Edition Wednesday, February 13, 2019 | International Bali Post

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Wednesday, February 13, 2019

‘Roma’ takes Bafta glory in coup for Netflix LONDON - Netflix blackand-white production “Roma” triumphed at the Bafta film awards, boosting Oscar hopes for the US streaming giant whose rise poses a serious challenge to the conventional Hollywood business model.

The cinematic love letter to director Alfonso Cuaron’s 1970s childhood in Mexico City beat black comedy “The Favourite” to win best film and best director.

“I’m seriously touched this film has been received the way it’s been received,” Cuaron said at a starstudded ceremony on Sunday in London’s Royal Albert Hall, also attended by Prince William and his wife Kate.

Cuaron thanked Netflix for “having the courage” to get behind his film as he picked up the gong, adding that its success “in an age where fear and anger are proposed to divide us means the world to me”.

“Roma” portrays domestic strife and social hierarchy amid political turmoil and focuses on a housekeeper and nanny called Cleo, played by indigenous actress Yalitza Aparicio.

Netflix UK tweeted its congratulations, saying it was a “deeply

moving film and deserves all the love it’s getting”.

It dented expectations of a clean sweep by “The Favourite” which picked up best actress for Olivia Colman as Queen Anne and best supporting actress for Rachel Weisz playing her confidante and lover.

The film, about a cantankerous 18th-century British queen and her scheming court, had been nominated for 12 awards and picked up seven in what Colman described as an “amazing night” for the cast.

“This is for all three of us. It’s got my name on it but we can scratch on some other ones,” she said on stage, also referring to co-star Emma Stone who was nominated in the same category as Weisz.

Colman, 45, was up against Glenn Close (“The Wife”) and Lady Gaga (“A Star is Born”) -- the same power duo she will face at the Oscars on February 24, with Close so far the clear frontrunner.

“She doesn’t take herself too seriously and she enjoys what she’s doing,” Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos said of Colman.

Weisz and Stone are also in the running for Oscars in a proud year for the British film industry. (afp)

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Wednesday, February 13, 2019

US rapper Cardi B and Offset arrive for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards on February 10, 2019, in Los Angeles.

Women reign at glitzy Grammys gala that also makes rap history

LOS ANGELES - A bold streak of feminism ran through the Grammys gala on Sunday, as women artists dominated in the competition and on the concert stage -- while rappers Cardi B and Childish Gambino delivered a history-making night for hip-hop.

Ben STANSALL / AFP

Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron poses with the awards for a Director and for Best Film for ‘Roma’ at the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 10, 2019

Gambino -- the musical alter ego of actor Donald Glover -- posted four big wins for his provocative hit “This Is America,” but did not attend the star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles. In any event, the night belonged to the ladies.

One year after they were largely snubbed in major categories, and the head of the Recording Academy sparked outrage for telling them to “step up,” they made their presence felt -- and heard.

Country star Kacey Musgraves, one of the genre’s most critically praised artists who infuses her classic twang with psychedelia, nabbed four prizes including an upset win for top Album of the Year honors for “Golden Hour.”

“I think that women have a really necessary perspective to art, to music and it’s really nice to see that getting a chance to be included,” Musgraves told journalists after the show.

“It takes women having the balls to put out art that might not always be liked by everyone, but it also takes people on the other side of that to reach out and give those things a chance to be heard.”

English synth-pop star Dua Lipa bested a crowded field of female talent to take home the Grammy for Best New Artist.

“I guess this year we really stepped up,” she said.

And rap’s woman of the moment Cardi B certainly put her art out there -- she made history as the first solo

woman to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album for her debut “Invasion of Privacy.”

The trembling star, fresh off a rousing performance of her hit “Money,” delivered an emotional speech alongside her husband Offset of the rap trio Migos about making the album in the early days of her pregnancy.

Gambino’s win marked the first time a rap track won either Song of the Year, which honors best songwriting, or the Record of the Year award for best overall song.

Musgraves’ third studio album bested a crowded field of heavyweights for top honors including rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake -- both of whom ended the night with just one win each. (afp)

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Luis ROBAYO / AFP

Venezuelan migrants collect coca leaves as they work as “Raspachines” (coca farmer collectors)in the Catatumbo jungle, Colombia, on February 8, 2019.

Venezuelans earn up to the equivalent of $144 per week working on coca fields, three times more than what they would received in construction in their country. Like most immigrants, they leave a small part to survive and the rest is sent to Venezuela.

Desperate Venezuelan migrants turn to Colombia coca plantations

They were once manual laborers, taxi drivers, fishermen and merchants. But Venezuelan migrants fleeing poverty and shortages of basic necessities have been forced into new work: picking coca leaves for Colombia’s drug traffickers.

Hundreds of Venezuelans work grueling days on coca leaf plantations, seduced by better pay despite harsh conditions, painful labor -and uneasiness about contributing to illegal cocaine production.

“The problem is the hands,” 23year-old Eduar, who wanted to hide his true identity for fear of repercussions back home, told AFP. “When you grab the bush, they bleed,” he said, showing his blistered hands wrapped in cloth for

protection. “After this you’re afraid and don’t want to do it again.”

Like the other Venezuelans working here, Eduar never imagined he would end up working for the narcos.

A father of two young children, he came here two years ago, giving up his job as a motorcycle taxi driver after Venezuela’s hyperinflation -- which hit an estimated 1.3 million percent last year -- devoured his savings.

- Exhausting and painful Leaving central Venezuela, he arrived in Colombia’s Catatumbo border region where initially he worked as a builder.

That was less exhausting and painful than the 10-hour days he now spends bent over coca plants, his shirt soaked in sweat and sporting a widebrimmed hat, come rain or beating sun. He cannot stand the heat on his feet, so he takes off his shoes and rubs his threadbare socks with coca leaves.

But nonetheless, as a coca leaf picker he earns $144 a month -- three times more than he did in construction.

Like all the Venezuelan migrants, he keeps just enough to live on and

sends the rest to his family back home. It used to be only Colombians who came to Catatumbo, a region infested with armed groups and home since 2017 to 16.5 percent of the country’s illegal coca plantations. Since 2016, they’ve had to vie for work with Venezuelans.

An oil region rich in carbon, it’s a dangerous place to work. Rivers of blood have flowed due to the multifaceted armed conflict pitting leftist guerrillas, drug traffickers, paramilitaries and the armed forces against each other.

Eduar did not know what he was letting himself in for. Another Venezuelan, Naikelly Delgado, 36,

arrived in the small town of Pacelli with her sister in 2016.

She used to work in the petrochemical industry and initially found employment as a cook, but ended up in the plantations to earn more money. After her first day of work, she couldn’t even wash her clothes.

Continued to page 6

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Bali News

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

International

Digital banking

Bank funding and loan distribution increases DENPASAR - Digital banking has become the focus of activities carried out by banks recently. Digital banking derivatives like non-cash transactions are also intensified by both regulator (Bank Indonesia) and general banks. The impact of digitalization has also been felt mainly from banks.

Deputy Regional Head of BRI for Bali-Nusra Regional Office, in charge of funding and digital banking, Hery Santoso, said that since February 2018 it has intensely implemented digital banking, especially in the credit process. It

made credit services faster at a maximum of 2 days. “The application of digital banking is not only in the form of external products but also for internal affairs of the BRI,” he said on Monday (Feb. 11).

The credit process uses an application-based smartphone.

Customers simply scan e-ID card on the smartphone of bank officer, and then within 2 days the credit can be disbursed. In addition, in terms of bank funding, it also increased significantly, especially when using the My QR application. “My QR is one of the means to encourage funding,” he explained.

The effect is very significant. It is evident from the total

funds raised by BRI in 2018 increased from IDR 27.6 trillion in 2017 to IDR 34.9 trillion in 2018. Seeing the progress of digital banking, he targeted the funding in 2019 to increase to IDR 38.9 trillion.

The funding collected by banks through digital banking also affects bank’s CASA reaching 75 percent. In other words, only 25 percent of the funds collected by banks are obtained from deposits (expensive funds), 75 percent from low-cost funds, namely savings and current accounts. However, in the future he will focus on the handling of customers’ funds because currently BRI’s customers are quite large, namely 7 million across Bali and Nusa Tenggara.

Overall, since intensely running digital banking, in a year 45 percent of BRI’s total customers have switched to digital banking. Meanwhile, the entire consumer and micro credit process, 100 percent have switched to digital banking, except for the process of large loans above IDR 50 billion are still using paper.

Other than banks, local governments are also encouraged to use digital banking and cashless. Third assistant of Bali Province, I Wayan Suarjaya, stated that electronification of regional government transactions had been carried out since 2018. “Since there are things needing to be improved in 2018, then in 2019 there needs to be development, both infrastructure and human resources,” he said.

Some transactions have used non-cash, namely the payment of salaries of civil servants and non-civil servants, payment of projects, tax collection, et cetera. “I have appealed to all districts and municipality to use non-cash and integrated payment,” he said when the High Level Meeting at Bank Indonesia of Bali Representative Office on Monday (Feb. 11). With non-cash transactions, it is recognized there is an increase in revenues received by regional governments, such as online tax payments increasing from IDR 1.4 trillion in 2012 to IDR 3 trillion in 2015.

Head of the Bank Indonesia for Bali Representative Office, Causa Iman Karana, stated that Bali becomes one of the provinces becoming a pilot project for the implementation of transaction electronification in addition to Greater Jakarta and West Java.

In terms of progress electronification, the local government of Bali has 100 percent implemented the online fund disbursement warrant (SP2D) system and financial system integration with the bank’s cash management services (CMS). Additionally, the transaction electronification has also been carried out in all the regional governments in 2017, e-parking payment in Tabanan and Gianyar in 2018, e-market levy in Mangupura in 2018, electronification of the Bali Mandara toll road in 2017 as well as Tanah Lot e-ticketing in 2019. (kmb42)

District govt asked to set distance between supermarkets

BANGLI - The Regional Bill (Ranperda) concerning the Arrangement of the People’s Market, Shopping Centers and Supermarkets continues to be finalized by the Special Committee of the Bangli House of Representatives. The working meeting held with the Industry and Trade Agency of Bangli on Monday (Feb. 11) and Special Committee I requested the distance between modern supermarkets or shops in Bangli to be regulated in the regional regulation.

Chairman of the Special Com-

mittee I at the Bangli House of Representatives, Nyoman Gelgel Wisnawa, when confirmed after the work meeting stated that in the work meeting he chaired last Monday there were a number of inputs submitted by members of the special committee. One of them is the matter of distance between modern stores. In the existing Regional Regulation concerning modern stores, he said there is no regulation yet regarding the distance between one modern store and another.

So far, what to be arranged is only

the distance between modern stores and traditional markets, namely 400 to 500 meters. “Nowadays, what to be regulated is the distance between chain modern stores. To get the ideal distance, it must be carried out a study,” he explained.

Gelgel added that in accordance with his field observation so far, the existence of one and another modern store in Bangli is quite close. He gave an example the modern store in the Cempaga area that is considered to be too close. Arrangement of the distance between these modern stores

is hoped to give better spatial layout to Bangli. “Regarding the maximum number per sub-district does not need to be regulated in the regional regulation. The most important thing is to arrange the distance between modern stores and other modern stores,” said this politician from Songan Kintamani village.

He added that on last Monday’s work meeting, the Special Committee I also hoped the regional regulation on People’s Market Arrangement, Shopping Centers and Supermarkets will also regulate the

marketing and utilization of local agricultural, fishery and industrial products. All modern or department stores are expected to be able to sell agricultural, fishery and local industrial products of the Bangli community.

Gelgel added that Regional Bill on the Arrangement of People’s Market, Shopping Centers and Supermarkets will be discussed again at the meeting on February 18. It is targeted to have accomplished on February 25, so this regulation can be ratified. (kmb40)

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International

Activities

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

15

Nyepi Package at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center Embrace the silent moment of the Nyepi Day, celebrate the thoughtful moment at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center with its special offer 3 days 2 nights Nyepi Package.

“On this day, the entire island will do the purification, therefore, the whole of the island will be dark and guests must remain within their hotel grounds for 24 hours. But worry-free! Because our outlets such as pools, spa, dining, and recreation are accessible. Some activities also provided for the in-house guests such as a movie marathon for children and kids corner such as coloring activity, cooking class, balloon art, and kids playground from 08:00 am -08:00 pm. Aston Theater will be available for those who would like to spend their time enjoying a wide selection of box office movies from 08:00 am-08:00 pm. For the guests who would like to stay in the room, movie channel also accessible for 24 hours.”

Said Ririn Setyowati – Director of Sales & Marketing at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center.

The package is available from March 6th – 8th, 2019. All the guests will be able to enjoy the scrumptious breakfast for 2 persons, and a complimentary lunch and dinner on March 7th, 2019. For further information and reservation, kindly contact 0361 - 411999 or quick response please mention and follow us on Twitter @AstonDenpasarID, Instagram @ AstonDenpasar, and Facebook @ Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center.

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Wednesday, February 13, 2019

TECHNOLOGY

International

Bali News

International

But that’s causing big problems.

Many routers are left without updates for years. They’re a mess of security flaws, easily compromised by hackers or malware. Research by the American Consumer Institute last year found that 83 per cent of home and office routers have vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers, including popular brands such as Linksys, NETGEAR and D-Link.

IBP/net

In the last three years, cyberattacks against insecure routers have rocketed.

Once compromised, routers can be used to carry out Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS), or for credential stuffing, where hackers gain access to someone’s password for one site, and use the botnet to quickly try it at lots of other places. They can also be used to hide the origins of illicit activity – traffic will appear to be coming from random residential addresses rather than its true source.

With increasing fibre broadband speeds, some users might not even notice that their router is being used to hide someone else’s traffic, or for mining Bitcoin.

For home users, the biggest risk is their personal data being stolen.

In August, security researchers at Radware spotted an exploit spreading across D-Link routers in Brazil, which eventually affected 100,000 devices.

This particular attack was aimed at customers of Banco de Brasil, and used the hijacked routers and some DNS redirection to send them to a cloned version of the bank’s website, which stole their log-in details.

“The criminal community has woken up to the many holes in legacy firmware,” says Tom Gaffney, a security advisor at F-Secure. There are online databases where would-be cyber criminals can enter the name of a router manufacturer and instantly access a list of known vulnerabilities.

Some entries even list the code required to take advantage.

As we connect more and more Internet of Things (IoT) devices to our routers – voice assistants, smart doorbells – the risks increase. Your connected security cameras might have robust protections, but if your router doesn’t, the whole system is vulnerable. “It’s like being broken into,” says Bharat Mistry, principal security strategist at Trend Micro.

A number of high-profile attacks, such as Mirai, have made use of unsecured routers and other unprotected IoT devices to wreak havoc, and known vulnerabilities are growing.

“The first IoT specific threat (including routers) was back in 2003,” says Gaffney. “Then it’s nothing until 2015, and we had five families of threats in 2016. In 2018, we classified 35 families of threats, so we’ve definitely seen a big explosion.”

These include malware, such as VPNFilter, which was thought to be sponsored by the Russian government, and is estimated to have infected more than half a million routers worldwide. Other exploits have taken advantage of Universal Plug and Play, which allows connected devices to find and join together more easily. In November 2018, more than 45,000 routers were hit by an exploit that was developed by America’s National Security Agency and then leaked to the Internet, and which relies on vulnerable implementations of this technology.

“It’s a number of things,” says Mistry. “Routers are basically small microcomputers, so anything that can infect those can target a router.”

Things like shared libraries have been vulnerable. “Most developers aren’t going to write a library from scratch, and they could be taken from a public repository. The problem then is that you need someone to be constantly validating libraries to make sure they’re patched on a regular basis.”

The longer a piece of firmware is out in the world, the more vulnerable it becomes, and some routers are still running seriously outdated versions of Linux.

But the biggest problem is that most home users just aren’t that tech savvy. A lot still use the default passwords, both for the Wi-fi network itself, and for the admin account associated with it. The Banco de Brasil scam is one of many attacks that relied on this exploit.

Some believe that setting up a new router is now too easy. “In the past you had to configure it and set passwords, now it’s just plug it in and off you go,” says Gaffney. Hron agrees. “If the device works out of the box, it usually stays in a default configuration.” Adding a few steps to the process, such as forcing people to set their own passwords, would make everybody a lot safer.

“It would make sense to disable the internet until the user goes through some set up on the device,” he argues.

Generally, routers provided by the big ISPs are now up to date when they arrive, and come with unique password details for each device. But those bought online, particularly the cheaper models, are more likely to be vulnerable, and more likely to give everyone the same password.

And that still doesn’t solve the

problem of out of date, vulnerable firmware, something that’s hardly a priority for your average internet user.

