January 2006 121st Issue

Hua Hin Events

The grand opening of the Sailom Pavilion, the ‘new trendy place to meet and eat'

The ‘Zephyr family' enjoy the fun at the Ploenchit Fair in Bangkok , held in November.

Having married in Hua Hin a year ago Chris and Sharon celebrate the birth of their daughter Gabrielle Baker – many congratulations!

Khun Sakaojai Poonsawat, movie star, welcomed by Patrick Martinez, General Manager of the Hua Hin Marriott Resort and Spa

Naen and Fah look overjoyed at the birth of their baby boy. Congratulations to both of them!

Khun ‘Santa' comes to town at the Hilton's ‘Inspiration to the Festive Season 2005' - time to get a chimney we think!

Stars from Thai TV Channel 3 looked on as Dusit Resort Hua Hin turned on their Christmas lights to illuminate the biggest Christmas tree in Hua Hin. Standing 17 m high, the tree soars up to the hotel's 4th floor.

Richard and David teach each other to suck eggs as they seal the deal passing ownership of Jungle Juice to the latter.

VINTAGE DELIGHT

The 3rd Hua Hin Vintage Car Parade was held from 16th - 18th December, departing from the Sofitel Central

Plaza in Bangkok , and travelling via Chao Samran Beach in Petchaburi to Hua Hin. On the Saturday the cars took part in a parade from the Sofitel Central Hua Hin Resort to Baan Chaoprayaramrakop, and a return journey via Hua Hin Railway station. A ‘Back To The 20's' charity Gala dinner was held in the evening, and the following morning a ‘Jazz

Breakfast' was enjoyed at the Railway Restaurant before the cars departed for the capital.

BITS OF HEAVEN, PIECES OF EARTH

The students of the Media Production Management (MEDC 5400) class were set the task of arranging a photo exhibition at Starbucks for their midterm project. Ajarn Buddhaporn Srisupawat, the instructor for the class, assigned each of the eight students in the class a different position, ranging from program manager to exhibitor. The photo exhibition was open to everyone from November 25 to November 27. The photographs exhibited were also for sale.

“Our tasks involved getting the program budget approved, finding a location, handling the publicity, etc. During these tasks, we were provided with a lot of support and encouragement from Ajarn Buddhaporn, Professor Gloria Walker and Rector Kit Jenkins,” said Richa Maheshwari, the project manager.

The opening night of the exhibition saw a gathering of faculty, staff, photographers and local press. During the opening, Rector Kit Jenkins stressed the importance of Webster University making its presence felt in the local community. “Displaying student work in Hua Hin is an opportunity for us to show the community how great our students are,” she commented.

The main reason to set up the exhibition at Starbucks was to promote the special relationship between Webster and Starbucks. Students in the Media Production Management class were given different assignments. It was an opportunity for them to gain some real world experience,” explained Ajarn Buddhapon.

“There are things you read in the book and study, but you never quite understand its function until you implement it in the real world. This assignment was a great way to apply what we studied about management into organizing an event. It was hard work, but seeing people enjoying the photo exhibition made all that work worth while,” said Lai Thi Ngoc ‘Mai.'

A few examples below:

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for comics and/or cartoons (not necessarily animated, this includes print cartoons); outside of Japan, it usually refers specifically to Japanese comics. Manga developed from a mixture of ukiyo-e and Western styles of drawing, and took its current form shortly after World War II. Literally translated, manga means "random (or whimsical) pictures".

A small amount of the total manga output of Japan is adapted into anime, which is usually created afterwards, once a market interest has been established. Stories are often modified to appeal to a more mainstream market or meet broadcast regulations.

In Japan, Manga is well respected both as an art form and as a form of popular literature. Like its American counterpart, manga has been criticized for being violent and sexual; however, there have been no official inquiries or laws that have tried to limit what can be drawn in manga, except for vague decency laws that apply to all published materials, stating that "overly indecent materials should not be sold." This freedom has allowed artists to draw manga for every age group and about every topic. Manga are primarily classified by the age and gender of the target audience. In particular, books and magazines sold to boys (shonen) and girls (shojo) have distinctive cover art and are placed on different shelves in most bookstores. Japan also has manga cafés, or manga kissaten. At a manga kissaten, people drink coffee and read manga.

