Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.
Today's Headlines Scandals
There is still no end in sight to the drama at Indonesian food processing company Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food. An emotional Joko Mogoginta, the company's president director, walked out of the General Meeting of Shareholders on Friday (27/07) after several hours of debate saying that a "hostile takeover" had happened.
During the first trading session on Monday (11/09) shares of Mitra Keluarga Karyasehat, Indonesia's largest listed hospital operator in terms of market capitalization, plunged 4.27 percent to IDR 2,020 per share after a high degree of negative attention in Indonesian media. This weak performance is linked to a scandal that emerged over the weekend.
Shares of Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food, the Indonesian food manufacturer and distributor that is plagued by a scandal, shows a volatile performance on Monday (24/07). After having plunged 24.92 percent to IDR 1,205 a piece on Friday, its shares continued to tumble after markets opened on Monday. It fell to IDR 905 per share shortly after opening. However, after about 40 minutes it started to show a great recovery.
Shares of Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food, an Indonesian company that is engaged in food processing, rice processing and the palm oil business, tumbled by a whopping 24.92 percent on Friday (21/07) to IDR 1,205 a piece. This huge loss followed after the raid and sealing of a factory owned by Indo Beras Unggul, a subsidiary of Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food.
The second woman that was arrested in Kim Jong Nam's murder case is an Indonesian citizen named Siti Aishah, who originates from Banten in the western part of Java. Malaysian authorities announced the arrest of the Indonesian citizen. This was later confirmed by Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry. Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader, was poisoned on Tuesday (14/02) at Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Indonesian authorities requested consular access in order to provide legal assistance to the Indonesian citizen.
After suspending cooperation with US multinational banking and financial services firm JP Morgan Chase (for the underweight rating, a double downgrade), Indonesia has also suspended military ties with Australia after 'offensive training materials' were seen at the Special Air Service base in Perth where members of the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) were doing military training. Major General Wuryanto, Indonesian military spokesman, said on Wednesday (04/01) that all forms of cooperation between the Indonesian and Australian military have been suspended.
Indonesia's Regional Representatives Council speaker Irman Gusman will be removed from his position on Tuesday (20/09) after being named a suspect by the nation's anti-corruption watchdog (Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK) in Indonesia's latest corruption case. Allegedly, Gusman accepted a IDR 100 million (approx. USD $7,500) bribe for lobbying to manipulate West Sumatra's sugar import quota. Earlier this year State Procurement Agency Bulog imposed the quota to a company called CVSB. It is yet another graft case related to Indonesia's import quota system for food commodities.
A group of Islamic activists in Indonesia, called the Family Love Alliance (in Indonesian: Aliansi Cinta Keluarga, or AILA), are pushing for an amendment of an existing Indonesian law that criminalizes sexual acts between adults and minors of the same gender. AILA activists filed for a judicial review of this law at Indonesia's Constitutional Court and want authorities to include sexual acts between adults of the same gender. The existing law mandates a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.
Just after midnight in the early hours of Friday (29/07) Indonesia executed four people by firing squad - three Nigerians and one Indonesian convicted drug traffickers - on the remote Nusa Kambangan island (part of the province of Central Java). The government gave the green light for these executions, resisting fierce international criticism, as it remains committed to its "war on drugs". However, the fate of ten other inmates who were recently moved to Nusa Kambangan to face their imminent executions remains unknown.
Despite fierce international criticism, Indonesia will go-ahead with the executions of 14 convicted drug traffickers, including 10 foreigners (from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India and Pakistan). According to local media coffins have already arrived at the Nusa Kambangan prison island (Central Java) where executions usually take place, while the families of those who face imminent executions have already been informed. The executions, by firing squad, are expected to be conducted tonight or tomorrow (traditionally around midnight).
Latest Columns Scandals
Shares of food manufacturer Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food fell almost 25 percent on Friday (21/07) after one of its subsidiaries is suspected of fraud. Allegedly, subsidiary Indo Beras Unggul (a rice trader) sold rice under the premium label, while it actually was the cheaper government-subsidized rice that was sold to consumers. Police raided a warehouse of Indo Beras Unggul in Bekasi (West Java) on Thursday evening (20/07), confiscating more than 1,000 tons of rice.
