August 20, 2010

According to statistics, most Britons spend almost half of their waking life involved with media and communications. British regulator Ofcom calculates the average person actually squeezes in the equivalent of nearly nine hours of media and communications a day by multitasking on several devices.

This means that if you’re awake for 15 hours, you spend seven of them watching television, listening to the radio, e-mailing, texting, surfing the Net, playing games or on other activities that require gadgets.

I beg to differ. I spend a lot more hours than that interacting with my gadgets, perhaps all my waking hours. That’s not to mention sleeping with one on the bed or at least having the device within arms reach.

Upon waking, I turn the alarm off and check the time on my BlackBerry. My bathroom routine is not complete without a quick scroll of my Twitter timeline to see what exciting things I’ve missed while asleep. Shower time is probably the only time that I don’t have the device in my hand as I don’t have a waterproof cover for my phone yet.

In the car, my eyes, ears and fingers are constantly occupied, watching the in-car TV, listening to the radio, texting, instant messaging, updating my Twitter status, having a group discussion on my cellphone, reading the news online, taking pictures of interesting things that catch my eye on the way to the office and occasionally even making and receiving phone calls.

At the office, I work on my laptop with one eye on the TVs (two of them), writing, sending e-mails, watching online videos, making presentations, uploading photos, surfing the Internet, listening to music, downloading applications and all the other wonderful things you can now do with those sleek and handsome-looking devices.

Going out for a meal, the chances are my friends are similarly occupied even as we sit together and engage in real (as opposed to virtual) conversations. This is because we also have our zillion online friends to maintain with our status updates and whose activities we follow obsessively, even if we barely know them.

Repeat the scenario at home, plus throw in some video or computer games, and you get a pretty good idea of my pathetic little life. All this multitasking makes me feel busy, yet I often find myself not remembering half of what I’ve done, seen, read or listened to. I don’t feel any more efficient. I’m still an 11th-hour writer when it comes to deadlines. If anything, I now get distracted easier and it takes me longer to get anything done.

To turn on the computer is to expose oneself to a cornucopia of tempting activities. I don’t read the newspapers anymore. I skim lots of online news from different sources at the same time. I seem to find it hard to get through books these days, though I take comfort in the fact that I have all the classics in my e-book application, just in case I can find the time. Rather, I’m drawn to the mini stories that I follow on Twitter — FixiMini. These are 140-character fictional pieces created by Twitter users and amateur writers on a particular theme, with some of them so well written they could pass as haikus.

But even as technology allows you to do more things, enabling you to have information as it happens, today’s multitasking generation does not experience the art of doing one thing at a time, the joy of focusing on and completing a task uninterrupted, the delight of savoring a moment.

At home, the fixed phone has become a relic, while the answering machine looks ridiculously large and unwieldy. There was a time, however, when we could remember tens of phone numbers by heart and we didn’t know who was calling us when the phone rang. There was a time when we made and kept our appointments without recourse to constant updates on our whereabouts and how late we were going to be.

I remember how pleasant it was to spend hours on the phone having long, uninterrupted conversations without your ears getting irradiated, because chatting meant using your vocal cords and not your thumbs and conversing was with real friends and not sharing opinions and secrets with thousands of people you don’t know.

I also remember the pleasure of writing long letters in cursive on fine paper, signing my name with a flourish, folding it and licking the envelope shut and taking it to the post office to have it stamped and mailed. And I would collect those stamps, keeping them in books and looking up in big encyclopedias about the countries they came from.

And I also recall the satisfaction of finishing a thick novel and returning it to the library.

During these moments I was undisturbed. I was single tasking and I savored every moment of it.

Desi Anwar is a senior anchor and writer. She can be contacted at www.desianwar.com and www.dailyavocado.net.

Source: Jakarta Globe

By Cameron Allan McKean 26 July, 2010

Dr Kuntoro Mangkusubroto speaks with topic of Breakthroughs in Governance: Ushering in Reform in Indonesia at the USINDO (The United States – Indonesia Society) Open Forum at The Aryaduta, Jakarta

Source: The Jakarta Globe

June 24, 2010

US President Barack Obama’s third postponement of a visit to Indonesia and Australia this month is understandable. American voters are his primary constituency, and many would have been aghast had he decided to leave on a foreign tour when the Gulf Coast faces the worst oil spill in living memory. Yet the White House also has to balance the fact that the symbolism of a visit abroad matters just as much as the president’s physical presence.

