The President PostT H E S P I R I T O F I N D O N E S I A www.thepresidentpost.com

December 2012No. 39

IDR 20,000

ENGLISH EDITION

2012 Highlights

PROFILEJeffrey Adrian: I Am ExpensiveSince I Have No RivalsIndonesia to host the Red Bull Air Race World Championship—that is the goal of Jeffrey Adrian, a senior pilot who is now realizing his passion to become an athlete of extreme sports called air racing.. – Page B4

INTERNATIONALCollection of BorobudurTemple Relief Back on Displayat the Vatican MuseumThis collection would encourage the international community to get acquainted with the diversity and richness of Indonesian culture.– Page A7

Mahfud MD’s Leadership UnderscoresCandor and Bluntness

come people that reaches 50 million. The country’s produc-tive human resources have also reached two-thirds of the entire population. The GDP per capita of the middle-class society has hit the $3,000 mark, which en-abled them to help spur the eco-nomic growth.

But Faisal warned Indone-sia not to get easily contented with its more than 6% econom-ic growth because Indonesia has lagged too long, by more than 10 years, behind from other coun-tries. Faisal concluded that to maintain strong and fast eco-nomic growth, the heart of the economy, which is the financial sector, has to be strengthened.

The general global economic condition in 2012 will be closed marked by improvement efforts, especially in crisis-hit countries in Europe, and next year the economy is projected to be better despite occasional turbulences, according to a prominent econ-omist.

“In general, the global econo-my in 2013 is projected to grow by 3.36%, driven by Asia Pacif-ic countries because the growth in half of Europe will still be neg-ative,” said Faisal Basri during the 2013 Economic Prediction event.

Faisal projected that Indonesia would see a much better econom-ic condition, almost matching those of other Asian countries. Foreign investors will also show interest in Indonesia’s economic development. But Indonesia still needs to pay attention to several issues as its foreign exchange is still low, below China (the coun-try with the highest figure), Tai-wan, Thailand, Philippines, Ma-laysia, South Korea.

But, Indonesia is also consid-ered high due to an increase in direct investment. Reports from UNCTAD and World Investment showed that this year Indone-sia is number four in terms of in-vestment destination, after Chi-na, United States, and India.

However, Indonesia still fac-es several problems that need to be addressed such as infrastruc-ture, legal certainties and politi-cal stability, including labor pro-tests, he said.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s GDP growth trend continues to in-crease while the GDP trends of other countries, including the United States, are declining. ”In-donesia’s main economic growth engine is domestic consumption. The second growth engine is in-vestment that grew by two dig-its. Unfortunately, the govern-ment’s consumption is minus,” said Faisal.

Faisal lamented the govern-ment’s lack of contribution in the country’s economy as reflected in the government’s minus con-sumption spending. “Our gov-ernment’s spending is only bet-ter than that of Bangladesh and Nigeria. Its public investment is also the lowest in Asia. So, im-provement in the government sector must continue to take place. With improvements, our economy will be much better,” he explained.

Faisal also predicted that In-donesia’s economy in 2013 will grow by 6.8%. IMF, the Word Bank, and The Economist also projected the same growth for Indonesia. “Once Indonesia’s economic growth becomes phe-nomenal, those international economic institutions will start to pay attention on Indone-sia,” said Faisal.

Indonesia’s main en-gine growth is growing public consumption, he said, adding that growth is also followed by an increase in the num-ber of middle-class in-

He also disclosed that the MK is considered as one of the top in the world by foreigners, on a par with that of European coun-triesm Japan and South Korea.

The topic discussed during the roundtable discussion was “The Constitutional Court’s Function and Legal Problems that Arise Ahead of the 2014 Indonesian General Elections”. The discus-sion was opened by Jababeka President Director SD Darmono and attended by President Uni-versity Foundation Chairman Juwono Sudarsono, Erma-ya Suradinata, General Djoko Santoso, Kalbe Farma founder Boenjamin Setiawan, President University Rector Chandra Set-iawan, AS Hikam, businessmen, members of the media and aca-demicians.

The discussion also touched on Mahfud’s willingness to be nominated as a presidential can-didate in 2014. Polling by the In-donesian Survey Institute (LSI) found Mahfud to be the most popular presidential candidate.

AS Hikam, who is the former State Minister for Research and Technology during President Ab-durrahman Wahid’s administra-tion asked: “Is Pak Mahfud seri-ous about becoming the 2014 presidential candidate?”

Mahfud answered casually by saying, “I don’t have the nerve to even seriously consider it yet, but I’ll think about it later. But I will not push myself. Surely I’m de-lighted to get such appreciation or the chance to become presi-dent, but we should be aware of our capacity.”

The assessment on Mahfud’s worthiness to run for president was based on his traits, which are deemed to have met the cri-teria for a presidential candidate for 2014, such as credibility, ca-pability and acceptability. Many believe that Mahfud could still do many things that the pub-lic expects him to do, not only in MK.

Economist Faisal Basri Urges Strengthening of Financial Sector

Forbes Indonesia has named 50 best listed companies for their outstanding performances.

“We are very happy and hon-ored to give this award to 50 best companies in Indonesia. This event shows that world-class companies have emerged in In-donesia and it also demonstrates that the country has become in-creasingly important in the global business community,” said Chief Editorial Advisor Forbes Indo-nesia Justin Doebele at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Pacific Place, Ja-karta last month.

Jababeka Industrial Area (KIJA) is one of the listed compa-nies that made the list with in-come of $126 million and prof-it of $36 million. KIJA is involved in the development and man-agement of an industrial area in Cikarang, West Java, including its supporting facilities, such as houses, apartments, office build-ings, shopping centers, infra-structure and others.

The company was established in 1989, it has been listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange and the Surabaya Stock Exchange since 1994, making it the first industri-al area developer to go public in Indonesia.

Forbes Indonesia (FI) conduct-ed a strict selection process on the candidates by looking at their long term performances that in-cluded their income growth, prof-its, and the yields they gave to the shareholders. To be included in the list, a company must have strong general performance as seen from several indicators and long term prospects.

Jababeka One of ForbesIndonesia’s 50 Best

Ekadharma International, In-traco Penta, Sarana Menara Nusantara, Tower Bersama In-frastructure, Wijaya Karya, Hex-indo Adiperkasa, Sumber Alfar-ia Trijaya, Surya Citra Media, Colorpak Indonesia, Eksploitasi Energi Indonesia.

The list also includes Holcim Indonesia, Nippon Indosari Cor-pindo, Pioneerindo Gourmet In-ternational, Sentul City, Tra-da Maritime, Agung Podomoro Land, Asuransi Multi Artha Guna, Bank Windu Kentjana International, Bumi Serpong Damai, Catur Sentosa Adipra-ma, Charoen Pokphand Indo-nesia, Fast Food Indonesia, In-dospring, Jaya Real Property, Malindo Feedmill, Trikomsel Oke, ABM Investama, Atlas Re-sources, Bank Tabungan Pen-siunan Nasional, Chandra Asri Petrochemical, and Japfa Com-feed Indonesia.

Chief Economic Minister Hat-ta Rajasa who attended the event said, "These fifty companies are expected to push Indonesian companies to perform better in the future.”

Hatta hoped that the compa-nies could compete in the glob-al scene.

Other companies that made the list of 50 best listed compa-nies are Lippo Cikarang, BW Plantation, Ace Hardware Indo-nesia, AKR Corporindo, Maska-pai Reasuransi Indonesia, Alam Sutera Realty, Mayora Indah, Si-nar Mas Multiartha, Surya Se-mesta Internusa, Elang Mahkota Teknologi, Eterindo Wahanata-ma, Indomobil Sukses Interna-tional, Jasuindo Tiga Perkasa.

Also, Bhakti Investama, Multi Bintang Indonesia, Resource Alam Indonesia, United Tractors, Bank Himpunan Saudara 1906,

“Our financial sector is still weak. Our financial de-velopment index is at num-ber 51 out of 60 countries. In-donesia’s banking score has only reached 2.69 from the scale of 1-7. This is very low. Bonds and obligations in cir-culation only make up 13% of the GDP and that’s still too low, only slightly higher than Vietnam,” he said.

His statement comes as the public in-creasingly sees his candor and blunt-ness in responding

to every case as an attitude of a clean public figure with a keen and high sense of commitment.

As the MK leader, Mahfud once said that he would drag any MK judge involved in graft to the Corruption Eradication Com-mission (KPK) and hand down the verdict himself. He also said that he would resign if the judge is found guilty of graft. Those statements reflected Mahfud’s firm and modest character.

Some of Mahfud’s decisions through MK that drew the pub-lic’s attention is the disbandment of BP Migas. MK accepted some of the requests made by several Muslim intellectuals, who chal-lenged Law No. 22/2001 on oil and gas. In its ruling, MK stated that the existence of the state oil and gas regulator BP Migas vio-lated the 1945 Constitution.

"We accepted some of the ap-plicants’ request," said Mahfud when he read out MK’s verdict in an open court at the MK build-ing last month.

MK annulled the articles that stated that oil and gas matters should be handed over to BP Mi-

gas as the representative of the government.

"BP Migas is unconstitutional and MK is entitled to decide on something that’s not constitu-tional," said Mahfud.

During the transition period of the disbandment of BP Migas, MK ordered the government and the related ministry to take over control until a new organ is es-tablished.

"All of BP Migas’s duties and rights will be conducted by the government or the state-owned enterprise that had been ap-pointed," he said.

Muhammadiyah Chairman Din Syamsudddin, former PBNU Chairman Hasyim Muzadi, MUI Chairman Amidhan, former Manpower Minister Fahmi Id-ris and Muslim politician Ali Mochtar Ngabalin and 12 Islam-ic organizations challenged the oil and gas law. They said that the law catered to the interest of foreigners and disrespect the state’s sovereignty.

In a roundtable discussion held by President University at the Polo Club Menara Bata-via, Jakarta, Mahfud MD said that one of MK’s jobs is to review laws.

“One of MK’s functions is to re-voke the law, if requested,” said Mahfud.

JAKARTA — After dedicating his time at the Constitutional Court (MK) for two periods, Chief Justice Mahfud MD said he has no interest to continue his leadership when his term ends in April 2013.

As the MK leader, Mahfud once said that he would drag any MK judge involved in graft to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and hand down the verdict himself. He also said that he would resign if the judge is found guilty of graft. Those statements reflected Mahfud’s firm and modest character.

The President Post/Heros Barasakti

Jababeka Industrial Area (KIJA) is one of the listed companies that made the list with income of $126 million and profit of $36 million.

Faisal BasriEconomistwww.tribunnews.com

I don’t have the nerve to even seriously consider it yet, but I’ll think about it later. But I will not push myself. Surely I’m delighted to get such appreciation or the chance to become president, but we should be aware of our capacity.”

Once Indonesia’s economic

growth becomes phenomenal,

those international economic

institutions will start to pay

attention on Indonesia.”

PAGE C1

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Opinionwww.thepresidentpost.comDecember 2012

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The President PostT H E S P I R I T O F I N D O N E S I A

How to Choose the Nation’s Best Leader

Every country wants to be led by its best person because the people want their rights to be fulfilled

as well as to meet their obli-gations accordingly. There are several key points to measure whether or not a leader can be accepted by the people or wheth-er the leader can gain the peo-ple’s trust.

The essence of powerPower can be obtained

through several ways: through a general election, secondly by force, and third by appointment based on family background.

A leader who holds power in a country should be on the ba-sis of legality and mandated by the people. Without the people’s mandate, a ruler will not be able to make any plans, rule, regu-late or get anything done.

First: in a country that adopts the principle that power is from and for the people, a general elec-tion is the process that must be taken to find the best leader. But in the political history of coun-tries in this world, only open and fair general elections are accept-ed open-heartedly by the people.

Second: a power struggle through the use of weapons usually occurrs when the level of non-satisfaction, disappoint-ment of the people or a group of people, such as the military, is high. Power seized by force will initially be run authoritatively. But the authoritarian ruler usu-ally resorts to dishonest and un-fair general elections when op-position arises and when facing demand for a general election.

Third: appointment of a lead-

We are now about to enter the general and presidential elec-tions in 2014. And like any coun-try in the world, general elections are prone to frauds, especially when social gaps are still wide in education, law, economic sec-tors, prosperity and information and communications. The peo-ple want an open, honest and fair general election but with the wide gaps in various sectors, the rich will likely enjoy every possi-bility and have the ability to en-gineer an unfair general election. Frauds and dishonesty usually begun at the start of the general election process, from the cam-paign period until the process of vote counting.

The initial goal of the general election is to find a leader want-

ed by the people. So, what’s go-ing to happen to a general elec-tion which was run not based on openness, honesty and fair-ness? We can predict that the re-sults will be as follows: we’ll have leaders in parliament and in gov-ernment who will not live up to the people’s expectations. But what’s more dangerous is that unfair elections could result in a group of unfit leaders and peo-ple’s representatives holding ab-solute power over the people.

