More than 600 high-powered individuals from business and government the world over arrived in Indonesia’s capital impressed by the skyscrapers and city buzz. Their worries - over rising inflation and the state of the United States (US) economy, the Doha trade talks stalemate and the nature of the Sino-US relationship – emerged over meals of gado-gado and sago in coconut milk. 

But after commiseration and cocktails, they left even more bullish about Indonesia's - and Asia's - growth prospects. Many expressed goodwill and praise for Singapore’s successes – as a dynamic economy and comfortable place to live and work in. 

Yet on several occasions, the nature and uniqueness of Singapore's political system inadvertently came under the spotlight. This system has resulted in a one-party government (read: anathema to most Western liberals) that has delivered prosperity to its people but now finds itself having to better manage their feelings and aspirations. 

What was amusing – to some in the audience and this journalist – was how the panelists at the forum chose to overlook any comments, whether intended or not, that could be perceived as veiled criticisms of Singapore's political system. One wondered if they were just being polite, or purposely choosing to walk on eggshells around Singapore. 

Take Sunday's plenary ceremony with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, where both leaders took part in a wide-ranging discussion on challenges facing world leaders and solutions they had to adopt. 

WEF chairman Klaus Schwab, who moderated the session, asked Mr Lee how the direct and 'impatient idealism' of young people could be managed when it came to government decision-making. 

His preamble however, contained an unintended blooper. Professor Schwab had begun: 'When you run a democracy, or you don't run a democracy, but if you lead in a democracy, I would say this phenomenon of empowerment of young people…' 

Chuckles could be heard throughout the room mid-way through Professor Schwab's sentence, even if both he and Mr Lee showed no reaction. Mr Lee promptly answered the question with a straight face. 

On Monday, chairman of the Media Development Authority's International Advisory Panel Tan Chin Nam took part in a panel discussion on how countries could brand themselves. He spoke of how the island-state had invested in 'place-making' – such as bringing the Formula One race to its shores and creating the Marina Bay leisure and entertainment area – to make itself attractive as a destination for professionals, families and tourists.  The session's moderator, chief executive officer of advertising giant WPP, Sir Martin Sorrell, was quick to predict that within the next five years, a major Western multinational would locate its global headquarters in Singapore. 

In the next breath however, fellow panellist and World Tourism Organization secretary-general Taleb Rifai urged countries 'not to discount politics in brand-building'. He went on to stress the importance of strong political foundations and the rule of law, while emphasising a commitment to 'new values'. 

Taken in the context of the opinions he expressed throughout the session, Mr Rifai was urging countries to strive for political stability as this would help to sustain their reputations as safe and attractive tourism destinations. 

Some people at the session though did wonder if his comments were targeted at Singapore. Sir Martin, for one, immediately jumped in to highlight how Singapore's strong governance had been a winning factor in its success story, upon which Mr Rifai clarified that he was not trying to suggest otherwise. Mr Tan looked on, seeming slightly amused. 

As the session moved to a close, a participant from Kuala Lumpur seated next to me said she was amused by what had occurred and asked if I had been present at Professor Schwab's 'faux pas' the day before. 

I said I had, and added that I was equally amused by the reactions of panellists and participants. In my opinion, the panellists seemed to be making an unnecessarily concerted effort to protect the feelings of the Singaporeans at the summit. 

'It is quite funny,' she replied. 

'But well, for such a small country, you guys do have quite a big influence on those around you.' 

Besides a handful of museums – like the National Gallery which houses changing fine art exhibitions – there are also numerous galleries in the south of the city.

A year ago, nine galleries got together to launch the Jakarta Art District in the basement of the popular Grand Indonesia mall, showcasing an array of avant-garde and contemporary fine art.

Last week, one of Jakarta’s newest art spaces – a marketing gallery belonging to property developers Ciputra - unveiled the city’s latest annual art event: the Jakarta Contemporary.

Under a balmy evening sky, a host of artists, critics, socialites and Mr Ciputra himself – known as one of Jakarta’s foremost architects and ethnic Chinese businessmen – toured the inaugural exhibition titled 1,001 Doors: Reinventing Tradition.

