Australia 'Secretly' Supported East Timorese Independence

Australia decided to support East Timorese independence many months before a referendum in 1999, but publicly maintained the line that it should remain part of Indonesia, a report said Saturday.

In an interview for a book about modern Australian politics, former conservative prime minister John Howard said he had believed East Timor's independence was "inevitable".

But "one had to be careful about handling that publicly," Howard told author Paul Kelly.

"You had to get the Indonesians to agree," he said, according to an extract of the book published in The Australian newspaper.

Kelly said Howard's foreign minister Alexander Downer told him in January 1999 that "there is now a very good chance East Timor will be independent by the end of this year, and we intend to go along with this."

But they kept their intentions secret from their own defence department and also from Jakarta, hoping to hold the peace, Kelly said.

"Australia's (public and military) objectives were having East Timor remain part of Indonesia, ensuring ties with Jakarta were put before the fate of East Timor, retaining Australia's military ties with Indonesia and avoiding any Australian defence force deployment if possible," said Kelly.

"While telling Indonesia that autonomy would be the best result Howard and Downer, as 1999 advanced, became willing backers of an independent East Timor," he wrote.

Kelly said Howard wrote to Indonesia's then-president B.J Habibie in late 1998 expressing his view that there were only "two realistic scenarios for the future of East Timor."

"Either full independence (and probably sooner rather than later) or some sort of free association with Indonesia achieved as the end point of a process," the letter said, according to Kelly.

This proposal of a "process" sparked what would ultimately become the UN-backed August 1999 referendum when East Timor's people voted to end a bloody 24-year occupation by Indonesia's forces, Kelly said.

Howard led diplomatic efforts ahead of the ballot, and successfully pressured the United States to join the subsequent Australian-led peacekeeping mission, Kelly wrote.

"East Timor saw Australia's acceptance in psychological, political and military terms of a stronger regional security responsibility," he said.

AFP

Minister Admits Trade Deals Played Part in Lockerbie Bomber Release

Trade deals with Libya played a "very big part" in Britain's decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prisoner transfer deal with Tripoli, a government minister acknowledged in an interview on Saturday.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw told the Daily Telegraph that trade and an oil exploration deal between BP and Libya were factors in deciding whether to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi eligible for transfer to a prison back home.

However, his spokesman insisted Megrahi's release was not agreed because any possible transfer was always subject to a veto by the Scottish authorities.

Asked if trade and oil were part of the discussions, Straw said: "Yes, a very big part of that. I?m unapologetic about that... Libya was a rogue state. We wanted to bring it back into the fold.

"And yes, that included trade because trade is an essential part of it and subsequently there was the BP deal."

Megrahi, the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of a plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie which killed 270 people, was released last month on compassionate grounds because he is terminally ill.

Scotland rejected a prison transfer for Megrahi. Yet London has been forced to deny allegations that it struck a deal with Libya to free him in return for improved trade ties.

Documents released this week show Straw initially opposed including Megrahi in the prison transfer agreement due to opposition from Scotland -- but changed his mind, citing "wider negotiations" with Tripoli.

At the time, talks on the ratification of a huge oil deal between BP and Libya had become bogged down. The 900 million dollars deal was ratified in January 2008 shortly after Straw's change of mind.

Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa said in an interview Saturday that trade had nothing to do with Megrahi's release.

"You should not do an injustice to the British government," he told British newspaper The Times from Tripoli.

"It was nothing to do with trade. If we wished to bargain we would have done it a long time ago."

BP said Friday it had lobbied Britain to speed up the agreement with Libya to improve business relations, but denied pressing for Megrahi to be released.

Minister Admits Trade Deals Played Part in Lockerbie Bomber Release

Trade deals with Libya played a "very big part" in Britain's decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prisoner transfer deal with Tripoli, a government minister acknowledged in an interview on Saturday.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw told the Daily Telegraph that trade and an oil exploration deal between BP and Libya were factors in deciding whether to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi eligible for transfer to a prison back home.

However, his spokesman insisted Megrahi's release was not agreed because any possible transfer was always subject to a veto by the Scottish authorities.

Asked if trade and oil were part of the discussions, Straw said: "Yes, a very big part of that. I?m unapologetic about that... Libya was a rogue state. We wanted to bring it back into the fold.

"And yes, that included trade because trade is an essential part of it and subsequently there was the BP deal."

Megrahi, the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of a plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie which killed 270 people, was released last month on compassionate grounds because he is terminally ill.

Scotland rejected a prison transfer for Megrahi. Yet London has been forced to deny allegations that it struck a deal with Libya to free him in return for improved trade ties.

Documents released this week show Straw initially opposed including Megrahi in the prison transfer agreement due to opposition from Scotland -- but changed his mind, citing "wider negotiations" with Tripoli.

