Imagine A Nuclear Reactor In Indonesia

I am interested to discuss more about the existence of nuclear reactor in Indonesia after recent UN economic sanction to Iran for its uranium enrichment programmes and also the clean energy / alternative energy campaigns in US,Brazil,Singapore and many other countries. I would not discuss more about Iran’s uranium enrichment programmes but more on Indonesia plan to build nuclear reactor for peaceful purpose.

Indonesia recently resurfaced the old plan to build a nuclear reactor for helping the acute electricity shortages in Indonesia ( so called peaceful purpose ). The most important agency for this project surely BATAN ( Badan Tenaga Atom Nasional = National Atomic Energy Council ) and other agencies and companies especially PLN ( Perusahaan Listrik Negara = State Electricity Company ). As far as I know Indonesia plan to build the first nuclear reactor nearby Muria,Central Java. As Indonesia never have any nuclear reactor before and does not have enough technology to do it then certain countries have been willing to help. To name a few such as Japan,South Korea,Rusia and etc.

There are several questions interesting and important to ask about this as follow :

1.Do Indonesia really need a nuclear reactor ?

I can say it as a yes and a no at the same time

Why I say yes :

1. Nuclear reactors have been built and used peacefully in many countries such as France,South Korea,Japan,USA. So Indonesia have the right to build and use it also.
2. Decreasing the overdependence on natural resource for producing electricity such as oil,gas,coal and etc.

Indonesia now is a net importer of oil though still producing and exporting enough natural gas. But in years to follow if Indonesia can not increase the oil production then certainly Indonesia condition can be worse. Why worse ?

It become worse because oil actually getting scarce everywhere in the world ( let see we still can get oil in 20-50 years more ) and it is actually a political commodity.

Why a political commodity ?

· It has been used before by Arab countries to impose oil and gas embargo in 1970 to Western countries.

· The oil reserves is not distributed all over the world but only on handful countries. To name a few are Saudi Arabia,Russia,Kuwait and etc.

So the politics of those countries actually influence the availability and the price of oil itself.

3. Solving the chronic electricity shortage in Indonesia

Indonesia has lack of electricity infrastructure despites decades of infrastructure development. And what a pity is that some regions in Indonesia still face rolling electricity black out due to the shortages. I know about this as Palembang,my hometown still faces this kind of problem till now. Certainly it is a real sad story not to have electricity especially at night when you want to read book,watch movies and etc.

4. The need to master the nuclear technology for future purpose

As a big country in the region Indonesia has a big need to master this technology although only for peaceful purpose. Imagine that a country as small as Israel which has capability of this. It is well regarded and envied by surrounding nations in Middle East.If Indonesia can have the mastery of this it can also help other countries in the region to build and operate it. It further can give additional revenues and geopolitical strength to Indonesia as big country in this region.

Why I say no at the same time :

1. Nuclear reactor has certain degree of safety hazards.

If a nuclear reactor not being managed and operated properly with the stringent discipline and control it can be really dangerous and hazardous.

Why is that ?

I think we should not forget on what happened in Chernobyl reactor,ex Sovyet Union before.

Chernobyl leaks had proved that lack of good management and control can cause such problem.Many innocent victims who happened to live nearby the reactors have to suffer till now.

I do not know exactly where in Muria the nuclear reactor will be built but as far as everybody know Java has very dense population even in villages and so called remote areas. You still can find many people ( millions even ) in small cities or regencies in Java. If something like Chernobyl happen then it can lead to catasthropic problems in Java,Indonesia.

2. There are still many alternatives for producing electricity

Several other sources which can be tapped such as wind,geothermal,biofuel and etc. Indonesia has big potential on most of this but still not being tapped properly.

In spite of nuclear reactor then Indonesia can build wind,geothermal or biofuel electricity plant first. It certainly has lesser degree of safety hazards and supposed to be cheaper than a nuclear reactor

2. What the Government of Indonesia need to do about this then ?

I could not give definite answers for this but certainly can suggest several things :

a. The research and cooperation on nuclear reactor still need to be continued.

Let see if the nuclear reactor can not be buit in 5 years time then we still might build it in 10-15 years time. So the research and cooperation will not be wasted.

b.Indonesian can prioritise first on other alternatives for solving electricity shortage such as building geothermal,gas electricity plants and etc. It actually diversify the energy sources,help to reduce electricity shortages and cheaper.

c.Proper surveys,polling and PR work need to be done for this plan

What I meant by this is as Indonesia is a democratic country then it should try to know and consult the people about what they think about the building of nuclear reactor.

PR work also need to be done. I do not mean it as a propaganda but mostly open and honest discussion and talks regarding this issue in TV,radio,direct meeting and etc.

It certainly can give better and clearer view on this. Hopefull then if most of the people can be convinced than this nuclear reactor can move forwards smoothly.

d.Proper surveying for future nuclear reactor location

What I meant by this is mitigating and lowering the chance of hazards in case something wrong happen in the nuclear reactor.

We already know what a wrong drilling practice can bring to the people like what happened in Lapindo Brantas,East Java. Certainly the effect of nuclear reactor can be more dangerous,fast and undetected.

So put the best interest on the people first before deciding further on the location.It perhaps building the nuclear reactor really far away from population so that in 30 years time it is still far away despite the development of cities and regions nearby.

Why at least 30 years ?

The development of nuclear reactor is an expensive investment and we can not expect that we build and then decommission it in short time. We still need to make sure we get the best of it ( achieving Return on Investment / ROI and might be some profit from it ).

That is certain thoughts which I have about this topic. Let see what happen in the future.Hopefully everything can run and go smoothly as everybody wishes.

Bekerja di Negara Lain

Saya tertarik menulis topik ini setelah mendapat sentilan di suatu forum online.

Artikel ini hanya berupaya menjelaskan sudut pandang dan posisi saya ( mungkin teman2x lain juga ) sebagai pekerja asing di negeri orang.Sama sekali tidak ada maksud untuk memonopoli ataupun memaksakan pendapat saya apalagi dalam era keterbukaan seperti ini.