INTERPRETATIONS

The organisers had gotten 101 artists from across Indonesia to offer their interpretations of the theme.

Upon viewing the final works, the curators chose to organise the exhibition around eight sub-themes, such as "Door to Traditional Space" where the works dealt with traditional Indonesian heritage and "Virtual Doors", where artists chose to use their imagination and present metaphorical doors.

I returned to the exhibition on a breezy Sunday afternoon to take a closer look at the exhibits and was struck by how nostalgia ruled for many artists.

Bandung-born batik designer Tri Asayani chose to draw on memories of her late father, a batik-maker who used to produce traditional pieces for Japanese clients.

She printed layers of organdy cloth with batik, putting an image of her father on it, and hung the cloth within a wooden cabinet frame, with its doors open.

Further down, Jakarta-based artist Iswanto Hartono chose to simply use a weathered wooden door, complete with pencil markings.

Around half of the artists chose to showcase a door itself in its different wooden and metal forms, embellished with unique touches and a sense of humour.

Bali-based Pintor Sirait had a stainless-steel airplane exit door titled "Get Me Out of Here". The curators also included street artists Respecta Street Art Gallery, whose work can be found on the walls of underpasses in Jakarta.

Their extensive wall mural was wild and colourful, featuring a giant mouse and a woman perched on a toilet seat with the words "And if the door to your heart is locked, I will enter through the window" - in Bahasa Indonesia - above her head.

Indonesia’s renowned clothmaker and designer Josephine Komara, better known as Obin, presented a portal - an entry point for traditional and modern culture to mingle.

She draped multitudes of handcrafted fabric in various prints and colours around a circular metal frame with a hole in the middle  "like a donut", she quipped privately.

Visitors, including many youngsters and a number of tourists, were suitably impressed by the array of talent on display. What added to their enjoyment - and mine - was the venue.

The gallery is set back from a busy main road lined with dirty shophouses and clogged with cars and motorcycles. Yet barely 20 metres away from the madness is a glass-house structure with high ceilings and plenty of natural light.

That Sunday, as leafy shrubs and trees bowed and swayed, and prosperous and golden koi fish flipped and darted through a body of water snaking around the building, it hardly felt like downtown Jakarta.

lynnlee@sph.com.sg

I asked those I interviewed about the impact of syariah bylaws on their daily lives. Many expressed concerns that it was being taken too far by the Wilayatul Hisbah (WH) or syariah police, and was giving Aceh an unnecessarily bad reputation.

They said that as pious Muslims, they believed that syariah principles should govern their behaviour but that it should not be enforced aggressively on residents.

Neither should syariah be used as the basis for local officials to abuse their power, they added.

Yesterday, the Human Rights Watch released its report on abuses in the application of syariah laws in Aceh. They highlighted commonly-heard examples of abuse - of women who were confronted by WH for sharing a meal in public with ale friends, of women being detained for supposedly dressing immodestly, and of sexual harassment of women by WH and vigilante members of the community.

Things got interesting in the Q&A session afterwards. A man who looked to be in his late 20s stood up and declared that he was a member of the hardline Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia group. The group has campaigned against democracy, called for stonings and believes in the widespread implementation of syariah law, despite Indonesia being a diverse melting pot of ethnicities and religions.

He then launched into a diatribe against capitalism and how it encourages discrimination against women. When the event moderator, a well-known human rights activist, asked him to get to the point and ask his questions, he said that it was not possible for society to live without laws and asked the group if they believed that people could live without regulations. 

He then added: "And is it fair to stigmatise those who commit abuse and then say that all Islamic law is not good because of these perpetrators?"

Several among the 40 or so journalists, diplomats and civil society representatives had scrunched up their noses at the man as he spoke. The panelists - comprising Human Rights Watch representatives and members of civil society - did not answer the man's questions directly and they probably made the right decision.

Previous instances of dialogue between hardliners and more secular or moderate members of society here have not necessarily turned out productive, let alone positive.

And the event was hardly the place for a discussion on whether syariah law should or should not be implemented. It was a means of pointing out that the way it is currently implemented lends to human rights abuses, and is not in keeping with Islamic principles.