At the time, talks on the ratification of a huge oil deal between BP and Libya had become bogged down. The 900 million dollars deal was ratified in January 2008 shortly after Straw's change of mind.

Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa said in an interview Saturday that trade had nothing to do with Megrahi's release.

"You should not do an injustice to the British government," he told British newspaper The Times from Tripoli.

"It was nothing to do with trade. If we wished to bargain we would have done it a long time ago."

BP said Friday it had lobbied Britain to speed up the agreement with Libya to improve business relations, but denied pressing for Megrahi to be released.

Minister Admits Trade Deals Played Part in Lockerbie Bomber Release

Trade deals with Libya played a "very big part" in Britain's decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prisoner transfer deal with Tripoli, a government minister acknowledged in an interview on Saturday.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw told the Daily Telegraph that trade and an oil exploration deal between BP and Libya were factors in deciding whether to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi eligible for transfer to a prison back home.

However, his spokesman insisted Megrahi's release was not agreed because any possible transfer was always subject to a veto by the Scottish authorities.

Asked if trade and oil were part of the discussions, Straw said: "Yes, a very big part of that. I?m unapologetic about that... Libya was a rogue state. We wanted to bring it back into the fold.

"And yes, that included trade because trade is an essential part of it and subsequently there was the BP deal."

Megrahi, the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of a plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie which killed 270 people, was released last month on compassionate grounds because he is terminally ill.

Scotland rejected a prison transfer for Megrahi. Yet London has been forced to deny allegations that it struck a deal with Libya to free him in return for improved trade ties.

Documents released this week show Straw initially opposed including Megrahi in the prison transfer agreement due to opposition from Scotland -- but changed his mind, citing "wider negotiations" with Tripoli.

At the time, talks on the ratification of a huge oil deal between BP and Libya had become bogged down. The 900 million dollars deal was ratified in January 2008 shortly after Straw's change of mind.

Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa said in an interview Saturday that trade had nothing to do with Megrahi's release.

"You should not do an injustice to the British government," he told British newspaper The Times from Tripoli.

"It was nothing to do with trade. If we wished to bargain we would have done it a long time ago."

BP said Friday it had lobbied Britain to speed up the agreement with Libya to improve business relations, but denied pressing for Megrahi to be released.

Minister Admits Trade Deals Played Part in Lockerbie Bomber Release

Trade deals with Libya played a "very big part" in Britain's decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prisoner transfer deal with Tripoli, a government minister acknowledged in an interview on Saturday.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw told the Daily Telegraph that trade and an oil exploration deal between BP and Libya were factors in deciding whether to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi eligible for transfer to a prison back home.

However, his spokesman insisted Megrahi's release was not agreed because any possible transfer was always subject to a veto by the Scottish authorities.

Asked if trade and oil were part of the discussions, Straw said: "Yes, a very big part of that. I?m unapologetic about that... Libya was a rogue state. We wanted to bring it back into the fold.

"And yes, that included trade because trade is an essential part of it and subsequently there was the BP deal."

Megrahi, the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of a plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie which killed 270 people, was released last month on compassionate grounds because he is terminally ill.

Scotland rejected a prison transfer for Megrahi. Yet London has been forced to deny allegations that it struck a deal with Libya to free him in return for improved trade ties.

Documents released this week show Straw initially opposed including Megrahi in the prison transfer agreement due to opposition from Scotland -- but changed his mind, citing "wider negotiations" with Tripoli.

At the time, talks on the ratification of a huge oil deal between BP and Libya had become bogged down. The 900 million dollars deal was ratified in January 2008 shortly after Straw's change of mind.

Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa said in an interview Saturday that trade had nothing to do with Megrahi's release.

"You should not do an injustice to the British government," he told British newspaper The Times from Tripoli.

"It was nothing to do with trade. If we wished to bargain we would have done it a long time ago."

BP said Friday it had lobbied Britain to speed up the agreement with Libya to improve business relations, but denied pressing for Megrahi to be released.

Indonesia Eying Sugar Imports to Curb Prices

The Trade Ministry says it is considering importing white sugar for household use to help bring soaring prices under control, despite international prices also being on a rapid upward trajectory.

At present, the average retail price of white sugar on the local market is about Rp 9,500 (95 cents) a kilogram, but this is expected to rise further with the Idul Fitri festivities in the offing.

“There are two ways to increase the sugar supply on the market: first, by channeling refined sugar to the consumer market and, second, by importing sugar,” Subagyo, the Trade Ministry’s director general of domestic trade, said on Friday in Bandung, West Java.

White sugar is of a lower grade than refined sugar and is normally for household use, while refined sugar is used by the food and beverage industry.

