Indonesia, Armani, and a Garuda...

This is one of those times where you sit back in your chair, shake your head, and wonder out loud whether Indonesian politicians have anything better to do. I understand national pride, I understand the need to protect cultural heritage, and I understand insult.

However, I do not understand why you would want to make a mountain out of a molehill on this issue. Unless, of course you wanted to distract the people's attention from more pressing and important matters such as providing a clear explanation of the Bank Century Bailout so that even non-economic types can understand the need, as the government saw it, to bail out a bank of Bank Century's size during a global financial crisis.

Perhaps there is a need to distract people's attention from the shenanigans going on in the Antasari Azhar trial for pre-meditated murder of a love rival. Or maybe it is as simple as needing to distract people's attention away from the faltering president whose 100-day agenda is looking increasingly unlikely to transpire as opposed to just expiring in the sense of dying where it lay.

So, what is this mountain out of a molehill?

Some members of the House of Representatives (usually representing no one but themselves) decided that they were going to pursue Armani for producing a T-Shirt which allegedly desecrates the national symbol of Indonesia. The offending shirt, or at least the image off of it is in the photo above (photo courtesy of Multibrand), has caused quite a stir. The claims, including one from the Minister of Law and Human Rights, Patrialis Akbar, are that the Garuda Pancasila is patented by Indonesia. Now, if this were true, then the image on the offending Armani t-shirt would need to be more than just similar, wouldn't it?

In my mind it would have to be unmistakeably the Garuda Pancasila that everyone associates with being the national symbol of Indonesia. My guess is that most people throughout the world might have some trouble recognizing their own national symbols let alone those of other countries. Yet, in any event, this hardly seems to be a breach of patent (considering patents are for inventions and I am pretty sure that Indonesia did not invent the Garuda). It is also unlikely a breach of trademark.

If Armani was an Indonesian company, then the most likely law to pursue the company under would be the recently passed Law No. 24 of 2009 which deals with matters relating to national symbols, among other matters. Unfortunately, Law No. 24 of 2009 is not likely to have much extra-territorial application if the idea is to pursue Armani overseas. It is also unlikely to succeed in pursuing Armani stores that sell the goods in Indonesia either.

Brett over at Spruiked takes a peak at this issue in his usual forthright manner, and it is worth a read.

The real question is does the use of the Garuda in this way really offend the sensibilities of the majority of Indonesians? My guess is, No! The common sense of the vast majority of Indonesians need not be questioned. And, it is an unfortunate thing that this vast majority is not in the House of Representatives, because then Indonesians and those of us with an interest in Indonesian affairs would not have to read such drivel as a few members of the House of Representatives exploring the possibility of suing a fashion label for using an image of a mythical creature.

Maybe Indonesians are, on the whole, proud that an image they associate with is used in such a way. It is worth noting that Armani has supposedly apologized for any offense it may have caused.

There really must be more important issues of governance to attend to, right?

Mosques Facing the Wrong Way -- Indonesia

The Ministry of Religion has done a survey of Mosques in Indonesia and has determined that at least 20% of them are getting worshipers to face in the wrong direction. Muslims are required to face Mecca when they pray no matter where on the globe (or presumably in the galaxy) they are.

It seems that the majority of the Mosques that are in error are also located in areas that have frequently suffered earthquakes. Nevertheless, the Ministry has suggested that rather than wholesale renovations, or the tearing down of Mosques, that the responsible parties make the necessary corrections by informing worshipers that they need to face in a slightly different direction in order to be facing Mecca.

The Ministry survey team relied on the use of GPS devices to plot the exact location of Mecca relevant to each Mosque.

This "oops" moment follows close on the heels of a statement from Mutoha Arkanuddin, an Islamic scholar, who claimed that as many as 80% of Indonesian mosques and graves (for Muslims) were not facing in the 'right' direction.

I am not a Muslim, so I really do not know how big a deal this is in the big scheme of things. But, I would imagine that if you were the family member of a Muslim whose grave was facing in the wrong direction, the you are like to be a little concerned about what this means for your deceased loved one.

I wonder if there is going to be widespread exhuming and repositioning of loved ones with the use of GPS?

UPH -- National Champions -- Jessup International Law Moot...

My congratulations go out to the Universitas Pelita Harapan Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Competition Team who recently won the National Round of the Jessup.

This is the culmination of a lot of hard work over a lit of years. I am proud of their achievement. It seems I should of hung around for another year in Indonesia, and then I could have claimed some responsibility for their convincing win. I would have been their coach and had another trip to Washington DC.

But, on a serious note. Congratulations!

Your success is well deserved. Hopefully, that success is not over and you can improve on last year's performance at the international rounds. The competition gets fiercer every year. So, preparation is always key, you never really can do too much preparation. Yet, do not forget to enjoy the moment, as these moments do not come along all that often.

So, to the team...congratulations and good luck!

You know where to find me if you need anything.

Prisoner Transfer Agreements -- Australia and Indonesia...

