Humor

Salute the Generals

Said the officer to the soldier, "Private, why did you salute that refrigerator?"

The soldier replied, "Because it was General Electric."

"And that jeep?" the officer asked.
Replied the soldier, "Because it was General Motors."

UN Survey

A survey was conducted by the U.N. worldwide. The only question asked was: "Would you please give your most honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?" The survey was a HUGE failure.

In Africa, they did not know what "food" means.
In Western Europe, they did not know what "shortage" means.
In Eastern Europe, they did not know what "opinion" means.
In the Middle East, they did not know what "solution" means.
In South America, they did not know what "please" means.
In Asia, they did not know what "honest" means.
And in the USA, they did not know what "THE REST OF THE WORLD" means.

Japan bashing

It was the first day of school and a new student, Toshiba, the son of a Japanese businessman, entered the fourth grade. The teacher greeted the class and said, "Let's begin by reviewing American history. Who said, 'Give me liberty or give me death'?" The teacher saw only a sea of blank faces except for that of Toshiba who had his hand up. "Patrick Henry, 1775," said the boy. "Now," said the teacher, "who said 'Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth'?" Again, no response except from Toshiba: "Abraham Lincoln, 1863." The teacher snapped at the class, "You should be ashamed, Toshiba is new to our country, and he knows more about it than you do." As the teacher turned to write something on the blackboard, she heard a loud whisper: "Damned Japanese." "Who said that?" She demanded.

Toshiba put his hand up and replied, "Lee Iacocca, 1989."

Arnold and Clinton

Arnold Schwarzenegger is in some trouble. Today, the Los Angeles Times broke a story that quoted six women who claimed that Arnold Schwarzenegger sexually harassed them. When asked about it, President Clinton said, “Six? That's not enough experience to be governor!"

—Conan O'Brien

Bad News from Moses

The Israelites were waiting for Moses to come down from Mt. Sinai after negotiating with God over the Ten Commandments. Finally, a tired Moses appears and begins to speak: "I've got some good news, and I've got some bad news."

Moses says. "The good news is, I got him down to ten. The bad news is, adultery is still in."

Sciences ( 3 )

Sciences :
1. Water is everywhere but not clean enough to drink
2. Oil shock shift national agenda from politic to economics
3. Dads set example for healthy habits
4. Know when to stop drinking water
5. Economy and democracy: Don’t turn out the light

( 1 )
Water is everywhere but not clean enough to drink

Following are some facts about strains on world freshwater supplies:

Overview

· One billion people, about a sixth of humanity, lack access to safe drinking water, according to UN data. And one in three people live in regions with water scarcity.

· Agriculture absorbs 74 percent of all water taken humans from rivers, lakes, aquifers by and wetlands against 18 percent for industry and percent for municipalities. Demand for water is with population rocketing a rising.

· In many places, 30-40 percent or more of water is lost because of leaks in pipes and canals illegal and tapping.

· Some say the issue is management: “There is enough land, water and human capacity to produce enough food for growing population over the next 50 years, so in this sense world not running out of water.” A study by the International Water (IWMI) in August.

Drink and health

· Governments set a Millennium Goal in 2000 halving the proportion people with no access to safe drinking water by 2015. The goal is within reach, according to a 2006 UN review, but the world is lagging in a linked goal of better sanitation.

· Diarrhoea and malaria, the main water-related diseases, killed 1.8 million and 1.3 million people respectively in 2002, almost all of them children under the age of 5.

· Achieving 2015 the drinking water goal will require US$10-$30 billion extra a year on top of amounts already spent.

Agriculture

· The amount of water needed for crop production will rise 60-90 percent by 2050, to 11,000-13,500 cubic kilometers from 7,200 today, depending on factors including population growth and crop yields, according to the IWMI report.

· A calorie of food needs about a liter of water to produce typical food consumption is 3,000 calories a day liters per person, or liters 3,000 of water. A kilo of grain takes 500-4,000 liters, a kilo of industrially produced meat is 10,000 liters.

· Rising production of biofuels – from crops such as maize, soybeans or sugarcane - could complicate efforts to feed the world and may add strains to irrigation.

· Emissions of greenhouse gases, widely blamed on burning fossil fuels, are likely to raise world temperatures and bring more floods, droughts and erosion, most experts say. Some areas might benefit from longer growing seasons.

· To ease water shortages, the IWMI report urges putting the focus on improving rainfed, farming in poor regions. Collecting rain from rooftops or simple pumps to raise water from rivers, for instance, could help millions in sub-Saharan Africa.

· Recycling can help. Water in the Colorado River in the United States, for instance, can be A used perhaps seven times - by hydropower dams, by towns, or by farmers.

Industry

· Industry can often cut its water demand by 40-90 percent, given proper incentives, according to UN data.

· Only about 25 percent of the world's dams are involved in producing hydropower. Europe uses 75 percent of its hydropower potential, while Africa has developed just seven percent.

Reuters.

