WSJ - How Will ‘SlutWalk’ Play in Singapore?

OCTOBER 19, 2011, 3:58 PM SGT

By Shibani Mahtani

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Women take part in a ‘SlutWalk’ in Paris on Oct. 1.

A global movement against sexual violence known as SlutWalk has spread from Toronto to Delhi to Johannesburg, and now is set to make its Southeast Asia debut in the notoriously socially restrictive city-state of Singapore.

The grass-roots protest, sparked by a Canadian police officer’s remark in February that women should avoid “dressing like sluts” to prevent sexual assault, aims to challenge attitudes toward gender and sexual violence. That’s likely to be an even greater challenge in Singapore, where conservative attitudes toward gender roles are deeply entrenched, activists say, and where political demonstrations are strictly regulated.

Singapore SlutWalk organizers say the issue of “victim-blaming” in sexual-assault cases is a particularly relevant problem in Singapore, where a rape survivor can be discredited as a witness if shown to have a “generally immoral character.” Additionally, marital rape isn’t illegal in Singapore, which the organizers say is indicative of the city’s systemic problems.

The event, set for Dec. 3-4, follows other recent political movements that face significant hurdles in Singapore, which places tight restrictions on public gatherings.

“The idea of civil disobedience is very new here,” said Cher Tan, 24, one of the seven main organizers of SlutWalk Singapore.

Location is just one reflection of those limitations: Hong Lim Park, where SlutWalk Singapore will be held, is home to a patch of grass known as Speakers’ Corner—the only place where Singaporeans can protest, or even gather for a social cause without applying for a police permit. Even then, the event’s content isn’t allowed to touch on the subjects of race and religion.

Last week, some Singaporeans failed to launch an “occupy” movement in Singapore’s financial district. The planned protest – inspired by the Occupy Wall Street events that have quickly gone global—was deemed unlawful by the police, and organizers failed to identify themselves when the protest was meant to happen on Saturday afternoon.

Despite the relative lack of social progressivism among Singapore’s populace, the organizers of SlutWalk Singapore have been surprised at the reception of the planned event.     The group’sFacebook page now has almost 700 “likes,” and its website is buzzing with commentaries, blogposts and articles.

“This has become much bigger than we imagined it to be,” said Ms. Tan, a freelance graphic designer.

But the SlutWalk has already stirred up opposition and controversy in the Singapore blogosphere. Writing in newnation, one Singaporean argued that a “slut” should “at the very least be sexually attractive.” The writer said that many “SlutWalkers” in previous demonstrations were unattractive and “do not qualify as sluts,” making it pointless for them to join the march – in the author’s words, “like a meat-eating person joining PETA.”

The article received backlash online, including a response from blogger Alex Au, who wrote that “everything” was wrong with opinion of the writer.

“The point is to press home an idea, and if you agree with it, you have a right to be there,” wrote Mr. Au, who believes that it is time for an event like SlutWalk to challenge widely held gender attitudes in Singapore.

“We want people to be clear about the idea behind this, our main goal isn’t to reclaim the word ‘slut,’” said Ms. Tan, who believes the movement is primarily about challenging the culture of victim-blaming in society.

“There are pictures of people who come to SlutWalks dressed provocatively all over the mainstream media, so people think it’s just about that,” said Vanessa Ho, 23, another one of SlutWalk’s organizers. “We are trying to encourage people to come in all sorts of attire.”

In a response to a No To Rape campaign in Singapore, the government issued a statement in May saying that “a balance needs to be struck between various interests, such as that of protecting vulnerable women and preserving the institution of marriage.” Officials further said that “a balanced and calibrated approach” was better than abolishing marital immunity altogether, and stressed that public education was key to dealing with domestic violence.

Unlike most SlutWalks, Singapore’s event will be held over two days, with the first day reserved for workshops and discussions. Instead of a march, the SlutWalk will be a gathering, so as to abide by legal restrictions on such demonstrations in Singapore.

Several events will also be held in the lead-up to the SlutWalk, including a “SlutRide”—a group bike ride in partnership with A Critical Mass, a cycling advocacy group, which plays on the term “village bicycle,” to raise awareness for both causes.

WSJ - Bangkok Awakes To An Uncertain Few Days

OCTOBER 20, 2011, 9:09 AM SGT

By James Hookway

Associated Press

Factory workers in the outskirts of Bangkok join hands in stacking sand bags to make floods barriers Monday. Seemore photos.

Thailand’s capital city woke up Thursday to an uncertain few days in which Bangkok’s anti-flood defenses will be given their toughest test yet.