Vendors and ISPs have to bear some of the blame here too. “Very few of them until recently have had an active upgrade policy,” says Gaffney.

The researchers we spoke to believe ISPs need to find a better way of making sure people keep their router’s firmware up to date. Even when vulnerabilities are exposed, it can take months for them to actually reach users. When a hole was spotted in Mikrotik routers, for example, the company quickly rolled out a patch, but with more than two million of the company’s routers out in the wild, many remain vulnerable. One whitehat hacker has taken it upon himself to fix the problem, and has remotely patched more than 100,000 routers himself.

ISPs could be doing more to educate, for example by regular email bulletins to provide guidance and firmware updates, but that could potentially users them vulnerable to phishing scams. “I think the ISPs and vendors should make things a lot easier,” says Mistry, who suggests a tiered system where those advanced users who want more control of their set-up can have the option, but everyone else just gets updates rolled out automatically over the air. Amazon’s Echo smart speaker receives updates in this way, without notifying users beforehand, for example.

“There’s always a trade-off between ease and security,” says Gaffney – and right now, our plug-andplay routers are making life a breeze for cyber criminals. (net)

How small robots may kill the tractor and make farming efficient

AGRICULTURE has a reputation of being stuck in the past. In reality, for farmers, their workplaces are a fertile testbed for innovative technology – they were among the first to embrace commercial drone use, and autonomous vehicles that could work effectively (and safely) in confined areas of farmland.

Among the latest developments in agri-tech are small, farming robots that can improve crop yield and reduce farming’s impact on the environment.

Ben Scott-Robinson, co-founder of the Bristol-based Small Robot Company, says the costs of farming have increased in the last 30 years, even as the revenues and yields have stayed the same. Together with Sam Watson-Jones, a farmer and co-founder of the Small Robot Company, they are

attempting to change the machines farmers use. “We travelled around the UK for six months, talking to farmers about what they wanted,” Scott-Robinson explains. ”We would ask about what they were thinking about technology, what their problems were, and what their ideas were.”

At the moment, many arable farms are going out of business, as costs increase without significant changes in revenue or yields. One significant extra cost is investment in tractors. Traditional heavy tractors are key pieces of equipment for the majority of farms, but one of the side effects of such machinery is that they crush the soil and damage the environment, which causes compaction of the earth. Also, fertilisers and chemicals are sprayed across swathes of land, even though

not every plant in a single field may be the same.

The Small Robot Company found that many farmers wanted to change their methods, but didn’t have the money or the technical know-how. So, they decided to design a system of farming which worked for the plants, rather than trying to fit around the machinery.

What they eventually created, with the help of PhD students at the University of Bristol, was a “robotic workhorse” named Jack, three metres tall. Weighing 250 kilos, Jack is used as a ‘base’ robot which can be modified with booms.

Customisation of the robot allows it to complete different tasks.

The base robot Jack, which wave unveiled at WIRED Live, can be transformed into Dick and Harry.

The seeding boom, which can place

seeds in the ground at the optimal spacing and depth, is three metres

in length and makes the robot “Harry”. (net)

IBP/net

The Bristol-based Small Robot Company has created a series of agile robots for farming.

3

Denpasar Creative Food Truck successfully draws visitors

Your old router is an absolute goldmine for troublesome hackers

FOR your average internet user, a wireless router is something they plug in and then forget about – returning only to awkwardly read the Wi-Fi password off a sticker on the base, or to toggle the on switch when the internet goes down. “Most users just don’t care about their router,” says Martin Hron, a security researcher at Avast. “It’s just that thing that sits in the corner catching dust.”

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

DENPASAR - Denpasar Tourism Office in cooperation with the Denpasar Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) organized a Creative Food Truck in the Lumintang City Park Area, Denpasar, on Saturday night (Feb. 9). From late afternoon to evening, one by one of visitors crowded the stands providing a variety of food and drinks. In addition, the presentation of dancing fountains also added to the beauty of festival taking advantage of the road body as the location for this event.

IBP/kmb

It is named the Grembeng Culali or Culali Ravine. At the location, visitors can enjoy the charm of sunrise against the backdrop of mountains and lake.

Grembeng Culali, exotic place in Kintamani to enjoy sunrise

BANGLI - Not many people know if on the Culali route of Kintamani having been the traffic lane of sand-transporting trucks, there is an interesting place to enjoy the beauty of sunrise. It is named the Grembeng Culali or Culali Ravine.

At the location, visitors can enjoy the charm of sunrise against the backdrop of mountains and lake.

To get to the location is not too difficult. From the four-way intersection of Batur village, visitors must go down to the Culali line.

Less than half a kilometer away, there is signboard saying ‘Grembeng Culali.’ It is not far from a restaurant and Batur Mountain View Inn. In Grembeng Culali, there are several places provided to enjoy the beauty of the Batur caldera. Besides, there are bamboo platforms, bamboo boats and several gazebos.

I Ketut Suantika, the owner of Grembeng Culali, said the Grembeng Culali was presented to tourists wishing to enjoy nature tourism. From Grembeng Culali which has an area of about 0.40 hectare, visitors can enjoy the beautiful panoramic view of the Batur caldera, such as mountains, lake and stretches of black stone (black lava) around the Mount Batur from the morning until the afternoon.

In the morning, visitors coming

to the location can enjoy the charm of sunrise with the background of three mountains at once namely Mount Batur, Mount Abang and Mount Agung as well as Lake Batur. The landscape becomes more interesting because of the expanse of clouds covering the caldera.

“What is equally interesting is the view of the black lava which is very beautiful in the afternoon,” he explained.

He said that since it was opened a few months ago, Grembeng Culali had quite a lot of visitors. On average, there are approximately 2 to 20 people per day. To be able to enjoy the beauty of the natural panorama of Grembeng Culali, visitors are only charged an entrance fee of IDR 10,000 per person. “Most of the visitors are local people.

Visitors are usually busy during holidays, such as Galungan, Kuningan, and other holidays,” he said.

This man who is also Chief of Subak Culali said that tourism potential at Culali is actually quite large. If arranged and managed properly, it is not inferior to other places. “Like a beautiful girl, it hasn’t been touched by makeup yet,” he said.

To attract more tourist visits, Suantika admitted to continuously develop the Grembeng Culali by adding several facilities such as swings and gazebos. (kmb40)

“This activity is an idea of the Mayor I.B. Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra together with the food truck community of Denpasar City to develop creative food that serves local cuisines as a culinary tourist destination in Denpasar City,” said the Division Head of Tourism and Creative Economy Resources Development, I Wayan Hendaryana, when met during the implementation of Creative Food Truck in the Lumintang City Denpasar park area.

He said that Creative Food Truck is filled with various activities including cuisines and enlivened with an acoustic live band from Dria Raba Denpasar to present fresh entertainment to the public.

Creative Food Truck is the first time held by Bekraf Denpasar, but it will become a sustainable program to be held every month at several tourism spots in Denpasar City. “This activity is held for the

first time, but this is a sustainable program that will be held every month at different location with the theme being awaited by the community,” said Hendaryana.

In addition to filling out cool weekend holiday, the activity is also in series of the 23rd anniversary of Denpasar City. This activity will display approximately 16 of the 33 food trucks having been recorded in Denpasar City starting from 13:00 to 22:00 local time. “Of course, by holding this event, we can offer new recreational areas and attract tourists and the people wishing to spend a weekend holiday in Denpasar,” said Hendar while inviting tourists and the public to fill in weekend holiday at the creative food truck while enjoying the beauty of the water dancing fountain in Lumintang Field.

One of the food truck owners, Mang Kakul, strongly supported

the implementation of such activity.

With the support of the government including the Economic Creative Agency of Denpasar City, the food truck community now has a place to introduce street foods to the community by traveling around the tourist area of Denpasar City.

“Hopefully, this activity can continue to be held as an effort to provide space for the food truck community in Denpasar City to introduce street foods,” he explained.

A visitor, Made Rama Aditya, highly appreciated to the food truck event. The implementation of such simple activities located in crowded areas can support the existence of Lumintang City Park as a medium for recreation for the Denpasar community. “This activity is certainly very good. Hopefully, it can be organized continuously in several tourist destinations in the city of Denpasar but it does not yet have a culinary center,” he hoped.

IBP/kmb

Denpasar Tourism Office in cooperation with the Denpasar Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) organized a Creative Food Truck in the Lumintang City Park Area, Denpasar.

4

Bali News

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

International

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

International

13

Embattled Aussie PM suffers historic defeat over refugees

CANBERRA - Australia’s conservative minority government suffered a monumental political defeat Tuesday, becoming the first administration in nearly a century to lose a vote on major legislation and fuelling calls for a snap election.

The tourist attraction can now be visited by tourists, after the district government of Bangli held a pemelaspasan (inaugural) ceremony.

IBP/kmb

After being inaugurated

Penelokan and observation tower opened to visitors

BANGLI - After being completely built almost two months ago, Penelokan tourist object, Kintamani, has now begun to be opened to visitors. The tourist attraction can now be visited by tourists, after the district government of Bangli held a pemelaspasan (inaugural) ceremony on Saturday (Feb. 9). In addition to Penelokan tourist object, the district government also inaugurated the observation tower in the Suter village area, Kintamani. The tower was built as a new alternative place for tourists to enjoy panoramic views of Mount Batur and Lake Batur.

Head of the Bangli Tourism and Culture Office, Wayan Adnyana, stated on Sunday (Feb. 10) that the melaspas ceremony was held on Saturday (Feb. 9) because it is an auspicious day according to local belief. In the ceremony, the Tourism and Culture Office also handed

over the management of Penelokan and Observation Tower tourist attraction to the Batur UNESCO Global Geopark (BUGG) management agency. “But it is only informal handover first. Later the official handover will follow.

After this melaspas, there will be

another inauguration ceremony,” said Adnyana.

This informal handover is intended so that the Penelokan and Observation Tower attraction can be maintained properly together.

Adnyana added that as planned later on after being officially handed

over the Penelokan and Observation Tower attraction will be managed more professionally by the BUGG Tourism Management Agency in collaboration with Bangli Tourism and Culture Office.

“We hope that as tourist destination, it can draw more visitors.

Moreover, the current location is very representative. Underneath, there is a stage that will be used to accommodate local art or local wisdom performances regularly,” he explained.

Division Head of Promotion at

the Bangli Tourism and Culture Office, Wayan Merta, added that after the inaugural ceremony, Penelokan and Observation Tower attraction have now been ready to be promoted to tourists. His office claimed to have conveyed the matter to the Bali provincial government and central government so that they can also be helped in the matter of marketing. “Later, the official inauguration will be carried out in person by the regent marked with the signing of inscription,” concluded Merta. (kmb40)

Tabanan potentially develops turmeric durian

IBP/kmb24

Tabanan has many unique varieties of plants. One of them is turmeric durian that can be found in Pupuan area.

TABANAN - Tabanan has many unique varieties of plants. One of them is turmeric durian that can be found in Pupuan area. To confirm that this turmeric durian is a typical superior plant of Tabanan, in 2017 with the help of the Bali Institute of Agricultural Technology (BPTP), the Tabanan district government registered turmeric durian as one of the varieties of plant genetic resources (SDG) to the Center for Plant Variety Protection and Agricultural Licensing at the Ministry of Agriculture. Furthermore, in November 2018, turmeric durian was officially recognized as the origin variety for the cultivation of essential derivative varieties.

Registration of turmeric durian from Pupuan as one of the SDG plant varieties was justified by the Division Head of the Production and Horticulture Improvement at the Tabanan Agriculture Agency,

Wayan Suandra. According to him, by registering turmeric durian as a plant variety of SDG, Tabanan in the future has the potential or can develop the turmeric durian.

This means that if someone from another area wants to develop turmeric durian, then the seedlings must be taken from Tabanan.

“So, the source of this turmeric durian seedling is from Tabanan.

Of course, we are prioritizing the development for Tabanan farmers but not ruling out other regions,” he said on Sunday (Feb. 10).

Aside from being able to become a parent tree, by registering the turmeric durian as a plant variety of SDG, the turmeric durian cannot be claimed by the region or other countries. “So, this has made turmeric durian a native plant to Tabanan,” said Suadra.

As the advantages, other than

only found in Pupuan, the turmeric durian itself has sticky texture and sweet taste. Color of the fruit is also typical, namely yellow like turmeric. Another advantage is having resistance to rain. If the flowers and fruit of other durians easily fall out during rainy season, it is different from turmeric durian whose fruits and flowers do not fall out quickly despite being exposed to rain. This advantage has caused the Tabanan Agriculture Agency to register turmeric durian as a plant variety of SDG and becomes one of the native superior varieties to Tabanan.

In addition to turmeric durian, Tabanan also listed other plants, namely gonda (gooseweed), honey snakefruit of Munduk Temu and Tabah bamboo shoots. These three types of plants are still in the process of becoming a superior variety of Tabanan. (kmb24)

Despite a bruising and highly personal lobbying effort, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was defeated by MPs who insisted refugees held in offshore facilities have the right to be transferred to Australia for medical treatment.

It is the first time in decades that an Australian government has lost a vote on a substantive piece of legislation, sparking applause and cheers from observers in the parliamentary viewing gallery in Canberra.

Morrison lost his parliamentary majority last year and has been relying on crossbenchers to keep control of the lower House of Representatives.

The 75-74 vote -- which came on the first sitting day of parliament this year -- is a blow to the already embattled prime minister and raised questions about whether he can remain in office.

When the sitting government last lost a vote on substantive legislation in 1929, then prime minister Stanley Bruce immediately called an election, and lost it.

The government of prime minister Arthur Fadden lost a symbolic budget vote in 1941 and immediately resigned.

Morrison last week ruled out calling a snap election if his government was defeated over the “stupid” bill.

His coalition has to call an election by May and has been trailing the opposition centre-left Labor Party in opinion polls.

The bill was first mooted by independent MP Kerryn Phelps last year after she won the

Saeed KHAN / AFP

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison briefs media about the flooding situation in Queensland during a press conference in Sydney on February 8, 2019.

Liberal Party stronghold of Wentworth when former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was ousted in a party coup.

Since then, the government had lurched from crisis to crisis, and a disastrous showing in elections in Victoria state sparked fears

that it would also lose the national poll.

Under a harsh policy meant to deter asylum-seekers from reaching Australia by boat, Canberra sent arrivals to Nauru and Papua New Guinea for processing and barred them from resettling in Australia.

But criticism of the camps has grown amid reports of abuse, suicides and lengthy detention periods, even as the government says the policy is discouraging asylumseekers from embarking on dangerous sea voyages. (afp)

Malaysia makes record 30-tonne pangolin seizure

AFP

This undated handout photo released by Royal Malaysia Police on February 12, 2019 shows members of the Royal Malaysia police inspecting the seized boxes of pangolins scales inside a shipping container in Kota Kinabalu.

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian authorities have made a record seizure of about 30 tonnes of pangolins and their scales worth some $2 million in raids on major processing facilities, police and environmentalists said Tuesday.

The haul included about 1,800 boxes full of frozen pangolins stuffed inside three refrigerated containers, 572 more frozen pangolins in six freezers, 61 live pangolins in cages, and 361 kilogrammes (795 pounds) of pangolin scales, according to police.

The Southeast Asian nation is battling to clamp down on rampant poaching and smuggling of pangolins, the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal.

The critically endangered crea-

tures, also known as scaly anteaters, have long been targeted as their body parts are highly valued in traditional medicine in countries including China and Vietnam while their meat is considered a delicacy.

Following a tip-off, wildlife officials in Sabah state raided a factory and a warehouse on Thursday, according to a statement from local police chief Omar Mammah.

Police arrested a 35-year-old man suspected to have been in charge of the factory as part of an illegal syndicate.

The operation is believed to have been running for the past seven years, and police believe the pangolins were bought from poachers to be distributed locally.

Traffic, a Malaysia-based group that monitors wildlife smuggling around the region, said it was the “biggest such bust Malaysia has seen to date”.

“No threatened species can withstand industrial levels of extraction such as this,” Kanitha Krishnasamy, the group’s Southeast Asia director, told AFP. The seizures also shone a light on Sabah’s major role in animal trafficking -- the state on Borneo island has been implicated in smuggling cases involving over 40 tonnes of pangolins since August 2017, according to Traffic.

Malaysia regularly foils attempts to smuggle pangolins and their parts out of the country but usually on a far smaller scale. (afp)

12

International

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Bali News

International

BUSINESS

Betutu Now on Offer at SwissBelhotel Petitenget

Brexit’s toll: UK economy at weakest since financial crisis

LONDON - Mounting uncertainty over Brexit is weighing heavily on the British economy, which slowed last year to its weakest growth rate since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, official figures showed Monday.

