From the very bottom of the civil servant hyrarchies to the top, the corruption is there. Many public discourses held in media or seminars about where to start eradicating this pendemic and who wants to do what.

It takes so long time until Indonesia’s DPR established a superbody called KPK (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi). The KPK gives Indonesian people a hope to a better Indonesia without a corruption or at least with a lot less corrupt officials.

KPK has a long way to go due to many obstacles it faces including the lack of investigators. It has only around 70 while investigators. Compare to Hongkong’s version of KPK which has around 900 investigators. Let’s hope DPR gives more budget and investigative resources and allows this body to strengthen itself with some more supporting regulations.

The former treasurer of the Democrat Party, Muhammad Nazaruddin, is expected to arrive at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta today. Together with a team, he departed from Bogota, Colombia, yesterday, confirmed National Police’s spokesperson, Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam.

Nazaruddin will be taken to the Corruption Eradication Commission office immediately.

The corruption suspect is being repatriated on a Rp4 billion chartered plane. “I don’t know the price of a charter plane there. The team knows the details,” said Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Friday defended the country’s judicial system after a court sentenced Muslim radicals to a few months in jail for killing members of a minority sect.

The sentences handed down last month to 12 defendants over a deadly lynch mob attack on members of the Ahmadiyah community in February shocked human rights groups and drew criticism from the United States and the European Union.

But in his first public response to the outrage, Natalegawa defended the independence of Indonesia’s courts and said the mainly Muslim archipelago was not the only country to suffer from religious intolerance.

The piece explains several steps to be taken by Pesantren institution to counter and eradicate this radical movement. And what roles pesantren could play in government war against terrorism.

This piece has been incorporated into my latest book titled Pendidikan Islam (Published February 2011 by Pustaka Alkhoirot)

Priyo accepted Imam Supriyanto, former Minister for Improved Production of NII KW-9, who served in 1997-2007. Imam was accompanied by four other former members, including two women and one Singadirata Kamal, former Regent NII West Jakarta.

Researcher of history of NII Mr. Solahudin revealed, in the period 2005-2008, NII aggressively garner gold investment to its members. The collected gold weighing 2 tons. Gold is then converted into money in the form of Rp250 billion and invested to Century Bank.
“[NII's head] Panji Gumilang and [Century Bank's CEO] Robert Tantular know each other closely. Therefore, he trusted Tantular,” said Mr. Solahudin in discussions at Warung Daun, Cikini, on 30 April 2011. After the collaps of Century Bank the noney invested can not be taken back.

The second loss, said Mr. Solahudin, occurred before the presidential election in 2009. At that time, Jusuf Kalla as a presidential candidate was committed to give 1,000 cattles imported from New Zealand to Panji. Convinced that promise will be realized, Panji owed Rp 50 billion to the bank. The promise was not kept, and “NII was in a big loss,” he said.

The condition was aggravated by the number of NII monthly contributions which are declining. At the NII ‘golden’ era, the total contribution of all members reaches 9 billion a month. Today, that number fell to 5 billion per month.

Because of that, said Mr. Solahudin, nowadays NII vigorously recruiting new followers. New members are targeted to deposit the money in large quantities. In addition, new members are also obliged to raise funds by circulating donation boxes on the streets and mosques.
“If there is a missing family member who have been kidnapped by NII, I’m sure they were among the donations beggars on the roadside,” he said.

Mr. Solahudin added that NII would never be disturbed by law enforcement. Because, with followers of about 155 thousand people, they are used by a number of political powers. At the same time, the NII will also need to take refuge at a party. “Whether for protection or for political access,” he said.

bendera NII

Andi Widjajanto, Theo’s son, said his father suffered from a last stage brain tumor for two years. It has long been treated in hospitals in Singapore, before being taken back to Indonesia. “Over the past few months he was undergoing treatment and care, with direct handling from a doctor from China,” said Andi who is also a military observers from the University of Indonesia as quoted by Tempo interaktif.

According to Chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross, To deal with NII is indeed a heavy workload for the government, especially this group whereabout is very difficult to detect. The government, he said, should quickly resolve and resist deviant thoughts that can be spread by the name of religion and ideology of the group.

Gone are the days when viewers were at the mercy of the big, black box in their living room, subject to whatever programs and advertising were on offer from a limited number of broadcasters. Today’s televisions are leaner, wider and definitely smarter, offering a world of entertainment options for increasingly wired consumers.

“When the TV is connected to the Internet, it becomes a portal for viewers,” said Kazuo Sawachi, general manager of the marketing division for Sony Indonesia. “Through their TV’s, viewers can now surf the Internet, socialize on networking sites and still watch all their favorite shows.”