Subagyo said that the question of whether to import sugar or redirect refined sugar to the consumer market would need to be considered carefully. However, it would ultimately depend on whether domestic sugar producers abided by commitments they had made to the ministry to keep prices of the commodity under control.

“At present, we are trying to encourage [state sugar producers] PT Perkebunan Nusantara and PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia to act on their commitments to set a maximum auction price for sugar of Rp 6,500 per kilogram,” Subagyo said.

The price of white sugar has been on the rise since the end of June, and has increased from an average of Rp 6,649 per kilogram in January to about Rp 9,500 a kilogram at present.

The government had earlier said it expected the price to decline to Rp 7,000 during the May-November milling season.

Arum Sabil, chairman of the Indonesian Sugarcane Growers Association (Aptri), said on Sunday that the government needed to focus on the real reasons behind the rise in prices during this year’s milling season, namely, soaring prices on the international market

“The has led to some food and beverage firms to switch from imported sugar to domestic sugar as it is cheaper, which has led to higher demand on the domestic market,” Arum said.

Bad weather in the world’s two biggest producers, Brazil and India, have pushed global sugar prices to three-year highs.

Arum said that importing sugar under current conditions made no sense as the commodity was fetching $560 a ton on the international market.

“Given recent international trends, the price of imported sugar would be Rp 8,000 a kilogram at domestic ports,” Arum said. “In the end, the price in the retail market would be the same as domestically produced sugar. So what’s the benefit of importing it if the price will be the same?”

Quake Survivors Face Diseases, Cold

Health officials are battling disease that is now spreading among refugees from last week’s massive earthquake in West Java, with many complaining of diarrhea and rashes, while victims staying in higher-elevated regions also face intense cold at night.

The official number of displaced people more than tripled to 88,000 over the weekend as updated information came in from remote areas. At least 30 people remained missing as of Sunday night and were feared dead.

Rustam Pakaya, head of the Ministry of Health’s Crisis Center in Jakarta, said on Sunday that a special team was en route with 25 tons of medicines to five West five districts that have been declared disaster areas.

"All kinds of medicines, as well as medical teams for each district," he said. "Yes, some people in the shelters started to get a rash or diarrhea. The conditions in the shelters, we should admit, are far from good. But we have no other choice."

The Indonesian Red Cross announced during the weekend that it was distributing relief including 1,000 hygiene kits for survivors in the districts of Bogor, Bandung, Ciamis, Garut, Cianjur, Sukabumi, Tasikmalaya, and Bandung Barat.

Last Wednesday’s 7.3-magnitude earthquake, centered 200 kilometers south in the Indian Ocean, killed at least 73 people. The temblor damaged at least 86,000 buildings in 10 districts of West Java and one district of Central Java.

Search and rescue teams continue digging for victims among the rubble.

Rustam said that an outbreak of diarrhea had been spreading in Bogor and Tasikmalaya before the earthquake even struck, meaning that “it's not only because [survivors] are staying in the shelters."

He said that aid workers had distributed 1,000 blankets to survivors in more mountainous regions such as in Pengalengan in Bandung district, Cigalontang, and Garut who were suffering from cold, but ran out and needs more.

Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, said the shelters also need more food supplies, and urged local governments to come up with additional funds.

Laksmita Noviera, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jakarta, said that a joint team comprised of OCHA, nongovernmental organizations and local governments had been dispatched to assess the situation on the ground in the wake of the disaster.

Brazil Confirms World Cup Date; Gauchos in Danger of Staying Home

Rosario, Argentina. Brazil beat Argentina 3-1 on Saturday to book a place in next year’s World Cup finals and further threaten its archrival’s chance of making it to South Africa.

Luis Fabiano scored two goals and Luisao added another for Brazil, raising the pressure on Argentina coach Diego Maradona.

The victory in the World Cup qualifier guarantees Brazil a place in next year’s 32-team tournament. The five-time champion has played in every World Cup.

Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano scored in the 30th and 67th after Benfica defender Luisao opened the scoring in the 24th. Napoli midfielder Jesus Datolo got Argentina’s goal in the 65th.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Maradona, whose country has not missed a World Cup since 1970. “It will be more difficult because of today.”

Brazil tops the South American group with 30 points, followed by Chile and Paraguay (27). Argentina is hanging on in fourth place with 22, with Ecuador and Colombia (20) right behind. The top four qualify automatically. The No. 5 faces a playoff with the No. 4 team from Concacaf for another berth.

In the four other matches on Saturday in South America: Peru defeated Uruguay 1-0, Colombia downed Ecuador 2-0, Chile was held 2-2 by Venezuela and Paraguay beat Bolivia 1-0.

Argentina benefited from Colombia’s 2-0 win over Ecuador. Had Ecuador won, it would have moved ahead of Argentina and pushed the Gauchos out of the top four.

