Letter: Beware of land grabbing

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 11/23/2009 1:38 PM | Reader's Forum

I would like to comment on a news report titled "IFC ( The International Finance Corporation) offers loans to reforest degraded land", (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 17). Much of the territory making up modern Indonesia was a Dutch colony for over 350 years, until it became independent in 1945.

As a small country, the Netherlands could only send out a relatively small Dutch contingent to its colonial administration service. In order to manage the huge territory the Dutch empire relied instead on a system of alliances with local political entities, usually governed by customs.

Pragmatism therefore compelled the Dutch empire to partially acknowledge customary law for political convenience. However, during the nineteenth century Dutch planters began to establish large plantations (tobacco and other crops) on fertile Sumatran soils. To facilitate plantation expansion the colonial government passed the 1870 Agrarian Law which allowed the colonial government to provide planters with land leases for up to 75 years.

The law included a Domain Declaration (Domeinverklaring), which stated that all land not under clear ownership was considered State land. Communities' rights over land were not recognized as these were based on customary law which was not recognized as proof of ownership in Dutch law.

Under the customary system of land ownership, rights to fallow land and secondary forests were retained by whoever had first cleared the land.

The Domain Declaration led to the establishment of 2.5 million hectares of plantations in the Dutch East Indies by 1938, and resulted in farmers who had owned land becoming landless laborers akin to serfs. Plantation contracts issued under the 1870 law authorized planters to clear "empty land" in order to set up plantations. Contracts established in 1877 and 1878 stated that concessionaires should be granted a specified amount of "wasteland" (woeste grond).

The terms "empty land" and "wasteland" referred to those areas which communities considered to be their uncultivated common lands. In this manner, the 1870 law led to fallow and common land being considered state land. After it became independent, Indonesia inherited the doctrine of state control over "wasteland" from its former colonial rulers.

To this day, the concepts of "wasteland", "degraded land" and "empty land" are used to justify plantation expansion. For example, the Dutch Federation of Oils, Fats and Margarines stated in 2004 that "in Indonesia over 10 million ha of land is lying waste, much of which is suitable for palm oil expansion. Hence there is no need to convert forest."

The operations manager of a major plantation company told a Friends of the Earth campaigner in 2006 that their interest was only in converting "degraded land". In short, the term "degraded" is synonymous with idle, marginal, unproductive, empty or wasted, and is derived from the similar colonial concept and model.

Norman Jiwan
Bogor, West Java

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Dutch, Chinese navies meet at sea

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, by Hans de Vreij , 23 November 2009 - 11:48am

Chinese liaison officers in the staffroom of HNLMS Evertsen with Dutch and Belgian counterparts. Photo: Hans de Vreij

This weekend, a rare meeting occurred at sea, as a high-ranking officer of the Chinese Navy met with his counterpart from The Netherlands on board the Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen in the Gulf of Aden. Both navies are involved in the fight against piracy in the waters around Somalia.

Rear-Admiral Wang Zhiguo flew by helicopter from his own flagship, the frigate Zhoushan, to the Evertsen, the flagship of the EU flotilla in the seas around Somalia. China currently has two frigates and a supply ship in the area. Their main task is to protect Chinese merchant ships, foreign ships with Chinese cargo or, for instance, ships with a Chinese crew sailing under a foreign flag.

Vital route

But China also participates in the wider international efforts to combat piracy off Somalia. For example, by sharing information on suspected pirates or ships in possible danger with the other fleets. Commodore Pieter Bindt is the current commander of ‘Operation Atalanta’, the EU counter-piracy flotilla:

“There is a EU-introduced, web-based communication system called ‘Mercury’ and the Chinese communicate with all the other counter-piracy forces on that. Furthermore, just a week ago it was announced that China wants a larger role in counter-piracy. They announced that in Beijing, where they invited NATO, EU, the Coalition Maritime Forces and Russia to discuss counter-piracy in this region, where they requested also a greater role in the co-ordination of these counter-piracy efforts.”

The interest of China in the region is the same as that of other nations and coalitions: to guarantee a safe passage of merchant vessels through the Gulf of Aden and the western part of the Indian Ocean. This is a vital route for world trade, as about one-fifth of the total volume of sea transport goes through the Gulf and the Suez Canal and vice versa.

Common opponent

And while the activities of Somalian pirates may have disrupted some of the trade, the pirates have also, no doubt unwillingly, forged an informal alliance of the navies of many countries, including the U.S., the EU, NATO, China, India, Iran and Russia, to mention but a few.

Still, Commodore Pieter Bindt told Radio Netherlands that, just a few years ago, he could never have envisioned meeting a Chinese counterpart like Rear-Admiral Wang Zhiguo on board a Dutch navy vessel.

“It’s the first time that a Chinese fleet operates in a real-world operation this far from the Chinese coast. So, that is unique. What is easy at sea and transcends diplomatic and political boundaries is that combined seamen meet at sea, things are pretty easy to organise and (it is easy) to speak to each other.”

On board of the frigate HNLMS Evertsen, Rear-Admiral Wang Zhiguo was shown around the ship and briefed on the EU Operation Atalanta. Two Chinese officers stayed behind to spend the night on board the ship and get to know it better. Likewise, two Dutch navy officers spent the night on the Chinese frigate Zhoushan. While these may be small-scale activities, they appear nevertheless to be symbolic for a vastly improved cooperation of the two navies against a common opponent: piracy.

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SBY: 'I Want to End the Fighting' Over Indonesia Antigraft Case

The Jakarta Globe

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has signaled that he wants the controversial criminal case against two senior officials from the Corruption Eradication Commission to be resolved out of court.

While Yudhoyono is not scheduled to announce his position on moves by the National Police and Attorney General’s Office to put the two anti-corruption officials on trial until tonight, he told a gathering of the chief editors of 75 media organizations on Sunday night that the growing crisis was hurting the country.

“An out-of-court settlement is fair, with significant improvements in all law enforcement agencies. I want to end the fighting among [the] three law enforcement institutions, to eradicate corruption together,” Yudhoyono said. “I have talked to the AGO and the police about using their right to deponering. But I leave it up to them to decide.”

“Deponering” is a Dutch legal term that means to discontinue a case in the public interest.

Last week, a fact-finding team appointed by the president submitted a 31-page report on the case. The team concluded that there was insufficient evidence to warrant prosecuting Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah, the suspended deputy chairmen of the anticorruption commission, known as the KPK, for extortion and abuse of power.

After receiving the report, Yudhoyono said his cabinet — and the National Police and AGO, both of which were pushing for prosecution — would study its recommendations and respond today. But he warned the public, outraged by an apparent plot by police and prosecutors to frame the KPK officials, that he would not overstep his authority and unilaterally order the case to be halted.

“I don’t want to weaken an institution, especially the KPK, which has a very important role in fighting corruption,” he said. “That is why, from the beginning, I did not want to enter an area that is not part of the president’s authority. For me, so that there is certainty, the one who decides what is right or wrong is the courts. But if there isn’t enough evidence, don’t proceed to court.”

