Report # 104
Business and Politics in Muslim World
Tatheer Zahra Sherazi
23 January to 29 January
Summary
At Political Front
INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, facing falling domestic popularity despite winning plaudits from investors, has found time to release his third album of pop songs in Jakarta.
The president's album, entitled "I'm Certain I'll Make It," comes as his government's popularity has declined over the expensive bailout of a local bank in 2008.
"In my struggle to serve the country, sometimes during my leisure time, I express my feelings in the form of arts," yesterday's edition of an English-language newspaper, the Jakarta Post, quoted Yudhoyono as saying. "This came as a surprise for us, that he had a chance to sing while the people are crying," Rijalul Imam, the head of the Indonesian United Students Action group, was quoted as saying by Detik.com.
The popularity of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has dropped, partly owing to controversy over a bank bail-out and perceived back-pedalling in fighting corruption, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
A nationwide survey of 2,900 people conducted this month found that Yudhoyono still enjoyed good ratings from a substantial majority of Indonesians but his approval ratings had fallen to 70 per cent from 85 per cent in July, the Indonesian Survey Institute said.
The pollster attributed the drop to respondents' unhappiness with the president's performance in areas such as law enforcement and the economy.
An ongoing tussle over the government's decision to bail out a failing small bank in 2008 and Yudhoyono's perceived waning commitment to fighting corruption has contributed to the decline, it said.
Thousands of Indonesians have taken to the streets to express dissatisfaction with the performance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has completed the first 100 days of his second term.
They say the president has failed to crack down on corruption and they reject his economic policies which give free rein to the market.
Demonstrations were held near the presidential palace in the capital Jakarta and in several other cities including Surabaya and Ambon in the Moluccas. In Ambon, the protesters tried to storm the regional government building and set fire to a poster of President Yudhoyono.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has denied claims that he is trying to stir up anti-Christian by saying that the Sept 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York was staged.
"Many people may think that I am trying to stir up the matter by publicly commenting that the attack on the United States was staged but I am firm with my
point of view," he told reporters after attending a dinner organised by the Penang Medical Practitioners' Society here on Saturday.
The former prime minister said there were groups of people who thought that he was trying to stir anti-Christian sentiments by commenting on the attack at
this point of time.
The outcome of the asset seizure trial next month is expected to affect the intensity of red shirt protests in the future, former premier Somchai Wongsawat
says.He said the verdict would have a direct impact on the political situation.
The case is filed in the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions against ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Mr Somchai's
brother-in-law. The court will deliver its verdict on Feb 26.
Mr Somchai, a former judge, said political stability depended on how the red shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship supporters react to the
Verdict. Many red shirts are loyal supporters of Thaksin.
The Justice secretary who served under the administration of former President Joseph Estrada said that President Gloria Arroyo could pick the next chief justice before her term ends this year.
In a two-page opinion, former Artemio Tuquero wrote that President Arroyo was not precluded by law from appointing the replacement for Chief Justice Reynato
Puno, who retires on May 17. Tuquero, a former dean of the University of the East College of Law and of the Manuel L. Quezon University College of Law, added that he strongly believes that once President Arroyo appoints the next chief justice, it should remain valid unless declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
The Liberal Party leaders have said that President Arroyo’s successor should pick the next chief justice, arguing against so-called midnight appointments.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday said restructuring of the economy, dealing with population shortfall and updating the political system were the three priorities for the city-state.
Speaking at the annual conference of the Institute of Policy Studies entitled Singapore Perspectives 2010, he said updating the political system would be the
most difficult one to achieve.
Geo-Strategic Front
A Cambodian cargo ship, MV Layla S, was hijacked off the Somalian port of Berbera in the Gulf of Aden, a top maritime authority said in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The crew members are said to be a mix of Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Somalian and possibly Syrian nationals.
At Economic Front
Brunei Darussalam will be embarking on a new project that will highlight the Islamic side in this region by offering tourism packages, which will also impart knowledge on the spread of Islam and its significance.
Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya, Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, said, "We should promote the Islamic theme" considering that we are an Islamic nation.
