My $ 0.02

Jual Tanah di Muarasari, Tajur, Kodya Bogor

2010-02-19T10:46:00.000+07:00

Luas tanah 767m2, lokasi di Muara Sindang Sari, Raya Tajur.
Masih termasuk Kodya Bogor

View cantik Gunung Salak, jauh dari kebisingan jalan raya.
Dengan jalan masuk sendiri.

Bentuk kotak, tanah matang siap bangun.

Status Sertifikat Hak Milik.

Infrastruktur: Air PAM, Listrik, Telpon, dan akan masuk Gas Alam.

Cocok untuk rumah istirahat atau investasi (rumah kontrakan dll), akses ke jalan Raya Tajur

Sudah banyak rumah rumah besar disekitar lokasi, dan 3 real estate (1 pengembang berbatas dng lokasi kavling ini).

Hubungi via email: tedhalim@hotmail.com

Location (k.l.)

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Minyak kelapa perawan

2010-02-12T15:53:00.000+07:00

Ada teman di Selandia Baru membutuhkan virgin coconut oil approx 20-50kg a month utk produksi makanan disana.

Ada yg tahu dimana bisa mendapatkan supplier yg reliable?

Karakter kita

2010-02-10T16:02:00.001+07:00

Kompas Rabu, 20 April 2005

Saatnya untuk Bercermin, Melihat Kelemahan

LIMA puluh tahun sejak berlangsungnya Konferensi Asia- Afrika tahun 1955 di Bandung harus diakui bahwa apa yang yang dicita-citakan pada lima dekade lalu itu masih jauh dari kenyataan. Setidaknya negara-negara di benua Asia-Afrika, yang memiliki jumlah penduduk sebanyak 73 persen dari populasi dunia, masih belum memiliki posisi tawar-menawar yang setara dalam percaturan internasional.

Sampai saat ini masih ada sekitar 1,2 miliar penduduk dunia yang hidup di bawah penghasilan 1 dollar AS per hari, juga masih lebih dari 700 juta orang yang setiap harinya menderita kelaparan di mana sebagian besar dari jumlah ini berada di Asia Selatan dan Afrika subsahara. Tingkat kematian anak-anak balita masih 100 berbanding 1.000 anak di 35 negara, yang sebagian besar, lagi-lagi, berada di Afrika.

Berbagai pendekatan politik dan ekonomi telah diterapkan untuk menganalisis sekaligus untuk menarik negara-negara Afrika dari pusaran kejatuhan yang makin dalam. Di antaranya melalui paket reformasi politik yang antara lain diimplementasikan melalui pemilihan umum yang transparan, partisipasi multipartai, termasuk mewujudkan kepemimpinan sipil. Ada yang berhasil, seperti Afrika Selatan dan Bostwana yang memiliki tingkat pertumbuhan ekonomi dan politik yang baik, di mana keduanya memiliki pendapatan per kapita di atas "zona transisi demokrasi" (3.000-6.000 dollar AS). Namun, lebih banyak negara-negara yang sampai kini terkungkung kemiskinan.

Di Asia situasinya lebih beragam. Ada kelompok yang sudah masuk dalam kelompok negara maju, dengan salah satu indikatornya tingkat pendapatan per kapita yang tinggi, seperti Jepang (34.510 dollar AS) dan Singapura (21.230 dollar AS), yang ditempel ketat oleh Korea Selatan (12.020 dollar AS). Sementara itu, negara berkembang, seperti Malaysia (3.780 dollar AS) dan Thailand (2.190 dollar AS), sudah berhasil memperpendek jarak dengan negara-negara maju. Dua negara besar, China dan India, bahkan kini sudah diperhitungkan akan menjadi raksasa ekonomi di kawasan. Tapi, ada juga negara-negara yang dianggap masih "berjalan di tempat", di antaranya Indonesia yang terus disibukkan dengan krisis domestik.

Sangat mudah untuk "melemparkan kesalahan" atas kegagalan pembangunan ini kepada era kolonialisme yang terjadi di Asia dan Afrika pada masa lalu. Namun, setelah kemerdekaan dan kedaulatan diperoleh selama beberapa dekade masih pantaskah bila masa lalu dijadikan alasan kegagalan saat ini?

Daniel Etounga-Manguelle (warga Kamerun mantan penasihat urusan Afrika di Dewan Bank Dunia) dalam artikelnya: Does Africa Need a Cultural Adjustment Program? menuliskan, langkah pertama untuk memperbaiki diri adalah dengan mengumpulkan keberanian untuk berkaca dan mengenali seluruh keburukan diri sendiri. Manguelle merasa yakin, sejumlah karakteristik dalam kultur masyarakat Afrika ikut memberikan kontribusi dalam lingkaran kegagalan yang kini melanda mayoritas negara-negara di Afrika. (Culture Matters, How Values Shape Human Progress; Lawrence E Harrison, Samuel P Huntington, ed, 2000).

Tesis pertama yang diajukan Manguelle adalah pandangan bahwa di negara-negara yang memiliki hierarchical distances (jenjang hierarkis) yang kuat, masyarakatnya cenderung statis dan secara politis tersentralisasi. Kekayaan nasional umumnya terkonsentrasi di tangan sekelompok elite.

Sementara sebuah generasi berlalu tanpa adanya perubahan signifikan dalam pola pikirnya. Sebaliknya, di negara-negara dengan jenjang hierarkis yang pendek umumnya terjadi transformasi teknologi dibarengi dengan sistem politik yang terdesentralisasi yang didasarkan pada sistem representasi. Kekayaan nasional terdistribusi dengan merata, sementara anak-anak memperoleh pendidikan dengan materi yang lebih baik dibandingkan dengan generasi sebelumnya.

Dengan kata lain, dalam sebuah kultur yang horizontal, semua warga memiliki hak yang sama, termasuk ketika berhadapan dengan kekuatan hukum. Dalam kultur seperti ini diyakini bahwa cara terbaik untuk mengubah sistem sosial adalah dengan mendistribusikan kekuasaan.
Afrika, kata Manguelle, memiliki kultur yang vertikal di mana mereka yang memiliki jabatan merasa berkuasa, bahkan hukum pun tunduk pada kekuasaan. Konsekuensinya, tumbuh keyakinan bahwa cara terbaik untuk mengubah sistem sosial adalah dengan menggulingkan kekuasaan.

Masyarakat Afrika juga dinilai tak mampu mengontrol ketidakpastian. Bagi mereka, yang penting adalah hari ini. Karena tak adanya persepsi yang dinamis tentang masa depan, masyarakat Afrika tak terbiasa merencanakan masa depan, seakan hari berlalu karena sudah diatur "dari sananya". "Nature is his master and sets his destiny," tulis Manguelle.

Masyarakat Afrika juga sangat dipengaruhi oleh hal-hal yang berbau mistik dan supranatural. Bila seorang presiden atau raja terhindar dari kecelakaan, seluruh masyarakat percaya bahwa ia memiliki kekuatan magis. Dan ini juga berlaku bagi warga biasa yang kemudian punya kedudukan. "Begitu seorang warga Afrika diberi sedikit kekuasaan, ia cenderung menjadi arogan dan tidak toleran". Rasa iri akan kesuksesan orang lain juga dominan dalam hubungan kerja sehingga muncul anekdot bahwa untuk menjatuhkan seseorang dari jabatannya cukup dengan mengungkapkan kepintaran yang bersangkutan.

Karakteristik lain yang menonjol adalah subordinasi individu di dalam masyarakat sehingga tak tertanam konsep bahwa seorang individu memiliki otonomi sekaligus patut bertanggung jawab. Dengan kata lain, sangat biasa bahwa di sebuah kementerian, misalnya, problem apa pun dianggap hanya bisa diselesaikan oleh sang menteri. Para pejabat lainnya, termasuk supervisi dan manajer, hanya pendamping dan tidak merasa perlu bertanggung jawab. Sang menteri pun tak mengeluh karena bila ia mendelegasikan otoritasnya, maka itu berpeluang bagi munculnya seorang bintang baru yang akan menjadi kompetitornya.

Masyarakat Afrika juga gemar melakukan kenduri, mulai dari pesta kelahiran, perkawinan, naik pangkat, kelulusan, kematian-terlepas apakah gajinya cukup atau tidak. Setiap pesta harus "wah" dan mengundang sebanyak mungkin orang. Hubungan interpersonal sangat penting bagi masyarakat Afrika dan ini terbawa pada proses bisnis yang lebih mementingkan perkawanan.

TULISAN Daniel Etounga-Manguelle didasarkan pada pengamatannya sebagai warga Afrika dan mungkin tidak bisa digeneralisasi dengan simplistis.

Namun, bukankah apa yang dijabarkan Manguelle tersebut cukup akrab di telinga masyarakat Indonesia?

Indonesia bukan saja semakin tertinggal oleh para tetangganya, tetapi juga di cap sebagai salah satu negara terkorup di dunia dengan beban utang luar negeri yang sangat besar. Fondasi ekonomi yang lemah membuat negara ini "luluh lantak" ketika diterjang krisis ekonomi tahun 1997. Hanya dalam setahun pendapatan per kapita Indonesia jatuh dari 3.038 dollar AS menjadi hanya 600 dollar AS (kini sekitar 810 dollar AS, menurut data Bank Dunia tahun 2003).

Bila sejumlah negara tetangga yang ikut diterjang krisis ekonomi bisa bangkit dengan cepat, Indonesia tetap "tak bergerak" meskipun telah melampaui periode reformasi selama tujuh tahun. Kita mungkin tergoda untuk berkata, "ya, tapi bukankah penduduk mereka tak sebanyak Indonesia, negaranya juga tak sebesar negara kita, terdiri dari ribuan pulau lagi!". Namun, tengoklah China dan India yang populasinya masing-masing lebih dari 1 miliar jiwa. Bahkan Jepang-ini contoh klise-membangun ekonominya dari reruntuhan setelah kalah perang pada Perang Dunia II.

Sudah banyak analisis yang dilontarkan para ahli mengenai keterpurukan Indonesia. Namun, pandangan bahwa jangan-jangan karakteristik dalam kultur setempat ikut berkontribusi terhadap mandeknya pembangunan cukup mengusik. Seperti dinyatakan Ronald Ingehart, yang mengoordinasi the World Values Survey, memang terdapat hubungan yang sangat kuat antara nilai-nilai kultural dengan kinerja politik dan ekonomi sebuah bangsa.

Tak banyak peneliti Indonesia yang mencoba mengaitkan kedua hal itu. Namun, mendiang Mochtar Lubis di tahun 1977 menulis sebuah buku yang kemudian menjadi perdebatan hangat di masyarakat, Manusia Indonesia, (diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Inggris oleh Florence Lamoureux menjadi The Indonesia Dilemma) yang isinya menelanjangi watak negatif masyarakat Indonesia.

Silang pendapat mengenai isi buku ini telah berhasil membawa permasalahan tentang "manusia Indonesia" ke ruang publik. Keberatan umumnya ditujukan pada pendekatan Lubis yang dianggap "kurang ilmiah" karena hanya berdasarkan pengamatan subyektif, namun Lubis pun bereaksi bahwa mereka yang menentang pandangannya juga tak didasari argumentasi "ilmiah".

Cukup banyak karakteristik manusia Indonesia yang disodorkan Lubis, di antaranya adalah kecenderungan orang Indonesia yang gemar takhayul dan hal-hal berbau supranatural. Alasannya beragam, mulai dari keinginan untuk mengetahui masa depan sampai cara untuk meraih kekuasaan ataupun kekayaan.

Ciri lainnya, orang Indonesia itu hipokrit alias munafik, lain di muka lain di belakang. Contohnya saja, para pejabat yang ditangkap karena terlibat kasus penyuapan dan korupsi adalah mereka yang sehari-harinya gemar berpetuah soal pemberantasan korupsi. Watak hipokrit ini juga berakar pada karakteristik berikutnya, yaitu keinginan untuk ABS (asal bapak senang), yang tumbuh dari mental feodal.

Manusia Indonesia juga punya kecenderungan untuk melempar tanggung jawab alias tidak mau disalahkan, sulit membuat keputusan (indecisive), mudah melepas prinsip, boros dan suka bersenang-senang, instan (kalau perlu membeli ijazah), iri pada orang yang memiliki kelebihan, dan mengagungkan status.

Misalnya menjadi PNS bukan niat untuk mengabdi kepada masyarakat, tapi lebih karena status. Orang Indonesia juga dinilai mudah mabuk kekuasaan bila diberi kewenangan atau jabatan.

Dalam diskusi kebudayaan Kompas bulan Maret 2004, sejumlah panelis yang hadir juga mengungkapkan sejumlah karakteristik lainnya. Di antaranya, masyarakat Indonesia itu mudah lupa. Memori yang pendek membuat bangsa ini sulit belajar dari kesalahan masa lalu. Padahal, pengelolaan suatu bangsa membutuhkan sebuah horizon yang merentang ke belakang maupun ke depan.

Selain itu, sistem kognitif kita dalam memandang dunia cenderung inward looking sehingga ideologi sempit nasionalisme telah membangun semacam konsep kepribadian nasional yang membuat kita merasa lebih istimewa dari bangsa lain, yang pada akhirnya membuat kita mudah mencari kesalahan pada pihak lain daripada berkaca pada diri sendiri. Selain itu, persepsi kita mengenai sejarah masih terbelenggu dalam soal "menang dan kalah" sehingga rekonsiliasi bangsa sulit diwujudkan.

APA kaitannya semua ini dengan Konferensi Asia-Afrika? Mungkin inilah momentum untuk mawas diri dan bertanya, mengapa kurun waktu 50 tahun masih tak cukup bagi sejumlah negara di Afrika dan Asia, khususnya Indonesia, untuk mengejar ketertinggalan.

Bila ditelusuri, ada sejumlah kesamaan antara apa yang diungkapkan Manguelle dan Lubis mengenai "nilai-nilai" yang berlaku di masyarakat masing-masing, yang bisa berujung pada tak efektifnya birokrasi pemerintahan, misalnya kecenderungan untuk melakukan KKN (korupsi, kolusi dan nepotisme), lebih percaya pada supranatural daripada etos kerja, lebih suka pada hal-hal yang instan dari pada hasil perencanaan yang didukung kerja keras dan disiplin.

Karakteristik seperti ini akan menjadi faktor penghambat kemajuan, khususnya bila terdapat pada mereka yang memegang tampuk kepemimpinan, entah itu ketua lembaga swadaya masyarakat atau lurah, pimpinan partai politik sampai anggota DPR, menteri ataupun presiden.
Bila resep-resep ekonomi dan politik belum juga mampu membawa negeri ini dari pusaran kesulitan, barangkali persoalannya bukan hanya di bidang itu, tetapi juga ada dalam kultur kita yang telah mengakar lebih dari satu generasi. Kita harus berani bercermin, dan menunjuk nilai-nilai mana yang perlu dirombak dan kemudian dikampanyekan dalam kebijakan-kebijakan strategis. (Myrna Ratna)

Coconut virgin oil.. for export

2010-02-08T11:50:00.003+07:00

Ada teman di Selandia Baru membutuhkan rutin, grade : virgin coconut oil approx 30-50kg a month bahan tambahan utk produksi makanan disana.

Ada yg tahu dimana bisa mendapatkan supplier yg reliable?

Tlg email saya atau put a comment down here.

Terima kasih banyak..

Kereta Api Baru di Tiongkok - Zhengzhou - Xi'an (505 km)

2010-02-07T08:06:00.000+07:00

KA high speed pertama sudah operasional, jarak 505 km ditempuh 1:48.

http://english.cctv.com/program/newshour/20100206/102086.shtml (video clip CCTV )

First class tickets will cost 390 RMB (Rp.550.000) and second-class tickets will cost 240 RMB (Rp.335.000.) using today's exchange rate.

Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed train starts operation

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-02-06 15:02

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The high-speed railway linking Zhengzhou in Henan province and Xi'an in Shaanxi starts operation Saturday, with its first train leaving from Zhengzhou at 11:25am, Zhengzhou Evening News reported.

The Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed train starts operation on Feb. 6, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

This is the first high-speed passenger railway in western China, Xinhua reported.

The train, with a speed of up to 352 km/h, finishes the 505km distance in one hour and 48 minutes instead of six hours, according to China Railway First Survey and Design Institute.

The line, part of a major east-west railway artery between Xuzhou in Jiangsu province and Lanzhou in Gansu, cost about 35.3 billion yuan ($5.2 billion).

The Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed train runs on Feb. 6, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Passengers wave on high speed train traveling between Xi'an and Zhengzhou Feb. 6, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed train runs on Feb. 6, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Peta Google Zhengzhou (propinsi Henan) ke Xian (propinsi Shaanxi) jaraknya pakai mobil 477 km :

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Zhengzhou&daddr=Xian&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=41.224889,79.013672&ie=UTF8&ll=34.565505,111.286235&spn=21.429904,39.506836&z=5

Menafsirkan politik di Indonesia

2010-02-03T08:42:00.001+07:00

Beberapa buku dari salah satu pakar terbaik tentang politik dan budaya di Indonesia, Anderson bersama Kahin, menerbitkan ulang sebuah buku Desember lalu yg menambah jajaran buku buku tentang Indonesia yg ditulisnya.

Saya sedang memesan buku ini Interpreting Indonesian Politics.

Beberapa yang lain ditulis bersama peneliti lain juga.

Interpreting Indonesian Politics: Thirteen Contributions to the Debate by Benedict R. O'G. Anderson and Audrey Kahin (Paperback - Dec. 29, 2009)

Buy new: $29.95

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A Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965 Coup in Indonesia by Benedict R. OG. Anderson and Ruth T. McVey (Kindle Edition - Dec. 1, 2009) - Kindle Book

Buy: $9.99

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Other Editions: Paperback

Report from Banaran: Experiences During the People's War by T.B. Simatupang and Benedict R.O'G. Anderson (Paperback - Nov. 11, 2009)

Buy new: $29.95

8 new from $29.95

2 used from $47.31

Get it by Thursday, Feb. 4 if you order in the next 22 hours and choose one-day shipping.

Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping.

Other Editions: Paperback

The Constitutions And The Ethics by James Anderson, Benedict de Spinoza, and Michael R. Poll (Kindle Edition - Aug. 21, 2009) - Kindle Book

Buy: $6.99

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Other Editions: Paperback

Some Aspects of Indonesian Politics Under the Japanese Occupation: 1944-1945 by Benedict R. O'G. Anderson (Paperback - Aug. 3, 2009)

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9 new from $27.45

1 used from $69.46

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Other Editions: Unknown Binding

Why Counting Counts: A Study of Forms and Consciousness and Problems of Language in Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo by Benedict R. O'G. Anderson (Paperback - July 31, 2009)

Buy new: $24.00

7 new from $22.44

2 used from $48.00

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Mythology and the Tolerance of the Javanese by Benedict Anderson (Paperback - July 27, 2009)

Buy new: $29.95

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Other Editions: Paperback, Unknown Binding

Bajo tres banderas/ Under Three Flags (Spanish Edition) by Benedict Anderson (Paperback - June 18, 2008)

Buy new: ~~$79.95~~ $58.36

2 new from $58.36

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Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the Anti-Colonial Imagination by Benedict R. O'G Anderson (Paperback - Nov. 17, 2007)

Buy new: ~~$18.95~~ $12.89

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Other Editions: Hardcover

10.

Culture and Politics in Indonesia by Claire Holt, Benedict, R. O'G. Anderson, and James Siegel (Paperback - Mar. 21, 2007)

Buy new: $29.95

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Other Editions: Paperback

11.

Comunidades imaginadas. Reflexiones sobre el origen y la difusion del nacionalismo (Poltica) (Spanish Edition) by Anderson and Benedict (Paperback - Jan. 1, 2007)

Buy new: $9.95

10 new from $9.47

5 used from $12.00

Get it by Thursday, Feb. 4 if you order in the next 23 hours and choose one-day shipping.

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12.

Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism [IMAGINED COMMUNITIES REV/E] by Benedict Richard O'Gorman(Author) Anderson (Paperback - Nov. 30, 2006)

1 new from $26.95

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Bakrie & Brothers sidewaying...

2010-01-31T14:53:00.001+07:00

BNBR sudara tuanya BUMI juga oversold conditionnya sudah dekat.. apakah pake turun dulu beneran ke historical rebound line? Liat dah ntar next week...

Garis pendek pendek diujung kanan adalah pivot point nya.. (Support dan Resistance)

BUMI per Jumat 29 Jan 10 - Akankah dia rebound Senin?

2010-01-31T14:36:00.000+07:00

Ngeliat di posisi % William R nya historis kemungkinan reboundnya cukup ada... tapi ya siapa yang tahu?

Gelembung di pasar properti Tiongkok?

2010-01-31T12:39:00.000+07:00

Buku buku yg sebaiknya di fahami para pemasar

2010-01-23T20:34:00.001+07:00

Dari Businessweek, saya mendapatkan hints tentang buku buku yg harus dibaca oleh para pemasar.

Kalau ga sempat ikut MBA ini buku buku yg direkomendasikan, beberapa sudah di terjemahkan ke bahasa Indonesia, tapi ada baiknya baca dalam bahasa aslinya sekalian.

Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy, by Thomas Sowell

The front flap of Basic Economics says it brings its topic to light in a way that is "easy to absorb and hard to forget." That's certainly true. Sowell presents practical concepts about how incentives, trade-offs, and other dimensions of the economy really work. More interesting (and more relevant) than the economics course you may have suffered through in college, this book is for people who get paid for results rather than for effort, pontification, or simply showing up. (For extra credit, read Sowell's follow up, Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One.)

The Marketing Imagination, by Theodore Levitt

Levitt, who died in 2006, was a professor at the Harvard Business School and former editor of the Harvard Business Review. The Marketing Imagination was one of the first books I read that made the concepts of marketing and "why people buy" come alive for me. Since the book was first published in 1983, some of the examples in it are dated, but reading them with the benefit of hindsight offers a unique Monday-morning-quarterback dimension that imparts another layer of education.

Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, by Michael E. Porter

This is the heftiest tome of the group, and I'm far from the first to recommend the current guru of the Harvard Business School. You don't so much read Competitive Strategy as gnaw on it, and it takes a long time to digest. But there's no better presentation of the multivariate dimensions (how's that for an academic term?) of competition, and the book's principles can be applied to any and every industry. I've found myself referring back to it time and time again as I work with clients on their own competitive strategies. (Extra credit: Kellogg on Marketing, a collection of thought-provoking essays from the faculty of the business school at Northwestern University.)

Concentration

Positioning: The Battle for your Mind, by Jack Trout and Al Ries

When Positioning was first released in 1981, it revolutionized how marketers conceived of the branding proposition. Or so I've been told (I was still in high school). What is inarguable is the simplicity with which Trout and Ries explain how branding isn't about products and services, it's about how people think about products and services. The best compliment I could give the authors is that they made the complex topic of branding simple. If only they could now make it easy, we could all go home.

Profit from the Core: Growth Strategy in an Era of Turbulence, by Chris Zook and James Allen
This one won't make most marketers' top books lists, and that's a shame. Zook and Allen base their thesis on a 10-year study of 2,000 companies, expounding on the reasons why all companies seek sustained, profitable growth but only a fraction of them actually achieve it. I've always been fascinated by the principle of entropy, the tendency of all things in the universe towards disarray. This book demonstrates that the way to overcome entropy in business is by biting off no more than you can chew. Companies grow big by focusing narrowly.
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, by Jack Trout and Al Ries
Trout and Ries get two spots on the list, for good reason. Building on the concepts they presented in Positioning, the 22 Laws is an easy, breezy read that proffers simple branding facts you don't need a Ph.D. to appreciate. In fact, people who have too much education sometimes characterize Trout's and Ries' simplicity as simplistic, but if you're facing a real-world competitive environment, their advice is well-taken. You don't have to buy their opinions hook, line, and sinker to appreciate them or profit from their application. (Extra credit: Marketing Warfare from—you guessed it—Trout and Ries.)
- Application
If you're not in the advertising industry, you've probably never heard of this book, but it's the single best resource I've found that explains the mystical process our industry calls "account planning." Fortini-Campbell presents practical, straightforward advice about how to understand your customers and prospects and translate what you learn into actionable marketing and message strategies. Along the way she shows how you can put your own consumer experiences, insights, and hunches to work. Following the disciplines in this book can lead to truly groundbreaking marketing and advertising efforts.
- A Technique for Producing Ideas, by James Webb Young
Just because you can read a book in 10 minutes doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. In fact, this little booklet is an invaluable aid to generating ideas of any kind. Originally developed in the 1930s for students at the University of Chicago, the advice in A Technique for Producing Ideas is as helpful as it is quaint. The booklet presents in plain terms how the process of creativity works and provides practical steps for developing innovative products, services, and ideas. Mr. Young—who died in 1973—likely never appreciated the impact his contribution has made.
- Feeding the Media Beast, by Mark Mathis
I've always worked on the advertising side of the business, and in the early part of my career the realm of public relations completely intimidated me. The thought of taking a call from a reporter, let alone pitching a story or (gasp) appearing on network television was simply terrifying. Until I read Feeding the Media Beast. A former journalist, Mark Mathis explains how the news business works, the pressures journalists face, and the predicaments in which they often find themselves. He demonstrates how, by following 12 "Media Rules," your relationship with the press can go from fearful to friendly. I can personally attest that this stuff works.
- The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
I can hear you now: "Really? A stylebook? I left that stuff behind in English class." Yep, and that's the problem. We may live in an increasingly video-dominated world, but the written word still drives business. No matter how brilliant your ideas may be, if you don't craft them properly they can actually set you back. I keep this handbook handy and refer to it often to maintain a mannerly manner of writing. If recommending Strunk & White does nothing more than keep you from using exclamation points in your advertising (Chapter III, page 34 of my well-worn copy), I'll be content.
Ini buku buku yg ditulis dalam artikel di Businessweek, beberapa sudah saya baca dan ada yg belum juga.

Jual Kavling di Tajur, Kodya Bogor

2010-01-21T08:00:00.001+07:00

Category:	Real Estate
Price:	780jt

Luas tanah 767m2, lokasi di Muara Sindang Sari, Raya Tajur.
Masih termasuk Kodya Bogor

View cantik Gunung Salak, jauh dari kebisingan jalan raya.
Dengan jalan masuk sendiri.
Hubungi via email: tedhalim@hotmail.com

Bentuk kotak, tanah matang siap bangun.

Status Sertifikat Hak Milik.

Infrastruktur: Air PAM, Listrik, Telpon, dan akan masuk Gas Alam.

Cocok untuk rumah istirahat atau investasi (rumah kontrakan dll), akses ke jalan Raya Tajur

Sudah banyak rumah rumah besar disekitar lokasi, dan 3 real estate (1 pengembang berbatas dng lokasi kavling ini).

Hubungi : tedhalim@hotmail.com

6 dasar teori Dow (Charles Dow)

2009-11-28T09:07:00.002+07:00

Dow Theory has 6 basic tenets:

Markets have 3 trends.

Uptrends are characterized by higher highs and higher lows.
Downtrends are defined by lower lows and lower highs.
Prices moving sharply in one direction, retracing, and then continuing in their original direction.

Trends have three phases: an accumulation phase, a public participation phase, and a distribution phase.
1. The accumulation phase is the smart money is buying (selling) stock against the general opinion of the market. During this phase, the stock price does not change much because these investors are in the minority absorbing (releasing) stock that the market at large is supplying (demanding).
2. Eventually, the crowd follows (phase) This is when trend followers and other technically oriented investors participate.
3. This phase continues until rampant speculation occurs. At this point, the astute investors begin to distribute their holdings to the market (phase 3).
The market discounts everything. The market takes all fundamentals into account and this is reflected in price in real time. Dow Theory is consistent with efficient market hypothesis.

Stock market averages must confirm each other. To Dow, a bull market in industrials could not occur unless the railway average rallied as well, usually first. The two averages should be moving in the same direction. When the performance of the averages diverge, it is a warning that change is imminent.
Trends are confirmed by volume. While Dow considered volume a secondary indicator, he believed that volume confirmed price trends. Volume should increase in the direction of a major trend. When prices move on low volume, there could be many different explanations why. An overly aggressive seller could be present for example. But when price movements are accompanied by high volume, Dow believed this represented the “true” market view. If many participants are active in a particular security, and the price moves significantly in one direction, Dow maintained that this was the direction in which the market anticipated continued movement. To him, it was a signal that a trend is developing.

Trends exist until definitive signals prove that they have ended. Dow believed that trends existed despite “market noise”.
Markets might temporarily move in the direction opposite the trend, but they will soon resume the prior move.
The trend should be given the benefit of the doubt during these reversals. As with the physical law of motion, stating that an object in motion continues in the same direction until an external force causes it to change direction.

Sumber: http://www.traderslog.com/dow-theory-2/

Nelpon bari nyetir = 3 bln penjara (Rp.750.000.- denda)

2009-11-27T00:47:00.000+07:00

http://hktl.ugm.ac.id/upload/uu/uu%2022-2009.pdf

UNDANG-UNDANG REPUBLIK INDONESIA NOMOR 22 TAHUN 2009 TENTANG LALU LINTAS DAN ANGKUTAN JALAN
Di keluarkan: 22 Juni 2009

Kutipan pasal dan ayat tertentu:

Pasal 106:
(1) Setiap orang yang mengemudikan Kendaraan Bermotor di Jalan wajib mengemudikan kendaraannya dengan wajar dan penuh konsentrasi.

(Penjelasan atas: Pasal 106 Ayat (1)
Yang dimaksud dengan ”penuh konsentrasi” adalah setiap orang yang mengemudikan Kendaraan Bermotor dengan penuh perhatian dan tidak terganggu perhatiannya karena sakit, lelah, mengantuk, menggunakan telepon atau menonton televisi atau video yang terpasang di Kendaraan, atau meminum minuman yang mengandung alkohol atau obat-obatan sehingga memengaruhi kemampuan dalam mengemudikan Kendaraan.

Pasal 283:
Setiap orang yang mengemudikan Kendaraan Bermotor di Jalan secara tidak wajar dan melakukan kegiatan lain atau dipengaruhi oleh suatu keadaan yang mengakibatkan gangguan konsentrasi dalam mengemudi di Jalan sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 106 ayat (1) dipidana dengan pidana kurungan paling lama 3 (tiga) bulan atau denda paling banyak Rp750.000,00 (tujuh ratus lima puluh ribu rupiah).

Satu hari kelak di Jakarta....

2009-09-25T05:19:00.000+07:00

Northeast China's first subway begins its run
(Xinhua)

Updated: 2009-09-24 13:30

A stewardess stands in a car of Subway Line 1 in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning province on Sept 23, 2009. [Xinhua]

Kliping dari Wall Street Journal: Dow mendekati index 10.000, hai hati hati..

2009-09-22T12:47:00.000+07:00

Melihat perkembangan ekonomi secara makro, memang ada tanda tanda akan terjadi kepulihan. Ada beberapa negara secara statistik dari data ekonominya sudah keluar dari ukuran resesi seperti Singapura, Selandia Baru misalnya.

Namun keadaan ini masih labil, dan dampak dahsyat dari kehancuran akibat krisis 2008 ini masih akan terasa sebelum benar benar pulih dan kembali ke jalannya yang baik.

Ini sebuah kliping dari peringatan yg di tulis di koran keuangan Wall Street tgl 21 Sep 2009, baik disimak untuk dijadikan sebuah masukan terhadap rencana investasi, rencana perkembangan usaha maupun strategi keuangan pribadi..

Being prudent ada baiknya dari pada kecebur basah kuyup atau garing kering krontang:

A Bear Market Lurks as Dow Nears 10000

By E.S. BROWNING

Rarely has the stock market seen a six-month rally like the one it just turned in.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's 46% surge was one of just six of that magnitude in the last 100 years.

And that is exactly what worries many analysts.

All previous rallies of this magnitude took place in the 1930s and the 1970s, according to Ned Davis Research. Those were periods of turbulence for both the economy and the markets, and none of the gains was sustained.

Many analysts believe that stocks are again in such a turbulent period, and that this rally could lead to another slump. Stocks did enjoy a rally of 40% in 1982, at the start of a long-running period of stock-market prosperity. That rally wasn't of the same magnitude of the others, however. It came as economic troubles, notably inflation, were finally being squeezed out of the economy.

"We could end up having another big decline next year," said Tim Hayes, Ned Davis's chief investment strategist, who correctly forecast a rally early this year. "Right now, people are asking me, 'Is it too late to get in?' We are saying, sure, you can get in, but don't fall asleep at the wheel, you have to get out, too. If you are looking to put money in and then not look at it for a year, you are taking a big chance."

Everett Collection

(Stock traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1936.)

For now, the year that once looked lost is starting to look like just the opposite, with the Dow up 12% since 2009 began. At 9820.20 Friday, it is closing in on 10000, a sight few anticipated when the Dow hit a 12-year low of 6547.05 on March 9.

The current period is similar to the 1970s and the 1930s in the sense that the rally of the past six months came after an even bigger decline. That doesn't mean the future has to play out like the 1930s or the 1970s.

As of today, stocks already have gone through a decade of trouble, and some analysts think the worst finally may be over. Even if stocks don't return to their March lows, however, they still could see some sharp ups and downs.

Even the Federal Reserve has been warning that the economy remains far from normal, and that more difficulties lie in the future. Economic instability also was the problem in the 1930s and 1970s.

The 48% rally of 1929-1930 turned out to be a tragic misfire, leading to an 86% plunge. The rallies in 1932 and 1933 together sent the Dow up to 110.74 in early 1934, from a low of 41.22 in 1932. Stocks then bounced up and down for years, with sharp gains and sharp declines.

One problem with these rallies is that they tend to lack follow-through. More than half the gains tend to come in the first six months. The rallies of 1929 and 1932 each lasted less than six months. In 1932, the Dow rose 94% in two months after it hit the low point of the Depression years, but then fell 37%. The 1933 bull market lasted somewhat longer, but there again, if you bought after six months you missed most of the gains, and then saw stocks fall back below the level at which you bought.

The stock market decline that preceded the current rally was much less severe than the 89% decline of 1929-32, and few expect stocks to endure as much turmoil as they did during this period. But analysts said the experience of the 1930s remains an indicator of what may be ahead.

The bull market that began with a rally in 1974 lasted almost two years, much longer than those of the early 1930s, but it was much less powerful, rising only 76% in all. As in the 1930s, those who waited six months to buy missed most of the gains, and then saw stocks repeatedly run out of steam, not finally bottoming until 1982. Whether the current rally will be like the previous ones, massive early on but with poor follow-through, remains to be seen.

But even some who see it continuing into next year worry that it could run out of steam before 2010 is over.

View Full Image

Getty Images

Officials from the NYSE carry securities to banks and brokerage houses in 1937. The end of World War II saw stocks regain their footing.

"We kind of envision a 1970s-style massive range-bound market," said Jordan Kotick, head of technical strategy at Barclays Capital in New York. Eventually, this rally will fizzle, as was the case in the 1970s, he said.

Like many analysts, he expects a temporary pullback this autumn, but then expects the rally to resume into next year before finally ending. Mr. Kotick said his short-term optimism is based on the fact that world markets are rising in unison, and the U.S. gains are being led by technology, industrial and consumer stocks that feed on the economic recovery. Their strength suggests that the stock gains right now are based on economic fundamentals.

Those who want to be optimistic might wish to examine the bull market that began in August 1982.

The Dow rose just under 40% in the six-month rally that sparked that bull market, so the rally wasn't quite on a par with the others. But that was the one short-term rally of the last 100 years that did lead to a long-term bullish period for stocks. It marked the end of a 16-year period of market disappointments and the start of an 18-year period of prosperity. Stocks rose with only brief interruption until the crash of 1987. Then the market dusted itself off and resumed its rise, almost without incident, until it began its collapse in 2000.

The long-term bull market that ran from 1982 through 2000 was one of the strongest in modern history, and many analysts credit then-Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker's decision to squeeze inflation out of the economy by gradually raising the Fed's benchmark federal-funds rate to 20% in 1981.

One reason for skepticism that the current stock market will be analogous to 1982 is that much of the economic adjustment, including the raising of rates by the Fed and the withdrawal of government stimulus, seems to be in the future, not in the past.

Some analysts hope that the market's most serious troubles are behind it this time as well.

"The March lows were a once-in-a-generation selling climax," from which stocks will gradually move higher, said Richard Ross, global technical strategist at Manhattan brokerage firm Auerbach Grayson.

"There is certainly considerable upside left," he said.

Write to E.S. Browning at jim.browning@wsj.com

Amnestik

2009-09-16T19:21:00.002+07:00

“Don't lend people money, it gives them amnesia”

“If you lend someone $20,....and never see that person again ,....it was probably worth it !”

fw: Memoar Ang Yan Goan

2009-09-15T05:40:00.001+07:00

(dari email sobat Hertanto 14 Sep 09):

Memoar Ang Yan Goan

ANG YAN GOAN (1894-1984) bermata sipit, tentu juga para moyangnya semua orang-orang Tionghoa asli yang lahir di daratan Cina. Semua itu bukan kemauan Yan Goan dan jelas bukan pilihannya. Juga di luar kuasanya, Yan Goan dilahirkan di Tanah Pasundan, kota Bandung.

Masuk sekolah dasar Pah Hwa berbahasa Tionghoadi zaman kolonial Hindia-Belanda tentulah masih orang-tuanya yang menentukan, tetapi sejak belajar di tingkat sekolah menengah di Tiongkok awal 1900an, rasio dalam kepala anak-muda yang beranjak dewasa ini mulai membikin pilihan sendiri.

Dalam banyak hal dia mulai menentukan hal-hal menyangkut diri pribadinya sesuai kemauan dan nalurinya - terutama berkaitan masa-depannya sendiri.

Sejak umur belasan tahun pada peringkat sekolah menengah di Tiongkok dalam suasana perang saudara yang berkecamuk antara dua kekuatan sosial-politik - sisa dinasti Qing dan Kuomintangnya Sun Yat Sen - dia sudah mantap menjatuhkan pilihan antara kekuatan status quo di satu pihak dan kekuatan pembaruan masa depan di lain pihak. Tanpa ragu dia memihak pembaruan masa-depan, dan pilihannya itu berkelanjutan ketika dia terpaksa kembali pulang ke Hindia-Belanda.

Sejak muda dia sudah cepat sadar politik, dia juga sadar memilih pihak Kuchantang ketimbang Kuomintang, lebih-lebih lagi dalam Indonesia baru yang menjadi Republik merdeka 1945. Yan Goan seorang pemuda enerjik, penuh inisiatif.

Tidak besar posturnya tapi anggun integritasnya, dia tumbuh sebagai tokoh masyarakat yang mantap memilih dunia pendidikan, bidang jurnalistik dan berbagai kegiatan progresif sebagai habitat pengabdian dalam hidup kemasyarakatannya sampai pada usia tua. Dia tidak mempunyai pendidikan universiter, tetapi sebagai seorang otodidak di samping menguasai bahasa Tionghoa, dia kuasai bahasa Melayu yang berkembang menjadi bahasa Indonesia,

juga bahasa Belanda dan Inggris, dengan sendirinya juga bahasa Sunda.

Tidak kurang penting di samping ideologi dan teori politik, Ang Yan Goan sangat mencolok memiliki kapasitas manajerial perusahaan yang andal sekali.

Dia dikenal bertangan-dingin dalam mendirikan dan mengelola berbagai usaha sosial-nirlaba maupun usaha bisnis komersial. Banyak lembaga sosial di bidang pendidikan lahir dari tangannya, atau dia turun-tangan membenahi manajemen perusahaan yang merugi menjadi suatu usaha yang kiprah kembali, sehat dan produktif. Dalam kaitan grup percetakan & penerbitan Sin Po, selain memimpin redaksi, sebagai direktur dia sudah mengantisipasi teknologi masa depan; dia pasang di percetakannya mesin-rotasi dan intertype, suatu langkah maju yang membikin kapasitas teknis grup Sin Po menyamai percetakan koran Belanda seperti Java Bode dan Het Dagblad.

Sebagai pimpinan Sin Po sikap politik Ang Yan Goan gamblang progresif revolusioner, dia pernah memobilisasi pengumpulan dana untuk membantu Tiongkok menghadapi invasi Jepang pada tahun 1938.

Ang Yan Goan bukan seorang konglomerat, tetapi sebagai pengusaha sukses yang mengelola dunia penerbitan dan percetakan, watak kedermawanannya membuatnya menjadi donatur berbagai lembaga sosial. Bersama seorang dokter yang juga asal etnik Tionghoa dia bangun suatu klinik kecil menjadi rumah-sakit besar dan modern - rumah sakit Yang Seng Ie. Di rumah sakit itu pasien lebih mampu membayar lebih mahal, pasien tidak mampu mendapatkan perawatan gratis. Wajar kalau dia juga terlibat dalam satu usaha fenomenal lain, yaitu pendirian Unversitas Res Publica yang diprakarsai ketua Baperki, Siauw Giok Tjhan dan sekjennya Go Gien Tjwan. ( Yang Seng Ie = Rumah Sakit Husada , Res Publica = Tri Sakti sekarang )

Demikianlah sketsa ringkas seorang tokoh nasionalis Indonesia asal etnik Tionghoa.

Pada akhir bulan September 1965 meledak prahara politik. Presiden Soekarno tersingkir dan masuk penjara yang oleh rejim militer Suharto tidak disebut penjara. Bukan saja Bung Karno, juga Ang Yan Goan kena imbasnya. Dia dadakan menjadi non-person, seluruh aset karya-baktinya disita atau dihancurkan.

Otomatis sesuai kamus-politik Orde Baru, Ang Yan Goan termasuk kategori"golonganterlibat, langsung atau tidak langsung G30S/PKI."

Seperti kita tulis di atas dalam pilihan karirnya, Ang Yan Goan memang sejak muda sadar bergabung dengan kekuatan progresif-revolusioner. Sebulan setelah Proklamasi Indonesia Merdeka 1945, sebagai tokoh keturunan Tionghoa dia sudah jumpa Bung Karno,

Presiden Republik yang baru berdiri.
Wawasan dan warna politik Yan Goan jelas seiring-sejalan dengan Bung Karno. Sejak 1945 sebagai etnik Tionghoa dia sudah tegas pilihannya dalam masalah kewarganegaraan. Sejalan dengan Bung Karno yang memegang prinsip ius soli, Ang Yan Goan yang sebelumnya berstatus kawula Hindia-Belanda kelahiran Indonesia dengan sendirinya menjadi warganegara Republik Indonesia, berikut semua sanak-saudara keturunannya.