“I’m trying not to misuse my authority because it would destroy our Constitution. The Constitution has already limited the authority of the president,” he added.

Separately, he said he would support an investigation into the central government’s Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout of PT Bank Century last year.

Justice Minister Patrialis Akbar last week denied rumors that some of the bailout funds were diverted to Yudhoyono’s re-election campaign. “Open everything, because someone said the funds were connected with the legislative and presidential elections. Please PPTAK, please BI, open everything,” he said, referring to the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center and Bank Indonesia.

The president said he would also announce his position on the Bank Century case tonight, noting that the results of the Supreme Audit Agency’s investigation of the bailout would be submitted to the House today.

Corruption watchdogs have expressed skepticism that Yudhoyono would order the KPK case to be halted. But Hikmahanto Juwana, a fact-finding team member, said on Sunday he was confident Yudhoyono would follow the team’s recommendations. “He must also consider the broader political implications of his actions, and not just a narrow legal case.”

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How Wealthy Are The People Who Speak Malay?

BruDirect.com, by Mabola, Sunday, 22 November 2009 09:28

In response to the poster 'Good Grief' on 'Malay Is Decomposing And English Gaining', if you notice, the Brunei government has done a lot trying to promote Malay, either language or culture, such examples are like in the school textbooks, in its travel website & tourism, or in sending representatives to international events or expedition, Brunei is careful to choose Malay representatives in contrast with Malaysia and Singapore who promote using different races of people. So why Malay is still 'decomposing' as you stated?

First, as claimed by many, is economy. Overall the total Malay economy is $746 billion. This take into account Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia together total 250+ million people. However, we need to be reminded that Indonesia is not really Malay. I spoke to my Indonesian friends and they said they are Javanese not Malay. Many people mixed them up. Malay constitutes only 3.4% in Indonesia while the Javanese 42% and the Sundanese 15%, though they are language and cultural cousin.

Despite that though, only slightly more than half of the Indonesians speak Malay. They have over 300 ethnic groups and the rural ones have their own languages. Now, we also need to stress that a $746 billion economy is not actually big, for instance, the Netherlands, a country with 16.5 million people, has an economy of $877 billion. Internationally, the Dutch economy is $885 billion. In other word, with everything being equal, people will find it more economically favorable to learn Dutch than Malay. Someone last mentioned that Japanese and German are spoken in so small parts in the world yet people queuing to learn them. Indeed, because the total Japanese economy is $4,910 billion and the total German economy is $3,673 billion. These figures are huge. The global Chinese economy is $5,142 billion, while the Hispanic (Spanish world) economy is $4,300 billion not taking into account 10% of people in US speak Spanish, and the Francophone (French world) economy is $3,094 billion, the Arabic economy is $1,798 billion. And the English global economy? $21,264 billion.

The next factor we have to consider is the wealth. How wealthy are the people who speak Malay? Switzerland and UAE, though small, attract people to learn about their languages and way of life. Why is that? Because there are a lot of rich people there. These people invested around the world and certainly there are a lot of other people and businesses wanting their money. To have more chance of getting their investment, these people would tend to adapt to their culture and languages.

According to the German news website Spiegel.de and the report from British bank Barclays Financial, Singapore is no.1 in millionaires per capita - with 8.5% of Singaporeans are millionaires. This is followed by Switzerland 6.6%. Hong Kong is 5.3%, Kuwait 5.1% and the United Arab Emirates 4.5%, while US millionaires per capita is only 3.5%, they invest around the world and certainly a number of people would like to adapt to their culture and language for their money.

In the Malay world, even Bruneians aren't that rich, maybe the VIPs but not the ordinary people like you and me. Moreover, the rich here aren't that rich like over $100mln, $500mln or $1bln like others stated above. For Malaysia and Indonesia, a huge bunch are low income people. By that, can you really expect people to look up to the language or culture?

If we want to prop up something like language, we must show achievements. Otherwise I don't think we are capable to challenge the social and economic forces, especially the youth.

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The 16 Ships Create As Much Pollution As All Cars in The World

Kompas, SUNDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2009 | 7:52 AM

Waiting game: Tankers moored off Devon waiting for oil prices to rise even further

KOMPAS.com - Last week it was revealed that 54 oil tankers are anchored off the coast of Britain, refusing to unload their fuel until prices have risen.

But that is not the only scandal in the shipping world. Today award-winning science writer Fred Pearce – environmental consultant to New Scientist and author of Confessions Of An Eco Sinner – reveals that the super-ships that keep the West in everything from Christmas gifts to computers pump out killer chemicals linked to thousands of deaths because of the filthy fuel they use.

We've all noticed it. The filthy black smoke kicked out by funnels on cross-Channel ferries, cruise liners, container ships, oil tankers and even tugboats. It looks foul, and leaves a brown haze across ports and shipping lanes. But what hasn’t been clear until now is that it is also a major killer, probably causing thousands of deaths in Britain alone.

As ships get bigger, the pollution is getting worse. The most staggering statistic of all is that just 16 of the world’s largest ships can produce as much lung-clogging sulphur pollution as all the world’s cars.

Because of their colossal engines, each as heavy as a small ship, these super-vessels use as much fuel as small power stations. But, unlike power stations or cars, they can burn the cheapest, filthiest, high-sulphur fuel: the thick residues left behind in refineries after the lighter liquids have been taken. The stuff nobody on land is allowed to use.

Thanks to decisions taken in London by the body that polices world shipping, this pollution could kill as many as a million more people in the coming decade – even though a simple change in the rules could stop it. There are now an estimated 100,000 ships on the seas, and the fleet is growing fast as goods are ferried in vast quantities from Asian industrial powerhouses to consumers in Europe and North America.

The recession has barely dented the trade. This Christmas, most of our presents will have come by super-ship from the Far East; ships such as the Emma Maersk and her seven sisters Evelyn, Eugen, Estelle, Ebba, Eleonora, Elly and Edith Maersk. Each is a quarter of a mile long and can carry up to 14,000 full-size containers on their regular routes from China to Europe.

Emma – dubbed SS Santa by the media – brought Christmas presents to Europe in October and is now en route from Algeciras in Spain to Yantian in southern China, carrying containers full of our waste paper, plastic and electronics for recycling.

But it burns marine heavy fuel, or ‘bunker fuel’, which leaves behind a trail of potentially lethal chemicals: sulphur and smoke that have been linked to breathing problems, inflammation, cancer and heart disease.

James Corbett, of the University of Delaware, is an authority on ship emissions. He calculates a worldwide death toll of about 64,000 a year, of which 27,000 are in Europe. Britain is one of the worst-hit countries, with about 2,000 deaths from funnel fumes. Corbett predicts the global figure will rise to 87,000 deaths a year by 2012.

Part of the blame for this international scandal lies close to home. In London, on the south bank of the Thames looking across at the Houses of Parliament, is the International Maritime Organisation, the UN body that polices the world’s shipping.

For decades, the IMO has rebuffed calls to clean up ship pollution. As a result, while it has long since been illegal to belch black, sulphur-laden smoke from power-station chimneys or lorry exhausts, shipping has kept its licence to pollute.

