Indonesia Morning News For December 13

Minister confirms Rp400 trillion allocation for infrastructure in 2019
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has revealed that funds amounting to Rp400 trillion will be allocated in the State Budget for the development of infrastructure across Indonesia in 2019.
— Antara News

Sri Mulyani: State Budget Deficit at Lowest Rate for Past 5 Years
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that the state budget deficit in 2018 is at its best figure for the past five years.
— Tempo.co

Indonesia’s trade boycott threat over Jerusalem recognition
The Indonesian Muslim groups behind a one-million-strong rally in Jakarta this month have warned that any move by the Australian government to formally recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — even if the embassy remains in Tel Aviv for now — would spark mass protests and a boycott of Australian products.
— The Australian

Indonesia’s Lion Air set to scrap $22bn Boeing jet order
Lion Air Mentari’s owner is sketching out plans to become one of the world’s largest budget carriers, while also preparing to scrap $22 billion in Boeing jet orders out of anger at the manufacturer’s response to an October air disaster.
— The National

Indonesia: Papua rebels reject surrender after workers’ killing
Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s far-east Papua province who killed a group of construction workers earlier this month have refused to surrender.
— Aljazeera

Indonesia poised to become world`s best halal tourism country by Andi Abdussalam
Muslim tourists are a potential segment of the global tourism where in 2017, a total of 131 Muslim tourist arrivals were recorded globally, or up from 121 million in 2016.
— Antara News

Central Java ranked sixth as investment destination in Indonesia
Central Java is ranked sixth among 34 provinces in Indonesia in terms of investment destination, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati stated.
— Antara News

Government to shift focus from infrastructure to education in Papua
Education will become another focus of the government’s development plans in Indonesia’s easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua after it managed to open up part of the isolated areas with its Trans-Papua flagship infrastructure project.
— The Jakarta Post

The 212 Reunion Rally violated Indonesian campaign law, but nothing will come of it
On Sunday, 2nd December 2018, a major rally billed as “212 Reunion” took place in central Jakarta. The event was something of a reunion for those who participated in the 2016 demonstration against the then-Jakarta governor, Basuki Cahaya Purnama, known as Ahok.
— Asean today

Government builds high-speed internet to support MSMES
The government has succeeded in building high-speed internet infrastructure throughout Indonesia to support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
— Antara News

BNPB: Viral News on Landslide in Puncak Route is Hoax
BNPB announced that viral news about landslide incident that reportedly blocks that reportedly blocks the road to Puncak, Bogor, is a hoax.
— Tempo.co

Indonesia’s climate refugees are being forced into deadly labor abroad
“Don’t switch off your phone because I’m coming home,” were the last words Dolfina said to her mother, in March 2016.
— Quartz

BI eyes 20 percent market share for sharia finance by 2023
Bank Indonesia (BI) plans to see the market share of sharia finance rise to 20 percent by 2023 from its current share of 8 percent.
— The Jakarta Post

National Online Shopping Day Targets Rp 7t in Transactions
Hundreds of e-commerce platforms are participating in the seventh annual National Online Shopping Day, better known as Harbolnas, on Tuesday and Wednesday this week by offering numerous discounts to increase brand awareness among customers.
— Jakarta Globe

Batam drafts plastic use restriction regulation
The regional government of Batam City, Riau Islands Province, is now drafting a regulation on the restriction of plastic use in various internal official ceremonies.
— Antara News

Tokopedia bags $1.1b in new funding from Softbank and Alibaba
Tokopedia, Indonesia’s largest e-commerce company, has received $1.1 billion in a funding round led by the Japanese-Saudi SoftBank Vision Fund and China’s Alibaba Group, showing that the country’s startups continue to enamor big international investors.
— Nikkei Asian Review (paywall)

Indonesia’s Nov motorbike sales up 8.6 pct y/y – association
The annual growth of Indonesia’s motorcycle salesaccelerated to8.6 percent in November from 5.3 percent in October, an industryassociation said, citing its data combined with data from thegovernment.
— Reuters

