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Indonesia’s Aceh Province Introduces Curfew Banning Women From Work, Entertainment Venues After 11PM

The capital of Indonesia’s Aceh province has banned women from working or attending entertainment venues late at night, legally requiring them to be home by 11:00pm, Banda Aceh’s mayor says.

Internet cafes, tourist sites, sports facilities and entertainment venues have been instructed to refuse service to women after 11:00pm unless they are accompanied by a husband or male family member.

The directive, which came into effect on June 4, will also bar women from working in such businesses after the cut-off time, in a bid to protect them from sexual harassment.

“Our aim is to provide protection to female employees, especially those who work in area such as cafes, restaurants, internet cafes and tourist attractions,” Banda Aceh mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal said.

“Women in Aceh are vulnerable to sexual harassment so we want to protect them from untoward incidents.”

The new measures also ban children from being unaccompanied in public places after 10:00pm.

Businesses that insist on making their female employees work beyond the curfew risk losing their licence, while women who break the rules would be reprimanded.

“They will be asked to go home and be given a warning,” Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal said.

Women in certain professions, like nursing, are exempt from the curfew, she said.

Aceh is the only Indonesian province that implements Islamic law and makes homosexuality, gambling and drinking alcohol punishable by caning. It also reprimands women for wearing form-fitting clothing.

The chief of Indonesia’s national commission for violence against women said the measure would only restrict women’s freedom and threaten their livelihoods.

“The government should stop meddling in women’s affairs,” said Azriana, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name.

“If the intention of the Aceh government is to provide protection for women, it must instead educate the public and men to respect women or provide security at the nightspots.”

The decision comes just a month after unmarried men and women were banned from riding together on a motorbike in one of Aceh’s districts.

Indonesia has the world’s biggest Muslim population, but the vast majority practise a moderate form of the faith.

Source: www.abc.net.au

June 10, 2015
39 Year Old Youth Counsellor Jailed Seven Months For Taking Nude Photos Of 12 Year Old Girl

He volunteered by counselling troubled youths. Yet, the 39-year-old preyed on the 12-year-old daughter of a friend, asking her to strip for his camera when she asked him for money.

Today (June 9), District Judge Low Wee Ping sentenced the man, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, to seven months’ jail and chided him.

“I find it ironic that you were once a counsellor for troubled youths, yet you did this to the girl,” said the judge.

District Judge Low also took issue with the defence lawyer for underplaying the severity of the crime. “If you think it is merely taking a naked photo, then you don’t know what you’ve done and what the law is trying to protect,” he said, adding that “sexual exploitation of a child” was a better description of what had transpired.

The court heard that the man was a friend of the victim’s mother, and had on previous occasions given the victim small sums of money ranging from S$2 to S$10.

On April 25, 2012, the victim asked the man for S$300 to buy a handphone. The man called the victim’s friend, a 17-year-old sales assistant, later in the evening asking them to go to his Ang Mo Kio home. As she was uncomfortable going there alone, the victim asked her friend to accompany her.

Once there, he said he would teach them how to make money by becoming a “hostess”. Despite her reluctance, she was persuaded to strip naked and pose on the bed for a photo, which the man took with his mobile phone. The next day, a family friend of the girl’s reported the incident to the police.

Today, defence lawyer S S Dhillon argued that the victim was a “runaway girl” and that her mum had confided in his client about her problems. The man had not touched her either, he added.

Pleading for leniency, he highlighted the man’s “contributions to society”, such as speaking to delinquents about not re-offending and voluntarily contributing S$27,000 to eight Nepalese earthquake victims.

But deputy public prosecutor Dillon Kok pressed for a sentence of six to eight months’ imprisonment, citing the aggravating factors in the case, including the victim’s young age and his persuading her to pose naked despite her reluctance. “It is not even taking a picture of a naked girl. It’s child porn,” Mr Kok added.

The maximum punishment for the offence under the Children and Young Persons Act is five years’ jail and/or a S$10,000 fine.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 10, 2015
White House Press Room Evauated Briefly After Bomb Threat

WASHINGTON — Secret Service officers on Tuesday evacuated the White House briefing room “as a precaution” after Washington police received a bomb threat by telephone at 1:53 p.m. specifically concerning the room, Secret Service officials said.

The evacuation was limited to the briefing room and did not affect any other sections of the White House, the Secret Service said. Tourists were also moved away from the North Lawn to the far side of Lafayette Square.

Journalists and White House officials first gathered just outside the West Wing, and were then told to assemble inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is across from the West Wing.

