on recent issues and such..

I'm going to use the idle hours on my first day at the Corruption Eradication Commission (aka KPK) to blog. Yay me!

so i'm waiting for this meeting between KPK and seven NGOs including Transparency International Indonesia and the Indonesia Corruption Watch, who are going to push the Commission to investigate graft allegations regarding the construction plan of a new office building for the House of Representative. (yes i'll be covering KPK and anti-corruption courts after more than a year at the Jakarta desk).

Two days ago the House opened the tender but it was quickly followed by criticisms since apparently, the winner, a state-owned company, was already chosen.

The tender was advertised in a local newspaper on Sunday, inviting contractors to bid on individual packets in the Rp 1.2 trillion ($136.8 million) project.

And even though members of the House were supposed to be representatives of the public, they made little discretion on the details of the new office and the process of the planning itself.

In the meantime I entertain myself by pointing out the grammar mistakes in Tomy Winata's response to the Sydney Morning Herald on WikiLeaks' allegations that he had been channeling funds to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

By the way some thirsty-for-fame lawyer, Habibburahman, is attempting to sue the papers $1 million for ruining "the pride of a nation because what they have done has given [Indonesia] a reputation of a corrupt country", the same guy also planning to submit a judicial review request of a gubernatorial decree banning in-door smoking in Jakarta to the Supreme Court.

They are also holding a press conference today alleging the government for ignoring the welfare of clove-cigarette workers over public health. (!!)