Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:00 AM
Someone please pass a word of advice to Danareksa Investment Management.The finance firm is launching 100 billion rupiah worth of ... wait for it ... mortgage-backed securities. It's the first such debt issuance in the country, and it's coming in February, backed by Bank Tabugan Negara.Um, I don't know how to tell you this, guys, but ... mortgage-backed securities are exactly what got us into this global financial mess. The credit crunch, the asset devaluation, the bank blowups every couple of days? Mortgage-backed securities, where home loans are sliced and diced into risky tranches that PhD-level physicists can't understand.I hope you know...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:00 AM
I mean, come on.I have no particular beef with the Ulema Council that recently banned yoga for Indonesian Muslims. But don't they have better things to do, than touring the country's gym classes and coming out against Hindu chanting?Our global financial system is near total breakdown, some governments (i.e. Iceland) are actually falling, the Mideast is blowing up yet again, conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq continue apace, global warming is threatening the entire planet ... and our most pressing issue is yoga?Priorities, people. If the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression has taught us anything, it's to figure out what's important...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 8:25 AM
It's a sad truism that one of the main casualties of a global recession is going to be philanthropy.Some notable exceptions, to be sure - like the Gates Foundation, which plans to give more this year than ever before, and New York City mayor-slash-billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who's ramped up his giving to hundreds of millions of dollars annually.When it comes to cash-strapped nations, though, I imagine foreign aid and charitable giving is going to be hurting for several years. When you're having trouble paying your own bills and covering your own mortgage, whether you're a country or an individual, you're less likely to have ready money to...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 4:00 AM
Need proof that Barack Obama still has a place in his heart for the place where he spent a couple of years growing up? He's actually chatting up State Department staffers in Bahasa Indonesia.News of the exchange comes in the Jakarta Post, reporting that Charles Silver - a former staffer at Jakarta's U.S. Embassy - greeted him with a 'Selamat siang, Bapak.' Obama swiftly came back with a 'Terima kasih, apa kabar?' He praised Silver's accent, and said he wanted to visit his old neighborhood in Menteng.We're betting that beyond the usual pleasantries, his Bahasa is probably a little rusty. (Maybe he can take those free classes given by the Indonesian...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 8:45 AM
The always-dramatic dealings of the Bakrie family have caught the attention of America's foremost investing newsweekly.Barron's has an article this week on a head-scratching financial conundrum. Execs of coal giant Bumi Resources have announced a big share buyback within a couple of weeks, setting the price at a fixed level (2,500 rupiah). Here's the crazy thing: Shares are currently trading well below that level, in fact more than 400% below it. Theoretically, then, you could quadruple your money within days ... a better investment than almost anything else on the planet, except some aggressive loan sharking.So what gives? Basically, folks don't...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:10 AM
There are hotels where you flop down for a night in between flights, which all look basically the same (Radisson, anybody?). And then there are hotels which promise to detox you from daily life, and leave you a better person than when you came in. Bali's Como Shambhala Estate claims to be one of the latter. Como bills itself as a "residential health retreat," pairing luxury digs with a busy activities schedule for body and soul. On the menu, items like pilates and yoga by the riverbanks, rice-paddy hikes, and talks on vedanta philosophy.Rates for the Ubud resort range from $300 for a garden one-bedroom, up to $1,600 a night for the three-bedroom...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 10:54 AM
While most teenagers are playing video games or vegetating in front of the television, Alanda Kariza is changing the world.The 17-year-old was recently selected by the British Council to be Indonesia's 'changemaker,' joining 59 other youngsters from 50 countries around the globe. Her qualifications: She founded the organization The Cure for Tomorrow, with the modest goal of saving the planet, at the age of 15. Oh, and she's even authored a book already.Next stop for the ambitious changemaker, the famed World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. There she'll get to hobnob with some of the greatest achievers on the planet - and, hopefully, teach...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:00 AM