Saya tertarik untuk memulai dengan komposisi pekerja2x Indonesia di luar negeri. Saya berusaha membuatnya lebih sederhana berdasarkan motif utama mereka bekerja di luar negeri sebagai berikut :

1. Kelompok yang sebenarnya tidak butuh sampai jauh2x kerja di luar negeri

Mereka bisa dikatakan orang2x elit dari Indonesia.Elit dari segi pendidikan,kesempatan dan juga material.Tanpa jauh2x bekerja di luar negeri mereka sudah punya pekerjaan dan penghidupan yang layak di Indonesia karena faktor keluarga mereka yang berada di Indonesia.

Jadi pilihan pribadi mereka untuk bekerja di luar negeri lebih pada faktor non ekonomis.

2. Kelompok yang butuh untuk bekerja di luar negeri

Mereka bisa dikatakan orang2x kelas menengah dan bawah di Indonesia.Mengingat lapangan pekerjaan yang memadai di Indonesia tidak melimpah maka terpaksa mereka kerja di luar negeri.

Jadi pilihan pribadi mereka untuk bekerja di luar negeri lebih pada faktor ekonomis. Contoh para TKI,TKW yang rela bekerja di Arab,Singapore,Hongkong dsb.

Saya lebih condong mengklasifikasikan diri saya pada kelompok kedua. Maklum karena saya bukan dari keluarga berada di Indonesia.

Dari pengelompokan di atas bisa kita lihat bahwa motif orang bekerja di luar negeri bervariasi dan tidak tunggal itu2x saja. Ini penting untuk diketahui untuk menghindari tendensi yang ujung2xnya generalisasi.

Selanjutnya mari kita telaah lagi beberapa komentar yang sering saya dengar tentang bekerja di luar negeri sebagai berikut :

1. Bekerja di luar negeri berarti anda mengikuti paham dan pandangan negeri tersebut ( lebih kasar lagi kena cuci otak oleh Negara yang bersangkutan ).

Saya beri contoh misalnya orang yang kerja di Singapura. Mungkin ada komentar bahwa orang yang bekerja di Singapura berarti mensukseskan program pemerintah sini,jadi pion dinasti pemerintahan sini dsb.

Singapura sendiri terlepas dari berbagai kekurangan yang ada telah menjadi sebuah cerita sukses perekonomian dan pembangunan di dunia.

Yang saya kagum dari Singapura adalah keberhasilan mereka untuk membujuk,mendapatkan kepercayaan dan menarik banyak investasi dari berbagai negara lain.

Singapura sendiri banyak dijadikan sebagai kantor regional Asia Tenggara ataupun Asia Pasifik oleh perusahaan2x tersebut dan bukannya Jakarta,Kuala Lumpur,Bangkok dan pilihan lain yang banyak tersedia.

Saya sendiri lebih pada pandangan yang praktis dan rasional bahwa pekerja asing di negeri orang tidak lebih hanya digit ekonomi bagi pemerintahan yang bersangkutan. Pekerja asing tidak boleh berharap mewakili pemerintah tempat dia bekerja dan berharap bisa jadi mesin propaganda pemerintahan tempat dia bekerja atau pemerintahan dari manapun dia berasal.

Purely sebagai pekerja dia berada di sana untuk bekerja,mencari nafkah dan syukur2x suatu saat bisa kembali ke negara asal atau tempat lainnya.

2. Bekerja di luar negeri berarti anda tidak nasionalis

Komentar seperti ini menurut saya sangat tidak bermutu. Nasionalisme adalah hal yang penting dan bagus tapi dalam kehidupan sehari-hari kita butuh makan,minum dsb. Nationalism without food,drink and home is just a rhetoric.

.Dengan kondisi perekonomian Indonesia yang tidak begitu baik maka lapangan kerja yang layak tidak banyak tersedia misalnya untuk lulusan perguruan tinggi,mereka yang punya special skill misal di bidang antariksa,mereka yang punya pengalaman kerja yang mumpuni dsb. Dengan bekerja di luar negeri setidaknya bisa memberikan sumbangsih berupa devisa bagi negara.

Menarik untuk dibahas kemudian adalah faktor pendorong orang bekerja di luar negeri. Ada beberapa alasan yang berhasil saya rangkum dari berbagai kalangan pekerja asing termasuk saya sendiri sebagai berikut :

1.Kesempatan yang tidak ada di Indonesia misal : riset teknologi tinggi yang tidak ada di Indonesia,tidak ada pekerjaan yang membutuhkan spesialisasi tertentu contoh eksplorasi ke bulan,reaktor nuklir dsb.

2.Meraih penghasilan lebih dari yang bisa didapat di Indonesia dengan harapan bisa dijadikan modal hidup layak atau modal bisnis di Indonesia

Bukan rahasia lagi kalau bekerja di luar negeri menjanjikan penghasilan yang jauh lebih bagus dibandingkan bekerja di Indonesia. Banyak juga orang yang pulang dari kerja beberapa tahun di luar negeri untuk kemudian membuka usaha sendiri di Indonesia.

3.Mendapatkan pengalaman dan wawasan yang lebih luas tentang negara lain

Salah satu cara terbaik untuk mendapatkan pengalaman dan wawasan yang lebih luas tentang negara lain adalah dengan datang dan tinggal langsung di negara tersebut. Memang ada Google, TV kabel dan berbagai ragam teknologi lainnya yang bisa membuat tempat lain seolah2x begitu nyata dan jelas. Namun hanya segitu saja yang dapat kita ketahui dari teknologi tersebut.Tidak ada perspektif lain dan aspek real time yang bisa kita rasakan begitu kita langsung datang dan tinggal di negara tersebut

4.Efek globalisasi

Efek globalisasi memberikan banyak kesempatan dan pilihan bagi orang yang mempunyai kemampuan dan kemauan. Mereka bisa memilih pekerjaan terbaik yang mereka mau dan tempat yang baik menurut mereka. Jadi ini lebih pada pilihan pribadi. Dunia terbuka seolah2x menjadi desa global tanpa batasan jelas dalam hal bekerja. Pekerja2xnya sendiri lazim disebut sebagai global talents.

