So do we

Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 05/03/2010 5:32 PM

So do we: Two students show pins stating "We hate corruption and drugs" in a Declaration Against Corruption and Drugs event at Daarul Rahman Islamic Boarding School on Jl. Senopati in South Jakarta, on Monday. JP/Nurhayati

Students collect relief fund for quake victims

Antara News, Monday, February 1, 2010 13:38 WIB

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - Students from various colleges in Central Aceh regency had collected funds and registered themselves as volunteers to help Central Aceh quake victims.

"We have directly visited Ketol subdistrict which had been worst-hit by the quake on Thursday (Jan 28)," one of the students said here Monday.

Besides going down to the quake-ravaged areas, the students also set up relief posts along important streets of Takengon, capital of Central Aceh.

The students also went to market places to collect funds for the quake victims.

Government Urged to Assist Breastfeeding Mothers

Tempo Interactive, Wednesday, 23 December, 2009 | 15:15 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Makassar:Mother’s Day in Makassar yesterday was commemorated by students and mothers from various organizations with a peace rally in front of the Mandala Monument.

Scores of female students from the South Sulawesi and West Sulawesi Coordination Agency of the Muslim Students Association (Kohati) demonstrated by distributing flowers to mothers on the street.

The students, mostly wearing kebaya and South Sulawesi’s traditional bodo dress, called on the government to set up a space for breastfeeding mothers and a crèche for working mothers. There are only two rooms reserved for breastfeeding mothers in Makassar, at the Global Trade Center Mall and the Panakkukang Mall.

They also called on the government to encourage policies that support mother and child’s interest as well as to pay more attention to Mother’s Reproduction Health Program. “Mother and child mortality rates continue to rise,” said Arlina, rally coordinator.

At the same location, youths and mothers from the Indonesian Poor People Union and the National Student League for Democracy also demonstrated to demand that mothers be given bigger roles.

SUKMAWATI

Singapore sends autopsy report to David’s family

The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Sat, 04/04/2009 11:48 AM

Singapore’s Nanyang Technology University (NTU) has finally sent the autopsy report of David Hartanto Widjaja, an Indonesian student who died on its campus last month, to his family.

“We have received a scanned copy of the report by e-mail,” William Hartanto, David’s older brother, told The Jakarta Post on Friday by telephone.

He added that at first the university had offered to send the report by a courier service.

“The report mostly contained medical terms. Thus, we will seek professional help to decipher them,” William said, refusing to divulge the contents of the report.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Teguh Wardoyo said his office received no notification regarding the report.

“It was Singapore’s initiative to send it directly to the family and we cannot object to that,” he said.

On March 3, 2008, David was found dead after plunging from the third floor of a building on the NTU campus.

Singaporean authorities believe that the young man slashed his wrist and jumped to his death after stabbing a professor.

However, his family has refused to believe this story, saying that David was not the kind of person who would act violently towards another person or himself.

“There were no eyewitnesses who saw my brother stab the professor or jump from the third floor. The reports were all based on the professor’s own words,” William said earlier this week.

He added that when he flew to Singapore to claim the body, he saw no indication that his brother had tried to slash his wrist.

“There was no blood flowing from his hands or arms, but there was some on his backside and legs, so why did they say he slashed his wrists?” he said.

William says that Singaporean authorities made it difficult for the family, who flew to Singapore a day after the incident, to see David’s body.

“The scene was immediately cleared and we were not allowed to see the body of David right away,” he said.

Two other deaths on the NTU campus came soon after David’s. Zhou Zheng, a 24-year old researcher at the university’s laboratory was found hanging, dead, in an apartment on the campus.

Not long after, 29 year-old Hu Kunlun, another researcher, was hit by a car on his way to the campus. Both researchers were Chinese citizens.

The incident has caused a stir among Indonesians, with conspiracy theories being circulated and talk of revolutionary technology being invented by the 21-year old David.

Blogger Iwan Piliang has suggested that the confiscation of David’s computer and cellular phone by the Singaporean police proves that David’s thesis, which involved three-dimensional face recognition technology, was of high economic value.

“There may have been people with vested interests behind David’s death because of his research findings,” he told journalists earlier this week.

Yayan Mulyana, spokesperson for the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, said that the embassy was yet to receive the autopsy report.

“We will ensure that the investigation is well conducted and that David’s family will obtain justice in this case,” he said. (dis)

Police asked to investigate death of RI student in Singapore

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 03/30/2009 5:06 PM

The National Police Headquarters has been urged to investigate the recent death of David Hartanto, an Indonesian studying at the Nangyang Technological University in Singapore, state news agency Antara has reported.

Hartanto Wijaya, David's father, made the statement at the National Police's Ciriminal and Investigation Unit in South Jakarta on Monday.

He came to the National Police Headquarters to urge the police to investigate the death of his son in Singapore.

David was found dead on March 3, 2009 after plunging from the third floor of the university's campus.

Singaporean authorities said David committed suicide, but Hartanto Wijaya does not believe this to be the cause of his son's death.

"I want the Police and the government to help investigate the case of my son in Singapore because his death was anomalous peculiar," he said.

He said that what was peculiar about his son's death was that David was reported to have stubbed his teacher, but that it was his son who died in the incident.

He also questioned why the wound on his son's neck was covered with a plaster when he died.

"If David committed suicide by jumping down from the university campus, his body would have broken into pieces but in fact he only sustained bruises," Hartanto Wijaya said.

He also questioned why the results of an autopsy have yet to be issued.