The latest survey of Berlin-based Transparency International confirms that Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) is perceived - among Indonesians - as the most corrupt institution in the country. This outcome is no surprise because the DPR, the elected national legislative assembly that draws up and passes laws and budgets as well as monitors the performance of the government, has for long been perceived by the Indonesian people as the most corrupt institution within the country.
Rudiantara, Indonesia's Minister for Communications and Information, urges social media platform Facebook to upgrade its existing representative office in Indonesia into a proper company (PT PMA). Earlier this week Rudiantara met a Facebook delegation, led by the head of global policy management Monika Bickert, in Jakarta. Indonesian authorities believe that by having a proper company in Indonesia, Facebook would be in a better position to tackle negative content and fake news (hoaxes), while communication with the government would improve.
After CEO Dwi Soetjipto and Deputy CEO Ahmad Bambang were removed from their posts at Indonesia's state-owned energy company Pertamina there was some confusion what the real reasons behind this move were. In some local media it was even speculated that the removal of both men was related to a corruption case (something that would not be unimaginable in the case of Indonesia, especially when it involves the government and natural resources). However, the real reason for the removal of Soetjipto and Bambang is, seemingly, simply because they couldn't get along with each other and their poor relationship started to impact on Pertamina's operations.
Despite being a hot topic in Indonesia since the start of the year, we ignored the murder case of Mirna Salihin. However, we decided to devote one article on the topic because on Thursday (27/10) Mirna's friend, 27-year old Jessica Kumala Wongso, was sentenced to 20 years in prison having been found guilty - by the Central Jakarta District Court - of murdering Mirna by putting cyanide in her Vietnamese iced coffee. The whole case and trial bear resemblance to the O.J. Simpson murder case in Los Angeles (USA) in 1995 in terms of public attention and media coverage.
In early 2016 Ford Motor Indonesia, the local unit of American car-maker Ford Motor Company, announced it will have completed its exit from Indonesia (and Japan) by the start of 2017. This decision was made because Ford has been unable to compete with its Japanese counterparts on the markets of Indonesia and Japan. The sudden move to exit Indonesia was not warmly welcomed by Ford Motor Co's dealers in Indonesia. The 31 Ford local dealerships demanded USD $75 million in compensation. More recently, Ford Motor Indonesia has become the center of a tax scandal.
Relatively frequently Indonesia is shocked by major scandals; usually it is a high-profile corruption case involving politicians or big businessmen but since Friday (24/06) a new scandal arose that has been keeping local media busy. This scandal is more sensitive as it involves the health of little children. Apparently, fake vaccines have been given to children - primarily to babies under one year old - across Java for the past 13 years. Police arrested a total of 16 people on grounds that they have been involved in the production and distribution of fake counterfeit vaccines.
Last week it was announced that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) agreed to a USD $3.4 billion loan for the construction of the controversial Batang power plant in Central Java. This power plant project is controversial as it met fierce resistance from the local community (triggering concerns about human rights violations related to the land acquisition process) as well as criticism from environmental groups, saying this power plant - set to become Indonesia's largest coal-fired power plant - runs counter to Indonesia's earlier commitment to reduce carbon emissions.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has signed a controversial decree that introduces tougher penalties for child sex offenders in Indonesia. By replacing a 2002 law, Indonesia now introduces various new consequences for those who have been found guilty of sex offenses against children. The new penalties comprise the death penalty, chemical castration, life-long prison sentences, electronic monitoring (after release from prison), and the publicly announcement of the identity of the child molester.
The spotlights are again turned on low-cost carrier Lion Air, Indonesia's largest privately-held airline that controls about 40 percent of the air passenger market in Indonesia. The airline, owned by Rusdi Kirana (one of the richest Indonesians), has again disappointed thousands of passengers due to delayed flights. This time flight delays were caused by Lion Air pilots going on strike. It is worth to zoom in on this case and to take a look at which Indonesian airlines are most reliable in terms of departure punctuality.