The Obama administration has signaled its interest in renewing its Asia-Pacific ties. Hillary Clinton made Japan her first foreign stop as Secretary of State, and Obama himself spent nine days in the region last November, including three days in China. Southeast Asians hope that the administration will follow up on these trips by engaging the region and stepping up dialogues with China, Burma and North Korea. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last week reinforced the administration’s specific business interests in Indonesia.

Yet Obama’s second cancellation this year sends the opposite signal, and comes at an awkward time. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was expected to call an election in the coming months, and an American presidential visit in the middle of a campaign wouldn’t be ideal. In Indonesia, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is early into his second term and looking to consolidate domestic economic reforms and his own party’s political influence.

The longer the United States waits to demonstrate its interest in renewing ties in its backyard, the easier it will be for China to fill in the gaps. Beijing has already inked a free-trade agreement with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Chinese investment capital is pouring into Indonesia to build much-needed infrastructure. For example, China’s state-owned energy and investment firms are reportedly looking at Indonesia for takeover targets and joint venture partners. Beijing has been a strong proponent of giving Jakarta, already a member of the Group of 20, a stronger voice in the international economic forum.

This is a positive development. China’s economic integration with the rest of the world has lead to increasing prosperity for millions of people. But Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia also realize that American engagement in the Asia Pacific is an important counterbalance to Beijing, both in terms of economic clout and security.

As a man who spent some of his childhood in Indonesia, Obama has a unique opportunity to reassert America’s influence over this important Southeast Asian nation. Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority democracy, and an exemplary example of tolerance for its Middle Eastern peers. Using Indonesia as a platform to address issues related to the Muslim world would help create trust in an America that is, as Obama put it in a speech in Cairo last year, “respected, not just feared, and an America that listens and leads.”

The bottom line is that all politics is local. But what is local for a small country is basically what happens within its borders. By contrast, what is local for a superpower like America lies well outside its borders. If US foreign policy keeps getting superseded by a narrow view of domestic policy, others will get the message and make arrangements accordingly.

Obama just has to get on the plane to disprove this perception, and even better, to correct it.

Anindya Bakrie is CEO of Bakrie Telecom and vice chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

Reprinted from The Wall Street Journal Asia © 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

Jeannifer Filly Sumayku | The President Post

Herawati Diah’s long and fascinating journey began in 1917, when she was born into an upper-class priyayi family, which allowed her to enjoy high education and a privileged, western way of life.

While most intellectuals of the time were drawn to The Netherlands and Western Europe to further their studies, Herawati went to Columbia University and became the first Indonesian woman to obtain a degree from a respected American university.

After a journalism course at Stanford University in California — between her principal studies of sociology at Barnard College at the Columbia University in New York — she returned home in 1942 as the first Indonesian woman journalist to be academically trained abroad.

She became a stringer for the United Press International (UPI) newswire when she was 22, joined Radio Japan or Hosokyoku as an announcer, and later married the legendary journalist BM Diah, who was then working for the Asia Raya newspaper.

Herawati Diah, the late B.M. Diah and Rosihan Anwar, Mochtar Lubis are considered to be the giants of Indonesian journalism of the 1945 Generation, or what many believe to be the nation’s “Greatest Generation”.

BM Diah is the founder and owner of the newspaper “Merdeka”, which was first published in October 1945 with a personal mission and vision to enrich the intellect of post-Independence Indonesians.

Herawati is the founder of The Indonesian Observer, which was launched on the eve of the Asia-Africa Conference in 1955 in Bandung.

The daily was the country’s first English newspaper and for some time the only one until the 1960s.

Though Herawati was, as she acknowledged herself, a tomboy when she was a kid, she became a truly elegant Indonesian woman by wearing the Indonesian time-honored attire kain and kebaya on most events.

When BM Diah became the minister of information in 1968, following his stints as ambassador to Czechoslovakia and Hungary, the United Kingdom and Thailand, Herawati quit as a journalist.

She went on to assume a new role, representing the country’s interests as a wife whose intellectual capacity and integrity, international experience and multilingual abilities helped to raise Indonesia’s profile in diplomatic circles.

She is a pioneering Indonesian woman. In her book, “An Endless Journey: Reflections of an Indonesian Journalist”, she shared her experience as a woman journalist. She also discusses the transition of Indonesia from a Dutch colony to an independent republic and the life and times of five Indonsian presidents.