For 31 years, the IMO has operated a policy agreed by the 169 governments that make up the organisation which allows most ships to burn bunker fuel.

Christian Eyde Moller, boss of the DK shipping company in Rotterdam, recently described this as ‘just waste oil, basically what is left over after all the cleaner fuels have been extracted from crude oil. It’s tar, the same as asphalt. It’s the cheapest and dirtiest fuel in the world’.

Bunker fuel is also thick with sulphur. IMO rules allow ships to burn fuel containing up to 4.5 per cent sulphur. That is 4,500 times more than is allowed in car fuel in the European Union. The sulphur comes out of ship funnels as tiny particles, and it is these that get deep into lungs.

Thanks to the IMO’s rules, the largest ships can each emit as much as 5,000 tons of sulphur in a year – the same as 50million typical cars, each emitting an average of 100 grams of sulphur a year.

With an estimated 800million cars driving around the planet, that means 16 super-ships can emit as much sulphur as the world fleet of cars.

A year ago, the IMO belatedly decided to clean up its act. It said shipping fuel should not contain more than 3.5 per cent sulphur by 2012 and eventually must come down to 0.5 per cent. This lower figure could halve the deaths, says Corbett.

It should not be hard to do. There is no reason ship engines cannot run on clean fuel, like cars. But, away from a handful of low-sulphur zones, including the English Channel and North Sea, the IMO gave shipping lines a staggering 12 years to make the switch. And, even then, it will depend on a final ‘feasibility review’ in 2018.

In the meantime, according to Corbett’s figures, nearly one million more people will die.

Smoke and sulphur are not the only threats from ships’ funnels. Every year they are also belching out almost one billion tons of carbon dioxide. Ships are as big a contributor to global warming as aircraft – but have had much less attention from environmentalists.

Both international shipping and aviation are exempt from the Kyoto Protocol rules on cutting carbon emissions. But green pressure is having its effect on airlines. Ahead of next month’s Copenhagen climate talks, airlines have promised to cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2050.

But shipping companies are keeping their heads down. A meeting of the IMO in July threw out proposals from the British Chamber of Shipping, among others, to set up a carbon-trading scheme to encourage emissions reductions.

Amazingly, they pleaded poverty. Two-thirds of the world’s ships are registered in developing countries such as Panama. These are just flags of convenience, to evade tougher rules on safety and pay for sailors.

But at the IMO, governments successfully argued that ships from developing countries should not have to cut carbon emissions. IMO secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos insisted: ‘We are heavily and consistently engaged in the fight to protect and preserve our environment.’ Yet without limits, carbon emissions from shipping could triple by 2050.

The failure brought calls for the IMO to be stripped of its powers to control the world’s ships. Colin Whybrow, of Greenwave, a British charity set up to campaign for cleaner shipping, says: ‘The IMO is drinking in the last-chance saloon.’

Burning low-sulphur fuel won’t cut carbon emissions from ships. But there are other ways. More efficient engines could reduce emissions by 30 per cent, according to British marine consultant Robin Meech.

Cutting speed could reduce emissions by as much again. And there are even wackier ways, such as putting up giant kites to harness the wind as in the days of sailing ships. However you look at it, the super-ships are rogues on the high seas, operating under pollution standards long since banished on land; warming the planet and killing its inhabitants. Santa’s sleigh, they are not.

Robert Pedersen, of Maersk, said: ‘The sulphur content varies according to where you get your fuel. Our average sulphur content is, I believe, 2.5 per cent. It’s rather rare you get anything close to 4.5 per cent.’ He added that ‘the sulphur issue is one for the whole industry’ and that there would be a ‘huge cost implication’ to switch to cleaner fuel.

Editor: jimbon

Source : The Daily Mail

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Memoirs of a Dutch Governor and Commandeur of Jaffna

Sunday Times

The English translations of the memoirs of both the Governor of Ceylon from 1742-1743, Daniel Overbeek and the Commandeur of Jaffna during 1748, Librecht Hooreman, were officially launched at a ceremony at the Department of National Archives on November 6. Both memoirs were translated by Rajarata University’s Professor of Humanities and former Deputy Director of the Sri Lanka National Archives, K.D. Paranavitana.

This task was entrusted to me by the Netherlands-Sri Lanka cultural co-operation programme and it has taken me one and a half years to complete,” Professor Paranavitana explained to the gathering.

The launch of the two translated memoirs was the feature event of the National Archives Week which ran from November 3-7.

Speaking at the launch, National Archives Director Dr. Saroja Wettasinghe said, the theme for this year’s National Archives Week was “Archives and Foreign Relations”.

Minister of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena also graced the event along with a number of representatives from the Dutch Embassy including the evening’s Guest of Honour, Netherlands Ambassador Leoni Cuelenaere.

Besides speeches from distinguished guests there were also two brief reviews of the Governor’s and the Jaffna Commandeur’s memoirs by the Director General of the National Archives in Indonesia, Djoke Utomo, and Prof .S. Pathmanathan from the University of Peradeniya.

Deforestation is a disaster for the environment

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, by Hans Jaap Melissen , 18 November 2009 - 9:56am

Deforestation on the Indonesian island of Sumatra is a major contributor to the emission of worldwide greenhouse gasses.

The clearance of peat land areas is of particular concern and in the run up to the international climate conference in Copenhagen environmental campaigners from Greenpeace have been protesting in the region.

They have been chaining themselves to bulldozers and diggers in a bid to draw attention to the logging and they hope that decisions will be made in Copenhagen to prevent more trees being felled.

Dutchman Ivo de Boer heads the UN's panel on climate change, he says the logging will only stop if there are viable economic alternatives.

RNW's Hans Jaap Melissen travelled to the region and filed this video report.

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Dutch car maker plans move to UK

BBC News

A luxury sports car maker based in the Netherlands has announced it is moving an assembly plant to Coventry.

Spyker Cars makes up to 50 luxury cars a year, mainly for the US market, with prices starting from about £180,000.

It said up to 45 out of 135 jobs would be at risk when it moved its assembly plant from Zeewolde in Holland to Whitley in Coventry by the end of 2009.

It said the move would reduce operating costs as it would be closer to its main parts supplier CPP Manufacturing Ltd.

Spyker Cars, which has its own Formula One team, said its headquarters would remain in Holland.

'Substantial savings'

Coventry was home to Jaguar car production in Browns Lane until it moved its plant to Castle Bromwich in 2005. Its engineering site is still based in Whitley.

Peugeot also had a car plant based in Ryton, near Coventry, which shut in 2007.

The city is currently home to Modec, electric car makers and London Taxis International, which makes the traditional black cab.

Victor Muller, Spyker Cars chief executive, said: "With approximately half of our vehicles' parts and components sourced in the UK, and virtually all key suppliers being located there, moving closer to our suppliers and engineering partners will result in substantial savings and tangible efficiency improvements.

"We realise that jobs will be affected in the Netherlands but we believe this move is necessary under the current economic circumstances and is in the best interest of the company and all of its stakeholders."

The Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders chief executive Paul Everitt welcomed the move and said: "Investment in UK automotive facilities is good news for the industry."

Four hundred Indonesian lecturers studying overseas

Antara News, Saturday, November 21, 2009 18:32 WIB

Pamekasan, E Java (ANTARA News) - Four hundred senior Indonesian lecturers are attending an academic qualification upgrading program at a number of universities overseas, a lecturer said.

"In East Java, 90 lecturers have a chance to attend a study program overseas, including one from Madura," Gazali, lecturer of Madura University (Unira)`s School of Economics, said here on Saturday.

Gazali, one of the lecturers who got the chance to study overseas, said that the 400 lecturers who were given the opportunity to study abroad were pursuing a doctorate study program.

He said that they were attending the academic qualification upgrading programs in eight countries, namely Australia, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Britain, Japan, Canada and New Zealand.

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Minister to focus on micro credit

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 11/21/2009 10:56 AM

State Minister for Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Syarifuddin Hasan said he would focus on the distribution of micro credits (KUR) to increase fund absorption next year.

"We will do our best to accelerate the distribution of Rp 10 trillion (US$ 1.06 billion) in KUR credits to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) next year," the minister said in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Saturday as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said that the main problems that had to be solved in the distribution of KUR credits included lack of publication of the program, high interest rates and tight requirements imposed by banks.

"We will eliminate the problems so that the distribution of the funds would not be hampered," the minister said.

His ministry would in the near future establish coordination with executing banks and involve private banks in the distribution of the credits, he said.

"We have also discussed the matter with Bank Indonesia to minimize the requirements that have increased the burden of business players," he said.

RI considering request for extended participation in maritime task force

Antara News, Saturday, November 21, 2009 04:38 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is considering the UN request for the Indonesian military (TNI)`s extended participation in the Maritime Task Force at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

"It is true that we have received a request from the UN but we are still considering it," TNI Chief of Staff for General Affairs Vice Admiral Didik Heru Purnomo said at a function here on Friday to greet the arrival of Indonesian warship KRI Diponegoro-365 from joining the task force in Lebanon for six months.

He said his side would thoroughly evaluate TNI`s activities in the UN peace mission including in Lebanon. "We will first evaluate the activities as a whole. We will consider everything."

But he added that the TNI would prepare everything if the government decided to continue the TNI`s participation in the task force.

KRI Diponegoro-365 arrived in Indonesia on Thursday after six-month mission in Lebanon. The UN has asked Indonesia to extend the warship`s mission for another six months or replace it with other warship.

During its mission based on UN Resolution No. 1701 KRI Diponegoro-365 carried out two main tasks, including maritime interdiction operations (MIO), namely to help the Lebanese Armed Forces prevent the smuggling of illegal weapons and increase its capacity.

Deputy Naval Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Moeklas Sidiq meanwhile said Indonesian warship KRI Frans Kaisiepo was most likely to replace KRI Diponegoro-365 in the mission.

Both KRI Diponegoro-365 and KRI Frans Kaisiepo are Dutch-made sigma class corvettes.

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Qatar Want Co Adriaanse As New Coach - Report

The Dutch manager could be on his way to Qatar...

Goal.com, Stefan Coerts, Nov 20, 2009 2:52:51 PM

Co Adriaanse (foto ANP)

According to a report on Dutch national broadcaster NOS, the Qatari Football Association have approached successful manager Co Adriaanse for the position of national team coach.

Qatar are reportedly unhappy with the results under current coach Bruno Metsu and are therefore in the market for a new tactician. Adriaanse is believed to be their primary candidate for the job.

Qatar failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after finishing fourth in the table in their qualification group behind Australia, Japan and Bahrain.

The 62-year-old Adriaanse previously worked at Qatari side Al Sadd in the final months of 2007 and the Qatari FA are eager to lure the Dutchman back to take charge of the national team.

Adriaanse has been out of work ever since he left Austrian titleholders Red Bull Salzburg last summer. He has recently been linked with Eredivisie outfit NEC, but turned down an offer.

Dutch royals to sell controversial holiday villa

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, by Rob Kievit, 20 November 2009 - 2:37pm

Crown Prince Willem Alexander and his wife Princess Máxima are abandoning their project to build a holiday villa for themselves in Mozambique.

The move follows criticism in parliament about the handling of the affair by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who is formally responsible for public actions of the Dutch Royal family.

The holiday home that is currently being built as a part of a luxury resort will be sold once it has been completed. Prince Willem-Alexander wrote to Prime Minister Balkenende that he no longer wants the real estate project to be surrounded by adverse publicity.

Media

The prince wrote that he hoped his participation in the building project on the Mozambican peninsula of Machangulo would help the development of the local population. "But there is a risk now that the ongoing reporting in the media about our participation is overshadowing the favourable developments on the ground. As every mistake is focused on, the project is at a disadvantage."

In an apparent reference to the attention given to the case by MPs and the prime minister, the prince adds,

"Also, such a discussion costs time and effort that should be spent on other business instead."

Controversial

The princely couple bought four plots of land in Mozambique in 2007, one of which was intended for their own holiday home. The project was controversial from the outset, both inside and outside parliament in The Hague. There were doubt whether the project would have the intended positive effects on the poor local population. The Mozambican government confirmed that it would.

Princess Máxima and Prince Willem-Alexander have emphasised their commitment to the project will continue, even though they themselves will not be holidaying there. "Our involvement has raised expectations with the local population, which we consider ourselves bound to," they wrote to the prime minister.

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RI to stop importing cows weighing over 350 Kg

Antara News, Friday, November 20, 2009 17:20 WIB

(ANTARA/Saiful Bahri/mes)Rome (ANTARA News) - Agriculture Minister Suswono said that Indonesia would import cows that weighed not more than 350 kg each so that they could be raised in the country first before being slaughtered.

"So far, Indonesia has been importing cows weighing more than 350 kg. Many of the imported cows even weighed between 400 kg and 500 kg so that they are slaughtered as soon as they arrive," the minister said here on Thursday.

The agriculture minister was in Rome to accompany Vice President Budiono who was attending the World Food Resilience summit. The minister also attended the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) conference on November 18-23, 2009.

On the sidelines of his activities, Siswono also met with his counterparts from Norway and New Zealand. The two countries are cow suppliers to Indonesia.

When he met with his Norwegian and New Zealand counterparts, Siswono explained the new regulation on the import of cows by Indonesia.

"They could understand," he said adding that the new ruling was made in the runup to the end of the previous agriculture minister`s term.

RI needs cooperation with int`l health bodies: Minister

Antara News, Friday, November 20, 2009 15:25 WIB

Palembang (ANTARA News) - Indonesia needs to cooperate with international health institutions, Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said here on Friday.

To support the cooperation, the minister said , she had invited around 3,500 foreign doctors to conduct research in Indonesia in the near future as part of the government`s policy in the health field.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 27th Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) conference here on Friday, the minister said the government wanted to forge cooperation with both domestic and international health institutions.

But she added that although the foreign doctors would be permitted to do research in Indonesia and cooperate with the government, they should abide by all the existing regulations on medical research by foreigners.