Memegang legitimasi hukum sebagai warganegara Indonesia, dengan sadar dia memberi isi substantif pada status hukum tersebut - dia menjadi nasionalis Indonesia yang membaktikan seluruh kegiatan sosial-politiknya bagi kepentingan tumpah-darah kelahirannya.

Ang Yan Goan menjadi patriot komplet Indonesia.
Wajar dan mudah dimengerti, setelah sepanjang usia aktif ikut mengabdi membangun bangsa yang bebas mandiri, Ang Yan Goan yang sudah melintas usia 70 tahun sesak bernafas di tanah kelahirannya yang dadakan jadi otoriter dan kembali tergantung pada adikuasa kapitalis.

Jejak langkahnya sudah sangat jauh sebagai insan bangsa yang berpartisipasi aktif dalam nation and character building, suatu agenda politik Bung Karno dengan prioritas tinggi. Karena itulah, Ang Yan Goan semasa Orde Baru jendral Suharto hanya bertahan kurang dari tiga tahun - pada 4 Desember 1968 dalam usia lanjut 74 tahun bersama istri dia cabut dari Indonesia mengungsikan diri bergabung dengan anaknya yang pernah studi di Singapura lalu meneruskan studinya di Toronto.

Dia kemudian bermukim di kota Kanada tersebut sampai akhir hayatnya pada tahun 1984 setelah 16 tahun tercampak sepi dan jauh dari tanah kelahirannya. Dia tidak sempat menyaksikan lengsernya penguasa militer otoriter jendral Suharto dari pentas politik Indonesia. Kita sedih dan pilu melihat prilaku tidak beradab rejim Orde Baru yang gampang saja melupakan dan mencampakkan seorang seperti Ang Yan Goan yang sudah demikian besar amal-baktinya bagi Indonesia.

Tetapi kita semua masih sangat beruntung.
Di hari tua sebelum meninggal, antara usia 75 menjelang 90 tahun, Ang Yan Goan masih mempersembahkan kepada kita sebuah harta-peninggalan yang sangat berharga sekali: sebuah memoar. Suatu kenang-kenangan tertulis yang menggambarkan pengalaman awal kelahiran nasionalisme Tionghoa di perantauan, semula di zaman Hindia-Belanda (th.1900) kemudian sampai Republik Indonesia merdeka.

Jelas sekali seluruh karya-tulis itu berdasar daya-ingat semata-mata, tidak ada penggunaan referensi atau dokumen, tetapi berkat pengalaman jurnalistik yang kaya dengan segala kelemahan dan kekurangan, karya-tulis itu menjadi suatu dokumen sosial sangat penting untuk dengan mendalam kita menapak jelujur benang-merah peran-aktif komunitas keturunan
Tionghoa berintegrasi dan menjadikan Indonesia tumpah-darah yang baru - di samping itu memoarnya juga menjabarkan pengalaman bagaimana etnik Tionghoa dijadikan kambing-hitam dalam situasi ekonomi yang tidak kunjung beres.

Padahal komunitas etnik ini patut dicatat telah memberikan sumbangsih besar dalam nation and character building Indonesia.

Dalam memoar ini, penterjemah Tan Beng Hok, demi kejelasan dan akurasi di sana-sini telah memberikan catatan-kaki yang berguna menyangkut istilah atau suatu masalah.

Berkat terjemahan dan penyuntingannya yang seksama, juga dengan bahasa Indonesia yang apik, memoar menarik Ang Yan Goan sekarang terbuka bagi pembaca Indonesia.

Patut dicatat bahwa catatan-kaki dalam memoar ini dibantu sepenuhnya oleh seorang pakar dari Yayasan Nabil, Dr. Didi Kwartanada, yang sekaligus juga menjadi editor akhir guna meneliti akurasi seluruh terjemaham.

Hasta Mitra sangat menghargai usaha Ketua Yayasan Nabil, drs. Eddie Lembong, yang melacak sampai mendapatkan naskah Memoar Ang Yan Goan yang penting ini langsung dari Prof. Liang Ying Ming di Tiongkok.

Profesor dari Universitas Beijing ini ternyata sudah menerjemahkan lebih dulu memoar dalam bahasa Inggris itu ke dalam bahasa Tionghoa. Seperti sudah disinggung di atas, penjabaran Ang Yan Goan merupakan kisah perjalanan panjang etnik Tionghoa di perantauan; tergambar porsi sumbangsih etnik Tionghoa dan proses suka-duka berintegrasi ke dalam agenda nation building Indonesia. Dengan interesan kita dapat mengikuti peran Ang Yan Goan sejak awal sekali bangsa Indonesia merdeka, walaupun pada memoarnya mungkin lebih tepat ditambah kan penjelasan: "begitulah sebuah kisah nation building yang patah di tengah jalan", terminated - terhenti oleh kekerasan dan sikap tidak berbudaya Orde Baru Suharto.

Mulai 1965 sepanjang tiga dekade rejim Orde Baru, persatuan dan kerukunan bangsa Indonesia berubah dengan konfigurasi diskriminasi rasial, perpecahan etnik, gontok-gontokan sosial-politik dan agama.

Setelah lengsernya Suharto Mei 1998 telah terjadi beberapa perubahan cukup berarti. Imlek boleh dirayakan lagi, sekolah-sekolah dan koran-koran berbahasa Tionghoa bisa hidup kembali, juga beberapa peraturan dan perundangan kewarganegaraan yang diskriminatif dihapus.

Walaupun begitu kita tetap bertanya, "sudahkah perubahan itu memasyarakat?
Sudah sejauh mana diskriminasi terhadap etnik Tionghoa menghilang dalam praktek? Apakah secara nasional sudah terjadi integrasi secara substantif?"

Di Amerika baru saja terjadi "sensasi Obama" - kita bertanya-tanya bisakah di sini terjadi warga Indonesia asal etnik Tionghoa penyandang 'tiga-nama' menduduki pucuk pimpinan negara?

Terbuka atau pun terselubung masih bisa kita tunjuk hidung penguasa-pengusaha dan pengusaha-penguasa atau para elit-pejabat di zaman Orde Baru maupun di era reformasi, yang dari ujung bibirnya berkoar-koar sikap menentang diskriminasi cina. Latar-belakang sikap progresif para pejabat seperti itu tidak lain karena mereka sudah puas sekali kantongnya kecipratan bermilyar bahkan bertrilyun aset para konglomerat baik hati yang royal membagi-bagi rezeki; namun setelah ketularan menjadi kaya, para pejabat itu tidak peduli lagi pada berbagai bentuk diskriminasi dalam masyarakat - itu semua bukanlah urusannya lagi.

Walau tidak terucapkan, kebungkaman para elit-pejabat masih tetap nyaring mengiang-ngiang : "....biar saja Indonesia atau Dunia krisis, yang penting Pasar Tanah Abang terus berkembang ramai, jangan sampai dikuasai cina seperti Pasar Pagi ..... ." Kemunafikan seperti itu menghambat integrasi bangsa, sulit kita bekerja untuk nation building Indonesia yang solid dan genuine menghadapi sikap pejabat yang dua muka seperti itu.

Satu contoh kecil lain tetapi prinsipil serius adalah larangan menyebut "Tionghoa" "Tiongkok" "RRT". Di era reformasi sampai hari ini, pemerintah tetap mewajibkan penggunaan kata cina sesuai keputusan resmi Seminar Angkatan Darat 1966. Suatu tindakan yang jelas dilatar belakangi sentimen diskriminasi terhadap cina-cina di RRT maupun cina-cina yang hidup di Indonesia.

Mass-media kita bagaikan kerbau dungu ikut memamahbiak.

"Cuma" soal istilah - what's in a name? - katanya. Tetapi yang disebut "cuma" itu, isinya jelas mengandung penghinaan yang sadar bermaksud membangkitkan kebencian rasial terhadap golongan etnik Tionghoa. Satu warisan Orde Baru menjijikkan yang ngotot tetap dipertahankan dengan sedikit modifikasi cina menjadi caina supaya kedengaran mirip dengan lafas China dalam bahasa Inggris, padahal kapan dan dalam forum apa istilah cina-caina itu diciptakan sudah menjelaskan segala-galanya dengan gamblang. Itulah indikasi terbuka bahwa sentimen anti-cina masih latent eksis, senga-ja terus dipelihara dengan risiko bisa saja meledak sewaktu-waktu.

Ang Yan Goan menulis bukan untuk menjadi terkenal, akan tetapi untuk merekam-abadikan pengalamannya guna menjadi bahan pembelajaran membangun Nasion Indonesia bagi generasi berikutnya, sebab kerja masih jauh dari selesai. Banyak tantangan masih harus dihadapi dan diatasi. Kita semua yang bercita-cita membangun nasion mandiri, nasion bermartabat, demokratis, bebas dari berbagai diskriminasi, jangan sekali-kali berilusi penghapusan diskriminasi etnik akan diprakarsai oleh pihak pejabat-penguasa, sebab justru di situlah terletak sumber pemasukan mereka yang besar.

Pihak yang didiskriminasi - golongan underdog etnik Tionghoa - dengan dukungan segenap kekuatan demokratik pro-rakyat, mutlak perlu mengorganisasi diri sendiri menyusun suatu kekuatan moral dan fisik yang damai. Suatu kekuatan yang harus mampu membangun situasi-pemaksa yang akan membikin elit pejabat terpaksa menghapus atau paling tidak meminimalkan praktek diskriminasi etnik. Untuk itu tidak cukup hanya menempuh jalur seminar, talk-show canggih, kajian-kajian ilmiah di kalangan cendekia semata-mata.

Wawasan nation building, cita-cita keadilan bagi semua etnik dan golongan masyarakat, mutlak harus berubah lebih dulu menjadi praktek, menjadi kebiasaan sehari-hari, tetapi itu hanya bisa terjadi bila dilakukan oleh gerakan solidaritas kebersamaan - atau pakai bahasa politik : diwujudkan dengan aksi massa dan massa aksi! Itu kerja politik! Tanpa itu, semua tuntutan hanya tinggal jadi mimpi indah, wawasan canggih tidak berarti.

* Masih ada satu butir ingin kita sampaikan dalam mengantar Memoar Ang Yan Goan ini, suatu topik yang tidak langsung menyangkut diskriminasi etnik Tionghoa, tetapi sepenuhnya relevan dengan nation building alias pembangunan Nasion Indonesia dan konsep NKRI, Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia.

Kita mengkonstatasi adanya suatu "wawasan intelektual", bukan dari pihak pejabat-penguasa tetapi kali ini datang dari para aktivis muda yang keranjingan demokrasi HAM yang konsekuen bebas sebebas-bebasnya berpola demokrasi liberal à la Demokrasi Barat.

Menurut alam pemikiran sejumput aktivis muda itu - NKRI dan nasion Indonesia adalah omong-kosong. Semua itu hanya mitos belaka, dibikin-bikin, artifisial. Tidak ada Nasion Indonesia.

Mungkin di antara anak-anak muda itu ada yang menambahkan: NKRI dan Nasion Indonesia cuma megalomania Soekarno. Kelanjutan dari sikap seperti itu, mereka dukung berdirinya negara Papua, negara Aceh dan lain-lain propinsi kalau mau berpisah dari NKRI, karena Papua dan Aceh bukan bangsa Indonesia - itu cuma produk mitos, artifisial doang.

Entah apa motif di balik pemikiran seperti itu. Sah-sah saja kalau mereka mau jadi kampiun "demokrat tulen", atau mau tampil sebagai pemikir intelektual dengan satu wawasan supra orijinal. Tetapi kita kasihan pada orijinalitas yang dangkal itu, yang total à-historis, bahkan sama sekali tidak tahu setètès pun perkembangan sejarah nasional dan proses kelahiran nasionalisme negeri kelahirannya sendiri. Di sini ada baiknya kita mengomentari lebih dulu soal pemakaian kata suku-bangsa. Indonesia dan "Bangsa Indonesia" dari segi ilmiah sebenarnya bukan terdiri dari suku-suku bangsa. Nasion Indonesia sebenarnya terdiri dari beraneka Bangsa, jadi sekali lagi bukan suku-bangsa, melainkan terdiri antara lain dari Bangsa Batak, Bangsa Jawa, Bangsa Sunda, Bangsa Aceh, Bangsa Melayu, dan lain-lain lagi.

Faktanya?
Yang disebut "Bangsa" memiliki kesatuan wilayah sendiri, kesatuan budaya dan bahasa, adat-istiadat, kepercayaan dan bahkan ada yang memiliki aksara sendiri. Bukankah itu sudah cukup persyaratannya untuk disebut "Bangsa".

Tetapi para demokrat intelektual muda itu menganggap sepi atau sengaja melupakan pemuda Ambon, pemuda Jawa, pemuda Batak, Minangkabau, Minahasa dan lain-lain, yang seratus tahun yang lalu pada 28 Oktober 1928 berkumpul dan bersumpah memanifestasikan suatu political will bersama guna menjadi Nasion Indonesia: bersatu menjadi bangsa Indonesia, bersatu bertanah-air Indonesia, bersatu berbahasa Indonesia.

Apakah political will seperti itu artifisial?
Apakah itu mitos belaka? Apalagi para pemuda itu siap memikul konsekuensi mengorbankan segalanya termasuk masuk penjara dan dibuang ke Boven Digul.

Political will dalam rasa kebersamaan untuk bersatu membangun satu nasion adalah faktor penentu yang tidak bisa dianggap enteng. Sesudah bersatu, melebur, berintegrasi total dalam Nasion Indonesia, berbagai "bangsa" itu tentu boleh dan patut-patut saja menyebut diri "suku-bangsa" sebagai satu segmen dari satu entiti yang solid utuh dan besar - tidak perlu ada keberatan untuk itu, termasuk di dalamnya suku-bangsa etnik Tionghoa yang sudah jadi bagian integral penduduk warga Indonesia.

Kolonialisme Belanda historis ikut membentuk kesatuan Indonesia sebagai wilayah. Tetapi political will-lah yang mengangkat rakyat di wilayah bekas Hindia Belanda sebagai Nasion berdasar hidup senasib-sependeritaan untuk menjadi bangsa bebas mandiri, bermartabat, berkepribadian - itulah embrio Nasion Indonesia yang solid dan punya tinggi nilai.

Pada 17 Agustus 1945 kelanjutan sumpah para pemuda bangsa di tahun 1928 mendapatkan legitimasi hukum dalam bentuk Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia. Itu berlangsung dengan perjuangan politik sangat panjang sampai pada kerelaan mempertaruhkan nyawa lewat revolusi bersenjata. Sekali lagi kita bertanya: apakah political-will dengan beaya tinggi harta-benda dan jiwa-raga anak-bangsa cuma suatu mitos belaka?

Suatu produk artifisial?
Sumpah Pemuda 1928 dengan kandungan political-will untuk berbangsa satu, punya bobot budaya dan bobot politik setara dengan Proklamasi Kemerdekaan 1945.

Itulah embrio yang melahirkan bayi Nasion Indonesia yang tumbuh dewasa menjadi Republik Indonesia dalam bentuk negara kesatuan, bukan negara federal. Juga berbagai organisasi keturunan Tionghoa seperti Baperki semasa periode Bung Karno dan INTI di era reformasi dengan sadar mendeklarasikan political will berintegrasi sebagai Nasion Indonesia. Itu fakta!

Bukan mitos, bukan artifisial atau rekayasa kosong. Dalam kaitan ini, baca juga uraian Leo Suryadinata dalam pidato penerimaan Nabil Award November 2008 di Jakarta; di situ dia singgung political will Nasionalisme sebagai sumber kelahiran Indonesia dan Nasion Indonesia.

Kita tidak usah à-priori menentang bentuk federalisme - kita malah setuju mengkritik keras para pejabat Pusat di Jakarta yang serakah mengantongi kekayaan daerah; kita juga sangat keras menentang NKRI dijadikan "ideologi tunggangan" para Penguasa yang sebenarnya tidak lain bertujuan mempertahankan wewenang otoriternya -, tetapi pilihan sadar pada bentuk negara kesatuan secara historis mempunyai sebab-musabab tersendiri; itulah senjata pamungkas pada saat bangsa Indonesia di tahun-tahun 1945-1949 mempertahankan kemerdekaan menghadapi imperialisme/kolonialisme yang mau kembali menjajah dengan menyodor-nyodorkan konsep federasi BFO (Bijeenkomst Federaal Overleg).

Bagi para pejuang kemerdekaan Indonesia, "federalisme" berbeda makna seperti misalnya federasi di Amerika Serikat atau Jerman.

Federalisme

Dalam konteks politik Indonesia identik dengan divide et impera, di situlah pintu-masuk neo-kolonialisme untuk keping demi keping masih terus bisa menggerogoti kekayaan Nusantara kita. Sungguh suatu komplimen besar bagi Soekarno bila dikatakan "megalomania Soekarno"lah yang melahirkan Nasion Indonesia dan NKRI.

Soekarno bisa dikatakan berdiri di baris paling depan, tetapi seluruh rakyat yang sudah bangkit kesadaran nasionalnya - termasuk Ang Yan Goan dan semua sahabat etnik Indonesia-Tionghoa - masing-masing dengan satu dan lain cara telah berpartisipasi dalam nation building Indonesia. Itu bukan mitos!

Revolusi belum selesai. Korupsi masih terus merajalela, sisa-sisa kekuatan Orde Baru yang serakah memperkaya diri dan sikap solider para pewaris Orde Baru untuk sama-sama tetap mengangkangi kekuasaan masih terus dominan di jaman yang katanya Era Reformasi ini.

Belum ada pemerataan Keadilan, belum ada Kesejahteraan yang memadai bagi Rakyat. Belum terwujud Pembangunan Negara Hukum Modern dan Kerukunan Nasional.

Lanjutkan kerja Bung Karno!
Lanjutkan kerja Ang Yan Goan!

Joesoef Isak, ed

Tambahan info: lihat : http://www.nabilfoundation.org/?hal=h005

Serbuan terhadap hutan tropis

2009-09-13T03:48:00.003+07:00

Bak cerita langsung diambil dari kisah detektif, itu kisah nyata tentang penebangan liar kayu kayu merbau di Papua.
(photo EIA: Iringan log di Seruyan, Kalteng)

2005 lalu ada usaha keras pemerintah untuk membasmi ini dimana keterlibatan berbagai pihak yg berkolusi telah ditindak.

Kayu gelondongan (log) merbau di Papua ketika itu US$ 10 / m3, dan pengimpor terbesar adalah Tiongkok utk gelondongan ini.. setelah di potong menjadi US$ 700/m3.. dan di Eropa, Amerika, Australia harganya bisa berlipat menjadi US$ 2000 - 3000 / m3.

Tapi selama madu masih ada, semut dan lebah terus berdatangan dng segala akal..

Sekarang tantangan baru adalah serbuan dari manisnya harga CPO..dan mahalnya harga minyak bumi.

Pernah dicanangkan oleh pemerintah 2 - 3 thn silam, tentang 1 juta hektar kebon kelapa sawit sepanjang tapal batas dengan Malaysia..

Kini 5 juta hektar telah di rencanakan di Papua..slogan besar kata kata perkasa : konservasi enerji, bio fuel, hemat enerji, beralihlah ke biodiesel dll..

Dampak lingkungan apa berikutnya bila program itu berhasil?

Ancaman riel dari PEAK OIL, akan mendorong dng cepat pemusnahan hutan hutan primer tropis.. Saat ini produksi minyak bumi 85 juta barrel per hari dan terus menurun produksi minyak bumi menjadi motivator besar untuk mencari substitusi..

Harga minyak akan mencapai US$ 300 menurut teman saya yg ahli perminyakan.. itu konsensus diantara para perusahaan minyak jelasnya.

Lantas siapa yang akan menggariskan kebijakan yang berimbang?

9 Sep 2009

Around five million hectares of land in Papua have been slated for conversion to biofuel plantations, much of it dense forest. Recent field investigations by EIA reveal a host of unscrupulous methods used by companies to secure land for palm oil in Papua.

( sumber: http://www.eia-international.org/cgi/news/news.cgi?t=template&a=548&source= )

Berapa panjang jaringan rel KA dan jalan bebas hambatan di Tiongkok?

2009-09-12T12:19:00.000+07:00

Data terakhir dari Financial Times:

Mari Sakit hati berjamaah

2009-09-12T09:42:00.003+07:00

Sering kali kita merasa sebagai orang Indonesia diremehkan pada berbagai kejadian..

Yang populer belakangan ini MALAYSIA sebagai kata kunci..

Dari soal batik, pulau, sampai ke lagu..

Pribadi saya lebih suka kita mencari jalan keluar dengan cara yang madani, bermartabat..

Sudahlah ini sudah banyak di debatkan, didiskusikan di berbagai media..

Balik ke soal sakit hati..aja ..

Tentu ini sakit hati pribadi saja, entah kalau Anda bagaimana melihatnya.. silahkan tinggalkan komentar dibawah ada tempatnya. Supaya saya belajar jua.