5.Memperdalam pengetahuan bahasa asing seperti Inggris,Mandarin dsb.

Pemakaian bahasa asing di Indonesia masih terbatas selama ini. Dengan bekerja di luar negeri maka kita bisa langsung memakai dan mendengar bahasa Inggris,Mandarin dsb sehari-hari.

Bahasa Inggris sudah merupakan bahasa paling banyak digunakan dan populer untuk banyak bidang seperti pendidikan,bisnis bahkan diplomasi internasional.

Bahasa Mandarin sendiri mempunyai cukup banyak pemakai ( native speaker ) dan mengingat potensi China menjadi superpower di masa yang akan datang setara dengan Amerika Serikat.

6. Faktor-faktor lainnya

Contohnya adalah aspek politik ( orang2x yang anti/lawan politik Orde Lama dan Orde Baru di Indonesia ) dan banyak faktor lainnya yang tidak bisa saya utarakan satu per satu.

Demikian sedikit ulasan yang sederhana dan lugas dari saya. Semoga berguna.

Singapore Scholarships Info

I just finished my master programme from NUS Singapore under ASEAN scholarship programme. And I think it is always good to share scholarships information and some tips to get the scholarships successfully especially for prospective postgraduate students from Indonesia and other ASEAN countries.

Singapore is a small country located at the southern tips of Malay peninsula.It is nearby Malaysia and Indonesia. It is a city state of 700 km sq which managed to transform itself from 3^rd world country into 1^st world country in term of prosperity for just 30 years. The great achievement of Singapore can be traced to many fields such as health,education,Singapore Airlines and etc.

Education in Singapore is relatively more advanced compared to neighbour ASEAN countries. It is largely due to consistent and large government support and commitment to it for developing the only resource that Singapore has which is human resource.

Several universities in Singapore have good standing and recognition from the world which proved from certain surveys each year. NUS,NTU and SMU are the well recognized and wellknown universities so far from here.The graduates from this universities can be accepted easily for further education in US or European countries.

NUS Singapore ( www.nus.edu.sg ) is the oldest university in Singapore which deemed to be the best one in Singapore and previously known as University of Singapore.It is located in Kent Ridge area,West side of Singapore. It is a government endowed university ( same like state university in Indonesia ) and have many faculties ( Engineering,Medicine,Law,Business and etc. )

NTU Singapore ( www.ntu.edu.sg ) is a government endowed university also which previously known as Nanyang University. It is located in Boon Lay area,the West end of Singapore.It focuses more on engineering,science and teacher education.

SMU Singapore ( www.smu.edu.sg ) is another government endowed university and the newest one among all. It is located in city centre nearby Bugis and City Hall.It focuses more on finance,management and economics study.

There are several other universities in Singapore such as UniSIM,UNSW and etc.

They are private and brand new universities in Singapore.

For prospective students who try to get scholarships can access the following link :

1. http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/prospective/graduate/researchscholarship.htm

Link di atas berisi informasi beasiswa mahasiswa riset untuk mendapatkan gelar MEng dan PhD di NUS.

Above link contains information about scholarships for research students pursuing MEng and PhD titles in NUS.

2. http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/sfau/pg.htm

Link di atas berisi list beasiswa untuk mahasiswa pascasarjana baik itu yang dengan riset maupun dengan mengikuti kelas.

Above link contains scholarships list for postgraduate students both by research or by coursework.

3. http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/prospective/graduate/gsa.htm

Link di atas berisi beasiswa untuk mahasiswa coursework dari negara2x ASEAN.

Above link contains scholarship information for coursework students specially from ASEAN countries.

4. http://www.ntu.edu.sg/publicportal/prospective+students/scholarships/default.htm

Link di atas berisi list beasiswa2x untuk studi di NTU ( Nanyang Technological University ).

Above link contains scholarships list for studying in NTU.

For SMU I do not have definite information about it. For prospective students can search directly from its website : www.smu.edu.sg.

After basic information about universities here and links to get more information regarding the scholarships then I would like to share several tips which I did before to get the postgraduate scholarship here.

Several tips which may be useful such as :

1.Get relevant work experiences for at least 2 years.

It can be really useful to convince them ( the universities ). The name of companies where we work is important also as it actually can give a quick glance of how good the prospective scholarship holders.

2. Get the needed TOEFL,GMAT and GRE.

TOEFL is necessary if you studied previously with medium other than English and from non English speaking countries.

Students from Indonesia need to get the latest TOEFL.
GMAT is necessary for Business students.

GRE is necessary for Engineering and Science students .Mostly the universities in USA and Western Europe ask it more often than in Singapore.

3. Write an honest,detail and clear objective for pursuing postgraduate education by scholarship

To get ASEAN scholarship we are required to write an objective letter.

It is a kind of description why we want to pursue postgraduate here by scholarship and further plan upon graduation ( let see in 5 years time upon graduation ).

I wrote a honest,brief but clear letter explaining my reasons for further education and my career goal afterwards. Some people might try to bullshit by writing sweet but dishonest letter but it will not effect or guarantee they can get the scholarship as the people who read and select us are very experience and already face this kind of letters each year.

4.Make sure you have at least 3-12 months in advance prior your planned education time.

3-12 months needed for you to prepare the required letters,time for the university to process and decide your entry and whether to give scholarship or not and etc.

That is all some information which I can share about scholarships in Singapore universities. Hopefully prospective students can read and make the use of it.And hopefully you can get it !!

Rank of Universities by Webometrics

There are several international institutions which conduct research on universities’ profiles in the world and do the yearly rank after that. Shanghai Jiao Tong University ( Shanghai,China ), Times Higher Education Supplement ( THES ) which is a part of The Times,a newspaper from United Kingdom and the new one,Webometrics affiliated to Spanish Research Council.

