The Jakarta Globe

Interns Return From Japan With Optimism and Cash

The Jakarta Globe

A group of 104 Indonesians returned from an internship in Japan with money in their pockets and invaluable knowledge on Thursday night after finishing a three-year internship program.


Bagus Marijanto, the director of internship training in the ministry of manpower, said on Friday that the program which covered the electronics, engineering, manufacturing and building sectors, served to help decrease poverty in Indonesia.

“Since 1993, we have worked together with Japan’s International Manpower Development of Medium and Small Enterprises [IMM],” Bagus said. “We have successfully sent 30.856 people to Japan and 25,584 have returned to Indonesia. Currently there are still 5,272 interns in Japan,” he added.

The next stage in the process, he said, was that the ministry will help them find jobs.

“After they return, we provide them with a certificate from Japan International Training Cooperation Organization [JITCO] and IMM. They will also get a small business capital to start,” Bagus said.

“For those who still want to work, we will help them find a job with Japanese companies and arrange job interviews.”

Mohammad Fahri Sofyan, a former intern from Klaten, Central Java said he was pleased with this program.

“I graduated from science class at a public senior high school. Then I took a course at a training center, but it is difficult to find a decent job in Indonesia, so I decided to join this program.” Fahri said.

Fahri, who earned 80,000 Yen ($970) per month in the first year and then 135,000 yen per month after that, said he will put the money in the bank and look for job in indonesia.

“I hope I can get a job and save the money for my future.”

Another intern from Central Java, Anton Eko Hardiyanto, also praised the program.

“I will say that besides earning money, I have also learned a lot of knowledge from Japan and its people,” he said.

“Now that I’m back, I want to use my knowledge to help develop the country by sharing with other people who are willing to learn and work,” Anton said, adding that he plans to build a small business with the money he earned.

The program is held annually by the ministry of manpower. Anyone with senior high school or vocational school certificate is welcome to apply. For further information on the program, go tohttp://www.depnakertrans.go.id

7Wonders Saga Has Ministry Rethinking Strategy

The Jakarta Globe

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism said on Thursday that the New7Wonders of Nature debacle had taught it a very valuable lesson — to conduct a thorough screening of partners that it intended to work with in the future.


The New7Wonders foundation is running an online vote to name the new seven natural wonders of the world. Komodo Island National Park is Indonesia’s entrant.

Indonesia and the foundation have become embroiled in a dispute following the foundation’s allegations that the Ministry had reneged on its commitment to host an event to announce the competition’s winners.

The Ministry, however, said that there had been no agreement signed on the matter and that the foundation was asking for too much to hold the ceremony.

New7Wonders has stated that the Tourism Ministry is no longer allowed to officially support the park’s campaign because it had failed to meet its obligations.

The Ministry said they were scratched from the list because the foundation insisted that Indonesia pay $10 million in licensing fees and Rp 420 billion ($47 million) to host the ceremony. New7Wonders has denied such claims, saying the government’s only commitment was $10 million to support the private group organizing the ceremony.

Todung Mulya Lubis, a lawyer representing the ministry, said it was still mulling legal action against the foundation.

“We want to give them a lesson that as a foundation that attracts worldwide attention, they need to be fair with participants of the competition,” Todung said. “That the Ministry was removed after we refused to pay the millions of dollars must be questioned.

“We have sent them letters and they bounced back to us,” he added. “What kind of organization has no exact address that we can contact?”

Despite the controversy, Todung said, what really mattered was that Komodo Island received the attention it deserved.

Nia Niscaya, the ministry’s director of conventions, said it had only signed a Standard Participation Agreement with the foundation, which did not contain specifics on the matter of payment.

“They had told us that in order to host the award ceremony, we would have to pay a licensing fee of $7 million,” she said. “Suddenly, we were informed it had gone up to $10 million.”

Jakarta Sets Out Vision for City’s ERP Toll Scheme

The Jakarta Globe

If the proposed Electronic Road Pricing scheme eventually pushes through, Jakarta motorists may find themselves paying up to Rp 21,000 ($2.40) every time they travel through large parts of the city.


That is roughly the price ceiling being considered in the master plan for the ERP by the Jakarta Transportation Office, according to its chief, Udar Pristono.

