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Independent Singapore
3 days ago
- Independent Singapore
Indonesian police dismantle baby trafficking ring and rescue 5 infants headed to Singapore
INDONESIA: Indonesian police have broken up a cross-border baby trafficking ring operating out of West Java, rescuing six infants, five of whom were reportedly set to be put on sale in Singapore. The operation, led by local authorities in Bandung, uncovered disturbing details of a syndicate that has allegedly sold at least 24 babies since 2023. Of those, police believe 15 were trafficked to Singapore. The rescued infants, some only two months old, are now under medical care at a Bandung hospital. Authorities say the babies were being prepared for adoption abroad, with each being sold for amounts ranging from tens of millions of Indonesian rupiah, equivalent to hundreds or even thousands of Singapore dollars. Speaking to CNA, West Java police confirmed that the ring profited off both abducted children and babies voluntarily given up by their birth parents. Investigators found that the price for babies surrendered by their parents typically ranged between 11 million and 16 million rupiah, roughly S$866 to over S$1,200. In contrast, abducted infants were sold at significantly higher prices through underground networks posing as adoption facilitators. The primary suspect, now in custody, reportedly confessed to orchestrating the planned transfer of the six rescued babies. Police are now working with regional and international agencies to track down other members of the syndicate and identify those involved on the receiving end of the transactions. Investigations are ongoing, with more arrests expected in the coming weeks. () => { const trigger = if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { => { if ( { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });
News.com.au
16-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Indonesian shoemakers fear Trump tariffs despite lower levy
At a leather boot shop in the Indonesian city of Bandung, workers handle an order from Texas but owner Etnawati Melani says she fears such business will dwindle when Donald Trump's tariffs hit exports. The United States is Indonesia's biggest market for footwear exports and the American president announced Tuesday he would impose 19 percent tolls on top of a baseline 10 percent for Southeast Asia's biggest economy. The measure was lower than the initial extra 32 percent Trump threatened in April, and better than the 20 percent he imposed on Vietnam. But Etnawati, who had plans to expand her business to the United States, said her focus would now shift to other markets. "I have to develop a new strategy. Perhaps we have to diversify our markets, products, and so on. If it's possible to enter (the US market), but... not in large quantities at first, that's it," she told AFP. "We can't rely solely on the US. There's still many markets in the world. We can still shift. "I plan to shift focus to Japan and Russian partners." In return for a lower tariff, Indonesia pledged billions to increase energy, agriculture and merchandise imports from the US and Trump said Jakarta had pledged to buy 50 Boeing jets. It remains unclear when the new tariff rate Trump announced will come into effect and reaction from Indonesian officials has been muted while President Prabowo Subianto travels home from a Europe visit. But chief negotiator Airlangga Hartarto, after meeting top US officials in Washington, said last week that the talks had been "positive". Prabowo suggested after the initial tariff threat in April that Trump was maybe helping Jakarta by causing it to re-think its trade surplus with the world's top economy. Data from the US Trade Representative office shows Washington's goods trade deficit with Indonesia was $17.9 billion in 2024, up 5.4 percent from the year before. - 'I'm worried' - Indonesia is the third-largest footwear exporter to the US behind China and Vietnam, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. So any new tariff was likely to damage business -- particularly in Bandung, where its shoe scene is well-known internationally for beautifully hand-crafted quality leather boots. Economists in Indonesia hit out at the deal with Washington, which Trump says would get tariff-free access in return. "This is not an agreement. It's... a one-sided agreement," Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) executive director Yose Rizal Damuri told AFP on Wednesday. But he predicted American consumers would likely bear the costs more than Indonesian businesses, with Trump's tariffs sweeping across many countries. "The United States itself will be the one more affected. Prices will rise," he said. Data on Tuesday showed US inflation spiked in June as the tolls kicked on. The shop's more seasoned workers such as Jajang -- who goes by one name -- have already experienced the ups and downs of business, with the Covid-19 pandemic hitting sales, and seeing dozens of colleagues laid off and several dying. "I don't know about that issue, the important thing is that I work here," said the 53-year-old when asked about Trump's levies. Others aware of the Trump threat to Indonesian exports were more concerned. One of Etnawati's workers, Lili Suja'i, chipped away at a new set of boots for the three-pair Texan order -- riding boots, medium casual boots and loafers -- in a workshop adjacent to the store. He said he feared US customers would be put off by higher costs, with the shop his main income for his family of three. But the shoemakers are ready to fulfil any orders from Americans willing to pay the extra price. "I'm worried, yes, but before placing an order, we negotiate the shipping costs and prices with the customer," the 38-year-old said. "So, we've already made a deal. If they're OK with it, we'll do it."
South China Morning Post
12-07-2025
- South China Morning Post
Indonesia's fight to clean up the Citarum, the ‘world's most polluted river'
Wida Widiarti has spent her entire life near the Citarum River on Indonesia 's main island of Java. Advertisement That means she has witnessed first-hand how the river mutated from an important lifeline into a disgusting symbol of extreme environmental pollution. Time and again, the Citarum has been described in reports as the 'world's most polluted river'. 'People clean up, but the rubbish comes back anyway,' said Widiarti, who lives near Bandung. Surrounded by mountains, rice paddies and volcanoes, the Javanese metropolis some 100km (62 miles) southeast of Jakarta, is a popular destination for tourists, but like in so many regions in Southeast Asia , a massive waste problem lurks beneath the picturesque surface. Advertisement Widiarti and her little daughter stand on the river bank and look at the murky water, littered with plastic bottles, broken flip-flops and other rubbish that is barely recognisable. Some months are worse than others, she said. At times, the water was almost covered entirely by waste. 'Even in better times, the Citarum is never free of rubbish,' she said.
