Asaki.or.id – Washington DC, Before a jubilant crowd of more than a million, Barack Hussein Obama claimed his place in history as America’s first black president, summoning a dispirited nation to unite in hope against the “gathering clouds and raging storms” of war and economic woe. On an extraordinary day in the life of America, people of all colors and ages waited for hours Tuesday in frigid temperatures to witness a young black man with a foreign-sounding name take command of a nation founded by slaveholders. It was a scene watched in fascination by many millions — perhaps billions — around the world. “We gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord,” the nation’s 44th president said. The presidency passed to Democrat Obama from Republican George W. Bush at the stroke of noon, marking one of democracy’s greatest gifts: the peaceful transfer of power. But a stark transfer all the same. In one of the new administration’s first acts, Obama ordered federal agencies to halt all pending regulations until further review — this after Bush’s final weeks raised heated debate over rushing new rules into effect on the way out the door. And even though new White House aides struggled to find offices and work intercoms, an overhauled http://www.whitehouse.gov Web site was running under Obama’s banner within minutes of his swearing-in. “Change has come to America,” it declared. Obama plunges into his new job in earnest on Wednesday after capping inaugural festivities at a national prayer service in the morning, meeting with his economic team and Iraq advisers and welcoming a stream of public visitors into the White House while Congress gives his economic revival plan a going-over and takes up the nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of state. Her confirmation has been held up for now by Republican concern over the foundation fundraising of her husband, the former president. The new president had been buoyant and relaxed through the three days of preinaugural festivities. But he seemed somber as he stood on the Capitol steps, placed his left hand on the Bible used by Abraham Lincoln and repeated the inaugural oath “to preserve, protect and defend” a Constitution that originally defined blacks as three-fifths of a person. A deafening cheer went up. “What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly,” Obama said. “This is the price and the promise of citizenship.” The day’s high spirits were jarred by sudden concern about the health of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. The legendary Democrat, suffering from brain cancer, and was rushed from a Capitol luncheon in Obama’s honor to a hospital. “My prayers are with him and his family,” Obama said. Later, fellow Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said Kennedy was laughing and joking at the hospital and itching to get back to work. On the inaugural parade route, Obama and his wife, Michelle, climbed out of the heavily armored presidential limousine and walked a few blocks along famed Pennsylvania Avenue, waving to adoring crowds under the watchful eyes of security agents. Hours later, they put the day’s formality behind them to swirl through 10 inaugural balls. With the president in white tie and the first lady in a white one-shouldered gown by 26-year-old New York designer Jason Wu, their first dance was to Beyonce singing the Etta James classic “At Last.” “Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow, the work begins,” Obama said at the Commander in Chief Ball. Throughout his inaugural address, an 18-minute sermon on civic duty, Obama wove a thread of personal responsibility and accountability. A liberal Democrat proposing billions of dollars in new spending, Obama nonetheless spoke of the limits of government. “It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours,” he said. “It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.” Obama’s 10-year-old daughter, Malia, aimed a camera at her father as he spoke. Michelle leaned onto the edge of her seat, body tensed and brow knitted. “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America,” Obama said. He placed blame for the recent economic collapse not just on greed and irresponsibility “on the part of some” but also on the inability or unwillingness of everyone to move the country beyond an industrial-based economy — what he called “our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.” With that, the 47-year-old former Illinois senator transformed himself — from a candidate claiming his campaign is about the voters to a president promising to put the nation in the people’s hands. Unlike most predecessors, Obama takes office with his agenda in many ways set for him. An economy that seems more foreboding than at any inauguration since Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, with some 11 million people now out of work, and trillions of dollars of stock market