Indonesia Highlights: President Jokowi Stands By Inflammatory Statement on Foreign Goods | Indonesian Forces in Papua Kill One ‘Armed Criminal’ in Ongoing Insurgency | KPAI Express Concerns Over Numb

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesian President Joko Widodo stood his ground for justifying his dislike of foreign products, a premise he took in a bid to make domestic consumers buy Indonesian.

Indonesian military personnel continued to clash with Insurgents in Papua’s volatile Intan Jaya regency, as soldiers killed an unidentified armed man.

And the Indonesian Child Protection Agency [KPAI] raised the alarm over high dropout rates for schoolchildren during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read on for this news and more in this edition of Indonesia Higlights:

DOK ANNE AVANTIE President Joko Widodo in a cheongsam Chinese attire designed by fashion designer Anne Avantie to mark the Chinese Lunar New Year, Saturday (20/2/2021)

President Jokowi Stands By Inflammatory Statement on Foreign Goods

Indonesian President Joko Widodo continues to stand by his controversial comment of hating foreign products earlier this week, which the head of state made to encourage the public to buy Indonesian.

“I encouraged [the Indonesian public] to love and be proud of Indonesian products. I also said one can despise foreign products,” said the former Jakarta governor, as quoted by the Antara state news agency on Saturday.

“I just spoke my mind when I said [one has the right to] hate foreign products, and I have the right to do so. So I do not understand what the fuss was about.”

But Jokowi admitted that “Indonesian manufacturers must earn the love of domestic consumers by making good quality, reasonably priced products. They should also make the most of the 270 million strong Indonesian market.”

He noted that the Indonesian market’s buying power remains strong at 84.9 percent in January 2021, up from 79 percent in October 2020, and can drive economic growth which stalled because of the Covid-19 pandemic towards the projected goal of five percent.

President Jokowi also encouraged state-owned enterprises to buy Indonesian and reduce the purchase of imported products.

Source:

https://money.kompas.com/read/2021/03/06/113529726/jokowi-heran-saya-ngomong-benci-produk-asing-begitu-saja-ramai?page=all#page2. 

Illustration of a shooting

Indonesian Forces in Papua Kill One ‘Armed Criminal’ in Ongoing Insurgency

Indonesian Army forces in Papua has killed at least one insurgent, following a firefight with so-called ‘Armed Criminal Groups’ or KKB in Sugapa district, the epicenter of the ongoing conflict at the Intan Jaya regency on Saturday.

“Military personnel from the Raider infantry battalion shot two insurgents, one of them fatally, during a firefight at the village of Puyagia. The casualties were part of a four man squad led by Undinus Kogoya, a well-known insurgent in the area,” said Army spokesman Colonel IGN Suriastawa.

“The wounded man managed to escape with his arms, as did the rest of the insurgents.”

Suriastawa added that the dead man is still unidentified. “We have yet to determine the identity of the insurgent, as he has no ID on him. The local also do not recognize him.” The KKB insurgency in Intan Jaya has been raging since December 2019.

The insurgency has killed dozens of Indonesian personnel, an unknown number of insurgents as well as civilians. The latter included Papuan cleric Yeremia Zanambani, who was allegedly  killed by Indonesian security forces in September

Source:

https://regional.kompas.com/read/2021/03/06/163308878/1-anggota-kkb-tewas-ditembak-tni-di-intan-jaya-papua. 

KOMPAS.COM/JUNAEDI High school children in Sumarorong continue face-to-face classes despite the Covid-19 pandemic

KPAI Express Concerns Over Number of Children Quitting School During Covid-19 Pandemic

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission or KPAI has expressed concerns over the high rate of children nationwide who were forced to quit school, since the Covid-19 pandemic struck Indonesia in March 2020.

“Our research in West Java’s provincial capital Bandung and the city of Cimahi, as well as other parts of Indonesia, showed that the children often quit for a number of reasons,” said KPAI commissioner Retno Listyarti in a written statement Saturday.

“Our interviews with teachers and principals from the Federated Union of Indonesian Teachers [FSGI] and KPAI’s observations, the reasons included marriage, work, failure to pay school fees, addiction to online games, and death.”
She noted that “90 percent of the cases came from private schools, while 75 percent of the schoolchildren who were forced to quit were at the high school levels. The worst affected were poorer families.”

Retno found that 33 children in Bengkulu province’s Seluma regency as well as Bima regency in the West Nusa Tenggara province’s Bima island had to quit school when they married.

Two schoolkids in Jakarta and Cimahi had to quit school when they were forced to work, while 34 pupils had to quit school when they failed to pay their school fees. Natural disasters also took their toll.

“One high-schooler in Bima was killed by floodwaters last year, while at least one student from a private vocational in Jakarta died in a motorcycle accident.” Aside from the mishaps, the Covid-19 pandemic forced classrooms to go online, as face to face learning has been prohibited.
Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/03/06/12561341/kpai-angka-putus-sekolah-pada-masa-pandemi-covid-19-cukup-tinggi.