Beberapa waktu lalu lamanya, saya membuat rekam portofolio di Yahoo Finance. Rasanya sudah 4 - 5 thn lalu.

Gunanya untuk mengikuti perkembangan portofolio saham saya secara cuma cuma walau ada delay 5 - 20 menit, tidak real time... tak mengapa karena saya tidak butuh setiap saat menengok nya.

Waktu itu saya merasa tidak nyaman, ternyata dari komponen untuk dimasukkan, tidak ada mata uang rupiah..
Jadi apa yang harus saya pakai..

Lha wong ini portofolio orang awam ya sudah saya pakai mata uang yang paling memper..

Sang Indian Rupee.

Berlalu sang waktu, sreetttt fast foward... dan 12 September 2009, saya ingin merubah portofolio, membaharukan karena ada yang sudah tidak ada, ada yang baru.

Teringat ahh... beberapa bulan silam,membaca ada Yahoo Indonesia sekarang.. www.yahoo.co.id (ada kawan yg mengatakan tidak heran domain ini ga laku abis co.id sih kenapa ga com.id spt Singapura com.sg dan Australia com.au... ah sudahlah biar karena sudah terlambat sekarang).

Ok, saya klik editing dan perbaharui, kmd harap.com ..ah sekarang mestinya sudah adalah mata uang Rupiah tercinta..

Astaga belon ada jua... cemana ini Yahoo.co.id? Oii...iii...

Sakit hati ku menengok itu... Nyere hate kata temanku si Kokom Komariah dari Nagreg..

Kalau lah anda seorang penggede, pembesar di Yahoo.co.id atau malah di Yahoo.com cobalah di atur ga susah mestinya..

Urut dada bentar, eh kau cobalah siapa tahu mesti lewat situs www.yahoo.co.id ...
Alamak malah layanan di situ sangat terbatas.. Untuk keuangan tidak ada... alasannya wallahu alam bin bisawab ...

Tidak, saya tidak sakit hati berkesinambungan, cuman mencelos aja tiap kali dalam berbagai hal seakan kita ini terabaikan..

Kata alm Bunda Teresa:

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.
Mother Teresa

Pulang pada kita semua, bagaimana prestasi riel, kemampuan, nama, martabat, gengsi bangsa kita akan dilihat sekarang dan kelak ..

Mau sweeping sweepingan,perang atau mau kita berjuang dengan cara agar jangan penduduk di Entikong Entikong dimanapun lebih nyaman hidupnya karena dipasok dari negeri jiran..lebih jelas siaran TV sana dari pada sini, lebih jelas siaran radio sono dari pada domestik..

Bukannya ga boleh tapi bukankah itu tanggung jawab kita agar bangsa kita ini, bangsaku yang ditapal batas sana hidup sama nyaman seperti kita yang lagi wireless black berryan di cafe FX, SX, MX, PX (koq pake X semua ya.. padahal generasinya generasi Y kata marketer..)

Bukankah senang bila melihat harga premium di Wagethe, Nabire sana sama dengan di pompa bensin Pertamina jl Raya Serpong? Bukan Rp. 15.000 seliter yang kadang ada kadang tidak? Atau gedung sekolah spt di Laskar Pelangi?

Mari sakit hati berjamaah agar mau setiap kita mencari dengan nyata martabat kita yang lebih baik..

2009-09-12T03:31:00.000+07:00

Bank

2009-09-11T17:33:00.007+07:00

A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.

Robert Frost

Nokia goes to Linux

2009-09-10T07:54:00.006+07:00

Operating system MAEMO ini berbasis Linux http://maemo.nokia.com/features/

Multi tasking application

Nokia N9000 yg baru harga sekitar US$$ 710 (sebanding dng Iphone 3Gs Apple).

US Coal Price mulai naik lagi,

2009-09-10T04:43:00.002+07:00

Symbol:

Symbol Lookup | Recent Quotes

Detailed Quote for Dow Jones U.S. Coal Index (DJUSCL)

close 52 Week Information

52 Week High

June 30,2008

Close: 750.05

52 Week Low

November 20,2008

Close: 110.41

Today

Last Price
265.11

Change $
2.82

Change %
1.08%

Tick

Bid
N/A

Bid Size
0

Ask
N/A

Ask Size
0

Open
262.20

High
266.48

Low
259.68

Prev Close
262.29

Last Trade
4:13

Volume
6.62 m

52 Wk Hi
750.05

52 Wk Low
110.41

Market Cap
N/A

Ex-Div Date
N/A

Div Rate
0.00

Yield
0.00

Shares
N/A

EPS (TTM)
N/A

PE Ratio
N/A

close Exchange Information Listed On Dow Jones US Indices (DJUS) Exchange
DJUS

Harga emas turun lagi dari new high di atas US$ 1000

2009-09-10T02:54:00.001+07:00

Klik utk melihat live gold quote:

Live Gold Price

Grafik 10 Sep 2009:

My $ 0.02: Double dip (W) recession or U Shape?

2009-09-09T05:07:00.000+07:00

My $ 0.02: Double dip (W) recession or U Shape?

Double dip (W) recession or U Shape?

2009-09-09T03:36:00.004+07:00

Saya mungkin yg termasuk di kelompok pesimis saat ini, saya pikir kalau ngeliat emas naik nembus US$ 1000, plus faktor Tiongkok sendiri meragukan apakah pertumbuhannya ekonominya sustainable dlm jangka 1 thn kedepan, tkemudian DR. Noriel "Dr Doom" Roubini memperkirakan akan terjadi double dip recession (W type), atau U shape, maka secara fundamental makro saya termasuk yg subscribed bhw akan ada lagi koreksi di bursa bursa saham.

Orang pada beli emas krn kurang percaya pada instrumen lain (save haven)

Grafik diatas (bisa diklik kalu mo liat lbh besar) kita lihat fluktuasi harga emas sejak 1979 sampai yg terjadi per kemarin (retreat dibawah US$ 1000, tutup di harga US$ 993), diperkirakan akan naik terus..sampai tingkat kepercayaan terhadap ekonomi secara umum membaik.

Tentu ada unsur psiklogis massal, herd mentality juga terhadap kenaikan harga emas ini.

Cinamon information from a fellow Blogspotter

2009-09-08T17:39:00.002+07:00

Friday, September 12, 2008

Diabetes: Cinnamon Ice Tea

Cold cinnamon tea can be made easily in your refrigerator. The benefits are that cinnamon helps lower blood sugar.

Use about a 2 1/2 quart (about 2 liter) refrigerator juice container. Put about 2 teaspoons of powdered cinnamon in the bottom. Add 6 tea bags of your preferred tea. I mix black tea and green tea when I do this.

Fill the container with very hot tap water. Put the container into the refrigerator and let it cool to the refrigerator temperature. Probably takes about 4-5 hours to cool...

Read more in the above link on this blog:

Konvergensi sebuah contoh

2009-09-08T05:31:00.004+07:00

Nintendo Wii, is not only a games console, but also an internet browser and social networking tool.

Convergence in the making.. Wii bahkan alat olahraga dirumah well dikantor juga mungkin .. belajar bahasa, alat musik .. apa lagi?

(Game Guitar Hero sekarang dipake sbg game, tapi memberikan muatan untuk dijadikan alat belajar mestinya tidak terlalu susah. What next lihat di situs Guitar Hero ini: http://hub.guitarhero.com/games/overview/gh5
Band Hero, Drum Hero, siapa tahu satu hari : Gamelan Hero.. Dari Band Hero bisa dimuatkan sebuah game untuk team work... dan bisa main band bersama world wide via internet.. pembelajaran budaya, kerja sama antar bangsa .. ahhh banyak betul kemungkinan)..

... Mungkin nantinya malah seperti kita dulu bawa batu tulis, kertas pensil, kapur...bahkan navigasi .. kompas bidik akan masuk juga di daftar artefakta?

Penghapus akan masuk ke museum sebagai artifakta? Ballpoint? Jangka, penggaris?

Konvergensi lain adalah pengumuman Nokia utk mengeluarkan netbook..
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,645550,00.html

Shanghai must hold

2009-08-31T06:36:00.003+07:00

Ekonomi secara semesta masih dalam keadaan merangkak rangkak, volatilitas tinggi masih berlangsung walaupun kecenderungan (trend) menengah sedang mbanteng (Bullish), tapi velositas pasar naik atau turun bisa cepat sekali.
Tunai adalah Prabu (Cash is King) masih menjadi ajian rapalan utama.. cepet sekali pergerakan yang terjadi..

Jadi bertumpu pada jejari, siap lari .. (be on your toes)..

http://www.cnbc.com/id/32502746

Shanghai Must Hold Above 2,400 to Avoid the Bear

Posted By: Daryl Guppy | CNBC Contributor

cnbc.com

| 21 Aug 2009 | 02:04 AM ET

For several weeks the continuing expansion of separation between the long-term and the short-term Guppy Multiple Moving Averages in the Shanghai Index was signaling a bubble and the potential for a correction retracement.

A correction in the order of 10 percent to 15 percent was expected and would drop the index back to the underlying trend strength. The current retreat has some wondering if this is a new bear market. It’s more an application of the Chinese strategy 19: Pulling the Firewood from Beneath the Cauldron. This cools the market back to a sustainable uptrend.

There is a feeling that the Chinese Government will step in and rescue the market. This, of course, is no different to the US government establishing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) or adjusting interest-rate policy to manage market falls. It’s not the methods that are used that are important. It’s the feeling in the market that such action is possible that helps to restore stability. The technical analysis of the market indicates where support is located.

The long-term trend strength for the Shanghai Index is created by the long-term trend line. This trend line starts in December 2008. It uses the lows created in January and March. These are three additional rebound points that anchor the position of the long-term trend line 1.

In April the index began to move away from this trend line. Trend line 2 defined the middle trend. The acceleration of trend behavior was defined by trend line 3, which started in May.

We expected a retreat to near the value of the middle trend line. The value of this trend line was near to the historical support at 3,000 and the value of the lower edge of the long-term GMMA. The failure of support at these levels confirmed that this was not just a temporary retracement. The fall below historical support near 2,900 confirmed this was a change in the nature of trend behavior.

When the market fell below trend line 2 the long-term GMMA started to compress and turn down. This indicated investors had also begun to sell. This confirms a significant trend change.

The key questions now concern the support areas for this trend change. These are consolidation areas that provide a rebound area for a continuation of the broader uptrend in the China market.

The first of these support areas is provided by trend line 1. The value of this support area continues to rise with the trend line. A rebound from this area encounters resistance near 3000 and resistance again near the value of trend line 2 around 3,100. A successful rebound from the area near trend line 1 confirms the recent retreat is a correction and not a significant change in the trend.

Think of it as a bear cub that was run over by an economic locomotive.

This rebound is part of a long-term sustainable uptrend which will move at a slower pace. A fall below the value of trend line 1 is more bearish, but potentially the beginning of a bear market. It indicates a strong but temporary trend reversal.

Bartiromo: Is China the World's Most Important Market?

There is a very strong support trading band between 2,400 and 2,600. These are extreme downside targets. A fall below 2,400 confirms a grown-up bear. Traders will watch for a market rebound developing inside this trading band. The first resistance barrier is the value of trend line 1.

In the next week the market may dip below the value of trend line 1. If the market can close near to or above trend line 1 then traders will move aggressively into the market in anticipation of a return to up trending activity. The key feature to look for is the behavior of the long term GMMA. When this group begins to turn upwards it confirms investors are returning to the market as buyers.

If you would like Daryl to chart a specific stock, commodity or currency, please write to us at ChartingAsia@cnbc.com. We welcome all questions, comments and requests.

CNBC assumes no responsibility for any losses, damages or liability whatsoever suffered or incurred by any person, resulting from or attributable to the use of the information published on this site. User is using this information at his/her sole risk.

URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/32502746/

Bangsa serumpun

2009-08-26T05:39:00.005+07:00

31 Agustus 2009, Malaysia merayakan Hari Kemerdekaannya.

Selamat kepada Malaysia...

Ditengah gejolak emosional, saya berharap sebagaimana kehidupan bertetangga yang madani, wajar, bermartabat, dewasa kita saling tepo seliro, eling...

Kata orang, saudara terbaik adalah tetangga..

Semoga kewarasan dikemukakan, bukan nafsu bringas, naluri buas..

Sebagaimana kita, ada orang yang baik, pintar, ada juga yang jahat, penipu..ya seperti bangsa bangsa lainlah..

Ada benang merah kita dengan Malaysia dalam bentuk satu rumpun bahasa, etnik..

Ada kesalahan kita buat, ada kekeliruan dilakukan Malaysia..

Laiknya sebuah komunitas.. blm ada, blm nemu saya komunitas Suralaya dimana penghuninya dewa semua ga pernah bikin perkeliruan....

Pasar Tradisional vs Supermarket

2009-08-23T23:30:00.005+07:00

http://bisniskeuangan.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/08/23/2041432/Membatasi.Minimarket.Saja.Belum.Cukup
http://www.kompas.com/read/xml/2008/07/19/15045368/mendag.puji.pengelolaan.pasar.modern.bsd.

Pasar basah modern vs modern retail trade

(super market, mega market, hiper market,convenient stores)

Fenomena Pasar Basah Modern BSD mempelopori pengelolaan pasar dengan paradigma yang berbeda.

Bukti nyata adalah jumlah mobil yang parkir di sana semasa akhir minggu bisa mencapai pergerakan sekitar 100.000 mobil (Sabtu Minggu).

Pengalaman di Shanghai memperlihatkan bahwa pasar basah tradisional bisa bersaing dengan pasar modern eceran tanpa kecengengan manja.

Pasar basah tradisional disana kerap terkepung oleh berbagai kelas super market sampai ke convenient store spt Alfamart atau Indomart di Indonesia. Dari supermarket raksasa lokal Lian Hua, Hua Lian sampai ke raksasa seperti Carrefour, Lotus (Tesco).

Dekat domisili kami saja ada 1 pasar basah modern ketika kami pindah dan dalam 2 tahun disana bertambah lagi lebih dekat ke rumah 1 pasar basah tradisional.

Skala pasar ini sekitar hanya 200 pedagang beraneka ragam.

Produk ditawarkan dari sayur segar yang di pasok 2 x sehari (subuh dan jelang senja), ikan daging daging, ayam, bebek, produk kering (beras, ketan, gula), mracang bumbu, alat dapur, makanan siap saji yang dimasak ditempat, kedai makan, sampai ke spre, selimut..tukang reparasi tas, sleting, penjahit.

Satu hal yang menarik disana adalah kebersihannya yang dijaga sepanjang hari, kemudian dipintu keluar utama ada timbangan digital yg dikelola pemerintah.

Disana anda bisa menimbang sendiri barang belanjaan kiloan dan kalau kurang dari jumlah yang seharusnya bisa mengajukan keluhan langsung.

Karena majoritas pasar ini ada di area perumahan maka pengunjung kebanyakan jalan kaki atau naik sepeda sehingga masalah parkir tidak menjadi soal besar. Dan biasanya banyak halte bus dari berbagai jurusan yang berhenti disana, dan kendaraan umum ini tidak bisa ngetem karena sistim jadwal yang ketat dijalankan.

Di kaki lima juga tumpah ruah pedagang lainnya yang menambah iklim persaingan, walau pun yang dikaki lima ini tentu karena ilegal kerap di razia.

Namun ini menambah nuansa belanja di sebuah pasar tradisional yang kelihatan sekali disukai.

Dampak muliplier pada rumah makan, toko toko beraneka ragam disekitar pasar bisa disaksikan.

Kembali ke Jabodetabek, saya sejauh ini baru melihat pasar basah modern di BSD, Gading Serpong dan kelihatan ada spanduk dibuat pengembang dekat Gading Serpong yang sudah juga menawarkan lokasi baru.

Fenomena ini yang harusnya dilihat oleh PD Pasar Jaya dan pengelola pasar tradisional lainnya maupun pengembang kawasan.

Alih alih mengeluh akan hadirnya supermarket besar seyogyanya mencari keunggulan kompetitif dari sebuah pasar basah modern.

Contoh saya kepasar yang sudah tua dan terkenal di Surabaya, Pasar Pabean. Semestinya dengan lokasinya yang strategis, kelompok pembelanja yang jelas kelasnya, pasar ini bisa bersaing. Namun karena kekumuhannya, gelap, dan kotor membuat orang enggan kepasar ini. Dan saya yakin banyak sekali pasar pasar tradisional yang dikelola dengan mind-set lama dan perlu memperoleh paradigma baru dalam mengelola pasar.

Pasar Modern (Pasmo) BSD dan Sinpasa di Gading Serpong, serta pengalaman melihat di Shanghai membuktikan persaingan sehat bisa diciptakan.

Dalam jangka pendek berikan insentif insentif agar pasar trradisional baik yang lama maupun yang baru bisa berkembang dng subur. Iklim usaha yg baik diperlukan, bukan predatorial, bagaimana melayani pelanggan agar tercipta relasi yg baik, kebersihan pribadi maupun unit dan produk, menata dagangan.

Supply chain dari pemasokan agar produk produk dipasar tradisional benar benar segar.

Jam buka disesuaikan: spt di Shanghai pasar sangat ramai di pagi hari dan sore hari setelah jam kerja. Sehingga pasar buka sampai jam 8 malam. Pola kehidupan, ritme bekerja ini perlu dimengerti. Lihat supermarket jam jam sibuknya hampir sama di Jakarta dan kota besar lain. Sore hari lebih ramai dari pagi.

Hal hal kecil spt : kebersihan umum, fasilitas toilet yg benar benar bersih, ATM, tempat menimbang belanjaan, tempat penitipan belanjaan, penerangan yg cukup, sirkulasi udara yg baik biar ga pengap (tidak usah pake AC).

Loading dock utk pasokan barang yg baik, keamanan yg dijaga (jangan ada parkir liar, tukang palak utk nurunin maupun naikin barang),

Fasilitas umum spt: penghijauan lingkungan dlm bentuk taman taman kecil utk istirahat dan taman utk penitipan anak anak baik pedagang maupun pengunjung,

Retribusi kepada pedagang sebaiknya dipungut benar benar utk memenuhi biaya pemeliharaan bukan utk cari untung. Keuntungan bisa didapatkan dari sewa unit unit usaha.

Jangka panjang:

Pendidikan para pedagang: logistik, higien produk makanan, pengelolaan keuangan usaha, pengembangan usaha, pengembangan produk, penanganan produk paska jual, moral dan keagamaan, pendidikan keluarga, perpustakaan pedagang dan pasar tradisional, pendidikan hak dan kewajiban legal, koperasi simpan pinjam/ bank rakyat spt Grameen Bank, pendidikan pemasok ke pasar pasar, perihal pelayanan pelanggan.

Tinggal para stake holder bagaimana menyambut bola perubahan ini.

Urbanisasi sudah menjadi fenomena yg riel dimana mana dan bagaimana kita menyikapi dan ikut dalam perubahan ini.

Lupakan amarah terhadap pasar modern eceran (Carrefour dll), berikan persaingan maka yang terbaik akan menang.

Saya dan keluarga keluarga adik, teman teman sekarang ini, lebih suka berbelanja di Pasmo BSD atau Gading Serpong.

Bagaimana dng anda?

Siapa 3 negeri teratas pemegang US T-Bill

2009-08-23T13:42:00.002+07:00

China drastically cut its holdings of US Treasury debt in June, but its purchase of more long-term securities indicates no significant change in its interest in US government bonds.

The country's holding of US Treasury securities fell to $776.4 billion in June, from a record high of $801.5 billion in May.

Despite the biggest monthly drop since 2000, China still retained its position as the top holder of US treasuries, according to US Treasury data released on Monday.

While slashing its holdings of short-term bills by 25 percent, to $158.7 billion, China rotated into longer-dated maturities by $27 billion, a 4.5 percent increase.

Japan and Great Britain, the second- and third-biggest holders of US debt, respectively, also increased their holdings of US treasuries by $34.8 billion and $51 billion respectively, almost all long-term.

"The fact that China has now returned and bought long-term notes is an encouraging sign," Patrick Bennett, Asia Foreign Exchange Rates Strategist with Societe Generale in Hong Kong, told China Daily. "It shows that China, as an investor, sees value in the issues and this speaks to the credibility of US policies."

Bennett dismissed the idea that China's reduction in the holding of US treasuries represents "a big move".

"The change is a slight surprise, but we need to see the next couple of months' data before determining the trend of purchases," he said.

China invested very little of its newly accumulated international reserves, about $122 billion, in US treasuries in May and June - just over 10 percent, contrasting sharply with the 60 percent to 70 percent figures seen in recent years, according to Tony Crescenzi, senior vice president, strategist and portfolio manager of PIMCO, a leading investment management firm.

"The recent pattern suggests China hastened its effort to diversify its international reserves," Crescenzi said.

China's foreign exchange reserves totaled $2.13 trillion at the end of June.

Yin Zhongli, a senior researcher with the financial research institution of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the share of US dollar-dominated assets in China's foreign exchange reserves is too large.

"So, we have to diversify our portfolio for risk aversion," Yin said, adding that the country might buy more assets denominated in other foreign currencies, such as the euro, the Japanese yen and the Australian dollar.

"But investment in US treasuries is still relatively safe compared with other options, because the recovery of the US economy is, by and large, stronger than other major economies, such as the European Union," he said.

