tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-188617852009-07-20T16:02:35.622+07:00We are a group of Indonesians, ranting about our beloved country. This blog is a result of many people grumbling about many things in many ways. <br> <i>Feedback: indonesia.anonymus at gmail dot com</i>Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-17314559779470599202009-07-09T20:20:00.005+07:002009-07-09T20:31:04.045+07:00

That seems to be the theme these days, since it is 'almost' certain that SBY will keep his job for another term.It would be an understatement if we say we are not touched by the whole democratic process. Watching people going to the voting booth, having their say, and see for themselves how their votes actually matter.You see, we here at the IA compound are not young (average age of 54) and we

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-66404032024424391192009-06-29T18:04:00.004+07:002009-06-30T03:56:48.520+07:00

Is it just us or is there more and more ads about 'how to get rich' on many Indonesian blogs?Do you notice them? Some are about how to make money through internet ads, some offering multilevel marketing gimmicks, and some selling ebooks on how to get rich without even trying, which sounds like scams than anything else.Let's get it straight:we are not criticizing those who place the ads. People

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-15798876366808758072009-05-28T18:32:00.004+07:002009-05-28T18:58:02.598+07:00

(A friend of a friend wrote this in a social networking site. We translate, edit and publish it here with her permission. We added the footnote to make sure all sources are cited. A slighty more original version in bahasa Indonesia can be found at our other blog here.)---Dear friends,It's such a relieve to finally cast my vote in the election.A relieve because before this I did not even know

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-79319570575667485102009-05-26T14:47:00.000+07:002009-05-26T14:48:13.626+07:00

A bunch of Muslim clerics in East Java "are seeking ways to regulate online behavior in Indonesia, saying the exploding popularity of social networking sites like Facebook could encourage illicit sex" [1].Oh, please.Anybody still wonders why Islamic parties are losing votes in the recent election?--------Eskimo: "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to Hell?"Priest: "Not if you did not

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-31026949293949020282009-05-19T15:26:00.007+07:002009-05-20T19:52:21.269+07:00

"Vice presidency is like a spare tire. It has no power to do anything." said Prabowo's henchman at the Gerindra party [1].But that was a week ago. This week, apparently it is ok for Prabowo to be a spare tire in Megawati bandwagon, and it will be made official on May 24 [2].People, however, have not forgotten about his past."His past? You mean his crime against humanity thing?" asked one

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-33273530461120231252009-05-14T21:51:00.002+07:002009-05-14T21:56:09.290+07:00

And hence we forget things.With all the excitement of having published a book, we forgot to mention a friend who has made it possible.Without him, this blog will just be a little blog in the corner of cyberspace.Thanks to him, now it is also a little book in the corner of a bookshop. (We did mention and thank him in the book, but we thought we should mention him here too, so here it is).He is

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-85123156800497645412009-05-12T23:22:00.001+07:002009-05-12T23:25:55.655+07:00

What do you know. Global warming may cause Indonesia to shrink, like a wool sweater in a tumble dryer.With the rise of the sea level, it is said that 8 of 92 Indonesia's outmost small islands are vulnerable. They are Kepala, Dolangan, Manterawu, Fani, Fanildo, Brass, Laag and Nipah islands.Although small, they are important: They serve as baselines for Indonesian sea territory. So if one of this

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-47876622964292644582009-05-07T14:37:00.003+07:002009-05-07T16:37:12.376+07:00

But it is.With humility we present to you our first book, published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama.It's in Bahasa Indonesia, so our sincere apology to our english-speaking readers.in keeping with this blog's tradition of being non-profit, net income from the book's royalty (if it sells, that is!) will be directed to charitable activities in education.Already available at Gramedia bookstores.Kopi Merah

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-58253342076008616862009-04-28T22:10:00.003+07:002009-04-28T22:16:31.221+07:00

If in the near future you buy a car and find that the backseat is somehow more comfortable than the cars of previous generation, you probably should thank the Chinese.As the Chinese car market passed the United States to be the biggest in the world, the taste of the Chinese customers start to shape how the cars are made. And one of them is comfortable backseat. The reason? "Because even the

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-35355080422503816582009-04-23T17:47:00.001+07:002009-04-23T17:50:56.808+07:00

American banks are posting huge profit this quarter:Citibank: $1.6 billion [1], Goldman Sachs: $1.81 billion [2], Bank of America: $4.2 billion [3].Does it mean the economic crisis is over? Green shoots [4] and all that?Not really. Because apparently some magic tricks are involved.Says Paul Krugman:"Goldman changed its definition of “quarter” (in response to a change in its legal status), so that

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-75297016457448553732009-04-20T19:53:00.003+07:002009-04-20T20:09:44.924+07:00

This may be difficult to digest for some of us Indonesians who are regularly flooded every rainy season: We are looking at a global water shortage.Many of the world's big rivers (China's Yellow river, Germany's Elbe, America's Rio Grande) no longer reach the sea [1]. According to the United Nations World Water Assessment Programme, "urgent action is needed if we are to avoid a global water

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-55408461481533920622009-03-06T23:11:00.005+07:002009-03-06T23:29:17.787+07:00

What do you know: your bum may be bad for the environment: Altough toilet paper can be made from entirely recycled paper, it is "the fiber taken from standing trees that help give it that plush feel, and most large manufacturers rely on them" [1].To fulfill demand in America -- whose citizens reportedly prefer their toilet paper soft and fluffy -- millions of trees have been harvested in North

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-7858372578639900302009-02-12T16:42:00.005+07:002009-02-12T16:56:13.597+07:00

