The wRap Indonesia: Sept. 23, 2014

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia’s crushing football loss to Thailand in the ongoing Asian Games and Noal lead singer Nazril “Ariel” Irham’s completion of his jail sentence lead our wrap of stories from Indonesia the past day. 

1. Indonesia shrugs off crushing 0-6 loss to Thailand

Having already qualified for the round of 16 at the Asian Games, Indonesia’s Under-23 football team didn’t look like it was out to win Monday night’s game against old nemesis Thailand. Both teams have already qualified for the next round, and the game only determined the winner of Group E. Coach Aji Santoso, for instance, didn’t field key players at the start, leading to an early Thai goal at the 6th minute. And 5 more after that. With the game results, Indonesia will next face North Korea, the Group F winner, on September 26, while Thailand will face runner up China. Read the full story on Kompas.com.      

2. Finally, Ariel is fully and completely free

Almost 4 years after the sex video scandal that turned his world upside down, Noah lead vocalist Nazril “Ariel” Irham is now completely a free man again. On Monday, September 22, he officially completed the 3.5-year jail sentence handed him for violating anti-pornography laws after his private sex videos were leaked. While the rock star has more than revived his career since being released on parole in July 2012, he told Tempo.co his band Noah, which has just released a new album, hasn’t been able to accept invitations to perform abroad because he wasn’t allowed to travel. “But now I’m completely free. There’s certainly a lot more that I can do,” he said. 

3. Trave costs too expensive? Jokowi plans e-blusukan 

After complaining about the IDR18 trillion ($1.5 billion) budgeted for government meetings in 2015, President-elect Joko “Jokowi” Widodo plans to conduct his famous impromptu visits — or blusukan — by integrating 330 online media, Tempo.co reported. It’s not exactly clear yet how Jokowi will “visit” projects and constituents through online media, but IT expert Onno Widodo Purbo says it would be simple enough to cut down meeting budgets by using Skype, mailing lists, or other social networking tools.

4. New road to Soekarno-Hatta Airport easing traffic soon

Going to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport may soon become slightly less of a pain than it currently is. The Tangerang administration – the city where the airport is actually located – says by the end of the year, motorists could expect to start using a 15-kilometer non-toll road from the Karang Tengah rest area to the airport through the Green Light housing estate on Jl. Daan Mogot. The road, which would allow motorists to avoid the congested toll, is aleady 65% complete, Tempo.co quotes authorities as saying. The road is part of the plan to build more access roads and integrate the main road with public transport systems, as the airport itself is being expanded.  

5. Will Indonesians will shell out $599 for a new BlackBerry?

Is there enough passion left in Indonesia’s love affair with the BlackBerry to create demand for a $599 (about IDR7.2 million) square phone with a physical keyboard? That’s what the struggling Canadian company is hoping for when it launches the BlackBerry Passport on Wednesday. The phone, which is cheaper than an iPhone and high-end Android devices, will be launched in Dubai, London and Toronto, before launching in stores 15 days later, Agence France-Presse reported. The phone comes after BlackBerry’s launch of the budget touchscreen Z3 in Indonesia in May, which does not appear to have taken off. – Rappler.com