investments lost. Two wars, one in Iraq that most of the country has long wanted over and another in Afghanistan that is spiraling downward and needs an overhaul. The continuing fear that another calamitous terrorist attack is not out of the question. More inspirational than prescriptive, Obama’s inaugural address only glancingly mentioned a series of promises from his campaign: to get the U.S. out of Iraq, stabilize Afghanistan, create jobs, “restore science to its rightful place,” boost the use of alternative energy, address climate change, transform schools, manage government spending wisely and oversee a more bipartisan, less-divisive approach to policy-making. To allies overseas eager for his leadership to replace Bush’s, Obama had welcome words: “We are ready to lead once more.” His ascension to the White House was cheered around the world as a sign that America will be more embracing, more open to change. “To the Muslim world,” Obama said, “we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” Still, he bluntly warned, “To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.” The day began well before dawn as people made their way downtown to secure spots from which to witness history, and it was extending well past midnight through the official balls and many more unofficial galas. The drama exceeded even the breathless buildup of recent days’ nearly nonstop discussion on TV, blogs, podcasts and text messages. Not only heavily policed and barricaded Washington but much of the country virtually halted in its tracks — even, albeit briefly, inside the casinos of Las Vegas. The nation had celebrated 55 inaugurations before, but none like the one that made a president out of the son of Kenya and Kansas, a man who rose to America’s highest office largely untested at executive leadership, his political experience encompassing only four years in the U.S. Senate and eight in the state legislature of his home state of Illinois. Blacks especially powered the jubilation that was thick in the chilly air. Even though Obama didn’t give the topic of race, his or others, much treatment in either his campaign nor his inaugural, blacks poured into Washington from all over to watch firsthand as one of their own at last shattered a painful racial barrier. “It almost leaves me speechless,” said 69-year-old Tony Avelino, who traveled from Brea, Calif. “This situation is so emotional it’s basically an unreal experience,” added 56-year-old Cleveland Wesley, on the Mall from Houston with his wife as the sun rose. Many others also see in Obama fresh reason for optimism at a time of great national insecurity. Or a chance for rest from the eight acrimonious years of the Bush presidency. Or even a turn toward modernity, as a country hurtling into new ways of communicating, connecting and conducting business chose a man more comfortable in that world than any leader before him. Excitement over Obama’s young, camera-ready family and the thought of Malia Obama and her sister, 7-year-old Sasha, turning the stately White House into a children’s playroom also figured prominently in the day. Among the feverishly discussed questions: What would fashion-forward Michelle Obama wear, information kept as a closely held secret? The shimmering gold brocade sheath dress and matching coat that she chose for the daytime sparked immediate water-cooler discussion, especially when she paired the outfit with green gloves against the cold. In a country nearly evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, it was notable that protests were nearly unseen, a remarkable shift from the two Bush inaugurations that were marked by boisterous demonstrations. One group of about 20 people from a Baptist church in Kansas demonstrated with anti-gay slogans. With his White House campaign and landslide November victory built in part on his rhetorical gifts, Obama sought to provide reassurance for the future while compelling listeners to sacrifice. He articulated eloquently the deeper effect on the American psyche of the problems of war and recession: “a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.” Not so, said Obama. But he cautioned that the effort will require all citizens, no matter party, age, skin color, or status, to get to work. “The time has come to set aside childish things,” he said, invoking the Bible. “Greatness is never a given. It must be earned.” Bush, the man who has led the nation the past eight years, hosted the Obamas for coffee in the morning, accompanied them to the Capitol and sat tightlipped in the front row for Obama’s swearing-in and speech. Obama thanked Bush for his service as president and never directly criticized him. But he also repeatedly talked of the need to abandon current practices, whether “the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics,” the lack of a watchful enough eye on financial markets, or what he called a false choice between safety