The Office for National Statistics said that the British economy grew by a quarterly rate of only 0.2 percent during the fourth quarter, down from the 0.6 percent tick recorded in the previous three-month period. Output actually fell in the month of December, by 0.4 percent from November, though monthly data are known to be volatile.

For 2018 as a whole, the economy grew by 1.4 percent, its lowest rate since 2009, when it contracted by 4.2 percent in the wake of the global financial crisis that had brought much of the world’s banking system to its knees.

Statisticians did not directly blame Brexit for the slowdown but there is plenty of evidence showing that the uncertainties relating to the country’s departure from the European Union are weighing heavily on economic activity, particularly on business investment. In the fourth quarter, business investment fell by 1.4 percent for the fourth straight quarterly decline — the first time that has happened since the financial crisis.

With less than 50 days to go to Brexit day on March 29, firms have no idea what the country’s new trading relationship with the EU will look like, so they’re taking a safety-first approach.

Ben Brettell, senior economist at Hargreaves Lansdown, notes that business investment is “the most Brexit-sensitive element” of the British economy.

The statistics agency’s head of GDP figures, Rob Kent-Smith, said the slowdown in the last three months of the year was particularly “steep” in car manufacturing and steel production, offset by continued growth in the services sector, which makes up around 80 percent of the British economy Brexit isn’t solely to blame for the slowdown.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China and volatility in financial markets have weighed on global growth. And many of Britain’s main trading partners in Europe, such as Germany and Italy, have witnessed a slowdown.

Charms of Timpag Village Awaits You

AP Photo/Francisco Seco

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May talks to journalists after her meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019.

Britain’s Treasury chief Philip Hammond sought to paint an optimistic picture, arguing that the British economy remains “fundamentally strong” and that it is “enjoying the longest unbroken quarterly growth streak” among the Group of Seven industrialized countries.

But Britain is generally faring worse, and expected to fare worse over the coming year, than most developed economies — and the main reason is Brexit.

“There’s little doubt Brexit uncertainty is responsible for the disappointing numbers, though concerns over global trade will also have played a part,” said Brettell.

While the British economy largely held up better than expected in the immediate aftermath of the June 2016 vote to leave the European Union, firms are getting edgier as Brexit day

draws nearer. And there is no sign that the uncertainty, described as the “fog of Brexit” by the Bank of England, is going to lift anytime soon, so the economy is not expected to have improved in the first quarter of this year.

Prime Minister Theresa May is struggling to salvage the Brexit deal she agreed on with the EU late last year after it was overwhelmingly rejected by British lawmakers. She’s trying to eke out concessions from the EU, particularly on a controversial provision intended to make sure no hard border returns between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.

It’s unclear she will be able to get any concessions and fears have grown in recent weeks that Britain could crash out of the EU without a deal, a worst-case scenario that the Bank of

England has previously said could see the British economy shrink by 8 percent within months and house prices collapse by around a third.

Analysts were careful not to conclude from the fourth-quarter figures that Britain is heading for a fall in output in the first quarter of 2019, not least because British consumer spending tends to be resilient.

“Today’s data bring clear signs that Brexit uncertainty is depressing the economy, but we would not rush to conclude yet that GDP is on track to fall outright in the first quarter,” said Samuel Tombs, chief U.K. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

“Solid growth in households’ spending, thanks to low inflation and robust labor income growth, should keep GDP on a slightly rising path.” (ap)

No-deal Brexit ‘could cost 600,000 jobs worldwide’: study

A British departure from the European Union without a deal could put 600,000 jobs around the world at risk, with Germany the hardest hit, a study published Monday found. Researchers at the IWH institute in Halle, eastern Germany, examined what would happen if UK imports from the remaining EU

fell 25 percent after Brexit.

They reckoned that some 103,000 jobs would be under threat in Europe’s largest economy Germany and 50,000 in France.

Being affected by Brexit would not necessarily mean workers were laid off, the economists noted.

“Given the lack of skilled labour

in many advanced economies, firms could also try to keep staff on by cutting hours or opening new markets,” they said.

It is so far uncertain whether Britain will strike a deal with the EU before its legally-binding exit date of March 29, after a huge majority of lawmakers last month

voted down Prime Minister Theresa May’s painstakingly-negotiated accord with Brussels.

A “hard” departure without a deal would see tariffs imposed at the border, “tangling up global supply chains,” study co-author Oliver Holtemoeller said in a statement.

The economists focused only on

trade in goods and services, leaving out other possible economic impacts of Brexit like changes to investment flows.

They noted that “since markets are linked up across the globe, suppliers based outside the European Union are also affected” by a nodeal Brexit. (afp)

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Put this village in your itinerary! Timpag village in Kerambitan subdistrict has enormous natural potential. The environmental conditions are still natural and have not been touched much by the development of tourist accommodation. Additionally, the local community has a strong commitment to maintain the agricultural sector. This commitment is stated in the pararem or appendix to customary bylaw.

Armed with such potential, the Kerambitan subdistrict government seeks to develop the potential of the Timpag village.

The development begins with the UMaurip program in which there is owl preservation, black pig culinary delight and jogging tracks launched in 2018. Right now, the potential of Timpag village is being developed with the synergy of other tourist destinations having been managed by communities such as Undagi Farmers village posing religious tourist destination consisting of seven-eyed showers at Undagi hamlet, D’Bendungan destination evoking the management of Telaga Tunjung dam by providing a selfie spot with a view of the dam and panoramic background of Mount Batukaru as well as typical Kerambitan culinary delight. Do not to forget, there is river tubing attraction utilizing the irrigation canals sourcing directly from Telaga Tunjung water.

“We are trying to synergize the four tourist destinations known as the nature of Timpag, so that in the future there will be no

potential of competition,” said Kerambitan sub-district head Gede Sukanada on Sunday (Jan. 13) on the sidelines of the village charity event taking place at Subak Celem Manik, Timpag village.

According to him, the fundraising activity for the development of this village is the fifth pre-event of the Kerambitan Festival to be held next October. “This bazaar activity offers black pig menu and jukut gonda or gooseweed vegetable in cooperation with tourism players with the aim of getting input and directions for the development of the Timpag nature,” he said.

The activities are planned to introduce Timpag’s nature that will be held regularly with rotating locations among the four local tourist destinations. “We in the sub-district government are only tasked to design, so that there is single entity and help promote and package their activities. Later on, the Timpag nature will be handled by a management body formed by the village official. Of course, it is equipped with regulations so that it will not overlap later,” he

explained.

With the synergy of Timpag natural tourism, in the future tourists having been scattered so far can be more focused. In other words, they are not only focused on one destination, but organized into a tour package. Moreover, lately the nature of Timpag has begun to be visited by travelers, ranging from local tourists to foreign tourists.

Sukanada further explained, that the village potential is strong and runs as expected, then it will be proposed to become a tourism village. A tourism village must be pioneered based on village potential readiness that strengthens local community resources and systems or regulations. This is very important, considering that a number of other tourism villages have not been maximally managed.

“For this reason, I want Timpag to strengthen the potential and the system, then it is proposed to become a tourism village. We target to submit it in 2020 target after everything is ready,” he stressed. (kmb)

Have you ever tasted the enjoyment of betutu? This menu is a side dish made from whole chicken processed with distinctive spices. This traditional menu is very popular in all districts of Bali. Now, it even becomes a favorite menu at hotels and restaurants. In the past, betutu was only used as a dish for religious ceremonies and traditional ceremonies, but now many dishes are widely on sale. Its consumers are not only Balinese, but also foreign guests.

Betutu is also a prominent menu of Swiss-Belhotel Petitenget. Aside from being delicious, the betutu served at this hotel is also accompanied with a beautiful arrangement. Traditional nuance is felt very strong, but the preparation is still adjusted to the customer’s appetite. So, betutu which is famous for the aroma of local complete spices can also be enjoyed by foreign tourists.

In the matters of preparation, Made Ritawan, who is the chef at Swiss-Belhotel Petitenget, has different tips, so the meat becomes tenderer and has a soft texture. The whole meat is easily separated from the bone, and the flavor feels really yummy.

“Betutu is the flagship menu at Swiss-Belhotel Petitenget, other than the menus like fried rice, paon shrimp sauce and others,” said Tiana, Executive Secretary & Public Relations, Wednesday (Feb. 6).

Titiana added that betutu chicken menu is ordered by many foreign guests. They feel happy because it tastes good and the marinade is adapted to their appetite so the taste is very strong.

“Betutu is a favorite menu, so there are many restaurants that

5

sell it. Betutu here is no less delicious than the others. At this hotel, it has even a distinctive taste,” said Tiana.

In the presentation, betutu is complemented with other menus such as lawar, gravy, fresh vegetables, peanuts, raw condiment and rice. All menus are served on banana leaves and wooden plates, so they look natural. Similarly, the menu of chili, lawar and peanuts uses takir (bowl-like container made of banana leaves).

Similarly, the soup uses wooden bowl that is eco-friendly.

Chef Made Ritawan said, for this menu, chicken meat is chosen specifically on the chest and thighs. At first, the chicken is cleansed and given pepper and salt and then take side for 5 minutes. Chicken meat is then boiled to make it softer. After that, the meat is grilled to make it feel distinctive and have color in serving.

The ingredient needed to make betutu chicken is a chicken whose inside part has been cleaned, complete spices, aromatic (wewangenan) spice, salt, and coconut oil. Complete spice is a typical Balinese spice consisting of shallot, aromatic ginger, galangal, garlic, turmeric, galingale, ginger, cayenne pepper, lemongrass, brown sugar, shrimp paste, lime leaves, bay leaves, and coconut oil.

Meanwhile, aromatic spice consists of black pepper, white pepper, cloves, nutmeg, Javanese chili, coriander, candlenut, snowbell, calamus, Casumunar ginger and kaffir lime skin.

The process of making a betutu chicken begins with smoothing the complete and aromatic spice as well as sautéing them until smelling fragrant. (kmb)

6

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

W

International

RLD

No word from Haiti’s president as fear paralyzes capital

PORT AU PRINCE - Sporadic gunfire echoed through the streets of Port-au-Prince on Monday as the government remained silent in the face of protests that have paralyzed the Haitian capital and triggered rising violence.

The normally traffic-clogged streets were largely empty as schools, shops and municipal offices were shuttered for fear of more violence that has already left several people dead and an air of uncertainty hanging over the government of President Jovenel Moise.

Barricades have sprung up in some areas of the capital and other cities, as protesters have taken to the streets demanding the president step down over reports of mismanagement and possible embezzlement of development funds in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

After a quiet but tense start to the

day, hundreds of youths from the capital’s poorer quarters marched toward Petionville, the wealthiest neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, throwing stones at houses until police opened fire with tear gas rounds to break up the march.

Police also thwarted an attempt to attack a bank during the dem-

onstration, dragging away several blood-stained suspects and making five arrests.

Since the opposition organized widespread demonstrations last week to mark two years of Moise’s presidency, smaller and more spontaneous protests have broken out in key urban centers.

In some places, young men have erected barricades and seized bypassers for ransom, while vehicles have been torched, and shops dam-

HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP

Haitian police patrol the streets as they try to break up a demonstration on the fifth day of protests in Port-au-Prince, February 11, 2019, against Haitian President Jovenel Moise and the misuse of Petrocaribe funds.

Desperate...

From page 1

Her hands were “covered with a fungal infection, the skin was discolored,” she said, adding that she felt guilty “contributing to evil” and asked God for forgiveness.

- ‘We’re desperate’ -

Endy Fernandez, 36, sold milk products and worked as a builder in Venezuela before taking to the road in 2017, crossing the border and walking 16 hours to reach

Pacelli.

“I didn’t know what the (coca) plant looked like, what color it was or how big it was,” he said.

He climbed to the top of a mountain where he was given his equipment, a bag to strap to his waist and strips of cloth to protect his hands.

Missing their families back home and suffering physically at work, disdain for Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is growing among the plantation workers.

Although those who shared

their experiences said they previously supported Maduro’s socialist predecessor Hugo Chavez, they now want Maduro out. “We wouldn’t have needed to leave the country, leave behind family, if they hadn’t made us broke,” said Fernandez.

“We’re desperate... for something to happen or for there to be a coup d’etat.”

- Exile or death -

Pacelli, a small town of just 3,200 inhabitants, has already

seen its numbers swelled by 1,000 Venezuelans since 2016.

The majority end up working in plantations in place of locals, said community leader Gerson Villamizar.

“On the whole, Venezuelans work and send home money,” he said. “So the money doesn’t circulate (here) and that has a negative impact, especially for shopkeepers.”

Those who come have to abide by strict rules that ban prostitution, drug consumption or car-

aged and looted, creating a climate of fear and intimidation alongside the opposition protests.

Taking advantage of the chaos, there was some looting Monday -- but traders still felt anger only toward the president.

“What we are enduring today is because of Jovenel (Moise)... they are hungry,” said Joseph, whose stock of fish was totally depleted, of those who stole his goods.

“By selling what they took from me, they are going to be able to relieve their families a bit.”

“We don’t have good leaders: if there was work in the country, this would never have happened,” he said.

Later on, private sector associations deplored what they described as “legitimate popular anger that is unfortunately wrongly directed to companies that create jobs,” and called for political dialogue.

Meanwhile, Catholic bishops appealed to the “civic conscience of the different parties” to make a “patriotic decision.”

Demonstrators are demanding Moise quits over a scandal centering on the Petrocaribe fund, under which Venezuela supplied Haiti and other Caribbean and Central American countries with oil at cut-rate prices and on easy credit terms for years.

Investigations have shown that nearly $2 billion from the program were misused.

A report released in January on the misuse of the money also named a company that was then headed

by Moise as a beneficiary of funds from a road construction project that never had a signed contract.

During his election campaign, Moise promised “food on every plate and money in every pocket,” yet most Haitians still struggle to make ends meet and face inflation that has risen 15 percent since his election. (afp)

rying weapons. They also need a letter of recommendation from a Colombian to work, even in the plantations.

Around 100 Venezuelans have been expelled for crimes including theft, attempted murder and drug use.

Villamizar says that was to “save their lives” otherwise the drug traffickers would have killed them. But despite it all, Fernandez says: “we’re happy to have found this.” “Otherwise, what would we do?” (afp)

International

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

INDONESIAN INDONESIAN

11

ELECTION 2019

AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana

In this Oct. 5, 2017, photo, officers lead a company of soldiers during a parade commemorating the anniversary of Indonesian Military in Cilegon, Banten, Indonesia. The Indonesian government is planning to post some of the dozens of underemployed generals into high-ranking civilian roles, alarming rights groups who see it as a threat to the country’s young democracy.

Indonesia’s jobs for generals plan alarms rights groups

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government is planning to post some of the dozens of underemployed generals into highranking civilian roles, alarming rights groups who see it as a threat to the country’s young democracy.

Indonesia’s military has at least 150 generals without defined positions, partly due to a rise in the retirement age, and President Joko Widodo is planning a regulation to create 60 new posts for them, including in the civilian bureaucracy.

Al Araf, the director of Indonesian rights group Imparsial, said Thursday the plan is inconsistent

with the spirit of reforms that followed the end of dictator Suharto’s rule in 1998 and returned the military to barracks.

Under Suharto, seats in the legislature were reserved for the military and officers occupied thousands of civilian roles from district chiefs to Cabinet ministers.

“The move has the potential to

restore the authoritarian system,” Araf said.

Currently, active military officers can only serve in ministries or institutions related to state security and defense under a law governing the military that was enacted in 2004.

Widodo discussed a restructuring of the armed forces last month with military and police leaders and said creating 60 new posts in government for one, two and threestar generals would allow colonels to advance in the military’s ranks.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen.

Sisriadi said the restructuring does not aim to restore the “dual function” of the military that it had under Suharto.

“That concept was an old book that has been thrown away,” said Sisriadi, who goes by a single name. “It will never exist again.”

He said the military is proposing various measures to overcome its generals’ bulge, including lengthening the years or service required to reach high rank to 26 years from 24.

The military is working with the Defense Ministry and the Ministry

of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform to create a system that equips soldiers with skills for specialist careers within the military, said Sisriadi.

Military analyst Evan Laksmana at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said in a commentary that the military has no long-term plan for managing its personnel.

It has too many officer academy graduates and between 2011 and 2017 had an average of 330 surplus colonels a year, he said. (ap)

Scales of justice: Indonesia police probe snake interrogation

Indonesian authorities on Monday launched an investigation after a police force chief admitted an officer wrapped a live snake around a terrified suspect in a bid to force a confession.