5,785 passport applications rejected this year
The Law and Human Rights Ministry suspended 5,785 applications for passports since early this year for fear that most of the passports will be used to become illegal workers abroad.
— Antara News

Jokowi to Give Poor Indonesians More Money in Election Year
Indonesian President Joko Widodo will double cash handouts to the poor next year ahead of general elections in April.
— Bloomberg

Curbing radical sermons in Indonesia
Indonesia’s national intelligence agency (BIN) revealed in November 2018 that 41 mosques connected to government institutions and state-owned enterprises conduct sermons laced with extremist advocacy.
— East Asia Forum

Tangerang named as city of human rights concern
Tangerang City in Banten Province has again been awarded as the City of Human Rights Care after it won the Human Rights Care City Award from the central government in 2017.
— Antara News

Indonesian Masters to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity’s Sulawesi and Lombok disaster response
Habitat for Humanity, the sustainable development partner of the Asian Tour 2018 season, will be raising funds at the Indonesia Masters to support the needs of tsunami and earthquake-affected families in Sulawesi and Lombok.
— ReliefWeb

Mayapada Group launches fintech firm
Diversified conglomerate Mayapada Group is expanding its business to include finance technology (fintech) through Pohondana.id amid the fast growth of the digital economy due to the increase in smartphone users in the country.
— The Jakarta Post

Hot : Great snakes! Indonesians wrestle with giant python
A viral video showing a gigantic python wrapping itself around an Indonesian villager has secured more than a million views, after locals wrestled with the serpent before successfully caging it.
— The Nation

Indonesia’s Aceh whips men for sharia-banned gambling
EAST ACEH, Indonesia: A group of men caught gambling were publicly whipped in Indonesia’s conservative Muslim province of Aceh on Tuesday (Dec 11) as a crowd of onlookers cheered.
— Channel News Asia

Cyberattacks increase ahead of presidential elections: BSSN
Cyberattacks have increased lately, ahead of the simultaneous legislative and presidential elections to be held in April next year, according to the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN).
— Antara News

Indonesia bans ‘indecent’ TV ad featuring all-girl miniskirt-clad K-pop supergroup Blackpink
A television ad featuring members of K-pop supergroup Blackpink dressed in miniskirts has been banned from Indonesian airwaves, prompting a furious backlash from fans.
— South China Morning Post

S’pore start-up Gogoprint buys Indonesian printing business
Singapore-based Gogoprint has acquired Prinzio, an Indonesian printing start-up specialising in commercial printing outsourcing.
— The Straits Times

Indonesia: Top notch travel brands
Indonesia’s top tourism and hospitality players were honoured at the 2018 Indonesia Travel and Tourism Awards, 10 December.
— TTR Weekly

Indonesia’s broadcasting commission calls on TV stations to pull racy K-pop ad
The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission has clamped down on a television advertisement featuring a Korean female pop group “singing and dancing while wearing little clothing”.
— The Straits Times

Leaks in North Jakarta sea wall worry residents
Residents of Muara Baru, North Jakarta, have noticed several holes in the sea wall that stretches 250 meters along the water. They said they were worried that the leaks would eventually break the wall.
— The Jakarta Post

Big price cuts offered at 12.12; shoppers told to be cautious
During National Online Shopping Day (Harbolnas) or the 12.12 shopping festival on Wednesday, marketplaces compete with each other by offering big price cuts and other promos to persuade more people to shop.
— The Jakarta Post

Biopharmaceutical Commodities Offer Herbal, Export Prospects
Suwandi, Director General of Horticulture at the Indonesia Ministry of Agriculture, is optimistic that the business prospects for biopharmaceutical or medicinal plants will be excellent for the millennial generation.
— Netral News

Jakarta`s Public Transportation among the Most Unsafe for Women
In Transjakarta bus, Jakarta`s public transport, most women take their position at the front of the bus while men are ushered to the back.
— Tempo.co

Gerindra Responds to La Nyalla`s Challenge for Prabowo
La Nyalla Mataliti challenged Prabowo Subianto to compete in taking prayer and Quran recitation with Jokowi.
— Tempo.co