“We are proposing an average tariff for the ERP ranging from between Rp 6,579 and Rp 21,072,” he said.

Udar said the prices took into consideration current tariffs on the city’s toll roads, comparative rates overseas, consumer surveys and the cost of so-called jockeys, who help motorists circumvent the city’s three-in-one carpool regulation.

However, he said his office would first propose a set tariff of Rp 12,500 for at least the first phase of the program, after which the price could be reviewed.

To implement the scheme, the office is proposing three electronic toll gates be installed on each stretch of road where the ERP would be implemented.

Two gates, at the start and end of the stretch, would verify vehicle license plates, while the other would process how much to automatically deduct from motorists’ accounts via the on-board unit.

The ERP scheme is hoped to replace the current three-in-one system that is made redundant by the abundance of jockeys, who offer their services for between Rp 10,000 and Rp 20,000 to help motorists meet the three-passenger minimum needed per vehicle at certain times on certain roads.

Udar said his office had already come up with areas where the ERP could be applied, many of which included roads that were not covered by the three-in-one scheme.

But before the project could proceed, Udar said the authorities still needed to wait for government regulation related to the 2009 Law on Traffic and Road Transportation, which is still being debated.

It also needed the 2009 Law on Regional Taxes and Levies to be revised in order to allow the city to receive revenues from the scheme.

Separately, Jakarta motorists said they were already wary of the proposed new system.

Maria Dewi Purwitasari, an office worker, said she worried about how it would impact her family’s monthly budget.

“My husband and I often take the Sudirman, Thamrin and Harmoni route to commute between home and work. But if the Jakarta administration implements the ERP like this, we will have to manage our monthly budget again,” she said.

Andy Lala, a journalist from Trijaya FM, said the proposed tariffs would probably be fine for most people but questioned what the city would do with those revenues. “Will we have well-maintained roads that won’t get flooded during the rainy season or what?” he said.

Udar said the ERP scheme was just one of three immediate steps the city planned to take to alleviate chronic traffic problems. The other two initiatives included the construction of five more busway corridors and the development of an integrated transportation system.

“Hopefully those three steps can begin this year,” he said. “We will work hard to reduce the capital’s traffic congestion.”

Meanwhile, Jakarta Deputy Governor Prijanto said the city administration and central government had finally agreed on how to structure the financing for the construction of a 14.3 kilometer-long Monorail project. The project had been dropped in the absence of any investor.

The expected Rp 4.42 trillion cost of the project would be divided equally between both parties, he said.

Agus Pambagio, from the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), said that to ease traffic, the city should in the short term work to provide an adequate busway fleet, put restrictions on motorcycle numbers, hike parking rates along busway routes, tighten issuance of driver’s licenses and create incentives for police to book traffic offenders.

“But to do all these things, a strong and daring leadership is needed to make decisions,” he said.

“A leader should be firm — and even a little bit crazy — in executing his policies.”

Filmmakers Critical of Govt Plan to Subsidize Patriotic Movies

The Jakarta Globe

The Indonesian film industry appeared lukewarm to the government’s plan to allocate a special budget to subsidize the production of films that “instill love to the nation, raise patriotism and national defense.”


Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik, speaking in Jakarta on Tuesday, said the subsidies would begin next year, though he did not say how much the program would cost.

“Good films that are full of messages of national character-building will be subsidized,” Jero said, adding that he would establish a team to determine the criteria for films to be subsidized.

Joko Anwar, a prominent Indonesian director, said the idea was not well considered.

“If the ministry only subsidizes films that improve patriotism, it would actually just foster the creation of bad patriotic movies,” he said.

“Filmmakers will try to meet the criteria needed to get the subsidy instead of focusing their creative efforts on producing a quality film.”

Ody Harahap, another local director of note, said that if the government pushes through the plan, it should have clear criteria and a transparent mechanism for doling out the subsidy.

“There is a possibility that the government will only support the filmmakers who have a close relation with the government,” he said.

Both directors said there were better ways to develop the local film industry.

Joko said supporting promising filmmakers instead of certain kinds of films was a better use of money, citing as an example the tax break provided by the New Zealand government to the producers of the Lord of the Rings franchise.