An unfair general election will not produce leaders that come together or share the same vi-sion about certain policies and therefore they will not be able to solve the country’s problems. Thus, they will not get the sup-port from the people.

er based on family background usually occurs in a country that adopts a monarchic system or in a dynasty of gangsters of popu-lar mafia groups. There are mon-archies that hold absolute power and there are monarchies whose authorities are limited by the constitution. Generally, modern countries that adopt a monar-chic system regulate and limit the monarchies’ power with the constitution.

They usually combine the constitutional monarchic sys-tem with the monarchy’s author-ity and the authority to regulate the people’s sovereign rights and obligations. Gangster groups have influence and power but only limited to its own group and

they have no valid power and in-fluence over the people outside their circles.

People’s sovereignty and general election:

Since its independence, Indo-nesia had actually chosen and formed a government that adopt-ed the principle of and from the people and for the sovereignty of the people. However, during the New Order the rulers implement-ed authority and power accord-ing to their own whims.

In any part of this world, any power that’s run not based on an open, honest, and fair gener-al election will not earn legality, recognition, support and compli-ance from the people.

By Bambang SulistomoIf general elections cannot be held

openly, honestly and fairly, don’t expect to find any leader that can solve the country’s serious problems. If only

the fourth principle of the country’s

philosophy Pancasila is implemented

properly, we will no longer have leaders who only represent their own political parties’ interests.

www.mylifeatail.com

Hopes for the future There are still rays of hopes

for all of us here because the people’s sovereignty remains in-tact thanks to the media’s role. We have witnessed the media’s influence over the recent dis-pute between the Police and the KPK regarding the authority to investigate several major cas-es, and saw the president finally giving the proper response.

Many countries claim to be democratic but their people don’t enjoy sovereignty and as such are unable to fully super-vise irregularities committed by the rulers. This is mostly due to the various gaps mentioned pre-viously. So, what hopes do the people have if an unfair general election took place? There have to be joint efforts to improve the education and political aware-ness of the people through the media, conducted by a group of people who still believe in the future of this country.

Many government and par-liament buildings both in the capital city and in the regions close their doors to supervision by placing heavy security. They refuse to meet for an exchange of ideas or to listen to the peo-ple’s problems. This kind if atti-tude often leads to anarchy be-cause the people aren’t satisfied and become restless.

If general elections cannot be held openly, honestly and fair-ly, don’t expect to find any lead-er that can solve the country’s serious problems. If only the fourth principle of the country’s philosophy Pancasila is imple-mented properly, we will no lon-ger have leaders who only repre-sent their own political parties’ interests.

T H E S P I R I T O F I N D O N E S I A

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Opinionwww.thepresidentpost.com December 2012

“One Vision, One Identity, One Community” for 2015 would be meaningless if Timor Leste, which is geographically part of Southeast Asia is still not a member of the ASEAN by 2015.

ASEAN Without Timor Leste:State Without Sovereignty

When will Timor Leste become the member of the Southeast Asian organi zat ion?

This writing is not only to an-swer that question but also to analyze ASEAN’s visions in the past, present and future.

ASEAN (Association of South-east Asian Nations) is a geopolit-ical and economic organization established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand. ASEAN was established through the Bang-kok Declaration which was ini-tiated by Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thai-land. Indonesia was represented by Adam Malik, Philippines by Narciso R. Ramos, Malaysia by Tun Abdul Razak, Singapore by S. Rajaratman, and Thailand by Thanat Khoman.

The Bangkok Declaration con-tained five important points: (1) To accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the Southeast Asian region; (2) To promote re-gional peace and stability; (3) To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the eco-nomic, social, technical, scien-tific and administrative spheres; (4) To maintain close cooperation

any rejection. It’s now just a mat-ter of time and readiness from both parties.”

The ASEAN chairman an-nounced in Jakarta the conclu-sion from the 18th ASEAN sum-mit on 7-8 May 2011 that Timor Leste’s application needs to be further considered and requires more attention. Therefore, each head of state from the ASEAN countries would assign their re-spective foreign affairs minis-ters in their capacity as ASEAN Coordinator Council to discuss Timor Leste’s application and to issue a recommendation for the leaders of the ASEAN mem-ber countries. Timor Leste con-tinues to strengthen it’s com-mitment to become a member of ASEAN through the politi-cal statements of its leaders who continued to assure that Timor Leste had met all criteria to be-come the 11th ASEAN member. Former RDTL president Dr. Jose Ramos Horta, during a visit in Cambodia in March 2011, said that the country would not be a burden for other ASEAN mem-bers. State Secretary for ASEAN Affairs Dr. Roberto Soares reit-erated the statement at the na-tional symposium held by think thank East Timor American Alumni–ETAA on 7 December 2012 at the Auditorium Yayasa-han Hak, Farol, Dili.

“We will not be a burden to other ASEAN fellow members, we are ready and it is already one step ahead to join ASEAN,”he said.

The latest statement made by the country’s leaders came

from Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao when he at-tended the 5th Bali Democra-cy Forum in Bali on 8 Decem-ber 2012: “Timor-Leste is on the verge of joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which entails both challenges and op-portunities. Once we are accept-ed as a fully-fledged member of ASEAN, we will become a closer part of this global economic tran-sition and be able to engage more actively in the strategic agenda of regional development. Timor-Leste is committed to seizing the opportunities of the Asian Cen-tury which will see increased economic demand in the region. We will do this by developing our industries, our fisheries and our agriculture, by expanding our markets and by developing our tourism sector.”

Based on the political, eco-nomic, human resources, cul-ture and security aspects, Timor Leste is (99.99%) ready to sign the ASEAN membership form as the 11th member. According to UNDP Human Development Re-port, “Timor-Leste’s Human De-velopment Index value for 2010 is 0.502, placing it in the medi-um human development cate-gory. In 2005, Timor-Leste’s Hu-man Development Index value was 0.428, and its level at inde-pendence in 2002 was 0.375.

This report showed that the human resources quality in Timor Leste has improved which placed it on the 120 rank above other ASEAN countries such as Laos (122), Cambodia (124) and

secretariat is used to prepare the necessary steps to become an ASEAN member.

It had also received moral sup-ports from all ASEAN members, including Indonesia, which was conveyed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and For-eign Affairs Minister Marty Na-talegawa. “We will continue to work hard to help realize Timor Leste’s vision to be a member of ASEAN. Indonesia welcomes the appointment of Dr. Rober-to Soares as Timor Leste’s ju-nior minister for ASEAN affairs within Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão’s Cabinet. This move proves Timor Leste’s seriousness to pave the way toward ASEAN membership,” as stated in one of a series of statements made by Minister Natalegawa on the side-lines of a press conference with his Timor Leste counterpart, Jose Luis Guterres in Jakarta on September 2012.

One of the most touching mor-al supports it received was the political statement of Cambodi-an Prime Minister Hun Sen dur-ing former RDTL President Dr. Jose Ramos Horta’s state vis-it in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 30 March 2011. He said: "Cam-bodia's support is regardless Timor-Leste is a small or big, poor or rich country, but to re-flect the equal rights of the coun-tries in the region. Timor-Leste will take its rightful place as the 11th member”. ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan in his statement after the 18th ASEAN summit at the ASEAN Secretar-iat in Jakarta said: "I don’t see

within regional and internation-al organizations; (5) To enhance cooperation in the fields of edu-cation, training, and researches in the region.

ASEAN now has 10 mem-ber countries with the joining of Brunei Darussalam (7 January 1984), Vietnam (28 July 1995), Laos (23 July 1997), Myanmar (23 July 1997), and Cambodia (16 December 1998). Regional and territorial-wise, Southeast Asia has still not accepted two countries for the ASEAN mem-bership, they are Timor Les-te (TL) and Papua New Guinea (PNG), which are both in the pro-cess of applying for membership. This writing will focus on Timor Leste’s application, especially on its readiness in terms of politics, economy, culture and security, the basic membership criteria to join the regional forum.

Timor Leste is situated be-tween the Asia Pacific and Southeast Asian regions with a history of a long struggle for in-dependence. This country sub-mitted its formal application to the ASEAN Secretariat on 4 March 2011 under the Indo-nesian Chairman. Historical-ly, Timor Leste had made sever-al attempts to join ASEAN before March 2011, including by open-ing an ASEAN National Secre-tariat in Dili (Memorial Hall) in early February 2009, where the

By Julio Gil da Silva Guterres, B.A.

Myanmar (132). Timor Leste has declared itself as a nation of free of illiteracy. Timor-Leste has no foreign debt and according to The Economist 2010 Pocket-book, it has the highest surplus in the world of over 280 per cent as percentage of GDP.

Timor-Leste’s Defense force (FFDTL) and police officers (PNTL) have served and are serv-ing with the United Nations in the Balkans and Africa (Sierra Leone, Liberia, DR Congo and Afghanistan). Timor Leste has provided in cash support to vic-tims of natural disasters in In-donesia, Myanmar, China, Ma-deira Islands (Portugal), Haiti, Brazil and Australia, totaling close to $5 million in the last three years, Starting from No-vember 1st, 2012, Timor-Leste is now become part of the Brazilian board (constituency) at the exec-utive council of the IMF, and be-come the first Asian country to be represented by Brazil, which already represents nations from South America, Central Ameri-ca, and the Caribbean. 38 % of the 2012 elected MPs are wom-en and several women hold key ministerial portfolios (G7+, CE-DAW and Ministries).

From the aspects of security and stability, Timor Leste which previously saw cultural con-flicts every two years have trans-formed into a reconciliation and peace-based country since its in-dependence. The UN peace mis-sion in Timor Leste has also end-ed since 31 October 2012. What’s more significant is that the UN

mission in Timor Leste will end on 31 December 2012.

According to the author’s view, Singapore’s refusal to accept Timor Leste’s ASEAN member-ship is just a matter of postpon-ing time and readiness in terms of politics, economy, culture and security so that ASEAN mem-bers can all achieve the goal to say ONE VISION, ONE, IDENTI-TY, ONE COMMUNITY.

The author would like to end this writing by saying that ASE-AN’s slogan “One Vision, One Identity, One Community” for 2015 would be meaningless if Timor Leste, which is geograph-ically part of Southeast Asia is still not a member of the ASEAN by 2015. How can ASEAN name itself One Community when it still left out one of its commu-nity? How can it call itself ONE IDENTITY when the identity of Timor Leste is not included and ASEAN is unable to implement ONE VISION because Timor Leste has started cooperation on several areas with some ASEAN members, especially with Indo-nesia on economic cooperation framework called “the Regional Integrated Economic Approach”. So, ASEAN without Timor Les-te is the same as a state without sovereignty.

The author is Director of CJITL (Center for Investigative Journalists of Timor Leste), the recipient of Southeast Asian Press Alliance SEAPA 2011 Fellowship Program and USA Edward Murrow Fellowship Program 2011.

In the economic area the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) aims to develop ASEAN to become a competitive and dynamic region, characterized by the growth of a large regional market; to develop a very attractive area for FDI (foreign direct investment); and to develop and become an important production base.

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Focuswww.thepresidentpost.comDecember 2012

COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

ASEAN is in the pro-cess of establishing the ASEAN Communi-ty by 2015. It is there-fore important to often

take a closer look at some perti-nent issues and development of trends or areas which may affect the realization of ASEAN’s ob-jectives. It concerns issues such as ASEAN’s position in the fast-changing global political-eco-nomic environment and its po-sition in Asia which is predicted to become the center of gravity of the global economy.

There is no doubt that ASE-AN will be facing an increasingly competitive global environment. The question of competition will be a big challenge to ASEAN. At the same time it is predicted that there will be a shift of global eco-nomic power from the West to the East which will affect East Asia in particular.

Two trends have continued to be of immense importance to ASEAN, namely the process of globalization affecting Asia and the need for closer regional coop-eration and integration. Aware of the importance of these two trends ASEAN countries con-tinue to give its fullest attention to the process of globalization and the growth of regionalism in East Asia.

It is already known that as a result of globalization, East Asian countries, including ASE-AN, has made good use of the ex-pansion of world trade in goods. It has gained considerably from the expansion of trade which made it possible for the coun-tries in the region to accelerate economic growth.

ASEAN STRATEGYAware of the upcoming chang-

es in the global and regional set-ting, ASEAN came up with a document called ASEAN vi-sion 2020 in December 1997 to strengthen ASEAN regional co-operation. The document stat-ed ASEAN’s resolve to develop a closer partnership between the countries in South East Asia, and to achieve dynamic develop-ment of their economies. It also underlines ASEAN’s resolve to strengthen national and region-al resilience.