Cadangan Devisa kita cuman 3% dari Tiongkok

2009-07-30T08:34:00.002+07:00

Cadangan kita menipis dibanding thn lalu...

Koq rasanya sulit amat ya mau maju, dihambat sana sini dari hal hal yg prital pritil..

Jalanan aja susah mulus, angkutan barang tersendat dan mahal.. blm biaya ekonomi tinggi dari jalan raya..

Part of Indonesian Life Style kah? Koq iya ya.. Apa kita ga mau genah?

Apa kita happy aja dng mediokritas?

Mestinya sih kaga... tapi... liat di media beritanya dan dilapangan .. so much to do..

Ya udah do it aja apa yg gw bisa today.. setidaknya jadi orang Indonesia yang genah.

Indonesia Needs to Gradually Build Reserves, IMF Says (Update1)

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By Arijit Ghosh

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia, Asia’s third-fastest expanding major economy, needs to gradually build its foreign reserves and follow a “cautious” monetary policy stance to keep investor confidence, the International Monetary Fund said.

The Washington-based agency also recommended Indonesia boost spending in a statement today, saying the government has room for a bigger fiscal deficit.

Indonesia’s reserves fell to $57.58 billion in June from a record $60.56 billion in July 2008. Higher foreign reserves and attractive asset prices may keep investors from pulling money from the Southeast Asian nation should another global economic crisis arise, the IMF said.

“Although the economic outlook for 2009 remains positive, another round of global risk aversion could adversely affect external liquidity, demand, and growth prospects for Indonesia,” the IMF said. It’s “prudent” for the nation to build larger reserves, implement its stimulus plan and “strengthen monetary policy framework” to ensure macroeconomic and financial stability, it said.

Indonesia’s reserves are less than 3 percent of China’s $2.1 trillion of assets. The $433 billion economy may expand 3.5 percent, this year making it the fastest growing in Asia after India and China, according to IMF data. Growth may accelerate to 4.5 percent next year, the lender said.

IMF Rescue

Indonesia’s move to increase currency swap deals with Japan and China, and regional agreements to pool reserves may help Bank Indonesia boost its assets, said Thomas Rumbaugh, division chief at the IMF’s Asia & Pacific Department.

“There are a lot of contingency arrangements, swap lines being discussed bilaterally and within the region, and to the extent those are made effective it is a very inexpensive way to do it,” Rumbaugh said on a conference call today. “If there are delays on that side, they could build on their own reserves a little bit more.”

The IMF arranged a $25 billion package between 1997 and 2003 to help rescue Indonesia’s banking system and rehabilitate the economy by restructuring private and government debt. Indonesia paid the debt early.

Indonesia is nearing the end of its interest-rate reduction cycle, Rumbaugh said. The central bank cut its policy rate to 6.75 percent this month.

Economy ‘Saved’

Bank Indonesia has cut its benchmark interest rate for eight straight months to help boost growth as inflation slows. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s government has also planned stimulus measures valued at 71.3 trillion rupiah ($7 billion) to spur economic expansion.

“For boosting growth, a key issue now for Indonesia is getting fiscal policy to work,” said Helmi Arman, an economist at PT Bank Danamon Indonesia in Jakarta.

The government plans to announce another package to attract investors to the nation’s infrastructure projects, Vice President designate Boediono said yesterday. Southeast Asia’s largest economy expanded 6.1 percent last year and local consumption “saved” the economy this year, he said.

Indonesia needs to maintain its stimulus plan next year as it has “room” for a higher fiscal deficit, the IMF said. The government has targeted a budget shortfall of 2.4 percent of gross domestic product this year and forecasts a deficit of between 1.5 percent and 1.8 percent in 2010.

For Related News and Information: Top Stories: TOP Indonesia’s economic data: ECST ID For more economic stories: TNI INDO IDECO BN Economic forecasts: ECFC ID Rupiah forecasts: FXFC IDR Top economic news: TOP ECO

Last Updated: July 28, 2009 21:50 EDT

Trading saham dng frekwensi tinggi, legal or illegal?

2009-07-25T06:21:00.002+07:00

July 24, 2009

Stock Traders Find Speed Pays, in Milliseconds

By CHARLES DUHIGG

It is the hot new thing on Wall Street, a way for a handful of traders to master the stock market, peek at investors’ orders and, critics say, even subtly manipulate share prices.

It is called high-frequency trading — and it is suddenly one of the most talked-about and mysterious forces in the markets.

Powerful computers, some housed right next to the machines that drive marketplaces like the New York Stock Exchange, enable high-frequency traders to transmit millions of orders at lightning speed and, their detractors contend, reap billions at everyone else’s expense.

These systems are so fast they can outsmart or outrun other investors, humans and computers alike. And after growing in the shadows for years, they are generating lots of talk.

Nearly everyone on Wall Street is wondering how hedge funds and large banks like Goldman Sachs are making so much money so soon after the financial system nearly collapsed. High-frequency trading is one answer.

And when a former Goldman Sachs programmer was accused this month of stealing secret computer codes — software that a federal prosecutor said could “manipulate markets in unfair ways” — it only added to the mystery. Goldman acknowledges that it profits from high-frequency trading, but disputes that it has an unfair advantage.

Yet high-frequency specialists clearly have an edge over typical traders, let alone ordinary investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission says it is examining certain aspects of the strategy.

“This is where all the money is getting made,” said William H. Donaldson, former chairman and chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange and today an adviser to a big hedge fund. “If an individual investor doesn’t have the means to keep up, they’re at a huge disadvantage.”

For most of Wall Street’s history, stock trading was fairly straightforward: buyers and sellers gathered on exchange floors and dickered until they struck a deal. Then, in 1998, the Securities and Exchange Commission authorized electronic exchanges to compete with marketplaces like the New York Stock Exchange. The intent was to open markets to anyone with a desktop computer and a fresh idea.

But as new marketplaces have emerged, PCs have been unable to compete with Wall Street’s computers. Powerful algorithms — “algos,” in industry parlance — execute millions of orders a second and scan dozens of public and private marketplaces simultaneously. They can spot trends before other investors can blink, changing orders and strategies within milliseconds.

High-frequency traders often confound other investors by issuing and then canceling orders almost simultaneously. Loopholes in market rules give high-speed investors an early glance at how others are trading. And their computers can essentially bully slower investors into giving up profits — and then disappear before anyone even knows they were there.

High-frequency traders also benefit from competition among the various exchanges, which pay small fees that are often collected by the biggest and most active traders — typically a quarter of a cent per share to whoever arrives first. Those small payments, spread over millions of shares, help high-speed investors profit simply by trading enormous numbers of shares, even if they buy or sell at a modest loss.

“It’s become a technological arms race, and what separates winners and losers is how fast they can move,” said Joseph M. Mecane of NYSE Euronext, which operates the New York Stock Exchange. “Markets need liquidity, and high-frequency traders provide opportunities for other investors to buy and sell.”

The rise of high-frequency trading helps explain why activity on the nation’s stock exchanges has exploded. Average daily volume has soared by 164 percent since 2005, according to data from NYSE. Although precise figures are elusive, stock exchanges say that a handful of high-frequency traders now account for a more than half of all trades. To understand this high-speed world, consider what happened when slow-moving traders went up against high-frequency robots earlier this month, and ended up handing spoils to lightning-fast computers.

It was July 15, and Intel, the computer chip giant, had reporting robust earnings the night before. Some investors, smelling opportunity, set out to buy shares in the semiconductor company Broadcom. (Their activities were described by an investor at a major Wall Street firm who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his job.) The slower traders faced a quandary: If they sought to buy a large number of shares at once, they would tip their hand and risk driving up Broadcom’s price. So, as is often the case on Wall Street, they divided their orders into dozens of small batches, hoping to cover their tracks. One second after the market opened, shares of Broadcom started changing hands at $26.20.

The slower traders began issuing buy orders. But rather than being shown to all potential sellers at the same time, some of those orders were most likely routed to a collection of high-frequency traders for just 30 milliseconds — 0.03 seconds — in what are known as flash orders. While markets are supposed to ensure transparency by showing orders to everyone simultaneously, a loophole in regulations allows marketplaces like Nasdaq to show traders some orders ahead of everyone else in exchange for a fee.

In less than half a second, high-frequency traders gained a valuable insight: the hunger for Broadcom was growing. Their computers began buying up Broadcom shares and then reselling them to the slower investors at higher prices. The overall price of Broadcom began to rise.

Soon, thousands of orders began flooding the markets as high-frequency software went into high gear. Automatic programs began issuing and canceling tiny orders within milliseconds to determine how much the slower traders were willing to pay. The high-frequency computers quickly determined that some investors’ upper limit was $26.40. The price shot to $26.39, and high-frequency programs began offering to sell hundreds of thousands of shares.

The result is that the slower-moving investors paid $1.4 million for about 56,000 shares, or $7,800 more than if they had been able to move as quickly as the high-frequency traders.

Multiply such trades across thousands of stocks a day, and the profits are substantial. High-frequency traders generated about $21 billion in profits last year, the Tabb Group, a research firm, estimates.

“You want to encourage innovation, and you want to reward companies that have invested in technology and ideas that make the markets more efficient,” said Andrew M. Brooks, head of United States equity trading at T. Rowe Price, a mutual fund and investment company that often competes with and uses high-frequency techniques. “But we’re moving toward a two-tiered marketplace of the high-frequency arbitrage guys, and everyone else. People want to know they have a legitimate shot at getting a fair deal. Otherwise, the markets lose their integrity.”

Ektrimis dan ketidak adilan pembagian

2009-07-20T06:34:00.004+07:00

Peristiwa Jumat lalu, 17 Juli 2009 sungguh amat mengerikan, peristiwa lanjutan di Temanggung
(http://koran.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/08/24/03192668/radikalisme.yang.kompleks.di.kabupaten.temanggung)

Tayangan tayangan yang amat deskriptif atas korban korban dilakukan TV lokal sini tanpa reservasi.

Kalau dipikir lebih dalam, dan ini yang timbul dibanyak benak saya pikir adalah kenapa mesti begini?

Ada berbagai faktor yang memicu, memovitasi orang menjadi ektrim, militan.

Salah satunya adalah ketidak adilan yang sangat, yang dahsyat.

Contoh ini bisa kita liat dari hal hal yang mungkin sudah tak kasat mata lagi dalam pikiran kita.

Lihat pemusatan kekayaan keuangan dimana mana.. kita semua tahu dari tapak ekologis negeri negeri maju itu berbanding sangat tidak ideal dng negeri berkembang.

Didalam skala kita saja, Indonesia, konon jumlah uang yang beredar ada 70% di Jakarta, ini tentu menggambarkan betapa semua berputar di ibukota ini dari sisi perekonomian.

Orang berlomba untuk datang ke Jakarta ikut mencari bagian dari cipratan 70% ini. Kreatifitas, fasilitasi semua ikut bak semut nemu gula, bak tawon jumpa madu.

Sementara di daerah daerah yang tak usah jauh jauh lah, baca reportase liputan penyusuran pantai Selatan Jawa beberapa bulan lalu di Kompas. Betapa ini masih di Jawa saja ketinggalan berpuluh puluh tahun.

Apalagi kalau mau dipakaikan tolok ukur yang kita kenal dengan Pantura nya Jawa.

Ya, peran agen pembangunan, agen pengembangan, agen perubahan ini menurut saya sangat minim di sadari oleh para agen agen yang pernah ada dan masih ada.

Akibatnya: ketidak adilan bertumbuh subur makmur dimana mana.

Dari hal dasar di hukum Maslow deh.. ketidak adilan yang sekedar sekolah yang baik (baru ngomong bangunannnya aja nih.. boro boro soal kualitas pengajaran).. kesusahan mendapatkan pengobatan dasar, rumah rumah yang tidak sehat bahkan di kampung yang seharusnya bisa lebih sehat krn padatnya penduduk lebih sedikit, bahan bakar yang langka (banyak penduduk balik ke kayu bakar)..pangan yang tersedia keragaman nya sedikit sehingga sulit untuk mendapatkan menu sehat..ada desa di dekat Subang dengan penduduk sekitar 50 kk, sebulan menghabiskan uang belanja lauk asin - ikan asin sampai sekitar 1 ton karena tidak ada alternatif lain spt ikan segar, daging sapi, ayam yang sanggup dibeli.

Sementara di pusat pusat urban segala dengan mudah didapatkan, sering kali malah lebih murah dari di tempat produsennya.. dan tidak ada daya tawar dari kaum produsen kecil terhadap para pedagang besar, pengecer modern dll.

Rangkaian sebab akibat ini membuat sense of fairness semakin peka tajam dan akibat ketidak berdayaan puluhan tahun, pendidikan yang separuh paruh.. mendorong dengan mudah ke janji janji baru yg ditawarkan.Harapan harapan baru yang di jajakan..
Jalan kesana harus lewat mana? Militanisme adalah salah satu yang sering ditempuh, revolusi..

Soal pengungkapan kejadian Jumat lalu harus dilakukan, krn itu perbuatan kriminal dan melawan keadilan umum juga.

Namun gambar lebih besar nya harus dengan sungguh ditangani.

Beberapa tahun lalu, semasa Bill Clinton menjabat, ekonomi AS bertumbuh dengan pesat, booming istilah ekonominya.. dan voila.. angka kriminalitas nasionalnya turun pesat sekali.

Benang merah disitu mengatakan, majoritas manusia mau hidup baik baik, biasa biasa saja, cukup makan sandang papan dan mereka akan memilih bekerja baik baik.
Penuhi kebutuhan dasar, rasa adil yang dasar, anak anak bisa sekolah dengan baik di sekolah yang memadai, aman.. gampang to?

Janji Teknologi

2009-07-06T11:46:00.007+07:00

Revolusi Industri dan kemudahan hidup.

Di tahun tahun menjelang akhir abad ke 18, menjanjikan pada waktu itu masa masa keemasan dan komitmen akan pemudahan kehidupan di masa yang kita sebut modern.

Teknologi akan membuat kerja fisik yang melelahkan sebuah kisah masa lalu.

Kerja manual,buruh anak anak, buruh wanita akan jadi masa lalu saja.

Kerja fisik akan dibantu dengan mesin mesin, otomatisasi menjadi sebuah perbaikan kualitas produksi yang konsisten dan seterusnya.

Kemajuan teknologi kita baca di buku buku, majalah, surat kabar di agungkan, dipuja puji, dan dunia akan hidup bahagia selama lamanya seperti diakhir dongeng Cindelaras (Cinderella kalau kata orang seberang sana).

Fast forward dan inilah thn 2009, bulan Juli, tanggal 6.

Berita minggu lalu sudah agak basi, yang menarik perhatian adalah bahwa ada posting di Facebook dari seorang sobat maya yang mengatakan Charger hape kita terlalu banyak, berjenis jenis charger hape saja untuk mengisi ulang batere.

Agar kita mudah hidupnya dengan bisa berkomunikasi sepanjang hari.

Sementara di sisi dunia lain, ada artikel dari sebuah penelitian terkini, yang mengatakan, Obesitas di Amerika Serikat sudah menjadi epidemi tingkatannya.

Saya sendiri meyakini fenomena yang sama sedang berjangkit di kota kota besar, daerah urban dan sekitarnya.

Ini sebuah puncak gunung es dari kemajuan teknologi yang baru berjalan sekitar 200an tahun. Dampak personal terhadap kita semua acap kali tidak kita sadari baik baik.

Ada banyak puncak gunung es lain dalam bentuk epidemi yang tidak difahami atau di acuhkan oleh kita semua. Bentuknya berbagai penyakit fisik dan kejiwaan menurut saya.

Dampak sosial ekonomis, sosial kejiwaan secara kolektif, dampak budaya yg merasuk kesemua lapisan, pori pori kehidupan berbangsa.

Minggu lalu di pintu sebuah supermarket, pas saya mau mengambil keranjang utk belanja, ada seorang ibu hampir bersamaan juga mau mengambil. Saya berikan keranjang yang sudah saya ambil sambil tersenyum.

Alangkah heran saya, sama sekali tidak ada ucapan terima kasih atau sekedar tersenyum, mukanya asam dan bahasa tubuhnya seolah mengatakan: "Goblok lu".

Saya tidak masalah, yang penting buat saya adalah itikad saya baik dan ya soal kesantuan memang sudah menjadi langka dinegeri yang ramah tamah ini. Mungkin dia sedang mens, atau menghadapi kesulitan hidup yang luar biasa.

Ah tidak adil kalau saya menyama ratakan semua penduduk negeri nyiur melambai.

Fenomena ini sebetulnya lebih banyak saya alami di daerah padat penduduk.

Acap kali dalam hal hal sederhana seperti saya memberi jalan dahulu, membukakan pintu di tempat umum.

Belum pernah sejauh ini saya mendapat sekedar lambaian tangan ungkapan terima kasih atau ucapan terima kasih.

Dan ini terjadi pada segala umur, ras, maupun strata kesejahteraan.

Buat jadi pikiran, apakah semua ini sebuah penyakit yang kita alami secara kolektif? Tepo seliro, memikirkan orang lain, menjadi ladies or gentlemen nampaknya dikota besar sudah menjadi sebuah barang haram.

Lantas apa hubungan dengan revolusi industri? Teknologi?

Semua percepatan percepatan ini kelihatannya memberi dampak yang sama sekali tidak dipikirkan dalam inovasi teknologi.

Contoh soal charger, sampah teknologi yang terjadi akibat inovasi (contoh populer saya: perekam musik: dari piringan hitam ebonit, ke yang vinyl, kemudian pita reel besar terus ke cartridge, kaset, kemudian CD, IPod dan kawan kawannya.

Charger dirumah pernah saya hitung ada sekitar 30 buah utk berbagai gadget.

Pada teman yang posting soal charger di FB saya katakan, masih ingatkan dng pita printer dot-matrix? Setiap printer yg berbeda mempunyai sendiri pita cartridge nya. Sekali waktu saya pernah melihat sebuah katalog dari toko alat tulis, ratusan buah pita pengganti printer dot-matrix yg disediakan.

Revolusi dibidang digital antara lain menjanjikan paperless office, paperless life.. hari ini kita memakai lebih banyak kertas dibanding masa masa sebelum computer dipakai. Tentu jumlah populasi berpengaruh, tapi apakah kita memakai kertas lebih sedikit jika diukur per capita?

Tidak.

Semua ini memberi pengaruh terhadap gaya hidup, kecepatan hidup, dan kesehatan kita akhirnya.

Doing business in China: A McKinsey Survey

2007-03-04T21:40:00.000+07:00

Strategy: Globalization

Survey

Doing business in China: A McKinsey Survey of executives in Asia

Surprisingly few companies have any operations in China today, but the vast majority expect to be doing business with the country within five years.

Web exclusive, February 2007

China is an increasingly important player in the world economy. However, nearly 40 percent of executives in Asia say their companies do no business in China today, according to a McKinsey survey, and a third say that even if the country's growth rate fell to zero their company's revenue would not be affected.

Executives also see significant threats to China's continued growth; these include a shortage of talent and weak enforcement of commercial laws and regulations. But many respondents say that the country can address its challenges sufficiently. ¹

Notes

¹ The McKinsey Quarterly conducted the online survey in January 2007 and received 253 responses from C-level executives in Asia.

The China market

Just over a third of the survey's respondents report that their companies have operations in China, and almost 30 percent trade with the country (Exhibit 1). Just over half say their companies earn some revenue from China. Two-thirds of larger companies—those with annual revenues of $1 billion or more—currently operate in China, and 81 percent generate revenues from the country. Perhaps most interesting, at a time when many companies are assessing whether they have concentrated too much of their operations in China, only 14 percent of all survey respondents say their companies own one or more manufacturing plants, service facilities, or retail stores there. Even among companies in the production sectors (as opposed to service firms), the figure is only 21 percent.

Your javascript is turned off. Javascript is required to view exhibits.

That relatively low presence won't last long, executives say. Overall, 90 percent of respondents expect their companies to be doing business of some kind in China within five years. Executives' views on where their companies can grow in China focus on its huge market: only 7 percent say their companies currently sell goods or services there, yet 34 percent of all respondents—and 43 percent of those whose companies currently earn no revenue from China—expect to be selling there within five years (Exhibit 2). Indeed, executives may think a presence in China is all but inevitable: 83 percent of respondents who say it's unlikely that China can sufficiently address the threats to its growth still expect their companies to have some operations there within five years.

Your javascript is turned off. Javascript is required to view exhibits.

China as competitor

Companies based in China are seen as strong, but not overwhelming, competitors; a significant majority of respondents see the basis for that competition as the low cost base that Chinese companies enjoy (Exhibit 3). Their low production costs may help explain why 27 percent of respondents in production industries rate Chinese competitors as either overwhelmingly stronger or stronger than most, compared with only 11 percent of respondents in service industries. (Indeed, 27 percent of those in service industries say their China-based competitors are weaker than most—yet even they were far likelier to say the basis of competition is low costs rather than any other factor.)

Your javascript is turned off. Javascript is required to view exhibits.

Interestingly, 36 percent of executives in China rate China-based competitors as weaker than most, far more than respondents in any other country. Thirteen percent of respondents in China also say that, should the country's growth rate fall to zero, their company's revenues would be unaffected.