To quote the HRW report: "Several Islamic scholars, from Aceh as well as elsewhere in Indonesia, stressed to Human Rights Watch that there is not an inherent theoretical conflict between most aspects of human rights law, Indonesian national law, and the implementation of syariah law in Aceh."

Academic Yusni Sabi, who was quoted in the report, added that the basic teachings of Islam are compatible with human rights.

This point was raised many times by two senior officials I spoke to, who were from the government office in charge of implementing syariah bylaws. They were extremely persuasive in their argument that Aceh's syariah bylaws were for the benefit of society.

One official said that the laws existed as a form of "protection", adding that if women could not be bothered to dress modestly or keep themselves "pure", the local government should act as their moral compass. 

When I asked the other official what he thought of the West Aceh regent who had implemented a no-pants bylaw for women in his regency, the official paused and said while he agreed with the fundamental aim - to promote non-figure hugging clothes - he felt the policy could have been explained and communicated better, so that it would not be seen as an attack on women's rights, especially by foreign media.

As I stood up to leave his office, he complimented me on the beige pants I was wearing.

"Ah, these are suitably loose-fitting," he said, reaching out to grab the cloth along my right calf.

"They're from Singapore? The shops should sell pants like these here," he exclaimed, as I hastily but politely took my leave.

Read Lynn Lee's story on the Human Rights Watch report in the paper today

Mrs Obama's choice of outfits in India reflected her elegant taste, and an effort to pay tribute to India's heritage of richly-coloured, finely-detailed and hand-crafted textiles.

At a state dinner in New Delhi, she chose the creations of American designer Rachel Roy (who is of Indian and Dutch heritage), pairing a gold tunic with a metallic silver floor-length velvet skirt.

Then, at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, she paired a stretchy black top with a quirky flower pin on her left shoulder, and a lush green and purple skirt by Belgian designer Dries van Noten. The colours blended in with the greenery of the site, and the rose petals that Mr and Mrs Obama scattered on the memorial.

Writer Robin Givhan of the Washington Post pointed out that Mrs Obama's choice of outfit 'speaks to India's expertise in embroidery and beading'.

Designer Van Noten, Ms Givhan went on to say, 'is known for his love for ethnic-inspired fabrics and lavish decoration [and] is particularly indebted to the country's skill at fine handiwork'.

In Indonesia, Mrs Obama's outfits seemed purposefully modest, but unnecessarily so.

On the tarmac in Jakarta's Halim airport, she was all covered up in a black-and-red patterned tunic and black flare pants, in the style of the Indian salwar-kameez. At the state dinner later, she wore a brown and taupe printed dress by Chinese-American designer Derek Lam. The dress prints were reminiscent of traditional ikat - woven and dyed - fabric. She also wore a bib necklace with a pretty gold and brown stones by Indian designer Ranjana Khan but the necklace ended up blending into the dress.

However, her chartreuse pantsuit the next morning, when she visited the Indonesia’s famed Istiqlal Mosque, was a flop. It was unflattering and the pants were too long - in fact, they were dragging on the ground and she had to hold them up.

The Mrs O blog, which charts Mrs Obama's fashion choices, said the First Lady had debuted the pantsuit in July, when she wore it cinched at the waist with a glittery belt and heels. But when buttoned up, paired with stockinged feet and a silk scarf - fashioned into a headscarf, as she covered her head to follow Muslim custom - she looked plain frumpy.

Mrs Obama's chartreuse pantsuit failed to impress. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

It was almost as if the First Lady, who had the right intentions of dressing modestly, was given the wrong advice by her aides. Some 90 per cent of Indonesia's population are Muslim, but they are mostly moderate and would not bat an eyelid at form-fitting clothes in the big cities. Jakarta women especially are not afraid of showing skin – this is particularly obvious at dance clubs and wine lounges. At gala events, the traditional kebaya has been spotted both glammed-up and deconstructed, in an array of bright colours, embellished with bling, with see-through lace and thigh-high slits.

At the Istiqlal mosque, Mrs Obama would have been expected to wear something conservative, but this could have taken the form of a flowing caftan, long harem pants with a tunic or even tailored pants and a structured long jacket, all paired with some baubles. Those items do star in the collections of Indonesia's 'Islamic' fashion designers.

