MV Sinar Kudus in the Pirate Alley

Somalia is located in the eastern-most part of Africa. There has been no full control from the government since the outbreak of Civil War in 1991. The country has become one of the poorest countries in the world. With the combination of the Civil war and the lack of control from the government, some Somali people, especially those living by the coast have found a way to make a living by seizing the the ships passing by the Gulf of Aden. That's why the Gulf of Aden is also called "Pirate Alley"

There have been many ships seized by these Somali Pirates since 1991. One of the ships is MV Sinar Kudus from Indonesia. The ship carrying nickel was passing by the Gulf of Aden when it was suddenly attacked by a group of Somali Pirates. As usual, they demanded ransom from the owner of the ship, PT Samudera Indonesia.  The ship crews were kept in hostage for over a month. Realizing the potential danger that might happen to the crews, PT Samudera Indonesia finally paid the ransom and the pirates set all the crews free. Nevertheless, TNI personnel (Indonesian National Army) killed 4 pirates after the whole process of releasing the crew was over.

Thank God that they are all now back to Indonesia and return to their families. I guess they never imagine that they will be able to see their families during the hostage. I think we should also appreciate the government and PT Samudera Indonesia for their roles in releasing all the crews.

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Dengue Fever and Its Preventive Measures

I was not active in blogging last month because I was hospitalized and had to have bed rest. I suffered from dengue fever, a plague that happens in many tropical countries like Indonesia. This disease is caused and spread out by aedes aegypti mosquito. The mosquito is the primary vector of the disease. This plague always happens every year especially during the rainy season. The government has promoted a campaign to fight this deadly disease by suggesting people to do the following measures:

1. Keeping up our environment clean
2. Draining our water tank/water storage regularly
3. Burying used tins, pails or cans.

First, we should keep our environment clean because dirty environment is a source of all kinds of diseases including dengue fever. Together with people in our neighborhood, we can clean up waterways, ditch and drainage system. Next, we have to drain our water tank/water storage regularly. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes is unique. This mosquitoes can only breed in clean water. Water tank is a perfect place for them to breed. They lay their eggs in clean water and the wigglers will grow there. Finally, we must bury used tins or cans. During the rainy season, the used can or tin can be filled with water from the rain.  Again, it can be a perfect place for the mosquitoes to breed. If we bury them, we can lessen the place for the mosquitoes to breed.

In brief, dengue fever is a dangerous disease. However, we can prevent it by keeping our environment clean, draining our water tank regularly and burying used tins or cans. Hopefully, by doing those preventive measures, we can minimize or even stop the outspread of dengue fever.

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Total Reform in PSSI is a Must

Football Association of Indonesia or PSSI (Persatuan Sepakbola Seluruh Indonesia) is the national governing body of football in Indonesia. It functions to develop Indonesian football to reach the best achievement regionally as well as Internationally. Indonesian people expect their national team to show their best but the reality turns out to be the other way around. I guess it is about high time to have a total reform in PSSI. Let me tell you the reasons.

First, Indonesian national team have never won any trophy for 10 years. It was in SEA Games in 1991 when Indonesia won the gold medal in football. At that time Indonesia showed that they were the best in South East Asia and beat all their rivals on their way to win the gold medal. However, it was all the past. At present, there is no more trophy or significant achievement. It shows that there is something wrong in developing and improving Indonesian football which is supposed to be the responsibility of PSSI. It is clear that PSSI or to be more specific, Nurdin Halid and his staff in PSSI have failed to carry out their jobs.

Next, there is no regular youth competition in different stages. As we know that in many European countries, they run regular competition for young players. Having junior teams for every club is a must. Those young players also participate in the competition based on their ages. For example in Italy, there is Primavera Competition for young players. This kind competition is useful to bring out and produce young talented players for the senior teams which eventually will lead to a better performance in the national team. However, we cannot see this kind of competition in Indonesia. It's clear that there is a missing link in the development of young players. Consequently, Indonesian team cannot compete with their opponents in Regional and International levels. Again, Nurdin Halid and his staff in PSSI are the ones to be blamed for this failure.

The last but not the least, there is no transparency in the financial management of PSSI. We know that a governing body in football  like PSSI is an independent body. Nobody or not even the government can intervene PSSI in any aspects. If the government try to intervene the management of PSSI, the sanctions from FIFA await. As a result, there is lack of control from the outsiders, especially in the financial management aspect. There is no transparency how the budget in PSSI is spent  or where it goes. Many people suspect that there have been corruption  and manipulation in PSSI. In this case, PSSI should welcome a CPA firm or government institution to carry out an internal audit to their financial management.

To conclude, seeing all  those facts, I believe that total reform in PSSI is a must. As a chairman of PSSI, Nurdin Halid and his staff have to step down as a form of moral accountability because they have failed in doing their job. Transparency in Financial Management is the other thing that has to be tidied up. Hopefully, by a total reform, Indonesian football will flourish and give a good  impact in the performance of the national team. Then, we will see a better Indonesian national team and all Indonesian football lovers are proud of their national team.

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From Senayan with Greed and Selfishness

The Assembly Building located in Senayan is a place where the Indonesian Parliament members work as representatives of their constituents. Becoming parliament members is a noble job because they are supposed to listen to their constituents' aspirations and willingness and then convey them to the government.  They have to get close to their voters to know what they really want or need. However, this is not the case of what is happening here in Indonesia. Let me show you some embarrassing facts about Indonesian Parliament members.

First is corruption case. After a long investigation by KPK, some Parliament Members here have become the suspects for corruption.  They were suspected to receive some travellers' cheques from one of the candidate of Governor of Bank of Indonesia. Many of these parliament members denied that they received the cheques. However, their denial doesn't stop the legal process of the case. As a result, some of them now have become the suspects and will face the trial soon. This is just one example of how greed has taken over their minds and made them forget their noble job. Of course, there are some other corruption cases and the list can be so long that I cannot write here one by one.

Next, Indonesia has been hit by a series of natural disasters lately such as tsunami in Mentawai and volcano eruption in Yogyakarta. Many people have become the victims of these disasters and needed help from their fellow countrymen. Instead of visiting and accompanying the victims of the disasters, some of the Parliament Members went to other countries in the name of "comparative study" or I should call it a "recreation". In this case,  it's obvious that they have lost their sense of crisis and turned a deaf ear to some criticisms asking them not to leave. Selfishness has blinded them from the deep sorrow faced by victims of disasters.

Realizing those facts about Indonesian Parliament Members, I can conclude that greed and selfishness have  got better of them. They think that what they have such as big salary and  a lot of facilities are not enough and they also don't care about the people that they represent. Those facts have shown the bad face of Indonesian Parliament Members.

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