The ASEAN Economic com-munity (AEC) concept came into being at the 12th ASEAN Sum-mit. ASEAN made a highly im-portant move to foster closer ties among the member countries by declaring the establishment of the ASEAN Community by 2015 underpinned by three important pillars, namely:

amazed that ASEAN is not only quite strong in the exports of machinery and transport equip-ment but also in the area of min-eral fuels, lubricants and related matters. It is, however, not that strong in the exports of manu-factured goods and commodities (Figure 4).

If ASEAN is to become a pro-duction base, it has to devel-op a joint strategy in what areas would be the most potential ar-eas to meet internal ASEAN re-quirements and to increase its exports.

INVESTMENT In the area of Global FDI (for-

eign direct investment) the de-veloped countries still take up the largest share in 2008. But among the emerging countries, China (6.4%) and Russia (4.1%) are the top destinies of FDI, fol-lowed closely by ASEAN (3.5%), Brazil (2.7%) and India (2.5%). The emerging countries, includ-ing ASEAN, should make their joint efforts to increase their share (Figure 6).

In the area of trade and in-vestment, Indonesia is still lag-ging behind Singapore, Malay-sia and Thailand while Vietnam is progressing at a fast rate. In-donesia is aware that a strong prosperous ASEAN would sup-port and strengthen its position in the global political and eco-nomic arena.

The writer is former ambassador to the EU.

The ASEAN Economic Community

By Atmono Suryo The Political-Security •CommunityThe ASEAN Economic •Community (AEC)The Socio–Cultural •Community

In the economic area the ASE-AN Economic Community (AEC) aims to develop ASEAN to be-come a competitive and dynam-ic region, characterized by the growth of a large regional mar-ket; to develop a very attractive area for FDI (foreign direct in-vestment); and to develop and become an important produc-tion base.

ASEAN is aware that in Asia, China and India with their phe-nomenal growth are already be-coming big players of interna-tional trade. Aside from China, Japan, and South Korea, ASE-AN has also the potential to be-come another powerhouse in East Asia.

The largest countries within ASEAN are Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines, followed by fast-moving Viet-nam. The other smaller coun-tries are still at a lower stage of development.

Time is running short and it will be realized that ASEAN will face considerable difficulties to make the necessary prepara-tions and adjustments.

ASEAN IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

As a combined region of ten countries, ASEAN has actually already become an economical-ly large region. In addition ASE-AN covers an enormously large population of more than half a billion people, a potentially rich market with a large middle class population with increasing pur-chasing power.

Not only in terms of popula-tion but also in terms of econom-ic size, ASEAN is rated as a large economic entity. ASEAN (as one combined regional grouping) is already the 5th largest econo-my in the world right after the EU ($16,447), the US ($14,256), Japan ($5,068), China ($4,909) and ASEAN ($1,499). This should give ASEAN the strength and le-verage needed in the global and regional economic relations.

TRADEASEAN trade is doing quite

well in the area of global trade, booking $1.89 billion in 2008. It declined in 2009 but increased again in 2010 to $2.4 billion. But Intra-ASEAN trade is not large enough, representing only some 24% of ASEAN’s total trade. It must grow much faster to strengthen ASEAN’S economy (Figure 3).

With regard to ASEAN’s com-position of trade, one may be

Figure 1. Main Elements of AEC

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Date of Birth

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PERSONAL INFORMATION

ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

Strategic Schedule

SINGLE MARKET &PRODUCTION BASE

COMPETITIVE ECONOMICREGION

EQUITABLE ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT

INTEGRATION INTOTHE GLOBAL ECONOMY

Free flow of goods

Free flow of services

Free flow of investment

Free flow of capital

Free flow of skilled labor

Priority Integration Sectors

Food, Agriculture and Forestry

Competition policy

Consumer Protection

Intellectual Property Rights

Infrastructure development

Taxation

e-Commerce

SME deveopment

Initiative forASEAN Integration (IAI)

Coherent Approachtowards External

Economic Relations

Human Resource Development Research and Development

Enhanced participationin global supply

networks

Population(million)

GDP 2010(US$ billion)

Real GDP growth rate 1990-2010

(Exports+Imports)/GDP (%)

ASEAN 573.9 1,719.2 5.0 131

Brunei 0.4 12.0 1.8 127

Cambodia 14.6 11.5 7.3 121

Indonesia 227.3 670.4 4.6 45

Lao 6.2 6.3 6.6 37

Malaysia 27.0 213.1 5.7 192

Myanmar 49.6 28.7 8.7 27

Philippines 90.3 181.5 3.7 71

Singapore 4.8 194.9 6.0 421

Thailand 67.4 297.9 4.3 139

Vietnam 86.2 103.1 7.4 149

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database, accessed 14 July 2010,World Bank, World Development Indicators database, accessed 2 September 2010

Figure 2. ASEAN at a Glance

Figure 3. Free Flow of Goods(Trend of Intra-ASEAN Trade and ASEAN Total Trade, 1993 - 2009)

1993

1,800,000

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

1,600,000

1,400,000

1,200,000

1,000,000

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000

0

US$

mill

ion

Total Trade

Intra-ASEAN Trade

SITC CategoryExports Imports

1990 2006 1990 2006

0 Food and live animals chiefly for food 9.0 4.5 4.8 3.7

1 Beverages and tobacco 0.8 0.4 0.8 0.4

2 Crude materials, inedible, except fuels 6.8 4.0 4.3 2.4

3 Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials 20.3 14.5 11.4 17.7

4 Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes 2.4 2.0 0.4 0.3

5 Chemicals and related products, nes 3.6 7.4 9.7 8.5

6 Manufactured goods 11.1 8.5 15.7 12.3

7 Machinery and transport equipment 30.7 46.3 43.2 46.5

8 Miscellaneous manufactured articles 12.6 9.8 6.3 5.9

9 Commodities and transactions, nes 2.7 2.6 3.0 2.4

Source: UN COMTRADE

Figure 4. Composition of ASEAN Trade (percentage of total trade)

Country2009 2010 Year-on-year change

Exports Imports Total trade Exports Imports Total trade Exports Imports Total trade

Brunei Darussalam 7,152.0 2,450.5 9,602.5 8,615.4 2,383.8 10,999.2 20.5 (2.7) 14.5

Cambodia 4,985.8 3,900.9 8,886.7 5,583.6 4,896.8 10,480.3 12.0 25.5 17.9

Indonesia 116,510.0 96,829.2 213,339.2 157,779.1 135,663.3 293,442.4 35.4 40.1 37.5

Lao PDR 1,237.2 1,725.0 2,962.1 2,432.8 2,076.4 4,509.1 96.6 20.4 52.2

Malaysia 156,890.9 123,330.5 280,221.4 198,800.8 164,733.5 363,534.3 26.7 33.6 29.7

Myanmar 6,341.5 3,849.9 10,191.3 7,599.5 4,198.7 11,798.3 19.8 9.1 15.8

The Philippines 38,334.7 45,533.9 83,868.6 51,431.7 58,228.6 109,660.3 34.2 27.9 30.8

Singapore 269,832.5 245,784.7 515,617.1 371,194.3 328,078.9 699,273.3 37.6 33.5 35.6

Thailand 152,497.2 133,769.6 286,266.8 195,312.3 189,728.4 385,040.8 28.1 41.8 34.5

Vietnam 56,691.0 69,230.9 125,921.9 72,191.9 84,801.2 156,993.1 27.3 22.5 24.7

ASEAN 810,472.6 726,405.0 1,536,877.6 1,070,941.4 974,789.6 2,045,731.0 32.1 34.2 33.1

Source: ASEAN Merchandise Trade Statistics Database (compiled/computed from data submission, publications and/or websites of ASEAN Member States' nationalASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) units, national statistics offices, customs departments/agencies, or central banks

Figure 5. ASEAN Trade, 2009 - 2010 (as of 15 Feb 2012)

value in US$ million; change in percent

Figure 6. Global FDI (% Share)

Source: UNCTAD

Rest of the World86.4%

Brazil1.8%

Russia2.8% India

1.3%

Rest of the World80.9%

China4.2%

ASEAN3.5%

Brazil1.8%

Russia2.8% India

1.3%China4.2%

ASEAN3.5%

2007 2008

As a combined region of ten countries, ASEAN has actually already become an economically large region. In addition ASEAN covers an enormously large population of more than half a billion people, a potentially rich market with a large middle class population with increasing purchasing power.

A5

Law & Regulationwww.thepresidentpost.com December 2012

The companies’ bargaining

position is weaker compared to that

of the government. To overcome the

problem, the government has given its support and guarantee to

companies that work with the government, in the form of: Fiscal contribution; Permit,

land procurement and part of the

construction.; Tax incentives; and Risk sharing guarantee.

“Is It Safe to Work with the Government?”foreign investors. The PPP scheme is expected to accelerate national development goals.

From the investors’ perspec-tives, what are the factors that could attract them to work with the government? First of all, they would consider whether the proj-ects offered by the government are financially worthy. The main goal in investing is to make prof-it, that’s why the first thing that investors take into consideration is whether the project could offer profits or is financially worthy. Another factor is how to share the risks that may emerge from the project. If the risks from the project doesn’t go in line with the profit, investors would be reluc-tant to place their capital into the project. Risks become the basic consideration for investors to in-vest their funds in government projects. This is because the bar-gaining position between the pri-vate sector and the government is not balanced. Prime examples

are tariff revisions or the government’s slow land

procurement or oth-er things that may cause investors to suffer losses. To at-tract the private sector, the govern-ment can offer fa-cilities.

Article 17A of Presidential Decree No 13/2010 on the revi-sion of Presidential Decree No 67/2005 about the government’s cooperation with companies on infrastructure development stated that “Ministers/agency heads/regional heads can sup-port the project under the scope of cooperation project”. The sup-port could come in the form of:

Fiscal contributionThe government’s support in

the form of fiscal contribution must be included in the state budget or regional budget.

Permit, land procurement and part of the construction

Land procurement process should be done before the busi-ness procurement process takes place so that when the private sector or companies joined, they don’t have to be bothered with land procurement problem since land issue is one the obstacles that often arise in government projects, especially in the infra-structure sector, which requires a big chunk of land. If the coop-eration project is financially wor-thy, the company can reimburse part or the whole the land.

Tax incentivesMinisters/agency heads/re-

gional heads can recommend giving tax incentives and get an approval from the finance min-ister.

Another facility that the gov-ernment could offer is to guaran-tee risk sharing. Basically, risk management should be given to the party most capable of man-aging it. The following is the risk category that need to be watched out during cooperation project between the government and the private sector:

Location risksThose included in location

risks are land clearance, un-suitable land location or envi-ronmental risks. Who is going to pay for the extra expenses in-curred when the land clearance process is slow? In toll road projects, the government can give assurance that it will cover the extra cost that stems from the slow land clearance process or the land clearing cost that in-creases above the land capping. The government can also guar-antee that it will cover extra costs that may arise because of the late land clearance process.

Tariff revision risksTarriffs are among the im-

portant elements in calculating loss or profit, break event point (BEP), or rate of return. How-ever, in some cooperation proj-ects between the government and private sector, the govern-ment is entitled to set the tariff. For example, in the train proj-ect or other transportation. The tariff for the train is decided by the government. So, what hap-pens when after the project had started the government decid-ed to cut the tariff which in turn made the project become finan-cially unworthy? Cooperation agreement will include a clause which states the government has guaranteed that it will cov-er the risks.

Demand risksDemand risks are found

when during the realization of the project the demand for the service became unexpectedly lower than the projection. For instance in a toll road project, it was projected that 100,000 cars would cross the road everyday, but in reality the number was lower.

By Paulus Khierawan Rival facility risksIt’s a risk when a similar fa-

cility or infrastructure is built and competed with the facili-ty or infrastructure that had al-ready been built and thus caus-ing losses.

For instance, the government built another toll road next to the already completed toll project, causing a decline in the number of vehicles that passed that toll road because road users chose to use the new one. Entrepre-neurs can seek a guarantee that the government will not build another facility that could com-pete with the project until the co-operation contract expired.

Political risksIncluded here are political de-

cisions. For instance, from the risk of asset nationalization, reg-ulation/law revision risk, tax re-vision risk, pemit risk. Imagine when the government arbitrari-ly took over the asset or revoked the permit. These are certainly the risks that need to be taken into account by every investor.

Aside from those five risks, there are of course other risks that need to be considered, such as the declining economic value of the asset when the contract expired, or design risk, and oth-ers. But the five risks mentioned earlier are those beyond the con-trol of the companies. The com-panies’ bargaining position is weaker compared to that of the government. To overcome the problem, the government has given its support and guarantee to companies that work with the government. So, working with the government is not always a loss situation, on the contrary it could be profitable if it’s backed up with permit, guarantee and others.

Article 17A of Presidential Decree No 13/2010 on the revision of Presidential Decree No 67/2005 about the government’s cooperation with companies on infrastructure development stated that “Ministers/agency heads/regional heads can support the project under the scope of cooperation project”.