After a short time, the news media was allowed back into the briefing room.

Earlier on Tuesday, multiple floors of the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill were evacuated and one entrance closed after the Capitol Police received a call reporting a suspicious package in one room. The building was reopened a little while later. At the same time, Capitol Police responded to a report of another suspicious package at the Russell Senate Office Building, which turned out to be an unattended cooler.

Source: www.nytimes.com

June 10, 2015
NUS Retain Top Spot, NTU Moves Up To Fourth, In Asian University Rankings

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has maintained top spot in an annual ranking of Asian universities released on Wednesday morning, while Nanyang Technological University (NTU) moved up from the seventh to fourth place.

London-based education and career consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), ranks Asia’s top 300 universities based on nine criteria including academic reputation, employer reputation, student-faculty ratio, papers per faculty and citations per paper.

NTU has reached its highest ever position since the rankings were first compiled in 2009, after moving up three places in 2014.

QS said NUS achieved the maximum score in the academic reputation indicator, based on more than 42,000 responses from academics from the region and around he world, while NTU achieved a nearly perfect score.

Both universities also achieved the maximum score in the employer reputation indicator based on the opinion of almost 12,000 employers who took part in the survey.

QS said although both universities had a low score in terms of the number of papers published, they scored highly when the impact of their research was measured by the number of citations per paper.

NUS ranked third regionally for citations per paper while NTU was 12th.

QS said the citation ranking reveals that the research output of the two universities “achieves a significant impact among the international scientific community and the world at large”.

Mr Ben Sowter, QS head of research, said: “The leading Singaporean universities have an insatiable quest for excellence and an unwavering ambition, supported by a favourable environment which places education and innovation among the top priorities of the city-state’s agenda.

“The historical analysis of the rankings shows that to maintain their position year on year, universities need to constantly improve. Hence, when they rise or if they stay firmly at the top of the table, it means that they are effectively progressing perceptibly faster than their peers.”

Hong Kong University was placed second, followed by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

NUS president Professor Tan Chorh Chuan said: “We are very encouraged that the University is highly regarded and valued by employers and academics in Asia and the world.

“This is a reflection of NUS’ distinctive education and broad-based research excellence, which are results of the strong contributions made by dedicated NUS faculty, staff and students.”

NTU president, Professor Bertil Andersson said: “Singapore should be very proud to have two highly acclaimed universities among Asia’s top four.

“This is a remarkable feat for this small country and especially meaningful that it has come during Singapore’s Golden Jubilee year.

“It shows that Singapore’s continued investments in education and research are reaping good results.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 10, 2015
Iskandar Jalil First Singaporean Artist To Receive Prestigious Japanese Award

Renowned local potter Iskandar Jalil was conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette by the Japanese Ambassador to Singapore Haruhisa Takeuchi on Tuesday (Jun 9).

Twelve Singaporeans have received the award since 1967, but Mr Iskandar is the first local artist to receive the prestigious award. The award bestowed by the Emperor of Japan, recognises Mr Iskandar’s contributions, through pottery, in building cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and Singapore for over 40 years.

“He has been a friend of Japan for so many years, and we are also very much appreciative of his work and his attitude to the younger generation – to inspire the younger artists to try to do their best,” said Mr Haruhisa Takeuchi. “It is very much a delight for us (to confer this award), and a privilege as well.

“Over the years, he’s been a frequent visitor to the potteries in Japan, and through his activities both in Japan and Singapore, there has been happy interaction between the two cultures through pottery. So I think that’s been very significant.”

But in his acceptance speech, Mr Iskandar said the focus should be less on winning awards, and more on creating a new generation of artists.

He added that the way in which pottery and crafts are taught needs to be changed – urging young artists to not just dabble in the craft, but to take on apprenticeships lasting 30 or 40 years. “There is no shortcut. You work with a master potter, with the university, and you improve a lot that way. But it takes a long time,” he said.
“If we Singaporeans are in a hurry, it’s difficult for them to understand then and achieve what they want. Whereas in Japan, you have to learn the basics. There is always the rule, the methodology, the way it should be done.”

The Japanese ambassador and Mr Iskandar with their spouses and Minister of State for Culture Community and Youth Sam Tan, with the Patent of Decoration. (Photo: Loke Kok Fai)

Mr Iskandar also hoped that people and institutions would be able to appreciate people for their potential, rather than forcing them into fields they cannot perform in. “It’s about understanding what the material can do for us, then can it be successful. We should understand our students, what they can do, what they should do.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 10, 2015