Many might think Japan "stole" comics from the West, but this is not true. Japan has been making cartoonish art for a very long time (there are humorous ink drawings of animals and caricatured people from hundreds of years ago, bearing striking resemblances to modern manga). True, some aspects of manga are taken from the West (Osamu Tezuka, the "father" of modern manga, was influenced by Disney and Max Fleisher), but its main features, such as simple lines and stylized features, are distinctly Japanese. It may be that Chinese art had more influence than Western.

It is now apparent that, if anything, the influence is working in the opposite direction, with increasing numbers of comic book artists, video and filmmakers, and the music industry being inspired by the Japanese cult. A good example of this is the hugely successful band Gorillaz, who are in reality Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the former the front man for Blur, the latter a well known comic book artist. The band's persona is represented by four cartoon characters, and all the band's covers, videos and other media features them, and they are quite clearly more than just a nod in the direction of manga/anime, with Hewlett being the artist. There has also been a noticeable effect on the cartoon output of the major film studios, particularly in regard to storylines, and a growth in the number of cartoon feature films more aimed at an adult audience.

Japanese manga and anime come in all types, for all sorts of people. Unlike the U.S., which generally seems to believe that "comics are for kids" (though this has been changing recently), Japanese manga-ka (manga writers) write for everyone from innocent young children to perverted sex-starved men (there is even a category for ex-juvenile delinquent mothers!). But even the kiddie stuff tends not to be as simple-minded as the American versions (not including intelligent American comics, but more thinking of TV shows). Children's manga and TV anime shows in Japan will sometimes depict death --- while the U.S. (on children's TV) seems determined to run away from such realities of life (note how the U.S. version of "GoLion" ("Voltron") deleted all references to one of the protagonist's death). And, not surprisingly, much of Japanese manga and anime includes scenes of students in class or doing homework, or of people working in their offices. The work ethic seems omnipresent in the background. Manga and anime also tend to portray technology sympathetically, while some U.S. comics seem almost to avoid it, or revile it, or simplify it as much as possible.

There is one area of manga that, certainly initially, gave it and the Japanese, a slightly bad name, particularly in America, which is Hentai. The word literally means "abnormal" or "perverted" in Japanese, and is generally thought of as the pornographic side of the genre. However, the Japanese very rarely use the word in this way. More commonly used terms include "ju hachi kin" (prohibited for sale to persons under 18), "ecchi/H anime" (sexual/pornographic anime) "eroanime" (derived from erotic anime), or "seinen" (adult). Exactly how the term hentai came to refer to all sexually explicit content in American anime fandom is unknown. With the rise of the World Wide Web, however, the term was extensively promoted by pornographic sites selling access to (frequently bootlegged) erotic manga. Banner ads promoting these sites might, for instance advertise "live girls and hentai", with the latter meaning erotic manga as opposed to photographs. In addition, many people outside of anime and manga fandom had come to associate anime with a particular genre of extreme pornography (e.g., tentacle rape), which could easily be called hentai in Japanese as well. "H" in Japan is now broadly used to refer to all sexual content or activity, so "H manga" are manga with sexual content—however "H" and "hentai" are no longer interchangeable. Also, the term "ero", short for "erotic" but closer in meaning to "porn", is now used more often instead of "H".

The scope of hentai encompasses the entire range of sexual fetishes, including:

BDSM, focusing on domination though use of ropes, tools, sex toys, and elaborate devices. Themes can include empowerment, restriction, and submitting to sexual urges.

Bukkake, a common representation of a female being used to service as many males as physically possible often depicted in public or in areas with a large number of males present.

Catgirls (also known as Nekos) and other anthropomorphic characters, who display animal attributes such as ears, claws, and a tail. Generally, skin is made completely visible and not covered entirely by fur, a distinction from furries.

Coprophilial and urolagnial

Deformity

Ecchi, focusing on nudity, partial nudity, and provocative clothing rather than pure sex.

Futanari, a depiction of females who naturally have male genitalia, often exaggerated beyond normal proportions.