The government is re-sponsible to carry out national development, which could not be achieved without in-

frastructure development. How-ever, until today there are still many infrastructure that have still not been built by the govern-ment. One of the obstacles faced by the government is financial restraints. One of the most ef-Fective ways to overcome the problem is through cooperation between the government and the private sector or better known as public private partnership (PPP).

PPP is actually not a new idea in Indonesia. The government through the National Develop-ment Planning Agency (Bappe-nas) has actively promoted var-ious projects (in the capital city and the regions) to be offered to the private sec- tor, both local a n d

A6

Energywww.thepresidentpost.comDecember 2012

carefully determined price for electricity generated using low or zero-carbon energy sources. Mandated Quotas will, by regula-tion, oblige every utility company and independent power produc-ers to generate a percentage of their total electricity production from low carbon energy sources. The mandated (fixed) price regu-lation (popularly called Feed- in Tariff) will oblige utilities to pur-chase energy produced from low carbon energy sources at that price which is normally higher than regular one using conven-tional energy.

In order to implement a Man-dated Quota system, the govern-ment should set a standard and regulations as follows:• The criteria of capacity and

annual energy output based on which the Quota should be met.

• Theamount(inpercentagetototal output) of renewable or low carbon energy production of which the power producers are obliged (mandated) to pro-duce.

• In case the power producercannot produce the quota al-lowed to it, the shortage can be made up by purchase from other available producers, or by contributing an amount of equivalent funds to a spe-cial Clean Energy Fund estab-lished by the government.

The mandated quota system linked to FiT for clean energy

production has been implement-ed by several countries including Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia.

For fairness sake, the FiT should be differentiated by type of the renewable energy source and by regions where the elec-tricity is generated. To ensure its acceptance and accountabil-ity, the FiT should be determined based on a thorough study by in-dependent consultants (experts and practitioners), and it should be discussed with relevant stake-holders intensively before any fi-nal decision is made by the gov-ernment. Ideally, the FiT should not be too low so it is bankable and attractive to investors/ pro-ducers. It should also not be too high to overburden the govern-ment budget, or affecting the utility’s profitability.

Further, the implementation of FiT shall require at least the following conditions:• Thestandard[base]pricethe

utility will have to pay should be based on the economical value i.e. price without gov-ernment subsidy. This may change subsequently depend-ing on the market price devel-opment, but such change will not affect the existing con-tracts (PPA) already closed by developers and the Utility pri-or to the change.

• TheFiTshouldbeappliedforeach type of energy source, and it will vary by regions as to accommodate the differ-ent level of costs the develop-

Boosting Clean EnergyDevelopment in Indonesia

ers must spend to install and operate the power systems in particular location.

• The standard developmentproposal should be based on a proper feasibility study partic-ularly covering technical mat-ters, to ensure the system con-nection is technically possible and reliable without disrupt-ing the existing transmission system.

• The FiT contract must bestandardized and procedures to apply it must be as simple and clear as possible to mini-mise unnecessary delays and to avoid future disputes.

“Cleaner Fossil Energy” and Energy Efficiency

The clean energy development using cleaner fossil energy by applying more efficient technol-ogy and by achieving energy ef-ficiency will require the follow-ing standards, regulations, and incentives:• New power plants must use

efficient technology including cogeneration, combined cycle, supercritical boiler, etc. to en-sure lower carbon emissions.

• Incentives are to be provid-ed by the government such as import tax exemption, income tax holidays, etc.

• Government is eventually toprovide the necessary assis-tance or services to developers if the systems would qualify carbon compensation systems like CDM or Domestic Car-bon Trade Mechanism. Type

of projects that may qualify for this facilities are those involv-ing retrofit, refurbishment or replacement of existing tech-nology by cleaner or a more ef-ficient ones.

• Applicationofenergyefficien-cy standards and labellings to household appliances like light bulbs, television, electric fan, electric pump, refrigera-tor, air conditioner, washing machines etc.

• Promote‘greentransportation’by providing incentives for us-ing cleaner or more energy ef-ficient vehicles, mainly motor cars, buses, cars and mo-tor cycles. These vehicles may eventually and gradually be replaced by hybrid and elec-trical vehicles (EV) when these technologies come of age.

• Promote energy efficien-cy measures to be applied by energy intensive industries, by setting standards of ener-gy use per production unit, such as: energy use/ton steel production; energy use/bar-rel of oil refined; energy use/ ton of sugar production, ener-gy use/ton of cement produc-tion, for example. The govern-ment could perform audits on technology use to determine whether such technology still meets the efficiency standards required, and impose regu-lations to replace them and provide incentives to encour-age energy efficiency improve-ment.

• Provide incentives to encour-

Basically there are four portfolios or approaches that can be followed to address the imple-mentation of clean

energy development. One, is ex-panding the utilization of no or low carbon or carbon-free ener-gy sources, such as hydro, geo-thermal, solar, wind, ocean and nuclear. Two, is making serious efforts in using more efficient technology in burning fossil en-ergy sources, such as combined cycle, cogeneration, super-criti-cal boiler, etc. Three, is the use of energy in more efficient ways so as to reduce the overall en-ergy demand e.g. with workable measures like ‘green labelling’of appliances, improving ener-gy efficiency in buildings both commercial and household, us-ing energy efficient industrial machinery and means of trans-portation, and Four, is by apply-ing Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) a technology to reduce car-bon emissions from power plants and other heavy industries.

To ensure that clean energy development is implemented ef-fectively, the government should first set measurement criteria to determine the clean energy key performance (Key Performance Indicators or KPI). The proposed KPI are:

• Theannualamountandshareof zero-carbon renewable en-ergy production in the nation-al and regional energy mix.

• Theannualaverageofconver-sion efficiency of thermal pow-er plants at national and re-gional level.

• AnnualaverageofCO2emis-sions in metric tons per Mega Watt Hour (MWh) of electricity production.

These 3 indicators will drive the planning process, lead to more serious implementation, and will make the results more assessable. The target based on these three indicators and the allocated budget for its imple-mentation should be reflected in the Annual National Budget [RAPBN] as well as in AnnualRegionalBudgets[RAPBD].TheTarget should also be part of, and tied into, the National and Regional Energy Plan.

Similar principles and indica-tors has been applied to the tar-get and performance measures for oil lifting (production), oil price setting and in dealing with fuel and electricity subsidies.

But generally speaking it is more expensive to produce cleaner energy than convention-al energy. Therefore, in order to increase the share of clean en-ergy in the national energy mix, Indonesia needs to learn from other countries which have done the exercises successfully, like putting a Mandated Quota at a

age retrofitting or replacement of existing industrial produc-tion systems with newer tech-nology to make the systems more energy efficient. The in-centive may include govern-ment soft loan; grant for part of the investment and provid-ing assistance where possible in dealing with carbon com-pensation facilities.

Theoretical as it may sound, the above policies and measures may help Indonesia boost clean energy development, provided such policies and measures are implemented, seriously and con-sistently. The weakness in Indo-nesia’s current governing prac-tices lies primarily in the lack of cohesiveness and coordina-tion among diverse bureaucrat-ic branches in doing their jobs effectively. Another weakness is frequently missing clear imple-mentation rules and drivers to execute basically good policies. There is a long time gap between the time, the principal decision, law or regulations are enacted, and the supporting rules and implementing regulations are put into operation. All of these must be improved if the country will achieve its target of clean en-ergy development in the coming decades.

Note: This article was based on paper presented to the 19th Conference On Electric Power Supply Industry (CEPSI) 15-19 October 2012, Bali, Indonesia.

Clean Energy Development has been officially one of the cornerstones of Indonesia’s national energy policy. Various laws, support policies, studies and plans have been established in the

past, and most recently the National Energy Council submitted the draft of update of National Energy Policy which will cover the medium and long term periods. But what does it take to

make such plans and objectives achievable especially with regard to clean energy?

Standards, Regulations, and Incentives Required

By Herman Darnel IbrahimBoard Member of DEN

www.ecoinstitution.com/Aleksandar Rodic

In terms of tourism promotional activities, Sapta highlighted that this exhibition was aimed to develop a

strategic and permanent promotional facility overseas for Indonesia. “This could be a novelty for the Indonesian

government,” he said.

A7

Internationalwww.thepresidentpost.com December 2012

The 40-year-old replica collection of Borobu-dur Temple relief is back on display. After a lengthy and compli-

cated revitalization process, the replicas are now one of the ex-hibits in the Missionary-Ethno-logical Museum of the Vatican Museum.

Vice Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sapta Nir-wandar, Ambassador Budiar-man and the President of the Vatican City State, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello along with the Director of the Vatican Museum, Antonio Paolucci, were at the Museum to officially open the new display last week.

According to Sapta, this col-lection would encourage the in-ternational community to get ac-quainted with the diversity and richness of Indonesian culture.

Collection of Borobudur Temple Relief Back on Displayat the Vatican Museum

The biggest building materi-als and construction exhibition in the Middle East and North Africa, the Big Five 2012, was held on 5-8 November 2012 at the World Trade Center Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Carrying the theme “Trade with Remark-able Indonesia”, the Indonesian Pavilion participated by build-ing a site that had an area of 210 square meters.

“Throughout the exhibition, we recorded a total of prospec-tive contracts valued at $25.3 million for medium density fibre-board (MDF), MDF prompt ship-ment, wooden doors, flooring, kitchen sets, toilet seats and ba-sins, tile resin for bathrooms and bathroom sets, which attract-ed much interest of buyers from India, Oman, Qatar, the Unit-ed Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Sau-di Arabia, Bahrain, Greece, and Pakistan,” said the Director of Promotion and Images Develop-ment of the Directorate General of National Export Development of the Ministry of Trade, Prad-nyawati.

Indonesia, with its rich nat-ural resource and the creativi-ty of its people, proves to be able to produce quality and unique building materials that cannot be produced by any other coun-try in this world. This is what makes Indonesian building ma-terials have their own place in the minds of construction entre-

The Big Five 2012: Indonesia Grabs$25 Million in Trade Contracts

Indonesian Ambassa-dor to the US, Dr. Dino Pat-ti Djalal, last month re-ceived the Global Innovation Award from Emory Universi-ty in Atlanta, Georgina, US. The university presents this prestigious award to promi-nent figures who consistent-ly demonstrate their lead-ership and innovation in diplomacy and social welfare at large.

Ambassador Djalal is re-garded as an innovator in multiple sectors and has suc-cessfully changed the profile of diplomacy in emerging-economy country such as Indonesia.

On the night of the award ceremony, hundreds of invi-tations packed the Goizueta Business School Hall of the Emory University. Amongst them were the Rector of the Emory University, Dean of the Goizueta Business School, Indonesian Consul General in Houston, Indo-nesian Education Attaché to the US, Atlanta state govern-ment official, academicians, Indonesian Diasporas and the local businesspeople.

In the ceremony – which was sponsored by the Man-an Foundation – the Am-bassador delivered his key speech entitled ”The Rise of Emerging Powers in the 21st Century”. He stated that the world was facing different kinds of revolutions in the 21st century, compared to those in the 20th century.

“The 21st century revolu-tions generate a huge num-

ber of middle class popula-tion and propagate the spirit of people-to-people connec-tivity all over the world,” the Ambassador said.

He also highlighted the fact that a number of Asian emerging economies had en-joyed impressive progress within a relatively short pe-riod of one year. This prog-ress was possible thanks to an expansive mindset, con-fidence and advanced inno-vations.

The Director of the Of-fice of International Affairs and The Claus M. Halle In-stitute for Global Learning of the Emory University, Hol-li Semetko, in her opening remarks mentioned positive impressions over Indonesia’s achievements and Ambas-sador Djalal’s accomplish-ments.

The award was presented by Professor Jeffrey Rosen-weig, the Director of the Global Perspectives Pro-gram, Goizueta Business School of Emory University.

Ambassador Djalal is the only diplomat who has ever received this prestigious award.

Besides the Ambassador, other laureates included the king of media and philan-thropist Ted Turner; former CEO of Delta Airlines, Ger-ald Grinstein; CEO of AT&T Mobility, Ralph de la Vega; Charles H. Kellstadt from Goizueta Business School and Professor of Marketing Major, Jagdish Sheth.

Ambassador Dino Patti Djalal Receives Global Innovation Award from Emory University, Atlanta

preneurs in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Indonesian Pavilion, whose location is near the Qa-tar, Thailand, and Malaysia Pa-vilions, exhibited building ma-terial products belonging to 16 entrepreneurs. Among them are bathroom accessories, nat-ural panel for interior, panel for air conditioner installation, floor tile, wooden door for engineering

This collection would encourage the international community to get acquainted with the diversity and richness of Indonesian culture.

The State of Palestine is even-tually acknowledged as one of the UN state observers. This de-cision was taken through the process of voting in the UN Gen-eral Assembly, which was espe-cially held to discuss Palestine’s application for being a UN state observer. This occurred at the UN Headquarters, New York, on Thursday afternoon, local time last month.