(2)
Oil shock shift national agenda from politic to economics
Amando Doronila

The record rise in oil prices to US$75 a barrel last week has raised fears among oil consuming countries from big consumers like the United States to small economies like the 'Philippines - that high energy costs would snuff out economic growth.

The impact on the Philippines, a low-economy, was immediate. The price spike immediately refocused the national agenda to an urgent economic issue, the source of which sprang from the rising tensions between the United States and Iran (the world's fourth biggest crude exporter) over Iran's defiance of international pressure (mainly from the West) to halt its nuclear program.

For months since July last year, when political crisis engulfed the Arroyo administration, Filipinos have been led to believe that political issues were the center of their universe, and that economic issues were of little consequence to their lives, taking secondary importance to their consuming passion to unseat an administration that they intensely loathed.

In fact, it was deemed unfashionable in some political circles to talk about the economic effects of the continuing political poor Filipinos. It has been argued that paying attention to economic issues would take our eyes off the legitimacy issues rocking the Arroyo administration.

The grim of another international oil shock have abruptly shifted national attention away from the highly engrossing political issues highlighted by the Supreme Court's decision voiding certain portions of Executive Order 464 and upholding the right of Congress to compel, under certain circumstances, executive department officials, to testify at congressional inquiries.

The specter of another oil shock has so alarmed the political class that within a week after the Court's decision, the congressional and executive agenda has abruptly shifted focus to the oil prices spike, with both administration officials and lawmakers of any consequence now giving priority to how to absorb the escalating prices of crude, has added $15 to the cost of a barrel in a matter of weeks.

There is a sort of panic reaction to the record crude prices, and the alarm has at last awakened the political protagonists to the reality that the economy cannot permanently be excluded as a critical element in defining the priorities of the national agenda.

At a meeting of ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries at Doha the other day, OPEC ministers said there was nothing they could do to halt surging oil prices. Dr. Edmund Maduabebe Daukoru told reporters, "Few economies in the world could make long term business plans at the rate of $75 a barrel." He added that even if OPEC were to increase its oil production, there were no quick solutions to the problems.

Increasing OPEC output, he said, was not expected to lower the prices and would only serve to clog the market with additional supplies. But he predicted that the price of oil would eventually drop to a more realistic and stable $50 to $60 a barrel.

But until this happens, the Philippines will have to live with the current price, make adjustments and immediately find measures that will keep the price spike from flowing on to transport fares, electricity charges and other essential goods and commodities, including cooking oil.

The oil price rise has moved up to the top of the national agenda proposals calling for a special session of Congress to consider such measures as exempting petroleum products from the 12-percent value-added tax and scrapping the 3 percent tax on oil imports. A consensus seems to be developing among legislators belonging to both the administration coalition and the opposition to give priority to suspending the 12-percent VAT for the purpose of blunting the impact of the oil price increases.

These two proposed measures are not painless solutions. Administration officials say that the suspension of the l2-percent VAT would cost the government P29 billion yearly in prospective revenue, while scrapping the tariff would mean P7.5 million in foregone revenue. The suspension of the VAT requires a joint resolution by both Houses of Congress.

This unaccustomed shift in priorities to economic concerns has mercifully re-routed the congressional agenda from the confrontational course it was moving into with Malacanang following the Supreme Court's decision on EO 464.

This diversion comes as a welcome relief from the over-politicized national agenda that has focused on the crisis of legitimacy of the Arroyo administration.

It postpones a political showdown as a number of Senate committees prepared to resume inquiries into issues that have been suspended since September last year, when President Macapagal-Arroyo issued EO 464 banning executive department officials from testifying at legislative inquiries without her permission.

These inquiries covered a wide range of issues, including allegations of cheating by the President during the 2004 election and the $503-million North Rail project assisted by the Chinese government.

Congress has little time to lose on a showdown with the Palace over the resumption of the suspended investigations. It is due to resume its session on May 15 and adjourn on June 9. The intervention of urgent economic issues spoils the expectations of fun in the circuses provided by legislative investigations. The public is likely to have a reprieve from fruitless inquiries.

( 3 )
Dads set example for healthy habits
Donya Betancourt

The father is a role model for not only his son but his daughter too; thus fathers set an example for their children to follow when forming their own health habits.

Through words and actions, fathers have the opportunity to pass on healthy living strategies to their children. Dads taking care of their own health first will ensure children put theirs first too.

What you eat affects your health, just as what your children eat affects their health. A healthy diet as we know includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other low-fat foods which can lower the risk of many chronic and problems, diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, strokes and some types of cancer.

As a parent, a dad has a major influence on his children's lifelong eating habits. The types of food he provides his attitude towards food such as portion size and food preferences all affect children's eating habits.

One way to encourage healthy eating is to establish family meals. Eating together as a family tends to increase the number of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dairy products children eat. And children who eat with their family on a regular basis tend to consume less fat.

Exercising regularly and staying physically active can help prevent or delay some diseases and disabilities as we grow older. In some cases, regular exercise can improve health if one already has a disease or disability.

Physical activity can also help maintain a healthy body weight, reduce stress and anxiety, and boost psychological well-being. This means that you'll have more energy, feel good about yourself and possibly prevent conditions that could even your decrease time with your family.

