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MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017 INTERNATIONAL Indonesian slum rejuvenated into Rainbow Village SEMARANG: A slum area on Indonesia’s Java a town 450 km (280 miles) east of the capital said one visitor, Nihayatun Naqiyah. The multi-col- other parts Indonesia. Residents already say their Island has become an unlikely tourist attraction, as Jakarta. Visitors have been flocking to the village ored paint job for the village is the brainchild of livelihoods have improved since the makeover, as well as a social media hit, after its homes were to take photographs and pose for “selfies” next to Slamet Widodo, a 54-year-old high-school teacher. they can now give tours and sell souvenirs. painted vivid colors to transform the district into the brightly colored homes. “In the future it will bring benefits to our commu- “Obviously this condition is very influential, before what is now being called “Kampung Pelangi” “It’s because of the unique look of the village. nity, especially economic empowerment. we were only the residents of what I can say was a (“Rainbow Village”). The poor hill-side area We know this area used to be a slum district but The project will be supported by the activity quiet village but now we can call it a dynamic vil- received a month-long facelift costing 300 million now it looks so beautiful after the colorful and creativity (of the people) in the village so the lage, because women are empowered and are rupiah ($22,500) and paid for by the local govern- makeover. I used to pass this area without any local community has a sense of belonging,” said able to increase their family’s income,” resident ment in a bid to rejuvenate this part of Semarang, interest but now the colors change everything,” Widodo, who was inspired by similar projects in Amanah Suyitno said.—Reuters Three years after coup, junta deeply embedded in Thai life BANGKOK: On Friday evenings in bled in 2017 from the previous year and Thailand, sandwiched between the attribute that to public approval of their evening news and a popular soap opera, hard-line tactics in breaking a political is a prime-time program that has been impasse that had persisted for years. running for three years, or ever since the Polls backed by the military government military took power in a May 22, 2014 show Thais are content with military coup. Called “Sustainable Development rule, although no such polls have been from a Royal Philosophy” it stars junta published in recent months. leader and former army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha speaking on a range Peace and order of topics, from the virtues of modesty to Perhaps more revealing than a military the state of the economy. government stacked full of military men The military has always played a is the number of orders issued by the prominent role in Thai life. But Prayuth’s junta: 358 in total since 2014. The orders show is just one of many examples of aimed to impose discipline on every how embedded the junta has become aspect of Thai public life. They ranged in Thai society. Thailand’s military gov- from making seatbelts mandatory for ernment has acknowledged it wants to passengers in the backseats of cars to weaken political parties and maintain holding parents accountable for student permanent influence over future elect- fights. The junta has also launched disci- ed governments, partly through a new plinary initiatives such as a hotline to constitution approved by Thailand’s deal with misbehaving Buddhist monks king last month. and so-called “attitude adjustment” pro- But data compiled by Reuters shows grams for drunk drivers. the military is not just trying to influence The campaign has covered everything Thailand’s political life. It is leaving an from a crackdown on taxi gangs at air- imprint on nearly every institution of Thai ports to a clean-up of street food stalls, society, with brass hats far more the latter with mostly mixed results. Army entrenched in senior positions than spokesman Winthai Suvaree said those under previous military governments. efforts by the junta, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order Entwined with monarchy (NCPO), have improved Thailand. “Overall, SYDNEY: Sydney’s morning papers sit on display at a news kiosk.—AFP The military now controls 143 out of people are satisfied with concrete 250 parliamentary seats. Under the previ- changes in the society,” Winthai told ous junta after the 2006 coup, the mili- Reuters. He did not specifically address ‘Foreign invaders’ threaten tary held 67 out of 242 seats. The cabinet the militarization of Thai society. is stacked with soldiers. Out of the 36 Thailand has been bitterly divided cabinet members, 12 have a military since a 2006 coup against then Prime background. In 2006, only four military Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billion- struggling Australian media officers were among the 37 cabinet aire businessman turned politician who members. The military is also entwined gained the adoration of rural voters with the powerful monarchy - the name through populist schemes but made World’s biggest news brands spread their wings of Prayuth’s show is derived from the phi- many enemies among the military-roy- losophy of the late king Bhumibol alist elite. After the restoration of SYDNEY: Australia’s role as a testing ground for from Google and Facebook, with Morgan Rich benefactor Adulyadej, who died last October after democracy, the military again inter- global media giants such as the New York Times, Stanley estimating last year they would suck up RMIT University’s Alexandra Wake, a former seven decades on the throne. vened in 2014 to topple a civilian gov- Daily Mail and the Guardian could hasten the 35-40 percent of the total pool of Aus$13.9 bil- journalist, cautioned that although the foreign- More than half of the 13 members of ernment led by Thaksin’s sister Yingluck decline of embattled local players as they fight lion (US$10.3 billion) in Australia. “The size of the ers have produced award-winning work, they the Privy Council, the body that advises Shinawatra. Thailand’s military has for eyeballs and advertising dollars, analysts (ad spend) cake is staying the same and growing could not comprehensively cover Australia new King Maha Vajiralongkorn - himself a staged 12 coups since the end of direct warn. With traditional sources of circulation and by inflation at best. So for a new entrant to come because of their smaller footprint. The local former soldier - are military men. It was rule by kings in 1932. advertising revenues drying up, the world’s in and take money, they take it off an existing media cuts meant they too would struggle to just under half in the previous Council. The 2014 coup was partly the mili- biggest news brands are spreading their wings player,” media analyst Peter Cox said. cover the country with the same depth and Cinema and television stations are tary’s way of trying to make right what it to grow digital audiences. “So that’s what Google and Facebook have breathe as they had in the past, she said. “The increasingly showing pro-military viewed as the mistakes of the 2006 coup, One of the first places they have set up, pro- done... therefore there’s not much cake left problem is of course, they (foreign media) have themes and the school curriculum fea- including a failure to get rid of Thaksin’s ducing local content for the domestic market, is for firstly the newspapers, but now increas- very different interests to Australian interests. tures military slogans. allies and subdue his supporters, political Australia-already home to some of their largest ingly television stations as well.” Local “If we want a system of democracy as we cur- “The military coup of 2014 offered the analysts say. Prayuth, then a major-gen- foreign audiences, and with a ready population providers can no longer count on the “rivers rently do in Australia where people are required armed forces the chance to put in place a eral, was part of the junta that seized of early technology adopters and keen news of gold” print classifieds to boost income, to be informed to make a decision, we need a wider footprint and they are doing so,” control of the government in 2006. He consumers. But with the market near-saturated, with digital advertising not yet able to bridge variety of Australian voices actually telling us Paul Chambers, a professor at Naresuan led the 2014 putsch as army chief, saying analysts say the foreign outlets, with their deep the gap. Fairfax, a takeover target of US pri- what’s going on.” Her plea to support public University and an expert on the Thai mili- the military needed to restore order fol- pockets and mostly free content, are eating into vate equity giant TPG Capital and investment interest journalism is reflected in Canberra. tary, told Reuters in an e-mail. “A younger lowing a cycle of mass protests and vio- struggling local media’s revenues. firm Hellman & Friedman, said last month it Opposition politicians this month pushed for a generation of retired military officers are, lence. The junta has been under pressure This has helped accelerate job cuts and belt- was axing a quarter of its newsroom to save probe into the role of government and laws in since the end of 2016, sitting on the Privy from some Western countries to return to tightening at some of the country’s main pub- Aus$30 million annually in the latest round of ensuring independent and diverse media.

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