A bit late, but there is an article in IHT with an interesting question: Where would we be if women ran Wall Street? [1]Would the world be in this financial mess?In the article, Muhammad Yunus, the big daddy of microlending, said:"Women are more cautious. They wouldn't have taken the enormous types of risks that brought the system down."Mari Pangestu, our Trade Minister -- who by IHT is dubbed '

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-14163004665635454172008-11-18T22:40:00.004+07:002008-11-18T22:47:35.079+07:00

In Indonesia Japan Expo 2008, the Japanese showed off their super-fast train technology. Known as shinkansen, it is fast (can go up to 300 km per hour), convenient, and - of course being Japanese - almost always on time.And apparently we can't wait to have one. It is said that PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA) is planning to produce our own shinkansen by 2016 [1]. Japan Transportation Consultant has

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-19626768095872655592008-11-05T19:39:00.007+07:002008-11-05T22:53:52.833+07:00

We all witnessed a phenomenon today that we thought we would never see in our lifetime: A first African-American ever elected to the highest office in America.Indonesians, of course, just like many people in any other countries, are mostly for Obama. The online survey in Detik.com for example, gave Obama an even bigger landslide than he actually got in the election.So we love Obama, no doubt

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-38479547965978997072008-10-09T21:19:00.002+07:002008-10-09T21:25:34.579+07:00

Nobody around here likes to talk about the recent economic crisis it seems. Probably because it is an eerie reminder of 1997. Alas, there is no escaping it. The dark days are here again, and sooner or later, we will have to face it. the Jakarta stock market has started taken the beating, and the rupiah is going nowhere but down.So are we ready? (Or is that a silly question, especially after we

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-81261312919357035262008-08-21T22:40:00.003+07:002008-08-21T22:48:47.554+07:00

It's no secret that Indonesia's football team is bad. Let's face it. It's almost embarrassing.How many times do you hear people say: “out of 230 million of people, we could not even find 11 men who can play football?”Well guess what.China has the same problem. Are you watching the olympics and being amazed by how the Chinese athletes are literally mining the gold medals? Oh yes. But not in

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-43656065919371195742008-07-02T16:37:00.002+07:002008-07-02T16:41:22.959+07:00

One colleague told us that bananas sold at a supermarket near her home are all imported. She could not even find the typical Indonesia's 'pisang ambon' anymore."My kids love pisang ambon and I just can't find them anymore... Whatever happen to them?"We certainly don't have a problem growing them. One other colleague once complained how banana trees grew so quickly in his backyard. He enjoys the

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-23946086617556442512008-06-20T19:14:00.002+07:002008-06-20T19:17:55.271+07:00

One younger staff told us a story: She is deeply in debt. Credit card debt. It started innocently enough until the bill grew faster than she can manage.Now her salary is not even enough to get her out of it."I can barely afford the minimum payment every month..."And just paying the minimum every month is pretty much a financial quick sand: You are going under eventually.For readers who don't know

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-63795051973271753282008-05-29T20:04:00.002+07:002008-05-29T20:07:07.195+07:00

We had lunch appointment the other day, with a friend of a friend. And because the restaurant was at his building, we dropped by at his office.He gave us a little tour around the office and gave us a brief story of the company he owns. A medium sized business, quite successful. It does not make him a billionaire, but he certainly is comfortable. And very proud.At one point, one man popped by and

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-39738883129433470732008-05-07T17:08:00.004+07:002008-05-07T17:16:36.363+07:00

Watching the situation in Zimbabwe we couldn't help wondering about Robert Mugabe's mustache. Look at the picture below [1] if you are not familiar with Mr. Mugabe's face.Mr. Robert MugabeWhy the mustache?Seriously: It is election time in Zimbabwe, where he must campaign for the Presidential election run-off (at least that is the latest we read when we wrote this piece).And things are not looking

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-46513213726975594982008-03-31T14:18:00.004+07:002008-03-31T20:13:59.239+07:00

After the new law that will allow the government to block risque sites is passed, now the government is set to do it.How?Apparently, the government will compile a list of sites that are considered indecent and then pass the list to internet service provider. The ISPs will then block the sites.This will give some kind of security to ISPs: If there are some indecent sites are found to be accessible

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-21424326307540832792008-03-13T23:22:00.007+07:002008-03-13T23:33:07.919+07:00

As the US is heading towards the big 'R' (read: recession), its currency is losing value in many other currencies (Euro, Yen, to name a few). But interestingly enough, that does not apply to our big 'R' (read: Rupiah).Check out the charts below:Let's start with US Dollar vs the Euro:US Dollar vs Japanese Yen:US Dollar vs Indian Rupee:US Dollar vs Chinese Yuan:Now take a look at our currency...US

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-19800373136517175262008-03-02T19:44:00.007+07:002008-03-02T19:56:18.385+07:00

One day we had an opportunity to take our interns to lunch. 11 of them. We love our interns. We call them 'the kids'. Some even call them 'our kids' (Yes folks, most of us are THAT old). Our interns remind us how great it is to be young: Full of energy, the future is right ahead of you, and you think you can do and achieve anything and everything. They are after all a glimpse of our country's

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18861785.post-5708773123325874882008-02-14T23:39:00.001+07:002008-02-14T23:47:41.693+07:00

A colleague, needed to go to the airport very early in the morning, took the airport bus.The bus was not full, but enough people to fill the seats. Still waiting for its schedule to leave, the bus stood idle, while some more passengers were trickling in.It was really quiet. Still very early in the morning, the passengers probably did not get enough sleep to be able to catch the bus, and all they

Indonesia Anonymushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08082457164468524565noreply@blogger.com6