■ IndonesiaPlayboy studies in prison
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra -- the son of Indonesia's former autocratic leader Suharto -- is studying law in prison where he is serving a sentence for ordering the murder of a supreme court judge, a news report said yesterday. The former playboy billionaire has enrolled in the study program offered by International Business Law and Management to inmates and staff at Nusakambangan prison located on an island 316km southeast of Jakarta. The prison school program has also taken on former timber tycoon Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, also an inmate at Nusakambangan, as an assistant lecturer in business and entrepreneurship.
■ Hong Kong
Killer mother sentenced
An Indonesian maid has been sentenced to two years in prison for killing her baby daughter and then burying the body on a beach at an outlying Hong Kong island, a newspaper reported yesterday. Hong Kong High Court Justice Colin Jackson imposed the sentence Friday on Sugiati Giyono, 23, after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter, according to the South China Morning Post. Jackson said Giyono could not be convicted of murder because she may have been mentally disturbed after giving birth, the paper reported. The eight-day-old baby, whose mouth, nose and eyes were covered with adhesive tape,was found floating off a beach in Cheung Chau last year.
■ Vietnam
No drug use in public
Hanoi authorities are looking to clamp down on people caught using illegal drugs in public in a bid to clean up the nation's capital before the upcoming Southeast Asia Games, state-run media said yesterday. Anyone found using heroin and other illicit substances in public is to be fined and sent to drug re-education centers on the outskirts of the city, reported Tien Phong newspaper. The newspaper said the draft recommended fining anyone aged between 12 and 60 years old who had been caught using illicit drugs in public.
■ New Zealand
Policeman too friendly
A New Zealand policeman has been reprimanded for addressing Prime Minister Helen Clark by her first name after she smiled at him, a newspaper reported yesterday. Police bosses said the junior officer embarrassed the force by saying "Hi Helen" as she and her advisers walked past at an Auckland hotel where she is chairing a summit meeting of Pacific island leaders, according to the New Zealand Herald. "She is the prime minister of New Zealand after all," said Inspector Mark Hall, who is in charge of police at the meeting, saying the officer had responded to her smile inappropriately.
■ Singapore
Judge praises teenager
A teenager who saved a man from being hacked to death was praised for his bravery by a Singapore judge and then scolded for dabbling in the sale of illegal compact discs. State Coroner Malcolm Tan said Edwin Yeo, 16, was "a brave young man" during the inquest into the death of Ng Sok Phua, 46, who committed suicide after carrying out the axe-wielding attack on April 3, The Straits Times said. Yeo stopped Ng from hacking to death Tan Boon Pang, 35, at a coffee shop. Police investigations revealed the three were allegedly involved in the sale of obscene and illegal discs. The coroner said Yeo should be concentrating on his studies, not the "sale of illegal" discs.
■ GermanyMan cuts off penis
A German cut off his own penis with a kitchen knife to cure his addiction to sex, police in the southern town of Tiengen said on Friday. "The man called a friend around eight o'clock to say he'd done something stupid," police said in a statement. He had been drinking vodka to pluck up courage for the amateur surgery. Police arrived to discover the blood-soaked man, 41, in his apartment and his organ under the kitchen table. Emergency services rushed the man and his penis to a nearby hospital. Police said the man did not want his penis to be reattached but were unable to say if doctors had complied with his wishes.
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