Local newspapers spelled out the government’s latest plans for diverting the floodwaters away from the heart of the Thai economy, warning that some of the city’s eastern suburbs will be sacrificed to protect the inner core. Bangkok accounts for over 40% of Thailand’s economic output, and the spectacle of a widespread inundation there could also badly damage the country’s substantial tourism industry for months or even years to come.

Many small businesses prepared sandbags to block their doorways. International hotels and office buildings, too, were taking few chances, not knowing when or even whether the flood waters will encroach on central Bangkok.

Some residents took the precaution of acquiring rowing boats which they left propped up in condominium parking bays.

A 10-member team of U.S. Marines arrived in the country at the weekend to help Thai authorities assess the impact of the damage and the likely flow of the flood waters, which have submerged an area 16 times the size of Hong Kong, claimed at least 135 lives, and shut down six major industrial parks, severely disrupting the country’s manufacturing sector.

After submerging much of Pathum Thani province, immediately north of Bangkok, the floodwaters on Wednesday spread to cover much of Nonthaburi, to the city’s north-west. Officials said all six districts in the province were flooded.

Conflicts between the national government led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the Bangkok city administration led by her rivals in the Democrat Party continue, despite the crisis.

National leaders hope to drain some of the flood waters through some of the city’s canals. The Bangkok Post newspaper reported that more than 8 billion cubic meters of flood waters are flowing from the northern and central Thailand towards Bangkok, but the Chao Phraya River that flows through the center of the city can only divert around 200 million cubic meters a day. Diverting water through the city’s canals would help ease the burden on Chao Phraya.

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra remains reluctant to follow that plan, while the city is still vulnerable to heavy and often violent rain-storms.

“If we are safe from the rain and don’t need to limit the water levels (in the canals), we will open them. The BMA must manage the risk,” Mr. Sukhumbhand said.

WSJ - Malaysian Muslims Plan Rally Against Alleged Christian Plot

OCTOBER 20, 2011, 8:30 AM SGT

By James Hookway

Malaysia is set for another round of noisy political protest this weekend. This time, it’s conservative Muslims angry over an alleged plot to make Christianity the national religion who are hoping to beat up a storm ahead of national elections due to be held sometime in the next 18 months.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

There isn’t much evidence that Christians in Malaysia try to convert Muslims.

The supposed plan already has been discredited. A pro-government newspaper reported in May that ethnic-Chinese Christians were scheming to put make Christianity Malaysia’s official religion and place a Christian in the post of prime minister. Police investigated eight pastors, but this month Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said in a written answer in Parliament that there was no evidence to support the claims, which were first made by blogger Zakhir Mohamad, better known as “Big Dog.”

Nonetheless, conservative Muslims worried about Christian groups trying to convert Muslims to their faith aim to draw tens of thousands of people to their rather optimistically titled Himpunan Sejuta Umat, or Gathering of a Million Muslims, at a stadium in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday.

Key organizer Azmi Hamid said in a statement Tuesday said the rally was necessary to stop Muslim and Christian Malaysians treading on each other’s toes. “I would like to remind all that the evangelist movement has been on the rise globally, regionally and nationally. The efforts to approach Muslims to get them to change religions cannot be denied.”

There isn’t much evidence that Christians in Malaysia try to convert Muslims. For one thing, persuading Muslims to renounce Islam is illegal in most states in this predominantly Muslim country.

Yet seemingly innocuous events create havoc in the country, where public shows of support for Islam can be politically useful.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

A Muslim man in Kuala Lumpur.

Several churches were firebombed last year after a court ruled that Malay-speaking Christians could use the term “Allah” for God. Muslim hardliners argued that only followers of Islam can use the term, even though the Arabic word predates Islam and is widely used among Christians in the Middle East and Indonesia.

The Sultan of Selangor state, meanwhile, this month said Islamic authorities would provide counseling to a dozen Muslims after they attended a community dinner at a local church hall in August. Church officials have said no proselytizing occurred at the event.

Still the situation could be worse, at least for Malaysia’s opposition alliance. The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, one of the key players in the opposition alliance lead by Anwar Ibrahim, Tuesday said it would not take part in Saturday’s protest – sparing it another round of disputes with its more secular-leaning partners.

New Matilda - Troops Open Fire On Papuan Gathering

WEST PAPUA

20 Oct 2011

By Alex Rayfield

Participants in the Third Papuan People's Congress are arrested by Indonesian security forces.

The Indonesian military and police opened fire late yesterday on a gathering of West Papuan leaders. At least one person is believed to have been killed and hundreds have fled the capital

The Indonesian military and police started shooting at around 2:37pm West Papua time, yesterday 19 October. Information about what exactly transpired are still sketchy but at least one person was shot (believed dead), scores have been arrested, hundreds have fled to the hills and jungle surrounding the capital, and the capital is in a state of lockdown.