According to Sheikh Jamaluddin, CEO of Brunei Tourism, it is hoped that the project will be ready by next year to be presented to other tourism ministers who will be in Cambodia for the 2011 Asean Tourism Forum (ATF).
The Malaysia Tourism Board and Brunei Tourism have verbally agreed to discuss the framework of the project and hope to follow the footsteps of the Buddhism Trail that started in Myanmar.
Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei could be on its way to becoming a data/information storage hub for countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, said Graeme Kemlo from Senatas, an internationally recognised and accredited company for its high-speed network encryption technology.
The general manager of marketing communications said that this information was disclosed to him by a government agency which could not be disclosed during press time.
"I am only telling you what we were told but there is apparently a plan afoot to establish a series of data centres which will effectively allow organisations, governments and businesses, among others to send their data to Brunei to be backed up," he said.
The Philippine economy grew at its slowest pace in 11 years in 2009 as the global economic crunch hit exports and investment, officials said Thursday.
Growth in gross domestic product faded to 0.9 percent in 2009 from 3.8 percent in 2008 -- the weakest since the economy shrank 0.6 percent in 1998 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.
Last year's growth was still within the government's 0.8 percent to 1.8 percent target and shows the Philippine economy's resilience, said acting National Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos.
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, on Saturday, slammed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescriptions’ asserting that
there were no universal recipe to financial crises.
He said “IMF has been proven wrong” in Malaysia’s case during the 1997-99 Asian financial crisis. Razak, whose keynote address at CII Partnership Summit-2010’ inaugural was read out by Malaysian Minister for International Trade, Dato Mustapa Bin Mohammed, said during that crisis his government’s decision to
peg the exchange rate of Malaysian ringgit to that of US dollar was received with “horror” by the IMF. However, Malaysia responded to the crisis in its own way and took a series of measures to stem the outflow of capital and to stabilise its currency, which
turned out to be the “most judicious” given the circumstances, Razak said, adding, the IMF’s diagnosis and prognosis was proved wrong. Malaysia was thus
affected to a “much lesser extent” by the Asian financial crisis than other countries which accepted IMF’s prescription, he said. Though globalisation was
about change, countries differed in their ability to respond to this change, he pointed out.
Hence, “we have to recognise that nations differ in their capacity to change and they must be given the space to arrive at their own solution, whether on
issues related to subsidies, the removal of trade barriers or financial deregulation,” he said.
Malaysia’s rubber products export is expected to hit RM11.1bil this year with the bulk contributed by rubber gloves, said Malaysian Rubber
The Arab Health 2010 exhibition ended here Thursday with Malaysian companies racking up US$4.19 million in sales and another US$30.35 million in potential business deals.
Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) brought in 15 healthcare-related companies from Malaysia for the four-day show while 10 others took part outside the Matrade umbrella.
The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (Mier) has maintained its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast of 3.7% for Malaysia this year in view of the improving macroenomic indicators.
It also sees a 5% GDP growth for 2011 after estimating that the domestic economy contracted 3.3% in 2009.
“The technical recession is likely to end in the fourth quarter 2009,” the research institute said in its report on the Malaysian economic outlook released yesterday.
Peter Costello’s first major private sector venture is a $US600m investment fund aiming to bring agricultural technology to Cambodia, one of the world’s most corrupt countries.
Last year, Costello retired from federal politics and became managing director and partner at corporate advisory outfit BKK Partners, founded and run by ex-
Goldman Sachs and NAB execs and chaired by Alistair Walton, a long-time Costello mate from his days in student politics.
At Social Front
The Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI) lambasted the government for failing to protect Indonesian workers overseas, saying more than 1,000 of them had died while doing their jobs last year.
SBMI chairman M. Miftah Farid said more than 6 million Indonesians were now making a living abroad due to the government's failure to provide enough jobs. "Ironically, the government has also failed to protect workers who are forced to find jobs overseas," he said as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.
Indonesian authorities are considering a petition to tear down a statue of US President Barack Obama as a boy, only a month after the bronze was unveiled in Jakarta.
