Thousands of survivors and relatives of the more than 5,700 people killed in last year's earthquake in central Indonesia held pre-dawn prayers yesterday to honor the victims.
Some 5,000 people prayed and recited verses from the Koran in an open field in Bantul district outside the ancient city of Jogjakarta to mark the moment when the 6.3-magnitude quake rattled the country's main island of Java.
Mourners held a minute of silence just before 6am to mark the exact moment that the quake struck. Dancers and actors later reenacted the tragedy.
In nearby villages, the kentongan, a hollowed piece of wood, was struck -- a traditional signal to residents to gather.
"Do not get trapped in long-held suffering, but rise together to rebuild," said Bantul administrator Idam Samawi, urging mourners to look to the future.
More than 1.6 million people were made homeless and another 50,000 injured in worst-hit Bantul district, south of Jogjakarta and Klaten to the northeast.
The widely-revered governor of Jogjakarta, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, promised he would help the thousands of Indonesians left permanently disabled from the devastating quake after they were hit by debris or trapped in their homes.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said hundreds of them have spinal injuries and need rehabilitation.
The sultan also said that quake victims, who had yet to receive assistance, had not been forgotten, a pledge that sparked long applause from the crowd.
"For the houses of quake victims which were completely destroyed or heavily damaged, they have been completed," he said.
"Efforts are now focused on those with houses in the moderately and lightly damaged category who will also receive assistance," the sultan said.
He said a tighter system of distributing funds would be introduced to stamp out reports of local officials siphoning off money meant for victims.
"Prosecutors or police should take firm action against those, be they village officials or district officials, who intentionally cut themselves a share," he was quoted by the Okezone news portal as saying.
Romo Mulyo and his grandson Wahyu, 12, rode their bicycles 15km in the dark to the field in Bantul in the hope that the memorial service would offer comfort.
"I have been here with my grandson since about three this morning," said Mulyo, 57, who lost his wife, a daughter and two sons in the disaster.
"We have no money since no one [in the family] has been able to get a job after the quake," he said.
Smaller ceremonies were also held throughout the region.
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
Chinese tech giant Alibaba yesterday denied it helps Beijing target the US, saying that a recent news report was “completely false.” The Financial Times yesterday reported that Alibaba “provides tech support for Chinese military ‘operations’ against [US] targets,” a White House memo provided to the newspaper showed. Alibaba hands customer data, including “IP addresses, WiFi information and payment records,” to Chinese authorities and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the report cited the memo as saying. The Financial Times said it could not independently verify the claims, adding that the White House believes the actions threaten US security. An Alibaba Group spokesperson said “the assertions
LEFT AND RIGHT: Battling anti-incumbent, anticommunist sentiment, Jeanette Jara had a precarious lead over far-right Jose Antonio Kast as they look to the Dec. 14 run Leftist candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right leader Jose Antonio Kast are to go head-to-head in Chile’s presidential runoff after topping Sunday’s first round of voting in an election dominated by fears of violent crime. With 99 percent of the results counted, Jara, a 51-year-old communist running on behalf of an eight-party coalition, won 26.85 percent, compared with 23.93 percent for Kast, the Servel electoral service said. The election was dominated by deep concern over a surge in murders, kidnappings and extortion widely blamed on foreign crime gangs. Kast, 59, has vowed to build walls, fences and trenches along Chile’s border with Bolivia to
RSS