GASSED BY COPS

 

 

 

        The raging signs of troubled times

The most widespread slogan stencilled on the Indonesian city’s walls, scrawled on posters, splashed on bedsheets in red and draped from powerlines and bridges is Usut Tuntas. 

The formal translation - investigate thoroughly - doesn’t carry the raw anger and pent-up mix of distress, impotence and fear which hang like a radioactive cloud over the Central East Java hilltown of Malang that’s lost 131 sports fans in one suffocating and avoidable tragedy.

The police marshal traffic, bunch together, avoiding eye contact.  They’ve chosen not to rip down the homemade signs, fearing to antagonise. In any case, there are too many. The slogans are often in English, scrawled savagely:  F… the cops, we hate you.

Posts on the centre strip of the city’s main drag carry black flags sodden with wet-season rains. Another popular tag is Gas air mata v Air mata Ibu - tear gas versus mothers’ tears.

The blame game is underway.  The messages are blunt, the implications deadly.  The cops are the crims.

A society that sets itself against the security agencies it supports and needs can collapse public order like Mexico’s murder capital Tijuana where gangs rule

Older Indonesians know of terror times. In the early 1980s, the government's solution to thug power was penembak misterius (mysterious shooters).  The words were squashed into Petrus, a new term for dread. 

Army death squads and snipers worked overnight, leaving the corpses on the streets to intimidate come dawn.  The policy of extrajudicial killings worked, though hundreds - maybe thousands - died before the police could regain control.

This month authorities knew there’d be strife at the soccer game between Malang’s Arema and its bitter rival Persebaya from the provincial north-coast capital Surabaya.

They expected a bit of biffo because not all are drawn by the beautiful game. Turbo-charged hormonal youths keen to show off find sports grounds good for their theatre. The crowds are mostly lads, for in this culture the easy intermingling of the sexes remains rare.

Indonesian has pinched and warped hundreds of English words like ekonomik, politik and teknologi. Reverse contributions are few.  The standout is amuck, which is what happened on Saturday 1 October when the visitors won the Premier League event 3-2 and the locals turned feral because Arema had been top dog for the past 23 years.

Although gambling is illegal, betting on games is commonplace and scores are allegedly often settled before kick-off, such is the corruption.

The death toll of 131 and more than 500 injured makes this the world’s second-largest soccer disaster after the 1964 Peru stampede which killed 328.  Police also used tear gas and fans were squashed to death at the gates.

The 1989 Hillsborough stadium crush in the UK  killed 97 and caused 766 injuries.  Officials tried to blame hoons, but an inquiry eventually found police and ambulance services failed their duty of care.

That’s the result expected from examinations of the Malang catastrophe, though whether that will lead to real change is doubtful. The incompetence of the organisers is already clear.

So far there are six publicly named suspects, match organisers and officers. The probe is being run by the police, whose image has already been bashed by gross scandals as this website has reported, so will have negligible credibility.

The location was the Kanjuruhan stadium - blunder one, for this is Arema’s HQ.  A neutral arena in another city would have been smarter.

The ground held 38,000.  Four thousand more tickets were sold, and if anyone thought this urge for more money might strain facilities and personnel, they didn’t speak up. Mistake two. 

Where were the casualties? Reports are contradictory.  Were the gates open, or was the gap too narrow to handle a surging crowd fleeing tear gas?  Flaw three:  The nerve agent is prohibited by world soccer's governing body FIFA, the  Federation Internationale de Football Association.

It also condemns the use of riot gear that police wore at Kanjuruhan. 

High fences to protect players and wide exits are essential in all stadia, a basic that architects and construction engineers learn in first-year uni, but ignored here.  Error four. 

It was held on the first Saturday of this month and at night. Gaffe five.  The police wanted it scheduled in the afternoon. They were overruled by the organisers.  In most countries the police would have the final say.

To its credit, the ABC sent a TV crew to Malang.  Other media covered from afar - one Australian report from Bangkok as though an Asian dateline bestows authenticity for a geographically illiterate readership.  Darwin and Perth are closer.

Health and safety in Indonesia are in the same era they occupied in Australia before unions successfully pushed for federal legislation to ensure public buildings are safe for all users.

Tragedies like Kanjuruhan will be repeated unless President Joko Widodo’s orders for an audit of stadia are bulldozed through all obstacles, commercial, political and bureaucratic.

A  headline in The Conversation said it clumsily but accurately: Indonesia is where the authority is not the solution, but the problem.