Someone please give the folks at Market Vectors their due. In a year when the Jakarta Index has been ravaged beyond recognition, down basically by half, they're rolling out a new ETF (exchange-traded fund) comprised totally of Indonesian stocks.In the long view, smart indeed, to be buying when emerging markets are at a bottom. But good luck finding investors when they've essentially gone into their bomb shelters, not buying anything but the bluest of blue-chip American stocks. In fact most are ignoring equities altogether, and opting for plain old money-market funds until this vicious economic storm passes.Market Vectors has brass balls, because...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 8:10 AM
Have you ever wondered about the guy who has cornered the sambal market, at least the sambal available here in America? Every time you ladle hot sauce on something, he gets a few pennies?I was sniffing around the Web to try to find out, and came upon this old article in Los Angeles magazine. The guy's name is David Tran, he runs Huy Fong Foods, and he's an ethnic Chinese immigrant who arrived from Vietnam in 1980. He started it with $50,000 in family savings, and it's now a multi-million-dollar enterprise shipping tons of chile sauce every year.What an entrepreneurial story! And congrats to the guy who managed to take an everyday kitchen staple...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:00 AM
Another day, another installment in my quest for Indonesia's best resort. Here's one I've heard from quite a few quarters: The Hotel Tugu Bali.The luxe chain has a number of locations scattered around the archipelago, from Lombok to Malang, but Bali is perhaps its flagship outpost. It's "one of the world's best hotels," says London's Tatler, and is a "sampling of paradise," according to Architectural Digest.Indeed, there's no mistaking it for a Courtyard by Marriott: It's festooned with Indonesian antiques, and is nestled by the Batu Bolong temple along Canggu Beach in Bali's southwest. Apparently its dining staff even feeds Indonesia's President,...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 10:16 AM
It's official. Barack Obama took the oath of office, moved his stuff into the White House, and George W. Bush is headed back to the tumbleweeds of Waco. Millions of people witnessed it all, so it must've really happened.So now that it's logged in the history books, the countdown clock begins on Obama's major address in a Muslim capital. It's been alluded to many times, will set the stage for a new era of relations between America and the world, and is supposed to take place within his first 100 days of office. Given his personal history, you've gotta think it's going to be in Jakarta. And what a triumphant return it will be, for a scrubby little...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:39 AM
If you're a slave to venti caramel macchiatos or gingerbread nonfat lattes, like me, you're in luck.If you're in Indonesia, anyways. Back in the States, not so much: The ubiquitous coffee chain is closing stores, paring costs and doing everything it can to boost a slumping stock price. In a cratering economy, overexpansion and high debt levels are very dangerous things. Even with original founder Howard Schultz back at the helm, they're playing it safe and getting back to basics.But the good folks at Starbucks in Indonesia - if I'm a caffeine addict, are they my drug dealers? - tell me that a 10% expansion is in the works. They're already in...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 12:02 PM
As the inauguration of Barack Obama hovers only hours away, it's a time for not only looking forward, but looking back.As such, the New York Times has just run a series of essays on the individual cities where Obama came to be the man he is. First on the list, an essay penned by Endy Bayuni, the chief editor of the Jakarta Post. In "Obama's Indonesian Classroom," he puts Barack's childhood days in historical context, conjuring up images of Indonesia then - only shortly after the Year of Living Dangerously, with the fall of Sukarno and the rise of Suharto, still beset by mass poverty and in the grip of military control.What a difference with the...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 12:31 PM