Fashionistas here would have wanted to see more traditional textiles - from batik to woven fabrics like
songket and tenun - on the First Lady. For now, they can only wait in hope to see if a homegrown designer
gets his day in the sun. Paris-trained Priyo Oktaviano made a bright purple sleeveless dress from Balinese songket which he presented to Mrs Obama earlier this week. Mr Priyo is a well-known face in the Jakarta fashion circuit, his drapey-tunic dresses and whimsical brocade designs popular among professionals and the tai-tai set. He said he had looked up Mrs Obama's size on the Internet.

There has been no word on whether Mrs Obama kept the dress or if so, whether she will wear it.

But Mr Priyo, in comments to The Jakarta Globe, said: 'Michelle liked the songket.'

IN JAKARTA

THE committee in charge of promoting human rights throughout the Asean bloc is set to find its work a little easier, now that it can tap on information and statistics from an independent research centre.

The Human Rights Resource Centre for Asean was formally launched yesterday and will be housed at the University of Indonesia’s campus an hour outside Jakarta. It will play a supporting role to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). For instance, by carrying out bloc-wide surveys on the rule of law and research into migrant workers, while conducting training for activists on pertinent human rights issues and advocacy work.

To do this, the centre itself will tap on a host of universities and academic institutions in the region. They include the Singapore Management University, the National University of Singapore, the University of Malaya and Pannasastra University in Cambodia.

But the centre’s work can only be as good as the quality of the academics involved. And this is why it is important for other top institutions in the region to come on board.

At yesterday’s launch, representatives from Vietnam and Brunei institutions, among others, were conspicuously missing.There was some talk that some Asean members had preferred that the resource centre be based in Singapore, as it would be more of a "middle ground". Indonesia, despite grappling with its own alleged human rights violations in the western province of Papua, has been extremely proactive in pushing Asean's human rights agenda. It has been among the most vocal in suggesting that Myanmar embark on a democratisation process.

The resource centre’s chairman, a former Attorney-General of Indonesia, Mr Marzuki Darusman said the centre had issued an open invitation to institutions in Asean through a post on its website. But not all schools were able to commit, due to "administrative issues". This included not having a focus on human rights research at their schools.

"We had to get on with this launch. But we are still open to any institutions who are keen to participate. We will keep them posted on what we do," he said.

He added that he was hoping to see more interest from other institutions if the centre kickstarted its survey on women’s and children’s rights.

The centre has received great support from foreign embassies and even the United Nations’ Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights.

Mr Homayoun Alizadeh, who represented the UN office at the event, spoke of how individual countries were grappling with their own challenges when it came to human rights. Thailand for instance, was still dealing with issues of child pornography and prostitution, while accusations of rights violations by the military continued to swirl in the Phillipines and Indonesia, he said.

Most recently in Indonesia, a video allegedly showing Indonesian security forces torturing two separatists in Papua have caused a major uproar among activists. The government has promised to look into the matter, but activists say there are countless other cases of military abuses that have gone unreported.

For now though, it seems as though the centre and the commission will not be conducting any country-specific studies, or use its mandate to pressure individual countries to buck up when it comes to their human rights track record.

More cynical activists have said that this is why Asean’s human rights efforts could end up being a mere public relations exercise.

This is why it is all the more crucial for more academic institutions to get on board with the centre’s aims. Creating a network of experts and encouraging a greater focus on human rights research could be the first step towards more hard-hitting advocacy.

SINCE its first commercial flight in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines, the Airbus A380 has been viewed with a certain exclusivity. Its wide-body and double deck means the four airlines now using it can play with space. First-class passengers can enjoy spa showers, private suites with flatbeds and even a cocktail bar.

On June 3, Airbus executives went on a different tack.  In a span of five hours, they attempted to convince a visiting Indonesian delegation – comprising officials from the government and state-owned Garuda Airlines – of the A380’s versatility as a mass transportation carrier.

To boost their sales pitch, they rolled out an elegant lunch at their in-house restaurant – where two-star  Michelin chef Michel Sarran oversees the menu  – and a variety of positive numbers.