"The foreign doctors should work professionally and abide by the rules and regulations made by the government," the health minister said, adding that the cooperation in the health field was urgently needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

She said the cooperation with foreign doctors was expected to be of great benefit to Indonesia and therefore they were permitted to do research in the country.

The Health Ministry, she said, would , in principle, prioritize the public interest by realizing various public health programs in the country and ensuring they run optimally.

Meanwhile, a participant of the conference said that by permitting 3,500 foreign doctors to do research in Indonesia, the government was creating the impression it had no confidence in the capability of domestic doctors.

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Dutch and Chinese police to work together

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 19 November 2009 - 8:15pm

The Dutch police are to pool resources with fellow officers in China. The two police forces will exchange expertise in areas including people smuggling, financial and computer crime, corruption, and passport forgery.

Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst struck the deal on the police cooperation with her Chinese counterpart Meng Jianzhu during a visit to Beijing.

She says the exchange scheme will allow Dutch officers to learn more about Chinese culture, which will help them tackle Chinese organised crime in the Netherlands. At the same time, the Chinese will pick up tips on crime analysis from the Dutch. Ms Ter Horst says this is a Dutch police speciality.

Women in Makassar Have Opportunity to Study in the Netherlands

Tempo Interactive, Wednesday, 18 November, 2009 | 14:47 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Makassar: The Nuffic Netherlands Education Support Office (Neso) in Indonesia is awarding scholarships for people in Makassar to study in the Netherlands. This program prioritizes women.

A Neso member of staff, Ariono Hadipuro, said that applicants from eastern Indonesia can apply through a pre-registration system.

The system allows applicants from eastern Indonesia to have TOEFL of 475 at minimum while applicants from western Indonesia have to have TOEFL of more than 550.

During the educational exhibition yesterday (17/11), Ariono said that 50 percent of the quota for master and short-course programs are for those from eastern Indonesia. Half of this is provided for women.

The Dutch government is allocating 30 million Euro for the scholarship program over the next five years.

“It is committed not to reduce the program budget even though there is a financial crisis,” said Ariono.

SUKMAWATI | HAPSA MARALA

Prince Claus Fund supports Chinese library after earthquake

The library of the mountain village of Beichuan, which was destroyed in an earthquake, will receive 120,000 euros from a Dutch charity to store what it has been able to save from under the rubble.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Marije Vlaskamp, November 2009 - 1:41pm

Li Mingcui, 61, wearing Qiang minority costumes, holds a red scarf as a sign of respect to the rescuers during the May earthquake at Beichuan County, Sichuan province November 11, 2008. Li was dug out by rescuers from the rubble of a collapsed market about 164 hours after the earthquake on May 12, 2008, local media reported. (REUTERS/Bo Bor)

This is the first time the Prince Claus Fund has earmarked such a large amount for cultural emergency aid, and it’s also the first time the Fund has undertaken a project in China. "The library director mailed us a budget from her hospital bed".

Director Li Chun intended to move part of the collection from the overfull library in the centre of Beichuan to a modern annex in an outlying neighbourhood at the foot of the mountain. She was as the printers next door to the library to pick up some blueprints for the annex.

Primeval force

Then the mountain came crashing down on the town of 160,000 residents. An earthquake registering eight on the Richter scale scattered tonnes of earth and rocks the size of lorries.

"My head was bleeding and my hand was trapped under the rubble. I heard someone next to me call out in the dark. It was the girl from the print shop. The printer was also lying there somewhere. Dead."

Li Chun lay buried under 20 meters of rubble. It was only after being saved that she learned she had been buried alive for 75 hours. The printer’s girl had been dug out earlier. I don’t know whether she survived. I never saw her again."

After being admitted to hospital, Li Chun realised she easily could have died. The combination of gangrene, the amputation of her left buttock and a psychological trauma meant it took her more than a year to recover. But an irrepressible urge to save whatever was left of her library, which had in its collection irreplaceable books and CDs on Beichuan, inspired her to cling to life.

Ethnic minority

Beichuan is home to the Qiang, a small ethnic minority. They are a mountain people with their own language and traditions, which are passed on orally. They don’t have their own script, and over the past few centuries most of the Qiang have adopted the Chinese language and customs. Only one in three Qiang still speak their own language.

To preserve the last remnants of their unique culture, Li Chun - a Han Chinese married to a Qiang man – began collecting material on the Qiang and their native land. Embroidery patterns, songs, funeral rites; she had videos made of whatever was not written down.

Documentation project

A fraction of the Qiang collection was saved. The rest is slowly disintegrating under the rubble, which is why she began mobilising her network from her hospital bed only three months after the earthquake struck, looking for support to properly preserve the remains of the Qiang collection. "As soon as the new Beichuan is finished in 2020, we will get back to work and resume the documentation project."

"The people in the disaster area have tremendous resilience. They are working hard and organise all kinds of help," says Eleonore de Merode, project coordinator of the Prince Claus Fund’s Cultural Emergency Response department (CER), which offers financial assistance when cultural heritage is at risk of being lost as the result of war or a natural disaster.

Hard hit

This is not the first time the Fund has assisted a library after a disaster. Earlier beneficiaries include an Indonesian library which received assistance after the 2004 tsunami, as well as archives in Lesotho and Lebanon. The donation to Beichuan is the largest in the Fund’s history, but then the Qiang have been exceptionally hard hit by the earthquake.

At 300,000 souls, the Qiang were never a numerous people, and one in ten were killed in the earthquake. Without its 'initiated', the elderly people who still know and practice the old traditions and customs, it will be next to impossible to document the Qiang rituals. However, Li Chun, who has learned to consider every day a gift, will not be deterred.

Dutch MPs call for embassy cutbacks

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 18 November 2009 - 3:49pm

The coalition Labour Party and opposition conservative VVD both say the Netherlands should cut back its diplomatic posts overseas. The Netherlands currently has 112 embassies and 345 consulates, far more than other comparable countries. The move would have the backing of a majority of MPs.

Christian Democrat Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen told Radio Netherlands Worldwide, “It’s easier said than done. But I don’t exclude the closure of an embassy.” Explaining the Foreign Affairs budget for 2010, Mr Verhagen said it would not be possible to shut down embassies in the EU before 2014.

With 20 percent government budget cutbacks planned across the board for 2010 in the wake of the financial and economic crisis, the Foreign Ministry also has to make drastic savings.

The Labour Party points out that Belgium has 30 fewer diplomatic posts, while Sweden has 64 fewer. The Labour Party would like to make savings through EU cooperation on posts in countries such as Malta and Cyprus, the Baltic states, the Caucasus or Ukraine.

The VVD on the other hands would prefer to see fewer and smaller posts, particularly in Africa. At the same time they say more diplomatic representation is needed in up-and-coming Asian countries.

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Religious figures in north Sulawesi support doomsday film

Antara News, Wednesday, November 18, 2009 03:35 WIB

Manado (ANTARA News) - Religious figures in North Sulawesi support the screening of 2012 Doomsday Film because it visualizes the end of the world, although it is not as horrifying as described in the scriptures.