BBC News
07-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Oxford's nine-goal thriller in front of 40,000 fans
"I was at Wembley last year, I was at Northwich Victoria in the Conference, but this is something else," one supporter told us after Oxford United had beaten the Indonesian All-Stars 6-3. Those fans and staff who remember the dark days of 15 years ago were struggling to take in what was admittedly a surreal scene. More than 40,000 fans cheered as loudly for Oxford United's Indonesia internationals Ole Romeny and Marselino Ferdinan as their own All-Stars All-Stars were selected by public vote for the game - representing the U's was owner Erick Thohir who helped plunge a Britain's Got Talent type red buzzer before kick-off to launch the President's took control of group A, netting six times in a nine-goal and Ferdinan entertained, with the former even demonstrating keepy uppies in open play to thrill the crowd if not one or two of his United goals came from Mark Harris (2), Michal Helik, Tom Bradshaw, Przemyslaw Placheta and record signing Brian De Keersmaecker, who in his first Oxford appearance curled in a left-footed shot from 25 yards after shaking off defenders with a from Dutch club Heracles a week ago, the 25-year-old Belgian said: "It's great to score a goal, especially on my debut."Normally I am used to playing preparation games in front of 500 people, this was an incredible atmosphere."Oxford have now travelled on the 225mph "Whoosh" bullet train from the Indonesia capital to Bandung, 100 miles south where there will play club side Arema FC on Thursday and where they will be firm favourites to progress to Sunday's final.
Malay Mail
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Indonesia's free school meal scheme under fire after food poisoning, protests and delays
JAKARTA, July 4 — When an Indonesian mother dropped off her daughter at school in May, she did not expect her to become violently sick after eating lunch from the government's new billion-dollar free meal programme. 'My daughter had a stomachache, diarrhoea, and a headache,' the woman told AFP on condition of anonymity about the incident in the Javan city of Bandung. 'She also couldn't stop vomiting until three in the morning.' Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto touted the populist scheme as a solution to the high rates of stunted growth among children, as he carved his way to a landslide election victory last year. But its rollout since January has stumbled from crisis to crisis, including accusations of nepotism, funding delays, protests and a spate of food poisonings. It was slated to reach as many as 17.5 million children this year to the tune of US$4.3 billion. But so far it has only served five million students nationwide from January to mid-June, according to the finance ministry. The poisoning issues were not isolated to that girl's school—five others reported similar incidents. But Prabowo has lauded the number of illnesses as a positive. 'Indeed there was a poisoning today, around 200 people out of three million,' he said in May. 'Over five were hospitalised, so that means the success rate is 99.99 per cent. A 99.99 per cent success rate in any field is a good thing.' Elementary schoolchildren eating food prepared by the government's free meal program at a classroom in Jakarta. — AFP pic Rushed policy Large-scale aid programmes in Indonesia have a history of allegations of graft at both the regional and national levels. Experts say this programme is particularly vulnerable, with little in the way of accountability. 'A big budget means the possibility of corruption is wide open, and with lax monitoring, corruption can happen,' said Egi Primayogha, a researcher at Indonesia Corruption Watch. 'Since the beginning, the programme was rushed, without any good planning. There is no transparency.' The programme was rolled out soon after Prabowo took office in October and local investigative magazine Tempo reported that 'several partners appointed' were Prabowo supporters in the election. Agus Pambagio, a Jakarta-based public policy expert, said Prabowo rushed the plan, with critics saying there was little public consultation. 'Japan and India have been doing it for decades. If we want to do it just like them within a few months, it's suicide,' he said. 'We can't let fatalities happen.' The plan's stated aim is to combat stunting, which affects more than 20 per cent of the country's children, and reduce that rate to five per cent by 2045. Prabowo's administration has allocated US$0.62 per meal and initially set a budget of 71 trillion rupiah (US$4.3 billion) for this year. But authorities have been accused of delays and under-funding the programme. A catering business in capital Jakarta had to temporarily shut down in March because the government had not paid the $60,000 it was owed. The case went viral and it eventually got its money back. Poses risk The government announced a US$6.2 billion budget boost recently but revised it by half as problems mounted in its ambitious quest to deliver meals to almost 83 million people by 2029. Widespread cuts to fund the programme's large budget also sparked protests across Indonesian cities in February. Yet some say the programme has benefited their child. 'It's quite helpful. I still give my son pocket money, but since he got free lunch, he could save that money,' Reni Parlina, 46, told AFP. However a May survey by research institute Populix found more than 83 per cent of 4,000 respondents think the policy should be reviewed. 'If necessary, the programme should be suspended until a thorough evaluation is carried out,' said Egi. The National Nutrition Agency, tasked with overseeing free meal distribution, did not respond to an AFP request for comment. The agency has said it will evaluate the scheme and has trained thousands of kitchen staff. Kitchen partners say they are taking extra precautions too. 'We keep reminding our members to follow food safety protocols,' said Sam Hartoto of the Indonesian Catering Entrepreneurs Association, which has 100 members working with the government. While they seek to provide assurances, the debacles have spooked parents who doubt Prabowo's government can deliver. 'I don't find this programme useful. It poses more risks than benefits,' said the mother of the sick girl. 'I don't think this programme is running well.' — AFP
