It’s been a busy week for news hasn’t it? After last week’s suicide bomb at Makassar’s cathedral, the national police HQ was attacked by a gun-toting terrorist. A joint ministerial decree calls for schools to be reopened, while a popular sculptor was drawn into an internet furore over a controversial design for the new presidential palace. There’s a lot to get through, so let’s go.
Terror at the HQ
The National Police headquarter became the scene of a terrorist attack on Wednesday, (31/3) when 25-year-old Zakiah Aini snuck inside the compound and began firing shots at police officers around the main gate of the HQ. Zakiah fired six shots before police retaliated and gunned down the woman with a fatal shot to the heart.
No police officer was injured in the incident and witnesses claimed that they only heard the shots fired by the police. It was a day later that we finally knew why: Zakiah as it turned out was carrying an air pistol which shoots small metal pellets. It was essentially a BB gun.
The case highlighted a major security flaw at what should be one of the most secure compounds in the country. How the hell did a woman just casually walk into the National Police HQ, smuggle a pistol (albeit an air gun) and started shooting people? What is she, a hobbit carrying the one ring?
Suffice to say: police got really lucky that this woman was carrying an air gun and not something way more lethal. Police said they are launching an internal inquiry and are reviewing their security procedures.
It appeared that she purchased the air gun online from a guy in Aceh identified as Muchsin Kamal a.k.a Imam Muda, who apparently spent time in prison for participating in a terrorist training camp in Greater Aceh in 2010.
Police said they found on her a membership ID issued by Basis Shooting Club. The card came complete with the logo of the Indonesian Hunting and Shooting Association (Perbakin).
Perbakin said she was never a member, let alone have license to carry weapons and that the shooting club had long closed.
Basis shooting club, Perbakin said, was closed in 2014 because it gave out cards to just about anyone, name dropping Perbakin, and have been selling airsoft guns to anyone who’s willing to pay.
And the slain terror suspect was not the only one who carried Basis Shooting Club membership ID. On Friday, police arrested Muhammad Farid Andika for waiving a gun at a motorcyclist he hit with his car. Farid, who later turned out to be the CEO of fintech startup Restock.id, also had a Basis Shooting Club membership card.
Back to School
The government is planning to reopen all schools for in-person classes with heavy limitations, restrictions, and conditions when the new school year starts in July. Schools must still offer remote classes, particularly if the children share a home with people with comorbidities.
Every school staff and teacher must be vaccinated before they can reopen, classes will be divided into two or three groups and students take turns participating in offline classes. Cafeterias must remain closed and extracurricular activities will be barred.
Jakarta is holding a trial run. The city, which has consistently recorded more than 1,000 new cases everyday for months, plans to reopen 100 schools temporarily between Monday (Apr 7) and Apr 29. Only students grade 4 and up are permitted to attend in-person classes during this trial run.
Each school will be given one week to conduct the trial run then it’s back to remote learning. Classroom capacity will be halved and the schools’s duration will be cut down to a maximum of 4 hours. Subjects which need students to be physically present will be given priority.
The decision got some parents, epidemiologists and medical workers nervous, pointing to the fact that there have been numerous clusters emerging from schools. Koran Jakarta noted that in the past three months there have been hundreds of students and teachers across the country infected with Covid-19 after they staged in person classes.
The National Covid-19 Task Force on Tuesday announced that children represented 14% of Indonesia’s total caseload (that’s around 210,000). 204 children under the age of 2 and 263 school aged children have died from Covid-19.
My eyes! My eyes!
It’s a bird… it’s a dementor… it’s... the new presidential palace? Renowned sculptor Nyoman Nuarta announced on his Instagram on Tuesday that his work has been selected by the Ministry for Public Works as the design for the new presidential palace in East Kalimantan. Chief of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Suharso Monoarfa also posted the design on his IG account (so it has to be fo real fo real official) although the post has since been deleted.
Brace yourself folks: here’s what it looks like.
The design attracted sharp criticisms and mockeries online. Some say it is more fitting as a villain’s lair or a concert backdrop. Others say it’s just a bit too literal and over the top and more fitting as a monument instead of an actual, functional building.
Nuarta defended his design by going on about the philosophy of our national symbol and how designing the Presidential palace in the shape of the mythical bird will unite us all.
The Ministry for Public Works said the design is just a concept and can still change. President Jokowi called people to send their feedback on what he described as a “pre-design”. Jokowi said he will invite experts and architects to finalize the design.
Here’s our feedback:
Sneaky Governor
The number one man in the entire province of Papua entered Papua New Guinea illegally and had to be deported by authorities.
Since March last year, the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border has been closed because of the pandemic but that didn’t stop Papua governor Lukas Enembe apparently. He hired an ojek (motorcycle taxi) and travelled to the town of Vanimo, PNG three hours away from his home in Jayapura, taking the backroads and small paths to evade authorities.
Lukas stayed in Vanimo for two days before he got caught. He was escorted to the border by PNG authorities and from there, Indonesian immigration officials took him home.
Lukas said he had to enter the country illegally because he needed to do some therapy for a nerve condition. This is the same guy who chartered a plane to travel to Jakarta while his own province was in lockdown. Members of Parliament in Jakarta noted that at least last year’s incident wasn’t such an international embarrassment.
Quick Reads
The one with the arrests
Densus 88, the anti terror police force, made 32 arrests following the bomb in Makassar last Sunday (28/3), and counting. 16 were suspected of being part of the group responsible for the Makassar incident while the others were unconnected. Terrorist arrests have become almost a daily occurrence in the country in recent times.
The one with the chess match
Woman Grand Master Irene Sukandar, who defeated Dadang Subur the other week, had a match with Levy Rozman, a.k.a the notorious GothamChess. The match was watched by 53,000 people, a drop in the bucket compared to her earlier one, but it was quite a spectacle in itself being a non-standard chess match. It ended with a draw.
The one with the new CEO
The CEO of Restock.id, Muhammad Farid Andika, who’s under arrest for a hit and run incident and waving a gun in public, apparently has resigned and was replaced by the company’s commissioner, Tiar Nabilla Karbala. The company claimed that his resignation had been planned for a while and the timing was a coincidence. Sure, Jan, we believe you.
On a related note, an angry mob went to Google Play Store to leave negative reviews on Restock’s app in an apparent witch hunt triggered by the former CEO’s action. Except Restock.id doesn’t have an app. Turns out they went and left angry, one-star reviews for a poor, unsuspecting app that just happens to have the same name, *smh*.
The one with the wedding
The President, the Defense Minister, and the Head of the Parliament walked into a wedding. This would have been a joke except… well, this is a joke actually. With many large scale weddings being dismissed or canceled over the past year (and another high profile one causing much ruckus last year), the nation’s leaders chose to attend the wedding of a couple of influencers. And the Prez and DefMin actually served as official witnesses. Negara Kesatuan Republik Influencer indeed.
The one with the flash flood
Unfortunately we have to end this edition with a tragic update. 44 people have died and seven missing in a major flooding in East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara this weekend. Hundreds of homes and numerous public facilities have also been affected with numerous families evacuated and staying in makeshift shelters across the regency. Rescue teams are working around the clock to find survivors.