Ody suggested focusing efforts on improving facilities for Indonesian filmmakers.

“They can build a film school or a film library with a good collection so filmmakers can learn,” he said.

Jero also said he would pursue the implementation of more fiscal incentives in the form of tax reductions for national film production.

“The government will propose a zero percent tax for national film production,” he said.

The government recently implemented a zero taxation policy on importing raw materials used in film production.

Indonesia’s national film production has reached 100 titles a year and is expected to keep rising to reach 200 by 2014 to equal the number of imported films screened in theaters.

Jero said the government, through the Ministry of Finance, was still calculating the amount of tax for national film production. It is also still calculating the appropriate tax for imported films, he said.

Maroon 5 Run Into Tobacco Sponsorship Controversy in Indonesia

The Jakarta Globe


In yet another cigarette sponsorship controversy to hit Indonesia, American rock band Maroon 5 have requested that tobacco affiliations associated with its concert in Jakarta on April 27 be removed.

Again, the controversy has attracted international attention, with Internet petition host and blog Change.org saying that after receiving 180 letters complaining of Maroon 5’s tie-in with Gudang Garam’s Surya Professional Mild, the band “and their management moved quickly to have the tobacco company’s name removed from all posters and advertising.”

“Maroon 5’s management informed Change.org that the band does not have a direct sponsorship agreement with Surya Professional Mild, but that the entire concert series was sponsored by the company,” the organization said on its Web site.

“After learning from the petition that the band’s name was being used in conjunction with tobacco advertising, Maroon 5’s management contacted the tour promoter, Java MusikIndo, to immediately cease the use of the Surya brand in the promotion of the concert.”

Change.org noted that Maroon 5 was a group of artists involved in a new youth program that “encourages all young people to get connected and help create a world without cancer.”

“It seems ironic then, that after using their name to advocate for cancer awareness among youth, Maroon 5 is now helping to promote to youth a leading cause of cancer — cigarettes.”

Indonesia’s National Commission for Child Protection on Tuesday urged Java MusikIndo to withdraw the cigarette sponsorship and stop using tobacco companies to sponsor concerts.

The commission, also known as Komnas Anak, had sent a letter to the band and management on Jan. 20, requesting that Java Musikindo remove tobacco promotion.

Commission chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait also criticized the government, saying tobacco advertising should have already been banned given the health dangers that smoking posed.

He said that according to the law, tobacco was an addictive substance similar to alcohol.

“Therefore, if there is no alcohol advertisement through the media, tobacco should be treated the same say.” Arist said.

“It is very important also that the tour promoter find another alternative sponsor for their big events other than tobacco, especially when the tour promoter presents artists or musicians who have many teenage fans.”

Alex Papilaya, chairman of the Tobacco Support Center, said if foreign musicians could perform concerts free of tobacco sponsorship, so could local artists.

“All artists, foreigners or Indonesians, should also care about their fans. Slank for instance, if they can be an antidrug icon for their fans, they also can be anticigarette.” Alex said

He added that artists could also adopt antismoking themes in their music.

Triadi Noor, the director of Velvet Productions, an Indonesian tour promoter that refuses to plug cigarettes, said it was not difficult to promote concerts without tobacco sponsorship.

He said there were many alternative sponsors, including telecommunications companies, Internet providers and soft drink companies.

“We are doing it because we care about the … fans, who are the future … of this country.”

Indonesia Sends Out Mixed Signals in Film Ban Debate

The Jakarta Globe

The government has given conflicting messages about the ongoing controversy over curbing foreign-movie imports, with the customs office saying a ban may be enforced and the culture minister ruling out such a move.