Guro, focusing on imaginative gore and mutilation.

Incest

Lolicon, includes girls who are depicted as being below the age of consent.

Maiesiophilia

Milk fetishism

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror

Shota, the depiction of boys having intercourse with other boys, men or women.

Tentacle sex, the depiction of tentacled creatures or monsters (imaginative or otherwise) engaging in sex or rape with girls.

This is not without precedent in Japan. During the Edo Period, which was the heyday of ukiyo-e wood-block prints, ukiyo-e had a pornographic variant, called shunga, which also had scenes that were sometimes surreal. Each culture will have a different understanding about the line between adult content and mainstream works. It's important to understand ways that the Japanese line might be different from that in other cultures. Children's anime can depict nude characters, for example in Sailor Moon it is implied that the girls are nude during their transformation. However, H material tends to use explicit pornographic content. As a form of expressing sexual fantasy, depictions can include those that are unacceptable in society, or run counter to social norms. Such fantasies can be depicted in the extreme, often demonstrating subconscious desires or purely carnal motivations. This contrast between accepted—and in some cases legal—behaviour and primal sexuality is a primary motivation for most works of pornography, and H art is no exception.

A major difference from Western cartoons is the unique Japanese manga and anime style, which is distinctive and fairly easy to recognize. This is not to say the style is limiting. Within this broad common stylistic ground, each manga artist's technique is distinct and unique. The stereotype is of characters with huge hair and large eyes, but there are many, many variations, from L. Matsumoto's seemingly unevenly drawn squash-shaped "ugly" protagonists, to the soft-edged figures in Miyazaki's work. And, of course, there is less emphasis on the "superhero" world of the U.S. In most manga, the men and women aren't necessarily exaggerated extremes of their gender stereotypes, and they wear things other than skin-tight costumes. In fact, manga and anime characters tend to have unique and aesthetic tastes in fashion.

A minor difference between Japanese manga and general superhero comics like D.C. Comics or Marvel Comics (aside from the black and white nature of manga) is that manga are usually the vision of a single writer (though editors have a large say, and sometimes direct the story). Unlike the general superhero type, where many writers tend to do different plots and stories, manga are more like novels, complete and detailed worlds that are the vision of a single author. The characters remain consistent, and they are allowed to grow and develop. On a related topic, manga also tend to be drawn for a weekly or biweekly publication containing numerous other comics by other authors --- and the editors expect cliff-hangers/you-really-want-to-read-the-next-issue endings each time. So the plot HAS to develop and HAS to be interesting at a fairly rapid clip. (There are, after all, crowds of hopeful would-be manga-ka waiting in the wings).

Perhaps it is the mix of harsh reality with the tantalizing world of fantasy that makes Japanese manga and anime so appealing. Many popular series, such as Doraemon, Ranma 1/2 and Kimagure Orange Road, follow the lives of seemingly ordinary people --- they go to school, do homework, get reprimanded by parents --- who have a shadow life that makes them somehow special, whether by psionic talent or friends who are rather different (robots from the future, or aliens from other worlds). I suppose all this serves to allow the reader to sympathize with the characters, and yet escape from bland, normal daily life to a fantasy world that is far different.

Even in worlds that exist in the far future, or long ago, the reader is drawn into a 3-dimensional character, one who is far from perfect, one who has stupid little habits or major character flaws --- and who has hopes and dreams that the reader can sympathize with. Unlike some American super heroes, who often seem to just go around defeating Evil (as wonderfully spoofed in American comic "The Tick"), Japanese characters usually have other goals in life that play large themes within their lives. I heard recently the characterization that manga and anime are "character oriented." The more I think about, the more I think this is the right description. Characters aren't forced into plots, like a foot into a too-tight shoe; instead, stories grow out of the characters. The heart of manga and anime is in the hearts of the characters.

That brings us to three other aspects of manga and anime that are crucial: the reality of the world, the spirituality, and the fact that things end.

With comics, the merging of art and words creates a unique medium. The art pulls in the mind, and the words make the reality. A picture may be worth a thousand words, while words may convey what art cannot, but the two types together are truly powerful. As for Anime, animation can do inexpensively what special effects crews couldn't even touch until the recent rise of computer graphics. Art is a limited form of virtual reality. Art, however, requires plot to make a story come to life.