In her book, Rosihan Anwar notes, “it’s interesting to watch Herawati’s life and career evolving pretty much in a manner that comes close to her own deep desires. In whatever field she chooses to work or carry out her hobbies, which are of a great variety, she has found inner satisfaction and complete fulfillment.”

Now in her nineties, she doesn’t suffer from senility like most people of her age do. In a recent interview with The President Post, she said that she likes to play bridge to maintain an active thought process.

On changes in the media world in Indonesia, she said: “So far the media has only partly motivated the growth of our nationalism. The media of today is now commercially-oriented. Idealism is no more prevalent in today’s newspapers. I cannot blame those working in the media, because the upbringing and the political and economic settings are so different from what we experienced in the early years of our independence. We had different values in those days. We didn’t work for a salary, but for our idealism to become a free, independent nation after 300 years of western colonialism”.

She also shared motivations for young journalists, when she said: “Journalism is a profession which is not only exciting, adventurous and sometimes even dangerous, but most of all satisfying because a journalist not only informs the public what is happening on the national or international level on a daily basis, but also she or he can influence the reader to choose what is best for them.”

She added: “As such I would like to encourage the younger generation to consider journalism as a positive career path.”

When asked about her biggest hope for the media in Indonesia, she said: “What I personally would like to see is the media taking a balanced view on news. They must check and re-check sources and stories all the time. They must also come up with more in-depth stories and respect people’s feelings and reputations.”

Herawati has established many foundations to in the realm of the nation’s culture, such as the Indonesian Cultural Partners (Mitra Budaya Indonesia), Wastaprema, and Ratna Busana. In the social field, she founded the Indonesian Women’s Association (ISWI).

She is also one of the founders of Gerakan Perempuan Sadar Pemilu (GPSP), a movement to raise Indonesian women’s level of awareness on matters related to general elections. In the course of time this organization became Gerakan Pemberdayaan Swara Perempuan, a movement to empower the voice of women.

(The President Post printed edition June-July 2010)

By Erwin Ramedhan
 
In light of the Greek bailout in the first week of May 2010 of  Euro 110 billion or more for the next three years by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, the Economist’s recent warning (“Curb your enthusiasm” April 22, 2010) now seems too moderate on the pessimistic side, although the British publication did warn of the “dangers both for sluggish Europe and bubbly emerging economies’.
 
Southern Europe is in fact fast approaching a comatose economic condition with Greece leading the way towards economic stagnation and socio-political instability. The EU and IMF bill Greece has to pay for the bailout comes at the highest price. Prime Minister Giorgios Papandreou announced “great sacrifices (to) avoid bankruptcy” consisting of: reducing the budget deficit from 14% to 4% of Gross Domestic Product (Euro 245 billion). The contraction of the Greek economy is expected to reach 4% with drastic salary cuts for civil servants and pensioners, facilitations for company retrenchments of their work force, increases in sales taxes (+ 10% for fuel, alcohol, and tobacco) and property taxes, reductions in public health care, and eventual privatization of utilities and public transport.
 
The price Greece has to pay for the bailout is very steep and is the result of years and years of easy borrowing (and difficult repayment) on abundant money markets, grandiose projects (the Athens Olympics), corruption and tax evasion, as well as national statistics manipulations,   with some help from Wall Street operators. But first and foremost the Greek bailout is now becoming as societal, financial, and economic experiment in how far a relatively developed Western country can go in imposing sacrifices to a population without creating a social and political upheaval or explosion. Briefly said: a “societal experiment” that has never been tried before… Strikes and demonstrations have multiplied in Greece in spite of the moderating influence of trade unions and their support for the PASOK social-democrat government.
 
This experiment pertains to all of the PIGS countries, an unflattering designation referring to Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain to which should be added Ireland and Iceland (seeking EU membership) so as to become PIIIGS. PIGS countries had easy financial times (borrow now pay later) and are at present facing economic hardships with the downgrading of Portugal’s and Spain’s debts by Standard and Poors. These two countries now have to pay surging interest rates to borrow money. To overcome their present plight they may have to impose similar sacrifices to Greece. Spain is in a particular predicament with unemployment figures at 20% and the bursting of the bubble in the housing sector. Estimates on the amount needed to overcome the Southern European crisis are at Euro 600 billion and, according to some observers, “now we are talking real money”. Perhaps it is the “real money” for saving the Euro currency and, in the final analysis, for preserving the European Union from economic disintegration through a cascade of sovereign debt defaults by governments. This may explain Berlin’s change of mind, in light of Germany’s repeated refusals in bailing out the Greek economy previously.
 