The statue of “Little Barry,” as Obama was known when he lived in the capital in the late 1960s, stands in central Jakarta’s Menteng Park.
“The statue is of Obama as a child, not as the US president. His relatives and friends who erected it said it’s meant to motivate children to study hard and dream big,” Bintarto said.
Members of the “Take Down the Barack Obama Statue in Menteng Park” group on Facebook say Obama has done nothing for Indonesia.
Malaysian prosecutors charged three Muslim men Friday in the firebombing of a church-the first suspects in a string of assaults on places of worship amid a dispute over whether no Muslims can refer to God as "Allah."
Arson attacks, vandalism and other incidents at 11 churches, a Sikh temple, three mosques and two Muslim prayer halls in recent weeks have been a blow to
decades of multiracial harmony in this Muslim-majority country.
PM's Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey yesterday slammed Human Rights Watch's (HRW) annual report as a distortion, and questioned its sources of
information.Mr Sathit claimed that the report, released last week, contained inaccuracies, especially concerning the government's handling of street protests in Pattaya
and Bangkok in April last year.
He said allegations that the government's handling of the situation was responsible for fatalities was absolutely untrue."It contradicts the facts. The US government even complimented the Thai government for maintaining law and order and avoiding loss of life. Foreign press correspondents were also there [covering the protests] and their reports did not match HRW's," he said.Mr Sathit called into question HRW's sources of information, and suggested that the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) may
The Philippine military on Monday commissioned six upgraded Armed Personnel Carriers which it said will boost its capability in fighting threat groups,
particularly the leftist New People's Army.
"The launching marks a step towards the military's efforts to upgrade its fleet of APCs. The new armored vehicles will play a key role in supporting the
nation's Security Operations," said the military public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner.
The Philippine government and Muslim separatists held two days of talks in Malaysia as they work towards a peace deal to end decades of
conflict, officials said Thursday.Malaysian facilitator Othman Razak said negotiators from the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest of the country's Muslim rebel groups, met in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and Thursday.
After a 16-month impasse, the two sides last month resumed negotiations towards ending a separatist rebellion in the southern island of Mindanao that has
left more than 150,000 people dead.In the latest talks they reviewed each other's draft positions, Othman said, adding they would meet again on February 18-19 when they will "identify next steps towards achieving a comprehensive, compact and a negotiated solution".He also said that international monitors would return to Mindanao "in the coming weeks."The Philippines' chief negotiator, Rafael Seguis, said there had been no breakthrough in this week's talks.
The Philippines will borrow more this year to finance a higher budget deficit, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
Data from the department showed that the government is set to borrow P4.83 trillion, or 58 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), up from an earlier goal of P4.723 trillion, or 56.7 percent of GDP.An indicator of economic performance, GDP is the amount of final goods and services produced in the country.
Sam Rainsy, the leader of Cambodia’s largest opposition party, has been sentenced to two years in jail after a closed court found him guilty of pulling up
posts used to demarcate the border between Cambodia and Vietnam.
A court found Sam Rainsy guilty of pulling up posts used to demarcate the border between Cambodia and VietnamMr Rainsy, currently in Paris, said the conviction was politically motivated. He had led a protest last October to highlight what he said was land
encroachment by Vietnam.“I don’t care about this sentence,” Mr Rainsy said. “I will continue to fight for justice for Cambodians who are victimised by land grabbing, including border encroachment.”
At environmental front
Indonesia, the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter, has announced plans for a $1bn fund to invest in emission reduction projects across the country.
Last year, Indonesia made a high profile commitment to cut its greenhouse gases by 26 per cent against business as usual levels by 2020, and the government is now putting in place a number of policies to help meet the target.
Central to the initiative will be the new Indonesia Green Investment Fund, which will initially backed by $100m from the Government Investment Unit, a sovereign wealth fund which will also manage the new fund.
City administration officials said Friday they had made sufficient preparations to face possible flooding in the city.
"We have prepared medicine, ambulances and medical staff which will be needed in the event of a flood," said head of the Jakarta Health Agency Dien Emawati.
Floods occur every rainy season in Jakarta, usually hitting the city in January and February.