Shocking viral footage emerged online showing an alleged pickpocket -- handcuffed and sitting on the floor barefoot -- screaming hysterically as another officer shouts abuse at a police station in restive Papua province.

“How many times have you stolen a mobile phone?” he yells

at the unidentified suspected thief, who appears to be cowering in fear.

“Only two times,” the suspect says in response.

At one stage, the officer appears to try to shove the snake into the man’s mouth, while others are heard laughing in the background during the undated video.

“An officer is now being questioned by Papua police internal affairs division,” Papua police spokesman Ahmad Mustofa Kamal told AFP Monday.

He did not identify the officer

or say if others present would be investigated.

Tonny Ananda Swadaya, the police chief in Jayawijaya district, where the incident took place, apologised in a statement Sunday.

But he added that the suspect was not in physical danger from the snake.

“The snake was tame and not poisonous or dangerous and the incident was their own idea so they could get admission of guilt as quick as possible,” Swadaya said in a statement. “We will work

more professionally in the future,” he added.

Police did not say what kind of snake was used. Indonesian security forces have been repeatedly accused of using excessive force and committing rights abuses against Papua’s ethnic Melanesian population including extrajudicial killings of activists and peaceful protestors.

Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman said the video confirmed what some jailed Papuan activists have reported in the past.

“They have long known that snakes are being used by police and the military (in interrogations),” she said. “So they’re not surprised” by the video.

Papua, one of Indonesia’s poorest region, has seen several spasms of violence over the past year, including in December when at least 16 employees of a state-owned company -- who were building bridges in a major infrastructure push for the impoverished region -- were killed by separatist rebels.

10

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Destination

International

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

International

Badminton’s Lee delays cancer comeback until April

KUALA LUMPUR - Badminton great Lee Chong Wei aims to make his comeback in April at the Malaysia Open after a cancer battle, a month later than he originally hoped, an official confirmed Tuesday.

Dharma Durga Kutri Hill Temple GIANYAR - There are several Pura located north of Blahbatuh and near the village of Sema Buang you will find this temple. Dharma Durga Kutri Hill Temple holds one of the finest odalan (celebration of the temple’s founding) in the area. Pura Kedarman is diagonally opposite a smaller Pura in the village of Kutri.

This is an intriguing temple, and once you enter the lower level through the Candi Bentar, or entrance gateway, there are several pavilions and an interesting array of smaller statues whose actual dating the pendeta was unaware. At the rear, you will notice a very steep and slippy stone stairway leading up through a Banyan tree forest.

This stairway leads to a sanctuary up on the hill. It is the sanctuary on the top of the hill that is the treasure of Dharma Durga Kutri Hill Temple. A statue of King Airlagga’s mother Gunapriadarmapatni Mahendradatta, can be found in a small shelter. The statue is in the shape of a six-arm goddess of death, a Durga, slaying a bull possessed by a demon, It is interesting to note the surrounding flames carved into the statue, and the ‘weapons’ of supernatural powers.

Those being a shield and spear, bow and arrows, and a flaming circular object believed to be a disc.

Mahendradatta ruled in Bali until 1006 AD. Either side of the statue of Mahendradatta, there are Linga’s, several small flat stones with faded inscriptions, and a small statue of Ganesha. (IBP/net)

The three-time Olympic silver medallist and former world number has been on the sidelines since July last year when he was diagnosed with early-stage nose cancer.

The Malaysian star underwent a gruelling programme of specialist treatment in Taiwan but pledged not to retire and resumed training last month. The 36-year-old had previously said he wanted to make a return to competitive play at the All England Open in March.

But on Monday Lee told local media he was targeting a return to action on home soil at the Malaysia Open, which he has won 12 times, from April 2 to 7.

“I have got another appointment with my doctor in Taiwan next month. Once I get the green light from him, then I will make a full comeback, hopefully at the Malaysia Open,” he told the New Straits Times newspaper.

“It isn’t time to make a full come-

back yet, I have to do it slowly in stages after consulting my doctor.”

Badminton Association of Malaysia general manager Michelle Chai confirmed to AFP that Lee planned to come back in April.

Lee still hopes to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics but may face a tough fight to qualify against rising Malaysian stars. Since he stopped playing, he has slipped to 30 in the world rankings, behind two Malaysian players, Lee Zii Jia and Liew Daren. A country can send a maximum of two players to complete in the Games, provided they are both ranked in the world’s top 16.

“It is only fair for the best players to qualify for the Olympics,” said Lee, who has played in four previous editions of the Games.

“Zii Jia and Daren have not played in the Olympics, so it’s anybody’s game. Everyone has a chance of qualifying, we shouldn’t underestimate anybody.” (afp)

World number one Osaka in shock split with coach

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Lee Chong Wei

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In this file photo taken on January 26, 2019, Japan’s Naomi Osaka reacts after a point against Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova during the women’s singles final on day 13 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne.

TOKYO - World tennis number one Naomi Osaka has split from her coach Sascha Bajin just 17 days after completing back-toback Grand Slam victories at the Australian Open.

“Hey everyone, I will no longer be working together with Sascha.

I thank him for his work and wish him all the best in the future,” the 21-year-old Japanese tweeted in a shock announcement.

Bajin, a former hitting partner to Serena Williams, responded: “Thank you Naomi. I wish you nothing but the best as well. What a ride that was. Thank you for letting me be part of this.”

Osaka, who became the first Asian to hold the top ranking after beating Czech Petra Kvitova in the Melbourne final on January 26, had worked with the German for just over a year.

No reason was given for the surprise decision to part ways, but Japanese media cited Osaka’s management company IMG in reporting that there had been a breakdown in the player’s relationship with the coach since the start of the year.

According to Japan’s Nikkan

Sports, some practice sessions with Bajin at the Australian Open lasted just 10 minutes and she sometimes hit without him being present.

Osaka, who is scheduled to compete in Dubai next week, began sounding out potential replacements late last year, local media reported.

The Japanese player captured her first Grand Slam crown by stunning Williams at last year’s US Open in a final remembered as much for the American’s astonishing rant at the chair umpire following a coaching violation.

Based in the United States, Osaka linked up with Bajin in late 2017 and enjoyed a breakthrough year, shooting from 72 in the world to the top of the women’s rankings.

- Disbelief During that period she won the prestigious Indian Wells tournament before scooping her first major in New York, while Bajin was named WTA coach of the year.

Osaka’s Twitter feed lit up in response to her announcement, with several memes expressing widespread disbelief -- including

a shrugging Barack Obama, a confused Joey from American sitcom “Friends” and a Minions character screaming “WHAAAAT?” Osaka, who grew up in the US and speaks little Japanese, melted hearts when she fought back tears after her emotional US Open win over her idol Williams as booing echoed around the stadium.

She won more fans with a nailbiting 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 win over Kvitova in the Australian Open final, after which Osaka sobbed tears of joy as the jeers were replaced by cheers.

Former greats Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have all heaped praise on the new darling of women’s tennis.

“Winning back-to-back Grand Slam tournaments is a rare and special achievement, and I’m thrilled these results have propelled Naomi to the top of the women’s game,” said Evert, the first ever WTA world number one.

“Her exciting brand of tennis, coupled with the dignity she displays on and off court, is a winning combination that tennis fans really embrace.” (afp)

8

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

9

Newcastle denied Solari’s fledglings breathe life into Real Madrid as Ajax lie in wait as Dubravka howler rescues Wolves

Mauricio Pochettino faces a defining moment in his Tottenham reign as the in-demand Argentine tries to keep his bid for a first major prize alive against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

Pochettino has taken to defending his failure to win silverware in almost five years at Tottenham by insisting he values qualification for Europe’s elite club competition more highly than success in the domestic cups.

But for all of Pochettino’s protestations that reaching the Champions League is his primary goal, that claim rings a little hollow when they never make it to the business end of the tournament.

Tottenham have never been past the last 16 of either the Champions League or the Europa League since Pochettino arrived from Southampton in May 2014.

Now Bundesliga leaders Dortmund, who visit Wembley for the Champions League last16 first leg on Wednesday, stand between Pochettino and his first European quarter-final in what could his last season with the north London club.

Pochettino, yet to win a trophy in his managerial career, has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester United at the end of the season.

If that mooted deal may now be less of a sure thing given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s remarkable impact as interim boss at Old Trafford, there is little doubt Pochettino will still be a man in demand, with Real Madrid also believed to be interested in his services.

D e r i d e d a s s e r i a l u n d e rachievers when they struggled to break into the Premier League’s top four, Pochettino has made To t t e n h a m i n t o C h a m p i o n s League mainstays capable of ruffling the feathers of Europe’s aristocracy.

“We feel so proud and with all the circumstances the team is doing fantastically, the performance of the squad is unbelievable,” Pochettino said.

“We are showing great character and very good quality, fighting against big sides and being in a position that’s very close to the top. “We hope to keep going in the same direction, to fight for big things.”

But for all their undoubted growth in the Pochettino era, there remains a nagging feeling of unfulfilled potential about Tottenham, who have won only three cups in the past 28 years.

Failure to land a big prize with the generation of Tottenham stars he has cultivated so astutely, including Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min, would be considered a missed opportunity.

- Rollercoaster ride -

Tottenham have finished in the Premier League’s top three for the past three seasons and they retain an outside chance of winning the title this campaign.

But their poor record in domestic cups under Pochettino is a significant blemish and Tottenham’s European exploits have been equally confounding.

Pochettino’s first season featured a tame Europa League last-32 defeat against Fiorentina and the following year they were outclassed by Dortmund in the last 16 of the same competition.

His maiden voyage in the Champions League was even

more rocky as Tottenham failed to qualify from the group stage.

Finally hitting their stride last season, Spurs enjoyed a memorable 3-1 win over European champions Real Madrid in the group stage and they also drew in Madrid and twice beat Dortmund.

But as the pressure mounted Tottenham melted, blowing the lead in the last-16 second leg against Juventus as two secondhalf goals sent them crashing out.

Vexed by mounting criticism following recent exits from the FA and League Cups, Pochettino said chairman Daniel Levy told him his brief was to finish in the top four while the club build their long-delayed stadium.

Although S p u r s look set f o r another top-four finish, it would still be a source of angst among Tottenham fans if Pochettino departs without lifting a single trophy. (afp)

Tottenham Hotspur’s South Korean striker Son Heung-Min celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium in London, on February 10, 2019. Tottenham won the match 3-1.

Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka damaged his side’s bid to avoid relegation for the second successive match as his late howler gifted Wolves a 1-1 draw on Monday.

Rafael Benitez’s side were seconds away from a valuable victory after Isaac Hayden’s first goal since 2017 put them ahead in the second half at Molineux.

Hayden’s goal had come via a weak attempted save from Wolves keeper Rui Patricio.

But it was Dubravka’s clanger at the other end that stole the headlines when the Slovakian allowed a cross to slip through his grasp as Willy Boly headed home deep into stoppage-time.

Dubravka will be public enemy No.1 on Tyneside after his latest gaffe, which came just days after he let Son Heung-min’s shot squirm through his legs to give Tottenham a late winner.

With controversial Newcastle owner Mike Ashley watching from the stands, it was a bitter pill to swallow for Benitez, who refused to protect Dubravka when asked about the equaliser.

“We could do better. These kind of balls you can do a little bit better, punch the ball and it’s finished,” he said.

Asked if he thought Boly had pushed his keeper, Benitez added: “It was not very clear watching the replay. Still, it’s something we have to defend better. He (Dubravka) has to be strong enough.

“I was not happy with some decisions, but overall I think the referee was fine. You cannot complain about that.”

Newcastle are now only one point above the relegation zone when they would have been three points clear but for D u bravka.

Back from a warm-weather break for a training camp in Marbella, seventh placed Wolves looked like they were still on the beach when Newcastle’s Salomon Rondon was granted too much space for a low shot away that

forced Patricio into action.

Wolves eventually hit their stride and made a vigorous appeal for a penalty when Christian Atsu challenged Raul Jimenez, only for referee Graham Scott to wave play on, with replays suggesting he made the right decision.

Jimenez needed just one goal to become just the second Mexican player to reach double figures in a Premier League campaign after Javier Hernandez.

He was close to making that milestone when he cut in from the left and unleashed a powerful strike that Dubravka pushed away.

Sprawling to keep out Jonny’s effort soon after, Dubravka was doing his best to redeem himself after his mistake against Tottenham. Against the run of play, Newcastle snatched the lead in the 56th minute.

Hayden was played in by Fabian Schar, but his shot should have been saved by Patricio, who was beaten at his near post after weakly palming the ball into the net.

Wolves tried to mount an immediate response and Diogo Jota’s low strike was well saved by Dubravka, who also kept out Leander Dendoncker’s header soon after.

Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almiron came on for his Newcastle debut in the 72nd minute following his club record £20 million from Atlanta United last month.

And it seemed Wolves’ pressure would be in vain, until Dubravka ended up as the villain yet again in the 95th minute.

Adama Traore’s high cross hung in the air for an age, but Dubravka reacted hesitantly, allowing the ball to fall through his arms and hit Boly in the face before rolling into the net for a farcical equaliser. (afp) Newcastle United’s Slovakian goalkeeper Martin Dubravka takes a goal kick during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium in London, on February 2, 2019.

Real Madrid against Ajax would typically be a clash of stars against prodigies but when they face each other in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday, the difference will be harder to distinguish.

Ajax will have their latest crop of young gems at the Johan Cruyff Arena, where Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt will attempt to live up to already-swelling reputations while the likes of Donny van de Beek, Andre Onana and Kasper Dolberg could also enhance theirs.

The surprise is less that Ajax’s line-up will be sprinkled with emerging talents than the expectation Madrid’s will be too.

Gareth Bale aside, the galacticos are gone, replaced by a handful of prospects trying to forge their own way through, only at the biggest and most demanding club in the world.

The shift was not so much initiated by the current coach Santiago Solari, whose predecessors Zinedine Zidane and Julen Lopetegui both used youth when they had to, primarily to rest key players or remind them their place was not guaranteed.

But in the biggest games, Zidane and Lopetegui were drawn to experience, while Solari has made youth first choice since being tasked with rejuvenating his team in November.

Vinicius Junior has had less time than Ajax’s De Jong, with only six starts in La Liga and one in the Champions League, but his impact has been arguably just as dramatic, the hype around the Brazilian already comparable.

Signed last summer for 45 million euros, Vinicius was supposed to spend his debut season settling in with the reserve side, a strategy adhered to, perhaps too rigidly, by Lopetegui.

“He’s very young and has just arrived in Europe,” Lopetegui said. “He’s very keen to learn and we’ve got to give him the time to settle that every player needs.”

Solari, in charge of Real Madrid B at the time, was the coach that received him, witnessing firsthand as the 18-year-old scored twice against Atletico B, curled in a free-kick against Unionistas and equalised against Celta Vigo B. Vinicius was raw but when Lopetegui was sacked, Solari had greater legitimacy to promote him. He had

faith too. Solari gave Vinicius 90 minutes in his first match in charge, more than Lopetegui had in all 14 of his.

Almost four months on, Vinicius has 22 appearances for the first team, the latest pair against Barcelona at the Camp Nou and Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano. In both, he was Madrid’s greatest threat, to the extent that even Bale’s starting spot has been questioned.

“His adaptation has been very fast,” Solari said. “He is 18 and he has adapted to a new country, a new culture, a different type of football. He has shown his talent but we have to take care of him.”

Vinicius is the poster boy of Solari’s meritocracy, an approach that puts reputation far below humility and hard work.

Among those to lose out have been Isco, who is yet to start a league game under Solari, and Marcelo, whose form deteriorated at the start of the year. Casemiro has also been relegated to the bench.

Among the fresh faces to come in have been Sergio Reguilon at

left back, the Spanish 22-year-old with a wand of a left foot, Marcos Llorente in defensive midfield, and Dani Ceballos, who could make the transition after Luka Modric slightly easier to bear.

Together, Vinicius, Reguilon, Llorente and Ceballos have played 64 games since Solari was appointed. “They are the future of Real Madrid,” Solari said. “Therefore, they have to be part of the present.”

But the present is now a strenuous few weeks when Madrid’s season could be defined by matches against the best opponents, both in La Liga and Europe.

Jorge Valdano who, like Solari, played for Real Madrid, coached the youth side and then managed first team, said last month that youngsters should ideally be introduced gradually, allowed to bed in while more experienced players shoulder the responsibility.

Solari has had to fast-track his fledglings and so far that faith has been rewarded. Ajax, and the Champions League knock-out stages, is the next test. (afp)

GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP

Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior (R) celebrates his goal with Real Madrid’s Spanish midfielder Daniel Ceballos during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF against Club Deportivo Alaves at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on February 3, 2019.

