Senior politician Theo Syafei passes away

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 04/29/2011 9:07 AM | People

Senior politician Theo Syafei from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) passed away on Friday at around 1 a.m.

He had suffered from cancer, as reported by tribunnews.com.

The remains of Theo, who was born in Makassar on June 30, 1941, are currently at the Bambu Apus funeral home in Cilangkap, East Jakarta.

Theo was once a member of the campaign team for Megawati Soekarnoputri during her presidential bid in 2009.

He was also a legislator between 1999 and 2004, and earlier was a top official in the Indonesian military.

Popular ‘Rush Hour’ radio talk show host passes away

Margaret Agusta, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 12/27/2010 9:56 AM | National

Achmad Inggemar Laguna WK, popular radio personality and comedian, died due to complications from kidney failure, on Sunday night, December 26, at around 9 p.m. at RS Premier Bintaro surrounded by family and friends.  

A commemorative prayer service is being held this morning from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at his family home at Jl. Punai  2, No. 10, in Sector 2, Bintaro. Burial will be at 12 noon at Tanah Kusir Cemetery.  

Laguna WK, born on March 2, 1971, is probably best known to the public as his radio and stage persona “Mimi Been”, a host of the long-running “Rush Hour” radio talk show that aired twice a week regularly from December 1996 to August this year.  

In film circles Laguna WK is better known as the founder of Vi.eM Production House, and the producer of the 2010 feature film “At the Very Bottom of Everything”.

Before going into film production and comedic entertainment, Laguna WK, who studied art and fashion design in Singapore and Indonesia, had made a name for himself as a fashion designer with his own “Laguna” line in 1999-2003.

He is survived by his mother, Hetti WK and several siblings.

House passes revised bill on political party

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 12/16/2010 1:52 PM | National

The House of Representatives passed the revised bill on the 2008 Political Parties Law during the plenary meeting Thursday.

The bill was passed with the unanimous agreement of lawmakers.

"The government and the House of Representatives have succeeded in agreeing to changes in the 2008 Law on Political Parties," said Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi.

He added that the changes were necessary to keep abreast of the public's political demands and developments of Indonesia's democracy.

Key changes in the passed law include the formation of a body within political parties to settle internal disputes, reducing the number of people initially forming a political party from 50 to 30, and requiring each political party to submit a financial report to the government on the use of the state budget. (gzl)