Indonesia Highlights: Fear of Expression in Indonesia | Jakarta Re-Extends Lockdown | Indonesia’s Halal Industry Needs a Push

KOMPAS.com – An earthquake greeted Indonesians in West Java on Sunday, while new Covid-19 cases totaling 3,732 people preceded the start of a long holiday.

Indonesia has yet to catch a break in its battle against the coronavirus as the number of infections continue to range in the thousands daily.

Central and regional government leaders have publicly reminded Indonesians to respect Covid-19 health protocols before next week’s long holiday starting on Wednesday.

The national caseload stands at 389,712, with 13,299 deaths and 313,764 recovery cases as of October 25.

An additional burden that hit Indonesia was a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Pangandaran, West Java which caused damages to homes in six regencies.

No casualties have been reported as residents of the houses damaged were outdoors when the quake jolted the areas.

More important news happening in Indonesia on Sunday are highlighted below:

KOMPAS.com/GARRY LOTULUNG Large-scale social distancing or PSBB in Jakarta has once again been extended for another two weeks or until Nov. 8.

1. Partial Lockdown in Jakarta Extended Anew until Nov. 8

Large-scale social distancing or PSBB in Jakarta has once again been extended for another two weeks or until November 8.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan made the call to extend the duration of the capital city’s partial lockdown based on Jakarta Raya Governor Decree Number 1020 Year 2020.

Based on his assessment, no significant surge in Covid-19 cases in Jakarta has been recorded since the previous extension on October 11.

In the past two weeks, Indonesia’s capital city has seen stable figures in the number of new infections in addition to a downtick in the number of hospital bed occupancy rates.

Anies said the partial lockdown can be revoked should there be another uptick in new infections hitting the city.

Source: https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2020/10/25/12340091/psbb-transisi-jakarta-diperpanjang-hingga-8-november-ini-penjelasan-anies 

dok. Kitagawa Pesona Bali (cr: Ari) A survey conducted by the Indonesian Political Indicator (IPI) revealed the growing concerns of Indonesian citizens in expressing their opinions.

2. Fear in Freedom of Expression among Indonesians

A survey conducted by the Indonesian Political Indicator (IPI) revealed the growing concerns of Indonesian citizens in expressing their opinions.

According to IPI’s Executive Director, as many as 21.9 percent of survey respondents agree that Indonesian citizens are increasingly fearful of sharing their thoughts while another 47.7 percent somewhat agree.

The overall takeaway from IPI’s survey is that the majority of the Indonesian public tend to agree or strongly agree that they are becoming increasingly worried about exercising the freedom of expression.

Burhanuddin explains that the survey ought to be alarming to the Indonesian government when its citizens find fear in voicing their thoughts particularly in the context of democracy.

The IPI survey was conducted via telephone September 24-30 with 1,200 respondents across Indonesia.

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/10/25/16305891/survei-ipi-696-persen-responden-setuju-publik-kian-takut-sampaikan-pendapat 

SHUTTERSTOCK / Odua Images With the country aspiring to achieve its mission to become a global manufacturer of Halal products, Rosan suggested the importance of assessing how Indonesia?s Halal standards can be better accepted internationally.

3. Indonesia’s Halal Industry Needs a Push

Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, Rosan P Roeslani, underlined the necessity for Indonesia’s Halal standards to be better standardized to receive international recognition.

With the country aspiring to achieve its mission to become a global manufacturer of Halal products, Rosan suggested the importance of assessing how Indonesia’s Halal standards can be better accepted internationally.

Should more countries accept Indonesia’s Halal standards, the country benefits by having the ability to produce value-added Halal goods.

On Saturday, Indonesian Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin criticized Indonesia for not being a global leader in Halal goods production despite having one of the world’s biggest Muslim population.

In his critique, Ma’ruf explained that Indonesia is a consumer market of Halal products as well as a stamping machine for imported Halal goods.

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2020/10/25/131400326/kalah-dengan-malaysia-kadin-berharap-standar-halal-indonesia-bisa-diakui-dunia