As already mentioned, even children's Japanese comics and animation deal with things like death. They also show that one's enemies aren't Just Evil. In series like Gundam, you can see that the enemies have hopes and dreams of their own, and do, in fact, have reasons for what they do. They aren't just crazy, or just plain evil. They're real.

Actions have consequences. If the protagonist screws up, he or she has to deal with those results ... and, if the person is smart, he or she will remember not to make that mistake again! The characters grow and change, learn new skills, get better at old skills, mature and gain wisdom (unless, of course, it's a comical series like Doraemon).

Another trait of manga and anime that appeals is their tendency to contain a sense of spiritual optimism ... and not just simplistic good-over-evil stuff. Bad people can improve and find redemption. Unhappy heroes can find themselves, through personal crisis, and in doing so find happiness. Life does have meaning and purpose, though it must be fought for. Hard work will pay off ... but maybe only in the long run. Difficulties occur, but they can be overcome. Strength is found from helping others, even to the point of self-sacrifice.... Not all stories have these spiritual or philosophical messages, but many do. And when these simple but universal themes are woven more or less convincingly into the fabric of good plots and characters, magic happens.

And finally, like all good stories and all real stories, manga and anime have a tendency to end. Heroes and heroines die, or get married, or disappear. The anime series are especially good about this. They tend to have one of three endings: the hero wins (the throne, the person of the opposite sex, whatever), the hero dies (usually after winning), the hero sort of wins (but at a great loss). Of course, the anime or manga is often carefully crafted to either jerk tears out of your eyes, or make you stare in wide-eyed absorption to the very last line of the credits. I can't describe it here, but think of the ending to any truly good movie, and you probably have it.

This all might lead you to believe that you could pick any manga/anime title and be entertained, but there is a lot of rubbish out there as well. Like any field, manga and anime have their lemons, the ones with no plot, 2-D characters, truly tasteless jokes, and artwork from hell. However, the best manga and anime are true gems that should not be missed --- little portals into other worlds that will entertain, educate, and delight.

Some recommendations

Anime Films

1: 'Akira': While violent and a little disturbing (not for anyone under the age of seventeen) this movie was the first to have an impact in the West, and is still considered today as the #1 Anime film of all-time.

2. 'Princess Mononoke': Though it has some violence (odd for a Studio Ghibli film) Princess Mononoke is more a story of character than anything, and one I'd recommend it for anyone thirteen and up.

3. 'Spirited Away': Another Studio Ghibli film and one for all ages as well as an Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature.

4. 'Ninja Scroll': Ninja Scroll is definitely one of those Animes to contribute to the stereotypes listed above, as it is the most violent and graphic of the five listed here, but its story and animation quality is top notch. Seventeen or older.

5. 'Ghost in the Shell': Although the depth of the story won't appeal to some, this is a great example of what can be done with the genre. For adults who don't mind to think.

There are other films out there worth noting as well: 'Grave of the Fireflies'; 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'; 'Vampire Hunter D'; 'Tokyo Godfathers'; 'Steamboy'; and 'Metropolis'.

Anime Series

'Neon Genesis Evangelion'

'Cowboy Bebop Remix 1'

'Samurai Champloo'

'Bubblegum Crisis'

'Serial Experiments Lain'

'Witch Hunter Robin'

'Hellsing'

'Trigun'

'Inu-Yasha'

Types of manga

Many of these genres apply equally well to anime (which very often includes adaptations of manga) and Japanese computer games (some of which are also adaptations of manga).