Threats to growth

Executives see a variety of social, economic, and environmental threats to China's continued growth and development (Exhibit 4). They indicate that economic and social issues are far more important than environmental ones. For instance, though 63 percent of respondents cite pollution as a threat to growth, when asked to weigh it against economic and social issues, 80 percent choose a threat other than pollution as the most significant.

Your javascript is turned off. Javascript is required to view exhibits.

Across all issues, pollution is the only health or environmental issue among the top five. The others are rising income inequality, poor enforcement of commercial laws and regulations, a shortage of qualified talent, and weak financial institutions.

Some issues that are significant concerns in other regions—such as the renminbi's exchange rate against the US dollar and rising energy prices—are, surprisingly, of very little concern to the executives in Asia who responded to this survey.

Assessing and addressing the threats

When respondents are asked to consider how quickly China should respond to the threats to its continued growth, more than 80 percent say China must address those threats within five years. The majority (60 percent) say China is likely to be able to do so, although only 12 percent see it as "very likely" (Exhibit 5). Respondents in China are the least likely to be optimistic; less than half say the country is very or somewhat likely to be able to address the problems sufficiently. Executives whose companies are currently generating revenue in China but whose offices are located elsewhere are somewhat more optimistic: 69 percent see it as very or somewhat likely that China will sufficiently address the threats it faces.

Your javascript is turned off. Javascript is required to view exhibits.

What will happen to these companies if China fails to address these threats and growth slows or stops? Surprisingly little, given executives' view that China is quite influential economically. Just over half of all respondents say they would see no effect on the revenue of their companies if the growth rate of China's GDP fell by half during the next five years; 47 percent of those currently generating revenue in the country say the same. Even if growth stopped entirely, a third of all respondents say their companies' revenue would be unaffected, as do a quarter of executives whose companies are currently generating revenue in China.

When asked where China should invest to make itself a more attractive destination for corporations, executives do not focus their priorities solely on the biggest threats to the country's growth. Investments in infrastructure and logistics top executives' wish lists, regardless of sector or company size; 72 percent of executives make this category their first, second, or third priority (Exhibit 6). Education is close behind. Despite the deep concern about income inequality, investments in health care, social security, and rural development are the lowest priorities, even among respondents in China.

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About the Contributors

Contributors to the development and analysis of the survey include Janamitra Devan, an associate principal in McKinsey's Shanghai office, Earl Carr and Isabel Ho, consultants based in Shanghai, and Stavros Yiannouka and Joval A. Pantangco, of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

This survey is a joint effort by the McKinsey Global Institute and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Site Map | Terms of Use | Updated: Privacy Policy | mckinsey.com | china.mckinseyquarterly.com

Jadi sehat atau ..

2007-02-17T12:48:00.001+07:00

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FEBRUARY 26, 2007

COVER STORY

Get Healthy—Or Else

Inside one company's all-out attack on medical costs

COVER STORY PODCAST

In August, Joe Pellegrini got yet another nagging phone call. It was his health coach, a woman working on behalf of his employer, the $2.7 billion lawn-care company, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. (SMG ) The 48-year-old executive knew the spiel by heart. "Have you been to your doctor yet? When are you going?" Then the prescription: "You need to lose weight and you really, really need to lower your cholesterol."

Pellegrini is a supply-chain executive at Scotts' headquarters in Marysville, Ohio, a land of all-you-can-eat buffets smack in the middle of America's obesity belt. At Scotts the hallways are filled with ldl-abusers and overweight diabetics. Pellegrini, by contrast, is an Armani-swaddled triathlete who often cycles 36 miles to and from work. Lose weight? "Give me a break," he thought. "It's all muscle, folks."

But a time bomb was ticking beneath the taut physique. Medical specialists working on behalf of Scotts had been scouring every aspect of Pellegrini's health. His profile—athletic, high body-mass index, and bad cholesterol (brought on by a love of 28-ounce sirloins)—triggered an alarm.

Eventually, Pellegrini succumbed to the company-applied pressure and agreed to abide by his health coach's action plan, which included an immediate visit to his doctor. A few weeks later, a specialist studying Pellegrini's angiogram spotted the heart valve of what should have been a dead man. Within hours, two stents were installed. The surgeons later told him the 95% blockage would have killed him within five days. "It was that close," Pellegrini says.

About the time Pellegrini was cheating death, a lawn-care technician named Scott Rodrigues was having an entirely different experience with the Scotts wellness program. At the time, Rodrigues says he had been working at the company for about two weeks. He recalls a supervisor approaching him in the parking lot at the company's Cape Cod (Mass.) facility and urging him to get rid of the pack of Marlboro reds poking out of the dashboard of his decrepit Civic.

Rodrigues knew Scotts was going tobacco-free on Oct. 1 as part of its effort to improve employee health and cut medical costs. He recalls the company's interviewer saying that once Rodrigues passed the 60-day probation, Scotts would help him quit his 15-year habit—paying for counseling, Nicorette, prescription drugs, hypnosis. Whatever it took.

But on Sept. 1—which happened to be his 30th birthday—Rodrigues was fired. "Why?" he asked. "You failed your drug test," the boss replied. Rodrigues insisted it had to be a mistake. He didn't even keep beer in the fridge. Then his boss told him the drug was nicotine. "Five years ago, if you had told me, Hey, you better quit smoking or you might not get a job,' I would have laughed. Here I am five years later, and I can't get a job."

In November, Rodrigues filed a lawsuit, now in federal court in Massachusetts. It alleges that Scotts discriminated against Rodrigues by firing him before he was eligible for health-care benefits and had a chance to take advantage of the stop-smoking initiative. The suit also seeks to prohibit Scotts from "enforcing or applying" its anti-nicotine program. The company hopes to have the suit dismissed. Citing its policy of not discussing pending litigation, Scotts declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Two stories—one man saved by the 11th-hour intervention of his employer; another fired on his 30th birthday for smoking—capture the dilemma facing companies around the country. How do executives looking to cut medical costs persuade employees to take better care of themselves without killing morale and spawning lawsuits? It's a question that's very much on the mind of Scotts CEO Jim Hagedorn, who acknowledges his company's wellness program is controversial. "Jack Welch told me: Man, you have balls of steel,'" says Hagedorn. "This is an area where CEOs are afraid to go. A lot of people are watching to see how badly we get sued."

Getting health insurance from your employer is sometimes seen as an entitlement, but the benefit owes its existence to a quirk of history. During World War II, employers desperate to attract workers began offering health insurance. Providing coverage has been an increasing burden for companies ever since. As a result, businesses have been forcing employees to shoulder more and more of the cost.

Some theorized that higher co-payments and pricier premiums would get people to take better care of themselves. It's not happening. "We have this notion that you can gorge on hot dogs, be in a pie-eating contest, and drink every day, and society will take care of you," says Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter, who co-authored Redefining Health Care. "We can't afford to let individuals drive up costs because they're not willing to address their health problems."

Hence the wellness fixation at companies as varied as IBM (IBM ), Microsoft (MSFT ), Harrah's Entertainment (HET ), and Scotts. Employees who voluntarily sign up for such programs often receive discounts on health-care premiums, free weight-loss and smoking-cessation programs, gratis gym memberships, counseling for emotional problems, and prizes like vacations or points that can be redeemed for gift cards.

Companies save money. Employees get healthier. What's not to like? But the wellness craze raises important issues. One is that people could start blaming unhealthy colleagues for helping push up premiums. Then there are the privacy and discrimination issues: How far should managers intrude into employees' lives? That's the essence of the Rodrigues lawsuit.

U.S. business has long evinced a paternalistic streak. Early last century, Ford Motor Co. (F ) sent investigators to workers' homes to make sure their sex lives were "unblemished" and they weren't imbibing one too many. Today, Scotts is in the vanguard of companies seeking to monitor and change employee behavior. The company's outlier status reflects the born-again zeal of its CEO. Hagedorn is a reformed nicotine addict himself. He smoked two packs a day for 20 years—until his mother, also a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer. Hagedorn quit the same day.

In the early 2000s, Hagedorn, like many other CEOs, watched health-care costs explode. From what he could see, the government and the health-insurance industry weren't doing anything to solve the crisis. At the same time, Hagedorn's employees were bingeing on care.

In February, 2003, Scotts doubled what workers paid for health insurance. Morale plummeted, and Hagedorn knew he had to do a better job selling the hike. Hagedorn is famous at Scotts for the "straight talk" sessions he holds with staff each quarter. A former F-16 fighter pilot who retains much of his military bravura, Hagedorn laces his sermons with salty language and unvarnished commentary. The CEO got right to the point: We were boneheaded, he told the crowd.

Then again, Hagedorn wanted employees to know what he was up against. Using a PowerPoint presentation, he showed that his annual health-care bill had soared 42% since 1999, to $20 million, which amounted to 20% of the company's net profits in 2003. Costs were projected to surge about 20% that year, vs. the national average of 9%, and keep on climbing at a double-digit rate.

Toward the end of the talk, a young plant worker stood up and scolded Hagedorn. "You guys on the other side of the street, you got fancy financial advisers," he said. "How can you make me responsible for managing my finances and health care and not educate me? I only have a high school education." Hagedorn left the meeting thinking: "The guy's right."

A few months later, Hagedorn was watching CNN. A doctor was arguing that employers should get serious about obesity, smoking, and diabetes. Companies were paying the bills, he said, so they could do something. As it happens, Hagedorn had recently seen Scotts' health-risk assessment: Half of his 6,000 employees were overweight or morbidly obese; a quarter of them smoked.

The CNN program prompted an epiphany. Hagedorn wanted to share it right away with his human resources chief, Denise Stump. It was after 11 p.m., but he called her at home anyway. "Denise," he said, "we are moving into FEBA [forward-edge battle area]." Hagedorn told her he wanted to ban smoking and go after obesity. To achieve these aims, he proposed launching the kind of companywide intervention that families use to help an addicted relative.

Instituting such a policy wasn't a matter of saying, "Let it be so." Legal worried the plan might violate federal laws. Other advisers told the CEO point blank: Don't go there. And getting outside advice wasn't going to be easy. Many law firms were knee-deep in tobacco litigation and wouldn't go near Scotts' wellness initiative. Nor would board member Lynn Beasley. As chief operating officer for tobacco maker R.J. Reynolds (FAI ), Beasley saw the conflict right away and quit the Scotts board. Stump recalls thinking: "We're going too fast."

Hagedorn isn't easily dissuaded. The 51-year-old CEO talks like a swaggering teenager, with "yo" this and "dude" that. A runaway at 15, Hagedorn still flies his rebel flag: A photo in his office features him giving the middle-finger salute.

Needless to say, Hagedorn got his way. Scotts hired a boutique law firm. And before long, the company had determined that in 21 states, including home-base Ohio, it wasn't illegal to hire and fire people based on their smoking habits. Scotts also realized it needed to create an arm's-length relationship with the wellness program. No one wanted to give managers an opportunity to discriminate against employees based on their health. That meant bringing in a third party to run the thing.

In 2005, Scotts hired Whole Health Management. The firm manages on-site primary care and fitness centers for dozens of corporations. Whole Health aggregates health and insurance claim data so Scotts can divine trends. But individual data are kept strictly confidential. Stump began selling the concept to employees. She held role-playing sessions to teach workers what to say if they bumped into each other in the clinic. On-site doctors told employees they would never betray confidences.

During one of Hagedorn's straight-talk sessions, workers told him a company gym would make wellness easier to swallow. "Done," Hagedorn said. But his vision went far beyond installing some StairMasters and throwing up health pointers on the Scotts intranet. Hagedorn built a soup-to-nuts medical and fitness center across the street from headquarters. Operated by Whole Health, the 24,000-square-foot facility cost $5 million and can meet pretty much any health-related need an employee might have, including a drive-thru for free prescription drugs. The clinic employs two full-time doctors, five nurses, a dietician, counselor, and two physical therapists. A team of fitness coaches provides personal training sessions for $30 an hour.

Scotts employees are now urged to take exhaustive health-risk assessments. Those who balk pay $40 a month more in premiums. Using data-mining software, Whole Health analysts scour the physical, mental, and family health histories of nearly every employee and cross-reference that information with insurance-claims data. Health coaches identify which employees are at moderate to high risk. All of them are assigned a health coach who draws up an action plan. Those who don't comply pay $67 a month on top of the $40. "We tried carrots," says Benefits Chief Pam Kuryla. "Carrots didn't work."

Many employees found Hagedorn's new policy intrusive. Topic A: the health assessment questionnaires, which asked things like: Do you smoke? Drink? What did your parents die of? Do you feel down, sad, hopeless? Burned out? How is your relationship with your spouse? Your kids? Are you pregnant, diabetic, suffering from high cholesterol? The tobacco ban was controversial, too, especially at the manufacturing plants, where Skoal chewers are common. Hagedorn wasn't unsympathetic. After all, it took his own wife three years to quit smoking. Scotts employees would get all the help they needed.

Workers told the CEO they were angry. Hagedorn concedes the program had Big Brother overtones. But he's adamant about bringing down health costs—even if it means being authoritarian. "If people understand the facts and still choose to smoke, it's suicidal," he says. "And we can't encourage suicidal behavior."

As chief wellness salesman, Hagedorn took it upon himself to motivate employees. He walks around campus joking, slapping guts, and exhorting people to work out. Hagedorn routinely teases Dave Overfield, who toils in the plant and whose weight has soared 40 pounds since he quit chewing tobacco.

"I'm working on it," Overfield tells his boss.

"You better be," Hagedorn shoots back.

The nudging begets peer pressure. Gym rats earn special pins they display on ID badge lanyards; these have become a coveted status object. Competition for trips to Hawaii, free massages and facials, and other cash and prizes is fierce. One group of employees started having lunch together every day to keep each other from peeling out of the parking lot for a smoke. Doughnuts have disappeared. "The message is: If you're not trying to do something to make yourself better, then you're going to pay more," says Kuryla.

Jim Lowe gets that. The 54-year-old forklift driver loved to eat. He started each day with two doughnuts. Lunch was a pair of Whoppers and fries. Nighttime involved a bag of chips, a couch, and a clicker. Lowe's philosophy was simple: "Let's don't go to a place that'll serve us a helping. Let's go to a buffet where you can eat all you want." He weighed 307 pounds.

He was the perfect candidate for the wellness crusade. Before long a dietician was telling Lowe exactly what to eat, and a personal trainer was showing him exactly how to work out. Soon Lowe was losing an average of four pounds a week. Co-workers at the plant began asking if he was taking diet pills. They gossiped that he had had gastric bypass surgery. Lowe proudly told them he was doing it "natural, working out and watching what I eat."

Lowe had always loved the way Wrangler jeans hung on his hero, country singer George Strait. But he couldn't get them in the Big & Tall catalog he ordered everything from. Lowe hadn't been in a clothing store for 15 years. The day he hit his goal of losing 137 pounds, he headed to Kohl's, where he tried on a pair of Wranglers; his eyes filled with tears. "I'm not trying to be Hercules," says Lowe as he pinches his gut between his fingers. "But as you can see, there's not a lot of flab."

So far, the company says, more than 70% of headquarters staff belongs to the fitness center. The smoking-cessation program has already had a 30% success rate. The wellness program, which costs $4 million a year to run, is a financial drain. But the company expects it to pay for itself in three to four years. Other large companies have seen a 3-to-1 return on investment in their wellness programs.

It's all pretty encouraging, except that if Rodrigues wins his case, it could set a precedent and then open the door to big-money lawsuits. So far, Scotts says it has not fired anyone else for using tobacco. In fact, because Rodrigues wasn't employed long enough to pass the probation period, the company argues that he was never officially an employee.

It's impossible to tell how the case will come out because there is so little case law. This much is certain: Rodrigues' lawyer, Harvey A. Schwartz, will argue that Scotts' wellness program amounts to a slippery slope. "Where will all this end?" he asks. "The consumption of alcohol, failure to exercise, skydiving, excessive television viewing, eating processed sugars, owning dangerous pets, flying private aircraft, mountain climbing, downhill ski racing, singlehanded sailing, or spreading toxic chemicals on lawns?"

Where will it all end? Companies ask themselves the same question but from a different angle. In the absence of a solution to the health-care mess, businesses are on an unsustainable path. Hence the rush into wellness. Perhaps that's why Hagedorn is getting leeway from shareholders, including his own family, which controls 30% of the public shares. The stock is up 58% since Scotts launched its wellness program. If Hagedorn pulls this off, he'll be a hero in boardrooms around the country.

By Michelle Conlin

Vista got an F from MIT

2007-02-14T03:23:00.001+07:00

Windows Vista Flunks At MIT

The reason? The software isn't yet ready for 'productive and safe computing.'

Feb 9, 2007 - By Paul McDougall

Courtesy of InformationWeek

Tech staffers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are warning professors and administrators at the school -- host to one of the country's most prestigious computer science departments -- not to upgrade desktops or laptops to Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system because the software isn't yet ready for "productive and safe computing," according to an internal statement posted on MIT's Web site.
Specifically, MIT's department of information services and technology is warning computer users at the school away from the Enterprise Edition of Windows Vista. The reason, according to the Web posting, is that many critical security and productivity applications aren't yet compatible with the OS.
Among the applications or utilities that MIT's IS&T department is concerned about are Cisco's VPN client, Mathematica technical computing software, MIT's Athena Clusters authenticated printing environment, and SAP's SAPgui graphical user interface for SAP R/3.
The document indicates that MIT as a whole will begin to migrate to Windows Vista once more compatible applications and utilities become available. One reason: Vista's enhanced energy utilization features alone will save the university more than $1 million annually in reduced energy bills.
For now, though, the following is the IS&T department's recommendation to workers at MIT: "If you are purchasing new computers, we recommend purchasing the machine with Windows XP."

China Daily /Reuters - Berita foto banjir di Indonesia

2007-02-06T12:45:00.001+07:00

Flooded Indonesia

(Reuters) Updated: 2007-02-05 11:25

Indonesian children play at a flooded rice field at Serpong district near Jakarta on February 4, 2007. Floods in the Indonesian capital have killed at least nine people and made nearly 200,000 people homeless, with the deluge of muddy brown water up to 4 metres (13 feet) deep in some areas of Jakarta, officials said on Sunday.

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-02-05 11:25

Residents use an inflatable raft as they evacuate from their homes at a flooded area in Jatiasih district, near Jakarta February 4, 2007.

An aerial view of a flooded residential area is seen in Jakarta February 4, 2007.

An aerial view of floods is seen in Jakarta February 4, 2007.

Residents evacuate a woman and her daughter after they were trapped in their flooded house in Jakarta

A rescue team patrols in a rubber boat to search for residents trapped in a flooded residential area in Jakarta

Washington Post : Perjalanan menelusuri Indonesia (Sumbar, Mentawai, Jawa)

2007-02-01T04:58:00.001+07:00

In Indonesia

For a month, he explored its islands, met its people -- and glimpsed its soul.

By John Auchard
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, January 28, 2007; P01

"There are a hundred ways you can die on this boat," the captain told us. The South African surfers squeezed their beer cans, and I recalled Samuel Johnson's judgment that being on a boat is like being in jail with a chance of being drowned.

When I'd met Chris McCarthy at the bar of the Hotel Batang Arau in the West Sumatran capital of Padang, he'd told me about his Laut India, a big wild boat modeled on a vessel sailed by the old Bugi pirates. (It is from them that we get our word "boogeyman.")

The American expat said that in two days he was taking world-class surfers out to the Mentawai Islands west of Sumatra, to the best barrel waves in the world. He spoke of animist tribes and of old men with ferocious full-facial tattoos. He said that if I came along, I would eat fish that did not have names.

At the outset I wish to state that aside from McCarthy's advice not to fall into the sea at midnight, I felt no vibration of fear or any threat anywhere during my month-long stay in the largest Muslim country in the world. I was welcomed wherever I went. Although the first thing I learned to say in Indonesian was "Saya orang Amerika" ("I am an American"), when people asked my nationality, I sometimes made them guess.

Only one man guessed right, perhaps because American travelers are now rare in Indonesia. The morning I made my way to McCarthy's boat, the schoolchildren (many Indonesians speak English, and children generally try) who surrounded me were thrilled to meet someone from the United States. When they asked if I knew "Little Bush" or his father, "Big Bush," I shook my head. They shot me tender, pitying smiles, slumped their shoulders in terrible disappointment, waved and walked away.

During a summer month when very bad news kept coming out of the Middle East, I was hit by an anti-American slur only once. Yes, it was only possibly a slur, but it really hurt. Standing at a busy Yogyakarta intersection, I was wearing a rock-and-roll T-shirt and super-cool baggy shorts from a local vendor. I had just put on reading glasses to check the map, and a salesman was on me. We chatted in English about nothing, and then the topic changed to batiks. Once he started, he wouldn't let up, and he kept at it until I made it clear I was not going to buy anything.

I was way too tough -- five weeks earlier, an earthquake had shattered his city. He looked me over one last time, gave up and turned away. "Oh, do what you like," he said. Then he stopped, turned back and delivered his heartless and pitiless attack: "Yes, do what you wish," he hissed, "Mister David Letterman!"

Outcast Islands

Bali is the Indonesian island most people know, but there are more than 17,500 other islands in the 3,000-mile archipelago of the fourth-largest country in the world, which has a population of about 250 million.