8

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

9

Newcastle denied Solari’s fledglings breathe life into Real Madrid as Ajax lie in wait as Dubravka howler rescues Wolves

Mauricio Pochettino faces a defining moment in his Tottenham reign as the in-demand Argentine tries to keep his bid for a first major prize alive against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

Pochettino has taken to defending his failure to win silverware in almost five years at Tottenham by insisting he values qualification for Europe’s elite club competition more highly than success in the domestic cups.

But for all of Pochettino’s protestations that reaching the Champions League is his primary goal, that claim rings a little hollow when they never make it to the business end of the tournament.

Tottenham have never been past the last 16 of either the Champions League or the Europa League since Pochettino arrived from Southampton in May 2014.

Now Bundesliga leaders Dortmund, who visit Wembley for the Champions League last16 first leg on Wednesday, stand between Pochettino and his first European quarter-final in what could his last season with the north London club.

Pochettino, yet to win a trophy in his managerial career, has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester United at the end of the season.

If that mooted deal may now be less of a sure thing given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s remarkable impact as interim boss at Old Trafford, there is little doubt Pochettino will still be a man in demand, with Real Madrid also believed to be interested in his services.

D e r i d e d a s s e r i a l u n d e rachievers when they struggled to break into the Premier League’s top four, Pochettino has made To t t e n h a m i n t o C h a m p i o n s League mainstays capable of ruffling the feathers of Europe’s aristocracy.

“We feel so proud and with all the circumstances the team is doing fantastically, the performance of the squad is unbelievable,” Pochettino said.

“We are showing great character and very good quality, fighting against big sides and being in a position that’s very close to the top. “We hope to keep going in the same direction, to fight for big things.”

But for all their undoubted growth in the Pochettino era, there remains a nagging feeling of unfulfilled potential about Tottenham, who have won only three cups in the past 28 years.

Failure to land a big prize with the generation of Tottenham stars he has cultivated so astutely, including Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min, would be considered a missed opportunity.

- Rollercoaster ride -

Tottenham have finished in the Premier League’s top three for the past three seasons and they retain an outside chance of winning the title this campaign.

But their poor record in domestic cups under Pochettino is a significant blemish and Tottenham’s European exploits have been equally confounding.

Pochettino’s first season featured a tame Europa League last-32 defeat against Fiorentina and the following year they were outclassed by Dortmund in the last 16 of the same competition.

His maiden voyage in the Champions League was even

more rocky as Tottenham failed to qualify from the group stage.

Finally hitting their stride last season, Spurs enjoyed a memorable 3-1 win over European champions Real Madrid in the group stage and they also drew in Madrid and twice beat Dortmund.

But as the pressure mounted Tottenham melted, blowing the lead in the last-16 second leg against Juventus as two secondhalf goals sent them crashing out.

Vexed by mounting criticism following recent exits from the FA and League Cups, Pochettino said chairman Daniel Levy told him his brief was to finish in the top four while the club build their long-delayed stadium.

Although S p u r s look set f o r another top-four finish, it would still be a source of angst among Tottenham fans if Pochettino departs without lifting a single trophy. (afp)

Tottenham Hotspur’s South Korean striker Son Heung-Min celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium in London, on February 10, 2019. Tottenham won the match 3-1.

Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka damaged his side’s bid to avoid relegation for the second successive match as his late howler gifted Wolves a 1-1 draw on Monday.

Rafael Benitez’s side were seconds away from a valuable victory after Isaac Hayden’s first goal since 2017 put them ahead in the second half at Molineux.

Hayden’s goal had come via a weak attempted save from Wolves keeper Rui Patricio.

But it was Dubravka’s clanger at the other end that stole the headlines when the Slovakian allowed a cross to slip through his grasp as Willy Boly headed home deep into stoppage-time.

Dubravka will be public enemy No.1 on Tyneside after his latest gaffe, which came just days after he let Son Heung-min’s shot squirm through his legs to give Tottenham a late winner.

With controversial Newcastle owner Mike Ashley watching from the stands, it was a bitter pill to swallow for Benitez, who refused to protect Dubravka when asked about the equaliser.

“We could do better. These kind of balls you can do a little bit better, punch the ball and it’s finished,” he said.

Asked if he thought Boly had pushed his keeper, Benitez added: “It was not very clear watching the replay. Still, it’s something we have to defend better. He (Dubravka) has to be strong enough.

“I was not happy with some decisions, but overall I think the referee was fine. You cannot complain about that.”

Newcastle are now only one point above the relegation zone when they would have been three points clear but for D u bravka.

Back from a warm-weather break for a training camp in Marbella, seventh placed Wolves looked like they were still on the beach when Newcastle’s Salomon Rondon was granted too much space for a low shot away that

forced Patricio into action.

Wolves eventually hit their stride and made a vigorous appeal for a penalty when Christian Atsu challenged Raul Jimenez, only for referee Graham Scott to wave play on, with replays suggesting he made the right decision.

Jimenez needed just one goal to become just the second Mexican player to reach double figures in a Premier League campaign after Javier Hernandez.

He was close to making that milestone when he cut in from the left and unleashed a powerful strike that Dubravka pushed away.

Sprawling to keep out Jonny’s effort soon after, Dubravka was doing his best to redeem himself after his mistake against Tottenham. Against the run of play, Newcastle snatched the lead in the 56th minute.

Hayden was played in by Fabian Schar, but his shot should have been saved by Patricio, who was beaten at his near post after weakly palming the ball into the net.

Wolves tried to mount an immediate response and Diogo Jota’s low strike was well saved by Dubravka, who also kept out Leander Dendoncker’s header soon after.

Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almiron came on for his Newcastle debut in the 72nd minute following his club record £20 million from Atlanta United last month.

And it seemed Wolves’ pressure would be in vain, until Dubravka ended up as the villain yet again in the 95th minute.

Adama Traore’s high cross hung in the air for an age, but Dubravka reacted hesitantly, allowing the ball to fall through his arms and hit Boly in the face before rolling into the net for a farcical equaliser. (afp) Newcastle United’s Slovakian goalkeeper Martin Dubravka takes a goal kick during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium in London, on February 2, 2019.

Real Madrid against Ajax would typically be a clash of stars against prodigies but when they face each other in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday, the difference will be harder to distinguish.

Ajax will have their latest crop of young gems at the Johan Cruyff Arena, where Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt will attempt to live up to already-swelling reputations while the likes of Donny van de Beek, Andre Onana and Kasper Dolberg could also enhance theirs.

The surprise is less that Ajax’s line-up will be sprinkled with emerging talents than the expectation Madrid’s will be too.

Gareth Bale aside, the galacticos are gone, replaced by a handful of prospects trying to forge their own way through, only at the biggest and most demanding club in the world.

The shift was not so much initiated by the current coach Santiago Solari, whose predecessors Zinedine Zidane and Julen Lopetegui both used youth when they had to, primarily to rest key players or remind them their place was not guaranteed.

But in the biggest games, Zidane and Lopetegui were drawn to experience, while Solari has made youth first choice since being tasked with rejuvenating his team in November.

Vinicius Junior has had less time than Ajax’s De Jong, with only six starts in La Liga and one in the Champions League, but his impact has been arguably just as dramatic, the hype around the Brazilian already comparable.

Signed last summer for 45 million euros, Vinicius was supposed to spend his debut season settling in with the reserve side, a strategy adhered to, perhaps too rigidly, by Lopetegui.

“He’s very young and has just arrived in Europe,” Lopetegui said. “He’s very keen to learn and we’ve got to give him the time to settle that every player needs.”

Solari, in charge of Real Madrid B at the time, was the coach that received him, witnessing firsthand as the 18-year-old scored twice against Atletico B, curled in a free-kick against Unionistas and equalised against Celta Vigo B. Vinicius was raw but when Lopetegui was sacked, Solari had greater legitimacy to promote him. He had

faith too. Solari gave Vinicius 90 minutes in his first match in charge, more than Lopetegui had in all 14 of his.

Almost four months on, Vinicius has 22 appearances for the first team, the latest pair against Barcelona at the Camp Nou and Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano. In both, he was Madrid’s greatest threat, to the extent that even Bale’s starting spot has been questioned.

“His adaptation has been very fast,” Solari said. “He is 18 and he has adapted to a new country, a new culture, a different type of football. He has shown his talent but we have to take care of him.”

Vinicius is the poster boy of Solari’s meritocracy, an approach that puts reputation far below humility and hard work.

Among those to lose out have been Isco, who is yet to start a league game under Solari, and Marcelo, whose form deteriorated at the start of the year. Casemiro has also been relegated to the bench.

Among the fresh faces to come in have been Sergio Reguilon at

left back, the Spanish 22-year-old with a wand of a left foot, Marcos Llorente in defensive midfield, and Dani Ceballos, who could make the transition after Luka Modric slightly easier to bear.

Together, Vinicius, Reguilon, Llorente and Ceballos have played 64 games since Solari was appointed. “They are the future of Real Madrid,” Solari said. “Therefore, they have to be part of the present.”

But the present is now a strenuous few weeks when Madrid’s season could be defined by matches against the best opponents, both in La Liga and Europe.

Jorge Valdano who, like Solari, played for Real Madrid, coached the youth side and then managed first team, said last month that youngsters should ideally be introduced gradually, allowed to bed in while more experienced players shoulder the responsibility.

Solari has had to fast-track his fledglings and so far that faith has been rewarded. Ajax, and the Champions League knock-out stages, is the next test. (afp)

GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP

Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior (R) celebrates his goal with Real Madrid’s Spanish midfielder Daniel Ceballos during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF against Club Deportivo Alaves at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on February 3, 2019.

10

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Destination

International

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

International

Badminton’s Lee delays cancer comeback until April

KUALA LUMPUR - Badminton great Lee Chong Wei aims to make his comeback in April at the Malaysia Open after a cancer battle, a month later than he originally hoped, an official confirmed Tuesday.

Dharma Durga Kutri Hill Temple GIANYAR - There are several Pura located north of Blahbatuh and near the village of Sema Buang you will find this temple. Dharma Durga Kutri Hill Temple holds one of the finest odalan (celebration of the temple’s founding) in the area. Pura Kedarman is diagonally opposite a smaller Pura in the village of Kutri.

This is an intriguing temple, and once you enter the lower level through the Candi Bentar, or entrance gateway, there are several pavilions and an interesting array of smaller statues whose actual dating the pendeta was unaware. At the rear, you will notice a very steep and slippy stone stairway leading up through a Banyan tree forest.

This stairway leads to a sanctuary up on the hill. It is the sanctuary on the top of the hill that is the treasure of Dharma Durga Kutri Hill Temple. A statue of King Airlagga’s mother Gunapriadarmapatni Mahendradatta, can be found in a small shelter. The statue is in the shape of a six-arm goddess of death, a Durga, slaying a bull possessed by a demon, It is interesting to note the surrounding flames carved into the statue, and the ‘weapons’ of supernatural powers.

Those being a shield and spear, bow and arrows, and a flaming circular object believed to be a disc.

Mahendradatta ruled in Bali until 1006 AD. Either side of the statue of Mahendradatta, there are Linga’s, several small flat stones with faded inscriptions, and a small statue of Ganesha. (IBP/net)

The three-time Olympic silver medallist and former world number has been on the sidelines since July last year when he was diagnosed with early-stage nose cancer.

The Malaysian star underwent a gruelling programme of specialist treatment in Taiwan but pledged not to retire and resumed training last month. The 36-year-old had previously said he wanted to make a return to competitive play at the All England Open in March.

But on Monday Lee told local media he was targeting a return to action on home soil at the Malaysia Open, which he has won 12 times, from April 2 to 7.

“I have got another appointment with my doctor in Taiwan next month. Once I get the green light from him, then I will make a full comeback, hopefully at the Malaysia Open,” he told the New Straits Times newspaper.

“It isn’t time to make a full come-

back yet, I have to do it slowly in stages after consulting my doctor.”

Badminton Association of Malaysia general manager Michelle Chai confirmed to AFP that Lee planned to come back in April.

Lee still hopes to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics but may face a tough fight to qualify against rising Malaysian stars. Since he stopped playing, he has slipped to 30 in the world rankings, behind two Malaysian players, Lee Zii Jia and Liew Daren. A country can send a maximum of two players to complete in the Games, provided they are both ranked in the world’s top 16.

“It is only fair for the best players to qualify for the Olympics,” said Lee, who has played in four previous editions of the Games.

“Zii Jia and Daren have not played in the Olympics, so it’s anybody’s game. Everyone has a chance of qualifying, we shouldn’t underestimate anybody.” (afp)

World number one Osaka in shock split with coach

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It is for Job Vacancy, Property, Selling or Buying Please contact Gugiek : 08123840500

IBP/net

Lee Chong Wei

Jewel SAMAD / AFP

In this file photo taken on January 26, 2019, Japan’s Naomi Osaka reacts after a point against Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova during the women’s singles final on day 13 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne.

TOKYO - World tennis number one Naomi Osaka has split from her coach Sascha Bajin just 17 days after completing back-toback Grand Slam victories at the Australian Open.

“Hey everyone, I will no longer be working together with Sascha.

I thank him for his work and wish him all the best in the future,” the 21-year-old Japanese tweeted in a shock announcement.

Bajin, a former hitting partner to Serena Williams, responded: “Thank you Naomi. I wish you nothing but the best as well. What a ride that was. Thank you for letting me be part of this.”

Osaka, who became the first Asian to hold the top ranking after beating Czech Petra Kvitova in the Melbourne final on January 26, had worked with the German for just over a year.

No reason was given for the surprise decision to part ways, but Japanese media cited Osaka’s management company IMG in reporting that there had been a breakdown in the player’s relationship with the coach since the start of the year.

According to Japan’s Nikkan

Sports, some practice sessions with Bajin at the Australian Open lasted just 10 minutes and she sometimes hit without him being present.

Osaka, who is scheduled to compete in Dubai next week, began sounding out potential replacements late last year, local media reported.

The Japanese player captured her first Grand Slam crown by stunning Williams at last year’s US Open in a final remembered as much for the American’s astonishing rant at the chair umpire following a coaching violation.

Based in the United States, Osaka linked up with Bajin in late 2017 and enjoyed a breakthrough year, shooting from 72 in the world to the top of the women’s rankings.

- Disbelief During that period she won the prestigious Indian Wells tournament before scooping her first major in New York, while Bajin was named WTA coach of the year.

Osaka’s Twitter feed lit up in response to her announcement, with several memes expressing widespread disbelief -- including

a shrugging Barack Obama, a confused Joey from American sitcom “Friends” and a Minions character screaming “WHAAAAT?” Osaka, who grew up in the US and speaks little Japanese, melted hearts when she fought back tears after her emotional US Open win over her idol Williams as booing echoed around the stadium.

She won more fans with a nailbiting 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 win over Kvitova in the Australian Open final, after which Osaka sobbed tears of joy as the jeers were replaced by cheers.

Former greats Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have all heaped praise on the new darling of women’s tennis.

“Winning back-to-back Grand Slam tournaments is a rare and special achievement, and I’m thrilled these results have propelled Naomi to the top of the women’s game,” said Evert, the first ever WTA world number one.

“Her exciting brand of tennis, coupled with the dignity she displays on and off court, is a winning combination that tennis fans really embrace.” (afp)

6

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

W

International

RLD

No word from Haiti’s president as fear paralyzes capital

PORT AU PRINCE - Sporadic gunfire echoed through the streets of Port-au-Prince on Monday as the government remained silent in the face of protests that have paralyzed the Haitian capital and triggered rising violence.

The normally traffic-clogged streets were largely empty as schools, shops and municipal offices were shuttered for fear of more violence that has already left several people dead and an air of uncertainty hanging over the government of President Jovenel Moise.

Barricades have sprung up in some areas of the capital and other cities, as protesters have taken to the streets demanding the president step down over reports of mismanagement and possible embezzlement of development funds in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

After a quiet but tense start to the

day, hundreds of youths from the capital’s poorer quarters marched toward Petionville, the wealthiest neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, throwing stones at houses until police opened fire with tear gas rounds to break up the march.

Police also thwarted an attempt to attack a bank during the dem-

onstration, dragging away several blood-stained suspects and making five arrests.

Since the opposition organized widespread demonstrations last week to mark two years of Moise’s presidency, smaller and more spontaneous protests have broken out in key urban centers.

In some places, young men have erected barricades and seized bypassers for ransom, while vehicles have been torched, and shops dam-

HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP

Haitian police patrol the streets as they try to break up a demonstration on the fifth day of protests in Port-au-Prince, February 11, 2019, against Haitian President Jovenel Moise and the misuse of Petrocaribe funds.

Desperate...