Everyone has talked about Barack Obama's connections to Indonesia, which are deep and resonant, dating back to his formative childhood years in Jakarta. But no one has discussed what Hillary Clinton's appointment as Secretary of State means for Indonesia.After all, as head of the vast army of Foggy Bottom, she'll have her own team - and, some Obama supporters fear, her own agenda. No one would put it past the Clintons to be pursuing their own goals, even while leading America's dipomats around the globe.Indeed there's a curious history between the Clintons and Indonesia, in the form of Lippo Group vice-chair James Riady, who was indicted, pled...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:38 AM
Seems we could all take some marketing lessons from the Australians.After all the money and resources poured into the Visit Indonesia 2008 campaign, Australia's tourism industry has just made everyone else look like fools. For the relatively tiny sum of $100,000, they've created a true frenzy and are getting great press around the planet.The idea: They're offering $100,000 to the winner of the 'Best Job in the World,' who will get to kick back on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef for a few months. Snorkel, scuba, eat, swim, suntan, and basically just blog about how fabulous their life is. They're already received 2,000 video applications;...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:00 AM
As estimable TV shrink Dr. Phil is fond of saying, you can't fix a problem if you don't acknowledge it. And so, here goes: I have a raging hotel fetish. I love the glossy brochure photos, the list of glorious amenities, the promise of luxury pool cabanas and hot-stone massages. So sue me.Which brings me to a burning question: What's the most fabulous five-star resort in Indonesia? I'll be rolling out a few candidates at irregular intervals. But to start, here's one I've heard mentioned in quite a few corners: Amanwana.It's part of the Aman group of ridiculously plush resorts, and is located on tiny Moyo Island, to the east of Bali and off the...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:01 AM
Yesterday we started our chat with Don Emmerson, Stanford professor and renowned Indonesia expert. Today Everything Indonesia continues the conversation, on the subjects of Indonesian Islam, present and future; being a Westerner who speaks fluent Bahasa Indonesia; and his favorite memories, of a country that has defined his life's work.EI: What tensions do you see developing in Indonesian Islam ... the traditional values of tolerance, versus the more strident forms we're seeing worldwide?DE: This topic is too complex to warrant a brief answer. Insofar as democracy implies majority rule, it follows that to some extent and in some ways Indonesian...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:59 AM
When it comes to Western interpreters of Indonesian culture, they don't come any more senior than Don Emmerson. The distinguished Stanford prof is director of the Southeast Asia Forum, a senior fellow at the university's FSI, and took part in the National Commission on U.S.-Indonesian Relations, among countless other notches on his resume.In part one of the interview, Everything Indonesia talked with Emmerson about his abiding love for the country, the upcoming elections, and the prospect of US-Indonesia relations under Barack Obama.EI: You have a storied interest in Southeast Asia, when did your fascination with the region begin?DE: It dates...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 12:04 PM
We all know national elections are coming up this year, and that SBY is trouncing competition like Megawati and the Sultan in the polls, thanks to a fortuitious drop in fuel prices. But what do the stars say about the matchup? Canadian astrologer Georgia Nicols has this year's forecast, that might shed some light on the 2009 ballot boxes:SBY: Virgo"Work is where you totally shine in 2009. Furthermore, even though all people like to enjoy their work, for you it is especially important. Many of you are quite modest. However, you need to be needed and you find great satisfaction in being useful. Many of you are a bit detached and cautious. Your...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 9:49 AM
... that is the question.I have a great cost-saving idea for the Indonesian government, in these tough economic times. Get rid of all customs personnel at the ports, borders and airports, and replace them all with a solid wall of durian. Any non-Indonesians will be automatically repelled!For the unfamiliar, durian is a unique, spiky fruit which looks like a pineapple gone mad. It's got an inside that's kind of squishy, kind of sweet, and kind of garlicky. As a Canadian brought up on maple syrup and salmon jerky, I never acquired the taste, and in fact I'd like to see all durian tossed into the fiery pits of hell.But many folks swear by the singular...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:50 AM