A Papuan priest who was fleeing the shooting contacted New Matilda to report that an army truck passed him carrying Papuan participants who had been present at the Third Papua Congress. According to the witness they were "covered with blood" and had been "beaten and shot".

The violence erupted at the conclusion of the Third Papuan Congress, a three-day gathering held at the Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) in Abepura, during which Papuan leaders declared their independence from the Indonesian state.

As many as 20,000 West Papuans met, danced and debated how to achieve their civil and political rights. For three days the atmosphere had been tense. The venue was ringed by Armed Personnel Carriers, military trucks and Barracudas — a type of armed jeep favoured by the paramilitary police. Machine guns were trained on the participants and thousands of soldiers and paramilitary police armed with automatic weapons were present.

Papuan activists feared that the military and police would try to forcibly break up the peaceful gathering. But the Papuans were determined to have the congress.

One activist told New Matilda "maybe we will die but the congress will go on". Continue it did. The banned "morning star" flag was flown and the banned national anthem was sung. By lunch time on the third day (19 October) Papuan activists, members of the organising committee and well connected church leaders heard that the police and military were going to use force to break up the congress.

By 2pm Jayapura time the Congress was concluding. Forkorus Yaboisembut, the Chair of the influential Customary Papaun Council was elected President and Edison Waromi was elected Prime Minister of the "West Papua Federal State". The crowd was ecstatic. One senior tribal leader sent New Matilda the following message by SMS: "Kongres has been successful! No reaction from the military. God bless!"

The jubilation was premature.

Immediately after New Matilda received that SMS, Yaboisembut and Waromi read a declaration of independence. The police and military then opened fire and stormed the stage. As Forkorus Yaboisembut was being arrested, his personal bodyguards stepped in to protect him. A witness reports at least one person was then shot. According to an SMSNew Matilda received from Yaboisembut: "hundreds were surrounded, shot, beaten and then arrested".

Prior to being arrested, Yaboisembut spoke to a journalist from Bintang Papua, a local Jayapura daily. Yaboisembut was reported as saying that the objective of the congress was to discuss the basic rights of the indigenous Papuan people and not to destroy the the republic of Indonesia.

"Although we will be discussing political rights, we respect the Indonesian government because our intention is not to destroy [the republic of Indonesia]. This is a matter of principle," he said.

"What we are doing is to struggle for the rights of the indigenous Papuan people. This includes our basic right as a nation."

Yaboisembut knows what he is talking about. He recently wrote a book about international law, self-determination and the right to secession — a right upheld by the international community most recently in South Sudan and before that Kosovo.

Human Rights defenders in West Papua can confirm that in addition to Yaboisembut, Edison Waromi and his wife and child, Selfius Bobi (Chair of the organising committee), Agus Krar, Abraham Kareni, Yudit Kambuaya and Jan Piet Mirino were also arrested.

At the time of writing those arrested were being detained at the local Jayapura police station. Another source reports that Selphius Bobii, chair of the organising committee has not been seen since. Staff from West Papua Media Alerts hold grave fears that he is being tortured.

Extreme violence has been used to break up a peaceful gathering.

This was the third time West Papuans have held a congress. The second congress was in 2000. It culminated in the election of the Papuan Presidium Council which collapsed in late 2001 after the Chair, Theys Hiyo Eluay, was assassinated by Kopassus, Indonesia’s Special Forces.

The first Papua Congress was held on 1 December 1961, a day West Papuans commemorate as their national day, and some 18 months before Indonesia occupied West Papua on 1 May, 1963.

Yesterday was the second time the Papuans declared independence from Indonesia. The first was by Seth Rumkorem on July 1 1976 at Markas Viktoria, a guerrilla base on the Papua New Guinea border.

Yaboisembut’s declaration of independence in front of thousands of Papuan people and thousands of heavily armed police is a clear escalation of the struggle for independence. It also illustrates Yaboisembut’s conviction that the struggle needs to be waged through an unarmed popular civilian uprising.

WSJ - Floods Set Back New Thai Leader

OCTOBER 19, 2011

By JAMES HOOKWAY - BANGKOK—Recriminations over the handling of Thailand's worst floods in half a century are causing fresh setbacks for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as the financial cost of the disaster continues to mount and her government firmed up plans to inject billions of dollars to shore up the country's faltering economy.

Floods Hit Thailand

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Associated Press

A flood victim on a raft used a paddle to collect relief supplies dropped from a military helicopter in Pathum Thani Province, just north of Bangkok, on Monday.