Indonesian Elementary School Students Set Fire To '2012' Film DVDs

"The screening of the film in a number of movie houses is not one hundred percent wrong, because it is the visualization about the truth of the end of the world as described in the scriptures," a Muslim figure Taufic Pasiak said here on Tuesday.

According to Taufic Pasia, the movie picture could make the people aware of the end of world history and why it could happen, although the description of the film was not one hundred percent correct.

He added that by watching the film, the people would be aware of doomsday in the future, and try to deepen their faith and believe in their creator.

"One of the reasons why religions come to existence is because of the fear of people of disasters that will happen beyond their comprehension," Pasiak said, adding that by watching the film, people would be motivated to seek God and His truth as the creator of the universe.

In addition, he said the people who watched the film and believed that the world would really come to an end, would try to do something to deepen their faith and trust in God.

"The film showed that the Westerners and unbelievers have started to believe that doomsday will come someday, and therefore they can try to deepen in their creator," he said.

According to Pasiak, the screening of the film should not necessarily be questioned because it had a positive side that could lead the people who watched it to return to the way of truth.

"There is no problem for those who want to watch the film because they can understand the truth of the holy Koran which also explains doomsday," Pasiak said.

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Minister pushes ahead with windmill park

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 17 November 2009

Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Maria van der Hoeven is pushing ahead plans to build the Netherlands' largest windmill park near the town of Urk in the northeastern Province of Flevoland.

The residents and local authorities of the deeply religious and traditional fishing town of Urk vehemently oppose the plans. The huge windmill park will contain turbines which are three times bigger than the windmills which currently line the coastline.

The minister has put aside a billion euros in subsidies to realise the maximum amount of wind power possible. The project will provide enough energy for 400,000 homes. She calls the agreement with the project organisers a step in the right direction to achieve the cabinet's sustainability targets.

The town was once an island in the Zuider Sea. It was incorporated into the reclaimed land of the North East Polder in the last century.

Indonesia to execute Dutch drugs magnate

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Published on 17 November 2009 - 2:21pm

Dutch national Ang Kiem Soei, who was arrested for production of the illegal drug Ecstasy, is about to be executed in Indonesia, according to local sources speaking to Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

Ang Kiem Soei was sentenced to death for running an Ecstasy manufacturing laboratory and an international organisation of drug traffickers. He was jailed in Indonesia seven years ago.

He lost an appeal to his verdict and has now exhausted all legal avenues to avert his execution. His lawyer wrote to the Dutch government last year pleading for more help. The government in The Hague decided to pay the costs of Ang Kiem Soei's defense and that of a second convict, Dick Nicolaas.

The lawyer claims the court procedures which led to the conviction were unsound.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry said in a reaction that it is surprised about the reports suggesting an impending execution. No signals have reached the ministry to indicate that such a course of events was likely. The ministry pointed out that the prisoner's request for a review of the death penalty is still under consideration with the Indonesian authorities.

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Dutch mosque design misunderstood

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, by Michel Hoebink, November 2009 - 2:14pm

Mevlana Moskee Rotterdam (Foto: ANP)

Traditional mosques with domes and minarets express unwillingness to integrate. That is what Dutch people often think. But research by architectural historian Eric Roose shows that those who commission the design of Dutch mosques only want to express what Islamic movement they belong to.

Mosques are an increasingly prominent feature of the Dutch landscape. Some Dutch people feel annoyed by this, especially when the mosques are richly equipped with oriental embellishments, domes and minarets. Others, however, feel that Muslims are now part of Dutch society and have the right to mark their identity in the Dutch landscape.

Anthropologist and architectural historian Eric Roose takes an original position in this debate. In his dissertation he meticulously describes the decision-making process around the design of twelve Dutch mosques. The patrons who commission the design of these mosques, it turns out, have motives beyond the desire to assimilate into Dutch society or not.

***

-Traditional mosques in the Netherlands are a sign of failing integration. What is your comment?

Eric Roose: The Dutch people are obsessed by the issue of integration of Muslims. Many can only understand Dutch mosque design from that perspective. Traditional Dutch mosques are either viewed as a sign of failing integration or as a sign of emancipation of Muslims in Dutch society. My research challenges this perspective. It reveals that the patrons who commission the design of the mosques are not in the least preoccupied with these issues. What they want with their design is to express their allegiance to some Islamic views and movements as opposed to others.

-One of the mosques described in your dissertation is the El-Islam mosque in The Hague. Don’t you think that the design of that mosque is a typical sample of nostalgia architecture?

The El-Islam mosque indeed has a typical Moroccan design. The patrons wanted their design to remind people of the official Islam of the Moroccan royal family. But as you know, many Dutch Moroccans are of Berber origin and have strong reservations against the royal family. So in fact the design has very little to do with nostalgia or homesickness.

With the Assalam mosque in Rotterdam, another of the mosques I investigated, the opposite is the case. The patron is close to the international Muslim Brotherhood. He wants to express a pan-Islamic vision and his dislike of the typical Moroccan Islam. His design is based on the modern Mosque of the prophet in Medina, which in his view is a culmination of all Islamic architectural styles.

-Also the Salafism movement purports to be an Islam that is detached from its regional cultural context. Is there a good example of a Salafist mosque in the Netherlands?

The Furqan mosque in Eindhoven comes closest to it. There you see that the architect at first brings all kinds of Moroccan elements into the design. But the patron removes these elements one by one, because the design must be plain and sober. The fundamentalist Salafis do not like the exuberant design of later centuries. They want to return to the sobriety of the first generations of Muslims.

-So the patrons want to demonstrate their position within Islam. But does that necessarily mean that they cannot also make a statement to Dutch society?

No, it doesn’t. But such statements are usually rhetorical. The integration debate is a reality they have to deal with. You see that in the beginning of the design process the issue is not discussed, but when the patrons are questioned by journalists and local officials, they start to invent reasons why their design is a statement of integration in Dutch society. The patron of the Essalam mosque in Rotterdam, for instance, once said that his mosque fits very well into the surroundings because if you remove the dome and minarets, it looks like the Rotterdam city hall. These are rationalisations in hindsight.

-Is there more freedom in Europe to express your religious identity in the design of a mosque than there is in Muslim countries?

I think so, yes. The Essalam mosque in Rotterdam could probably not have been built in Morocco, where the building of mosques is subject to strong regulations. Having said this, however, I must emphasize that local authorities in Dutch towns are getting increasingly critical and stubborn where it comes to domes and minarets. So the freedom to express one’s religious identity in mosque design is eroding in the Netherlands.

Eric Roose is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research (ASSR) of the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

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NL study makes malaria diagnosis breakthrough

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 16 November 2009 - 3:47pm

Regions of the world affected by malaria (Wikimedia)

Dutch researchers say they have found a relatively cheap way to cut the number of malaria deaths in Brazil. The new method could save 150,000 lives a year.

Scientists from the University of Twente working with technicians from electronics firm Philips were commissioned by the Brazilian government to carry out research on malaria diagnosis. The team studied diagnostic methods which doctors are able to use on location.