Webometrics ( www.webometrics.info ) classify the rank mainly based on the electronics publication ( e-publication ) which contained in each university’s website. There are further 4 indicators for it such as

1. Size : number of website pages which contain e-publication
2. Visibility : number of other pages which referred or put link onto the original website
3. Rich File : the relevance of the electronic sources for the academic and publication of the university
4. Scholar : number of qualified publication and citation in the university website.

Later on it process the data and then put rank for total 3000 universities worldwide. The rank come out each January and July each year since 2004.

Though the ranking from each international institution can be not believed 100% as it is merely result of collected statistics which we know can be played around and the different criterions set by the international institutions and the universities being researched but surely we still can use it for quick glance and overview on how competitive universities which we belong to or our home country universities

Let see the list of top 100 universities in Asia as follow :

1. National University of Singapore ( Singapore )

2. National Taiwan University ( Taiwan )

3. Keio University ( Japan )

4. University of Tokyo ( Japan )

5. Beijing University ( China )

6. Chinese University of Hongkong ( Hongkong )

7. University of Hongkong ( Hongkong )

8. Kyoto University ( Japan )

9. National Chiao Tung University ( Taiwan 0

10.Tsinghua University China ( China )
……..

73. Bandung Institute of Technology ( ITB,Indonesia )

100.Gadjah Mada University ( UGM,Indonesia )

First I am personally happy with this rank as the universities where I studied for my bachelor degree ( UGM,Indonesia ) and my master degree ( NUS,Singapore ) are in the top 100 Universities in Asia. NUS is no.1 and UGM is no.100.

I am also happy because two Indonesian top universities ( ITB and UGM ) manage to share the spot in top 100 universities in Asia which is a big push and pride for Indonesia which this several years facing so many problems and degradations. Despites lack of fund ( compared with other universities ) ITB and UGM still managed also to push higher quality and bigger presence in international spot ( aimed in Asia first ).

If we see the above top 10 also we can see that the spots mostly being taken by universities from East Asia ( Japan,China,Taiwan,Hongkong ). The strength of universities in this area long has been recognized even in other type of ranks from THES and Shanghai Jiao Tong. Is it the high quality education which propel and help the economics growth and industrialization for years ? Or is it because hard work ethics ( Confucian work ethics ) complemented together with big support from local government ? Or simply because the people from East Asia are smarter ? I can not give a definite answer for this.

Just to close this small article that I personally hope more Indonesian universities able to surface into top spot in the Asia first before aimed for the top world position.If this year only 2 universities then probably next year can be 3-4 universities in top 100 Asia Universities. I believe that if more Indonesian Universities can surface and get better recognition from the world then it can help the alumni finding global and best jobs,help Indonesia also with higher quality graduates and education and etc. Hopefully it can come true soon.

From Brain Drain To Brain Gain : Case Study For Indonesia

I got the idea of writing about this topic mainly after reading so many comments and discussions in Singapore after Senior Minister Goh of Singapore made statement about it as follow

During his visit to Iran, he said:

"The issue which we are most concerned with is the loss of our own people at the very top. These are bright young people, children of very well educated Singaporeans."
Singapore is losing the top 0.5 percent of its talents.

I am not going to discuss more about Singapore problem with leaking of talent but more on Indonesia problem with leaking of talents. Indonesia with a big population around 240 million people and the world 4^th most populous country in the world right after China,India and USA. So in general Indonesia supposed to have enormous amount of talented people from such big population.

Let give a defining idea about talented people. I tend to limit it as people who have talents in academic,sport,art,business and etc Talent should not be limited because the people have good education or good performance academically only. Many other people have talents which can give valuable contributions like in the economics,art,social work,sport and etc.

During my working period before which took me to several countries I observed at the same time many young Indonesian studying and working overseas. The reasons behind this decision are so many and not a single reason can explain it out.

Before discussing further about Indonesia brain drain or leaking talents I would give an overview first about what happened in China and India. China and India as world number 1 and 2 populous countries in the world have enormous amount of talented people which then absorbed readily by developed countries in Western World ( mainly the ultimate destination is USA followed by UK,Canada,Australia and several other western countries ). China and India even not allowed to take Green Card anymore as they already constituted large amount of immigrants in USA. Then the question should it then poses problem to China and India especially when they are also developing rapidly and need many talents for it.

When I was assigned to India for quite sometime I managed to differentiate that mostly the best and brightest Indian already went to work somewhere out of India and only small number of the best and brightest stay and work in India itself. I asked my Indian colleagues several times about this issue. And the answer from them is very surprising.Despites deep nationalism and deep rootedness of the Indian culture most of them happy to see their fellow countrymen went overseas to work and stay. Only little amount of opposition or negative feeling toward it.

.Why is that ?

There are several reasons for it. I am going to elaborate it as follow :

1. The experiences and the money which they can get overseas are very valuable for their future life in India. Most of the Non Resident Indian ( NRI ) plan to go back to India after several years working overseas.
2. Despite rapid development and industrialization of India this several years,the number of high tech and skilled jobs are still less than the number of talents ready to take it. Yes,there are still many low tech and unskilled jobs but those brightest one surely will not take it.
3. Effect of globalization : People just simply choose where they want to work and stay as the effect of globalization.If they miss home they simply can make a call,chat,watch TV cable and in some places like Dubai,Abu Dhabi where many Indians going there then the life is not so much different as in India. Indian also have relatively fluent English ( with certain local accents ) which actually a plus point in globalization.

This several years itself there is reverse trend that many affluent Indian ( NRI ) came back to India either temporary or for good. They brought together with them experiences,companies,wealth and etc.The effect is enormous for Indian economics as it help the growth of Indian further and open more jobs. The reverse trend somewhat called as brain gain. The brain drain that Indian felt 10-15 years ago has reversed slowly to brain gain. Now then I understand why most people in India proud of their countrymen who work overseas.

How about the case in Indonesia ? I myself currently working overseas. I believe there are some kind of brain drain trend from Indonesia though the exact percentage and number of it can not be known precisely.The response toward Indonesian working overseas quite varied. Many actually support as currently Indonesian economics not so good and number of high tech and skilled jobs not available in abundance. But surely there are certain small opposition for this also as with working overseas can not help Indonesia directly,sense of nationalism and etc.