Ms. Yingluck's biggest problem, analysts say, is the haphazard way information about the flood has been released, summed up by the science minister's hasty call last week for evacuating part of the capital.

The erratic information flow has unnerved residents and spooked foreign companies, which shut down operations at factories across Thailand to buy time to get a grip on the crisis. The central bank now estimates that the floods, which have taken at least 315 lives and cost over a quarter of a million jobs, will wipe as much as 1.7 percentage points off the country's growth rate this year, as the inundation continues to disrupt supply chains across Asia and beyond.

Ms. Yingluck's government Tuesday approved a plan to widen the country's budget deficit for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 to 400 billion baht, or $12.9 billion, compared with an initial target of 350 billion baht in order revive Thailand's flagging economy and provide aid to the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the floods.

Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who earlier said the city had escaped the worst of the deluge, held an emergency press conference Monday night to say it will be hit by a fresh inundation of water in the next two days. "Be alert, but please don't panic," he said, before pleading for donations of sandbags. Tuesday, soldiers and civilian volunteers rushed to reinforced flood defenses with sandbags around Bangkok's northern perimeter in a last-ditch effort to divert run-off from the floods.

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Sukree Sukplang/Reuters

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra with flood evacuees last week

In theory, Thailand's antiflood effort is led out of a single "war room" at Bangkok's old international airport, where deep political divisions between the populist government and conservative bureaucrats and army leaders—which in the past five years have led to a coup and massive political demonstrations, including one in Bangkok in which 90 people were killed—are carefully papered over.

In reality, analysts say, the 44-year-old Ms. Yingluck is struggling to keep a grip on the situation in the first big test of the two-month-old administration. They say that's largely because of a widespread perception that the government is controlled by former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, her older brother, who lives in Dubai after being toppled in the coup five years ago.

"Ms. Yingluck, to her credit, has done her job well. She has been seen everywhere," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. "But the government also knew about the imminent floods two months ago and did little to prevent it. This is a leadership crisis."

Science Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi broke ranks on Thursday, rushing out of a top-level crisis meeting to tell people in northern Bangkok that they should leave their homes immediately to escape the flood. It was just the sort of stunt many Thais expect from Mr. Plodprasop, an excitable entrepreneur best known for putting exotic meats such as zebra and crocodile on the menu at a night safari in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

"I'm sorry to say we fell for it. We took the dog and high-tailed it out of there," said one resident of a low-lying area, who asked not to be named out of embarrassment.

Bangkok's flood defenses were, in fact, intact. Mr. Plodprasop later apologized for his confusion—but not before many people abandoned their homes in a late-night rush and triggered a panic that rippled across much of the city.

Shortly after, Mr. Sukhumbhand, the city governor, told anxious Bangkok residents to listen to him, and him alone.

Since then, the debate over how to handle Thailand's flood crisis has grown more and more tetchy. Former Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, who faced a smaller flood crisis last year, is urging Ms. Yingluck to declare a state of emergency and postpone a series of populist cash handouts that were a key pledge of her successful election campaign earlier this year. A state of emergency, among other things, would increase the flood-relief authority of Thailand's military and allow it to intervene in disputes between villagers over where to divert the run-off from the flood.

Ms. Yingluck so far has refused, arguing the declaration might scare off foreign visitors just as Thailand prepares for its peak tourist season.

Other observers, for their part, question why irrigation officials didn't begin releasing meaningful amounts of excess water from the country's reservoirs until the impact of this year's unusually ferocious rain-storms was already well under way. In previous years, the country's water managers often began releasing water from dams and reservoirs as early as July.

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In the meantime, the government continues to send mixed signals. As floodwater knocks out more industrial parks—a sixth was shut down Monday—businesses are wondering just how far the crisis will go.

One of Honda Motor Co.'s Thai plants is swamped and Toyota Motor Co. said Friday that it was extending a shutdown of its Thai operations until the end of this week at least, because suppliers of key components are still affected by the floods. Makers of semiconductors and hard drives have also been badly affected, with many businesses complaining that the government hasn't developed a long-term solution for Thailand's periodic flooding.

A Japanese trade group already has said that Japanese companies—including many of Thailand's biggest foreign investors—didn't know what was happening and what was accurate.

"They received warnings but not enough information and not enough to time to decide what steps to take," said Seiya Sukegawa, an economist at the Bangkok office of the Japan External Trade Organization.

WSJ - Jakarta Papers Pan President’s Picks

OCTOBER 19, 2011, 6:19 PM SGT

By Eric Bellman

The reviews are in, and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s new cabinet is looking like a disappointing sequel.