From page 1

Her hands were “covered with a fungal infection, the skin was discolored,” she said, adding that she felt guilty “contributing to evil” and asked God for forgiveness.

- ‘We’re desperate’ -

Endy Fernandez, 36, sold milk products and worked as a builder in Venezuela before taking to the road in 2017, crossing the border and walking 16 hours to reach

Pacelli.

“I didn’t know what the (coca) plant looked like, what color it was or how big it was,” he said.

He climbed to the top of a mountain where he was given his equipment, a bag to strap to his waist and strips of cloth to protect his hands.

Missing their families back home and suffering physically at work, disdain for Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is growing among the plantation workers.

Although those who shared

their experiences said they previously supported Maduro’s socialist predecessor Hugo Chavez, they now want Maduro out. “We wouldn’t have needed to leave the country, leave behind family, if they hadn’t made us broke,” said Fernandez.

“We’re desperate... for something to happen or for there to be a coup d’etat.”

- Exile or death -

Pacelli, a small town of just 3,200 inhabitants, has already

seen its numbers swelled by 1,000 Venezuelans since 2016.

The majority end up working in plantations in place of locals, said community leader Gerson Villamizar.

“On the whole, Venezuelans work and send home money,” he said. “So the money doesn’t circulate (here) and that has a negative impact, especially for shopkeepers.”

Those who come have to abide by strict rules that ban prostitution, drug consumption or car-

aged and looted, creating a climate of fear and intimidation alongside the opposition protests.

Taking advantage of the chaos, there was some looting Monday -- but traders still felt anger only toward the president.

“What we are enduring today is because of Jovenel (Moise)... they are hungry,” said Joseph, whose stock of fish was totally depleted, of those who stole his goods.

“By selling what they took from me, they are going to be able to relieve their families a bit.”

“We don’t have good leaders: if there was work in the country, this would never have happened,” he said.

Later on, private sector associations deplored what they described as “legitimate popular anger that is unfortunately wrongly directed to companies that create jobs,” and called for political dialogue.

Meanwhile, Catholic bishops appealed to the “civic conscience of the different parties” to make a “patriotic decision.”

Demonstrators are demanding Moise quits over a scandal centering on the Petrocaribe fund, under which Venezuela supplied Haiti and other Caribbean and Central American countries with oil at cut-rate prices and on easy credit terms for years.

Investigations have shown that nearly $2 billion from the program were misused.

A report released in January on the misuse of the money also named a company that was then headed

by Moise as a beneficiary of funds from a road construction project that never had a signed contract.

During his election campaign, Moise promised “food on every plate and money in every pocket,” yet most Haitians still struggle to make ends meet and face inflation that has risen 15 percent since his election. (afp)

rying weapons. They also need a letter of recommendation from a Colombian to work, even in the plantations.

Around 100 Venezuelans have been expelled for crimes including theft, attempted murder and drug use.

Villamizar says that was to “save their lives” otherwise the drug traffickers would have killed them. But despite it all, Fernandez says: “we’re happy to have found this.” “Otherwise, what would we do?” (afp)

International

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

INDONESIAN INDONESIAN

11

ELECTION 2019

AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana

In this Oct. 5, 2017, photo, officers lead a company of soldiers during a parade commemorating the anniversary of Indonesian Military in Cilegon, Banten, Indonesia. The Indonesian government is planning to post some of the dozens of underemployed generals into high-ranking civilian roles, alarming rights groups who see it as a threat to the country’s young democracy.

Indonesia’s jobs for generals plan alarms rights groups

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government is planning to post some of the dozens of underemployed generals into highranking civilian roles, alarming rights groups who see it as a threat to the country’s young democracy.

Indonesia’s military has at least 150 generals without defined positions, partly due to a rise in the retirement age, and President Joko Widodo is planning a regulation to create 60 new posts for them, including in the civilian bureaucracy.

Al Araf, the director of Indonesian rights group Imparsial, said Thursday the plan is inconsistent

with the spirit of reforms that followed the end of dictator Suharto’s rule in 1998 and returned the military to barracks.

Under Suharto, seats in the legislature were reserved for the military and officers occupied thousands of civilian roles from district chiefs to Cabinet ministers.

“The move has the potential to

restore the authoritarian system,” Araf said.

Currently, active military officers can only serve in ministries or institutions related to state security and defense under a law governing the military that was enacted in 2004.

Widodo discussed a restructuring of the armed forces last month with military and police leaders and said creating 60 new posts in government for one, two and threestar generals would allow colonels to advance in the military’s ranks.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen.

Sisriadi said the restructuring does not aim to restore the “dual function” of the military that it had under Suharto.

“That concept was an old book that has been thrown away,” said Sisriadi, who goes by a single name. “It will never exist again.”

He said the military is proposing various measures to overcome its generals’ bulge, including lengthening the years or service required to reach high rank to 26 years from 24.

The military is working with the Defense Ministry and the Ministry

of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform to create a system that equips soldiers with skills for specialist careers within the military, said Sisriadi.

Military analyst Evan Laksmana at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said in a commentary that the military has no long-term plan for managing its personnel.

It has too many officer academy graduates and between 2011 and 2017 had an average of 330 surplus colonels a year, he said. (ap)

Scales of justice: Indonesia police probe snake interrogation

Indonesian authorities on Monday launched an investigation after a police force chief admitted an officer wrapped a live snake around a terrified suspect in a bid to force a confession.

Shocking viral footage emerged online showing an alleged pickpocket -- handcuffed and sitting on the floor barefoot -- screaming hysterically as another officer shouts abuse at a police station in restive Papua province.

“How many times have you stolen a mobile phone?” he yells

at the unidentified suspected thief, who appears to be cowering in fear.

“Only two times,” the suspect says in response.

At one stage, the officer appears to try to shove the snake into the man’s mouth, while others are heard laughing in the background during the undated video.

“An officer is now being questioned by Papua police internal affairs division,” Papua police spokesman Ahmad Mustofa Kamal told AFP Monday.

He did not identify the officer

or say if others present would be investigated.

Tonny Ananda Swadaya, the police chief in Jayawijaya district, where the incident took place, apologised in a statement Sunday.

But he added that the suspect was not in physical danger from the snake.

“The snake was tame and not poisonous or dangerous and the incident was their own idea so they could get admission of guilt as quick as possible,” Swadaya said in a statement. “We will work

more professionally in the future,” he added.

Police did not say what kind of snake was used. Indonesian security forces have been repeatedly accused of using excessive force and committing rights abuses against Papua’s ethnic Melanesian population including extrajudicial killings of activists and peaceful protestors.

Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman said the video confirmed what some jailed Papuan activists have reported in the past.

“They have long known that snakes are being used by police and the military (in interrogations),” she said. “So they’re not surprised” by the video.

Papua, one of Indonesia’s poorest region, has seen several spasms of violence over the past year, including in December when at least 16 employees of a state-owned company -- who were building bridges in a major infrastructure push for the impoverished region -- were killed by separatist rebels.

12

International

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Bali News

International

BUSINESS

Betutu Now on Offer at SwissBelhotel Petitenget

Brexit’s toll: UK economy at weakest since financial crisis

LONDON - Mounting uncertainty over Brexit is weighing heavily on the British economy, which slowed last year to its weakest growth rate since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, official figures showed Monday.

The Office for National Statistics said that the British economy grew by a quarterly rate of only 0.2 percent during the fourth quarter, down from the 0.6 percent tick recorded in the previous three-month period. Output actually fell in the month of December, by 0.4 percent from November, though monthly data are known to be volatile.

For 2018 as a whole, the economy grew by 1.4 percent, its lowest rate since 2009, when it contracted by 4.2 percent in the wake of the global financial crisis that had brought much of the world’s banking system to its knees.

Statisticians did not directly blame Brexit for the slowdown but there is plenty of evidence showing that the uncertainties relating to the country’s departure from the European Union are weighing heavily on economic activity, particularly on business investment. In the fourth quarter, business investment fell by 1.4 percent for the fourth straight quarterly decline — the first time that has happened since the financial crisis.

With less than 50 days to go to Brexit day on March 29, firms have no idea what the country’s new trading relationship with the EU will look like, so they’re taking a safety-first approach.

Ben Brettell, senior economist at Hargreaves Lansdown, notes that business investment is “the most Brexit-sensitive element” of the British economy.

The statistics agency’s head of GDP figures, Rob Kent-Smith, said the slowdown in the last three months of the year was particularly “steep” in car manufacturing and steel production, offset by continued growth in the services sector, which makes up around 80 percent of the British economy Brexit isn’t solely to blame for the slowdown.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China and volatility in financial markets have weighed on global growth. And many of Britain’s main trading partners in Europe, such as Germany and Italy, have witnessed a slowdown.

Charms of Timpag Village Awaits You

AP Photo/Francisco Seco

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May talks to journalists after her meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019.

Britain’s Treasury chief Philip Hammond sought to paint an optimistic picture, arguing that the British economy remains “fundamentally strong” and that it is “enjoying the longest unbroken quarterly growth streak” among the Group of Seven industrialized countries.

But Britain is generally faring worse, and expected to fare worse over the coming year, than most developed economies — and the main reason is Brexit.

“There’s little doubt Brexit uncertainty is responsible for the disappointing numbers, though concerns over global trade will also have played a part,” said Brettell.

While the British economy largely held up better than expected in the immediate aftermath of the June 2016 vote to leave the European Union, firms are getting edgier as Brexit day

draws nearer. And there is no sign that the uncertainty, described as the “fog of Brexit” by the Bank of England, is going to lift anytime soon, so the economy is not expected to have improved in the first quarter of this year.

Prime Minister Theresa May is struggling to salvage the Brexit deal she agreed on with the EU late last year after it was overwhelmingly rejected by British lawmakers. She’s trying to eke out concessions from the EU, particularly on a controversial provision intended to make sure no hard border returns between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.

It’s unclear she will be able to get any concessions and fears have grown in recent weeks that Britain could crash out of the EU without a deal, a worst-case scenario that the Bank of

England has previously said could see the British economy shrink by 8 percent within months and house prices collapse by around a third.

Analysts were careful not to conclude from the fourth-quarter figures that Britain is heading for a fall in output in the first quarter of 2019, not least because British consumer spending tends to be resilient.

“Today’s data bring clear signs that Brexit uncertainty is depressing the economy, but we would not rush to conclude yet that GDP is on track to fall outright in the first quarter,” said Samuel Tombs, chief U.K. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

“Solid growth in households’ spending, thanks to low inflation and robust labor income growth, should keep GDP on a slightly rising path.” (ap)

No-deal Brexit ‘could cost 600,000 jobs worldwide’: study

A British departure from the European Union without a deal could put 600,000 jobs around the world at risk, with Germany the hardest hit, a study published Monday found. Researchers at the IWH institute in Halle, eastern Germany, examined what would happen if UK imports from the remaining EU

fell 25 percent after Brexit.

They reckoned that some 103,000 jobs would be under threat in Europe’s largest economy Germany and 50,000 in France.

Being affected by Brexit would not necessarily mean workers were laid off, the economists noted.

“Given the lack of skilled labour

in many advanced economies, firms could also try to keep staff on by cutting hours or opening new markets,” they said.

It is so far uncertain whether Britain will strike a deal with the EU before its legally-binding exit date of March 29, after a huge majority of lawmakers last month

voted down Prime Minister Theresa May’s painstakingly-negotiated accord with Brussels.

A “hard” departure without a deal would see tariffs imposed at the border, “tangling up global supply chains,” study co-author Oliver Holtemoeller said in a statement.

The economists focused only on

trade in goods and services, leaving out other possible economic impacts of Brexit like changes to investment flows.

They noted that “since markets are linked up across the globe, suppliers based outside the European Union are also affected” by a nodeal Brexit. (afp)

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Put this village in your itinerary! Timpag village in Kerambitan subdistrict has enormous natural potential. The environmental conditions are still natural and have not been touched much by the development of tourist accommodation. Additionally, the local community has a strong commitment to maintain the agricultural sector. This commitment is stated in the pararem or appendix to customary bylaw.

Armed with such potential, the Kerambitan subdistrict government seeks to develop the potential of the Timpag village.

The development begins with the UMaurip program in which there is owl preservation, black pig culinary delight and jogging tracks launched in 2018. Right now, the potential of Timpag village is being developed with the synergy of other tourist destinations having been managed by communities such as Undagi Farmers village posing religious tourist destination consisting of seven-eyed showers at Undagi hamlet, D’Bendungan destination evoking the management of Telaga Tunjung dam by providing a selfie spot with a view of the dam and panoramic background of Mount Batukaru as well as typical Kerambitan culinary delight. Do not to forget, there is river tubing attraction utilizing the irrigation canals sourcing directly from Telaga Tunjung water.

“We are trying to synergize the four tourist destinations known as the nature of Timpag, so that in the future there will be no

potential of competition,” said Kerambitan sub-district head Gede Sukanada on Sunday (Jan. 13) on the sidelines of the village charity event taking place at Subak Celem Manik, Timpag village.

According to him, the fundraising activity for the development of this village is the fifth pre-event of the Kerambitan Festival to be held next October. “This bazaar activity offers black pig menu and jukut gonda or gooseweed vegetable in cooperation with tourism players with the aim of getting input and directions for the development of the Timpag nature,” he said.

The activities are planned to introduce Timpag’s nature that will be held regularly with rotating locations among the four local tourist destinations. “We in the sub-district government are only tasked to design, so that there is single entity and help promote and package their activities. Later on, the Timpag nature will be handled by a management body formed by the village official. Of course, it is equipped with regulations so that it will not overlap later,” he

explained.

With the synergy of Timpag natural tourism, in the future tourists having been scattered so far can be more focused. In other words, they are not only focused on one destination, but organized into a tour package. Moreover, lately the nature of Timpag has begun to be visited by travelers, ranging from local tourists to foreign tourists.

Sukanada further explained, that the village potential is strong and runs as expected, then it will be proposed to become a tourism village. A tourism village must be pioneered based on village potential readiness that strengthens local community resources and systems or regulations. This is very important, considering that a number of other tourism villages have not been maximally managed.

“For this reason, I want Timpag to strengthen the potential and the system, then it is proposed to become a tourism village. We target to submit it in 2020 target after everything is ready,” he stressed. (kmb)

Have you ever tasted the enjoyment of betutu? This menu is a side dish made from whole chicken processed with distinctive spices. This traditional menu is very popular in all districts of Bali. Now, it even becomes a favorite menu at hotels and restaurants. In the past, betutu was only used as a dish for religious ceremonies and traditional ceremonies, but now many dishes are widely on sale. Its consumers are not only Balinese, but also foreign guests.

Betutu is also a prominent menu of Swiss-Belhotel Petitenget. Aside from being delicious, the betutu served at this hotel is also accompanied with a beautiful arrangement. Traditional nuance is felt very strong, but the preparation is still adjusted to the customer’s appetite. So, betutu which is famous for the aroma of local complete spices can also be enjoyed by foreign tourists.

In the matters of preparation, Made Ritawan, who is the chef at Swiss-Belhotel Petitenget, has different tips, so the meat becomes tenderer and has a soft texture. The whole meat is easily separated from the bone, and the flavor feels really yummy.

“Betutu is the flagship menu at Swiss-Belhotel Petitenget, other than the menus like fried rice, paon shrimp sauce and others,” said Tiana, Executive Secretary & Public Relations, Wednesday (Feb. 6).

Titiana added that betutu chicken menu is ordered by many foreign guests. They feel happy because it tastes good and the marinade is adapted to their appetite so the taste is very strong.

“Betutu is a favorite menu, so there are many restaurants that

5

sell it. Betutu here is no less delicious than the others. At this hotel, it has even a distinctive taste,” said Tiana.

In the presentation, betutu is complemented with other menus such as lawar, gravy, fresh vegetables, peanuts, raw condiment and rice. All menus are served on banana leaves and wooden plates, so they look natural. Similarly, the menu of chili, lawar and peanuts uses takir (bowl-like container made of banana leaves).

Similarly, the soup uses wooden bowl that is eco-friendly.

Chef Made Ritawan said, for this menu, chicken meat is chosen specifically on the chest and thighs. At first, the chicken is cleansed and given pepper and salt and then take side for 5 minutes. Chicken meat is then boiled to make it softer. After that, the meat is grilled to make it feel distinctive and have color in serving.

The ingredient needed to make betutu chicken is a chicken whose inside part has been cleaned, complete spices, aromatic (wewangenan) spice, salt, and coconut oil. Complete spice is a typical Balinese spice consisting of shallot, aromatic ginger, galangal, garlic, turmeric, galingale, ginger, cayenne pepper, lemongrass, brown sugar, shrimp paste, lime leaves, bay leaves, and coconut oil.