and ideals — a reference to brutal interrogation practices and other actions taken by the Bush administration in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come,” Obama said. Afterward, he escorted his predecessor to a helicopter and Bush flew with his family first to Andrews Air Force Base for a private departure ceremony, then on to a welcome rally in Midland, Texas and finally, by nightfall, his ranch near Crawford, Texas. As the architect of two unfinished wars and the man in charge at a time of economic calamity, the now ex-president left Washington under the cloud of approval ratings hovering at historic lows. People in the crowd booed when Bush’s image was flashed on jumbotrons and one contingent near the Capitol sang “Na-na-na-na, hey, hey, goodbye” in a jeering farewell. For all the new president’s call to joint effort, it is political reality that it will largely be up to Obama himself to meet soaring expectations — both those he has created for himself and those others have placed on him unbidden. In the Oval Office awaits the workaday, hard-nosed business of the daily governance of a nation of 304 million. And while Washington celebrated, events kept moving: Wall Street slid, news surfaced that U.S. carmaker Chrysler could be purchased in part by Italian auto giant Fiat, and prosecutors at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, sought to suspend all war-crimes trials pending Obama’s guidance. Congress already has given Obama $350 billion in new financial-industry bailout money and is fast-tracking a massive economic stimulus bill to be worth $825 billion or more. And Bush has ordered 30,000 more U.S. troops to go to Afghanistan this year, adding to 32,000 already there. But these moves are hardly the last word on the big issues of the day. And some of Obama’s attention to even those things will undoubtedly be deferred to crises — a natural disaster, an overseas conflagration — that can pop onto the scene unexpectedly and consume enormous amounts of White House energy. His transition also produced some missteps that raised questions about whether Obama’s highly disciplined, perfectionist organization that proved brilliant at winning an election will be equally brilliant at governing. Obama’s team overlooked known problems in the backgrounds of two Cabinet nominees — Bill Richardson for Commerce and Timothy Geithner for Treasury. They also flubbed the introduction to Congress of Leon Panetta as CIA director. Obama also was tripped up by controversy surrounding the appointment of his successor in the Senate.

Asaki.or.id – Jakarta, JAKARTA (SINDO) – Permasalahan dan kelemahan pembangunan di Indonesia akan menjadi fokus utama dalam pertemuan All Japan Cooperation Meeting kemarin. Jepang juga akan memberikan solusi,bukan hanya duduk dan diam serta tidak tanggap terhadap kendala yang dihadapi Indonesia. ”Permasalahan pembangunan di Indonesia antara lain di sektor ekonomi. Sektor ekonomi makro masih cukup baik, tetapi yang menjadi permasalahan adalah sektor mikro. Kendala pembangunan ekonomi mikro akan dibahas pada rapat ini,”ungkap Duta Besar Jepang untuk Indonesia Kojiro Shiojiri pada pembukaan All Japan Cooperation Meetingkemarin. Selain faktor ekonomi,kelemahan di bidang politik dan hak asasi manusia (HAM) juga akan dibahas.Tren pemerintahan otonomi di seluruh penjuru pemerintahan daerah di Indonesia juga menjadi pembahasan menarik. Solusi atas permasalahan itu akan disampaikan kepada Pemerintah Indonesia.Menurut Shiojiri,hal itu dilakukan sebagai bentuk kemitraan strategis sehingga Indonesia bisa menjadi negara yang maju. Selain permasalahan pembangunan di Indonesia, pertemuan itu juga membahas peran dan posisi Indonesia di komunitas internasional. Menurut Shiojiri, posisi Indonesia di dunia internasional menguat.Namun, seiring 50 tahun persahabatan Jakarta-Tokyo, menurut dia, posisi Jepang di Indonesia justru agak menurun.”Ke depannya, Jepang harus berusaha meningkatkan kerja samanya dengan Indonesia,”katanya. Sementara topik khusus permasalahan Jepang di Indonesia,menurut Shiojiri, adalah faktor krisis manajemen. Dia mengatakan,hal itu penting mengingat terjadinya bencana alam atau kerusuhan massal tidak dapat diprediksi waktu dan tempatnya di Indonesia.Mengingat jumlah warga Jepang yang tinggal di Indonesia cukup banyak, krisis manajemen sangat diperlukan. ”Kita berkewajiban melindungi seluruh warga Jepang yang tinggal di Indonesia,” ucapnya. Menurut Atase Pers Kedutaan Besar Jepang Katsuri Tsunoda, All Japan Cooperation Meeting dihadiri seluruh konsul jenderal Jepang di Indonesia. Kepala Perwakilan JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency),JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization), dan Japan Foundation juga tampak hadir. ”Seluruh kepala perwakilan Japan Club di seluruh kota besar di Indonesia juga turut hadir ikut memberikan masukan dan saran dalam pertemuan itu,”tutur Tsunoda.