Malaria is one of the world’s most devastating diseases, claiming 1.5 million lives each year. The disease is a huge health risk in Brazil, and at present it is often misdiagnosed. While false positives lead to patients receiving unnecessary and expensive medication, other malaria cases are missed and patients die for lack of treatment.

The Dutch scientists evaluated two different diagnostic systems. They concluded that using the more effective of the two, 80 percent of people could be given access to diagnosis, compared to the present 31 percent for an investment of 16 million euros. The other system would save a third fewer lives and cost six million euros more.

A Dutch Touch in the Heart of Little Norway

Kitsap Sun, By Rachel Pritchett, November 15, 2009 at 11:31 p.m.

Emile Goossens loads his plate up with food in his wife Moud’s shopping cart. The Goossens, from Port Orchard, were two of some 100 people who came out to try some of the Dutch dishes being presented at the Marina Market 10th annual Dutch Days open house in Poulsbo. (JESSE BEALS | FOR THE KITSAP SUN)

How do you tell if someone’s Dutch?

“If it’s free, they’ll be there,” said Sijtze De Jong of Sequim.

Said Willem Prins of Port Ludlow: “Handsome, good-looking. Look in the mirror and that’s me.”

“You can’t really tell ’til they open their mouth,” said Ayna Meppelink of Olalla.

One thing is for sure: The Dutch are friendly.

Little Norway changed its persona for a couple of hours Sunday afternoon as the Marina Market, for the tenth year, hosted Dutch Days. It’s an authentic culinary spread made special-order for those Nederlanders among us.

Some 100 of them suffered through the dank November weather to meet up at the market. They came from Olalla, Olympia and off the boats, too, for cups of some erwtensoep (split-pea soup) to ward off the cold, some brandnetel kaas (nettle cheese) on crisp toast for something heartier, and some appeltaart (apple tart) to chase it all down.

The fact that the boterstaaf, a pastry, got held up in customs was no damper.

“Het is hier heel gezellig (It is very cozy),” Meppelink said.

But they also supped on Indonesian foods like curried eggs and yellow rice with spicy sauces, their heritage intersecting with Indonesia from when it was a Dutch colony.

Marina Market owner Andrea Rowe said she turns the place Dutch each year in gratitude.

“It’s a thank-you to my customers,” said Rowe, whose store serves boaters from nearby marinas when not going Dutch.

The folks who turned out Sunday knew each other well.

They get together in one of their homes about once every two months or so, to eat and remember the good old days back in Holland.

“Geez, I hated the place,” said De Jong, who bolted out of the Netherlands at 19 to come to the United States, where he had an engineering career.

Meppelink, a teacher, missed the closeness of neighbors back in the old country, which she left at 23.

“People would just knock on your door and come in for coffee,” she said.

All are fiercely American now.

Prins, born in Indonesia and the son of a rubber plantation owner, came via the Netherlands to the States at age 50. His longtime employer, Holland America Line, sent him first to New York and then Seattle.

“The best move I’ve ever made in my life,” he said about leaving the old land.

Nobody seemed to know exactly how many persons with Dutch in ’em live in western Puget Sound.

One thing’s for sure.

“The Dutch are everywhere,” announced De Jong.

Olie Bollen, a Dutch donut with powdered sugar fried in oil, was one of the most popular foods on hand Sunday during Marina Market’s 10th anual Dutch Days open house in Poulsbo.
(JESSE BEALS | FOR THE KITSAP SUN)

Bogor hosts Netherlands-Indonesia festival

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 11/16/2009 2:32 PM

BOGOR: The Bogor Hotel Institute (BHI) and Forum Indonesia-Nederland (Fined) held on Sunday a joint festival exhibiting art and cultural performances from Indonesia and the Netherlands.

Among the programs run during the Holland-Indonesia Festival were movie screenings, a culinary bazaar, book fairs and a Sundanese traditional dance performance.

Bogor has more than 300 heritage buildings, built during the Dutch colonization era in the early 20th century.

Among the buildings are Bogor Presidential Palace, Bogor Botanical Garden and a number of government offices.

BHI director Agung Djati Walujo expected the festival to both strengthen the cooperation between the two countries and introduce their national art and culture to each other.

Struyswijk powered Salemba in 16th century

BERITAJAKARTA.COM — 11/15/2009 7:49:00 PM

At that time, Salemba was called as Struyswijk

The Netherlands came into Jakarta in early 16th century. At that time, Salemba was called as Struyswijk. It was taken from the name of the landowner, Abraham Struys. Struys was a VOC official who opened swamp to be a wide plantation. He took his gardeners and farmers from the native Indonesian with small salary.

History told that Abraham Struys always wanted to be respected. Therefore, he named his land as `Struyswijk` or a Struys’s wide land. Its borders were in Utan Kayu, Matraman to Rawamangun.

When he passed away, Abraham Struys inherited his land to Anna Struys, his daughter. Ever since, the land was lessened. Joan van Hoorn, Anna’s husband sold it to Domine Kiezenga also the Netherlands.

The remaining Struys’s land is now Salemba.

And then in Struyswijk, there were built some residential areas. People told, Governor General Daendels in 1808 built a big road there. It was named Daendels Street.

The street was built to connect Mesteer Cornelis (Jatinegara), Senen and Batavia New City (a Daendels’s city) in Weltevreden (Gambir).

Netherland Govt. built a college which is now called as UI (University of Indonesia). Behind the campus there was CBZ, which was a medical practice place for medical students of UI. Now, CBZ is Tjipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.

In Salemba, the Netherlands also built a prison for them, the Indonesian strugglers who wanted to fight against Dutch colonial.

Wahab, a resident of Jl. Kenari, Salemba told beritajakarta.com that Salemba Street was a witness of the war between English troops and the Netherlands troops in seizing Batavia. “English troops won it,” Wahab said, Saturday (11/14).

Translator: ajeng

Family life in the Netherlands: strong and economic ties

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 15 November 2009 - 9:54am | By Martijn van Tol

Family life is alive and well in the Netherlands. Researchers concluded this week that Dutch family ties remain close. Who would have thought it in these times of individualism, increased mobility and supposed indifference? But take a closer look at the findings and you'll discover that the foundation for this familial bond is primarily economic. Emotions remain tucked out of sight.

The Netherlands' Family Affairs Minister André Rouvoet was all smiles on Thursday when he was presented with an academic report that underscores the Christian ideal of the happy family. The setting couldn't have been more appropriate: Madurodam, "the Netherlands in miniature", a fun day out for all the family.

"The family is still very much in the picture," concludes one of the report's writers, Joop Schippers. The conclusions are based on an extensive survey of almost 10,000 Dutch families.

Radius

It reveals that 50 percent of children continue to live within a ten-kilometre radius of their parents when they grow up. They take care of their own children and care for their parents as long as possible, in most cases only resorting to professional care when there is no other solution at hand.

In previous decades, sociologists had declared the Dutch family dead. In the 1970s and 1980s, the family was portrayed as an outmoded, repressive and primarily bourgeois organisational model, while in the 1990s the family was seen as making way for the calculating individual.

