Anti-corruption ramblings

Being a KPK/legal reporter comes with its own ups and downs. The up-side, I am on the front line of national-scale scandals such as Democrat party dirts incl SEA Games graft, travel check hearings that involved senior national bank official and a missing businesswoman, and what I think also important is the KPK leaders selection committee.

So far I also like my fellow reporters here, most of them are sharp and share an idealism that they are on KPK's side on the fight against corruption.

The down-side, I miss making stories on people, on communities. It's really tiring, dealing with thick-skinned corrupt politicians and lawmakers who siphoned millions of Rupiah from the state budget and use it like it was theirs.

I also miss writing stories that are my own. Here reporters write the same stories, though in different angles. When I was covering for the city I work at my own pace covering stories on my own (or my editor's) decision.

But yeah, I guess it's never wrong to learn new stuffs. It's also a good experience for me to cover the KPK, our antigraft superbody and learn about the important yet heavy task they have.

It is worrisome that even more than a decade after reform, our politicians and civil servants does not seem to change.

KPK's current leadership is going to end in December, and the selection committee, even though they did a good job by selecting Busyro to head the KPK, there is a lot of reason to be wary of the process.

As with SBY, good thing doesnt come twice. He might be applauded during his first term but man, his second term sucked bad. And with the highly political cases KPK is now dealing, there will be those who are trying to weaken KPK from the inside.

The committee had to come up with at least 8 names for the new leader. KPK leaders consist of 1 chairman and 4 deputy chairmen, the rule is that in the end the House will choose from 2 names for each position. a case is on going at the Constitutional Court whether Busyro can stay for another 3 years or not..

I wonder who are going to try the candidacy, or if the selection committee would come up with names with superhuman integrity, and the smarts, to tackle with this country's rampant corruption.

[LBH Masyarakat] Summer Internship 2011

________________________________________
From: Ricky Gunawan
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2011 10:03 AM
To: Ricky Gunawan
Subject: [LBH Masyarakat] Summer Internship 2011

Kawan-kawan,

Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (LBH Masyarakat) kembali mempersembahkan Summer Internship 2011: Bergabung Melawan Diskriminasi, yang akan dilaksanakan mulai 4 Juli 2011 hingga 3 Agustus 2011, di Jakarta.

Summer Internship adalah kesempatan bagi mahasiswi/a dari berbagai jurusan untuk mendedikasikan dirinya bagi pengembangan masyarakat. Summer Internship memanfaatkan momentum libur kuliah agar mahasiswi/a dapat mengisi liburan dengan hal yang positif. Dalam Summer Internship, mahasiswi/a bisa menambah pengetahuan seputar hukum dan hak asasi manusia (HAM), mulai dari sejarah dan filosofi HAM, bantuan hukum dan akses terhadap keadilan, rule of law dan reformasi hukum, pemberdayaan hukum masyarakat, hak untuk hidup, HAM dan HIV/AIDS, dan banyak lagi. Summer Internship tahun 2011 adalah kali ketiganya diselenggarakan.

PERSYARATAN:
1. Mahasiswi/a segala jurusan.
2. Memiliki minat di bidang bantuan hukum dan HAM.
3. Mengumpulkan tulisan singkat dengan tema sebagai berikut:
* Apa pendapat kamu tentang penegakan hukum di Indonesia? atau
* Apa pendapat kamu tentang penegakan HAM di Indonesia?
Ketentuan tulisan: diketik dengan font Times New Roman 11, spasi 1, 600 – 800 kata.

Kirimkan CV, surat aplikasi dan tulisan ke contact@lbhmasyarakat.org atau ke LBH Masyarakat di Tebet Timur Dalam III B, No. 10, Jakarta Selatan 12820, paling lambat Jumat, 17 Juni 2011. Untuk informasi lebih lanjut dapat menghubungi LBH Masyarakat di nomor 021-830 54 50

Tentang LBH Masyarakat:
LBH Masyarakat menyediakan bantuan hukum secara pro-bono kepada masyarakat kurang mampu dan terpinggirkan, serta menyelenggarakan pemberdayaan hukum masyarakat di komunitas marjinal. Selain itu, LBH Masyarakat juga aktif memajukan reformasi hukum dan perlindungan hak asasi manusia di Indonesia melalui kampanye publik dan advokasi kebijakan.

Silahkan disebarluaskan.

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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. (!!)

This year I celebrate my birthday a day earlier..

It was 11.30 p.m., we were having pillow talks and about to go to bed. He asked me where do we keep our flashlight, I told him that I had put it on the shelf above the kitchen sink.

After a while I asked him if he wanted me to turn off the lights. He said yes.
So we lied on the bedding sheet and bamboo mat that we called 'bed'. We were still talking, and then he got up, "I want to go to the bathroom."

There were the sound of a light switch turned on, followed by the kind of sound that men made when they pee, running water, a flush, another click from the light switch, the sound of a fridge being opened, and the rustle of plastic bag.

And then..

He opened the door, he was holding the flashlight on his left hand, on his right hand a mini oreo cheese cake, and he sang, "Happy birthday to you.."

I sat upright! Surprised! I was astounded..that I can't control the words that rolled just like that from the neurons of my brain, the muscle of my tongue, and mouth, as I said to him, softly, "but honey..my birthday is tomorrow.."

(True story).

We had a good laugh afterwards while we finish the cake xD

And still laughed whenever that night crossed our minds..

But it's true, it made me feel that my birthday was actually on Jan 31 :p so the night before my birthday I slept early, knowing that the birthday surprise was done and over with xD

This birthday I would like to thank God, for His endless blessings, for a healthy mind to think about His work, for a loving husband, for family near and far, for friends old and new, and to thank all of them above for spending a few seconds, minutes to call/sms/send a fb message/tweet/came to my desk/give a handshake/hug/kiss. God bless you all :)

Standing on the sides of the world's inter-religious battle arena are atheists (usually taking part as the ruthless critics/commentators), and followers of traditional faith groups, minding their own business.

*lagibingungcarianglehabisinterview*