Physical activity also provides a way to engage your children. Go for a bike ride, play a game of basketball or take swimming lessons together. If you're active, your kids will more likely be active. And you'll do them a favor by helping them develop important health habits.

Whether you're biking, driving to a relative's house or playing in the park, ensure your safety and your children's safety. Accidents are the leading cause of death among children aged one to 15 and it's the leading cause of death in boys and men aged 16 to 44.

Make sure your children travel safely. Always use restraint systems such as safety seats, booster seats or seat belts and make sure they're appropriate to your children's sizes.

To prevent head injuries, always wear a helmet when biking. Insist that your children do the same. In fact, children whose parents wear helmets when biking or in-line skating are more likely to wear helmets themselves.

You might think your smoking doesn't hurt anyone else. But it does. Besides causing serious illnesses in the smoker, such as cancer or heart disease, smoking also hurts other people who breathe the secondhand smoke.

Children exposed to secondhand smoke are much more likely to get ear, sinus or lung infections.

Secondhand tobacco smoke can also impair the development of children's lungs and may cause lung cancer. Also, children with asthma who live in a household where someone smokes experience a greater number of asthma attacks and more severe asthma symptoms.

Ventilation systems in homes can't remove all of the hazards from the air. Similarly, blowing way from your children, going to another room or opening a window doesn't remove all the risk of secondhand smoke.

Besides affecting your health and your children's health, smoking may also increase the chance that your children will smoke later in life. In fact, children who live with smokers are two to three times more likely to smoke themselves when they become teenagers.

So dads take these steps so that you're around to enjoy your children and grandchildren. Control any chronic health conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes. See your doctor regularly and schedule the recommended screening tests.

Don't ignore persistent symptoms or wait until the problem gets worse before seeing your doctor. Remember, diagnosing health problems early increases the odds or successful treatment. Show your children that you care about your health, and they'll be more likely to care about their own.

(4 )
Know when to stop drinking water

Dear Dr . Donga,

I wonder about drinking water – most doctors always recommend drinking a lot of water. Is it possible to drink too much?

-Jane

Dear Jane,

Yes, it's possible to drink too much water, but it is uncommon.

If you drink more water than your kidneys can excrete, the excess water moves into the cells of your body. Water-soaked cells in your brain can cause brain swelling and lead to signs and symptoms of water excess, or overdose, including fatigue, confusion, nausea, vomiting, seizures and unconsciousness.

You normally drink fluids because of thirst, to replace perceived fluid losses and out of habit. You may drink more water on warm days, during or after strenuous exercise, with the first meal of the day or when your mouth feels dry.

Problem with too much water intake will happen if you have certain conditions impair the excretion of water including heart disease and some types of kidney, liver, adrenal and thyroid disease.

Those who compulsively drink - large amounts of water, even when not thirsty, may actually overwhelm their kidneys' ability to get rid of the water. This can lead to symptoms of water excess.

But if you are healthy the chance or this happening is very uncommon.

Dr. Donya.

( 5 )
Economy and democracy: Don’t turn out the light
Ziad Salim

In his insightful article (Many entrepreneurs prefer stability to democracy, The Jakarta Post on June 16,.2004), B. Herry Priyono tried to tackle what he calls "a taboo that keeps trying to stay hidden?” i.e., the link between the economy and democracy.

His first quote ("During the era of Pak Harto, at least we had stability for business") by a "typical" businesspeople he interviewed "during the 1998 turbulence" and his second ("For business, democracy or tyranny is irrelevant") by "one of (his) respondents" summed up the "taboo".

At the end of his article, Herry-Priyono asked us "to turn out the light "as a discussion on democracy is indeed really a "taboo".

While many argued back and forth over the centuries about the relationship between economy and democracy (or broadly, between economy and politics), the laws of economics are independent of politics and are governed by what Adam Smith calls "invisible hand". So of the two quotes above, the second is more valid and the "invisible hand" is all you need if you are doing a real and honest business: If not, you will need "a strong hand" instead.

So the businesspeople that long for the return of a strong man like Soeharto maybe weren't really doing business at all. In fact, they were stealing from the people, ransacking the Indonesian forest and scarring the land for their own profits. The fact of the matter, the business you run determines the system you need; so, if your business is stealing, you will want a kleptocrat running a kleptocracy; if you are doing an honest and open business, you will want an open system, namely a democracy.

In other words, if you are a Procter and Gamble or a Nestle selling consumer goods for the public, who the leader is irrelevant. The market or the "invisible hand" is all you need. But, if you are using Garuda and Pertamina facilities for your own airline and mining business or bringing in 50,000 "national cars" (that are made in Korea) escorted by national police and parked them on a public land near the airport, of course you would yearn for a strong leader (and preferably your own father).

The relationship between economy and democracy is neither taboo nor "couched in strange language" as the writer alluded.