Several good things for Indonesian who can work overseas for sometimes :

1. Get the valuable experiences which can be got only outside of Indonesia

Some high tech researches not exist in Indonesian universities,high tech and specialized jobs are also still limited.

2. Creating ‘devisa’ or revenue for the countries

Not a secret that the salary for people working overseas much bigger than working in Indonesia. And I believe many people who work overseas still send money to their family in Indonesia regularly. The family then use it inside Indonesia which then help Indonesian economics although indirect.

3. Fluency in international language such as English,Mandarin,Japan and etc.

Most of the people in Indonesia do not speak English in their daily life compared with Singapore,Malaysia,Philipine,India and etc. When people work overseas they are being forced to use and practice their English,Mandarin and etc in daily bases.

It is very essential as English is now the most widely used language in the world for business,study even diplomatics.Followed later on by Mandarin as the large number of Mandarin speakers in the world and the big potential for China becoming the superpower in next century.

4. Get the best ideas and cultures which can complement the current ideas and cultures in Indonesia

As currently Indonesia is still healing from the post 1997 crisis and transforming itself into a democratic country,less corruption,better appreciation of human rights and etc then getting direct experience with other countries which already faced and implemented it can be a very precious thing to do.

It is not importing 100% from overseas but more on choosing and taking the best from it,ignoring and deleting the bad parts of it.

There are at least 2 negative sides from Indonesian working overseas :

1. Brain drain as Indonesia is currently developing though the rate is little bit slow. Indonesia needs brightest and best talents also for its development

2. Some of the people working overseas imported rubbish and dangerous culture and habits to Indonesia when they coming back. It is a negative one surely as it can destruct the culture and social harmony in Indonesia.

For me I tended to believe Indonesia should learn and take India as role model for this case.India as another democratic and developing country and had previous brain drain problem can manage it well and make it as a reverse trend currently when India healing and developing very fast. The brain drain become brain gain and further propelling India economic growth. If Indonesia can use this as a role model ( with certain adaptation surely ) I believe that in 10 years the current brain drain also happen in Indonesia can become brain gain which can help Indonesia further in the development. Hopefully useful.

Information For Job Seekers In Singapore

I spent quite sometimes before and after graduation from NUS Singapore trying to find ‘good job’ for me. During this time I did research and tried many ways on how to find ‘good job’ in Singapore for me. And in this article I would like to share some of it.

Finding a ‘good job’ in Singapore may seem easy for some people but for me it is a quite long journey.It is not because lack of positions here but mainly I can not suit my expectations and experiences with the companies expectations ( mostly my expectation higher than the companies here ). Not to be snobbish but I spent quite sometimes working in a big multinational companies ( not in Singapore ) and even held position as expatriate.That is why my expectation is not the same with most of the fresh graduates from NUS Master Programmes.

One of the best way to find job positions in Singapore is by registering and accepting regular newsletters from online job databases.

There are several good online job databases containing position in Singapore as follow :

1.Jobstreet.com ( www.jobstreet.com )

One of the best and many companies here in Singapore post their positions here.

The update is qute fast. Some companies also use its website facility for their online applications and recruitments. You can realize it from the directed website address to jobstreet.com when you apply into this companies.

2.Monster.com.sg ( www.monster.com.sg )

I got several calls and interviews from employers who read my online resume in Monster. It is one of the effective way of reaching unknown employers and job positions.

3.Jobsdb.com ( www.jobsdb.com )

Quite big one also and wellknown ( also in Indonesia and several other Asian countries ). But never got any calls from employers who use its database.

4.ST701 ( www.st701.com )

This is a relatively new online job database. It is a baby of SPH ( Singapore Press Holding ). Most of the positions are exact positions advertised on Straits Times before ( also a subsidiary of Singapore Press Holding ).

Another way to find job positions is a conventional one. Simply buying Straits Times,Singapore local newspaper every Saturday. The Saturday edition always have special section for job advertisement. Sometimes it can take up to 50% of the total newspaper content on that day. It is only 80 Cent ( equivalent 4800 Rupiah ) here and worth to buy and read.

Alternatively you can also put your resume and contact several job agencies here in Singapore. There are so many job agencies here ( hundred of them ). Some of them charge you money for their services.The rest charged it to the companies which take you in. I prefer the second one as it is cheaper for us,job seekers.

Several job agencies here :

1. MichaelPage ( www.michaelpage.com.sg )

One of top job agency here. Mostly managing senior and managerial positions. The wellknown term for them is Executive Search or Head Hunter.

I personally being interviewed by them once and got good and professional impression about them.

2. Adecco (http://www.adecco-asia.com/singapore/home.asp ) Quite big job agency here with the headquarter in Germany.It has several branches in Singapore alone. I personally being interviewed by them once also.

That is some of my knowledges about searching jobs in Singapore based on my own personal experience. Hopefully can be useful.

Cheers,

Herman

The Hype of Internet TV

Watching TV by free to broadcast channels,cable TV or satellite receivers has been a common feature in most countries. We can easily remember there are so many Astro tv receivers installed outside home in Malaysia ( especially in big city like Kuala Lumpur ). People in Indonesia ( mostly middle class ) also enjoy so much the satellite TV receivers ( known as parabola in Indonesia ).Whenever I was in the journey from Sumatera to Java and vice versa during my university years I can see many satellite TV receivers installed in front or top of the house even in remote area. Astro,IndoVision and KabelVision are also trying to penetrate the still wide cable TV market potential in Indonesia.People in Singapore also enjoy heavily the cable TV ( so far only one cable TV provider here,Starhub ), mobtv.sg ( owned by MediaCorp Singapore ) and several others waiting for the realization of their operations.

Watching TV from internet or what usually termed as Internet TV or IPTV can be classified as new thing to do for most of us. Academically it is being termed as disruptive technology as it is not a common and wellknown technology yet and the quality somewhat still less than current existing technology. It is actually still a hype currently but slowly moving toward a better technology / choice in the future.