This truism Robbie Gaspar knows well.  The President of the Perth-based Indonesia Institute who was once an international professional soccer player including seasons with a local team in Malang, said ‘the sad thing is, this could have been prevented.

‘While Indonesian football has grown so much over the last few decades, investment, infrastructure and the authorities’ relationship with fan groups sadly haven’t progressed. 

‘I hope Indonesian football can properly review what went wrong and why … My hope is that from now on, no one goes to a game in Indonesia and experiences violence, unsafe infrastructure and loses their life because of a football match.’ 

Hear, hear.  But the deeper concern is that these fears aren’t confined to soccer.  They’ll be on the loose, prowling our streets if the current fury against the police goes unaddressed.

 The signs on Malang’s streets show a seething city demanding more than soothing words.

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 First published in Pearls & Irritations, 13 October 2022:

https://johnmenadue.com/the-raging-signs-of-troubled-times/

SOCCER MAD

Letting their hair down  

                                                     

Malang has long been soccer mad, but yesterday [Sun 19 Mar] the East Java city went even loopier.

A week ago Arema FC won the 2017 President’s Cup beating Pusamania Borneo 5-1 in the final round so the 30-year old club had a victory worth celebrating.

Tens of thousands of supporters known as Singo Edan (Crazy Lions) lined the streets around the railway station and the town hall to see their heroes while waving some ambiguous banners: Did they mean being unique or being ostracized with the slogan – ‘no one like us’?

It didn’t matter because the crowd was good natured and in party mood.  The police had little to do other than back the volunteer marshals who kept the traffic moving.

A group of blind people held a notice saying even though they are sightless they still back Arema.

Before a lion dance the performers’ whips and costumes were purified in incense smoke – a local ritual predating soccer’s arrival in Indonesia from Europe in the 1930s.

(Pix by Erlinawati Graham)

PENI SUPARTO

Revealing the invisible hand Duncan Graham

If President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was a football tragic like Peni Suparto, then Indonesia might be playing in the World Cup against Real Madrid.

But in an unreal world the leader of Indonesia is apparently into volleyball. That didn’t stop him verbally backing the nation’s chances of getting ahead in the global game when he visited Malang last month (March).

It was a brave move for a Jakarta politician not known for his football prowess or largesse. In the central East Java city soccer isn’t just another sport. It’s a life and death matter, or as some would say, more important than that.

“The president came to Malang to open the National Soccer Congress (KSN) because this is the heart of Indonesian soccer,” said Peni. “We’re the only city with two football teams. We’re fanatic, but don’t say our supporters are bonek (hooligans). They come from Surabaya. We’re Aremania.”

Arema is Malang’s top team, playing in the Republic’s Premier League. It’s named after Kebo Arema, a warrior hero of the 15th century Majapahit kingdom. Their emblem is a garish MGM-style lion, roaring from gang gateways around the city over the slogan Singo Edan – Crazy Lions.

The other team is Persema. Least said, soonest mended

Coaches who don’t perform to fans’ expectations get the graffiti treatment, their names qualified with unprintable abuse.

When he’s not talking up football as Malang City General Chairman of the All-Indonesia Football Association, Peni is the mayor of Malang, a position he’s held since 2003 as a Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDIP) politician.

Any challenger would need to be suffering acutely from incurable Aremania. Forget policies on fixing footpaths and plugging potholes; such municipal matters are boring, boring. There’s just one issue in the hilltown of one million, and it has nothing to do with keeping streets clean.

The KSN Malang moanfest attracted more than 500 delegates weeping about the state of Indonesian soccer. For a country with a talent catchment area of around 240 million, the world’s third most populous nation should be running rings around minnows like Spain and Brazil, let alone little Britain.

“The problem is management. We have to do this so much better,” said Peni, without going into details despite much shin-kicking. Instead he kept talking about an “invisible hand” which will direct Indonesian soccer in the future, when for many the game needs a most visible boot.

“We have a plan to make sure Indonesia will be Asian champions within five years and in the World League within 15 years,” he said. “Then our national team will be an Asian Tiger.

“Do you know why Malaysia is so good? Because they have professional management – and lots of money. There used to be money for sport when gambling was legal in Indonesia.”

The State-run lottery was abolished during the Soeharto era following pressure from Islamic groups.

Arema gets its financial support from a local tobacco manufacturer; in the politically correct West cigarette sponsorship for sport is taboo.

Peni was talking during a trip to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Although the country has little more than four million people, the All Blacks rank number one in the International Rugby Board’s world list.