Thomas Sugijata, director general of customs, said on Monday that in less than two weeks, three importers that had failed to pay royalties over the past two years could be barred from bringing in films.
“We sent them a letter on January 12 regarding this issue, and they have to respond by March 12,” he said. “If they fail to pay or to file an objection with the tax court by that time, we will have to revoke their import licenses.”
Thomas said the three importers owed Rp 31 billion ($3.5 million) in unpaid royalties and could face similarly steep fines for their failure to pay.
Seven other companies licensed to import movies have ceased operations, he said.
According to the tax law, importers have to pay 23.8 percent of a film’s customs value, including import tax, value-added tax and income tax.
Previously, royalties were not factored into the cost because distributors argued that the amount would only be known after the film was released.
The customs value of imported films had previously been based on the physical length of the film roll, with each meter valued at 43 cents.
The government now wants to tax royalties up front because a 2006 customs law stipulates that royalties should be included in the import-tax calculation.
The Motion Picture Association of America, which counts major Hollywood studios as members, said last month that the government’s decision to include royalties in its import tariffs would be detrimental to the flow of imported films into the country.
It also announced it would halt supplies of imported films to Indonesian cinemas pending the settlement of the dispute.
Jero Wacik, the minister of culture and tourism, said on Monday that any move to ban movie imports would kill the local film industry.
He also said the government was open to negotiations with film importers if they thought the royalties were too high.
“We’ll make every effort to keep foreign movies coming into Indonesia to keep the local film industry alive,” the minister said, “because the Indonesian film industry hasn’t been able to produce enough films to fill local screens.
“We also don’t want to force foreign-film lovers to resort to buying pirated DVDs by making the movies unavailable here.”
Jero said the government would still collect a percentage from ticket sales and the figure would depend on how popular a film was.
“If the film is popular and thus generates a large amount of revenue, the importers will have to pay a high tax,” he said. “But if it’s not popular, then they won’t have to pay that much. However, the final form of the tax scheme is still being discussed.”
Jero said the government would help improve the domestic film industry without shutting out foreign films.
He said the state would provide grants to encourage producers to make movies that would “have a good influence on developing the nation’s character.”
“Reducing the number of imported films in Indonesia is only one of the ways to safeguard the national culture and develop the nation’s character,” the minister said. “[We can also] reduce the tax on local films.”

Dipo Reports Metro TV to Press Council

The Jakarta Globe

Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam reported Metro TV to the press council on Monday for fueling a negative public opinion of him.


The action comes two days after executives from Metro TV and broadsheet Media Indonesia filed a lawsuit and police complaint against Dipo over his recent call for an advertising boycott of certain news organizations.
“We have no problem with the Media Group’s legal action,” Dipo’s lawyer, Amir Syamsuddin, told reporters at the Press Council’s office. “But we expect that while legal processes are under way, Metro TV will stop using their media to create a [false] public opinion of Dipo.”
The lawyer explained that for the past five days, Metro TV had continually run in its news ticker a sentence saying Dipo Alam calls for boycott of the Indonesian press.
“It is not fair that Metro TV keeps running the same text over these last five days without covering both sides. They have abused their authority for building a public opinion about Dipo Alam. Therefore we are only reporting Metro TV,” he said.
“We are not reporting TV One or Media Indonesia because they are not taking the same action as Metro TV in building a public opinion.”
Amir said he hoped the press council would remain impartial during the handling the case.
“We hope everything will be solved properly as Metro TV has attack an Indonesian citizen, Dipo Alam, by using their institution to control public opinion,” he said. “We won’t explain the details [of the report] until the press council takes a look at it.”

Misunderstanding Over Film Tax: Indonesian Govt

The Jakarta Globe

Foreign-film fans in Indonesia may still have reason to hope after a Finance Ministry official on Monday said the controversy over the tax on imported films was all a misunderstanding.


Thomas Sugijata, director of excise at the ministry, said there was in fact no new tax policy on imported films.

Foreign distributors on Thursday said they were halting the supply of imported films, believing the government was imposing a hefty additional tax.

The boycott meant that Indonesian fans would be denied seeing imported films, including the top overseas blockbusters.

“What there actually is,” Sugijata said, “is a reassessment of the customs value of imported films.” He added that the National Film Development Agency (BP2N) in February last year sent a letter recommending a reassessment of the customs value, which it said was too low.

The result, he said, was that foreign distributors would now be paying higher fees up front, but possibly lower fees on the back end.

“The royalty element was incorporated in the import value,” he said, which resulted in a higher customs value for the films. Previously, royalty payments were only calculated after a film had been distributed.

“This is really purely a matter of correct assessment, in line with the regulations.”