By target audience

Josei (or redikomi) women

Kodomo children

Seinen men

Shojo young and teenage girls

Shonen young and teenage boys

Genres

Alternative (See also: Garo)

Gekiga (dramatic pictures)

La nouvelle manga (Franco-Belgian/Japanese artistic movement)

Semi-alternative (popular publication individualistic style)

Battling companion (not an official name)

Magical girl (maho shojo)

Mecha (giant robots)

Moé (also maho kanojo or magical girlfriend)

Shojo-ai (or Yuri, lesbian romance)

Shonen-ai (or Yaoi, gay romance)

Dojinshi Fan-art or self-published manga

Popular shonen manga series

Bleach (manga) (Spiritualism/Action/Adventure/Comedy)

Dragon Ball (Fantasy/Action)

Fullmetal Alchemist (Science-Fiction/Fantasy/Action)

InuYasha (Action/Fantasy/Romance)

Love Hina (Comedy/Romance)

Naruto (Fantasy/Ninja)

One Piece (Fantasy/Pirate)

Ranma ½ (Action/Comedy)

Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai Epic)

Saint Seiya (Action/Mythology)

Popular shojo manga series

Nana (Drama/Romance)

Ceres, Celestial Legend (Ayashi no Ceres) (Paranormal/Romance)

Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango) (Drama/Romance)

Fruits Basket (Comedy/Romance/Paranormal)

Hana-Kimi (Hanazakari no Kimi-tachi e) (Comedy/Romance/Drama)

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances a.k.a. Kareshi Kanojo no Jijo) (Comedy/Romance/Drama)

Marmalade Boy (Comedy/Romance/Drama)

Please Save My Earth (Sci-fi/Drama)

Revolutionary Girl Utena (Action/Drama)

X/1999 (Paranormal)

Nana (Romance)

Popular seinen manga series

3x3 Eyes (Mythology/Comedy/Horror)

Akira (Sci-Fi)

Angel Densetsu (Drama)

Berserk (Medieval/Fantasy)

Blade of the Immortal (Samurai Drama)

Ghost in the Shell (Sci-Fi)

Lone Wolf and Cub (Samurai Drama)

MONSTER (Horror/Drama)

Hellsing (Action/Horror)

Eden: It´s an endless world (Sci-Fi/Futuristic)

Asian news and current affairs

The war on drugs – Indonesia wins one in…

JAKARTA - Only two days after a raid that led to the death of one of Indonesia's most wanted terrorist suspects, police struck at a massive illegal drug factory near Jakarta . Police raided the factory on Friday near Serang, a city about 75 kilometers west of Jakarta . The haul included 62.4 tons of precursor chemicals for producing crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu, and 6.2 tons for making ecstasy. Thousands of ecstasy pills and hundreds of kilograms of shabu-shabu were ready for delivery.

Police say 21 suspects were arrested, including one Dutch, one French and four Chinese nationals. The building had been licensed as a cable factory. Police described the operation as the third-largest ecstasy-making factory in the world. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who visited the factory, said the operation had the potential to produce up to $600 million a year in illegal drugs. The president has declared war on drugs as illicit drug abuse,

production and trafficking are among Indonesia 's most serious problems and national concerns. Drugs are readily

available in all major urban areas of Islam's most-populous nation, including schools, bars, cafes, discotheques,

nightclubs and even in remote villages. The raid was the second coup for Indonesian authorities in a week, coming in wake of the November 9 killing of Azahari bin Husin, a Malaysian explosives expert linked to the al-Qaeda-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. He had been accused of helping coordinate four deadly attacks in Indonesia since 2002. Profits versus expertise Indonesia is no longer just an end-user of drugs but also a producer, especially of ecstasy, which can readily be made at home. Poor law enforcement, corruption and high demand make the country a tempting location for producers. The locally made ecstasy and amphetamines cater to a growing population of upper-class users. Ecstasy and amphetamine use has spread throughout Southeast Asia in recent years. In some countries both substances have replaced heroin as the most popular hard drug. Churning out ecstasy pills by the thousands takes little expertise - a knowledge of chemistry equating to that of a third year university undergraduate with one vital piece of equipment - a pill press - and precursor chemicals (ingredients such as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine that are commonly found in cold and decongestant medicine, but are also used to produce methamphetamine). Indonesia has banned 23 precursor chemicals that are the main

ingredients for ecstasy production, but eight others are permissible imports. The factory, meanwhile, had been