The clamor for so-called a strong government by businesspeople is actually a red herring, because it depends on what you mean by a strong leader and which businesspeople you are talking about or talking to. The article would have shed more light, had the author revealed the background of the 86 businesspeople he interviewed. But whoever they were, interviewing them at the height of national trauma in 1998 would have produced people with "angst" who would love nothing more than to return to their good old days.

The notion of strong leaders, bandied about incessantly not only by those who miss their good old "stealing" days above but also by those with short memories or intentionally want to re-introduce a military man in public office for their own political and economic agenda. It is another a red herring because there is no really such a thing as a strong leader.

It all depends on the context (Louis the XIV who claimed himself to be the state was actually run by his wife; as was Ronald Reagan, one of the strongest of modern post-war American Presidents; even an absolute strongman like Hitler could not conquer Eva Brown or her dog). Conversely, Lee Kuan Yew (the example cited by one of the interviewees) built Singapore to what it is now (from Third World to First, to quote the title of his memoirs), not because he is "a strongman" but an astute business leader who can see far into the future what business would really need.

In reality, the strong leader is usually only strong towards his opponents or hopeless people. Towards his own friends (or cronies and his own business children), the strong Pak Harto mentioned in the first quote was in fact weak and a pushover. He was unable to face his people or his opponents on a level playing field so he rigged every election and gebuk (clobbered) every general who dared to whisper the truth to his ear or tried to defy him.

So when he had to step down in. 1998, there wasn’t any "strong man" left to replace or rescue him or to continue his legacy as he had beaten all of them. Left to inherit his thrown was Habibie who the "typical" interviewee identified as "weak" and " knows nothing about how to create stability".

Conceptually, there is no strong leader in a democracy or more correctly, democracy does not need or rarely produce a strong leader. Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people so the people vote for one leader out of themselves. That is why, a properly elected leader in a democracy is always a "small" man (or woman), because the need is not to lead the people (which calls for a strong leader) but to follow the people's wishes (by listening and responding to their wishes and grievances).

So all the world's current democracies have leaders that are truly common and ordinary. There are no more Churchills and Roosevelts to be had and even in their times they were not products of democracy but of war imposed on democracies, which turned them into giants.

History indicates that so called strong leaders usually have seized power during a crisis (like a thief in the middle of the night) then maintain it for years (by ruthlessly crushing their enemies). Then we call them strong. Those who continue to juxtapose the need for a so-called business stability and strong leader will deceive themselves and will eventually be surprised by the strong leader they conspire to promote.

We must remember that democracy is based on the trust and confidence people place on themselves and each other, to rule and to govern themselves according the values they hold dear and the laws they have written together (or through their representatives). What we need to make sure is a leader that will be true and faithful to the "social contract" and be willing to be the "servant" of the people and relinquish power when he is kicked out by the people who put him there.

That the country may have one or two "bad" leaders or the government changes; hands once too often because the people choose wrong is no reason to opt out of democracy and run into the arms of another strong man in the name of stability.

Finally, juxtaposing "stability" and "democracy" as if they are polar opposites (as in the title of the article mentioned above) is misleading. Statistically, democracies are more stable than any other systems.

Of course, it depends on how you define "stability" as there are many types of stability and they are not necessarily isomorphic. In the long run, though, democracy in Indonesia too will get stabilized.

The longing for a strong man and "stability" is the same as a childhood fantasy for a father figure and a nice cuddle in the middle of the night: It will eventually die off as we grow older and gain some confidence in ourselves. While waiting, we can at least keep talking about it. It is not a "taboo", so Herry-Priyono, please do not turn off the light!

The writer, who formerly worked with several international development.

Sciences ( 2 )

Sciences :
1. Real military reform depends on civilians (Part 1)
2. Real military reform depends on civilians (Part 2)
3. Democracy at the crossroads in Indonesia after 61 years
4. China vital to East Asia community
5. A flawed policy in Lebanon?

( 1 )
Real military reform depends on civilians (Part 1)
Juwono Sudarsono
London

Six years after “the cessation of office” by President Soeharto on May 21, 1998, the Indonesian Military (TNI) remains the most powerful instrument of governance that has the ability to keep the country together. Despite the plethora of political reforms launched by presidents B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri all committed to building an accountable military, subject to a,democratic”civilian control”, the residual de facto power of the TNI in politics remains strong for at least the medium term.

Six years of civilian-based party politics has not resulted in any measurable degree of effective “civilian supremacy”, much less “civilian control”. On paper,there has been much declaratory formalisms of politically correct rhetoric on civilian supremacy: A “return to the barracks” commitment to political neutralism, reduction of the military’s role in the national parliament and a myriad of laws passed acknowledging the imperative for civilian authority.

But seasoned politicians and political observers acknowledge that TNI influence, if not power, retains a strong hold over the entire polity. The after effects of dwi-fungsi (dual function) of the military, going back to July 5, 1959, when President Sukarno decreed a return to the 1945 Constitution formalizing the TNI as an integral participant of national polities, lingers pervasively on.

There are several reasons why effective civilian control, as distinct from the formalities of civilian authority, remains both vague and weak.