Heri Kristiono, a customs and excise technical director at the Finance Ministry, told reporters separately that the law on customs stipulates that royalties should be included in the import tax calculation.

“We plan to reassess the value this year,” Heri said. The royalty value, he said, depended on the agreement between the foreign distributor and the importer.

Heri said that the tax office had ratified the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, which states that in determining customs values, royalties — such as payments in respect to patents, trademarks and copyrights — should be included.

The foreign film distributors may have seen the higher taxes on imported films as the results of a new tax, he said, while the reason for the higher figures was the incorporation of royalty fees into the customs values.

Based on the current tax law, importers pay 23.75 percent of the film’s customs value, including import tax, value added tax and income tax.

Previously, royalties were not calculated because distributors argued that the amount would only be known after the film had been released, Heri said.

“Importers should know this. There are no problems with other royalties such as for books and music,” he said.

Darussalam, a tax expert from the University of Indonesia, said that such disputes in interpretation were always problematic in determining customs values across the world.

“There is nothing wrong with the government attempt to determine customs values based on royalties,” Darrusalam said.

Heri said the customs value of imported films had previously been based on the physical length of the film roll, with each meter valued at 43 cents.

“Therefore, there is no new levy or increase in import duty fees on imported film.”

Heri added that on Friday, the Directorate General of Customs, the Motion Picture Association and foreign film producers such as Walt Disney, Time Warner and Sony Pictures had discussed the newly appraised customs value of imported film. “Actually they have responded to us positively.

“However, they were to write to us about their concerns and objections, which we have not received until now.”

Tax schemes for local films also are being assessed.

Govt Pledges Review of Controversial New Indonesian Film Tax

The Jakarta Globe

Under fire for a potential new tax on foreign films that has led distributors to halt their importation, the government on Sunday promised to review the move.


The minister of culture and tourism, Jero Wacik, said the government wanted to support the development of the domestic film industry with the proposed new tax.

“We will review the Directorate General of Taxation’s circular issued in January on the new levy on imported films,” he said. “This is because we are not going to pursue regulations that have a bad effect on the public and threatened to kill the cinema industry here with their implementation.”

The minister said the government, if necessary, would also invite distributors to discuss how much they were prepared to pay. Imported films already pay a 23.75 percent excise duty and another 10 percent income tax. Local governments also levy up to a 15 percent tax on ticket sales.

Jero said a new tax arrangement for domestic and imported films would be finalized within two weeks. “We just want to clarify everything as soon as possible and don’t want to create any misunderstandings,” he said. “We just want to do what’s best for our national film industry.”

The minister said he would announce the final proposal for the tax scheme by National Film Day, which is on March 29. He said the government was not looking to pass any regulations that would kill off the film industry, but only wanted to improve quality.

Jero said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in December had directed him to help advance the domestic film industry and, in the process, help create new jobs. “The president requested that we improve and increase the number of Indonesian films,” the minister said.

There has been a barrage of criticism, both here and abroad, over the proposed tax. The Motion Picture Association, which represents some of the biggest studios in Hollywood, on Thursday told journalists in Jakarta that it would stop movie exports to the country because of the possible new levy, which was rumored to cost as much as 43 cents per meter of film imported.

The controversy surrounding the new tax and the film boycott has been a hot topic around water coolers across the country and on online social networking sites such as Twitter. The official line that the tax was aimed at helping develop the deomestic film industry has even been dismissed by those in the film industry.

Jero said the president had asked him to review the proposed tax regime after reading a comment from film director Hanung Bramantyo in the media about improving the domestic film industry without imposing new taxes.

Hanung said the Indonesian film industry would not be helped by taxing foreign films because it already had to deal with high levies that made producing local films costly.

Joko Anwar, another prominent Indonesian director, told the Jakarta Globe on Saturday that a new tax was not the best solution to improving the quality of local movies. “This will not have a direct impact on the Indonesian film industry but will actually help increase piracy in Indonesia because foreign films will become harder to get,” he said.

Joko said the government was this year targeting the production of more than 100 domestic films. “But we are not only talking about the number, it’s also about quality — we must increase the number of good quality Indonesian films,” he said. “The solution is to have zero percent tax on film production equipment. Another way would be to reduce the number of imported films to a ratio of about 60-40 between local and imported films.”