Argentina had not lost a home qualifying match in 16 years and started the match confidently, with Juan Sebastian Veron and Messi dictating possession and pinning Brazil back.

Messi shot narrowly wide and then sliced through three challenges as Argentina threatened to open the scoring in the first 15 minutes.

Brazil hit back with devastating effect, scoring two goals in seven minutes to leave the Argentine defense in shreds.

In Brazil’s first real attack, Elano crossed for Luisao to head home. The ball flew past goalkeeper Mariano Andujar, leaving serious questions about the space given to the Brazilian defender in the heart of the box.

The second blow came after Gilberto Silva lifted a high cross into the box. As the ball bobbled, Luis Fabiano pounced to force the ball past Andujar.

Argentina almost cut the deficit in the 38th minute when Carlos Tevez centered and Maxi Rodriguez forced Julio Cesar to make a fantastic stop with his legs from close range.

Datolo gave the Argentine supporters hope after receiving a pass from Veron and launching an unstoppable drive from outside the area.

The comeback attempt was soon snuffed out. Kaka was again the creator with a measured pass to Luis Fabiano, who made no mistake with the finish and re-established Brazil’s two-goal lead.

Martin Roll: Apple, Best of Global Brands

If there is any brand that personifies the advances of the digital age, the seamless integration of technology and the ability to constantly innovate to excite customers, it is Apple. Most iconic brands get complacent and rest on their laurels. Apple has proved the exception by continuously innovating and creating pioneering products that have changed the rules of the game.

Given such stupendous success, it is no wonder that Apple has consistently been ranked as one of the most valuable brands among the annual ranking of the world’s top 100 brands by Business Week and Interbrand.

The origins of the Apple brand date to when the PC ruled the roost in the early days of the personal computer. With its Macintosh computers, Apple began to be seen as a young rebel trying to compete against the market leader. Macintosh’s distinct identity, its design, unique operating system, applications and appeal as an outsider attracted a strong and loyal following, making Apple a cult brand early on.

But Apple did not rest on its laurels. Macintosh computers were reinvented as the trendy Mac Books. Apple’s iPod, the MP3 music player, along with iTunes, the online Apple music store, have recast the entire digital music landscape. The stupendous success of the iPod changed the face of Apple overnight — from a rebel computer company to the ultra-chic and trendy digital electronics company.

By combining the best music player, a touchscreen mobile phone, a built-in GPS system and powerful wireless capabilities in the iPhone, Apple not only managed to challenge traditional mobile phone makers such as Samsung, Nokia and Motorola but also advanced smart phone manufacturers such as Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry.

Apple’s operating profit jumped an impressive 20 percent in the second quarter of 2009. It managed to sell 2.29 million computers last year. Since being released in June 2007, the iPhone has sold more than 7.4 million units – with 6 million units sold last year.

Apple’s branding strategy can be analyzed from four dimensions:

Constant innovation: Apple has emerged as one of the pioneers in the consumer electronics industry. What started as an innovative computer company to challenge the dominant PC has spawned a whole range of products in music and mobile telecommunications. Innovation and efficient commercialization of those new products have helped Apple to constantly excite customers and to enhance their loyalty.

Collaboration as competitive strategy: As the number of fronts in which any company has to fight competitors increases, conventional strategies of market competition may not serve the best purposes. Collaboration has been found to be much better than all-out competition. Apple has led the way in collaborating with potential competitors and customers. For a long time, Apple had Google’s chief executive on its board of directors.

Consistent communication: One of the fundamental aspects of a strong brand is its CEO being the staunchest brand ambassador. Steve Jobs of Apple has carried out the role of the chief brand ambassador of Apple with panache and finesse. Every year, Apple anticipates the coming year of technology with its annual worldwide developers conference.

Jobs always represents the brand at these conferences, conveying a strong commitment to that brand in the eyes of customers, collaborators and competitors.

Connecting with customer touch points: Apple has established a seamless experience for customers across online, mobile and personal touch points. The Apple Store is the physical and digital manifestation of the brand. In addition to displaying all Apple products in a sleek environment, the stores offer training workshops to potential customers, conduct gatherings for existing customers and generally offer engaging and exciting experiences for customers who want to interact with the Apple brand.

These four pillars of Apple’s brand might seem simple enough for any other company to implement. But not many brands in the marketplace command as much loyalty and brand equity as Apple does.

Implementing branding as an organization-wide discipline led by the CEO and the top management is one of the toughest challenges for any company. Apple proves yet again that by investing in the brand, it is able to stay ahead of its competitors and define the industry it plays in.

Australia 'Secretly' Supported East Timorese Independence

Australia decided to support East Timorese independence many months before a referendum in 1999, but publicly maintained the line that it should remain part of Indonesia, a report said Saturday.

In an interview for a book about modern Australian politics, former conservative prime minister John Howard said he had believed East Timor's independence was "inevitable".