Meanwhile, aromatic spice consists of black pepper, white pepper, cloves, nutmeg, Javanese chili, coriander, candlenut, snowbell, calamus, Casumunar ginger and kaffir lime skin.

The process of making a betutu chicken begins with smoothing the complete and aromatic spice as well as sautéing them until smelling fragrant. (kmb)

4

Bali News

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

International

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

International

13

Embattled Aussie PM suffers historic defeat over refugees

CANBERRA - Australia’s conservative minority government suffered a monumental political defeat Tuesday, becoming the first administration in nearly a century to lose a vote on major legislation and fuelling calls for a snap election.

The tourist attraction can now be visited by tourists, after the district government of Bangli held a pemelaspasan (inaugural) ceremony.

IBP/kmb

After being inaugurated

Penelokan and observation tower opened to visitors

BANGLI - After being completely built almost two months ago, Penelokan tourist object, Kintamani, has now begun to be opened to visitors. The tourist attraction can now be visited by tourists, after the district government of Bangli held a pemelaspasan (inaugural) ceremony on Saturday (Feb. 9). In addition to Penelokan tourist object, the district government also inaugurated the observation tower in the Suter village area, Kintamani. The tower was built as a new alternative place for tourists to enjoy panoramic views of Mount Batur and Lake Batur.

Head of the Bangli Tourism and Culture Office, Wayan Adnyana, stated on Sunday (Feb. 10) that the melaspas ceremony was held on Saturday (Feb. 9) because it is an auspicious day according to local belief. In the ceremony, the Tourism and Culture Office also handed

over the management of Penelokan and Observation Tower tourist attraction to the Batur UNESCO Global Geopark (BUGG) management agency. “But it is only informal handover first. Later the official handover will follow.

After this melaspas, there will be

another inauguration ceremony,” said Adnyana.

This informal handover is intended so that the Penelokan and Observation Tower attraction can be maintained properly together.

Adnyana added that as planned later on after being officially handed

over the Penelokan and Observation Tower attraction will be managed more professionally by the BUGG Tourism Management Agency in collaboration with Bangli Tourism and Culture Office.

“We hope that as tourist destination, it can draw more visitors.

Moreover, the current location is very representative. Underneath, there is a stage that will be used to accommodate local art or local wisdom performances regularly,” he explained.

Division Head of Promotion at

the Bangli Tourism and Culture Office, Wayan Merta, added that after the inaugural ceremony, Penelokan and Observation Tower attraction have now been ready to be promoted to tourists. His office claimed to have conveyed the matter to the Bali provincial government and central government so that they can also be helped in the matter of marketing. “Later, the official inauguration will be carried out in person by the regent marked with the signing of inscription,” concluded Merta. (kmb40)

Tabanan potentially develops turmeric durian

IBP/kmb24

Tabanan has many unique varieties of plants. One of them is turmeric durian that can be found in Pupuan area.

TABANAN - Tabanan has many unique varieties of plants. One of them is turmeric durian that can be found in Pupuan area. To confirm that this turmeric durian is a typical superior plant of Tabanan, in 2017 with the help of the Bali Institute of Agricultural Technology (BPTP), the Tabanan district government registered turmeric durian as one of the varieties of plant genetic resources (SDG) to the Center for Plant Variety Protection and Agricultural Licensing at the Ministry of Agriculture. Furthermore, in November 2018, turmeric durian was officially recognized as the origin variety for the cultivation of essential derivative varieties.

Registration of turmeric durian from Pupuan as one of the SDG plant varieties was justified by the Division Head of the Production and Horticulture Improvement at the Tabanan Agriculture Agency,

Wayan Suandra. According to him, by registering turmeric durian as a plant variety of SDG, Tabanan in the future has the potential or can develop the turmeric durian.

This means that if someone from another area wants to develop turmeric durian, then the seedlings must be taken from Tabanan.

“So, the source of this turmeric durian seedling is from Tabanan.

Of course, we are prioritizing the development for Tabanan farmers but not ruling out other regions,” he said on Sunday (Feb. 10).

Aside from being able to become a parent tree, by registering the turmeric durian as a plant variety of SDG, the turmeric durian cannot be claimed by the region or other countries. “So, this has made turmeric durian a native plant to Tabanan,” said Suadra.

As the advantages, other than

only found in Pupuan, the turmeric durian itself has sticky texture and sweet taste. Color of the fruit is also typical, namely yellow like turmeric. Another advantage is having resistance to rain. If the flowers and fruit of other durians easily fall out during rainy season, it is different from turmeric durian whose fruits and flowers do not fall out quickly despite being exposed to rain. This advantage has caused the Tabanan Agriculture Agency to register turmeric durian as a plant variety of SDG and becomes one of the native superior varieties to Tabanan.

In addition to turmeric durian, Tabanan also listed other plants, namely gonda (gooseweed), honey snakefruit of Munduk Temu and Tabah bamboo shoots. These three types of plants are still in the process of becoming a superior variety of Tabanan. (kmb24)

Despite a bruising and highly personal lobbying effort, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was defeated by MPs who insisted refugees held in offshore facilities have the right to be transferred to Australia for medical treatment.

It is the first time in decades that an Australian government has lost a vote on a substantive piece of legislation, sparking applause and cheers from observers in the parliamentary viewing gallery in Canberra.

Morrison lost his parliamentary majority last year and has been relying on crossbenchers to keep control of the lower House of Representatives.

The 75-74 vote -- which came on the first sitting day of parliament this year -- is a blow to the already embattled prime minister and raised questions about whether he can remain in office.

When the sitting government last lost a vote on substantive legislation in 1929, then prime minister Stanley Bruce immediately called an election, and lost it.

The government of prime minister Arthur Fadden lost a symbolic budget vote in 1941 and immediately resigned.

Morrison last week ruled out calling a snap election if his government was defeated over the “stupid” bill.

His coalition has to call an election by May and has been trailing the opposition centre-left Labor Party in opinion polls.

The bill was first mooted by independent MP Kerryn Phelps last year after she won the

Saeed KHAN / AFP

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison briefs media about the flooding situation in Queensland during a press conference in Sydney on February 8, 2019.

Liberal Party stronghold of Wentworth when former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was ousted in a party coup.

Since then, the government had lurched from crisis to crisis, and a disastrous showing in elections in Victoria state sparked fears

that it would also lose the national poll.

Under a harsh policy meant to deter asylum-seekers from reaching Australia by boat, Canberra sent arrivals to Nauru and Papua New Guinea for processing and barred them from resettling in Australia.

But criticism of the camps has grown amid reports of abuse, suicides and lengthy detention periods, even as the government says the policy is discouraging asylumseekers from embarking on dangerous sea voyages. (afp)

Malaysia makes record 30-tonne pangolin seizure

AFP

This undated handout photo released by Royal Malaysia Police on February 12, 2019 shows members of the Royal Malaysia police inspecting the seized boxes of pangolins scales inside a shipping container in Kota Kinabalu.

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian authorities have made a record seizure of about 30 tonnes of pangolins and their scales worth some $2 million in raids on major processing facilities, police and environmentalists said Tuesday.

The haul included about 1,800 boxes full of frozen pangolins stuffed inside three refrigerated containers, 572 more frozen pangolins in six freezers, 61 live pangolins in cages, and 361 kilogrammes (795 pounds) of pangolin scales, according to police.

The Southeast Asian nation is battling to clamp down on rampant poaching and smuggling of pangolins, the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal.

The critically endangered crea-

tures, also known as scaly anteaters, have long been targeted as their body parts are highly valued in traditional medicine in countries including China and Vietnam while their meat is considered a delicacy.

Following a tip-off, wildlife officials in Sabah state raided a factory and a warehouse on Thursday, according to a statement from local police chief Omar Mammah.

Police arrested a 35-year-old man suspected to have been in charge of the factory as part of an illegal syndicate.

The operation is believed to have been running for the past seven years, and police believe the pangolins were bought from poachers to be distributed locally.

Traffic, a Malaysia-based group that monitors wildlife smuggling around the region, said it was the “biggest such bust Malaysia has seen to date”.

“No threatened species can withstand industrial levels of extraction such as this,” Kanitha Krishnasamy, the group’s Southeast Asia director, told AFP. The seizures also shone a light on Sabah’s major role in animal trafficking -- the state on Borneo island has been implicated in smuggling cases involving over 40 tonnes of pangolins since August 2017, according to Traffic.

Malaysia regularly foils attempts to smuggle pangolins and their parts out of the country but usually on a far smaller scale. (afp)

14

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

TECHNOLOGY

International

Bali News

International

But that’s causing big problems.

Many routers are left without updates for years. They’re a mess of security flaws, easily compromised by hackers or malware. Research by the American Consumer Institute last year found that 83 per cent of home and office routers have vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers, including popular brands such as Linksys, NETGEAR and D-Link.

IBP/net

In the last three years, cyberattacks against insecure routers have rocketed.

Once compromised, routers can be used to carry out Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS), or for credential stuffing, where hackers gain access to someone’s password for one site, and use the botnet to quickly try it at lots of other places. They can also be used to hide the origins of illicit activity – traffic will appear to be coming from random residential addresses rather than its true source.

With increasing fibre broadband speeds, some users might not even notice that their router is being used to hide someone else’s traffic, or for mining Bitcoin.

For home users, the biggest risk is their personal data being stolen.

In August, security researchers at Radware spotted an exploit spreading across D-Link routers in Brazil, which eventually affected 100,000 devices.

This particular attack was aimed at customers of Banco de Brasil, and used the hijacked routers and some DNS redirection to send them to a cloned version of the bank’s website, which stole their log-in details.

“The criminal community has woken up to the many holes in legacy firmware,” says Tom Gaffney, a security advisor at F-Secure. There are online databases where would-be cyber criminals can enter the name of a router manufacturer and instantly access a list of known vulnerabilities.

Some entries even list the code required to take advantage.

As we connect more and more Internet of Things (IoT) devices to our routers – voice assistants, smart doorbells – the risks increase. Your connected security cameras might have robust protections, but if your router doesn’t, the whole system is vulnerable. “It’s like being broken into,” says Bharat Mistry, principal security strategist at Trend Micro.

A number of high-profile attacks, such as Mirai, have made use of unsecured routers and other unprotected IoT devices to wreak havoc, and known vulnerabilities are growing.

“The first IoT specific threat (including routers) was back in 2003,” says Gaffney. “Then it’s nothing until 2015, and we had five families of threats in 2016. In 2018, we classified 35 families of threats, so we’ve definitely seen a big explosion.”

These include malware, such as VPNFilter, which was thought to be sponsored by the Russian government, and is estimated to have infected more than half a million routers worldwide. Other exploits have taken advantage of Universal Plug and Play, which allows connected devices to find and join together more easily. In November 2018, more than 45,000 routers were hit by an exploit that was developed by America’s National Security Agency and then leaked to the Internet, and which relies on vulnerable implementations of this technology.

“It’s a number of things,” says Mistry. “Routers are basically small microcomputers, so anything that can infect those can target a router.”

Things like shared libraries have been vulnerable. “Most developers aren’t going to write a library from scratch, and they could be taken from a public repository. The problem then is that you need someone to be constantly validating libraries to make sure they’re patched on a regular basis.”

The longer a piece of firmware is out in the world, the more vulnerable it becomes, and some routers are still running seriously outdated versions of Linux.

But the biggest problem is that most home users just aren’t that tech savvy. A lot still use the default passwords, both for the Wi-fi network itself, and for the admin account associated with it. The Banco de Brasil scam is one of many attacks that relied on this exploit.

Some believe that setting up a new router is now too easy. “In the past you had to configure it and set passwords, now it’s just plug it in and off you go,” says Gaffney. Hron agrees. “If the device works out of the box, it usually stays in a default configuration.” Adding a few steps to the process, such as forcing people to set their own passwords, would make everybody a lot safer.

“It would make sense to disable the internet until the user goes through some set up on the device,” he argues.

Generally, routers provided by the big ISPs are now up to date when they arrive, and come with unique password details for each device. But those bought online, particularly the cheaper models, are more likely to be vulnerable, and more likely to give everyone the same password.

And that still doesn’t solve the

problem of out of date, vulnerable firmware, something that’s hardly a priority for your average internet user.

Vendors and ISPs have to bear some of the blame here too. “Very few of them until recently have had an active upgrade policy,” says Gaffney.

The researchers we spoke to believe ISPs need to find a better way of making sure people keep their router’s firmware up to date. Even when vulnerabilities are exposed, it can take months for them to actually reach users. When a hole was spotted in Mikrotik routers, for example, the company quickly rolled out a patch, but with more than two million of the company’s routers out in the wild, many remain vulnerable. One whitehat hacker has taken it upon himself to fix the problem, and has remotely patched more than 100,000 routers himself.

ISPs could be doing more to educate, for example by regular email bulletins to provide guidance and firmware updates, but that could potentially users them vulnerable to phishing scams. “I think the ISPs and vendors should make things a lot easier,” says Mistry, who suggests a tiered system where those advanced users who want more control of their set-up can have the option, but everyone else just gets updates rolled out automatically over the air. Amazon’s Echo smart speaker receives updates in this way, without notifying users beforehand, for example.

“There’s always a trade-off between ease and security,” says Gaffney – and right now, our plug-andplay routers are making life a breeze for cyber criminals. (net)

How small robots may kill the tractor and make farming efficient

AGRICULTURE has a reputation of being stuck in the past. In reality, for farmers, their workplaces are a fertile testbed for innovative technology – they were among the first to embrace commercial drone use, and autonomous vehicles that could work effectively (and safely) in confined areas of farmland.

Among the latest developments in agri-tech are small, farming robots that can improve crop yield and reduce farming’s impact on the environment.

Ben Scott-Robinson, co-founder of the Bristol-based Small Robot Company, says the costs of farming have increased in the last 30 years, even as the revenues and yields have stayed the same. Together with Sam Watson-Jones, a farmer and co-founder of the Small Robot Company, they are

attempting to change the machines farmers use. “We travelled around the UK for six months, talking to farmers about what they wanted,” Scott-Robinson explains. ”We would ask about what they were thinking about technology, what their problems were, and what their ideas were.”

At the moment, many arable farms are going out of business, as costs increase without significant changes in revenue or yields. One significant extra cost is investment in tractors. Traditional heavy tractors are key pieces of equipment for the majority of farms, but one of the side effects of such machinery is that they crush the soil and damage the environment, which causes compaction of the earth. Also, fertilisers and chemicals are sprayed across swathes of land, even though

not every plant in a single field may be the same.

The Small Robot Company found that many farmers wanted to change their methods, but didn’t have the money or the technical know-how. So, they decided to design a system of farming which worked for the plants, rather than trying to fit around the machinery.

What they eventually created, with the help of PhD students at the University of Bristol, was a “robotic workhorse” named Jack, three metres tall. Weighing 250 kilos, Jack is used as a ‘base’ robot which can be modified with booms.

Customisation of the robot allows it to complete different tasks.

The base robot Jack, which wave unveiled at WIRED Live, can be transformed into Dick and Harry.

The seeding boom, which can place

seeds in the ground at the optimal spacing and depth, is three metres

in length and makes the robot “Harry”. (net)

IBP/net

The Bristol-based Small Robot Company has created a series of agile robots for farming.

3

Denpasar Creative Food Truck successfully draws visitors

Your old router is an absolute goldmine for troublesome hackers

FOR your average internet user, a wireless router is something they plug in and then forget about – returning only to awkwardly read the Wi-Fi password off a sticker on the base, or to toggle the on switch when the internet goes down. “Most users just don’t care about their router,” says Martin Hron, a security researcher at Avast. “It’s just that thing that sits in the corner catching dust.”

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

DENPASAR - Denpasar Tourism Office in cooperation with the Denpasar Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) organized a Creative Food Truck in the Lumintang City Park Area, Denpasar, on Saturday night (Feb. 9). From late afternoon to evening, one by one of visitors crowded the stands providing a variety of food and drinks. In addition, the presentation of dancing fountains also added to the beauty of festival taking advantage of the road body as the location for this event.

IBP/kmb

It is named the Grembeng Culali or Culali Ravine. At the location, visitors can enjoy the charm of sunrise against the backdrop of mountains and lake.

Grembeng Culali, exotic place in Kintamani to enjoy sunrise

BANGLI - Not many people know if on the Culali route of Kintamani having been the traffic lane of sand-transporting trucks, there is an interesting place to enjoy the beauty of sunrise. It is named the Grembeng Culali or Culali Ravine.

At the location, visitors can enjoy the charm of sunrise against the backdrop of mountains and lake.

To get to the location is not too difficult. From the four-way intersection of Batur village, visitors must go down to the Culali line.