A Preview of What’s to Come Under the Imported Film Levy

The Jakarta Globe
A Preview of What’s to Come Under the Imported Film Levy

Higher taxes usually mean higher revenue for the government and more funds available for developing the country.


However, in the case of the new import tax on foreign film distribution rights that was issued last month but has yet to take effect, few people are seeing any benefit.

With foreign film distributors boycotting Indonesia as a result of the new import policy, cinema and film industry players, as well as those whose livelihoods are affected by these industries, are warning of a catastrophic domino effect.

Cinema Industry in Peril

Prominent film figure Noorca Massardi, chairman of the Indonesian Cinemas Association and spokesman for 21 Cineplex, provided a preview of things to come if the government refuses to revoke the policy.

“Every year, cinemas screen 50 to 80 local titles and 100 to 150 foreign titles,” he said. “If no solution is found, Indonesian cinemas will close down one by one.”

First, the livelihood of roughly 10,000 employees of 21 Cineplex, Indonesia’s largest movie theater chain, will be at stake, Noorca said in a statement published by Kompas.

One employee of a South Jakarta cinema said he and his co-workers were all worried about their jobs.

Blitz Megaplex, a more upscale theater chain, is also worried.

Dian Sunardi, head of marketing for Blitz, said the development is particularly worrying for the chain because it plans to open nine new screens in the next three weeks.

“We expect the government to revoke this regulation as it will kill the cinema industry along with the jobs of the people working for it,” she said.

Hurting Malls and Restaurants

The impact of the boycott is expected to reverberate beyond the cinema industry.

Cinemas are considered anchor tenants for shopping malls and are relied on heavily to draw in crowds, said Muhammad Arfan Purnama, a spokesman for Cilandak Town Square.

He added that the mall is already feeling the effect, especially after Oscar-nominated movies “Black Swan” and “127 Hours,” which were supposed to start screening on Friday, were put on hold after the boycott was announced on Thursday.

Arfan said traffic in the popular South Jakarta complex was noticeably lower on Saturday night compared to its usual weekends.

“If the government insists on implementing the new regulation, it will not only impact the cinema industry but also the malls and their tenants, like coffee shops and other restaurants that usually attract movie-going customers,” he said.

Lower Tax Revenue

When the levy comes into effect, the government itself will suffer from lower tax revenues.

Iwan Setiawandi, head of the Jakarta tax office, said on Sunday that cinemas contribute around 40 percent to 50 percent of the Rp 300 billion ($34 million) in entertainment tax collected by the city administration each year.

“Jakarta’s entertainment tax also comes from places such as Ancol theme park, night clubs and restaurants,” he said. “But losing 40 to 50 percent of the entertainment tax is substantial. It’s money we can use to improve health and education facilities.”

Iwan added that 21 Cineplex is the largest contributor to Jakarta’s entertainment tax collections.

“It will likely be even more difficult for the municipal administrations whose entertainment tax relies mostly on cinemas,” he added.

Disappointed Fans

Of course, there is also the understated impact of the boycott — the disappointed fans.

Shafiq, a member of Indo Harry Potter, an online fan community, said they were at a loss over the prospect of not being able to see the final installment of the Hollywood blockbuster series on the big screen.

“Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2,” the last of the eight-part movie series, is scheduled for worldwide release in July. For the previous films, special screenings have been held for IHP members, who come dressed as characters from the series.

“Last year, we successfully held a screening of ‘Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1’ with 500 participants, and we’re worried we will not be able to do it again,” Shafiq said.

He added that film lovers in general would lose an important source of entertainment, especially since in his opinion, “Indonesian films are often very poor in both quality and content.”

The One Exception

If any group would likely benefit from all this, it is the pirated DVD sellers the government claims it is trying to stamp out.

Nia Dinata, a prominent film director and producer, said it was expected that the boycott would lead to a huge boost in the piracy business in the country.

Because “the culture of going to the cinema will fade as film lovers get used to watching pirated DVDs,” she said, it was likely even fans of Indonesian films would opt to buy bootleg copies instead of going to theaters.

“If the government wants to help to increase the number of Indonesian films and improve the quality of the local film industry, this is not the solution,” she said.