The A380 can fit up to 853 all-economy seats. It has been described as fuel efficient – burning 20 per cent less fuel per passenger compared to the wide-bodied Boeing 747-400.

As vice-president of marketing at Airbus, Mr Andy Shankland, put it: "The A380 is the solution for Indonesia’s haj transportation."

Final fix-ups to another SQ A380 in the Airbus final assembly line plant
ST Photo: Lynn Lee

Indeed, the Airbus team touched on a pertinent issue for Garuda, which leases aircraft each year to transport slightly over 50 per cent of the 200,000 Indonesian Muslims doing their pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. Through 300 flights, it shuttles pilgrims from 10 Indonesian cities to Jeddah and back.

Garuda’s dynamic chief executive officer Emirsyah Satar is well-aware of a potential glitch in this process. Haj season will take place in the summer for around 15 years, starting from 2014. As summer is a peak travel period, Garuda may not be able to get the planes it needs at the price it wants.

It takes 30 days to send the pilgrims across and another 30 to bring them back. Each flight has between 300 and 455 seats. The price for each pilgrim is set by the government – this year it is USD$1745 (S$2,465).

The haj route is hardly a money-making one for Garuda, which is among a handful of profitable airlines these days. The carrier booked Rp 1 trillion (S$151.5 million) in profits last year – partly due to the eight-fold spike in domestic air travel since 1999.

While Garuda’s flights to Jeddah are packed, they return empty during the first 30 days. In the subsequent month after the haj ends, the flights go to Jeddah empty but return full, said the airline’s vice-president of corporate communications, Mr Pujobroto.

"With the Airbus A380, it means capacity could be doubled," he said. The list price of an A380 is around US$340 million.

Mr Shankland emphasised this point in a snazzy 20-minute presentation. The A380 would reduce transportation time by two weeks and it would be more cost-efficient, he said. For instance if each haj flight had 768 seats, the airline could potentially see US$30 million cost savings each year.

To emphasise the point, the Airbus team presented to their guests an A380 model painted with Garuda’s blue and green logo on its tail. This came after an exquisite three-course lunch of scampi and white asparagus, roasted veal with purple artichokes and a creamy yuzu, pear and violet tart with lime sorbet.

A380 model presented to Garuda executives. From right:
Mr Emirsyah Satar, Garuda CEO; Mr Tom Enders, Airbus CEO;
Mr Mustafa Abubakar, State-owned Enterprises Minister;
ST Photo: Lynn Lee

Even as he thanked Airbus executives for their hospitality, Mr Emirsyah would not reveal if the A380 would be on the airline’s shopping list.  But he acknowledged that Garuda was "hitting an iceberg with regards to the haj flights, so we will have to make a decision soon".

State-owned enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar, who was in the delegation, added: "It is a definitely a cost-effective solution, but we will have to analyse and look at its prospects first."

Garuda has big plans ahead. It aims to fly 27.6 million passengers in 2014 and raise its operating revenue to Rp 57.9 trillion then. It recently re-launched its Jakarta-Amsterdam route and will open routes to London and Rome in the near future. It aims to launch an initial public offering by this year to raise US$300 million.

In the past months, analysts have been very bullish about the airline, citing the strong growth prospects in the Indonesian travel market, among other things. Having done their homework on Garuda’s recent rise, the Airbus folk probably feel the same way.

LIKE the victory champagne spray at Formula One races, the Garuda Airlines plane that landed at Schipol Airport on Wednesday morning was doused with bursts of water from two chilli-red fire engines.

Garuda Airlines plane that landed at Schipol Airport; the first flight to Europe since the ban was lifted. PHOTO: Lynne Lee

There was applause and cheers all round from the 160 passengers onboard, as they watched the traditional welcome for new aircraft or planes flying new routes taking place under clear blue skies.

It had been a 16 hour journey from rainy and muggy Jakarta the night before, but many of them — Indonesian government officials, foreign ambassadors,  journalists and tour groups — were in high spirits.  

Garuda's affable chief executive officer Emirsyah Satar made multiple visits to the Economy cabin to chat with familiar faces, while suited dignitaries joked amongst themselves in groups during the hour-long stopover in Dubai.

Flight GA 88 marked Garuda's long-awaited return to European airspace, after struggling with financial problems and taking a hit to its reputation.