The Rugby World Cup will be played in NZ next year. Despite the domination of rugby, Wellington’s Phoenix soccer team has become the best in the country, competing internationally.

Being indifferent to sport in NZ is like being unable to talk Javanese in Java. The personable Peni was able to walk in both camps.

During his week in Wellington, where Peni headed a group of high school principals keen to develop close ties with NZ schools, the mayor took time out to check the city’s extensive sporting facilities provided by local government.

“When I was a kid in Kediri we had to play with a plastic bal,” said Peni. He’s no sofa barracker abusing referees while waving a TV channel changer at the screen.

For 21 years he played ‘the beautiful game’, as they say in Brazil, mainly as a striker. The mayor is a little lad and must have been a nimble sportsman to survive against the big boys. When not on the field he lectured in civil administration at the former Malang teacher’s college, now the University of Malang

Now he’s 64 but looks 50, proof sport can do magic things for a man’s well-being.

During his tour Peni came across two teams of seven year olds training during their holidays. They were practising on outdoor and indoor grounds, supervised by university students.

The contrast with most Indonesian cities was stark. Kampong residents will be familiar with the everyday sight of barefoot kids turning bitumen into soccer grounds, piles of shoes pegging out the goal posts.

However talented, the wannabe Maradonas will be struggling without boots and the chance to train on grass in a properly marked pitch with skilled adult direction.

“I agree facilities have to be improved,” said Peni. When reminded that a sports ground in the Malang suburb of Sawojajar is now the site of a petrol station he said nothing could be done because the land was privately owned.

“Football is egalitarian,” said Peni, watching little Kiwis dribble balls round plastic cones, then shoot for goal, doing their best to punch holes in the net.

“Anyone and everyone can play. We need talent scouts out in the regions looking for the next generation of players. We need professional quality coaches.”

Did this mean importing players and coaches from overseas? Now we’re talking serious money when the price of a top player is about equal to an aircraft carrier. Well, yes, but Peni wasn’t about to shout that from the stands to partisan crowds, not so crazy that they want to pay more tax.

“We’re nationalists. I want Malang to be Indonesia’s education city where we can exchange teachers and students – and ideas on improving sport in Indonesia.” And the cash?

“We need commitment, particularly from the national government.”

(First published in The Jakarta Post 20 April 2010)

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SOCCER IN INDONESIA

GIVING INDONESIA A SPORTING CHANCE © Duncan Graham 2007

Imagine this: Indonesia wins the Asian Cup in July to be hailed as regional soccer champions with eyes on the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Manchester United gets anxious and Real Madrid revises its tactics to combat the threat from afar.

Indonesia produces its own David Beckhams, household names from Arsenal to Argentina. European clubs jostle to pick the archipelago's best. What a boost to national pride, what great benefits to the Republic's reputation!

Instead of being the butt of coarse jokes, unable even to best tiny Singapore in some sports, this huge nation could build teams renowned for excellence.

These dreams aren't exclusive to Indonesians. Australian entrepreneur and footy fan Geoffrey Gold has also been giving his imagination a workout. He thinks Indonesian soccer is currently in its "blackest period" but there could be light ahead if synergy can be developed with its southern neighbor.

Gold has been commissioned by the Western Australian (WA) government to talk to clubs in Surabaya and Malang. He will report on how soccer can be made the catalyst for regional development in Indonesia using the long established formal relationships between WA and the province of East Java.

There's been a 'Sister State' agreement in place since 1990. It includes sport along with commerce, tourism, education and culture. But till now the big-ticket issues have taken priority.

If everything clicks in the Gold plan, Australian skills in running and marketing football, coaching players (male and female), sports medicine, training youngsters and improving facilities could be made available to Indonesian clubs. In return the teams Down Under could promote their brand names in Asia.

"With the entry last year of Australia into the Asian League there's now a sport that Indonesians can understand and share," said Gold. "In the past Australia has been better known for rugby and Australian Rules football, but soccer is rushing to the front line.

"Soccer in Australia has undergone huge changes in the boardrooms and the field during the past few years. Once it was seen as the plaything of ethnic groups. Now the Socceroos are a united force in the sporting world.

"These changes could really improve relationships at all levels. Indonesians are fanatical about football. Australia is internationally recognized for its sporting skills and resources and has much to offer its neighbor to lift the quality of the game."



Things in the Republic are getting better – though slowly. Proposed management restructuring and the Asian Cup contest are the main drivers- along with the anger of fans denied the chance to see their teams do well.

