LifeMinder

Mbatik..

"No one knows how long artisans in Southeast Asia have been making batik, the brightly colored fabric that is printed using a wax-resist process. Although batik is also crafted in Japan, China, India, and some countries in West Africa and South America, there is no other region as inextricably linked with batik as Southeast Asia. Indonesians, and especially Javanese, have swaddled their infants in it, married in it, wrapped their dead in it; batik is an essential element of daily living", quotes from National Geographic's Traveller, October 2009 edition.

De ja vu ... in the dusk

~ * * * ~

I was driving on one afternoon last week. As I ascended a flyover going to the west, sun light struck and follow me me as if the sun was rising.

I drove slowly as the lanes was quite. Enjoying the beautiful rays. The sun was really like it was rising.

On top of the bridge the road is flat. I saw lots of banners and billboards used by the political parties. You can see at the picture, a big billboard used temporarily by Partai Golkar. As seen, maybe the wording is "memberi bukti, bukan janji" -I forgot what exactly written- which means nothing to me anyway.

I smiled realizing that the "sunrise" mood was over when my car descended the bridge, tried to get rid of those "meaningless" slogan.

Maybe it works for others:)

So I backed to reality, the dusk was falling.

~ * * * ~

Gallery of savagery, Lapindo

A friend of mine shared some nice, satirical yet ironic composition pics in weblog Galeri Kebiadaban Lapindo. Recent posting is a love letter to Adinda Bakrie.

Sympathy to Lapindo victims.

(Dont worry..) Crisis ends 2010

I always have a high skepticism to Indonesian businessman's wishes. Some -if not most of them- were quite satisfied with less-justified assumptions supplied by their managers working under their guidance, some were hesitate to use statistics and to hear facts that against their plan, some were blindly believe in their past experience forgot that world has changed, some were too soft to get rid of flaw judgments and using those to please business partners or banks (whom also like to be fooled as well:) and they together composing a nice wishful thinking scenario.

No new toll road please...

empty lane vs traffic, originally uploaded by A_ndre mobile's pics.

The city administration of Jakarta is planning to build six inner city toll roads which will cost more than IDR 40 trillion. Jakarta now is one of the highest motorcycle ownership about 339 units/1000 people. Cars is about 180 cars/1000 people, in contrast with one of the most advance city in Asia, Shanghai's 50.

Undisturbed meat seller strike

Food hawkers @Priya school, originally uploaded by A_ndre mobile's pics.

After the soybean.. now turn to meat to get kicked.. The price was IDR 45.000/kg (USD 5/kg) before end up with IDR 52.000/kg (USD 5.7/kg) in only few days. The Jakarta Post reported that the price surge brought hundreds of meat sellers from Greater Jakarta to protest at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, demanding the government stabilize rising price. 

Food (in)security

It should be an enjoyable morning with a healthy breakfast, low GI muesli, blendered LSA beans and soybean milk. But to my surprise.. no soybean. The milk seller apparently wasn't show up for several days.. At the dinner, everyone's favorites, tempe, was out too.  The fermented soybean cake had been missing in the nearby wet market for several days. In East Java, police arrested group of people that were accumulating a large amount of soybean in their warehouse.

Last week, soybean price was increase up to IDR 8500/kg from IDR 5000/kg or 70% increase. Cooking oil's raise from IDR 8500/kg to IDR 11000/kg at local wet market. In Sulawesi, local bean rose from IDR 2000/kg to IDR 7000/kg Some seller claimed that their sales was down to 30%. Former President Megawati who is running for the 2009 election wasn't forget to blow up 'tempe' issue during her informal campaign last week.

PILKADA MAHAL… INVESTASI YANG HARUS DIKEMBALIKAN PADA WARGA KOTA

Seperti diberitakan Kompas, 7 Agustus 2007 bahwa Pilkada DKI sangat mahal. Sumbangan untuk kedua calon mencapai lebih dari 92 milyar. Ini belum termasuk biaya-biaya siluman yang mungkin saja beredar entah hari-hari belakangan ini atau masa datang saat gubernur terpilih menjalani masa jabatannya.
Mudah-mudahan penulis salah, tapi melihat isi kampanye, track record kedua kandidat dan sistem yang ada sekarang ini, maka kesimpulan sementara adalah cukup sulit bagi gubernur baru untuk memperbaiki Jakarta secara signifikan. Tidak bisa dipungkiri bahwa saat ini diperlukan sosok yang jenius dalam tata kelola pemerintahan, ekonomi, sosial dan budaya, skill kepemimpinan yang tinggi, keberpihakan yang nyata dan proporsional pada seluruh lapisan masyarakat, serta memiliki otoritas yang cukup kuat (untuk tidak mudah berkompromi tapi dapat  bekerja sama) di lingkungan politik daerah maupun nasional. Selain timing dan kesempatan yang tepat dalam membuat perubahan. Bayangkan jika kepala daerah disibukan dengan bencana misalnya, maka akan sulit untuk merealisasikan program-program perbaikan daerah.