under surveillance since May after a tip-off from Chinese authorities that a machine used to make ecstasy had been delivered from China to Indonesia . Although estimates vary, the cost of producing one ecstasy tablet is about $00.50 to $1. The factory was able to produce some 100 kilogram of ecstasy per week, which could be used to make about 1 million pills. Sources say ecstasy pills now fetch prices of between Rp 150,000 and Rp 200,000 ($20) each, up from only Rp 90,000 to Rp 100,000 in early January. At $20 per tablet, one kilogram of ecstasy would generate $140,000. Stocks have fallen significantly as police have confiscated a huge amount of drugs and arrested many traffickers in the past several months. With an estimated 3.9% of the 220 million people nationwide, or about 8.6 million, either using illegal drugs or trafficking them, the country's national narcotics agency, BNN (Badan Narkotika Nasional), has its work cut out. Both producers and dealers are targeting the younger generation, who make up about 40% of the population or roughly 88 million people - the third biggest market in

Asia after China and India . The BNN chairman, General Togar Sianipar, said the country's illicit drug users now number about 4 million - about one in every 50 Indonesians. They include about 7,000 junior high school students, more than 10,000 senior high school students and some 800 elementary school students. An International Labor Organization (ILO) study indicates that about 4% of illicit drug users in Indonesia are children under 17. And two out of 10 users are involved in illicit trafficking. Traffickers move around schools selling illicit drugs to students, sometimes forcing them to buy or even giving them out free. Once the youths are hooked, they then go to these traffickers for their supply. If they do not have money, they often steal it from their family or others. Major cause of HIV Though the public face is one of strict morality, Indonesia has a massive commercial sex industry. Health authorities say about 10 million men visit prostitutes each year. Fewer than 10% use a condom. Oddly enough, the HIV-infection rate has been historically low. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Global Report 2004 estimated the number of HIV cases (adults and children) at 110,000 and the number of deaths due to AIDS at 2,400, but the World Health Organization has recently ranked Indonesia an even higher priority than China and Thailand, where AIDS epidemics have ravaged millions. Infections are soaring among Indonesian intravenous drug users through the use of unsterile injections. One report claims there are up to 1 million drug injectors. The report, from Australia 's Burnet Institute, found that drug use is now one of the major causes of the HIV epidemic in the Asia region. The number infected in China is estimated to be 3.5 million. A high proportion of

drug injectors are infected with HIV in China (70%), Indonesia (19%), Iran (75%), Myanmar (63%), Kathmandu ,

Nepal (50%), Thailand (50%) and Vietnam (63%). Law and enforcement In 1997, the 21-year-old law on narcotics

offenses was replaced by new two-tier anti-narcotics laws. Ecstasy and shabu-shabu were reclassified as dangerous drugs, giving the enforcing agencies more power to deal with the abusers and pushers. The law on psychotropic substances (amphetamines, such as shabu-shabu, ecstasy and speed), provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years and/or a fine of Rp 5 billion for the importation, manufacture and distribution of such drugs. Possession and use carry sentences ranging from five to 15 years. “Class 1” illegal drugs, which include heroin, marijuana, opium and cocaine, are covered by another narcotics law, which provides for a maximum sentence of death for the manufacture and distribution of these substances. Enforcement officials lack training and experience in contemporary enforcement and investigative methods, but this is changing. There is a plan to model BNN on the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and it will have a specific responsibility for intelligence networking and the investigation of international drug syndicates that impact Indonesia 's counter-narcotics efforts. Cooperation with US counternarcotics officials has steadily improved. Last year, the US sponsored hundreds of Indonesian police officers for training at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Bangkok , and for State Department-funded training in Indonesia . In 2004, the DEA provided training in drug intelligence analysis and precursor control. Jakarta continues to work closely with the DEA regional office in Singapore in narcotics investigations. A deterrent for whom? Despite the tough sanctions for narcotics offences numerous foreigners