Asaki.or.id – Jakarta, SINGAPORE = Singapore Export Growth Seen Higher but risks lurk……” Singapore’s key exports are expected to expand at a faster rate this year. Non oil domestic exports should expand 4%-6% this year, after rising 2.3% in 2007-well below expectations, largely due to falling global demand and an “unanticipated” weakness in electronics shipments. Total trade is projected to expand between 6%-8% this year. The stronger growth projections for 2008 hinge on an expected recovery in global semiconductor sales, world economic growth at a slower but still solid 4.8% and stronger sales of refined oil products.

MALAYSIA = Malaysia Economic Growth to Slow in 2008…….Malaysia economic growth is expected to slow to 5.4% this year which is threatened by US recession as well as rising oil and food prices on the domestic front. Higher food priced and bad weather led to a drop in the Consumer Sentiment Index which is registered 110.7 in the fourth quarter compared to 117.5 in the previous quarter, however the automotive industry index saw a strong improvement.

Asaki.or.id – UK, SOUTH AFRICA: Ceramics Industries builds profits, JSE-Listed building materials manufactures Ceramics Industries said its full-year headline earnings a share increased by 15.7% to R12.50 a share, after it commisioned two new kilns at its pegasus and Aquarius Factories. The increased capacity, for which ceramics forked out R250million, boosted the company’s production and sales for the year ending July 31, to a record high. revenue increased by 26.7% to R1.38Billion, with revenue from tiles division increasung by 20% on increased capacity at the Pegasus factory, and the group’s Australian operation, Centaurus, advancing profit by 40%. Ceramics industries continued strong demand both tiles and sanitary ware in the year under review. Despite a slightly weaker currency, selling prices remained under pressure because of imports, especially from China. looking a head, Ceramics said that it would focus on consolidating its operations and ensuring that all factories were operating at full capacity. its economies of sclae should also counteract margin pressures presented by imported products. Ceramic was evaluating the need to establish a new FLOOR TILE FACTORY, Gryphon.

Asaki.or.id – New York, NEW YORK – President Bush and his wife Laura stood in somber silence on Sunday after laying wreaths at the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once soared. He later pledged to make the anniversary “a day of renewing resolve” to remember the lessons of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The Bushes set floral wreaths adrift in reflecting pools that mark the former locations of the north and south towers at the beginning of a two-day fifth-anniversary tour that will take them to all three sites of devastation. They made a slow procession down a long ramp lined with a flag-bearing honor guard made up of firefighters and policemen, making their way four or five stories below ground level. Uttering no words, the Bushes walked hand-in-hand on the floor of the cavernous pit with bagpipes wailing in the background. Afterward, the Bushes attended a service of prayer and remembrance at nearby St. Paul’s Chapel, greeted firefighters at a firehouse overlooking ground zero and toured a private museum next door that is dedicated to 9/11 families. “Laura and I approach tomorrow with a heavy heart. It’s hard not to think about people who lost their lives on Sept. 11th, 2001,” a tight-faced Bush told reporters outside the firehouse, which was destroyed in the attack and rebuilt. “I just wish there were some way we could make them whole.” Bush also called Monday’s anniversay “a day of renewing resolve.” “I vowed that I’m never going to forget the lessons of that day,” he said, still clutching his wife’s hand. “There is still an enemy out there who would like to inflict the same kind of damage again.” They were the first stops of nearly 24 hours of observances at the three sites where terrorists wrought death and destruction and transformed his presidency. On Monday, he was to visit with firefighters and other first responders at a firehouse in lower Manhattan; attend a ceremony at the field in Shanksville, Pa., where one of the hijacked planes hurtled to the ground; and participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon. Like at ground zero, Bush did not plan to participate in the official anniversary observances at the other crash sites, intending to avoid the distraction that accompanies a presidential appearance. He was ending Monday with a 9 p.m. EDT address from the Oval Office. The president’s five-year anniversary schedule recalls his marking