But "one had to be careful about handling that publicly," Howard told author Paul Kelly.

"You had to get the Indonesians to agree," he said, according to an extract of the book published in The Australian newspaper.

Kelly said Howard's foreign minister Alexander Downer told him in January 1999 that "there is now a very good chance East Timor will be independent by the end of this year, and we intend to go along with this."

But they kept their intentions secret from their own defence department and also from Jakarta, hoping to hold the peace, Kelly said.

"Australia's (public and military) objectives were having East Timor remain part of Indonesia, ensuring ties with Jakarta were put before the fate of East Timor, retaining Australia's military ties with Indonesia and avoiding any Australian defence force deployment if possible," said Kelly.

"While telling Indonesia that autonomy would be the best result Howard and Downer, as 1999 advanced, became willing backers of an independent East Timor," he wrote.

Kelly said Howard wrote to Indonesia's then-president B.J Habibie in late 1998 expressing his view that there were only "two realistic scenarios for the future of East Timor."

"Either full independence (and probably sooner rather than later) or some sort of free association with Indonesia achieved as the end point of a process," the letter said, according to Kelly.

This proposal of a "process" sparked what would ultimately become the UN-backed August 1999 referendum when East Timor's people voted to end a bloody 24-year occupation by Indonesia's forces, Kelly said.

Howard led diplomatic efforts ahead of the ballot, and successfully pressured the United States to join the subsequent Australian-led peacekeeping mission, Kelly wrote.

"East Timor saw Australia's acceptance in psychological, political and military terms of a stronger regional security responsibility," he said.

AFP

South Korea Rebound Reaffirms Asian Export Strategy

Singapore. South Korea has rebounded from last year’s financial crisis faster than some of its neighbors, thanks in part to a weaker won, giving Asia a valid and powerful reason to stick to its export-oriented growth strategy.

The highly leveraged and open South Korean economy was easily the worst-affected Asian country in 2008 when the global credit crisis triggered heavy capital flight. The won plunged 41.4 percent over 15 months to 11-year lows in March this year.

The turnaround from the depths of that crisis has been impressive. Powered by a pickup in exports, the economy expanded at its fastest pace in five years in the second quarter.

China’s yuan revaluation in 2005 and Asia’s rapid growth in those years had led at least some academics to believe Asia was moving faster towards floating currencies and freer markets.

South Korea’s experience flies against that argument, proving that it is worthwhile for Asia’s cyclical economies to let their currencies tumble in the face of financial and economic turbulence.

“It was wrong for people to assume that Asia would give up a growth model that has clearly and demonstrably delivered the goods,” said Tim Condon, ING’s chief Asian economist.

“Yes, it imparts a little bit of volatility. But you generate a lot of jobs and grow rapidly using that model. Governments don’t give these things up.”

South Korea is primed to be the first in Asia to raise interest rates, with some analysts predicting a V-shaped economic recovery despite persistent worries about weak global consumer demand and the waning impact of government stimulus.

If it can be sustained, the rebound could spawn misgivings among its neighbors who poured billions of dollars into the market last year to prevent their currencies from collapsing.

Indeed, there has been growing evidence in the past couple of months that central banks in the region have increased efforts to curtail appreciation in their currencies. And Western economists are starting to see merits in Asia’s much-maligned growth strategy.

The evidence stacks up heavily in favor of a continuation of this weak-currency policy, one that has fueled much debate on global trade imbalances and profligate US consumers.

Thanks to a weak won, South Korea’s trade balance in local currency swung to a huge 4.8 trillion won ($3.8 billion) surplus in July 2009, from a deficit a year earlier.

In local currency, exports rose 5.6 percent in the first half of 2009 from the year-earlier period, while Taiwan’s exports fell 29 percent and Singapore’s fell 17 percent.

It is no coincidence that South Korean steel maker Posco is seeing huge demand and expects a four-fold expansion in earnings, or that Hyundai Motor is gaining a bigger share of the global automobile market.

Although the won has appreciated 29 percent since March, it is still one of Asia’s most undervalued currencies in trade-weighted terms.

South Korea’s terms of trade — the ratio of export and import prices — rose to 124.1 in June from 85.2 in December which, in basic terms, means South Korea was getting 124 units of imports for every 100 units it exported.

Over the same period, Singapore saw its terms of trade deteriorate to 95 from 98.7, Thailand’s was barely changed at around 100 and Taiwan’s fell from 92.4 to 86.2.

It is small wonder then that other Asian foreign exchange authorities have joined Korea in buying US dollars to curb strength in their currencies.

The Bank of Korea was spotted purchasing dollars this month and late last month, traders said, when the won hit its highest level in about 10 months against the dollar and was about to rise through the 1,200-per-dollar mark.