My first experience with Internet TV is with PPLive. The website is www.pplive.net. Some people said it come from China but I can not confirm about this yet.What we need to do is downloading and installing the software to enjoy it free. The PPLive Internet TV mainly featuring TV channels and movies from China,Hongkong,Taiwan and some from Korea and Japan. The legality of the programmes broadcasted by PPLive still a doubt for me. They do put advertisement at the beginning of the streaming and do not cut the advertisement inside the programmes relayed from the actual TV channels.Somewhat this is the way it generate revenue for its free service to the viewers.

So far watching PPLive can be a good and fun experience provided you have good internet speed ( where it can be an expensive thing to have in developing countries such as Indonesia except then if GOI finally build the Palapa Broadband Internet Infrastructure ).Watching Internet TV is a bandwidth consuming activity so without any good bandwidth the quality can be really bad and nothing to enjoy. In multimedia networking we know about concept so called as buffering. Buffering being done to make sure it have enough bits downloaded first before start playing the movie/TV programmes or creating buffer/stock for the playing process. It actually being done to make sure continuity of the play. If the play simply a combination of stop,play,stop and play it will not be a good and relaxing watching experience.

One of the latest hype for this Internet TV is the innovation from Skype founder ( Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom ). They just sold their Skype to eBay for 2.6 billion USD last year and made them as very rich guy in this planet. But they simply do not stop there. The latest baby from them is Joost,an internet TV.

Currently Joost is still under Beta testing by limited users.From several sources which I can get from the internet and friends basically Joost promises some features like this :

1. No user generated content like Youtube

So the quality of the content is more professional.It focused more on the network-quality programs.

2. It planned for free

They do put ad to generate revenue for them which is the same like current 50 years old TV model.

3. Simplicity

It basically use the up down buttons more often in the software compared to the current 37 buttons TV remote. Soon it can be applied and watched from cell phone and Apple’s iPod due to its simplicity.

4. So many choice of channels

They plan for expansion up to 5000 channels. Something which clearly an abundance choice for people. I have 50 channels from my cable TV subscription and I hardly watch each of it. Only several favourites TV channels often viewed by me.And now 5000 ? It is a really incredible number to enjoy in the future.

From all the writing and example from PPLive and baby Joost above I can predict that the hype of Internet TV if really being planned and executed with full supports from many concerned parties ( especially governments which build the network/Internet infrastructures and big companies which produce the TV content and gadgets ) can be a good technology replacing the current existing technology. Let see it to happen then.

Features of Jajah

I believe everybody heard about Skype before. Skype is one of the biggest internet phone provider for now. For more information on it can access www.skype.com

Now I would review another newcomer which is Jajah. The website for it is www.jajah.com. I started using it sometimes ago and find it is quite nice and easy to use. So that’s why I want to share it here.

I will do it by comparing between Skype,the wellknown one with Jajah,relatively new comer as follow :

1. You do not need to install any software for Jajah. Everything is web based. It is different with Skype which required you to download and install software before you can use it. One of the straight advantage is you can use Jajah from any computer especially the computers which you do not have the privileges to install anything on it ( for example computer in internet stall / Warung Internet in Indonesian term ).

2. You use your own handphone /mobilephone when you really make a call instead of headphone or USB phone like Skype.

The procedure actually quite simple :

• You log in
• You dial the destination number
• Then your phone ring and get connected with your destination number
  

The clarity is quite good and the good thing of it is more on the psychological effect as normally people speak using their handphone/mobilephone instead of headphone/USB phone.

3. SMS feature of it

I tried the SMS feature of it for sometimes with destination to Indonesia,Singapore and Taiwan. It went well so far. Whenever you send sms from it then the sms message will show additional text explaining the use of Jajah for sending the sms. I plan to send sms to more countries to test how good the capability of Jajah system in the future.

Skype also has sms feature but I never really use it so much so can not comment on it.

4. There is business account like what Skype already offer.

Several features of it as follow :

a. Multiple Users with one Invoice

Add and manage multiple users with your account. Set individual limits and retrieve a monthly invoice for all your activities.

b."Call me" Button for your Website

Add a "Call me" button to your homepage - and use the 1-800 option to offer your customers toll free phone calls. Just a few clicks to get the ready to go code snippet!

c.Embed JAJAH call functionality in your Website / Application with the JAJAH API

Use JAJAH call functionality within your Website or Application - our powerful JAJAH API gives you access to individual embedded phone-to-phone services instantly.

5. Phone to phone calls between registered Jajah users are free. Somewhat similar feature of Skype.
6. Jajah is free for a trial call up to 5 minutes to any landline destination.Actually it is a good offer to come and test Jajah by ourselves before deciding to sign in and pay for the service in the future. I used the free trial at that time to send sms messages to Singapore and Indonesia and it finally made me decided to sign in for the future service from them.

Well,that so far several features which I observe as user and think worth comparing with Skype,the biggest internet phone provider so far in the world. Go test and try Jajah today !!!

Cheers,

Herman

Comments On Article About Characteristics of Indonesian

JAKARTA, KOMPAS--Manusia Indonesia dicirikan dengan karakter yang picik, solidaritas rendah, serba instan, dan sulit menerima kekalahan. Kondisi tersebut membuat keadilan dan kesejahteraan sosial di Indonesia sulit diwujudkan.

Penggiat filsafat kebudaayan Tony Doludea di Jakarta, Jumat (16/3) sore mengatakan karakter manusia Indonesia adalah mudah iri hati, picik, dan tidak menyadari solidaritas untuk tujuan bersama. Mereka juga suka memperoleh sesuatu secara instan, mengabaikan proses dan kerja keras, percaya terhadap klenik, dan tidak dapat menerima kekalahan.

English translation for the above article from Kompas online ( www.kompas.com ) as follow :

Indonesian are characterized by narrow mindedness,low solidarity,instant culture and hard to accept losing.This conditions cause justice and social welfare in Indonesia hard to be realized.