Weren't we living in a country where we deposited our parents in old folks' homes to serve out their twilight years in isolation once their economic usefulness was spent? These claims would appear to have been greatly exaggerated; the family stands firm and the child-parent relationship remains as close as ever.

Baby-boomers

The researchers paint a picture of the baby-boom generation: well-educated parents with money and time to spare. They can afford to let their children study for longer. Once the children start work, they have less contact with their parents but when the grandchildren arrive, mum and dad are back in the loop again. "Grandparents are cheap and flexible babysitters. And what's more, they have plenty of time on their hands," explains researcher Freek Bucx. In this phase, grown-up children see their parents at least once a week.

A pivotal time in the life of a family is the moment that the children reach the age of 40, discovered researcher Eva Maria Merz. "Up to that point, parents support their children. Afterwards, the children are the ones supporting their parents, eventually shouldering full responsibility for their care."

Family and finance

In fact, this image of the renewed sense of family reflects the reality of a relatively small section of society. This group alone can hardly be responsible for such a familial renaissance. Besides, the days of the wealthy, well-educated "young senior" with plenty of leisure time between the ages of 55 and 75 appear to be numbered. How much babysitting time will there be for senior citizens who, under the government's latest plans, will have to work until they are 67 or suffer financial penalties? And how much time do grown-up children really have to visit or take care of their parents?

Among migrant families, the researchers also conclude that the image of the cosy living room, bustling with people is more a product of economic necessity than warm family sentiments. In these households, too, the better educated permit themselves and their children greater freedoms when they are financially and culturally able to do so. They can afford the luxury of individualism, unlike the poorer members of society for whom solidarity is one of life's bare necessities.

Photo: Flickr/Piet G

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UK child migrants apology planned

BBC News

Gordon Brown is planning to apologise for the UK's role in sending thousands of its children to former colonies in the 20th century, the BBC has learned.

Under the Child Migrants Programme - which ended just 40 years ago - poor children were sent to a "better life" in Australia, Canada and elsewhere.

In 1947 the SS Asturias took the first post-war child immigrants to Australia

But many were abused and ended up in institutions or as labourers on farms.

The move comes as Australia's Prime Minister prepares to apologise for the mistreatment of the children.

Mr Brown has asked officials to consult with survivors of the Child Migrants programme, so that a statement can be made in the new year.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd will deliver a national apology to the "Forgotten Australians" and will recognise the mistreatment and ongoing suffering of some 500,000 people held in orphanages or children's homes between 1930 and 1970.

He will combine it with an apology to the 7,000 child migrants from Britain who live still in Australia.

As they were compulsorily shipped out of Britain, many of the children were told - wrongly - their parents were dead, and that a more abundant life awaited them.

Sandra Anker was sent out to Australia when she was six years old

Many parents did not know their children, aged as young as three, had been sent to Australia.

Child care agencies worked with the government to send disadvantaged children to a rosy future and supply what was deemed "good white stock" to a former colony.

In many cases they were educated only for farm work, and suffered cruelty and hardship including physical, psychological and sexual abused.

In a letter to the chairman of the Health Select Committee this weekend, Gordon Brown said "the time is now right" for the UK government to apologise for the actions of previous governments.

"It is important that we take the time to listen to the voices of the survivors and victims of these misguided policies," he wrote.

Kevin Barron, chairman of the health select committee - which has looked into what happened - said he was "very pleased" to have received a written commitment from Mr Brown.

"After consultation with organisations directly involved with child migrants we are going to make an apology early in the new year," he said.

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New Navy chief to prioritize allowance for border soldiers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 11/14/2009 1:10 PM

Indonesian navy officials welcome the arrival of KRI Hasanuddin 366 warship at Tanjung Priok port, Jakarta (29/1/2008). A new 1,600-ton warship manufactured in the Netherlands was armed with surface-to-air missiles, anti-submarine missiles and electronic warfare equipment. (ANTARA Photo/Fouri Gesang Sholeh/kim)

Newly appointed Navy Chief of Staff Vice Adm. Agus Suhartono said he would prioritize the payment of allowances for soldiers stationed in border areas as part of the current administration's 100-day program.

"We want to ensure success for the government's program of providing allowances for border soldiers," Agus said Friday after a handover ceremony at the Navy's Eastern Fleet pier in Surabaya, according to news portal detik.com.

Agus is replacing Adm. Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno.

"The amount of the allowance is still being discussed and pending a presidential decree," said Agus, who was previously the Defense Ministry inspector general.

"We can set *the amount* as a guide for the Defense Ministry. We are also still determining the number of Navy personnel eligible for the allowance," he added.

Agus expected the disbursement would be able to begin in 2010.

He said eligible personnel were those currently safeguarding the 12 outermost islands and deployed under the aegis of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) operation.

Agus was installed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday at the State Palace.

The Army chief of staff position was transferred from Gen. Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo to Lt. Gen. George Toisutta on Wednesday while the Air Force chief of staff role was transferred from Marshal Subandrio to Vice Marshal Imam Sufaat on Thursday.

Both George and Imam attended the handover ceremony, which was led by TNI chief Gen. Djoko Santoso. Also attending the ceremony were East Java Governor Soekarwo and other high-ranking provincial officials.

In his address, Djoko said such handovers were usual procedures within the TNI, although they held significant and strategic meanings.

"The duty rotation mechanism involves not only a procedural mechanism but also a more substantive mechanism emphasizing the TNI's continuous development as the country's main defense component," he was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

"This will also inspire renewed spirits and fresh ideas which are projected to improve organizational performance."

Djoko also emphasized that the Navy should work toward a zero-accident program like the other two TNI services.

"The state budget is still limited to providing weapons for the TNI," he said.

"We cannot use the insufficient budget as an excuse for not achieving a high level of professionalism and zero accident rate," he added.

Indonesia has a defense budget of Rp 33.6 trillion (US$3.57 billion) this year and plans to increase the budget to Rp 40.6 trillion in 2010.

As in the Army and Air Force, most of the Navy's inventory is outdated, although there have been procurements of several new vessels.

The Navy has purchased four Sigma-class corvettes from the Netherlands and four landing platform docks (LPD) from South Korea.

While the four corvettes were built in the Dutch Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding shipyard, two of the LPDs were constructed in South Korea and the other two were built at state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL's facilities in Surabaya.

Indonesia is also considering the purchase of new submarines to add to its fleet of two German-made U-209 submarines, first commissioned in 1981.

Meanwhile, South Korea has agreed to grant Indonesia 10 LVTP-7A1 amphibious assault vehicles for the Marine Corps.

The Navy has suffered from a number of recent accidents. A TB-10 Tobago trainer airplane was forced to make an emergency landing in the Silandak River estuary in Semarang, Central Java, on April 28 due to engine problems.

The Navy also lost an Australian-made Nomad transport aircraft on Sept. 7 in Nunukan, East Kalimantan, killing one Navy personnel and three civilians.

In Dec. 30, 2007, another Nomad crashed in Sabang waters in Aceh killing three Navy personnel and leaving two others missing.

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