But ultimately, what applies to the PIGS countries in societal and economic experimentation could also be true for the US and the United Kingdom where authorities also had to channel trillions of dollars of public funds to the financial and banking sector at the expense of  government spending on infrastructure investments, economic stimulants for industrial companies, education, health care, employment creation. In the US in particular some states are practically in bankruptcy while the southern part of the country is facing the catastrophic disaster of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Katrina.
 
Hopes are therefore pinned on the “bubbly” economies or the countries least affected by the crisis – the so called emerging market economies. China’s economy is growing at double digit and India is expected  to grow at 9%, while Brazil is projected at 7%. Russia may be lagging but Indonesia, as a member of G20, is anticipating a growth rate at more than 6%.
 
IMF expectations are at 3% growth in the US (with a relatively weaker growth in the real sector compared to the financial), 1% in the Euro zone, and 1.3% in the UK. It may seem too weak for a strong world economic recovery and could explain the reasons behind the beginnings of a strategic repositioning of the world economy. Making cheap money available to stimulate growth in Europe and America has mainly resulted in the flow of that money to emerging market economies.
 
And faster growth in the BRIC + I  (Brazil, Russia, India, China + Indonesia) economies is facing the threat of inflation and bubbles. The government of China has for example taken stern measures to stop the surge in property prices and speculation and thus prevent enormous amounts of bank credits from eventually becoming worthless loans. Moreover, China’s (past) single minded export strategy to America and European countries is now diluted because of their weakened economies. The yuan could strengthen, the giant Chinese domestic might market grow, and exports could be reoriented more towards the markets of the emerging economies. India for her part is attempting to fight inflation by hiking interest rates, without too much success at present.
 
During this latest crisis economists have been wondering whether the crisis was V,U,W, or L shaped. The answer in fact depends on where the question is asked. V or U shaped for many Asian countries, it seems to have a bad W configuration for the US and European countries. The worst is perhaps globally for the industries and their workers where the L shape of the crisis can be seen in the stagnant or rising unemployment figures. And, as conventional economic wisdom has it, employment only improves five years after a crisis is over. This is all the more true when money, and not production, makes money.

The writer is lecturer at President University

Ade Mardiyati | The Jakarta Globe

Ratus, or fogging, in progress. (JG Photo/Ade Mardiyati)

A Different Kind of Spa Experience for Women

Some people may find the concept of a vagina spa strange. But just like going to a regular spa where one can get massages and skin treatments for relaxation, going to a vagina spa is meant to freshen and improve the health of a woman’s most intimate organ.

One of the few places that is said to offer the full treatment is VG Spa, part of Klinik Pasutri, a health clinic founded by celebrated sexologist Dr. Boyke Dian Nugraha.

At VG Spa, a patient can choose from vagina-only treatment packages or whole-body treatments that include facials. These normally last anywhere from one-and-a-half to three hours.

Peni, a therapist at the clinic, said that their clientele includes high school students and married women. “Many come here because they have a common vaginal health problem, such as a yeast infection,” she said.

“If there is no itchiness or smell, we recommend that treatment be done once a month. If it does, then once every two weeks should help.”

The vagina spa session begins with a procedure that incorporates a small device called the electro-stimulation machine. Flat strips connected to three cords are attached to the patient’s lower back and the soles of the feet. For about 15 minutes, these body parts are stimulated with vibrations from the machine, which causes a sensation. Peni said that the objective of the whole procedure is to strengthen the muscles in the vaginal area.

The next step is called cawikan , or bathing, using a mixture of herbs such as betel leaf, locally known as daun sirih, kayu rapat (Parmeria barbata) and some more fragrant plants. In Indonesia, daun sirih is very popular as it is believed to have a lot of health benefits for women, one of which is removing vaginal smell.

Kayu rapat is said to tighten the vagina. The herb is aptly named — the word kayu means wood and rapat means tight in Indonesian.

The mixture is dissolved in hot water, which gives out a fragrant aroma. When the water gets warm, the patient is seated on a wooden bucket filled with the mixture to submerge the vagina for about five minutes. By doing this, the patient is “cleaning” the area with the water.