Tony Doludea,a Cultural Philosopher activist in Jakarta,Friday ( 16/3) afternoon said that Indonesian characters are easily jealous or envy,narrow minded,low solidarity for common goals.They also like to get something instantly,ignore the process and hard work,believe on the clenics and can not accept losing.

We can find many interesting points made from above article.Let analyze it one by one.

1.Is it true that Indonesian have characters like stated by Tony Doludea ?

I am going to elaborate it from character by character as follow :

Supporting some of the characters :

a. Easily jealous or envy

I would like to tell story when I was doing my KKN ( Kuliah Kerja Nyata ) or equivalent as field work in the village during my university years in Gadjah Mada,Indonesia. I was assigned together with other 7 students in one village in Kebumen,Indonesia.

The field work duration was 2 months so more than enough time to know the culture of the village and villagers. For me and most of my friends the field work was a good chance and fun period for us ( people from town and big cities ) to know and get immerse with life in Indonesia villages.More than 60% of Indonesian population live in village so knowing and understanding the life there is a very important and rewarding thing to do.

I still can remember how some of the villagers tended to be jealous or envy on each other even for simple things.You can easily know it when you spoke with them,during the discussion,body gestures,biased comments and etc.It can be envy on the position of village chief,envy on the material possession,envy on your new clothes and etc.

Although envy in some perspectives is good and needed for motivating competitiveness and hard work but if it is too much it can be counterproductive.
People just spend most of the time on being jealous/envy on other people’s achievements and then just continuing with biased and other negative feeling towards other people. Simply wasting time and no positive effects afterwards from this continuing jealous/envy.

Other popular topic for envy/jealousy in Indonesia is a relative much better economics condition of Indonesian Chinese.Indonesian Chinese is around 3-4% of total Indonesia population so from 240 million it is around 7-8 million people. But relatively most Indonesian Chinese better in economic condition ( better does not always meant rich as many Indonesian can be constituted only as middle class both upper and lower middle class ) as they concentrate more on trading and business ( though you can easily find Indonesian Chinese who simply workers or farmers,for example in Singkawang,Medan,Palembang,Riau and etc. ).This has caused many envy and resentment towards it from other parts of Indonesian population.

This sentiment itself has been rooted back as long as Dutch colonial period.Dutch has divided Indonesian ( people living in East Indies ) as many classes with Dutchman and Westerner the highest class among all followed by Ningrat ( The Old Royal Indonesian family ),Chinese and commoners. Chinese and Ningrat who belonged to higher class then had better privileges and access to wealth during this time.

The situation is not getting any better after Indonesian independence especially during Soeharto’s period when most of the fields can not be easily entered by Indonesian Chinese.You can find handful of Indonesian Chinese as policeman,soldier,civil servants or lecturers in Indonesian State Universities. Then you can see that most of Indonesian Chinese heavily concentrated on trading and business. The rampant corruption,collusion and nepotism during this time which acted as de facto rule of the game also caused and forced many Indonesian Chinese to cooperate in this manner with corrupt officers,soldiers and etc.People can easily pointed out Edi Tanzil,David Nusa Widjaja,Hendra Raharja and etc. as examples of crooks part of Indonesian Chinese or simply known as black tycoons ( konglomerat hitam ). These thing actually caused so much resentment although I can surely say and guarantee that they are just bad /rotten apples from so many apples and consist only small percentage of Indonesian Chinese.

b. Can not accept losing

I think everybody of us has often heard about supporters of soccer clubs going into amoks and rampages after their favourite soccer clubs lose. The target of the rampages can be as diverse as any nearby motor cycle,car,stores and etc which they can target easily. It is just one sign that some parts of Indonesian population not ready yet to accept losing even though it is only a soccer match. What is a big deal of losing a soccer match ??? Sport and any kind of competition always consists of two thing only. It is either you win or you lose it.

We often heard also that after the Governor or Mayor direct elections then the losing candidates filled complaints and made headline news that alleged conspiracy and rigging during the direct election process. While some of the allegations can be true but when almost every time directly after election that losing candidates fill complaints and sue then we can see that losing is not an easy thing to accept in Indonesia.

c. Ignoring the process

One example is how a queue can be easily ruined. I still remembered one day I was queueing for check in at one airport in Indonesia. There were 2 check in counters for the flight so 2 queueing lines formed and existed.Unfortunately 1 counter had temporary computer system problem which caused this line had to wait for sometimes to reboot the system. Instead of waiting the rebooting of computer to finish in 5-10 minutes several people in the queue just simply made ‘brave way’ to cut the line directly in front of me. They gave reasons that they were all in a hurry. Well,give me a break. I simply refused their requests and answered politely that ‘ We will board the same plane and everybody will get into the destination at the same time no matter how hurry you are in the check in process’.Soon they just cancelled their move and went back to their old queue line.

I gave my response not because I was so pricky or trying to stir up the move but I just want to give little lesson of respecting others and follow the rules.If we just let everybody messed up in front of us daily so how we can expect Indonesia can be a much better country any soon.

While Tony Doludea gave some good insights into characteristics of Indonesian but I am not 100% agree on his conclusions as follow :

1. Characteristics of human can not be generalized easily. Indonesian is a very large entity and consists of many subcultures,religions,languages,the perceptions,level of education and etc. Simply generalizing the things that we observed in several places into whole Indonesian population can be a wrong and misleading thing to do.

2. The over emphasize on negative characteristics of Indonesian.

In the article itself only negative characteristics of Indonesian exposed and stated. I believe that Indonesian have still so many positive characteristics such as strong belief on family values, warm treatment towards friends and foreigners and etc.

3. No proofs and surveys provided to support his conclusion and statement.

No matter how abstract any thing but giving several quantitative measures actually can lead more people to understand and accept his conclusion and statement.

4. I never heard of Tony Doludea before so I simply do not know his credibility so far.

5. For me the mention of cultural philosopher activist seems to me as rather vague job or functional description. Why the writer do not simply mention him as cultural philosopher instead of cultural philosopher activist ?