First and foremost, organized civilian politics at governmental, legislative and the grassroots levels is still largely disjointed disorganized and often in disarry. Having been instilled with a strong dose of the doctrine of military supremacy over the civilians for over half of their life time, the TNI officer corps remain reluctant to respect and adhere to civilian control of the military so long as the civilian politicians have little inclination or ability to control and consolidate their party organizations.

Secondly, presidents Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati all kept hold of the Soeharto-period format of maintaining the presence of the Commander of the TNI and the Chief of the National Police (Polri) in cabinet sessions, acknowledging them on a parallel with, rather than answerable to the defense minister and the interior minister.

Even the legislative reforms following on the "New Paradigm" on the roles of the military and police sanctify this hybrid arrangement. Significantly, all chief ministers of security during the post Soeharto cabinets (Wiranto and Soerjadi Sudirdja under Habibie and Wahid, Susilo BambangYudhoyono and Agum Gumelar under Wahid; Yudhoyono and Hari Sabarno under Megawati) has been held by officials with military backgrounds.

The all-important interior minister, that ultimate symbol of civilian power, has to date been always held by a retired general (Syarwan Hamid under Habibie, Soerjadi Sudirdja under Wahid, Hari Sabarno under Megawati).All come from the Army, the most politically powerful service. At the provincial, district and local levels,a high percentage of the district and local levels are held by retired military officers. All in all. civilian authority and management skills remain weak.

Third and not least important, the TNI retains a powerful independent financial base, partly funded through the government budget through the ministry of finance and the ministry of defense but independently supplemented by a myriad of foundations, cooperatives and enterprises. The history of these off-budget sources of funding reaches back to the early 1950s when most commands and tactical units in each service were left to themselves to find ways and means to supplement the government’s inadequate defense and security budgets.

The proportion of government to non-government funded military budgets over the years is a matter of contention among analysts, with estimates differing about the percentage (30:70, 40:60) depending on the benchmarking of calculations.

Against this background, the following is a proposed agenda for a national commitment for military reform and defense planning.

Strengthening political party and civilian institutions :

A major priority for effective military reform requires a stronger institutional capacity of political parties and civic institutions who understand the urgency to build an accountable, transparent and professional defense force. A major concerted effort is required to build strong civilian political institutions that can effectively challenge and eventually supplant the TNI’s long dominant role over the sinews of political power at all levels of political governance.

Indonesia has a long way to go before the required social and economic institutional underpinnings that facilitate the strengthening of political parties and civic organizations.

The “magic figure” ascribing readiness for political democracy is that at least 30 percent of the population are members of the middle class, defined as earning at least US$3-4,000 per capita annual income. Since the economic crisis of 1997-1998, Indonesia’s per capita annual income has fallen from $1,300to $850, leading to a sharp downturn in social stability and to increased political unrest and violence during the difficult years of 1998-2001.

Though economic recovery since 2001 has helped restored political stability and social reconciliation there remains much anger and frustration among those who are despondent and desperate as a result of job losses. The road to substantive democracy will remain rocky and full of glitches until Indonesia quadruples both its GDP per capita and the size of its middle class.

Political party and civic leaders must understand that strengthening political and civic institutions are imperative if the general problem of democratic governance, especially in times of widespread poverty and unemployment, is to be seriously addressed.

In the past, acceptance of military dominance in the commanding heights of government had been justified by civilian incompetence, intraparty bickering and policy paralysis. Until there is clear, coherent and consistent civilian political leadership and party building, the TNI’s effective power will remain unchallenged. Until there are strong civilian institutions, military reform will be largely decided by the military.

The writer is the Indonesian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and, a former minister of defense. This article is his personal view.

( 2 )
Real military reform depends on civilians (Part 2)
Juwono Sudarsono
London

Changing legislation governing civilian authority. A corollary to strengthening political parties and civic institutions is the need to review and revamp all legislation confirming halfhearted civilian authority control over the TNI.

Party leaders in the parliament's committee on defense and foreign affairs should undertake a leading role in galvanizing new legislation within the next two to three years to revise existing laws and place the commander of the TNI under the authority of the Ministry of Defense, preferably with the new nomenclature of "chief of the defense staff". At the same time, the National Police chief should be made answerable to the ministry of home affairs, which ideally would be headed by a civilian with strong leadership and management skills; the police would then be formally integrated as part of the criminal justice system along with the prosecutor's office and the courts.

Separation of the police from the military in 1999-2000 was welcomed by domestic as well as international observers as steps towards democratic politics; however, the abrupt change from an integrated and unified military-cum-police command into two separate and overly distinct functions has resulted in the disjointed and haphazard seeking of new roles. It inevitably intensified rivalry between the Army and police over turf, status and associated spoils, which needs to be resolved by the parties and" a legislature much more attuned to defense and security issues.

The newly installed president in October 2004 must be bold enough to this introduce this legislation while he or she gets to grips with the nitty gritty of party organization and consolidation to follow through on providing sub stance to civilian control.

· Revising the Security Doctrine.