have been arrested in recent years, mainly for trafficking or possession. Nine Australians are on trial on Bali on charges of trying to smuggle heroin from the resort island to Australia . They face the maximum penalty of death, which, in Indonesia is at the hands of a firing squad. Indian national Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey, 67, was sentenced to death in 1995 for trying to smuggle 12 kilograms of heroin into the country. He was executed August 4 last year after he spent nine years on death row. Two Thais were shot by firing squad two months later. As many as seven other drug criminals have had their last appeals for mercy rejected and await execution. Of the 54 men and women languishing on death row, 31 have been convicted of smuggling or possessing drugs. Nineteen are convicted murderers and only four were sentenced on terrorism charges. Twenty-two are foreigners, most from Africa , and nine are Indonesian. But despite the frequent and very public drug raids and harsh sentences aimed at making examples, the ringleaders are rarely, if ever, caught. Sophisticated trafficking groups are attracted to Indonesia by poor border security and law enforcement. There are 124 official entry points throughout the archipelago, but security is weak. The drug syndicates not only use the country as a transit point or a destination

country for heroin and cocaine, but also set up clandestine factories to produce ecstasy for export. Many of the foreign drug traffickers establish themselves in Indonesia by learning the local language and marrying Indonesian women. Smuggling of heroin is usually from the “Golden Triangle” countries ( Thailand , Myanmar and Laos ) and done mostly by African couriers, as well as by Asians and Europeans. Henry Yosodiningrat, chairman of a prominent drug prevention non-governmental organization, the National Anti-Narcotics Movement (GRANAT), warns that the government must leave no room for these drug syndicates to take root in Indonesia . “The government needs to make a moral commitment to deal with the problem,” he said. “But one obstacle to obtaining that commitment is that the syndicates have a lot of money to buy officials and this is one of the most corrupt countries.” Experts say a two-pronged strategy is needed to reduce drug abuse in society; a crackdown on

the production and distribution of drugs and a campaign to educate the public about the dangers of narcotics. Though the courts now dish out severe punishment to dealers and traffickers, targeting users is still mainly left to the community at large. Large banners flutter in the smallest of alleys across the capital of Jakarta and elsewhere, warning of the dangers of narcotics. TV advertisements drive the message home. The leading anti-narcotics proponent is YCAB (Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa), a non-government, anti-drug abuse foundation that vigorously

campaigns in major newspapers and magazines and on billboards, posters and banners as well as distributes brochures. A common battlefront? Yudhoyono, with national police chief General Sutanto at his side at the site of the raided drug factory, urged all elements of the nation to continue fighting against three major crimes - drug trafficking, terrorism and corruption. Sutanto, the former head of BNN, has already launched a massive crackdown targeting drug users and suppliers. The problem cuts through social classes. According to sociologists, slum-dwellers are getting hooked on addictive substances as much as people from the higher social strata. Ecstasy and shabu-shabu are popular among middle- and upper-class users but for most young people, the drug of choice now is low-grade heroin, known as putaw, which is cheap, plentiful, and potentially deadly. The perception of a bleak future pulls young people into drug abuse. Poverty drives many of them, usually unemployed or underemployed, into the drug trade, a source of easy money. The effects of drug abuse reach out far beyond the victims and cause

incalculable harm to society in health, social and economic terms. The emergence of injecting drug use has triggered the spread of HIV and other blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B and hepatitis C among injecting drug users, who then can pass it on to their sexual partners, children and then to the general population.

Thousands of lives are wasted or lost because of illicit drugs. A recent survey by BNN indicates that 15,000 Indonesians die every year from taking outlawed narcotics. Most of the Jakarta addicts - an estimated 85% - are between the ages of 15 and 35. Given the serious destructive consequences of drugs to the country's

young generation as well as the inherent curtailment of sustainable development, it could be argued that for Indonesia , battling the drug scourge is as much, if not more, a priority than the “war on terrorism”. The latter certainly grabs the headlines and the lion's share of attention. Yet, despite the deaths of scores of Indonesians in the past four years and the destructive physical damage caused by bombs, terrorism does not strike at the moral foundation of society and corrupt its leadership and institutions as does the drug trade or any other form of organized crime. “The state must not give up its fight against criminals, especially drug syndicates,” Yudhoyono said at a June 26 ceremony marking the International Day Against Drug Abuse. “Otherwise, they will rule the state, which will lead to a failed state.” Just as in fighting terror, the battle against drugs needs a protracted campaign that strikes at criminal networks in Indonesia and abroad, targets moneylaundering, and relies heavily on intelligence-gathering. Meanwhile, the river of drugs keeps flowing.

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