Indonesian Minister of For-eign Affairs Marty M. Natalega-wa, who attended the session, said that Indonesia did not only support but also initiated the resolution, together with other countries, as a co-sponsor.

Minister Marty also said that Palestinian President Mah-moud Abbas came in person to the United Nation’s Headquar-ters in New York to declare Pal-estine’s intention to be a state observer.

"The acceptance of Palestine as a UN state observer stands as a symbol of great political im-

The UN Recognizes Palestine as an Observer Stateportance for its international di-plomacy," said Marty.

This acknowledgement signi-fies the recognition of Palestine as an independent state by the international community; there-fore, the country now has the right to take active roles in all UN organs.

In the session, confirming In-donesia’s commitment to sup-porting Palestine’s interests, Minister Marty stated that the international community should take concrete steps to protect the rights of the Palestinian people for constituting an independent and self-governing state.

"It is the time for the interna-tional community to start doing the right thing. The world can no longer turn a blind eye to the sufferings of the Palestinian peo-ple, which they have endured for so long," he said.

Indonesia said that, in spite of great obstacles posed by invad-ing powers, the people of Pales-tine have built and developed

their country to the point that enables them to act as an inde-pendent state.

“Therefore,” he continued, “there is no reason for the in-ternational community to reject Palestine’s application as a UN state observer.” Indonesia even asked the Assembly to imme-diately consider accepting Pal-estine’s application to become a full member of the United Na-tions.

"Palestine’s full membership in the UN is perfectly appropri-ate and consistent with the vi-sionof‘two-statesolution’,"saidMarty.

Meanwhile, Indonesia also stressed the importance of es-tablishing peace and creating conditions conducive to hold-ing peace talks, which will be fo-cused on sensitive issues such as the termination of the illegal constructions of Israeli settle-ments and the discontinuation of collective punishments which violate human rights.

www.halleinstitute.emory.edu

construction, metal roofing, pre-fabricated house, pre-engineer warehouse, roll forming ma-chine, MDF, polyester plywood, blackboard and MDF, anti fire door and interior items.

The Big Five 2012 was offi-cially opened by Deputy Rul-er of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum. This exhi-bition was taken part by more

than 2.5 thousand exhibitors from 70 countries. A moment af-ter the opening ceremony of the exhibition, British Prime Minis-ter David Cameron, accompa-nied by the British Minister of Trade and Investment Stephen Green, conducted a visit to the UK Pavilion. This exhibition is considered very strategic and po-tential by developed countries to market their products.

The Big Five 2012 was officially opened by Deputy Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum. This exhibition was taken part by more than 2.5 thousand exhibitors from 70 countries.

www.constructionweekonline.com

At the same time, Indonesia stressed the importance of dia-logues between the Palestinian people themselves.

The UN General Assembly produced a resolution which acknowledged the State of Pal-estine as a state observer. This was supported by 138 coun-tries, but there were 9 countries rejecting the proposal and 41 states refusing to take any po-sition.

The exhibition went by the themeof ‘The richness anddi-versity of Indonesian culture’ and ‘Religious harmony in In-donesia’, and is a part of the In-donesian Corner in the muse-um. This concept was expected to give an inspiration to around five millions museum visitors that Indonesia ‘must be seen,must be learnt and must be ex-perienced’.

In terms of tourism promo-tional activities, Sapta high-lighted that this exhibition was aimed to develop a strategic and permanent promotional facili-ty overseas for Indonesia. “This could be a novelty for the Indo-nesian government,” he said.

Promoting Dialog through the ArtsMeanwhile, Ambassador Bu-

diarman explained that the col-

lection was a sign of Indonesia’s intention to promote interfaith and cultural dialogs through the arts and cultural heritage as a vehicle to achieve interna-tional peace.

On a similar note, Cardi-nal Bertello expressed that the Borobudur Temple Collection was able of representing an eth-nological, cultural and religious diversity in the Museum, which is situated at the heart of the Roman Catholic Church cul-ture.

This was in line with the Mu-seum’s mission of uniting all world cultures and religions un-der the context of universal re-ligious harmony. Moreover, sa-cred arts could also become a topic for dialogs which bring a message of peace to people all over the world.

It is the time for the international community to start doing the right thing. The world can no longer turn a blind eye to the sufferings of the Palestinian people, which they have endured for so long."

Marty M. NatalegawaIndonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs

Vice Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sapta Nirwandar

www.embassyofindonesia.eu

A8

Educationwww.thepresidentpost.comDecember 2012

Entrepreneurship has for long not been ac-knowledged as a fac-tor that determines the future of a coun-

try’s economy, much less as part of a comprehensive developmen-tal strategy. Therefore it is no doubt that students of previous

Reshaping Entrepreneurship Education in Indonesia

In that regard, a National Ed-ucators Conference 2012, enti-tled “Reshaping Entrepreneur-ship Education in Indonesia”, was held. The two-day confer-ence and workshop was held in Jakarta, 11-12 December 2012, and provides opportunities for nationwide educators to be em-bedded with an entrepreneurial spirit that will later promoted to students all over Indonesia.

To identify the challenges re-lated to the development of en-trepreneurship in Indonesian schools, the Ministry of National Education and Culture through the Center for Curriculum and Books (Puskurbuk) developed a handbook on the implemen-

Australia has joined a growing list of countries looking to tap the Indone-sian student market – wide-ly considered a sleeping gi-ant in recruitment terms – by holding a major exhi-bition to promote its science education.

Co-run by various univer-sities and government de-partments, the Science For Our Future Festival involved outreach activities and events in Jakarta, Suraba-ya and Pontianak through-out October. While the ex-hibition was themed around global development, there was clear subtext to boost enrolments in the natural sciences at Australian uni-versities.

“Under the SFOFF ban-

fit greatly, but it must man-age the challenges of a high dollar and rising competition abroad.

This month the UK fur-thered its ties with Indonesia with a series of new univer-sity partnerships, while the US – hoping to stem a de-cline in Indonesian interest (enrolments fell from 13,280 in 1997-98 to 6,940 in 2009-10) – opened a cultural centre in Jakarta in 2011, promis-ing Indonesians a 95% stu-dent visa acceptance rate.

The Prime Minister of New Zealand also visited Indone-sia in May, while China, not yet a top destination, has in-creased its scholarships fol-lowing a 42% surge in In-donesian enrolments at its universities in 2007-2009.

Australia Targets“Sleeping Giant” Indonesia

tation of entrepreneurship ed-ucation in elementary and sec-ondary schools. Puskurbuk classifies several characteristics associated with the entrepre-neurial spirit adapted to respec-tive education levels.

Organised by the Sampoerna School of Education, the Mien R. Uno Foundation and the World Bank, the NEC 2012 is arguably the first of its kind. The sched-uled speakers are prominent fig-ures such as Minister of Trade Gita Wirjawan, Minister of Edu-cation and Culture Prof M. Nuh, Sandiaga Uno of Saratoga In-vestama Sedaya and Prof Pauli-na Panne, the Dean of Sampoer-na School of Education.

www.serpong.binus-school.net

Science For Our Future Festival (SFOFF) 2012 panel discussion at the Binus International School Serpong. The event involved outreach activities and events in Jakarta, Surabaya and Pontianak throughout October. While the exhibition was themed around global development, there was clear subtext to boost enrolments in the natural sciences at Australian universities.

generationstendtochoose‘tra-ditional’ professions and turn down opportunities of becoming entrepreneurs.

No wonder many Indonesians are ‘accidental’ entrepreneurs,doing business by necessity rather than by intention. Fortu-nately, some of them have be-come highly successful and are inspiring models for others. It is also fortunate that these suc-cessful entrepreneurs have re-cently been collaborating with the government, private compa-nies, and even NGOs for the pur-pose of pushing more entrepre-neurial spirit among relevant stakeholders.

ner, a range of campaigns pro-moted the importance of science for addressing major challenges faced by modern society,” Aus-trade, who helped organise the fair, said in a statement. ”Vari-ous science education activities targeted Indonesian students, researchers and the general public, with 2,200 Indonesians taking part in one of more of the events.”

According to the British Coun-cil, 2.6 million Indonesian stu-dents will enter higher education over the next decade, howev-er only around 50,000 current-ly study abroad according to a 2010 survey. Australia is top choice (with 17,896 enrolments in 2011), followed by the US, UK and Singapore.

With the number studying overseas growing at 20% an-nually, Australia could bene-

The President Post/Rians Rivco

Sandiaga Uno (right), one of the speakers at the National Educators Conference 2012. The event was organized by the Sampoerna School

of Education, the Mien R. Uno Foundation and the World Bank.

A National Educators Conference 2012, entitled “Reshaping Entrepreneurship Education in Indonesia”, provides opportunities for nationwide educators to be embedded with an entrepreneurial spirit that will later promoted to students all over Indonesia.

BUSINESSwww.thepresidentpost.com

December 2012No. 39

SECTION B

The President Post

Comics Business OffersHuge Opportunity: Minister

State owned aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) said it hopes to expand export market for its aircraft to Africa.

Africa is a potential market for aircraft in the next 20 years, company`s spokesman I.P. Win-du Nugroho said here on Friday. Africa is an open market for the products of PT DI, including air-craft and aircraft maintenance, and PT DI is competitive in qual-ity, Windu said.

He said PT began its first ex-port of CN235 aircraft to Africa in 2007 when a unit of the tur-boprop plane was exported to Burkina Faso. “The air force of Burkina Faso has operated the aircraft for five years and so far no complain about its quality,” he said.

Senegal also has imported two units of CN235 aircraft in

cense of France s Aerospatiale (now Eurocopter).

CN-235 was first produced in cooperation with Spain s CASA and entered the market in 1986. So far production of CN-235 air-craft has reached around 260 units and used by various coun-tries

Last month, PTDI delivered two units of CN295, an advanced product of CN235, to the Defense Ministry, which has placed an order for nine units of the new aircraft. CN295 is three meters longer than CN235 aircraft.

In 2002, PTDI began to receive orders for aircraft components, including components for Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The compa-ny is now planning to produce the N219 aircraft, a type for in-tercity flights that could land on a smaller airfield of less than 500

PT DI Expands Exports to Africameters long. The N219, which is designed to replace Twin Otter, also could maneuver in moun-tainous ares like Papua.

According to Aviation Week, in 2011, Africa needed 770 units of aircraft of various types, jet or turbo propeller planes like CN235. Africa needs aircraft of the CN235 class mostly to serve flights between small airports. An estimated 130 units of tur-boprop aircraft are needed in various African countries, Win-du quoted the Aviation Week as saying

Aviation Week said Africa will need around 120 units of 61-120 seat passenger jet plane, and 220 units of 30-120 seat passenger planes in the next 20 years. The new units of aircraft are needed to replace old ones and to serve new routes.

Trans Retail to Boost Sales After Acquiring Carrefour Indonesia

The CEO of CT CORP, Chairul Tanjung, is keen on increasing the sales margin of PT Trans Retail tenfold, after signing an agreement with Carrefour Indonesia, on Monday (Nov 19).

“After acquiring 60% of PT Carrefour Indonesia, I want to increase the sales margin tenfold, under the new name,” said Tanjung, in Jakarta, on Tuesday.

To meet the target, Tanjung mentioned that PT Trans Retail will create multiform business retails in

Indonesia, such as grocery shops, hypermarkets, mini-markets and con-venience stores. “We will be bringing an international brand consultant to design our multiform business,” he said.

However, Tanjung noted that reaching the multiform retail network goal will take some time, based on the regulations and infrastructure prepara-

tions. He gave an example of the long process of land procurement and regulation, which will begin in 2013 and issued in 2014.

PT Trans Retail, one of the CT Corp`s subsidiaries, has acquired 40% of PT Carrefour Indonesia in 2010 and taken 60%, in a deal then worth $750 million. It went through loans from ten international banks: Cred-it Suisse, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan Securities, ING Bank, ANZ, Gold-man Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Char-tered Bank and Bank of Tokyo.

Tanjung added that after the acquisition, PT Trans Retail holds exclu-sive license to use the Carrefour brand in Indonesia, and it has a chance to acquire Carrefour shares from any part of the world. “Particularly in Southeast Asia, Carrefour Vietnam and Myanmar could get acquired,” he said.

Pertamina EP Makes Profit of Rp14.3tPT Pertamina EP, the upstream business unit of state-owned oil and

gas company PT Pertamina, books a net profit of Rp14.3 trillion from Jan-uary to September this year, according to company public relations man-ager Agus Amperianto.

He said here on Sunday the profit was driven production of oil and gas which until September 2012 respectively reached 127,900 barrels and 1,048.9 million cubic feet (MMSCFD) a day. “The performance in the third

BUSINESS BRIEFSquarter this year is better than in the same period last year,” he added.

He said the net profit from January to September 2012 was higher than that of the same period last year which was recorded at Rp11.8 trillion.