The TNI's self-proclaimed "new paradigm" launched in late1997-1998 ostensibly revised the doctrine of the "people's total defense",which had its roots in the guerrilla warfare during the war of independence in the 1940s and early 1950s. It called for the "redefinition " and "repositioning" of the TNI and assumed a viable civilian party-based system would eventually take over from the heavy dominance of the military in matters of domestic civil security.

Revising the security doctrine entails three crucial elements: The imperative to review the TNI's intelligence, territorial and tactical aspects of its new role. For too long, the doctrine encompassed all three elements into an integrated body, reflecting a tendency in Indonesian political culture to compensate lack of effective I ability with an excess of declaratory dogma. Again, the vigorous participation of political parties in the legislature and civic groups committed to establishing an accountable and transparent military will be urgently required to sustain the commitment for change over the next few years.

The revised security doctrine must address the fundamental issues of redefining the changing civil-military relationships, a clear time table on the scope and pace of review over the phased but effective reduction of territorial role of the TNI and the vital issues of adapting new management techniques and cost effective technology affecting each service.

Additionally, the doctrine must take into account that prime responsibility for domestic security be given to the police. However, given the police force's relatively untrained and undermanned conditions, debate over this particular area of security doctrine is expected to be vigorous and heated.

A newly formulated doctrine encompassing the integration of the three defense services with the National police would provide a "big picture spectrum" encompassing each service's mission carefully calibrate within the network of interaction between those recognized as essentially defensive measures and those that are regarded as essentially domestic security issues.

· Devising a 10-year(within a 25-year) Defense Plan:

Of the larger countries in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is the most under-managed and the most under-funded in terms of national defense requirements.

National leaders in government, political parties, parliament, civic groups, the media and research institutes assisted by sympathetic foreigner observers must embark on a serious effort to agree on a framework for National Defense Planning covering the next 10 to 25 years.

This effort would entail the establishment of a combined mid-level and junior civilian and TNI defense planning team to go through the political economic aspects of defense planning, budgeting and management training and to come to grips with running a modern but cost-effective TNI, including the choice of appropriate technologies, operations and maintenance systems for the Army, Navy and Air Force.

This combined defense planning team would project the medium and long-term needs of defense and security in terms of Indonesian geography and focus on overall defense capability rather than focus on sources of external threat. It would also set appropriate, budgets for each service within a comprehensive view of “rotational defense" cover and would balance defense of populated territory with defense of the country's natural resources. Within the economic means available, it would chose weapons, equipment and training techniques of military preparedness that are on par with Indonesia's immediate neighbors and monitor the evolving regional Asia-Pacific security environment.

All of these elements of medium and long-term defense planning must become a matter of highest priority of the national agenda in the 2004 – 2009 period. A democratic, transparent, accountable and cost-effective national defense can only be as good as the vigorous engagement of all parties concerned. The executives in cabinet, the legislature and political parties, universities and research institutes, non-governmental organizations and civic groups transcending primordial identities, indeed even domestic as well foreign businesses. A focus on the importance of defense reform and planning is an agenda whose time has come for the critical "make or break" years in 2004-2009.

In the final analysis, the provision of a credible, accountable and effective defense force, working cooperatively with the National Police, is just as vital a provider of public goods as the provisions of public high ways, electricity grids, safe harbors, efficient airports, public housing, health care and social safety nets.

The writer is the Indonesian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and, a former minister of defense. This article is his personal view.

( 3 )
Democracy at the crossroads in Indonesia after 61 years
Charles Honoris
Tokyo

Since the conception of Indonesia over six decades ago. The understanding of what democracy is among many Indonesians has been rather vague and often misunderstood.

For some, it is merely a simple state of majority rule through a process of voting and elections. For others, democracy comes with upholding the rule of law, protecting civil liberties and the rights of minorities.

Are we really "democratic"? Have we truly earned the title of a democratic nation? What are we, really?

Democracy is not just a matter of majority rule or elections. It, according to Nobel-prize winner Amartya Sen, requires the protection of liberties and freedoms, respect for legal rights, upholding the rule of law, and the guarantee of a free press. Majority rule without the respect of human rights and civil liberties would lead to what John Mill called the "tyranny of the majority", or Fareed Zakaria's illiberal democracy.

It seems, however, that democracy in Indonesia is often misunderstood, even by its political leaders. When 56 members of the House of Representatives questioned the constitutionality of the sharia bylaws and demanded their annulment in June, they were harshly criticized People's Concultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid from the Prosperous Justice Party.

Hidayat asserted that the sharia bylaws were born through a process of democracy, as those who deliberated the bylaws were elected public officials. Hidayat had forgotten, however,that many of the bylaws were widely criticized for containing repressive and undemocratic values.

There are currently over 20 regencies across the country that have issued sharia-influenced bylaws. Bulukumba regency in South Sulawesi, for example, has issued bylaws obliging women to wear Islamic attire, requiring couples wanting to get married to be Koran-literate, and compelling residents to pay zakat, or religous tithes. Worse, the authorities in Bulukumba's Padang village have used flogging as a method of punishment for those found violatin Islamic principles.