Amsterdam was chosen as the first city, said Transport Minister Freddy Numberi later, because of the "strong emotional relations" between Indonesia and the Netherlands.

The airline last flew to Amsterdam in October 2004. It canned all European routes then as the travel industry took a beating from Sars and terrorist threats.

In June 2007, the European Union banned all Indonesian airlines from entering its airspace due to a series of air safety violations that had led to fatal accidents on Indonesian soil.

Mr Emirsyah, a former banker who took charge of Garuda in 2005, took the ban in his stride. He and his team had already kick-started austerity measures as the airline was sinking under a US$900 million (S$1.27 billion) debt.

Among other things, he cut unprofitable routes and returned leased aircraft, while simultaneously ramping up service quality and building up Garuda's brand name. 

As the demand for air travel picked up — with a strong boost coming from the Indonesian market — he and his team began upgrading the airline's fleet.

Last year, the EU overturned the ban, paving the way for Garuda's return to Europe.

Tour guide Handika Widjaja was on Tuesday's inaugural flight. He said he was impressed from the start.

"It is much better than before," he said, sinking back into the newly-upholstered seats in the spacious two-aisle A330-200. He said he was leading a group of 20 Indonesian tourists to Brussels and Paris in addition to Amsterdam. Each tourist paid less than US$2,000 for the whole trip, he said.

"We heard about the first flight and they wanted to be on it," he said of his clients. "It's good that Garuda is going back to Europe. It gives travellers an additional option, since they prefer Asian and Middle-Eastern airlines for longer flights. The food and service are better."

Some 25 movies were available to passengers  via personalised touch-screen entertainment systems. Smiling stewardesses — dressed in red and turquoise kebayas created by renowned batik fashion designer Josephine "Obin" Komara —  served up sandwiches, scented wet wipes and meals comprising of traditional Indonesian favourites like nasi kuning and beef rendang.

As passengers disembarked at 8.15am into a crisp, cool Amsterdam morning, they were greeted by festive music and women dressed in the traditional Dutch lady costumes handing out tulips to them.

Mrs A Singelenberg, 80, who was waiting to get on the 11am return flight to Jakarta with her 85-year-old husband beamed as she explained the reason for their month-long visit.

"We were married in 1950 in Bandung. It's our 60th year together and when we heard about the Garuda flight promotion, we decided we’d go back to Jakarta and Bandung. We haven't been there in a few years."

As she and her husband shared a smile, she added: "It will be a nostalgic trip. Four weeks of us trying to relive our younger days."

IN JAKARTA

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama last week cancelled his trip to Indonesia this week to push through – successfully – a hotly-debated plan to overhaul the healthcare system in the US.

On hearing the decision from the White House, most Indonesians graciously agreed that it was more important for Mr Obama to settle pressing domestic issues first.

One wonders if they privately wished that healthcare reform could also be a top priority of the government here.

Indonesia’s healthcare system has been described as a "letdown" multiple times, with two recent commentaries highlighting just how weak the system is.

Time magazine journalist Jason Tedjasukmana, who also heads the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club, wrote in the magazine in February about how his eye condition was misdiagnosed by doctors in Jakarta.

By the time he sought second and third opinions in Singapore and the US, vernal conjunctivitis had already damaged his cornea.

Earlier in the month of March, senior journalist Kornelius Purba at The Jakarta Post told of his wife’s suffering, after a spinal operation nine years ago, which left her paralysed.

The doctor who performed the operation assured Mr Kornelius that the rod inserted into his wife’s back was of good quality and the only way to save her life. Over the years, his wife’s claims of pain were dismissed by doctors, who insisted that nothing was wrong with the rod.

However, a recent scan done by a Malaysian doctor showed that the rod had indeed moved and was the cause of the pain.

Asked if another operation should be done to replace the rod, the doctor said he could only diagnose the problem but that he would not be able say which “alternative was best”. Mr Kornelius’s conclusion was that the Malaysian doctor had not tried to impose his will. But, he wrote: “In Indonesia, doctors are always right and never wrong. And even when they are wrong, they are always right”.