In Wednesday editorials in Indonesia’s press, SBY was given the equivalent of a middling two out of five stars for the ministerial choices announced the day before. Reaction ranged from disappointment to slight relief that at least his picks included only a few politicians, who are generally unpopular and considered inept in Indonesia.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

President Yudhoyono’s cabinet picks face the press.

“The new cabinet line-up gives different signals,” opined the influential newspaperKompas. “There is some hope but also questions and skepticism. The president has kept the ministers allegedly connected to corruption cases. This could harm the public’s trust in his commitments.”

Julian Pasha, a spokesman for the president, told Southeast Asia Real Time the reviews have been too harsh. No one can question the president’s commitment to fighting corruption, he said, given that more than 100 politicians have been prosecuted during his time in office. He added that it was too early to judge what the new ministers can accomplish.

Expected to deliver a kick-start for an economic and political overhaul, the picks instead seem the work of a president already circling his wagons ahead of elections that are still three years away, the papers suggested. Rather than choose the most-qualified professionals for key positions, Mr. Yudhoyono chose close allies.

The most glaring example cited by analysts and editorials is Jero Wacik, who was given the job of energy and mineral resources minister despite his lack of experience with a crucial and complicated sector that is attracting billions of dollars in foreign investment. A member of the president’s Democrat Party, he has a background in mechanical engineering and experience as tourism minister.

And it looks like the popular outgoing Trade Minister Mari Pangestu may have lost her job in political horse trading, analysts said, because she dared to stand up to vested interest groups that were demanding protection from imports. She was shuffled to the less important position of minister of tourism.

“President SBY has thrown away any chance to create clean and competent cabinet,” said the newspaper Koran Tempo. “The benefits from a reshuffle are minimal and there is no guarantee this cabinet will perform any better than the last one.”

With so many Indonesian professionals and technocrats qualified to help revamp Southeast Asia’s largest economy and democracy, it’s widely seen as unfortunate Mr. Yudhoyono wasn’t ready to make bolder choices. On average, voters like their president more than they like other politicians, but his popularity is being dragged down by other leaders.

With the global economy looking like it could be headed toward lean times again, the current boom in Indonesia could be the last opportunity for a long time to make the tough decisions the country needs to create more jobs and wealth for its young populace, the newspapers said. An unresolved land-acquisition law, budget-draining petroleum subsidies and confusing and competing laws and regulations on everything from mining rights to bank ownership are just a few of the barriers to investment.

President Yudhoyono should understand better than anybody that his obsession with harmony has triggered paralysis and even betrayal, editorial writers said, with even his coalition allies refusing to respect the fine balance he is trying to maintain and often blocking his initiatives and delaying the country’s progress.

“This is an incredibly divisive administration, and a dangerous one for that matter, because what is sorely needed now is a cabinet dominated by professionals, who enjoy strong political backing to cope with the external threats from the discouraging global economic conditions,” said a Jakarta Post editorial titled “The Last Chance Wasted.” “The President never seems willing to learn the lessons from the failure of his coalition to advance his legislative agenda because of the constant backstabbing by his coalition partners.”

Presidential spokesman Mr. Pasha called for a different tone. “Let’s be optimistic,” he said.  “The new teams will start working together and the appointed deputy ministers are going to help the ministers be more productive.”

—Yayu Yuniar contributed to this article.

VIVA - Indonesia: Wanted List of Cirebon Terrorist Circle

"They are categorized as dangerous people in terrorist circle"

SENIN, 17 OKTOBER 2011, 17:11 WIB

Eko Huda S, Nila Chrisna Yulika

(VIVAnews.com)

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VIVAnews - Anti-terror Special Detachment 88 has arrested several people suspected of being involved in terrorist network of Cirebon, West Java. However, so far seven members of the network are still at large.

"They are categorized as dangerous people in terrorist circle," said Head of Public Relations Division of National Police (Polri) HQ, Ins. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam at Polri HQ, Jakarta, Monday. "They are part of a terrorist cell. They can assemble bombs, recruit people and so forth."

According to Anton, this Cirebon cell had made some recordings of their exercise. "Earlier, we obtained a mobile phone that was drown in the water. They did the training at Mount Ciremai and so on. They are also involved in the case of Alfamart destruction," he said. "To people who are in the know of the information, they are expected to report to the police."

Here are the names of the seven fugitives:

1. Santoso, alias Santo aka Abu Wardah
2. Yadi Al Hasan
3. Nanang Irawan aka Nang Ndut
4. Umar Bujang aka Dede aka Rosi
5. Imam Rasyidi aka Imam Sukanto
6. Taufik Bulaga aka Upik Lawanga
7. Cahya aka Ramzah

• VIVAnews