In Pandeglang regency, schools are now forced to provide separate classes for boys and girls. Pandeglang Regent Dimyati Natakusuma claimed this was necessary to prevent immoral behavior.

Then there is Tangerang city's infamous anti-prostitution bylaw, which prevents women from going out at night and otherwise "acting suspiciously".' Legal activists have criticized the bylaw as a violation of the presumption of innocence principle, as people can be arrested based solely on suspicion. According to a report by Tempo magazine there have been over 30 mistaken arrests since the enactment of this bylaw.

When one looks at the formalization of sharia, it is always tempting to make the simplest conclusions that Islam is not compatible with democracy.However, it is not that simple nor true. Yes, a rigid and puritan form of Islamic interpretation is the antithesis to democracy and its values. But so are other religions when practiced the same way.

In his book, The Future of Freedom, Fareed Zakaria wrote that in the Western world today religion is a source of inspiration not a "template for day to-day living." It becomes problematic when religion is forcibly imposed on others literally, as the Bible too, according to Zakaria, contains passages that could be used to "justify slavery and the subjugation of women".

The attempts to formalize sharia-based laws undermine democratic values and Indonesia's culture of pluralism. It is what former president Abdurrahman Wahid calls an attack on the Indonesian1945 Constitution, which guarantees civil rights and recognizes the diversity of the Indonesian people.

Many of the bylaws also run contrary to international human rights conventions, such as the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, already ratified by the Indonesian government.

If President Susilo BambangYudhoyono's administration is serious about continuing and consolidating the democratization process in Indonesia, he should issue a decree to overturn sharia-based bylaws that are unconstitutional and undemocratic by nature.

After all, a recent survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) indicates that the majority of Indonesians reject the implementation of sharia bylaws. If the formalization of sharia is allowed to continue, it may cause a snowball effect, causing the proliferation of more sharia-based regulations, including those violating basic democratic principles and civil liberties.

The writer is a student of political science and Law at the International Christian University in Tokyo.

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China vital to East Asia community
Motoshige Itoh
The Daily Yomiuri
Asia News Network/Tokyo

Seirei keinetsu is a term used by analysts to describe the current state of Japanese-Chinese relations. It literally translates as, "While economic relations are warming up, political ties remain chilly."

A host of political problems need to be resolved. These include Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine and toxic gas bombs left behind by the Imperial Japanese Army in China. Another problem is the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands - Daioyu in Chinese - in the East China Sea,which has been complicated by conflicting claims to natural resources around the islands.

However, economic relations are a different story as Japan and China have become increasingly interdependent.

The fear that China's economic growth and deflationary pressures emanating from that country threatened the Japanese economy has turned out to be without foundation. Many Japanese economists now believe China's surging economic growth has been a boon to this country.

Many Japanese companies have been keen making capital investments in China and bilateral trade and investment have expanded significantly. As a result, many companies believe it is next to impossible to survive intense global competition without achieving success in China.

China's gross domestic product is almost certain to surpass Japan's in the not too distant future. China's GDP eventually could exceed that of the United State, making the country the world's top economic powerhouse. Japan cannot chart its Asian strategy without considering how to forge better relations with China.

But if Japan tilts toward China and other countries in Asia, Japan's relations with the United States could undergo subtle and significant changes.

As can be seen in past Japan-U.S. relations, the greater the number of exchanges,the greater the interdependence. This naturally leads to a wider range of disputes.

What seems beautiful when regarded from afar can often be ugly when looked at more closely.

One of the major tasks in Japan-China diplomacy is to find out whether the two countries can successfully enhance their interdependency by dealing satisfactorily with pending bilateral problems. Both sides should ponder how to accomplish this. In connection with bilateral relations, Japan and China should work together to build a good relationship, while understanding and recognizing the differences between the two countries.

If one party insists that another party do everything the former does, good relations will be impossible. The phrase"affable, but not adulatory" is truly significant when we consider the pursuit of favorable international relations in the age of globalization. When I was in Beijing recently, there were TV broadcasts of the ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy.

Among the leaders attending the ceremony was Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, the enemy of the Allies in World War II. His attendance was symbolic of the current move toward European integration.

Of course, we cannot make simplistic comparisons between Europe and Asia. The process of European integration has continued over a long period of time. But it still holds an important lesson for Japan, which envisions an East Asian community.

Europe integrated against the background of wars between Germany and France, partly over economic resources.These two countries, along with many others, eventually came to the view that to prevent more wars, it was essential to create a single confederation - a single political, economic and social entity.

In pursuit of this ideal, European nations started by creating the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 and, over the course of half a century, formed the Greater Europe of today.

I was not alone in the Japan-China 21st Century Committee meeting in juxtaposing Japan-China relations with those between Germany and France, which led to the creation of the European Union. On this point, a Chinese committee member noted, "Petroleum, food and other resource-related problems loom large in the growth of the Chinese economy."

But he added, "In tackling these problems, China and Japan should act as prudently as possible to ensure that the two countries can resolve them through cooperation, not confrontation."