Oil and gas production for the period were also higher than in the same period last year recorded at 125,100 barrels a day and 1,027.6 MMSCFD respectively.

Agus said efforts to optimize production until September 2012 include drilling 84 exploitation wells and 13 others. He said Pertamina EP mean-while has finished work over on 52 wells and is now still working on three others.

With regard to finding new oil and gas fields the company until Septem-ber 2012 has conducted a three-dimensional seismic survey on a 2,027 square kilometer land and a two-dimensional survey on a 538 square ki-lometers, he said.

It is also finishing exploration drilling on 18 wells consisting of six wild-cats and 12 delineations, he added. “Right now we are still in the process of conducting drilling on three wildcat, two delineation and one twin wells, Agus said.

He said Pertamina EP has also taken various efforts to accelerate pro-duction including optimizing existing assets, developing new fields and conducting work on old wells. Apart from that it would also reactivate old wells, conduct enhanced oil recovery and put on production explorations.

Minister of Tour-ism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu stated that there

is a huge business opportunity, for the local comics industry in the domestic market.

“I urge creative youths to ex-plore business opportunities in the national comics indus-try,” said the Minister, in a cre-ative products exhibition, Pekan Produk Kreatif Indonesia (PPKI) 2012, here on Thursday.

The exhibition, which was held from November 21 to 25, has been organised by The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Econo-my, in collaboration with sever-al companies and stakeholders, at the Epicentrum Walk, Kun-ingan super block, in South Ja-karta. The event also includes a talk on the national comics in-dustry.

Pangestu is hopeful that the event will inspire local com-ic book artists to join the com-ics industry in Indonesia, since there are ample business oppor-tunities in the domestic market.

“We hope such events can drive the comics industry in In-donesia,” she said.

According to her, the comics industry plays an important role in the national creative industry. “Therefore, the comics industry should collaborate with the in-dustry of animation, advertis-ing and movies. By doing so, lo-cal comic book artists can create growth for the comics industry, in the country,” she said.

The Minister noted that the contribution of the creative in-dustry to the gross domestic product (GDP) has been on the rise lately. Based on the data re-leased by the Ministry, the cre-ative industry contributed as much as Rp472.8 trillion to the GDP in 2010.

In addition, it created jobs for 11.49 million people. These fig-ures increased in 2011 to Rp526 trillion, with 11.51 million people employed in the industry.

“We expect the number to rise again this year to Rp573.4 tril-lion, with 11.57 million people employed in the industry,” said the Minister.

The Ministry of Industry has urged local textile entrepreneurs, especially those in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), to produce value added goods, in an attempt to reduce the influx of imported textile products to Indonesia, in 2013.

“The influx of textile imports is on the rise, and it will certain-ly affect the local textile SMEs. Therefore, the government is urging local textile manufactur-ers to create superior products to stop the invasion of imported products,” said the Director Gen-eral of SMEs, Ministry of Indus-try, Euis Saedah, on Tuesday.

According to her, large-scale textile manufacturers should cooperate with SMEs to meet the local demand. “Besides, co-operation between large-scale manufacturers and SMEs is one way to increase the poten-tial of local SMEs, in generating superior textile products,” she explained.

“For instance, providing ac-cessories for manufacturers products can be taken over by SMEs,” she added.

Saedah argued that if local SMEs find difficulties in selling their products to the interna-

tional market, they can sell them to the domestic market instead. “So far, SMEs have not really penetrated the domestic market. In fact, there are people who are interested in purchasing local textile products,” she said.

Saedah also noted that some SMEs have begun marketing their textile products to modern retailers, such as Sarinah. “So, we don t have to really depend on export markets,” she said.

Earlier, the Indonesian Tex-tile Association stated that Indonesia s textile exports have slowed down in the first quarter

Textile Entrepreneurs Told toProduce Value-added Goods

Chairul Tanjung

The comics industry plays an important role in the national creative industry.

Mari Elka Pangestu noted that the contribution of the creative industry to the gross domestic product (GDP) has been on the rise lately. Based on the data released by the Ministry, the creative industry contributed as much as Rp472.8 trillion to the GDP in 2010.

November 2010 and early 2011 brought the number of the air-craft to three units in Africa.

Since it started operation in 1976, PT DI has produced more than 300 units of aircraft, in-cluding fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft.

PT DI has produced 102 units of CN-212 planes under license of CASA (now Airbus Military), both of civil and military ver-sions. PT DI has also produced 122 units of NBO-105 helicopter under license of Germany s MBB (currently Eurocopter), mostly for the Indonesian military .

It also has produced more than 33 units of NBell-412 heli-copter and 7 units of NBell-412 EP under license of Bell Helicop-ter Textron (USA) and 22 units of Super Puma helicopter under li-

of this year, partly due to a de-crease in the demand from one of its key buyers, the Europe-an Union (EU), despite a positive yearly growth.

“We ve still recorded a positive growth rate because of orders from the U.S. and Japan,” said the Indonesian Textile Associa-tion chairman, Ade Sudrajat.

The U.S. and EU have more than 40% and 10% shares re-spectively, in the nation s annu-al textile exports, while Japan accounts for around a 5% share, according to the association s trade statistics.

Aviation Week said Africa will need around

120 units of 61-120 seat passenger jet plane, and 220

units of 30-120 seat passenger planes in

the next 20 years. The new units of aircraft are needed to replace old ones and to serve

new routes.

The influx of textile imports is on the rise, and it will certainly affect the local textile SMEs. Therefore, the government is urging local textile manufacturers to create superior products to stop the invasion of imported products.”

Euis SaedahDirector General of SMEsMinistry of Industry

Vale to Increase Nickel Production

PT Vale Indonesia plans to increase nickel produc-tion from its mining areas to 90,000 metric tons a year by 2017 from the current 75,000 tons.

The company s external relations and corporate af-fairs director, Basrie Kam-ba, said here on Wednesday “we will increase production from 75,000 tons to 90,000 tons by 2017 and to 120,000 tons later on.”

He made the statement on the sidelines of a discussion on the environmental im-pact analysis document for the development of a nickel processing plant in Bahodo-pi Block in the district of Mo-rowali, Central Sulawesi.

He said the plan would immediately be realized af-ter the environmental im-pact analysis had been fin-ished and the permit for the forest land leasing from the forestry ministry has been issued. “We wish we could do it quickly but there are processes that must first be passed. We do not want to vi-olate the law,” he said.

He said the nickel process-ing plant would later be de-veloped into a refining plant. “If the refining plant is real-ized Bahodopi would be the

first to have a nickel refining plant in Indonesia. It is not a promise but a will,” he said.

The land for the working contract of Vale in Morow-ali covers 35,492 hectares initially controlled by PT In-ternational Nickel Indonesia (Nico) Tbk. which PT Vale ac-quired in 2006 and changed the name of the company to PT Vale Indonesia in 2012.

PT Vale contributes 5% to the world`s nickel demand. Its production is sold to Vale Canada Ltd. and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. under a long-term purchase deal.

Vale is a mining compa-ny headquartered in Brazil. It was established on June 1, 1942 by the Brazilian Fed-eration government. It oper-ates in five continents in 38 countries, employing more than 126,000 workers and 50,000 of them are working in Vale ongoing projects.

Basrie said the applica-tion for an exploration per-mit in Bahodopi Block has been filed to the government since June 2011. “Since 1968 when it was still named Inco it has already conducted ex-ploration. Exploration will be done again for the next de-velopment,” he said.

Merpati to Restructure Debts

PT Merpati Nusantara Air-lines plans to repay its debts reaching Rp5 trillion by re-paying Rp2.5 trillion of them next year that include some debts due in 2015, President Director Rudy Setyopurno-mo said.

“The debts have been a burden for Merpati. The debts must be settled next year in stages,” he said here on Wednesday.

He said the remaining Rp2.5 trillion debts to be due in 2015 would be repaid in 2016, adding the debt repay-ment would be done through a debt-to-equity swap scheme. “The debts must be settled next year so that the company s operations would be better,” he said.

He said the debts were

made before he was named pres-ident director. In the first six months in office he said he had concentrated on improving oper-ations and marketing divisions and he is now concentrating on putting the company s finance in order.

“If all goes well by 2014 the company plans to conduct an initial public offering of its stocks,” he said.

It has been reported that the state-owned airline company would acquire 60 new planes under an operations coopera-tion scheme for a five year peri-od with China Aircraft Leasing Company (CALC).

The effort is part of Merpati`s “reborn” program aimed at re-viving the company. “Right now the company has a fleet of 30 planes. Next year it will receive 20 jet planes,” Rudy said.

www.indonesiakreatif.netPT Merpati Nusantara Airlines President Director Rudy Setyopurnomo.

B2

Businesswww.thepresidentpost.comDecember 2012

Car Production to Jump to One Million Units in 2013

The first locally-made SUV and Pick-up Esemka, were launched after the vehicles were declared road worthy.

New car production in Indonesia is expect-ed to touch one mil-lion units in 2013, the director of trans-

portation means at the Ministry of Industry, Suprianto, said on Saturday.

Suprianto made the statement while launching the first locally-made SUV and Pick-up Esemka after the vehicles were declared road worthy. “The two cars have passed trial tests and have a right to obtain car registration numbers. So, they are now al-lowed to be marketed and peo-ple who are interested may buy them,” he said.

Surprianto said that with na-tional production expected to reach one million units, Esemka cars now had the opportunity to secure a sizeable market share.

The Esemka cars were launched as SUVs and Pick-up trucks. Esemka cars were ini-tially produced by vocational students in Solo and were now being manufactured by PT Solo Manufaktur. The car attract-ed public attention after former mayor of Solo, Joko Widodo, pop-ularly known as Jokowi who is now Jakarta governor, declared it as his official car.

PT Solo Manufaktur s Djoko Sutrisno said the company had

received 40,000 orders and down payments for 400 units so far. “Following the recent launch, 14 persons have directly ordered the car, with each paying Rp2 million as commitment fee,” he said, adding that monthly pro-duction at the company had reached 100 units.

Commenting on the price, he said the Rajawali SUV type was being sold at Rp100 million per unit, but would later cost Rp145 million following an increase in the prices of components of the Bima Pick-Up type by Rp65 mil-lion.

He said 60% of the compo-nents used in these cars were lo-cally sourced. “We will continue reducing our dependence on for-eign products,” he added.

Solo mayor FX Hadi Rudyat-

nessmen working in the auto-motive industries from Japan to Indonesia to carry out its plan to develop downstream industries in the country, Johnny Dar-mawan Danusasmita said.

“Japan is aware of small and medium business development in Indonesia and of its role in maintaining national economic stability,” the president director of PT Toyota Astra Motor said at a press conference here on Sat-urday.

He said the small and medi-um businesses would make a contribution and would cooper-ate with local workers. “We want to focus not only on business or sales, but also manpower em-powerment in Japan as well as in Indonesia,” he said.

Johnny said the development as well as products needed for

Indonesia is keen on be-coming the world`s fashion centre by 2025, with the ad-vancement of the fashion in-dustry in the country, ac-cording to a minister.

“Our dream is to make In-donesia a fashion centre of ASEAN. Then, we would like to expand and become the fashion centre of the world,” said Tourism and Creative Economic Minister, Mari Elka Pangestu, on Wednes-day.

The minister made this statement when she inau-gurated the Indonesian Cre-ative Products Week (PPKI), held from November 21 to 25, 2012, at Epiwalk Kun-ingan.

According to her, fashion designers should undergo coaching, training and de-velopment programs to im-prove their skills and under-stand fashion trends.

Mari Pangestu noted that to-gether with the stakeholders in the fashion industry in Indone-sia, the government has started the Indonesia Fashion Week and Jakarta Fashion Week, for fash-ion designers to showcase their work. “In a country with abun-dant natural resources and rich culture, creativity in the field of fashion, can combine local taste with international trends,” said Mari.

She added that one of the mis-sions of the creative industry is to improve Indonesia s image in the eyes of the international community. Therefore, Mari said that for Indonesia to become a fashion centre, the country has to be a centre of inspiration too.

“To reach this goal, we must start with research and devel-opment, trainings and enhance-ment of human resources and business development,” Mari added.

Indonesia Keen on Becoming World`s Fashion Center

small and medium business-es wouldn t cost a lot.

He said some parts were no longer manufactured by the central plant and there-fore small and medium busi-nesses were being brought to Indonesia to meet the demand for such products. “They will come and cooperate through a joint venture company that will employ Indonesian work-ers,” he said.

Johnny said the important thing about cooperation was location. “How can we start a new business if we have no lo-cation?” he stated.

Toyota President Tsuho Jun Kurabe said on the occasion that he would invest to help develop small businesses. “We are determined to develop small and medium business-es, especially in the down-stream industry,” he said.

Toyota Motor Group pres-ident Akio Toyoda supports the plan and has asked the government to accelerate in-frastructure development. “We have asked the govern-ment to accelerate infrastruc-ture development so that pro-duction can be realized soon,” he said.