of the first anniversary in 2002, when he also toured each crash site, embracing family members of the victims and speaking at the Pentagon and New York’s Ellis Island. Since then, he has kept a lower profile on each anniversary. Across New York on Sunday, residents marked the day at other ceremonies large and small. From a service of remembrance at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in midtown Manhattan to a chant at a Buddhist temple on Staten Island, New Yorkers observed the somber anniversary with prayer and reflection. Bush and his wife wore grim expressions as they took their places for the interfaith service at St. Paul’s. The 240-year-old Episcopal church, across the street from the site, escaped damage and became a center of refuge for weary rescue workers. Bush’s pew in the church was filled with representatives of the president’s experience of the attacks. Jane Vigiano, who lost two sons in the attack — Joe, a policeman and John, a firefighter — greeted the Bushes and sat next to the president. On Laura Bush’s side was Bob Beckwith, the retired firefighter who handed Bush a bullhorn on the president’s first ground zero visit. Farther down was Arlene Howard, the mother of 9/11 victim George Howard, a New York Port Authority police officer. Bush keeps Howard’s badge as a constant reminder of the attacks. A printed message from the Rev. James H. Cooper said: “The message to people who visit St. Paul’s is simple: Go back to your communities knowing that a place of love stood next door to Ground Zero. Try to make the world a better place.” Outside the church, several dozen protesters shouted “arrest Bush” as the president’s motorcade left. They held black balloons that said, “Troops home.” Accompanying the president and first lady at ground zero and in church were New York Gov. George Pataki, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Rudy Giuliani, who was New York mayor at the time of the attacks. Even before Bush left Washington, surrogates from Vice President Dick Cheney on down spent the Sept. 11 anniversary’s eve vigorously defending the administration’s record on improving the national defense over the past five years. “There has not been another attack on the United States,” Cheney said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And that’s not an accident.” On television and newspaper opinion columns, Cabinet secretaries and agency heads sought to make the case that the government under Bush has made important changes that have lessened the risk of attack. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cited additional security at ports and airports and increased cooperation among intelligence agencies, a point echoed by the nation’s intelligence chief, John Negroponte. Democrats, however, contend the administration has fallen short because so little cargo is inspected at U.S. ports and chemical plants, and other high-value sites are vulnerable. “I think we’re in trouble,” said Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean. “We have not pursued the war on terror with the vigor that we should have because we’ve gotten bogged down in this civil war in Iraq.” Presidential spokesman Tony Snow rejected suggestions that the administration’s hunt for al-Qaida leader bin Laden — mastermind of the 9/11 attacks — had bogged down. “We’re not at liberty to go into sources and methods, but we have never stopped looking for him,” Snow told reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush flew to New York. “Bin Laden is harder to find these days because he in fact does not feel at liberty to move about, he does not feel at liberty to use electronic communications…Under such circumstances, somebody leaves fewer clues,” Snow added. The fifth anniversary falls less than two months before elections in which Republican control of Congress is seen as in danger. In a series of speeches that began more than a week ago and continue for at least one more, Bush and his political advisers are seeking to frame the vote as a choice between Republicans who are effective stewards of Americans’ safety and Democrats who would erode protections. A poll released Sunday shows the landscape in which the parties are competing. Just over half of those surveyed believe the country is safer from attack than on Sept. 11, 2001, and that the fight against terrorism is going well, according to ABC News. In December 2003, nearly two-thirds of those questioned felt the anti-terrorism battle was going well. Some 2,749 died when the twin towers collapsed after being pierced by hijacked airliners. In all, some 2,973 died in the World Trade Center, Pennsylvania and Pentagon attacks, not counting the 19 hijackers.