Less than half a kilometer away, there is signboard saying ‘Grembeng Culali.’ It is not far from a restaurant and Batur Mountain View Inn. In Grembeng Culali, there are several places provided to enjoy the beauty of the Batur caldera. Besides, there are bamboo platforms, bamboo boats and several gazebos.

I Ketut Suantika, the owner of Grembeng Culali, said the Grembeng Culali was presented to tourists wishing to enjoy nature tourism. From Grembeng Culali which has an area of about 0.40 hectare, visitors can enjoy the beautiful panoramic view of the Batur caldera, such as mountains, lake and stretches of black stone (black lava) around the Mount Batur from the morning until the afternoon.

In the morning, visitors coming

to the location can enjoy the charm of sunrise with the background of three mountains at once namely Mount Batur, Mount Abang and Mount Agung as well as Lake Batur. The landscape becomes more interesting because of the expanse of clouds covering the caldera.

“What is equally interesting is the view of the black lava which is very beautiful in the afternoon,” he explained.

He said that since it was opened a few months ago, Grembeng Culali had quite a lot of visitors. On average, there are approximately 2 to 20 people per day. To be able to enjoy the beauty of the natural panorama of Grembeng Culali, visitors are only charged an entrance fee of IDR 10,000 per person. “Most of the visitors are local people.

Visitors are usually busy during holidays, such as Galungan, Kuningan, and other holidays,” he said.

This man who is also Chief of Subak Culali said that tourism potential at Culali is actually quite large. If arranged and managed properly, it is not inferior to other places. “Like a beautiful girl, it hasn’t been touched by makeup yet,” he said.

To attract more tourist visits, Suantika admitted to continuously develop the Grembeng Culali by adding several facilities such as swings and gazebos. (kmb40)

“This activity is an idea of the Mayor I.B. Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra together with the food truck community of Denpasar City to develop creative food that serves local cuisines as a culinary tourist destination in Denpasar City,” said the Division Head of Tourism and Creative Economy Resources Development, I Wayan Hendaryana, when met during the implementation of Creative Food Truck in the Lumintang City Denpasar park area.

He said that Creative Food Truck is filled with various activities including cuisines and enlivened with an acoustic live band from Dria Raba Denpasar to present fresh entertainment to the public.

Creative Food Truck is the first time held by Bekraf Denpasar, but it will become a sustainable program to be held every month at several tourism spots in Denpasar City. “This activity is held for the

first time, but this is a sustainable program that will be held every month at different location with the theme being awaited by the community,” said Hendaryana.

In addition to filling out cool weekend holiday, the activity is also in series of the 23rd anniversary of Denpasar City. This activity will display approximately 16 of the 33 food trucks having been recorded in Denpasar City starting from 13:00 to 22:00 local time. “Of course, by holding this event, we can offer new recreational areas and attract tourists and the people wishing to spend a weekend holiday in Denpasar,” said Hendar while inviting tourists and the public to fill in weekend holiday at the creative food truck while enjoying the beauty of the water dancing fountain in Lumintang Field.

One of the food truck owners, Mang Kakul, strongly supported

the implementation of such activity.

With the support of the government including the Economic Creative Agency of Denpasar City, the food truck community now has a place to introduce street foods to the community by traveling around the tourist area of Denpasar City.

“Hopefully, this activity can continue to be held as an effort to provide space for the food truck community in Denpasar City to introduce street foods,” he explained.

A visitor, Made Rama Aditya, highly appreciated to the food truck event. The implementation of such simple activities located in crowded areas can support the existence of Lumintang City Park as a medium for recreation for the Denpasar community. “This activity is certainly very good. Hopefully, it can be organized continuously in several tourist destinations in the city of Denpasar but it does not yet have a culinary center,” he hoped.

IBP/kmb

Denpasar Tourism Office in cooperation with the Denpasar Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) organized a Creative Food Truck in the Lumintang City Park Area, Denpasar.

2

Bali News

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

International

Digital banking

Bank funding and loan distribution increases DENPASAR - Digital banking has become the focus of activities carried out by banks recently. Digital banking derivatives like non-cash transactions are also intensified by both regulator (Bank Indonesia) and general banks. The impact of digitalization has also been felt mainly from banks.

Deputy Regional Head of BRI for Bali-Nusra Regional Office, in charge of funding and digital banking, Hery Santoso, said that since February 2018 it has intensely implemented digital banking, especially in the credit process. It

made credit services faster at a maximum of 2 days. “The application of digital banking is not only in the form of external products but also for internal affairs of the BRI,” he said on Monday (Feb. 11).

The credit process uses an application-based smartphone.

Customers simply scan e-ID card on the smartphone of bank officer, and then within 2 days the credit can be disbursed. In addition, in terms of bank funding, it also increased significantly, especially when using the My QR application. “My QR is one of the means to encourage funding,” he explained.

The effect is very significant. It is evident from the total

funds raised by BRI in 2018 increased from IDR 27.6 trillion in 2017 to IDR 34.9 trillion in 2018. Seeing the progress of digital banking, he targeted the funding in 2019 to increase to IDR 38.9 trillion.

The funding collected by banks through digital banking also affects bank’s CASA reaching 75 percent. In other words, only 25 percent of the funds collected by banks are obtained from deposits (expensive funds), 75 percent from low-cost funds, namely savings and current accounts. However, in the future he will focus on the handling of customers’ funds because currently BRI’s customers are quite large, namely 7 million across Bali and Nusa Tenggara.

Overall, since intensely running digital banking, in a year 45 percent of BRI’s total customers have switched to digital banking. Meanwhile, the entire consumer and micro credit process, 100 percent have switched to digital banking, except for the process of large loans above IDR 50 billion are still using paper.

Other than banks, local governments are also encouraged to use digital banking and cashless. Third assistant of Bali Province, I Wayan Suarjaya, stated that electronification of regional government transactions had been carried out since 2018. “Since there are things needing to be improved in 2018, then in 2019 there needs to be development, both infrastructure and human resources,” he said.

Some transactions have used non-cash, namely the payment of salaries of civil servants and non-civil servants, payment of projects, tax collection, et cetera. “I have appealed to all districts and municipality to use non-cash and integrated payment,” he said when the High Level Meeting at Bank Indonesia of Bali Representative Office on Monday (Feb. 11). With non-cash transactions, it is recognized there is an increase in revenues received by regional governments, such as online tax payments increasing from IDR 1.4 trillion in 2012 to IDR 3 trillion in 2015.

Head of the Bank Indonesia for Bali Representative Office, Causa Iman Karana, stated that Bali becomes one of the provinces becoming a pilot project for the implementation of transaction electronification in addition to Greater Jakarta and West Java.

In terms of progress electronification, the local government of Bali has 100 percent implemented the online fund disbursement warrant (SP2D) system and financial system integration with the bank’s cash management services (CMS). Additionally, the transaction electronification has also been carried out in all the regional governments in 2017, e-parking payment in Tabanan and Gianyar in 2018, e-market levy in Mangupura in 2018, electronification of the Bali Mandara toll road in 2017 as well as Tanah Lot e-ticketing in 2019. (kmb42)

District govt asked to set distance between supermarkets

BANGLI - The Regional Bill (Ranperda) concerning the Arrangement of the People’s Market, Shopping Centers and Supermarkets continues to be finalized by the Special Committee of the Bangli House of Representatives. The working meeting held with the Industry and Trade Agency of Bangli on Monday (Feb. 11) and Special Committee I requested the distance between modern supermarkets or shops in Bangli to be regulated in the regional regulation.

Chairman of the Special Com-

mittee I at the Bangli House of Representatives, Nyoman Gelgel Wisnawa, when confirmed after the work meeting stated that in the work meeting he chaired last Monday there were a number of inputs submitted by members of the special committee. One of them is the matter of distance between modern stores. In the existing Regional Regulation concerning modern stores, he said there is no regulation yet regarding the distance between one modern store and another.

So far, what to be arranged is only

the distance between modern stores and traditional markets, namely 400 to 500 meters. “Nowadays, what to be regulated is the distance between chain modern stores. To get the ideal distance, it must be carried out a study,” he explained.

Gelgel added that in accordance with his field observation so far, the existence of one and another modern store in Bangli is quite close. He gave an example the modern store in the Cempaga area that is considered to be too close. Arrangement of the distance between these modern stores

is hoped to give better spatial layout to Bangli. “Regarding the maximum number per sub-district does not need to be regulated in the regional regulation. The most important thing is to arrange the distance between modern stores and other modern stores,” said this politician from Songan Kintamani village.

He added that on last Monday’s work meeting, the Special Committee I also hoped the regional regulation on People’s Market Arrangement, Shopping Centers and Supermarkets will also regulate the

marketing and utilization of local agricultural, fishery and industrial products. All modern or department stores are expected to be able to sell agricultural, fishery and local industrial products of the Bangli community.

Gelgel added that Regional Bill on the Arrangement of People’s Market, Shopping Centers and Supermarkets will be discussed again at the meeting on February 18. It is targeted to have accomplished on February 25, so this regulation can be ratified. (kmb40)

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International

Activities

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

15

Nyepi Package at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center Embrace the silent moment of the Nyepi Day, celebrate the thoughtful moment at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center with its special offer 3 days 2 nights Nyepi Package.

“On this day, the entire island will do the purification, therefore, the whole of the island will be dark and guests must remain within their hotel grounds for 24 hours. But worry-free! Because our outlets such as pools, spa, dining, and recreation are accessible. Some activities also provided for the in-house guests such as a movie marathon for children and kids corner such as coloring activity, cooking class, balloon art, and kids playground from 08:00 am -08:00 pm. Aston Theater will be available for those who would like to spend their time enjoying a wide selection of box office movies from 08:00 am-08:00 pm. For the guests who would like to stay in the room, movie channel also accessible for 24 hours.”

Said Ririn Setyowati – Director of Sales & Marketing at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center.

The package is available from March 6th – 8th, 2019. All the guests will be able to enjoy the scrumptious breakfast for 2 persons, and a complimentary lunch and dinner on March 7th, 2019. For further information and reservation, kindly contact 0361 - 411999 or quick response please mention and follow us on Twitter @AstonDenpasarID, Instagram @ AstonDenpasar, and Facebook @ Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

16 Pages Number 36 11th year

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Price: Rp 3.000,-

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

‘Roma’ takes Bafta glory in coup for Netflix LONDON - Netflix blackand-white production “Roma” triumphed at the Bafta film awards, boosting Oscar hopes for the US streaming giant whose rise poses a serious challenge to the conventional Hollywood business model.

The cinematic love letter to director Alfonso Cuaron’s 1970s childhood in Mexico City beat black comedy “The Favourite” to win best film and best director.

“I’m seriously touched this film has been received the way it’s been received,” Cuaron said at a starstudded ceremony on Sunday in London’s Royal Albert Hall, also attended by Prince William and his wife Kate.

Cuaron thanked Netflix for “having the courage” to get behind his film as he picked up the gong, adding that its success “in an age where fear and anger are proposed to divide us means the world to me”.

“Roma” portrays domestic strife and social hierarchy amid political turmoil and focuses on a housekeeper and nanny called Cleo, played by indigenous actress Yalitza Aparicio.

Netflix UK tweeted its congratulations, saying it was a “deeply

moving film and deserves all the love it’s getting”.

It dented expectations of a clean sweep by “The Favourite” which picked up best actress for Olivia Colman as Queen Anne and best supporting actress for Rachel Weisz playing her confidante and lover.

The film, about a cantankerous 18th-century British queen and her scheming court, had been nominated for 12 awards and picked up seven in what Colman described as an “amazing night” for the cast.

“This is for all three of us. It’s got my name on it but we can scratch on some other ones,” she said on stage, also referring to co-star Emma Stone who was nominated in the same category as Weisz.

Colman, 45, was up against Glenn Close (“The Wife”) and Lady Gaga (“A Star is Born”) -- the same power duo she will face at the Oscars on February 24, with Close so far the clear frontrunner.

“She doesn’t take herself too seriously and she enjoys what she’s doing,” Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos said of Colman.

Weisz and Stone are also in the running for Oscars in a proud year for the British film industry. (afp)

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Wednesday, February 13, 2019

US rapper Cardi B and Offset arrive for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards on February 10, 2019, in Los Angeles.

Women reign at glitzy Grammys gala that also makes rap history

LOS ANGELES - A bold streak of feminism ran through the Grammys gala on Sunday, as women artists dominated in the competition and on the concert stage -- while rappers Cardi B and Childish Gambino delivered a history-making night for hip-hop.

Ben STANSALL / AFP

Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron poses with the awards for a Director and for Best Film for ‘Roma’ at the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 10, 2019

Gambino -- the musical alter ego of actor Donald Glover -- posted four big wins for his provocative hit “This Is America,” but did not attend the star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles. In any event, the night belonged to the ladies.

One year after they were largely snubbed in major categories, and the head of the Recording Academy sparked outrage for telling them to “step up,” they made their presence felt -- and heard.

Country star Kacey Musgraves, one of the genre’s most critically praised artists who infuses her classic twang with psychedelia, nabbed four prizes including an upset win for top Album of the Year honors for “Golden Hour.”

“I think that women have a really necessary perspective to art, to music and it’s really nice to see that getting a chance to be included,” Musgraves told journalists after the show.

“It takes women having the balls to put out art that might not always be liked by everyone, but it also takes people on the other side of that to reach out and give those things a chance to be heard.”

English synth-pop star Dua Lipa bested a crowded field of female talent to take home the Grammy for Best New Artist.

“I guess this year we really stepped up,” she said.

And rap’s woman of the moment Cardi B certainly put her art out there -- she made history as the first solo

woman to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album for her debut “Invasion of Privacy.”

The trembling star, fresh off a rousing performance of her hit “Money,” delivered an emotional speech alongside her husband Offset of the rap trio Migos about making the album in the early days of her pregnancy.

Gambino’s win marked the first time a rap track won either Song of the Year, which honors best songwriting, or the Record of the Year award for best overall song.

Musgraves’ third studio album bested a crowded field of heavyweights for top honors including rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake -- both of whom ended the night with just one win each. (afp)

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Luis ROBAYO / AFP

Venezuelan migrants collect coca leaves as they work as “Raspachines” (coca farmer collectors)in the Catatumbo jungle, Colombia, on February 8, 2019.

Venezuelans earn up to the equivalent of $144 per week working on coca fields, three times more than what they would received in construction in their country. Like most immigrants, they leave a small part to survive and the rest is sent to Venezuela.

Desperate Venezuelan migrants turn to Colombia coca plantations

They were once manual laborers, taxi drivers, fishermen and merchants. But Venezuelan migrants fleeing poverty and shortages of basic necessities have been forced into new work: picking coca leaves for Colombia’s drug traffickers.

Hundreds of Venezuelans work grueling days on coca leaf plantations, seduced by better pay despite harsh conditions, painful labor -and uneasiness about contributing to illegal cocaine production.

“The problem is the hands,” 23year-old Eduar, who wanted to hide his true identity for fear of repercussions back home, told AFP. “When you grab the bush, they bleed,” he said, showing his blistered hands wrapped in cloth for

protection. “After this you’re afraid and don’t want to do it again.”

Like the other Venezuelans working here, Eduar never imagined he would end up working for the narcos.

A father of two young children, he came here two years ago, giving up his job as a motorcycle taxi driver after Venezuela’s hyperinflation -- which hit an estimated 1.3 million percent last year -- devoured his savings.

- Exhausting and painful Leaving central Venezuela, he arrived in Colombia’s Catatumbo border region where initially he worked as a builder.

That was less exhausting and painful than the 10-hour days he now spends bent over coca plants, his shirt soaked in sweat and sporting a widebrimmed hat, come rain or beating sun. He cannot stand the heat on his feet, so he takes off his shoes and rubs his threadbare socks with coca leaves.

But nonetheless, as a coca leaf picker he earns $144 a month -- three times more than he did in construction.

Like all the Venezuelan migrants, he keeps just enough to live on and

sends the rest to his family back home. It used to be only Colombians who came to Catatumbo, a region infested with armed groups and home since 2017 to 16.5 percent of the country’s illegal coca plantations. Since 2016, they’ve had to vie for work with Venezuelans.

An oil region rich in carbon, it’s a dangerous place to work. Rivers of blood have flowed due to the multifaceted armed conflict pitting leftist guerrillas, drug traffickers, paramilitaries and the armed forces against each other.

Eduar did not know what he was letting himself in for. Another Venezuelan, Naikelly Delgado, 36,

arrived in the small town of Pacelli with her sister in 2016.

She used to work in the petrochemical industry and initially found employment as a cook, but ended up in the plantations to earn more money. After her first day of work, she couldn’t even wash her clothes.

Continued to page 6

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