So just to close it all basically the article on Kompas online ( despite several things lack on it ) can be used positively as a good reflection for all of us ( Indonesian especially ) to improve from the bad things around us and sustain the already good things around us. Hopefully can be useful. Thanks.

Cheers,

Herman

Sand Ban As A Political Tool

Recently Indonesia banned sand export.Though it is not targeted on certain countries but Singapore as the main ( I think the only ) sand importer from Indonesia facing quite a problem suddenly. Many opinions surfaced on this ban both from Singapore and Indonesia side.

I am trying to give a neutral view ( though I myself an Indonesian ).I try to elaborate my observation and thinking into several points as follow :

1. What the real motive behind this ban ? Or in other word : Why Indonesia need to ban sand export ?

This question discussed quite a lot especially by Singapore bloggers.

Several theories and explanations surfaced to answer this simple question :

a. Environmental issues

Indonesian Environmental Minister,Rachmad Witoelar explained that the sand export for years has caused severe environmental problem to Indonesia side.The sand mining supposed to be done in inland part of any islands.But as the lack of supervision and high level of corruption then the sand mining has been done mostly in outside part of the islands which caused severe environmental problem.The regulation actually stated also that some percentage of revenue from sand export need to be ploughed back to environment preservation. But so far nobody can really guarantee about the implementation or the actual effect from this ploughing back money. The recorded sand export by Indonesia government was around $ 6 million but the recorded sand import from Indonesia by Singapore government was around $ 260 million. Such as striking difference !!

By simple math the difference was : $ ( 260-6 ) million = $ 254 million or 42 times than the record by Indonesia government.

Then where all this money has gone ?

I only can assume for this ( as no valid proof ) as follow :

- Poor record by Indonesia government ( moderate possibility as sand is not a high tech stuff so the value can be easily determined by simple math )

- Poor record by Singapore government ( low possibility considering the efficient and modern civil service in Singapore )

- Smuggling by sand exporters ( very high possibility )

First to be considered is the vast Indonesia sea which very hard to be controlled fully by Indonesian Navy,Police and Customs.

Second to be considered is rampant corruption by officers.High possibility the sand smuggling detected and known by officers ( navy,police and etc. ) but then bribing the officers can negotiate and solve all the problems.

- Undervalued or overvalued sand price ( low probability )

I believe only low probability for this as the exporters and importers ( businessman type people ) surely will not allow this to happen for long time. Nobody want to lose out from their businesses.Supply and demand law simply control the price of commodity.If sand has been overvalued by Singapore importers then I believe it will be adjusted very soon and if the sand has been undervalued by Indonesian exporters then very soon they will increase the price to get more profit. As simple as that as it is business anyway.

b. Political play/Wayang by Indonesia part to force Singapore signing extradition treaty as soon as possible

This theory of political play/Wayang has been cited and strongly believed by many people both in Singapore and Indonesia. Many Indonesian politicians ( members of DPR including some government officers ) support this idea of political manouvre against Singapore to force them signing the extradition treaty as soon as possible. This then caused uproar and strong reactions from Singapore side ( Minister,MP,Singapore bloggers and etc. ).

Singapore objected to this as :

- It causes problem with construction projects

Later on it will continue with raising property prices,slowing down of the economy growth and less job openings.

- The extradition treaty has been agreed to be discussed and related concurrently with defence treaty

- The finger pointing towards Indonesian counterpart that the lack of progress on extradition treaty partly because Indonesia do not prepare the needed paperworks properly.

Though I believe this thing can happen with the performance of civil servants in Indonesia but I do not buy into this finger pointing as the paperworks surely will be prepared properly by Indonesia if 30 years has passed for this. It is true that Indonesian civil servants tend to work slower than private employees in Indonesia and Singapore civil servants.But they made things happen finally.If you make Identity card in Indonesia you may need 1 week to go but you surely will get it ( except recent system change to computerized system which caused several months just to get an IC ).

Now it is interesting to explore more about extradition treaty. By Indonesia Government’s account the discussion for this has been more than 30 years since Soeharto era. It has been dragged for so long by delays and reasons from Singapore ( perhaps political plays also before ).

There is a theory that suggested after Indonesia negotiating for so long and finally feels diplomatically exhausted then Indonesia resorted to this political play to increase the pressure to Singapore which has bigger share on dragging it for so long.

This theory is quite reasonable.But then there is another question : Why Singapore need to drag it for so long ?

This theory actually trying to explain it more in economical perspective.It is widely discussed that corrupted money from Indonesia somewhat needed to help Singapore economy ( analysis by Andy Xie who worked with Morgan Stanley before and based in Hongkong currently ).Sudden departure of this money meant shock to Singapore economy which can dampen the economy growth and prosperity of Singapore.We need to consider carefully the fact that actually 40% of high end condominium in Singapore owned by Indonesian and 18000 from 55000 ( a third ) of super rich persons in Singapore actually Indonesian holding Singaporean PR ( all the data from recent surveys ). Considering this fact actually we can see easily that the stay and movement of super rich Indonesian holding Singapore PR is important both for Singapore and Indonesia.

My personal point of view for this theory is that harbouring or protecting criminals from neighbours is not an ethically right thing to do although Indonesia which demands for this is not so clean also ( despites efforts for several years after the topple down of Soeharto’s regime ).

2. How to solve this banning issue / problem ?

a. Signing of extradition treaty between Indonesia and Singapore

Surely if the motive behind this sand banning really about extradition treaty then signing of extradition treaty can solve it all. Sand banning soon can be lifted whether there is any price increase after that or not.

b.Environmental preservation

If the motive behind this sand banning purely because environmental issue than do not expect that it will be lifted pretty soon by Indonesia. And I believe that the best way for Singapore to deal with it is by finding other countries to supply this sand ( Cambodia,Myanmar and etc. ) although the transportation price will be much higher as those countries quite far away from Singapore.

That is all the points I observed and thought about after several weeks observing and analyzing the polemics about this sand ban. Hopefully can give a neutral insight and useful.Thanks.

Cheers,

Herman