We should avoid comparing he moves toward European integration – a process that has so far taken more than half a century - with the future of Japanese-Chinese relations.

Nevertheless, we can draw many lessons from Europe concerning its step-by-step effort to reach greater degrees of alliance and integration by considering relations among European nations from a long-range perspective.

European integration has been achieved because of the steadfast endeavors by European nations to pursue a grandiose goal from a wide range perspective, undaunted by potentially explosive problems during the integration process.

The Japan-China committee has"21st Centu4r" in its name to indicate its awareness of the importance of a far-reaching and large-scale program that is conducive to encouraging Asian nations, including Japan and China, to increase cooperation. Undoubtedly the East Asia region will face many difficult problems in the future, as was the casein the past.

The Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait are regional hot spots, and conflicts have occurred over territorial claims involving oil and other resources.

Koizumi is pressing ahead with his East Asian community initiative, but this country must redouble its efforts to promote the community through steady, tangible means.These include Japan's talks with other countries on economic partnership agreements, increasing personnel exchanges, and expediting direct investment and energy related cooperation.

But one thing must be kept in mind. An East Asian community will be impossible without the participation of China.

The writer is a professor at Tokyo University's graduate school of economics and guest research fellow of the Yomiuri Research Institute.

( 5 )
A flawed policy in Lebanon?
Diaz F. Hendropriyono
WashingtonDC

In mid-July, Hizbollah ground forces ranged across the Lebanese border into Israel. capturing two Israel, capturing two Israeli soldiers, killing three and sparking a destructive month-long war. The clash included at least 15,500 Israeli Air Force sorties into Lebanon and the firing of 4,000 Hizbollah Russian made Katyusha rockets into Israel. The casualties stand at more than 1.500 Lebanese and 40 Israeli civilians.

On Aug. 11, the United Nations Security Council passed UN Resolution1701. It calls for the cessation of hostilities, the disarmament of the guerrillas, and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. Hizbollah expressed reservations at the outset, but eventually both sides agreed. The mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was extended until Aug.31, 2007 to ensure the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Southern Lebanon and to restore peace.

World democracies responded favorably to this plan to end the conflict. The resolution authorized a 15,000-member peacekeeping force, and the European Union provided the backbone by pledging a deployment of 6,900 troops.At least three countries with Muslim majorities (Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia) also promised to send soldiers to fill the remaining slots. Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda recently announced the government's plan to send 1,000troops.

While sending Indonesian troops may quell domestic anger over the Middle East conflict and dissuade militants from going to Lebanon to conduct jihad, this foreign policy move may prove damaging. First, although it eventually agreed to Indonesia's participation, Israel initially resisted the involvement of countries that did not recognize the Jewish state, including Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population.

Consequently, Indonesia's troop participation may stave off any form of relationship between these two countries, or perhaps between Indonesia and the U.S. -- Israel's largest foreign aid donor since 1976, bestowing $357 million in Economic Support Funds and $2.2 billion in Foreign Military Financing in fiscal year 2005 alone.

Furthermore, French President Jacques Chirac said the 15,000-member force, along side another 15,000 troops from the Lebanese army, is simply excessive. If he is correct, then an additional 1,000 Indonesian soldiers may be superfluous, and may have no significant impact on the peace process.

Third, Indonesia's financial constraints may hamper the plan's implementation and distract from other, more pressing needs. The House has approved a budget of Rp 355 billion (about US$39 million) for the peacekeeping operation, which is a burden on the state budget.

Whether the UN will fully reimburse the spending, as Indonesia claims the international body has promised to do, remains to be seen. In fact, House budget committee leader Emir Moeis has said the UN will only reimburse logistical and operational costs, which unfortunately account for a mere 20 percent of the total budget. That leaves Indonesia to pay the remaining Rp 287 billion.

The money allotted for the purchase of 32 armored cars from France could be used for other purposes. It could rebuild about 20,000 houses destroyed by the recent natural disasters in Central Java and Yogyakarta, at a cost of approximately Rp 15 million each.The funds could also be used to increase the promised oil subsidies in 2007 and to sustain the affordability of gasoline in anticipation of future gas price volatility. Additionally, the amount spent on troop deployment could help offset the upcoming payment of the 13^th month salary and pensions of civil servant and retirees.

Even if these monetary out lays are partially or fully reimbursed, the potential for Indonesian casualties is real, and those losses would be truly irreplaceable. During last month's conflict, four UN Truce Supervision Organization members from Austria, Finland, Canada and China were killed in Israeli air attacks.

The current administration does not have to turn a deaf ear to the public outcry over the Middle East crisis. However, there are other ways to help. Sending tents, sleeping beds, pillows, medicine, food, water and other essentials is a more practical approach, especially since more than 900,000 Lebanese and tens of thousands of Israelis were displaced by the conflict.

Furthermore, Indonesian citizens could participate in the relief efforts by contributing to reliable humanitarian organizations such as Islamic Relief, LIFE, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and many others. The administration must assume a central role to encourage Indonesians to participate.

The writer is PhD student at the Center for Public Administration and Policy, Virginia Tech University.