The authorities did not push down the currency but actively bought dollars to prevent it from breaking through the level, traders said. The won has been trading between 1,213 and 1,265 against the US dollar this month.

Taiwan and India, too, saw big jumps in their currency reserves in June and July. On the whole, Asia’s holdings of foreign exchange reserves, excluding China’s, rose by $33.8 billion in July to $2.58 trillion.

Analysts at HSBC said such amounts of intervention were at par with levels seen before the credit crisis.

“Perhaps the first key takeaway from recent action is that regional policy makers do not appear to be showing any conceptual shift in the traditional caution toward currency strength. If anything, the crisis has likely reinforced preferences for managed exchange rates,” HSBC said in a report.

‘Dead’ Language May Help Open EU’s Lines of Communication

If you thought that English is the language of the 21st century, think again. In Europe, the future could be Latin.

“It’s not practical if you have to translate the name of an EU program into 23 languages, so if you have a Latin word that can be pronounced in all 23 and means something at the same time, it’s practical,” said Wolfgang Jenniges, a European Commission translator and classical linguist.

Languages are big political business in the EU. Each member state fights fiercely for its national tongue, with EU texts routinely translated into all 23 of the bloc’s official languages.

As long as the EU has enough computer memory and paper to handle 23 versions of every text, it is a perfect political solution.

But trouble starts when there is only room to use one word from one language — such as when creating an internet domain name.

English — the EU’s most widespread language — might seem to have the advantage in such questions. But other member states fear that too much English use would cement it as the EU’s unofficial working tongue, a politically impossible position.

“English has become the lingua franca, but we’re not allowed to say so,” an EU linguist said.

The EU’s solution has been to find a politically neutral language in the only place it could realistically look: European history.

“The fact that Latin doesn’t belong to any one nation makes things easier,” Jenniges said.

With Latin at the root of many of the technical, scientific, religious and legal terms in Europe, Virgil’s language is perfectly placed to become the EU’s virtual tongue.

“There is a dose of Latin in all 23 EU languages: the dosage varies, but it’s always there,” the linguist pointed out.

In a striking blend of ancient and modern, the EU has adopted Latin titles for some of its top Internet addresses.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has the domain name “curia” — Latin for “court.” The council of EU member states uses the domain name “consilium,” or “council.”

Both those names are subaddresses of the EU’s web domain, “europa” — the Latin name for Europe.

EU projects are also being given Latin names. A recent translation contest was called “juvenes translatores” (“young translators”), while the EU has a “Tempus” (“time”) project for upgrading universities outside the bloc.

Classical names are even coming back into fashion for EU military missions. In recent years, the bloc has run operations named Althea, Artemis, Themis and Concordia — the goddesses of healing, hunting, justice and reconciliation.

Those names “transcend modern cultural and historical references of a national nature, as well as linguistic considerations,” an EU official said.

However, EU-watchers are not likely to have to reach for their Latin dictionaries any time soon.

Any decision to extend the use of Latin on a larger scale would be “eminently political,” and would have to be preceded by “the renewal of Latin teaching in schools and universities almost from scratch,” Jenniges pointed out.

But with political sensitivities showing no sign of fading, the EU may well find that the simplest way of avoiding potential fights between living languages is to look for more and more names in a dead one.  DPA

Transsexual in Malaysia: A Life Without Identity

With her tight jeans, elaborate makeup and flowing hair, Tasha looks for all the world like a striking young woman. But her all-important Malaysian ID card declares she is a Muslim man.

“In Islam, there are only men and women, there are no transsexuals, and this is an Islamic country so that makes life very difficult for us,” says the 28-year-old who has been cross-dressing since she was a child.

Like many transsexuals in Malaysia, a conservative and mostly Muslim country, the clash between ID card and appearance means Tasha is shunned by employers, and forced to make her living as a sex worker.

“It’s a hard life, people don’t like us, they’re always making fun of us,” she says as she prepares for another night in the grimy alleyways of Chow Kit, the red-light district of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Tasha endures drunken clients, violent pimps and aggressive competition from other transsexual prostitutes, but what really frightens her are the raids mounted by police and religious authorities.

Enforcement officials from the Islamic Affairs Department, notorious for swooping on nightclubs and motels in search of Muslims drinking or having extramarital sex, regularly descend on the streets of Chow Kit.

Sex workers are sent scattering on their high heels, and those who are caught and hauled off face jail or intensive “counseling” sessions like a two-week interrogation Tasha once endured.

“They asked me why I didn’t want to be a man, how I became like this and why I behave like this. But it didn’t change my mind,” she says as she layers on makeup before hitting the streets where she has worked since she was 15.

Tasha puts on a brave face, but the pain is clear when she relates how she has struggled for acceptance from her family, her religion and her country.