The purpose of a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) is to allow foreign nationals incarcerated overseas to serve out the remaining portion of their sentence in their home countries. A PTA between Australia and Indonesia is something that has been in the pipeline for a while. If you are an Australian or an Indonesian incarcerated in a foreign prison, then that pipeline has been very long to date, and would seem to be a little longer still before there is any light at the end of this pipeline.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marty Natalegawa, has admitted as much. Natalegawa is a talented young diplomat who in a rapidly rising career leading to his appointment as FM held key ambassadorial posts in the UK and at the UN. He is a very intelligent man who is economical in his choice of words and rarely misspeaks. So, when he speaks it is probably worth paying attention to.

So, when Natalegawa said to the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that the negotiations for a PTA had not stalled, but rather taking time as a consequence of Indonesia being new to the PTA game, then that is where the game is at. The PTA will impact on the lives of those prisoners who have not been sentenced to death in an Indonesian court. Unfortunately, for those Australians on death row there is zero chance of them being repatriated to Australia to serve out the remainder of their respective sentences and executed.

However, a PTA will potentially permit the likes of Schapelle Corby and Renae Lawrence to be returned to Australia to serve out the remainder of their custodial sentences in an Australian prison.

The devil is in the detail of a PTA. And, this is where negotiations have slowed to a trickle in the very long pipeline that Natalegawa has alluded to. For example, Indonesia has taken a very strong public international stance on drugs and drug smuggling. Therefore, there are quarters within the Indonesian community that are reluctant to include drug smugglers on the list of prisoners who can be returned under a PTA. There is a fear that Australia does not deal with drugs as harshly as they do in Indonesia. And, they are right, we do not execute people period. That fear is that Corby and Lawrence would be returned to Australia under a PTA and then released shortly after their return.

The details are likely to include specific conditions on how much time is to be served in Australia prior to a release. The difficulty here is that Indonesia works on a remission system where prisoners sentences are cut each year, sometimes twice a year, on religious / national holidays for good behaviour. In contrast, the Australian system works on a head sentence and a non-parole period. Ultimately, the same amount of time will conceivably be served under both situations but these are the sorts of details that need to be hammered out before an agreement can be reached.

Another critical issue still to be agreed is how much time prisoners will be required to serve before becoming eligible for a PTA return to their home country. There have been suggestions that Australians serving time in Indonesian jails will have to do almost 3/4 of their sentence before becoming eligible. However, this is unlikely, assuming those on the Australian side of the debate are knowledgeable and well-informed on the Indonesian system. A person convicted in Indonesia is likely to only do 3/4 of their original sentence, and in all likelihood less than 3/4, with remissions for good behaviour and the like.

The classic example here is none other than the son of the former president (dictator), Tommy Soeharto. Tommy was convicted of a little graft and then the subsequent premeditated murder for hire of a Supreme Court justice. The man ended up doing about 2/3 of his original sentence.

So, in that regard a PTA might not make a lot make a lot of sense for most Australians incarcerated in Indonesia. It is also unlikely that the 3/4 of the sentence demand will be met.

It would seem that a PTA will become a reality in the future, but how far into the future remains to be seen.

SBY -- When the Going gets Tough, the Tough get Singing...

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has found time in his hectic schedule of governing the Republic of Indonesia to release his third album of songs. This is pretty funny on so many levels. The president has laid out a pretty ambitious agenda for his first 100 days of his second term, and seems to be failing pretty miserably on all fronts of that agenda. Further into the equation comes the shenanigans he is facing in the ongoing enquiry related to the Bank Century bailout.

But, amongst the seeming unravelling of his second term in office, the president felt it necessary to take a break and release his third album, "Ku Yakin Sampai ke Sana"(or 'I Believe I Can Get There'). The album is nine songs long and includes the involvement of some of Indonesia's more recognizable musical talent, such as Rio Febrian, Elfa Singers, and Tantowi Yahya, among others.

According to SBY, the songs are reflective of his mood. The songs are supposed to communicate this mood to the people, and to highlight the president's commitment to serving them and serving them well. Perhaps, rather than cooing and singing to the masses, the president can actually do some work and solve some of the problems afflicting his administration. Simply, if he did the work and then claimed the victories of that work then the masses of Indonesians who voted for him might enjoy a whole lot more prosperity and good fortune rather than the empty promises of a few songs.

Just a thought.

Renae "The Protector" Lawrence...

It was with some interest that I read an article by Tom Allard in today's (24/01) Sydney Morning Herald. It was with interest because there are two pieces of relevant information provided in the article.

In Allard's opinion from what he has witnessed during a brief visit is that Schapelle has deteriorated both physically and mentally. Nevertheless, the prospects for an imminent or early release have faded. And, that Renae Lawrence has taken on the role of 'protector'.

The second important piece of 'news' was that Renae Lawrence is pretty angry about the book written by Kathryn Bonella titled "Hotel Kerobokan" which Corby supporters are promoting as the god-given truth of what conditions are like inside. To the contrary, Lawrence claims the book is nothing more than a pack of lies. Of specific concern seems to be the claims that Lawrence frequently indulges in lesbian orgies in her queen-sized bed.