Wrong diagnoses and mistakes during medical procedures apparently occur frequently here, although there are no facts to prove it beyond multiple anecdotes. A commonly-heard occurrence is doctors misdiagnosing human bird flu as dengue fever, or dengue fever as typhoid. 

Last year, a hospital dropped its lawsuit against a patient who blasted doctors in an email circulated to friends, after she was wrongly diagnosed with dengue fever. Her problem turned out to be mumps. The hospital alleged that the mother-of-three had attacked the hospital unnecessarily but it was forced to drop its lawsuit after politicians and the public rallied behind the patient.

Observers have blamed shoddy medical education – some even allege that one can buy medical degrees – and the lack of quality control, or any form of consumer protection that offers patients some form of recourse. Add to that a lack of funding for healthcare – which leads to insufficient staff and outdated equipment. News reports peg Indonesia’s healthcare expenditure at some 2 per cent of GDP, while the figure is over 3 per cent for Singapore and around 17 per cent for the US.

Non-governmental organisations monitoring healthcare here say most poor people who cannot afford medical care or live too far away from doctors just stay at home and self-medicate. The Indonesian government has been trying to fix this problem by setting up universal health coverage in the next four years. It will pay for those who need it – the poor, the elderly etc – while those who are working should insure themselves or get medical insurance from their employers. 

However, there has been no solution offered yet as to how to upgrade the quality of healthcare here.

Meanwhile, those who have money automatically go to Singapore or Australia for treatment – a fact proven by the numerous readers of Mr Kornelius’ piece who responded online.

One said: "Just have your plane ticket ready".

But thankfully, it seems to be the only visible damage to our 14th storey office, after a strong 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck off Java island, around 200km south of Indonesia’s capital.

The crack in the wall outside The Straits Times Jakarta office after the earthquake. ST PHOTO: Lynn Lee

Here in our four-person office (with three correspondents and our office manager), we felt the tremors from 3pm.

We were in the midst of writing articles when the windows began rattling and the ground trembled.

After nine months in Jakarta and hearing stories about people dashing down 20 flights of stairs in past incidents of earthquake tremors, I knew a "gempa" (Indonesian for earthquake) had struck again.

My colleague Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, whose cubicle is next to mine, looked out the window and saw people trickling out of a neighbouring office building.

Just then, the tremors became more severe and our building began to literally shake from side to side. A few steps away, the television remote control that was on the desk of our colleague Salim Osman, fell onto the floor.

Wahyudi and I – following some tips recommended on the US Department of Homeland Security’s website – dove for cover under an unoccupied desk. The ground kept shaking and I began reciting my prayers under my breath.

The tremors seemed never-ending. It was probably 20 seconds later when, increasingly queasy and nervous about my own mortality, I asked Wahyudi if we should make a dash for it.

Together with Salim and with our office manager Didik close behind, we grabbed our Blackberrys, mobile phones and wallets and stumbled towards the stairwell. There, the other journalists and office workers who occupy our building were already making their getaways.

When we finally made it out into the light, some 200 people – I saw a lady whose shoes were probably still under her desk -  had already gathered at the foot of our building.

They were spilling out into the street, along with employees of the soon-to-be-opened Mandarin Oriental Hotel, who seemed to be in the midst of a training programme, going by their pink and green t-shirts that read "I'm a fan of Mandarin".

People were trying to call loved ones and friends but the phone lines were down. Soon though, the word spread that the epicentre of the quake was in the Indian Ocean, and had triggered a tsunami watch.

On returning to our office about 40 minutes later and after seeing the crack, we realised from various news reports that the damage was worse elsewhere.

Among the incidents: a school collapsed in a village near Bandung (a two-hour drive away from Jakarta) and dozens of buildings crumbled in Tasikmalaya, which is around 140km away from the epicentre.

Two hours after the first tremors were felt, people are still shaken, fearing more aftershocks.

As my colleague, Straits Times senior writer John Mcbeth, who has been in Indonesia for 16 years said to me in an e-mail: "As far as I can recall, it was the biggest since I've been in here and probably only second to one I experienced in Manila in 1990 — on the 17th floor of an apartment building."