By the end of 2012, Toyo-ta Astra Motor expects to pro-duce 600,000 cars and would also develop Innovative Inter-national Multi-Purpose Vehi-cles. Toyota Group will also target an investment of up to Rp13 trillion, which will pro-vide employment to up to 41,000 workers.

mo said on the occasion that the achievement had been made possible through extraordinary struggle. “Our predecessors have fought for independence but the younger generation is now fight-ing to fill the independence,” he said.

He also called on the young-er generation to not lose hope and said that everything could be achieved through hard work, as shown by the vocational stu-dents, who had been able to ma-terialize their dreams of making cars by on their own.

“We must be proud of their products and so it is appropriate for us to appreciate them by us-ing them,” he said.

Toyota Group to Bring Small, Medium Businesses

Toyota Group will send a num-ber of small and medium busi-

By the end of 2012, Toyota Astra Motor expects to produce 600,000 cars and would also develop Innovative International Multi-Purpose Vehicles. Toyota Group will also target an investment of up to Rp13 trillion, which will provide employment to up to 41,000 workers.

www.watnyus.com

State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said the deci-sion to take over PT Indone-sia Asahan Aluminium (In-alum) is final and assured that the company will be in the hands of the country.

“With regard to Inalum I can assure it will go to us and be managed by our-selves,” he said at a general lecture at Muhammadiyah University here on Saturday.

In reply to a question from a participant the min-ister said that the govern-ment has prepared Rp2 tril-lion this year and another Rp3 trillion next year for the takeover of the company that has so far been managed by a Japanese aluminum business consortium (NAA) whose contract is sched-

uled to expire in 2013. “Later PT Inalum`s management would likely be handed over to a state-owned company,” he added.

Following the conclusion of the contract for PT Inalum, the agreement that 70% of the company s production must be sent to Japan would no longer be effective. In connection with that re-negotiations would be made, including on price.

Regarding raw materials the minister said Indonesia actual-ly has PT Timah that produces it but it is impossible to rely on the domestic production from Bangka island. In view of that, PT Timah has bought a mine in Myanmar to assure alumi-na raw materials supply which would later be sent to Inalum to meet its raw materials need.

Inalum Takeover Final

B3

Investmentwww.thepresidentpost.com December 2012

The Ministry of Mar-itime and Fisher-ies Affairs (KKP) has set itself the target of Rp23.67 trillion in-

vestment in the maritime and fishery sector, a minister said.

“Most of the investment is ex-pected to be made in fish cul-turing activities. Up to the third quarter, investment in the fish culturing had reached Rp15.82 trillion,” Maritime and Fisheries Affairs Minister Sharif Cicip Su-tardjo said here on Monday.

He said that the value of in-vestment made in the maritime and fisheries was still small as it only accounts for 0.4% of the to-tal investment made in the pri-mary sectors.

In the meantime, the value of foreign investment made in the maritime and fisheries sectors only accounted for 0.3% of the total foreign investment, or about 1.2% of the total foreign invest-ment in the primary sectors. In this respect, the KKP will aim at the maritime and fishery devel-opment linking the chains of the upstream and downstream fish-eries sectors.

The minister said that science and technology will be applied in the development of the maritime and fisheries in every point of the chains between the up and down stream sectors.

“To increase the added val-ue of the maritime and fisheries sector, the KKP will continue to encourage the cultivation of both the on-farm and off-farm fisher-ies so that it would have positive impact on the people s economy and foreign exchange earning,” Minister Sharif said.

He said that if 80% of the pop-ulation consumed 31.64 kilo-grams fish per capita per year, about 6 million tons of fish must

be prepared a year. Therefore, the KKP this year launched the shrimp and milk fish pond revi-talization programs with ponds covering 1,500 hectares. The fish pond pilot projects are scat-tered in Serang, Tangerang, Karawang, Indramayu, Subang and Cirebon.

Minister Sharif said earli-er that the industrialization of the nation s marine and fisher-ies sectors, through integrated upstream and downstream pro-duction, will be accelerated by eight factors.

“These eight key factors should be completely supported by the government, the people, and the business community,” he said in a written statement.

“The eight key factors are guar-anteed availability of marine re-sources; adequate facilities and infrastructure; innovation and application of technology; high added value of marine and fish-eries commodities; reliable and competent human resources; well-managed market; invest-ment support from the business community; and favourable gov-ernment regulation,” Sutardjo continued.

He noted that the main objec-tive behind industrializing the marine and fisheries sectors was to support the four pillars of na-tional development, namely pro-growth, pro-job, pro-poor, and pro-environment.

“However, the industrializa-tion of marine and fisheries should not happen at the ex-pense of the sustainability of natural resources and the envi-ronment,” Sutardjo said.

Head of the Capital Invest-ment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Chatib Basri said no foreign investor had left the country due to workers ral-lies of late.

“There is no companies under the BKPM which have left Indonesia due to labor demonstrations of late. For-eign firms have paid salaries than the minimum regional provincial wage (UMP). They are only nervous if demon-strators conduct sweeping at firms and force other work-ers to join their rallies,” the BKPM chief said on Monday.

He said that foreign com-panies were not affected by the rallies themselves. They only affected small com-panies, namely local or do-mestic companies. “So, the rallies themselves pose no problem as long as they are

cent labor demonstrations. “I have checked with the head of BKPM (the Investment Coordi-nating Board) and (found) no in-vestor has said such a thing,” he said at a dialog on economic na-tionalism here on Saturday.

Workers have recently held ral-lies in many parts of the country to demand wage increases. Hat-ta said the workers demand for an average of Rp2 million per month across the country was reasonable and must be met. “I believe employers could under-stand it,” he said.

With regard to companies that could not meet such a raise in wages, he said he would ask the manpower minister to is-sue a regulation about this. He said the state is ready to reduce its revenues from corporate tax-es, if necessary, to allow compa-nies to continue operating their businesses.

In the meantime, Vice Presi-dent Boediono has said that firm actions have been taken against workers involved in anarchism during demonstrations.

He said when opening a High Level Conference on Indonesian Investment 2012 here on Tues-day that while labor demonstra-tions are allowed actions must be taken against anarchism. “The law must be enforced against ex-cesses such as intimidation,” he said.

Boediono admitted that inves-tors had been concerned over the demonstrations. He said the gov-ernment remained committed to keep improving investment con-ditions in the country by among others providing legal certainty and better infrastructure.

He said the government would also continue improving the wel-fare of workers which has also been the government s priority.

Investment on Fisheries Set at Rp23t: Minister

Govt Provides Tax Holiday To Attract More Investors

In yet another effort to attract investment in the industrial sector the Fi-nance Ministry has issued a regulation on tax holiday, an Industry Min-istry official said.

Under the regulation, tax holiday will be granted to investors who in-vest at least Rp1 trillion in Indonesia and put at least 10% of the over-all planned investment in the national banking industry, the head of the ministry`s center for industrial policy and quality studies, Arryanto Sagala said here on Monday.

The investors that are entitled to receive tax holiday are those engaged in the base metal industry, oil refinery, machinery industry, renewable en-ergy and communication equipment industry, he said.

He made it clear that the tax holiday will be given for five to 10 years after applicants have realized their entire investment plans and started commercial production. In addition, the government will also provide 50%

tax reduction for two years after the tax holiday period has expired, he said.

“Investors can apply for the facilities to the industry minister and the In-vestment Coordinating Board (BKPM),” he said. It takes 14 working days for the investors to apply for tax holiday, he pointed out.

The BKPM has set itself the target of attracting Rp383 trillion invest-ment in 2013 and Rp500 trillion investment in 2014. The agency has pro-jected investment to reach Rp283 trillion at the end of this year, up by 15% from last year`s.

Chinese Businessman To Invest in Lebak A Chinese investor wants to build a cement factory in Lebak , Banten,

a local official said. The project will open thousands of jobs for local people and will cer-

tainly contribute to increasing the district income, head of the investment sector of the regional development planning board Agianto Ahmad Tahir said in Rangkasbitung, on Tuesday.

Agianto said the regional income of the district could reach Rp2.5 bil-lion per year if the project is implemented as scheduled in the Muncang sub-district.

Currently the Chinese investor is studying the location where the fac-tory is to be built and the district administration has prepared land for the project.

INVESTMENT BRIEFSNew investment would certainly help boost development of the district

economy and create more jobs for local people, Agianto said. The district administration has improved facilities and infrastructure in the area and simplified licensing procedure and improved security, he added.

“I think with improved facilities and infrastructure the district could at-tract investors to exploit the natural resources in this area,” he said. He said in 2013-2014 five new cement factories are expected to be opera-tional in the regency of Lebak.

In 2013, PT Gama Group and PT Balindo plan to build cement facto-ries and three other companies are expected to follow in 2014, he said. The cement projects valued at tend of trillion rupiahs will be located in the sub-districts of Bayah and Cilograng. The license for the five cement factory projects have been issued by the district administration and con-struction is in progress.

Agianto said many investors have been eying business in mining, such as galena rock, quartz sand, and coal mining and in geothermal power development. The regency of Lebak is rich in natural resources yet un-tapped, he said.

Meanwhile, local companies welcome plans by investors to build more cement factories in the district that they do not have to rely on suppliers from other regions in the country. In addition, investors are also expected to be interested in doing business in agricultural, tourism, plantation and livestock sectors, he said.

No Foreign Investors Leaving Indonesia: BKPM

Thailand Siam Cement Group Plc intends to set up a cement factory in Lebak district, Banten province, to meet local demand.

“We project cement produc-tion to reach 6,000 tons per year from PT Gama Group and Siam Cement Group which will oper-ate as of 2013,” Chief of the Leb-ak District Integrated Licensing Service Office (KPPT) Hari Set-iono said on Sunday.

He said the presence of the Thai company to invest trillions of rupiahs in the cement indus-try can boost the local people s economy as well as regional rev-enues. In addition, the invest-ment will also create job oppor-tunities for thousands of local workers, he added.

He positively welcomed any company to invest in Lebak dis-trict and expected the pres-ence of the Thai company will have a direct impact on the local people s welfare. He said the re-gional administration will ease

the licencing procedure and pro-vide security assurance to the cement investor.

“Right now we have estab-lished cooperation with the Thai investor to build a cement facto-ry,” he added.

He said PT Gama Group has met all licencing requirements including building construction permit and environment licence to build the cement factory in Bayah and Cilograng sub-dis-tricts using 2,500 hectares of land.

However, PT Siam Cement Group still has to fulfill several of licencing requirements.

“We believe both cement facto-ries, which will become the big-gest in Indonesia, can fulfill de-mand from the national market in 2013,” he said.

Hari said demand for cement in the domestic market is rela-tively high to support the con-struction of infrastructures and facilities. Moreover, the govern-

ment has launched a `Master Plan for the Acceleration and Ex-pansion of Indonesia s Economic Development (MPE3I) program, he said.

“We hope Lebak will be the largest cement supplier for the national market,” he said.

Head of the engineering divi-sion of PT Gama Group, Handy, said the cement factory will be built starting January 2013 in Bayah and Cilograng sub-dis-tricts.

PT Gama Group, the largest cement factory in Indonesia, is set to produce four million tons of cement per year. The company will produce cement using lime-stone and clay which is abun-dant in Lebak. The two materials can exploited for tens of years.

In addition, PT Gama Group also has set up a limestone and clay grinding plant in Ciwandan, Cilegon City. “We have two ce-ment factories in Lebak and Ci-legon,” he said.

Thai Investor to Build Cement Plant

held without violating the law,” Chatib said at the State Palace.

With regard to a brick facto-ry which reportedly stopped pro-duction, the BKPM head said the factory had halted its production temporarily.

“As far as I remember they have never said they will leave Indonesia. I have talked to its CEO. They never said they will leave Indonesia. What they are doing is temporarily closing the factory. It is a temporary closure because the company continues to be disturbed by demonstra-tors,” he said.

He said that up to Monday, he had never received yet any letter from foreign companies saying they would close their business.

Chief economic minister Hat-ta Rajasa said on Saturday that no foreign investors had plans to leave the country following re-

Science and technology will be applied in the development of the maritime and fisheries in every point of the chains between the up and down stream sectors.

To increase the added value of the maritime and fisheries sector, the KKP will continue to encourage the cultivation of both the on-farm and off-farm fisheries so that it would have positive impact on the people`s economy and foreign exchange earning.”

Sharif Cicip SutardjoMaritime and Fisheries Affairs Minister

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branding. Besides, the attraction of aerobatic plane is certainly an expensive entertainment that promises extraordinary showbiz prospects.

“Aerobatic show can be pre-sented in any celebration by any-one who can pay. It must be pric-eysincethereisno‘otherstore’nearby,” said Jeffrey.