I wonder if Kathryn Bonella is going to come out and defend herself against the claims reported by Lawrence? Simply, if Bonella is not telling the truth about Lawrence as Lawrence claims, then this brings into question the content of the whole book.

The prison authorities have consistently denied that the conditions are as bad as Bonella makes out. In fact, the prison authorities recently held a media open day to highlight the very fact that conditions are not as bad as they are claimed to be. They have also denied that Schapelle is in a desperate place and situation that requires her immediate removal to a mental health facility or her immediate repatriation to Australia.

It will be interesting to see if there is any response to this Tom Allard article from either side of the debate.

Mahatir, 9/11, and Jews...

There is one thing you can always count on from the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, controversy. Whether what he says is true or not seems to be irrelevant. But, on some issues the man is downright creative in the manner he constructs his conspiracy theories. Nevertheless, probably more disturbing is the suggestion that the targeting and killing of Jews has failed to solve the "Jewish problem" at least as he sees it. I wonder if I am reading too much into the implied 'if you are going to do it, then do it right' sentiment that he appears to be suggesting.

If the quotes attributed to him are correct then he paints a pretty disturbing picture of what goes on in his head. It would seem that the only difference between him and Ahmadinejad (who is supposedly of Jewish ancestry) is that Mahatir does not deny that a massacre (probably a little less severe than a using the terms genocide or holocaust to describe the 'Final Solution' envisaged by the Nazis) took place during the Second World War.

The conspiracy theory that if the US can put together a film like Avatar, then they are more than capable of perpetrating the 9/11 attacks and blaming them on Muslims as an excuse to wage war on Muslims. The idea that the 9/11 attacks were not all that they seem, and that the US may have been involved in setting up the attacks on themselves is not a new one. Let's face it, even Rosie O'Donnell is on the record saying that the 9/11 attacks were staged and that the World Trade Centers were brought down with strategically placed bombs.

However, it is his comments about Jews that are most disturbing. Mahatir seems to think that the world's problems are caused by Jews and some kind of Jewish lobby. This is not new either as a conspiracy theory. Nevertheless, what is a little disturbing is that he seems to think that confining the Jews to ghettos and then periodically massacring them is not necessarily a bad idea, but rather it has not been done properly as the Jews have always managed to rise up again and thrive once again.

Mahatir is quoted as saying, "even after their massacre by the Nazis of Germany, they survived to continue to be a source of even greater problems for the world."

Then again, one needs to take whatever Mahatir says with a grain of salt, the man is renowned for his anti-US and anti-Semitic stances. I guess he is certainly not putting his name forward as a man of peace and reconciliation.

Women's Tennis -- The Tennis or The Fashion? (Part II)

It would seem that Maria Sharapova is not the only female tennis star running up against the fashion police. Venus Williams wore a revealing little yellow number in her most recent match. And, in a distinct difference to Ms. Sharapova, the dress did not affect her performance as she ran out a comfortable winner.

It appears that the [mini] dress was a little more revealing than some people had hoped for, and probably not revealing enough for others, and sparked a bit of debate as to whether she was wearing any underwear, knickers, panties, or whatever the undergarments are called in sport.

The photos do not leave much to the imagination. Venus is clearly wearing underwear. She is most definitely not going commando.

I guess if you win your matches easily then the press needs to drum up interest in other parts of the performance.

Obesity Discrimination?

Sooner or later airlines were undoubtedly going to require obese people to purchase two seats if they wanted to fly to their destination. Air France and KLM will charge obese passengers 75% of the cost of a second seat. Essentially, this is the cost of the seat without the taxes thrown in.

Air France and KLM are claiming that the obese passenger two-seat policy is for safety reasons. The key safety reason being that the obese person cannot be safely buckled into one seat. The policy is one that applies to fully booked flights only at this stage (for tickets booked after 1 February 2010 and for flights after 1 April 2010 - April Fool's Day joke?). According to Air France and KLM, where a flight is not fully booked, the obese passenger will be given a refund on the purchase price of their second seat.

The dimensions of aircraft seats range between 43cms and 44cms wide, and this seems to be the key safety measurement if the two-seat policy is going to work.

Nevertheless, the question is how is the policy going to be enforced? Do travel agents have to make a determination at the time a ticket is booked and paid for as to whether the prospective passenger is obese? Or will it be a requirement for all Air France and KLM flights that when booking a ticket a passenger must supply a doctors certificate stating their weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), and perhaps critical measurements when sitting (will they fit comfortably in a 43cm or 44 cm seat)? Or are the airlines going to not only weigh one's checked in baggage but require the passenger to jump on the scales as well?

The mind boggles.

My guess is that not all airline passengers are going to be concerned about this development. In fact, I am guessing that there will be plenty who fully endorse the move and wonder why it has not happened sooner.