Technorati Tags: politics, urban

Terror....

Indonesia again… hit by bomb terror. More than 20 killed and hundreds injured in attacked in Bali island. Just a day before, the Government announced raised of gasoline price up to 100%. In just few days, we were shocked by those bad news.

There always a bad guy in this world (If we accept of polarity of nice and bad guy – which again the truth relatively driven by media, internet, popular lifestyle, etc). Domination by group of nations, some western countries - or in more appropriate words, western culture & economy -, nonetheless has been creating underground forces which in many ways try to express their reverse existence. What woke us up was that the 'clash' was just exactly happen in here… not in western sphere of the earth. Except we have nice places for those westerners…. and BANG…… just like that.

I am now sitting few kilometers away from the explosion site, I am sitting in a very nice place… but still horror is tremendously hit my mood. It is really not about the technical description, number of victims and how destructive of B-O-M-B, but moreover the underlaying environment that trigger up such kind of actions… There must be lot of frustation… distrust… hatred… anger…. and stupidity in the inner circle of the group…

But now I am sit in nice gazebo with cool breeze facing paddy field…. Those contradiction is just annoying. Sometimes it seems everything change to black and white images….  I am still enjoying my potato gratin… with latte, I am sure I still have good sight, with colors around… but psychologicaly …. sometimes I feel the color around me was pulled to both ends of black and white.

Cooled by afternoon breeze... I relief… this gonna be over for me and most of us … world will forget it. People are too busy to remember all those things… as long one not get hurt directly… Like now most people in Indonesia are struggling with their everyday life, for them, the real terror is there… how to survive, how to pay rocketing transportation cost, how to get the kids go to school, pay their insurance etc, etc.

I am finish eating when I try to stop to think those crazy things…. I am happy with the good food, cozy atmosphere…. some thoughts … and you feel enough for today. Tomorrow has its own story….

Suddenly.. I feel like home…

Prepare yourself

Monday this week, one  Boeing 737-200 plunged into a suburb of Medan, one of the biggest city in Indonesia, seconds after taking off from the city's airport. 103 people on board died and 47 people on the ground also perished.  My colleagues who suppose to travel by plane the next day were chilling.... Everybody questioning the safety standard of airlines.

It is no secret that we all doubt to the maintenance discipline of airlines in Indonesia.. but what can we do. Stop flying??  I like flying. And with cheap fare campaigned by the bare bone airlines like Air Asia, etc. the competition is almost impossible -they said- for a carrier to do "proper" operation.

Just after the crash, I recall four or five planes this week were forced to land down or return back to the terminal or had emergency landing due to "navigation or engine problem".... HEY such incidents were very rare before... but now... Maybe they were "more aware" of such problem (not just forget it and keep flying) than before or was there a huge "katrina" kind of electromagnetic storm pass through Indonesia this week?  .. God knows ..

With all the price wars among the airlines... and rising of cost of fuel... I bet that every operator are tempted (and did) to manipulate the standard.

The price war make not only market was confuse, but also airline operators. There must be a separation on service as the target market, but now is mixed up. Those whom not prepared and experience for operating low cost airlines will try to adapt and interpret and innovate (it is dangerous isn't it?) to catch up the more established competitors. As every business in the world, Shifting to low cost based operation would involve different business model, different management approach, and different operational management. If they fail to acknowledge and to provide proper framework and resources, then the business will fail... and worst for this industry.. safety, human life, are being sacrificed.

I still love flying... so far and I am sure...., I never experience engine or navigation or whatever trouble with those low fare airlines so far - I am not a frequent flyer, Less than 100 hours flight a year, but I experience twice with our proud flagship airlines... Well.. God knows.

So I tell myself... prepare yourself... not for the crash ... but for continuing effort to make our life better -- it is gonna be a long long way for us.... Must admit that Indonesia is in bad shape... lot of homework....  but this could happen anywhere... My deepest sympathy to Katrina victims,  but at least as long as I could log.. I still have time. God bless us