Man Reels in a 60-Kilogram Iridescent Shark
A man in Depok, West Java, has caught an iridescent shark, locally known as patin, 1.6 meters long and weighing 60 kilograms. The fish was caught by Munadi Sam, 42, a resident of Sawangan Baru Village, Sawangan, Depok while fishing in Setu Sawangan.
— Netral News

Indonesian nurses believed to be able to compete with those from the Philippines
President Director of Saudi Manpower Solutions (SMASCO) Saad Al Badah said it was optimistic that nurses from Indonesia could compete with nurses from the Philippines, who currently dominate the health industry in Saudi.
— Antara News

Goenawan Mohamad Agrees to a Practical Pancasila Moral Education
Goenawan said Pancasila talks about indefinite levels of humanism and indefinite levels of deity, each element balances out the other.
— Tempo.co

Sigi District`s flash floods disrupt Trans Sulawesi road
Flash floods inundated the Trans-Sulawesi road connecting Palu, the capital city of Central Sulawesi Province, to Kulawi Subdistrict in Sigi District on Wednesday after heavy rains showered the area over the past days.
— Antara News

Angry Mob Destroys East Jakarta Police Station
A crowd of angry people, allegedly military personnel, ravaged and set fire to the Ciracas Police Station in East Jakarta, on Tuesday night. The riot began on Tuesday at around 11 p.m. and lasted into the early morning of Wednesday.
— Indonesia Expat

UGM students win Singapore`s prestigious environmental care competition
The Gadjah Mada University (UGM) has won Sembcorp Marine`s Green Wave Environmental Care Competition 2018 in Singapore after its team defeated other 11 finalists coming from other prestigious universities in Southeast.
— Antara News

86 quake-affected children in C Sulawesi reunited with families: NGO
“Save the Children Indonesia” has held reunions for 86 children, who separated from their parents and family members due to the deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit Central Sulawesi Province on Sept 28,.
— Antara News

Biosphere Reserve and Sustainable Development
Biosphere reserves focus on three main pillars, namely conservation, economic and sustainable development, and the third one is logistics.
— Tempo.co

Three Floating Mosques in Indonesia
As the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, Indonesia is home to more than 800,000 mosques.
— Asharq Al-Awsat

One-map policy to improve business, overlapping land by Andi Abdussalam
Overlapping land use or even overlapping claim on land ownership is one of the main problems of land in Indonesia.
— Antara News

Indonesia’s Aceh lashes men 100 times each for sex crimes
Two men caught having sex with underage girls were whipped 100 times each in Muslim-majority Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province on Wednesday (Dec 12), as one begged officials to stop the painful punishment.
— Channel News Asia

Car free night in Jakarta for New Year’s Eve
Just like all New Year celebrations since 2012, the Jakarta administration will once again hold car free night along Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta on Dec. 31 this year.
— The Jakarta Post

Another district head put in detention cell by KPK
The Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK has arrested the District head of Cianjur in West Java Irvan Rivano Muchtar and five other persons on charge of corruption here on Wednesday.
— Antara News

KPK Arrests Cianjur Regent in Sting Operation
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Cianjur Regent Irvan Rivano Muchtar in a sting operation on Wednesday, December 12.
— Tempo.co

Convict rents room for love making with wife
A graft convict in the Sukamiskin prison, Bandung, West Java, Fahmi Darmawansyah has built a room for love making.
— Antara News

3 Rules in Drinking Coffee for Women
To prevent the negative effect of consuming coffee, here are three rules of drinking coffee that women must know.
— Tempo.co

Feature photo SWI Group

This week’s Indonesia morning news feature photo acknowledges International Mountain Day, December 11.

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Indonesia morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Indonesia news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities and is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Indonesia morning news for December 13 added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on December 13, 2018
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Stella-maris Ewudolu

Journalist at AEC News Today

Stella-maris graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Education from Ebonyi State University, Nigeria in 2005.

Between November 2010 and February 2012 she was a staff writer at Daylight Online, Nigeria writing on health, fashion, and relationships. From 2010 – 2017 she worked as a freelance screen writer for ‘Nollywood’, Nigeria.

She joined AEC News Today in December 2016.