Totok — massaging the area — is then done for five minutes. Peni said that this is “to relax [the muscles] and help the blood flow better.”

The vagina is then subjected to ratus or fogging, which is said to have a number of benefits, such as reducing itchiness caused by a yeast infection and improve smell in the vaginal area.

“Most beauty salons [only] offer this treatment, but that is not how a vagina spa is done. Vagina spas should include the early steps that we perform here, not only the ratus session,” Peni said.

For the fogging procedure, patients are made to sit on a chair with a big hole. Underneath the chair is a clay pot with heated charcoals sprinkled with the ratus powder, which is made of various herbs. The patient is asked to wear a special robe that covers the whole chair while she is seated.

“This is so that the fragrant smoke can go straight to the vagina and therefore the fragrance is well spread down there,” Peni said.

The very last stage of the spa treatment is linggihan. A mixture of mint leaves and other mysterious plants that the spa declined to disclose were flatly wrapped in a thin piece of paper slightly thicker than a tissue. This is then attached inside the patient’s underwear.

“This is mainly to freshen up the vaginal area, thanks to the mint leaves in the mixture,” Peni said. “Wear it for five to ten minutes and then you can dispose of the wrap.”

After all these steps are done, the patient is guaranteed to feel relief down under.

Jeanniffer Filly Sumayku | The President Post 

A rapidly developing tourist resort is attracting the attention of international business communities in Indonesia. This popular destination is 170 km and only three hours drive from Jakarta.

To get there, take the Jakarta-Merak toll road and go through the scenic inland route of Serang-Pandeglang-Labuan, Banten province.

It is believed to be a “prime location” as reported in 1987 by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Tanjung Lesung is one of the most potential tourism objects in Banten, a new province in Indonesia. This region is situated at the westernmost tip of Java Island.

It seems unbelievable, that after passing through the busy toll road, escaping Jakarta’s usual dizziness; we arrived at a stretch of beautiful landscape that decorates the western beachfront of Banten province.

This city has a lot of historical relics such as the ruins of Surosowan Palace, Kaibon Palace, ‘Masjid Agung Banten’ [Banten Great Mosque], Speelwijk fortress and Chinese temple Avalokiteshvara.

There is also the harbor of Banten, Karanghantu [literally translated as devil rock's harbor] that is still being used to date despite the fact it was constructed centuries ago.

Banten Province consists of four regencies, two cities, 94 districts, 128 sub-districts, and 1,339 villages.

Banten is geographically strategic because it links Java and Sumatra as well as the capital city of Indonesia and West Java province. This is why it is a potential market.

One of the pioneering companies developing this region is PT. Banten West Java Tourism Development Corporation (BWJ) which was established in 1990.

The company develops promising new sites for tourism and tourism related purposes.

It is a 100% privately owned company and is among Indonesia’s leading

tourism development corporations (TDC) handling such projects in Nusa Dua Bali, Lombok, Manado, and Bintan.

As its first major project Banten West Java TDC has a license from the National Land Agency (BPN) and is supported by the Directorate General of Tourism, to develop 1,500 hectares of land at Tanjung Lesung as a new tourism destination.

It sits on a peninsula on the western coast of Banten, bordering the Sunda Strait. The area is rich in natural beauty and attractions.

A four star hotel, the Bay Villas, along with Kalicaa Villa estate, a beach club, Legon Dadap village, a sailing club, and a driving range complete the charm of this international tourist destination.

There are a variety of attractions such as water sport, spa, golf driving range, eco-tourism site, Ujung Kulon resort, Krakatoa, Liwungan and Badui village tour, etc. It is an location in which to relax.

Modern infrastructures such as electricity, telephone, mobile phone network, satellite TV, high speed Internet access, water treatment plant, waste water treatment plant, security service, nice road and beautiful scenery add to the attraction.

Tanjung Lesung is a prestigious destination with a wide range of investment opportunities. And BWJ is inviting prospective land buyers and developers to submit their bids.

PT. Banten West Java is an expert in resort planning and development and has been widely recognized as a special consultant in the development of the area.

The shareholders of BWJ are respected local businessmen well experienced in such businesses as property, textile and garment, chemicals and various other manufactured goods.

A management team of multi-skilled professionals is responsible for the project.