On the iconic American TV show Saturday Night Live, comedians Seth Myers and Amy Poehler have a regular segment called "Really?", in which they take a ridiculous fact and make merciless fun of it for a few minutes. (Here's a recent example, from when New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught with his pants down with a hooker from New Jersey.)In that spirit: Friendster is hugely popular in Indonesia? Really?! Nothing against that particular social network, but in the U.S. at least, Friendster was popular about five years ago and then faded fast into oblivion. But according to tech blogger extraordinaire Budi Putra, a full 60% of Indonesian Internet...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:43 AM
Word of advice to Barack Obama inauguration organizers: You might want to have some emergency sambal on hand, because a number of Indonesians are going to be on hand for the festivities.Not just the usual government types, like Ambassador to the U.S. (and spelling-bee champ) Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, but actual Obama relatives. Unfortunately the President-Elect's stepfather Lolo Soetoro - second husband of Obama's mom Ann Dunham - isn't in good enough physical condition for the long journey. But Lolo's niece Yana Trisulo, her husband and cousin will all be bum-rushing the Lincoln Bedroom.Somehow Indonesian actress Ayu Azhari also scammed an...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 11:31 AM
I don't know what they're smoking in the executive suites of Garuda Indonesia, but I'll definitely have some.In the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, when other airlines are frantically slashing routes, mothballing new orders and looking for spare coins under the seat cushions, Garuda is doing the exact opposite. It's actually adding routes, like the new Singapore-Yogyakarta service, and planning to double its entire fleet by 2013.What gives? It seems it's not really a profit grab - after all, nobody's making profits these days - but an effort to gain significant market share while other carriers are cutting back. With a planned...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 7:00 AM
One things that never fails to puzzle me: Americans' neocolonial attitude towards medical care in other countries.To wit, a recent New York Times article on an intrepid reporter's medical adventure in Lombok, once she deigned to venture away from the luxe confines of the Oberoi hotel. When her husband suffered a fractured ankle after falling into a ditch, they contemplated a $120,000 airlift back to New York City, and ended up springing almost $10,000 for a first-class ticket back home for treatment by American doctors.Now, come on. Anyone who's been to a U.S. emergency room knows that the situation here is just as horrendous as anywhere else....
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 8:17 AM
To paraphrase the old E.F. Hutton commercial ... when Fatih Syuhud speaks, people listen. He's the reigning king of Indonesian bloggers, and he's just announced his top 10 bloggers for 2008.Without further adieu, the lucky winners are: Nana Podungge, Tasa Nugraza Barley, Rima Fauzi, Primadonna Angela, Agni Amorita, Anita Carmencita, Muyla Amri, Deden Rukmana, Sherwin Tobing, and Dedi Sanusi.Credit where credit is due, so many congrats to this year's top 10. And let's not forget past winners, who continue to dominate the field: Champion bloggers like Ong Hock Chuan, Enda Nasution, Jennie S. Bev, and Budi Putra. Together you're helping raise Indonesia's...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 11:55 AM
I've only been at this a few months, but who says I can't do a Top 10 list like every other blogger in the universe?And so, in the lazy spirit of those old Seinfeld or Golden Girls clip shows, where they cobble together old stuff without having to put together any new material ... some of Everything Indonesia's most-trafficked posts of the year. Who am I to argue with the people?Herein and forthwith, in no particular order:10. Faith and footwearGeorge W. Bush gets pelted with a size 10 in Iraq9. The Mideast blows up, againOld grudges never die8. Jakarta Index at rock bottomEveryone's money goes up in smoke7. The Flores HobbitRare Indonesian find...
Posted by Internet at Every Where on 6:11 AM
The Butterfly Effect holds that relatively small events often have unintended consequences, like a butterfly fluttering its wings in China leading to a hurricance in Florida.A new real-life example of the theorem: Indonesia's recent alcohol shortage has caught the attention of one of the world's foremost economists.University of Chicago prof Steven Levitt had a massive bestseller (three million copies) with his book Freakonomics, which sifted reams of data to come up with observations like the effect of legalized abortion on crime, the importance of word choice in selling real estate, and crunching numbers to discover cheating patterns in the...
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