The Jakarta stadium has been given a US $10 million (Rp 90 billion) facelift and should be able to seat almost 90,000 people enjoying modern facilities. Sports administrators want other regions to follow suit. Till now the comfort of fans has been the last thing on the minds of many clubs.

Instead their attention has been focused on a more basic need – money. There are 36 teams in Indonesia's Premier League. All but four are funded by regional governments, often out of welfare budgets.

The national government has ordered this practice to stop. What could justify taxpayers' rupiah earmarked for the local poor being channeled into the pockets of high-wage players, including big names from overseas?

The obvious answer is vote buying. What mayor or regent wouldn't want tens of thousands of soccer supporters reckoning they're great guys because they've helped the local lads knock out a rival team – particularly at election time.

Next year (or so the plan goes) there'll be no more slurping at the public trough. Instead teams will have to find their own fodder.

Gold reckons this is a good move because it will allow creative and progressive managements the chance to get their act together, be truly professional and better promote their product.

"Because the teams had this regular source of money, supporters and sponsors were considered unnecessary," he said. "At some regional grounds the fans are treated like animals with no-where to sit and disgusting toilets.

"If facilities are improved women and families will feel more comfortable about attending matches."

Ground conditions aren't the only hassle. At the moment Indonesian soccer suffers a severe image problem with fans linked to hooliganism – once the English disease.

A feature at some events is a vicious set piece brawl between the police, supporters and their rivals. That might be a thug's idea of a good day out, but law-abiding citizens who love soccer would rather not take the risk of seeing their kids trampled and car torched.

Next year the Football Association of Indonesia is introducing rules to create Super and Premier Leagues each of 18 teams, and meet new standards of safety, security and accountability. These will include sound financial backing and programs to train youngsters properly.


Malang's Arema is one of the few that don't get government rupiah, a point made often and vigorously by club chair Satrija Budi Wibawa. Arema relies on smokes sponsorship from a big-name brand headquartered in Malang. Other clubs are bound to go knocking on the tobacco tsars' doors, but that may not be a healthy move.

In neighboring nations like Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and Singapore tobacco links to sport are banned. If Indonesia wants to play on the world stage it will have to quit its addiction to cash from ciggies.

The Indonesian League is also funded by a cigarette manufacturer – but no nicotine names are on the Asian Cup sponsors' list. Instead the backers are airlines, hotel chains, electronic goods companies, makers of power tools and sports gear.

These were the advertisers prominent in the recent match between Sydney and the East Java team Persik Kediri at Solo - won 2-1 by the locals. No tobacco ads could be seen on the telecast.

Although he's been involved with Indonesian business since the mid 1980s, Gold only recently realized the importance of soccer in Asia when he saw a game in Kuala Lumpur featuring English team Birmingham City.

"Till then I'd mixed with ex-pats who were only interested in rugby and Aussie Rules," he said. "The enthusiasm for soccer and English teams in particular throughout the ASEAN region is huge.

"People want to see professional football. At the end of a hard day's work this is their catharsis. It's the tribalisation of the modern world. When I came back to Indonesia I suddenly saw the obvious. But the game hasn't been well run or marketed."

If Gold's report is positive and his recommendations followed then formal links may be forged with Australian 11s like A-league team Perth Glory. Indonesian national teams have already used the facilities in WA to hone pre-match skills.

"The question raised in Indonesia is money, the issue in Australia is security," said Gold. "When we can sort these out then everything else will be about football."

(Sidebar 1)

BIG TIME – SMALL CHANCES

The contest to decide who'll be Asia's top football team will be decided at Jakarta's Bung Karno Stadium on Sunday 29 July. It's being promoted as the biggest sporting event ever staged in Indonesia, expected to draw an international TV audience of close to one billion.

Quarterfinals will be played in Jakarta and the other host countries, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.

At the moment hopes of Indonesia making an international mark any time soon seem fanciful indeed. Although Indonesia will be playing in the Asian Cup it has earned its place not through merit but because it's one of the four host nations. The hot favorite is Australia.

The 46-member Asian Football Confederation headquartered in Malaysia runs the Asian Cup.

The first Asian Cup match was in 1956 and it's contested every four years. The trophy has been won three times each by Iran, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Singapore won in 1984. So far Indonesia has never made it to the finals.

The first contest this year involving Indonesia will be against Bahrain on the evening of Tuesday 10 July at Bung Karno.

For more details of matches, times and locations see www.afcasiancup.com
(First published in The Weekender (JP) June 07)
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