A city boy myself, I mostly wanted to see Yogyakarta, on densely populated Java. Indonesia's intellectual and artistic center, the city -- pronounced Joe-Jakarta, often called just Jogja -- is the home of world-class ancient monuments, theaters, dance, museums, music, many universities, and hip-hop bars. But since I recognized that a visit to Indonesia needed at least a stab at nature, I decided to start my trip on wild Sumatra, where in the local language, "orang" means "person" and "utan" means "jungle."

I did not get far with the nature plan. I regret that. At my hotel in Padang, a businessman from London summed up his month-long trek (with a great guide) in the Sumatran rain forests: "I was bitten on the bum -- twice -- by everything that can bite you on your bum. But I saw astounding things and it was the time of my life."

A Henry James scholar in my day job, I had not planned for anything like a surfing trip with eight sunburned South African men and a stunning South African woman named Charmaine. That first night, I was odd man out as everyone downed beers and stroked their surfboards.

McCarthy, a generous, charismatic American who could manage to put heart into just passing the salt, noticed me sitting apart (I was reading and had just learned that 19th-century sailors used pieces of rope as napkins, and when the ropes got thick with grease, they lit them as candles). He glanced down at my book and said he was really going to have to find me a boogie board.

That first night and then each night, after the fish were grilled and the dinner was done, after McCarthy's Indonesian crew had cleaned the kitchen and had tossed the stray bones into the sea, they had a few hours to themselves. While the surfers hunkered down over beer and talked about pig-dog barrels and 20-meter-high roof-riding floaters, the Mentawai Islands crewmen emerged on deck.

A few of them had ancient animist tattoos traced on their backs. As the Laut India sliced through the Indian Ocean, they reclined on the cabin roof or climbed the masts, and they talked and laughed, and then sang almost forgotten island songs to the moon. The sea was infinite, the sky black, the stars amazing and the songs haunting. They all said they wanted to marry, and they all said, "But not yet."

The nine South Africans, and even McCarthy and his crew on their 39th voyage, knew such idyllic nights were precious, as did I. But when I got back to port in Padang, I was corrected on a couple of points. A travel agent there turned out to be the fiancee of McCarthy's Indonesian navigator, and she told me that not one of the crew was a Mentawai islander, and none of them knew any ancient songs. They were, Sheree said, probably singing lazy Indonesian pop. All of them, she said, were Minangkabaus from the Sumatran mainland, and all of them were Muslim. Since tattoos are forbidden by the Koran, the tattooed ones, the ones with the long floral ribbons burned into their backs, had sinned against Allah. They do it, she said, because surfers have them. They want to be cool, like them.

The Minangkabau

Sheree recommended that I leave the steamy coast and visit Bukittinggi, a hill town famous for the unique Minangkabau expression of Islam. Two hours by car from Padang, its main streets are lined with restaurants, jazz bars and fast-food joints. There were constant calls to prayer from the great mosque, and behind them persistent tunes from ice cream trucks. Otherwise, since the 2002 bombings more than a thousand miles away in Bali, this once-thriving and still-fascinating tourist center has been far too quiet.

Yusmarni Djalius, a professor at Padang's Andalas University, had spoken to me of Bukittinggi as the heart of the world's largest matrilineal society, the Minangkabau. "High property" among the Minangkabau -- the land and the long, buffalo-horned houses that best establish cultural identity and authority -- is always inherited by women. And Djalius said Minangkabau husbands are in fact considered invited guests in their wives' homes. They can earn money and buy "low property" for themselves, but they understand it will rarely approach the pedigree, or the bulk, of what their wives have inherited and will pass down to their daughters.

Four million Minangkabau live on Sumatra. Strict Muslims who find no conflict with the Koran, they claim authority for their tradition in nature, where the female is everywhere seen to protect her offspring, and therefore the larger community, more fiercely and with more care than does the male. Frequently given better educations than the men, Minangkabau women seem to run most offices and banks in West Sumatra. When Djalius was completing her own graduate degree at Michigan State University, an adviser recommended that she take a women's studies course. She responded that she would much prefer to take a course about men. She had been raised, she said, to think of men as rather insecure.

(Back on the Laut India, McCarthy's Minangkabau cook had called a Minangkabau husband "a fly on a buffalo's tail." Although he has married a non-Minangkabau woman, he is proud that because of his Minangkabau upbringing, he and his wife have not fought once. He likes making most decisions, even financial ones, and yet he admits that things generally go better when women control the money. He was kind enough to offer me another bit of Minangkabau wisdom, that if mama's not happy, nobody's happy.)

Sheree had recommended a day trip to the volcanic lake Danau Maninjau, two hours west of Bukittinggi. When I hired a cab, Ilhu, a friend of the driver, asked if he could tag along. During lunch on the shore of the splendid crater, a restaurant owner wore a porcupine-quill necklace and handed me a business card identifying him as "Mr. Porcupine." When he spoke of cooking monkey and porcupine, it unsettled Ilhu. After our meal, Mr. Porcupine gave no warning when he uncovered a vat of squalid whiskey in which a deer fetus was half-submerged. I flinched at the sight of the slimy waxen thing, but Ilhu, who had just announced that his favorite food was KFC, was horrified by it. When it was time to head back to Bukittinggi, Ilhu said he felt sick and asked for the comfortable front seat. As I slumped down in the beaten-up back seat, I doubted that Ilhu, now chatting happily, was sick at all, and so when the car lurched through a cloud of bats, I asked him if he ever "ate bat." "Only when I get hungry," he answered after a moment. "KFB," he added.

This sharp young man spoke of moving to Chicago and of swimming in Lake Michigan. When I asked what would happen if people like him left Sumatra, he insisted that "Minangkabau will never die!" He lost patience when I assumed that Minangkabau women might have ceremonial power in a Muslim society, but nothing real.

I paid the taxi driver and thanked Ilhu. But before I headed back to Padang for my flight to Yogyakarta, I sought him out at the restaurant he had said belonged to his aunt. Smiling, coy and pretty, the aunt greeted me warmly as a customer, but when she understood I was only trying to locate her nephew, she lost interest. Still, she remained vaguely courteous and giggled at almost everything I said. But it became clear that she understood no English at all, and soon she was off doing numerous clanging things. When I tried to explain that Il had been an excellent guide, she did not get it and laughed and fluttered off to set another table.

To her back, I futilely explained that I had wanted to thank him . . . and give him . . . some money. She stopped setting the table. It took time before her head began its turn, and now the eyes that slid over my face were cold. "Tell me," she said in crisp, clear English, "how much money."

The Earthquake

The day after I bought my ticket to Indonesia, a devastating earthquake hit Yogyakarta, and that night I e-mailed my contacts to ask if at such a time it would be inappropriate for a travel writer to come. They said that they needed people to write about their city now more than ever.

Earthquakes are brief hells, and the one that hit south Java on May 27, 2006, killing 6,000 people, destroying 100,000 homes and leaving 400,000 homeless, lasted less than a minute.

On my first day in Yogyakarta, Alaster Thomas, an English expat, told me how he had become an aid worker "in 54 seconds." I had just arrived from the airport, where I had been handed a pack of dust masks, for although the aftershocks were mostly over, there were still moments when the air went gray with ash and dust.

Alaster related how, minutes after the earthquake, his Indonesian wife, Rani, had left their infant son with her parents and had tried to get home. Rani believes but cannot recall that she was struck twice by motorbikes as she ran through the streets. Just north of Yogyakarta, the Merapi volcano had been threatening for weeks, and so panicking crowds began fleeing south. In cartoons you can run a few feet ahead of lava, but Indonesians know that volcanic debris and poisonous gas can scorch the air at 2,000 degrees and can travel up to 90 mph.

Even in this Muslim city, old beliefs do not die, and soon word spread that the spirit of Merapi had kept its peace, but the jealous Queen of the South had brought an earthquake under the sea. So, then, to escape a tsunami, people whipped around and began running north. Fleeing in opposite directions and passing each other on the streets, members of the same families got into arguments about which way to go to stay alive.

On my third day in Yogyakarta, Alaster took me around Bantul, a kampong, or village, where 95 percent of the houses had been destroyed. A family who had taken refuge in a warehouse thanked me for coming and introduced me to a smiling young woman who held up her day-old son. Although I knew that many people in Bantul had lost relatives, it was not until later that day I learned that the young woman's husband had been killed in the earthquake. When I got back to my hotel and looked over my pictures, I erased the ones of her and her child. I had missed what I now saw: that her smile was an exhausting attempt to convince me, her family, her child and herself that in some way she was happy.

At a bar near my hotel, another expat spoke of his visit to Bantul, where he, too, had gone to offer help. But less than 48 hours after the quake, and amid nothing but rubble, the mother of one of his workers was most of all upset that she had no chair for her son's guest. She ordered her boy to go into the debris and dig around until he found something their visitor could sit on. After kindling a fire with splinters, she prepared tea, and when she bent down to serve it to Steven, she apologized that her house was in such a state. There was in fact nothing left of the house. Three weeks later, the young Belgian businessman choked up as he recalled her courtesy.

Back to Life

Within feet of just such phantasmagoric rubble, the staff at the Duta Guest House kept up nonstop smiles as life was returning to their street. The Jalan Prawirotaman is lined with small hotels, galleries, bars, art studios, antiques shops and restaurants, and in good times it teems with tourists. During my days there, I mainly met international volunteer workers, and local artists including Arie Dyanto, who also dug through the ruins and found shelter for the homeless.

I talked with Arie about Indonesia and about the United States, where he had visited during a 2003 Ford Foundation exchange with some San Francisco urban mural painters. When I asked what had surprised him most about my country, he said that everything there was made in China. He primarily spoke of New York as the home of CBGB, the recently defunct punk club where the Red Hot Chili Peppers got their start. And when I asked him to name someone he would really like to meet, he said David Bowie. So I was surprised that he had set the goal of climbing the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to place his foot atop the concrete footprint of Sylvester Stallone -- his boyhood hero. Arie was appalled that Rocky's foot turned out to be smaller and narrower than his own. Sylvester Stallone, as I later discovered, has broad celebrity in Indonesia. Recent dictionaries translate the Indonesian verb "deRambo" as "to annihilate completely."

I was prepared to encounter Islamic fundamentalism in Yogyakarta, but I found a powerfully eclectic and open city. I had not expected that a commercial for a Barry Manilow CD would interrupt the local broadcast of "Desperate Housewives," or that a record store clerk would recommend an album by Matisyahu, the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic reggae/rapper from Brooklyn Heights. A university student who drove me around Yogyakarta had a big "I {heart} Jesus" sticker on her motorcycle helmet, and in the alternative-clothing store named Whatever!, a genial young clerk had "No Ejaculation" printed on his T-shirt. He was a hit with girls buying boots.

That night, when the Via Via Cafe reopened near my hotel, a pretty young Indonesian woman slid into Cole Porter's "Electric eels do it . . ." while a bass player with a shaved head grinned at her. Every Thursday night at an art gallery near Via Via, young artists, most of them dressed in black and all of them with exceedingly interesting eyewear, gather to unleash their fiery hearts -- into badminton. I had not known that a shuttlecock could travel 200 mph or inspire unreal frenzy among the congenitally cool. Then there was the conservatively dressed young woman from an Islamic university who objected when her friend, also wearing a full jilbab revealing only her face, told me that Britney Spears was her favorite star. Mild hell broke loose, in rapid Indonesian. Eventually the friend changed her mind: Oprah.

Perhaps an exceptionally volatile landscape has something to do with a winning taste for the dramatic that frequently struck me in Indonesia. During a short stay in Jakarta, from where I was to catch a flight back home, I asked my waiter if the Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center was near the restaurant. He had to think about it. "If I told you it was close," he said, "I would be lying." I nodded. "If I told you it was far," he added, as he hunched down and locked his eyes on mine, "again I would be lying." I waited a moment and then asked if it was in the middle. "Yes," he said, and he served me my chicken.

The Volcano

Until 1820, when Indonesia's Dutch colonial masters began unearthing it, Borobudur had been buried for centuries under vines, bones, orchids and volcanic ash. Built in the eighth and ninth centuries of 20 million blocks of stone, it was abandoned around the first millennium, probably because of the nearby Merapi volcano. On the outskirts of Yogyakarta and today a World Heritage Site, the Borobudur stupa, or shrine, is bigger by far than any other Buddhist thing in the world. Although it once served a magnificent purpose, today no one knows what it was.

Its high terrace provides a panorama of 400 Buddhas and the promise of arupadhatu, or formless calm, and aerial views reveal a precise mathematical balance few could have guessed from below. But from up close on the ground, Borobudur looks too charged for peace, and from there it shows best. Poised on a plateau like a stupendous spiky heap, it shoots out excrescences and it is threatening enough. The surrounding landscape is misty, mountainous, lush and boundless, and just over there to the right, the fantastic volcano spits up smoke.

There are many different kinds of volcanoes in Indonesia, and some can spit up other things than smoke and lava. Just two days after the Yogyakarta earthquake, the Sidoarjo volcano near Surabaya in eastern Java started spewing mud, up to 150,000 cubic meters of it a day, and eight months later this volcano has wiped out four villages, with no end to the eruption in sight. (Researchers report that the blowout was "almost certainly man-made," the result of a drilling expedition that was probing for natural gas.)

Whatever their peculiar expression, all of Indonesia's 129 active volcanoes have an unrivaled ancestry. When the greatest volcano in the last 2 million years erupted on Sumatra 70,000 years ago, the explosion was a thousand times the size of Krakatoa's (of higher publicity, because by 1883 there were newspaper reporters on site) and over 6,000 times that of Vesuvius. Toba's force left a hole of incomprehensible magnitude, and today the immense Danau Toba crater spans an area nine times that of the District of Columbia. When in 1815 Tambora erupted in central Indonesia, its blast was four times the size of Krakatoa's. Although tiny compared with Toba, Tambora spewed enough pyroclastic ash to circle the globe, blot out the sun and cause a "year without summer" that brought snow to London in August. When crops failed in Europe, there were riots in the streets.

North of Yogyakarta, in the elegant garden of Hani's Restaurant, I did not know that the Merapi volcano was even out there when a molten, swollen, orange surge suddenly appeared in the night sky. Everyone in the restaurant lifted their eyes above the looming jungle that bordered the garden, and everyone watched the spectacular show. I am weak on nature and know nothing of jungly vegetation, so when Merapi calmed down, I asked Alaster and Rani to identify the menacing plants. "Corn," Rani answered. This was a surprise. "Are you sure?" "I'm sure," she said. Naturally I informed her that corn was not indigenous to Asia, but in fact had come from the Americas. "I don't think so," she said. I insisted I was right. "I'll check," she said.

In a city of more than 50 universities, motorbikes outnumber cars 20 to one, and Alaster Thomas's SUV was soon in the middle of a wave of bikes that were just leaning into a curve. In the back seat, I was fretting about the history of the international propagation of maize and corn products. But a month to the day after the earthquake, the beat of life really was coming back.

I saw that on the traffic's outer edge, motorbikes were parting around a man who was standing in the road. His shirt was unbuttoned, his mouth open, his tongue a bit out, and he was looking up at the sky. As if unaware of the steady flow of traffic moving past him on a Saturday night -- hundreds of kids in flashy helmets, Muslim boys in baseball caps, Muslim girls in jilbabs -- he stared in the direction of the volcano and he stroked his belly. "How peaceful he looks," Alaster said to Rani, "showing his stomach to the moon."

John Auchard last wrote for Travel about Ethiopia. He is a professor at the University of Maryland.

8 kompetensi dasar yg dibutuhkan pemimpin abad ini

2007-01-31T06:27:00.001+07:00

The eight fundamental skills needed for success in the twenty-first century:

Positioning (and when necessary, repositioning) your business by zeroing in on the central idea that meets customer needs and makes money
Connecting the dots by pinpointing patterns of external change ahead of others
Shaping the way people work together by leading the social system of your business
Judging people by getting to the truth of a person
Molding high-energy, high-powered, high-ego people into a working team of leaders in which they equal more than the sum of their parts
Knowing the destination where you want to take your business by developing goals that balance what the business can become with what it can realistically achieve
Setting laser-sharp priorities that become the road map for meeting your goals
Dealing creatively and positively with societal pressures that go beyond the economic value creation activities of your business.

(Ram Charan)

The More You Have, the More You Want

2007-01-28T09:57:00.001+07:00

Mungkin kebanyakan dari kita berpikir kita harus cari duit lebih banyak.

Cuan lbh gede dan cari sebanyak banyaknya.

Untuk berbagai motif,ada yg bilang saya akan bahagia nanti wktu duit udah banyak.

Kebahagiaan bukan tujuan, itu perjalanannya itu sendiri. Orang sering bilang the good old days, tapi tidak the good now days mungkin ini sebabnya.

Ini di Yahoo Finance ada artikel bagus kali untuk direnungkan, dan hidup lebih bahagia dng apa yg ada. Laura mengatakan bukan mencari lebih banyak lagi tapi bagaimana memanfaatkan yg sudah ada lebih baik. Money management. Mudah mudahan ada gunanya utk bacaan hari minggu pagi.

Laura Rowley Money & Happiness

Making the Most of the Money You Have

by Laura Rowley

Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007, 3:00AM

Nearly 80 percent of U.S. adults say they need more money to feel financially comfortable, and more than a quarter would have to double -- or more than double -- their current income to achieve that goal, according to a new Yahoo! Finance/Harris Interactive survey.

(See the links at the end of this column for the survey questions and answers.)

Instant Dissatisfaction

The survey, conducted earlier this month, looked at five broad areas of financial life: satisfaction with income; awareness of cash on hand; budgeting; obstacles to money management; and work/life balance.

Among the other findings:

• More than half of respondents don't follow a budget
• More than 70 percent say they face a major obstacle to money management
• A quarter would take a cut in pay of more than 15 percent to gain an extra hour a day with family and loved ones

Researchers in the field of well-being said they weren't surprised at the results. "It doesn't matter what the income level is, people always think they need more than they have," says Tim Kasser, a psychology professor at Knox College in Illinois and author of "The High Price of Materialism ."

"The new car is great when you get it, but after six months you get used to it, and then the culture steps in and says, 'Are you dissatisfied? Buy this year's model with heated seats, a global positioning system, and an MP3 player,'" Kasser says.

The More You Have, the More You Want

Studies show that a certain amount of money does indeed make people happier: People who live in wealthy nations report higher levels of happiness than those who live in poor ones.

But excessive wealth seems to raise the happiness bar only slightly. During the 20th century, significant jumps in economic growth and income in developed nations like the United States and Japan have been accompanied by only marginal increases in happiness.

Even the filthy rich -- the Forbes 100 richest Americans -- scored only slightly above the average person on the happiness scale, according to a study by psychology professor Ed Diener at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

"People always want more money and then, when they get more, they end up wanting more again, because they adapt to the kinds of things they buy," explains Richard Easterlin, a professor of economics at the University of Southern California and a pioneer in the research on well-being.

Researchers suggest that people are stuck on a "hedonic treadmill," constantly adapting to the improvement in their material circumstances. "The adaptation and the escalation of goals is very substantial in the monetary area -- but seems to be quite limited in family, health, and other non-monetary domains," says Easterlin.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Envy is another key factor fueling the drive for more. "Everyone knows what kind of car and house the neighbors have -- it's the invidious social comparison that undermines feelings of well-being in the financial arena," says Easterlin.

"People always have this illusion they'll be happier if they make more money. They end up sacrificing family, health, and everything else to make more money when they'd be better off sacrificing money to spend more time on health and family."

On the other hand, 48 percent of survey respondents say they do want more family time -- they just don't want to give up a huge amount of salary to make it happen.

Rich in Time

How much would people sacrifice to spend an extra hour a day with family or loved ones? A quarter would only give up 5 percent of their salary; 15 percent would sacrifice 10 percent of their income; 4 percent would give up 20 percent of pay; and 5 percent would tolerate a cut of more than 20 percent.

The group who most desired time rather than the money? Men age 45 to 54, with 61 percent reporting they would make the tradeoff. "We're one of few nations in the world without a mandatory vacation policy or a maximum limit on the amount of overtime you can ask someone to work," says Kasser. "We're time-poverty-stricken."

Kasser has conducted a variety of studies that found people who are "time affluent" are happier than those who are materially affluent. "Time-affluent people had more time to spend engaged in activities focused on personal growth, friends, and family and contributing to community" -- all essential factors in happiness, he explains.

Meanwhile, experts agree that financial comfort can be achieved by carefully managing the money you have -- something 23 percent of survey respondents said they don't have the knowledge to do.

A Knowledge Vacuum

Among women age 45 to 54, roughly one-third cite "lack of knowledge" as a hurdle in managing their money. "That's the tail end of baby boom women, where women are still at a disadvantage because they may not have had that exposure in their families," says Candace Bahr, a financial planner and co-founder of the Women's Institute for Financial Education.

Bahr, 53, says she learned about money at the kitchen table with her father, a blue-collar worker who invested in stocks whenever he had extra money. "I got that training through osmosis, but a lot of my contemporaries didn't," says Bahr. "It was an uncomfortable subject for some people -- and that lack of training as children can be hard to overcome."

While women report lacking information, men don't have the time, or curiosity. Most likely to lack the time and interest to manage their money: Men ages 35 to 44, at 29 percent and 17 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, boomer women are most likely to follow a budget: 56 percent of women age 45 to 54 said they crunch the numbers, compared to 44 percent of respondents overall. Second most likely: Someone who is widowed, separated, or divorced; more than half of that group reporting using a budget.