Although she is on the margins of society, she continues to perform the Muslim prayers, fasts during the holy month of Ramadan and respected her mother’s wish that she not undergo sex-change surgery. “Of course I still believe I’m a Muslim, it’s just that the religion cannot accept us transsexuals,” she says.

“Why can’t Islam accept us? We are human beings as well. I am also one of God’s creations.”

It was not always this way for transsexuals in Malaysia, where they are known as “ mak nyah. ”

“Until the early 1980s transsexuals were usually accepted in Malaysia, they could go for a sex change and amend their identity card,” says Teh Yik Koon from the National Defence University, who has written a book on mak nyahs .

“At that time quite a few had sex changes, some became happily married and even adopted children.”

But in 1983 a fatwa, or Islamic ruling, that prohibited gender-reassignment surgery as well as cross-dressing was imposed on all Malaysian Muslims, who make up 60 percent of the multicultural population.

“So now they’re not accepted, there’s no such thing as transsexuals according to Islam in Malaysia,” says Teh, who estimates there are in fact at least 20,000 in the country.

“The biggest dilemma for a Muslim transsexual is the ID card, because it states they are a Muslim man but when you look at them they look like a woman,” she says.

Some do manage to find regular work, typically as hairdressers, makeup artists, and boutique sales assistants, but advocates say that at least 70 percent resort to prostitution.

“At 15 I ran away from home and to Chow Kit. I cried at first, but luckily I had other transsexuals who helped me find a place to stay,” Tasha says.

On a good night she can earn 500 ringgit ($140), a huge sum by Malaysian standards, but since the economic downturn she now gets only two or three clients a night who may pay as little 50 ringgit a time.

Now that her mother has died, she plans to go to Thailand later this year and have sex-change and breast augmentation surgery.

“If you want to become pretty quickly, then you can’t be afraid,” she says. “Only then will I feel like a complete woman.”

Transsexuals do not need to be selling their bodies in order to attract attention from authorities. Last year, Islamic religious police arrested 16 for taking part in a beauty pageant at a beachside resort.

Influential Islamic cleric Harussani Zakaria, who helped establish the 1983 fatwa, defended the strict approach and said that transsexuals should use their “willpower” and adopt a traditional lifestyle.

“Of course they won’t get a job if they turn up wearing a woman’s dress. All religions are opposed to this,” he said.

“You cannot be transsexual, you are either a woman or a man. Why do they want to go against Allah?” he asked. “If God has created you as a boy, then act like a boy.”

In Jakarta, Beggars Can’t Be Choosers

Each year during Ramadan, beggars come to Jakarta to take advantage of the extra generosity of the city’s Muslims during the fasting month.

The giving of charity is required from all Muslims to help those in need, and during Ramadan each gift to the poor, or any other good deed, earns extra credit for the faithful from Allah.

But two years ago the Jakarta municipal administration passed a bylaw carrying penalties as high as a Rp 20 million ($2,000) fine or 60 days in jail for anyone caught giving cash to street beggars. And efforts are made each year in Jakarta to round up beggars before and during Ramadan and take them to shelters and training centers.

Authorities have estimated that the number of beggars arriving in Jakarta from outside the city rose by about 10 percent during the first week of Ramadan, and during the first 10 days of the fasting month, the Jakarta Social Agency netted more than 850 beggars, including 83 infants, in raids across the city’s five municipalities.

Most came from northern coastal areas such as Brebes and Pekalongan in Central Java, and the vast majority are controlled by panhandling syndicates, according to Budiarjo, the head of the agency. In 2008, Budiarjo said, 7,000 beggars were caught in raids during Ramadan, with around 5,000 placed in shelters, about 1,100 sent back to their hometowns and the rest taken in by their families.

BeritaJakarta.com, the city administration’s official news portal, has reported that the number of beggars coming to the city could increase by 500 percent over the entire holy month.

Here are the stories of five people counting on the generosity of others on the streets of Jakarta this year.

Susi

With too many mouths to feed and no husband, Susi says she has no choice but beg for money.

The 40-year-old was cradling the youngest of her six children while begging on “her turf” — a traffic intersection in Matraman, East Jakarta — last week.

Susi said she collected about Rp 20,000 to Rp 50,000 a day, which she used to keep her children in school and feed them.

She said syndicates of beggars existed, but not around Matraman.

“It’s usually beggars from other cities who are involved in syndicates. I’m a Matraman native,” she said.

She said Muslims usually showed charity toward beggars during Ramadan, but the government’s renewed focus on enforcing the 2007 bylaw on begging had made many of them nervous about handing out money.

To illustrate her point, on the day she spoke to the Jakarta Globe, Susi said she had only collected Rp 3,000 in three hours.

“They don’t understand. I do this for a living. If they had a better job for me, I would take it in a flash,” she said.