Hartanto Wijaya denied that the death of his son had something to do with the suspension of his scholarship by the university. (ewd)

Related Article:

National Police rejects inquest request of slain student's parents

University`s faculty to reject scholarships from cigarette industry

Semarang (ANTARA News) - The faculty of public health of state Diponegoro University here will reject all kinds of donations including scholarships from cigarette companies as of 2009, its dean, Tinuk Istiarti, said here on Saturday.

"All financial assistance from cigaratte industry will be rejected including scholarships for students or lecturers as well as sponsorship funds for campus activities," she said.

She said the decision was taken with regard to promoting anti-cigarette smoking campaign in campus that has also been carried out in several other campuses in Indonesia.

She said she was of the view that campus was a place for students to learn and to support it a healthy learning environment had to be created among others through creation of smoke-free environment.

"The university`s faculty of public health is participating in pioneering the campaign of anti-cigarette smoking in campus with a hope it will arouse the public particularly students who smoke to stop the habit," she said.

She said her side had to have the courage to make the decision because cigarette industry was one of the biggest donors for students and lecturers.

She said it would be inconsistent if on the one hand the campus received donations from cigarette industry but on the other campaigned against cigarette smoking.

Moreover, she added, the campus would be considered legitimizing smoking if it received funds from cigarette companies.

"Anti-smoking campaign must not stop on forbidding smoking but must proceed to reject all kinds of cigarette ads in campus," she said.

The faculty of public health has promoted anti-cigarette smoking since the end of 2008 but the launching of anti-cigarette smoking campaign was officially announced only on Thursday, March 6, 2009.

She said any student found smoking a cigarette in the campus area would be fined Rp50,000.

She said so far no student or lecturer had been caught smoking in the campus. "No one has been fined yet," she said.

100 still missing in Situ Gintung dam burst tragedy

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 03/29/2009 2:29 PM

Recovering remains: Indonesian soldiers search for victims after a dam burst in Jakarta on Sunday. Attention shifted to caring for homeless and hungry survivors after a dam burst outside the Indonesian capital, sending a wall of water crashing into homes and killing at least 91 people. More than 100 others are still missing, but hope dimmed Sunday of finding them alive. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

An emergency search and rescue team (UMJ) combing the Situ Gintung area has so far found 96 fatalities, while 100 residents remain missing, tempointeraktif.com reported on Sunday.

"The count is based on the reports of local residents and also neighborhood coordination. Many of the bodies are not clear which neighborhood unit they belong to," UMJ coordinator Rahmat Salam said.

More than 500 people have volunteered to help evacuate victims in the aftermath of the deadly collapse of the Situ Gintung sluice gate and embankment in Cireundeu, Tangerang.

The team comprises members of the national Search and Rescue (SAR), BNPN, Gegana bomb squad, the Health Agency, the Indonesian Red Cross, the police, college students and other members of the public.

The dam burst, which was triggered by heavy torrential rains on Friday evening, had flatted 319 homes, schools and a university campus.

More than 500 residents became homeless and were staying at temporary shelters erected at several locations around the disaster area. (amr)

15,000 people die of narcotic drugs every year

Palu (ANTARA News) - Around 15,000 people die every year in Indonesia because of narcotic drugs, the country's state minister for sports and youth affairs Adhyaksa Dault said here on Saturday. 

Compounded by the number of deaths caused by HIV/AIDS the problem was like a social tsunami as what was seen might just be a tip of an iceberg, he said in his speech at a ceremony to mark the confirmation of Drugs, HIV/AIDS-free youth cadres of Central Sulawesi province. 

Before around 1,000 youths and university students the minister said that the two problems required a serious attention from all community elements. 

Efforts to overcome the problems must be taken jointly and continuously in view of their crippling impact on the nation, he said. 

He said that cigarette smoking was one of ways that could lead to drug addition and therefore he called on youths, school and university students who had not been addicted to cigarette smoking to avoid doing it. 

To those who have been addicted to smoking he appealed to immediately stop it. 

He said school students were very vulnerable to drugs and therefore he called on their parents and family members to conduct tight monitoring on them. 

Central Sulawesi governor Paliudju said that his province was very vulnerable to drugs distribution because it was an open region providing easy access for people from other regions to come to and go from there. 

He said in his written address to the meeting that the number of drugs users in the region had reached more than five percent of the total number of youths in the region. 

In view of that he called on all religious, community and social organization leaders to work together with the government to fight the danger. 

On HIV/AIDS the governor said until the end of last year a total of 71 HIV/AIDS cases had been found in the region consisting of 60 HIV and 11 AIDS cases. 

He said those who were positive with AIDS had already died. "The number of HIV/AIDS cases in the region is increasing from year to year and therefore joint efforts by the government and all community elements would be needed to deal with the problem," he said.

5 children drown in Banyumas river

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/03/2009 3:50 PM  

Five children, students of SDN Kaliurip elementary school, drowned in the Depok River in Banyumas, Central Java, on Tuesday morning, tempointeraktif.com reported Tuesday. 

The victims, Ade Tri Fauzi, Dika Samdani, Kurnia Wisnu Wardhana and Khaerun Anjar Sidik (all 8 years old), and Fahri Romadhon, 9, were playing in the river after a gym class in a field nearby. 

All of the victims had lived in Kaliurip village, except Fahri who had lived in Karangtalun Kidul village. 

The childrens' supervisor, Sularno, did not realise his students had decided to play in the river. 

The river was only 300 meters from the school. Sularno said the school had warned students repeatedly not to play in the 2-meter-deep river. (dre)