"A spending plan helps people connect the consequences with the choices they are making," says Karen McCall, a financial counselor and founder of the Financial Recovery Counseling Institute in San Rafael, Calif. "If people are constantly wondering every time they spend money 'Is it OK? Is it not OK?' there can be a lot of guilt, shame, and negative consequences."

Getting What You Need

Just as important as devising a plan is tracking how you spent against your budget, McCall says. "If you're not sticking to it, it's for one of three reasons: You didn't plan enough from the beginning; something came up that truly could not have anticipated; or 'I saw it, I wanted it, I bought it.'"

If it's the latter, McCall says, there may be an emotional trigger behind the wayward spending. For instance, a workaholic will say 'I deserve this' and buy something to feel better, instead of recognizing she would be better served by taking more time to exercise, be with friends and family, or volunteer.

"People should do a thorough inventory of how they are and are not taking care of themselves, and make a list of how they can meet those needs," McCall says. "They may be frittering money away on things they don't need -- and we can never get enough of what we don't need."

The Yahoo! Finance/Harris Interactive Survey

Click each question to see the answer in graphical form:

1. How accurately can you recall how much money is in your primary bank account (i.e., your checking account, or other account from which you draw your daily expenses)?

2. Have you ever tried to manage your money by using a budget?

3. What is the biggest obstacle you face regarding financial planning and money management?

4. What percent reduction in your household income would you be willing to take if it meant gaining an extra hour each day with your family or loved ones?

5. How much more money would you need to have coming in to your household to make you feel financially comfortable?

Jaringan KA Trans Asia

2007-01-21T17:43:00.000+07:00

Jaringan KA Trans Asia

Kutipan dari : Kompas Kamis, 13 April 2006

Disetujui, Jaringan KA Asia

Sidang UNESCAP Hasilkan 12 Deklarasi Jakarta untuk Peningkatan Kerja

Jakarta, kompas -

Meski tidak terkait dengan negara-negara Pasifik, Sidang ke-62 Komisi Ekonomi dan Sosial untuk Asia Pasifik PBB yang berakhir Rabu (12/4), menghasilkan perjanjian antarpemerintah tentang jaringan kereta api Trans-Asia atau TAR. Selain perjanjian TAR itu, sidang UNESCAP juga menghasilkan 12 Deklarasi Jakarta yang mencakup peningkatan kerja sama di berbagai bidang pembangunan di antara negara-negara anggota UNESCAP.

Hal itu dijelaskan Menteri Luar Negeri RI yang sekaligus juga Ketua Sidang ke-62 UNESCAP Hassan Wirajuda seusai penutupan sidang UNESCAP. "Jaringan KA Trans-Asia merupakan satu tahapan menuju terwujudnya visi sistem transportasi intermoda internasional terintegrasi untuk seluruh kawasan," ungkap Sekretaris Eksekutif UNESCAP Kim Hak-su. Hassan menjelaskan, perjanjian KA Trans-Asia itu akan dibuka untuk ditandatangani negara-negara anggota pada November 2006 mendatang, saat pertemuan para menteri perhubungan, di Korea Selatan.

Jaringan KA Trans-Asia itu, diungkapkan Menlu, tidak berarti membangun sebuah jaringan baru, tetapi memanfaatkan jaringan KA yang sudah ada di masing-masing negara dan kemudian mengoneksikannya antarnegara.

"Tentu saja itu tidak berarti kita tidak membutuhkan banyak dana. Ada banyak dana yang dibutuhkan untuk itu," jelasnya. Jaringan KA Trans-Asia itu panjang keseluruhannya berdasarkan hasil studi yang sudah dibuat pada tahun 1996 sampai 2001 adalah 81.000 km, melibatkan 28 negara di kawasan Asia. Tujuan dari pembangunan jaringan ini adalah untuk memberikan jasa transportasi yang efisien di antara wilayah UNESCAP dan antara Asia dan Eropa, serta memberikan akses yang lebih baik kepada negara-negara yang tidak memiliki lautan, untuk bisa menggunakan pelabuhan-pelabuhan laut utama di negara tetangganya.

Pembangunan infrastruktur

Menurut Menlu, ada dua deklarasi yang penting mendapat perhatian, yaitu Deklarasi Jakarta tentang Peningkatan Kerja Sama Pembangunan Infrastruktur dan Upaya Mencapai Tujuan-tujuan Pembangunan Millenium (MDGs) di negara-negara anggota ESCAP. Kedua, Deklarasi mengenai Kerja Sama Regional dalam Penyiapan Sistem Peringatan Dini Tsunami melalui pemanfaatan Multy Donor Voluntary Trust Fund yang saat ini tersedia sebesar 12,5 juta dollar.

Hassan menegaskan, pembangunan infrastruktur merupakan masalah penting di Indonesia, baik dalam hal transportasi, energi, air, maupun listrik. Meski demikian, ditambahkan, ada kesenjangan finansial dalam soal pembangunan infrastruktur di kawasan ini, yang diperkirakan mencapai 180 miliar dollar AS per tahunnya.

Pimpinan UNESCAP menguraikan, berdasarkan perkiraan kebutuhan pembangunan infrastruktur yang meliputi lima bidang yaitu transportasi, energi, air dan sanitasi, teknologi informasi, dan infrastruktur di wilayah yang terkait bencana, untuk kawasan Asia-Pasifik diperlukan investasi di bidang infrastruktur sebesar 600 miliar dollar AS per tahunnya.

Penghitungan ADB pun mencatat adanya kesenjangan investasi infrastruktur di kawasan ini sebesar 180 miliar dollar AS per tahunnya. Hak-su mengungkapkan, dalam sidang memang dibahas empat opsi untuk mengatasi kesenjangan pendanaan, yaitu memperbesar Bank Pembangunan Asia (ADB) dengan konsentrasi lebih besar pada pendanaan infrastruktur.

Kedua, mendirikan sebuah Bank Investasi Asia untuk proyek-proyek infrastruktur.

Ketiga, memperlebar pasar obligasi Asia yang sekarang ini sekitar dua miliar dollar AS.

Keempat, memanfaatkan bank- bank regional untuk menghimpun dana bagi investasi infrastruktur. "Debat mengenai opsi mana yang akan dipilih belum tuntas.

Namun, Deklarasi Jakarta memberi kepada saya mandat untuk mempelajarinya lebih jauh semua opsi itu," jelas Hak-su sambil menambahkan bahwa dalam sidang UNESCAP ini para delegasi umumnya berlatar belakang politik, sedangkan isu pendanaan adalah isu ekonomi yang membutuhkan keahlian ekonomi. Pengkajian lebih jauh keempat opsi itu akan dilakukan dalam empat sampai lima bulan ke depan, termasuk oleh negara-negara anggota ESCAP. (OKI)

Network-based Marketing:

2007-01-21T15:57:00.000+07:00

Network-based Marketing: Using Existing Customers to Help Sell to New Ones

Published: January 10, 2007 in Knowledge@Wharton
This article has been read 10,492 Times

Marketers have long used all sorts of demographic and geographic data to target potential customers -- age, sex, education level, income, zip code. But there's another variable that companies may want to consider: Who is connected to whom?

A study, co-authored by Shawndra Hill, Wharton professor of operations and information management, found that consumers are far more apt to buy a company's product if they are "network neighbors" with existing customers. Mining data from "social networks" -- who talks to whom or who emails whom -- could allow companies to pinpoint likely customers who otherwise would be overlooked. Hill, Foster Provost of NYU's Stern School and Chris Volinsky of AT&T Labs Research detail their findings in a paper titled, "Network-Based Marketing: Identifying Likely Adopters via Consumer Networks," published in May 2006 in the Journal of Statistical Science.

"One of the main concerns for any firm is when, how and to whom they should market their products," the authors write. "We provide strong evidence that whether and how well a consumer is linked to existing customers is a powerful characteristic on which to base direct marketing decisions. Our results indicate that a firm can benefit from the use of social networks to predict the likelihood of purchasing."

The study examines the influence of social networks by studying a large telecommunications firm that was marketing a new service. '"Network neighbors -- those consumers linked to a prior customer -- adopt the service at a rate three to five times greater than baseline groups selected by the best practices of the firm's marketing team," the study finds. "In addition, analyzing the network allows the firm to acquire new customers who otherwise would have fallen through the cracks, because they would not have been identified based on traditional attributes."

While the research focuses on people linked by way of a telecommunications company, the findings can apply to other social networks, such as MySpace and Facebook, according to Hill. "What these networks are enabling you to do is find likely customers who you may not have complete information on. The networks enable you to find potential customers who are linked to your existing customer base."

The concept of network marketing -- a recognition that links between consumers help sell a product -- is not new. Often it involves word of mouth. If someone recommends a new restaurant to friends and acquaintances, who then in turn tell others about it, the network effect is at work. A famous person may be able to create a huge network of believers around a given product. Hill's paper offers the example of Oprah's Book Club. The TV star recommends a book to her viewers and suddenly it becomes a hit. Likewise, marketers helped create a buzz around The Da Vinci Code by mailing 10,000 free books to influential individuals and booksellers.

Some network marketing involves "implicit" rather than "explicit" advocacy, the paper notes. For instance, a woman carrying a designer handbag is, in effect, marketing the purse even if she doesn't tell her friends or coworkers that they should buy one. "Firms commonly capitalize on influential individuals (such as athletes) to advocate products simply by conspicuous adoption," the authors write.

The availability of vast databases of information these days can allow companies to do "network targeting," taking advantage of documented links between consumers. While traditional marketing research can offer detailed profiles of potential customers, and that's certainly useful, it doesn't reveal the social connections that exist between consumers.

The researchers focused on a large telecommunications firm that was marketing a new Internet-based communications service. The company organized a direct-mail campaign to target potential customers for the service using various demographic and geographic characteristics. Because the service involved new technology, the targeted group was deemed likely to be interested in high tech.

The company also made a marketing pitch to another group -- people who were "network neighbors," meaning they communicated with an existing customer of the service. (Company records allowed the researchers to see who communicated with whom, though names were kept anonymous.) "People who communicated with a customer who already had the service were more likely to purchase the product than people not communicating with someone in the network, about 3.4 times more likely," Hill says.

The take rate was highest for those "network neighbors" who were already considered good prospects using traditional marketing attributes: They were almost five times more likely to buy the service than people who did not communicate with an existing customer. But even "network neighbors" who were considered poor prospects using traditional marketing methods were about three times more likely to buy the service than consumers who looked like good prospects but had no connection to a customer.

"It is tempting to argue that we have shown that customers discuss the product and that discussion helps to improve take rates," the researchers write. But they could not prove that. "Telecommunications firms are not legally able to collect information regarding the actual content of the communication, so we are not able to determine if the consumers in question discussed the product," they note.

Another possibility is that because people often tend to talk to people like themselves, their buying tastes would be similar regardless of whether they ever discuss the product. "Social theory tells us that people who communicate with each other are more likely to be similar to each other, a concept called homophily," the researchers point out. "...Linked consumers probably are like-minded, and like-minded consumers tend to buy the same products."

It's possible, Hill says, that by tapping into consumer networks, companies are taking advantage of certain attributes that aren't identifiable through traditional marketing research. "It may well be that direct communications between people is a better indicator of deep similarity than any demographic or geographic attributes," the researchers write. In other words, who you talk to may be more important than where you live.

Gadgets vs. Grapes

Companies are forever looking for ways to identify and target potential customers; being able to do it better could both save them money and increase profits. Marketing campaigns are expensive and not effective if the right people aren't targeted. "Firms make marketing decisions based on how much they know about their customers and potential customers," the researchers say. "They may choose to mass market when they do not know much. With more information, they may market directly based on observed characteristics."

According to Hill, taking network data into consideration could help companies better focus and fine tune their marketing efforts, even when a company has the best marketing research at its disposal. But would the "network effect" work the same with all types of products? Hill and her team tried to answer that. "We expect the network-neighbor effect to manifest itself differently for different types of products," they write.

Specifically, they note, people are more likely to talk about "a new, high-tech gadget or a recently released movie. We expect there to be less buzz for less 'sexy' products, like a new deodorant or a sale on grapes at the supermarket."

The researchers were able to test that theory because the telecommunications firm happened to be selling two products, its new Internet service and a new pricing plan. While network neighbors were far more likely to buy the new service, the "network effect" was not as pronounced when it came to signing up for the new pricing plan. "This difference might be due to the new service creating more word-of-mouth or perhaps we are seeing the effects of homophily," they write. Again, without knowing the content of the conversations, they couldn't say what was at play.

The researchers suggest that their findings could prove useful for a variety of companies, not just telecommunications businesses. "For example, eBay recently purchased Internet-telephony upstart Skype for $2.6 billion; they now also will have large-scale, explicit data on who talks to whom," they write. "With gmail, Google's email service, Google now has access to explicit networks of consumer interrelationships and already is using gmail for marketing; directed network-based marketing might be a next step."

In addition, social networking sites such as MySpace, Friendster and Facebook could be "fruitful fields for network-based marketing." Blogs, which tend to attract people with similar interests, could also be harnessed.

As for concerns about privacy issues that are raised when companies use a customer's personal information to help sell their products, Hill acknowledges that firms that use direct target marketing walk a fine line between generating value for their consumers and intruding on their privacy. But, she says, "we show in our study that a wider variety of consumers are made aware of cost effective telecommunications products than would be aware of them without the targeted marketing strategy. Overall, the cost savings and additional features result in tangible benefits to the targeted consumers."

Ultimately, she says, "firms own their customers' data -- including email content and MySpace messages -- and legally can use it for such purposes as target marketing and fraud detection. Therefore, consumers should be aware that when they reveal both traditional and social network personal information to firms, this information might be used for target marketing or other purposes."

Hill has presented these findings and follow-up research at several conferences this year, including one on social networking sponsored by Yahoo. As more data that can be used to directly link consumers becomes available, the potential for network marketing will grow, she predicts.

She and her co-authors presented an interesting scenario of how even academic departments might take advantage of network marketing. "The enrollment in specialized classes could be bolstered by 'marketing' to those linked to existing students," they write. "Such links exist (e.g., via e-mail). It remains to design tactics for using them that are acceptable to all."

The full paper, "Network-Based Marketing: Identifying Likely Adopters via Consumer Networks" can be found at http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/math/pdf/0606/0606278.pdf

B.O.S.

2007-01-21T15:44:00.000+07:00

Out of the box thinking, beyond the rigid rules and regulation, beyond the boundaries.

What if the fossil fuel disappeared as many already predicted? Are we doomed to be a Mad Maxian society?

The human challenge and so far we have managed quite allright is the ability to think out of the box. That is my friend part of our human survival instinct, isn't it?

It is about arrogances that we conquer all, although that did happened in the past.

I was impressed with Blue Ocean Strategy for that. If you have time read the book.

Your survival be it in the corporate rat race or the non-profit organisation really not a given.

We must keep seeking the very survival ourselves, it is not up to the government, the consumer or our stake holders.

Perhaps this book will give an in-sight on a methodical manner.

Give me some feedback if you will. After reading about that.

IF you are too lazy to buy or to read it after you bought it, just seek the net for some snipets here and there.

Allright, allright I put it here then:

"Don’t Compete with Rivals—Make Them Irrelevant"

Companies have long engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation.

Yet in today’s overcrowded industries, competing head-on results in nothing but a bloody “red ocean” of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne contend that while most companies compete within such red oceans, this strategy is increasingly unlikely to create profitable growth in the future.

Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries, Kim and Mauborgne argue that tomorrow’s leading companies will succeed not by battling competitors, but by creating “blue oceans” of uncontested market space ripe for growth . Such strategic moves—termed “value innovation”—create powerful leaps in value for both the firm and its buyers, rendering rivals obsolete and unleashing new demand.

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY provides a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant. In this frame-changing book, Kim and Mauborgne present a proven analytical framework and the tools for successfully creating and capturing blue oceans. Examining a wide range of strategic moves across a host of industries, BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY highlights the six principles that every company can use to successfully formulate and execute blue ocean strategies. The six principles show how to reconstruct market boundaries, focus on the big picture, reach beyond existing demand, get the strategic sequence right, overcome organizational hurdles, and build execution into strategy.

Upending traditional thinking about strategy, this landmark book charts a bold new path to winning the future.

Nine Key Points of Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS)

BOS is the result of a decade-long study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than 30 industries over 100 years (1880-2000).
BOS is the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost.
The aim of BOS is not to out-perform the competition in the existing industry, but to create new market space or a blue ocean, thereby making the competition irrelevant.
BOS offers a total set of methodologies and tools to create new market space.
While innovation has been seen as a random/experimental process where entrepreneurs and spin-offs are the primary drivers – as argued by Schumpeter and his followers – BOS offers systematic and reproducible methodologies and processes in pursuit of innovation by both new and existing firms.
BOS frameworks and tools include: strategy canvas, value curve, four actions framework, six paths, buyer experience cycle, buyer utility map, and blue ocean idea index.
These frameworks and tools are designed to be visual in order to not only effectively build the collective wisdom of the company but also to effectively execute through easy communication.
BOS covers both strategy formulation and strategy execution.
The three key conceptual building blocks of BOS are: value innovation, tipping point leadership, and fair process.

My $ 0.02

Jual Tanah di Muarasari, Tajur, Kodya Bogor

Minyak kelapa perawan

Ada teman di Selandia Baru membutuhkan virgin coconut oil approx 20-50kg a month utk produksi makanan disana.

Ada yg tahu dimana bisa mendapatkan supplier yg reliable?

Karakter kita

Coconut virgin oil.. for export

Ada teman di Selandia Baru membutuhkan rutin, grade : virgin coconut oil approx 30-50kg a month bahan tambahan utk produksi makanan disana.

Ada yg tahu dimana bisa mendapatkan supplier yg reliable?

Tlg email saya atau put a comment down here.

Kereta Api Baru di Tiongkok - Zhengzhou - Xi'an (505 km)

Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed train starts operation

(chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2010-02-06 15:02

Menafsirkan politik di Indonesia

Bakrie & Brothers sidewaying...

BUMI per Jumat 29 Jan 10 - Akankah dia rebound Senin?

Gelembung di pasar properti Tiongkok?

Buku buku yg sebaiknya di fahami para pemasar

Jual Kavling di Tajur, Kodya Bogor

6 dasar teori Dow (Charles Dow)

Nelpon bari nyetir = 3 bln penjara (Rp.750.000.- denda)

Satu hari kelak di Jakarta....

Kliping dari Wall Street Journal: Dow mendekati index 10.000, hai hati hati..

A Bear Market Lurks as Dow Nears 10000

By E.S. BROWNING

Taking Stock of Quants in Rally (4:41)

Amnestik

fw: Memoar Ang Yan Goan

Serbuan terhadap hutan tropis

Berapa panjang jaringan rel KA dan jalan bebas hambatan di Tiongkok?

Mari Sakit hati berjamaah

Bank

Nokia goes to Linux

US Coal Price mulai naik lagi,

Harga emas turun lagi dari new high di atas US$ 1000

My $ 0.02: Double dip (W) recession or U Shape?

Double dip (W) recession or U Shape?

Cinamon information from a fellow Blogspotter

Friday, September 12, 2008

Diabetes: Cinnamon Ice Tea

Cinnamon : Diabetes

Konvergensi sebuah contoh

Shanghai must hold

Bangsa serumpun

Pasar Tradisional vs Supermarket

Siapa 3 negeri teratas pemegang US T-Bill

Cadangan Devisa kita cuman 3% dari Tiongkok

Trading saham dng frekwensi tinggi, legal or illegal?

Stock Traders Find Speed Pays, in Milliseconds

Ektrimis dan ketidak adilan pembagian

Janji Teknologi

Doing business in China: A McKinsey Survey

Strategy: Globalization

Survey

Doing business in China: A McKinsey Survey of executives in Asia

Table of Contents

Notes

Table of Contents

The China market

Table of Contents

China as competitor

Table of Contents

Threats to growth

Table of Contents

Assessing and addressing the threats

About the Contributors

Jadi sehat atau ..

COVER STORY PODCAST

Vista got an F from MIT

China Daily /Reuters - Berita foto banjir di Indonesia

Flooded Indonesia

Washington Post : Perjalanan menelusuri Indonesia (Sumbar, Mentawai, Jawa)

8 kompetensi dasar yg dibutuhkan pemimpin abad ini

The More You Have, the More You Want

Mungkin kebanyakan dari kita berpikir kita harus cari duit lebih banyak.

Cuan lbh gede dan cari sebanyak banyaknya.

Untuk berbagai motif,ada yg bilang saya akan bahagia nanti wktu duit udah banyak.

Kebahagiaan bukan tujuan, itu perjalanannya itu sendiri. Orang sering bilang the good old days, tapi tidak the good now days mungkin ini sebabnya.

Ini di Yahoo Finance ada artikel bagus kali untuk direnungkan, dan hidup lebih bahagia dng apa yg ada. Laura mengatakan bukan mencari lebih banyak lagi tapi bagaimana memanfaatkan yg sudah ada lebih baik. Money management. Mudah mudahan ada gunanya utk bacaan hari minggu pagi.

Making the Most of the Money You Have

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-02-06 15:02