Bunga

Bunga means “flower” in Indonesian, and this little girl had a pretty little face to match her name, and a big smile.

She doesn’t know exactly how old she is, but looks to be around 6.

Bunga said she had been helping her mother “find money” for about two years.

They beg at intersections in Gudang Peluru, East Jakarta.

Bunga said she badly wanted to join her friends at school, but for now that just wasn’t possible.

She had been in school once, she said, but was forced to drop out because her mother could no longer pay the fees.

Bunga said she made Rp 15,000 a day on average, but lately it has been less.

“People are afraid they’ll go to jail for giving us money,” she said.

“Which is so sad because I’d been hoping to get more money this Ramadan. I wanted to buy new clothes like other children at Idul Fitri.”

Budi

Budi was seen strumming a ukulele as he dodged traffic in Permata Hijau last week, right near a block of luxury apartments.

He said he only begged during those times when he didn’t have work.

Budi said he usually made Rp 25,000 from begging from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.

He prefers to beg in the morning so he can sleep in the afternoon, he said.

Budi said he’d never heard of syndicates of beggars operating in Jakarta, and that the city administration’s ban on begging seemed both cruel and unnecessary.

“They don’t have hearts. My people need money for food. Do they give us food? No,” he said.

Budi, a Muslim, said he knew God didn’t approve of him relying on handouts, but what choice did he have?

“It’s hard finding a decent job in this city,” he said.

Budi said he dreamed of being a famous singer one day, just like Iwan Fals who sang on the streets before he got famous. But, in the meantime, “I’ll just keep begging for money.”

Sri Maryani (Narti)

“Thank you so much, pretty sister,” Sri Maryani, or Narti, said in Javanese to a young woman who had just given her three Rp 5,000 bills.

After arriving in the city about two weeks ago with her 3-year-old son, Narti, who is pregnant, started her working life in Jakarta digging out plastic cups from garbage cans and dumpsters to sell. But, after a couple of days, she realized the work required too much walking for a pregnant woman. “I will give birth to my second child in about two weeks,” the 28-year-old said. “I get tired very easily now. And I’m also fasting.”

Narti and her family live in Rembang, Central Java, and she left for Jakarta to earn extra money to pay for the delivery of her baby.

Meanwhile, her husband took off to Palembang, South Sumatra, to work on a coffee plantation. He has no idea Narti has been begging for money, she said.

“He doesn’t even know that I left Rembang.”

“My mother knows I’m here, but she doesn’t know I’m doing this kind of work,” Narti said.

She said her husband used to sell usually made Rp 20,000. “It’s not enough to cover our daily needs — and with the baby on the way — that’s why he left to try a new job and see if it is any better,” she said in a thick Javanese accent.

When asked whether she was aware the city administration had a law against begging, Narti shook her head.

“I don’t have a TV [for news] but what I do know is that public order officers chase and arrest beggars,” she said.

“I was arrested once but released a few hours later because I’m pregnant. They said it would cost them more money to have a pregnant woman arrested.”

Every day for the past 10 days, Narti and her son have started begging at a pedestrian bridge as early as 8 a.m.

When she decides to call it a day, Narti leaves the bridge and heads “home” to a train station platform in Jatinegara, East Jakarta.
Narti said she earned more when foreigners passed by.

“Mister bule gives more money,” she said. “I can usually earn Rp 30,000 up to Rp 35,000 a day.”

However, Narti said she wouldn’t be a beggar for long. She plans to give birth in Jakarta — so as not to trouble her mother back home in Rembang — and take the bus back to Rembang a couple of days later with the baby.

“I have to be home before my husband gets back,” she said.

Lia

Leaving her sick husband at home, 29-year-old Lia usually begs on a pedestrian bridge on Jalan Sudirman. She brings her toddler with her, and her oldest child usually meets them after school.

“I have done this for the last two years, since my husband fell ill,” she said. “We depended on him a lot back then.”

Lia said she usually made Rp 25,000 to Rp 30,000 a day.

She said that even though it had been two years, she still felt embarrassed when someone she knew saw her begging. Years ago, Lia left her hometown in Sumedang, West Java, to work as a housemaid in Bandung. The job didn’t work out and she ended up in Jakarta selling noodles.

“Business was not really good and [the noodle seller] went bankrupt,” she said. “Then I met my husband, who is 30 years older than me, and we got married.”

Lia’s husband never had a steady job but he did earn enough to feed their small family.

“But now he’s sick, I have to be the breadwinner as he can’t walk properly anymore due to rheumatism,” she said.

Lia knows about the bylaw on begging, but again says she has no choice.

“I got arrested once during a raid by public order officers,” she said. “And it scares me every time I hear the sound from a loud speaker from a passing car down there.”

“I know what I do is against the law. But tell me, what would you do if you were me?”