Government of Indonesia (GOI) provides a subsidy, loan or grant as low as $1,000,000.00 US dollar to every Indonesian, what that money can do for a family?

This $1 million USA dollar can be used to buy:

• A very nice and comfortable brand new house
• A brand new 2009 Mercedes Benz 700 series 12 cylinders
• A 70” FLAT screen TV with digital disc
• A brand new flat screen PC sets and its color laser printer with Internet access
• A brand new lazy and cozy furniture and dining table sets
• Enough money to pay for their children college funds
• Enough money to pay for Health Insurance
• Enough fund to buy gasoline for the entire life up to 75 years of age
• Enough money to even buy foods at nice Restaurants everyday for the entire family
• And there will be enough funds left unspent until they die….

That is how much $1 million US dollar worth in Indonesia for Indonesian family that I call it “PROSPERITY”.

Even with this scenario, Indonesian Government will only have to come up with  the most of $238,000,000.00 ($238 million dollar) assuming that Indonesia’s population now stands at 238,000,000 people. Imagine that Indonesia now owes $136 billion US dollar. Yes, it is in billion with “big B” and not in million with small “M”.

How Indonesia ends up with $136 billion US dollar in debt in just mind boggling. Who spent that much money and for what? Don’t we have the right to know and to be informed?

On top of this, now we know that 40 Indonesian richest men are holding over $938 billion US dollar.

President SBY and his Democrate Party Claim:

First Claim. In the recent Presidential campaign, President SBY and his Democrat Party have claimed his achievements for paying off the $7.6 billion to the IMF.

What the majority Indonesian people do not know is the fact that SBY’s administration was issuing bonds known as SUN (Surat Utang Negara) resulting in additional DOMESTIC DEBTS as big as $6.4 billion in 2007. By the end of 2008, SBY’s administration targeted to get additional $10.6 billion in selling bonds, which total come up to $17 billion US dollar.

Now go figure! He paid off $7.6 billion to IMF and Indonesia is free from IMF restrictions. But in doing so, SBY’s administration created additional domestic debts for $17 billion US dollar in 2 years (2007 and 2008). That is just like robbing Peter to pay Paul. The same old story! Is this the accomplishment that SBY claim to have in this campaign season?

Second claim: was the 7% economic growth. What is the 7% in economic growth can do with the faltering economy, massive unemployment and massive debts trap? He does not get it, does he?

Third Claim was combating corruption? I give him a credit in this effort. But corruption is not the only problem. His success is just a drop in a big bucket.

Even if he is successfully minimizing corruption, there are other depressing issues that he failed to address during his 4 years in office. All of these times, I have not seen any efforts from his administration to resolve Indonesia’s massive debts, declining rupiah currency for the last 28 years and massive spending by the Central Government.

If he does not bother and see the needs to address those critical issues 4 years in office, what make you think that he will care next time around? He did not care then, why he cares now. Don’t be fooled!

Below is a link to more issues facing Indonesia:

http://www.indonesiamatters.com/2431/presidential-debates/ ]]> http://parmadim.com/2008/12/31/indonesias-richest-men/feed/