Read more: 7.4 Java earthquake kills 15 people

Some people are flocking to the site for a glimpse of the wreckage but the police and military are guarding the area tightly and not much can be seen from where the onlookers have to stand.
 
As police and government officials try to piece together what happened — how the suicide bombers rolled out their macabre plan, what security lapses took place and how they happened — the victims and their families are still coming to terms with the tragedy.
 
The 18 men who were at American business consultant James Castle's breakfast meeting at the Marriott are wondering if they were targeted specifically. While police have not released any conclusions, it appears to me that they are right.
 
The suspected suicide bomber  occupied a room at the hotel. It is not known if he and the network backing him knew about the meeting before he checked in on Wednesday. But hours before the meeting in the lounge, which saw its first participants stroll in around 7.15am, a sign had been placed outside the entrance to state that the meeting would be taking place.
 
The bomber decided to carry out his crime at 7.45am — with one bomb going off at the Marriot followed by another at the Ritz-Carlton barely two minutes later.

It was still relatively early in the morning and not that many people were around. This is why there were fewer fatalities than the 2002 Bali bombings that occured in a nightclub where 202 people died.
 
As cruel as this may sound, I wonder why the bombers — who must have done their cold-blooded calculations on how to inflict maximum damage — did not elect to do their evil deed at lunchtime?
 
If it had been after 11am, many more people would have been present in the hotels and the surrounding area — office workers going out for a bite, businessmen talking shop over lunch, ladies who lunch and so on.

As Singaporean eyewitness Thomas Thong told The Straits Times, there were only about 10 people in the Ritz-Carlton's restaurant when the explosion took place. Most of the hotel guests I spoke to after the explosion said they had just gotten up or were on their way to breakfast
 
But as terrorism expert Sidney Jones told Reuters, one piece of evidence to show that the bombings are linked to fugitive terrorist leader Noordin Top is the fact that they targeted "iconic Western symbols".

Besides bombing two five-star hotels, they also targeted a gathering of captains of industry in Indonesia, who were mostly foreigners.
 
In my 45-minute long interview with survivor Roy Widosuwito on Saturday afternoon, he told me it was a twist of fate that saved him.

Having not attended the meeting for a few weeks, he wanted to catch up with Mr Castle and chose to sit furthest away from the entrance. Those who did otherwise, especially the ones whose backs were facing the entrance, never knew what hit them.
 
Mr Widosuwito, an affable Dutchman in his 60s, said his condition was stable by Friday afternoon and he spent the rest of the day glued to television reports.

When footage of the supposed bomber making his way to the lounge came out, he realised that the bomb — homemade and filled with screws to inflict maximum hurt — would have been in the trolley bag the bomber was lugging.

"It exploded from a low point, that’s why I had a screw lodged in my right thigh and shrapnel in my left leg, instead of my arms and face being hit by the screws. That's why Max's leg was badly hurt," he said, referring to Dutchman Max Boon who was sitting near the entrance.

Mr Boon who is in his 30s, is the most severely-injured survivor. His left foot was amputated above the ankle and his lungs are injured. He is currently in Singapore being treated.
 
New Zealander Timothy Mackay was also near the door. He was apparently taken to hospital by a staff member at the Singapore embassy, who was passing by the area on his way to work.

His legs were badly maimed, his face bloody and his left eye ravaged, as a photo from Reuters that The Straits Times carried on Saturday confirmed. Mr Mackay died in hospital.
 
I got to the bomb site an hour after the explosions and police had already cordoned off the burgeoning crowd of journalists.

But after interviewing eyewitnesses, I managed to skip past security tape to stand next to the metal detectors at the Marriott around 5 metres to the entrance of the hotel lobby.

In my 10 minutes there before police shooed me away, I saw cracked glass across the façade of the hotel, a gaping hole in the wall shared by the hotel and the Mutiara plaza next door and then, six body bags taken out of the hotel at 11am. Two other yellow bags with body parts followed.
 
I also remember a voice from behind my ear, as medical personnel seemed to fumble with one body bag, as if it was too heavy.

"That's definitely a foreigner," said a man in Indonesian. I turned to ask him where he was from, but without another word, he slipped away.

Read more:
Bombs 'identical' to Bali
Bombers linked to JI