“In America, aerobatic sport is used for several products’ brand-ing. A one-time flight can fetch up to Rp 500 million. It requires high investment, yet it will pro-duce profit quickly,” said Jeffrey.

He added, “My price is sure-ly expensive, since my expertise carries the risk of death.”

Jeffrey also pointed out said that in the US jobs that put peo-ple under less oxygen supply are the highest paying jobs, such as miners, pilots and others.

Jeffrey explained that there are some requirements to be accepted as a Red Bull air race athlete. First, the person must be a representative of a country, so there should be a support let-ter from the government. A sec-ond requirement is to leave the past job. The third is to have a minimum of 7,500 flying hours obtained within a period of 10 years. So, a new pilot could not right away be an athlete of Red Bull Air Race. The fourth is the consent from the family. For Jef-frey the permission from his family is the most important be-cause it is a form of prayer. The last requirement is to finish three years of training and to meet all qualifications.

In 2008, Jeffrey submitted to

the organizers of Red Bull Air Race World Championship for Indonesia (Bali) a proposal to host the race. But there was no response from the government and private sector to support the event. Unfortunately, his idea was‘copied’byhisex-colleaguewho proposed Malaysia to be the host country in 2013.

He said, “The Malaysian gov-ernment approved the idea and was ready to support it. Even more, they were ready to pay me to be an athlete representing Malaysia. I was offered $2 mil-lion, comprising $1 million for the purchase of an aircraft and one year of training, and the oth-er $1 million for air race develop-ment in Malaysia. I was also to be given a salary of $25,000.”

All these tempting offers were rejected by Jeffrey. “I rejected be-cause my heart found it unac-ceptable. I’ve come this far for In-donesia, it isunfeasible to ‘sell’myself to another country,” he explained.

Jeffrey is now taking break off from school to go back to Indone-sia to seek for support and spon-sorship. “The school is very dear to me. People who enter the US as student pilots should get a diplo-ma if they want to go home lat-er. Otherwise, they’ll be dropped out. It is the impact of 9/11 trag-edy, and US doesn’t want it to happen again,” said Jeffrey.

just complain, we have to try on our own first,” said Jeffrey.

Jeffrey said that he sold his collection of branded motorcy-cles, powerboat, and luxury cars to pay for his training. He even plans to sell one of his houses in order to buy the plane if he can-not find sponsors.

“I will do my best, I plan to fin-ish what I started,” he added.

In other countries, the Red Bull Air Race plane is the arena of product branding because it is a flying billboard. Jeffrey sees it as a huge business potential. Any institution could advertise their product on the plane and it would be a form of prestigious

Nonetheless Jeffrey is confi-dent that he will complete his training with or without spon-sorship.

Red Bull Air Race Red Bull Air Race, established

in 2003 and created by Red Bull, is an international series of air races in which competitors have to navigate a challenging obsta-cle course in the fastest time. Pi-lots fly individually against the clock and have to complete tight turns through a slalom course consisting of pylons, known as “Air Gates”.

The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is one of the toughest and most demand-ing sports competitions that ex-ist and only the best pilots in the world have the skill and stamina to take part and be successful at it. Prospective pilots must first make it through the rigorous se-lection process and to do so, they must have the experience, skills and personality to join the elite group who compete in this global motorsports championship.

Simply being a fast pilot is not enough – they must also have the skill to navigate complex ob-stacle course just meters above the ground. This means flying with utmost precision taking care not to collide with any of the 20 meter-high Air Gates while at the same time racing against the

Jeffrey Adrian, a for-mer Garuda pi-lot, has a desire to “sell” Indonesia by making this coun-try the host of the prestigious air rac-

ing event, Red Bull Air Race.When Jeffrey decided to move

out of his comfort zone as a sea-soned pilot with 13 years of ex-perience at Garuda Indonesia, he decided to learn aerobatics at the Executive Flyers Aviation Boston, United States, with, yes, his own money. Jeffrey calls his move “letting go something big to gain something greater.”

Jeffrey has spent about Rp 5.5 billion (over $500,000) for two years of aerobatics training. He still needs to take one last year of training that will cost him an-other Rp 2.5 billion. He is also set to spend Rp 6 billion to buy an air race plane. Not a small sum, for sure, but on the other hand he will soon become one of only 16 Red Bull Air Race athletes in the world, the second in Asia (the other one is a Japanese).

In developed countries, the cost is partly covered by the gov-ernment and private compa-nies. However, Jeffrey is aware that the Indonesian government has other priorities in the sports field.

“Actually, I want to give some-thing to this country but have re-ceived little support. Yet, we can’t

JEFFREY ADRIANI Am Expensive Since I Have No Rivals

Indonesia to host the Red Bull

Air Race World Championship—that is the goal of Jeffrey Adrian, a senior pilot who is now realizing

his passion to become an athlete of extreme sports called air racing.

Jeffrey has spent about Rp 5.5 billion (over $500,000) for two years of aerobatics training. He still needs to take one last year of training that will cost him another Rp 2.5 billion. He is also set to spend Rp 6 billion to buy an air race plane. Not a small sum, for sure, but on the other hand he will soon become one of only 16 Red Bull Air Race athletes in the world, the second in Asia (the other one is a Japanese).

clock at speeds that can reach up to 370 km/hr. Fitness is also paramount, because the pilot has to deal with the high accel-eration forces which have a tre-mendous impact on the body, of-ten having to cope with forces of up to 12G.

In 2008, Jeffrey submitted to the organizers of Red Bull Air Race World Championship for Indonesia (Bali) a proposal to host the race. But there was no response from the government and private sector to support the event. Unfortunately, his idea was ‘copied’ by his ex-colleague who proposed Malaysia to be the host country in 2013.

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The 5th Jababeka International Cultural FestivalJababeka held The 5th Jababeka International Cultural

Festival (JICF) at Movieland Jababeka City, Cikarang, on Saturday (24/11) featuring art and cultural performances.

Jababeka as an industrial area that has more than 1,500 tenants from within and outside Indonesia celebrated the cultur-al differences that exist so that all people of any country can live peacefully side by side in Ja-babeka.

The guests were, among oth-ers, Titus Weber, Sultan Sepuh Cirebon XIV Pangeran Raja Ad-ipati Arief Natadiningrat, Viet-nam’s ambassador to Indonesia Pham Quang Vinh, representa-

tives of West Java Governor, rep-resentatives of Bekasi regent and others.

Stunning performances on that event were the parade of traditional clothes from Presi-dent High School’s students, a marching band, Reog Ponorogo, Liong and Barongsai by FOBI, a special performance by Russian students who sang and danced Russian Volka dance, Melayu dance by Brunei Darussalam delegations, and more others.

The President Post/Heros Barasakti

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Launching of APEC 2013 New LogoThe Ministry of Foreign Af-

fairs has officially introduced the APEC logo for Indonesia’s APEC chairmanship on December 7.

The logo consists of 21 bam-boo shoots sweeping upward on a blue background. The bamboo shoots represented the 21 APEC economies while the upward sweep visualized the need to de-velop global economic growth, the ministry said in a statement. Bamboo was picked to symbol-ize resilience, strength and flex-ibility.

The launching was attended by officials of Indonesian govern-ment, Indonesian businessmen who active in the APEC Busi-ness Advisory Council (ABAC), as well as senior officials from other APEC members.

On APEC 2013, Indonesia aims to promote investment in infrastructure; empowering key groups that have the potential for national economy growth such as SMEs development, women and farmers, and ensure that the international market is always open to Indonesia.

Inauguration of President Continuing Nurse Education and Training Center

The President Post/Heros Barasakti

National Convention ofPublic Relations Indonesia

Public Relations Soci-ety of Indonesia (Perhumas) held a National Convention of Public Relations Indone-sia themed “Reputation in an Era of Transparency” - Towards Honest & Indepen-dent Indonesia.

The event was held to cel-ebrate 40 years of Perhumas and was held on December 9 - 12, at Hotel Grand Sahid Jaya Jakarta.

The speakers were , among others, Freddy Tulung, Di-rector General of Informa-tion and Public Information Ministry of Communication and Information, Rhenald Kasali, Chairul Tanjung, Er-ick Thohir, Datin Shameem binti Abdul Jalil, and others.

Delonix Hotel held Booker Gathering (BG) on Wednesday (5/12) at D’Lounge Delonix Hotel. It is an annual event held for the second time as a form of appreciation to the staff who booked the hotel for corporate purposes. Ratu Neilla, General Manager of Delonix, in her speech said she really appreciates and compliments consumers for their trust in Delonix Hotel.

The event was attended by consumers from several companies, among others Yamaha, Nissan, Panasonic, etc.

Booker Gathering at Delonix Hotel

In commemoration of World Aids Day, Durex as a number one condom brand in the world held fun bike event in collaboration with bike2work community.

The event was held on Sunday, December 2 at Sudirman-Thamrin, which also coincides with Car Free Day program.

Durex also runs a global campaign on the prevention of HIV and AIDS. As part of the campaign, Durex has promised to donate one condom for every user who tweets a message about HIV and AIDS using the #1share1condom hashtag. The company will also donate one condom to global and local charities that share Durex’s mission of combating HIV-transmission - like dance4life - for every user who shares the Durex World AIDS Day image or video found on the Durex Facebook page.

Commemoration of WorldAIDS day with Durex

Jababeka held an agent gathering on Wednesday (5/12), at the Hollywood Plaza, Jababeka City, Cikarang.

In this event Jababeka Residence promoted its units of Exclusive Pavilion Simprug, luxurious cluster of Beverly Hills, Ruko Movie Boulevard, and Dharmawangsa Residence.

Arya, business manager of Dharmawangsa Residence, was promoting four house units with an area of 200m2, 380m2 and 482m2 with the Jababeka Golf and Country Club the backyard. Its prices are in the Rp 2-4 billion range.

Jababeka Agent Gathering

The President Post/Rians Rivco

The President Post/Heros Barasakti

The President Post/Heros Barasakti

President University Education Foundation held an inaugura-tion ceremony of President Con-tinuing Nurse Education and Training Centre (PCNETC) on Wednesday (12/12) at Jababeka, Cikarang. Present as the guest speaker was, Suprianto, director gener-al health development efforts of Health Ministry, Wasista Budi-waluyo, the Secretary General of Indonesian Hospital Association (PERSI), and Dewi Irawaty, Ph.D, Chairman of the Indonesian Na-tional Nurses Association.Prof Joss Riono, chief educa-tion PCNETC, said that PC-NETC training institutes are equipped with training facilities in accordance with internation-al standards and lodging facil-ities, libraries, IT and comfort-able classrooms.

Human Rights Dialogue be-tween Indonesia and Norway was officially opened on Novem-ber 26, by Foreign Minister Mar-ty Natalegawa.

The opening ceremony was at-tended by Prince Hakoon Mag-nus of Norway, Princess Mette-Marit, and Norwegian Foreign Minister, Gry Larsen.

Indonesia-Norway Human Rights Dialogue has been going on since 2002. This year, the di-alogue addressed issues rang-

Dialogue on Human Rightsbetween Indonesia and Norway

The President Post/Rians Rivco

ing from human rights, climate change, forestry, environment sectors, and so forth.

Prince Hakoon Magnus said that some principles for enhanc-ing bilateral cooperation be-tween Norway and Indonesia are respect, openness and im-plementation which are valuable aspects for both governments.

Those, he added, can guaran-tee that both countries can con-tinue to make a success and mu-tual cooperation.

The President Post/Rians Rivco

The President Post/Heros Barasakti

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Hotel Le Meridein inaugurated Sasono Mulyo Ballroom on Friday (30/11). The ballroom has been completely renovated so it has a “new face” now. With an area of 714 m2, this ballroom can accommodate approximately 1,200 people, and with its new design can facilitate a variety of major and important events because it has an entrance that is connected directly to the main road.

Sasono Mulyo Ballroom can be divided into three soundproofed rooms and has been designed to match the sound system for events such as music concerts, presentations, and audio-visual events. Besides, Sasono Mulyo also features WiFi and natural lighting.

Inauguration of Sasono Mulyo Ballroom at Le Meridien Hotel

UN Women Executive DirectorMichelle Bachelet Visits Indonesia

Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet con-ducted her first official visit to In-donesia, December 3-5.

Bachelet was a keynote speak-er on December 4 at the 4th Min-isterial Conference on Womens Role in the Development of the Organization of the Islamic Con-ference (OIC) Member States, at the invitation of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

During the visit, Bachelet con-ducted several meetings with Vice President Budiono, Dr. Mar-ty Natalegawa, Minister of For-eign Affairs, and Ms. Linda Ama-lia Sari, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Pro-tection. The UN Women Execu-tive Director also met with civil society organizations support-ing women and girls’ empower-ment, engaged in a dialogue with prominent Islamic scholars, and addressed the media.

Djarum Super held another Talk In (TI) event at the Hollywood Plaza, Jababeka City, Cikarang on Monday (10/12). TI event entitled’’ Managing laugh to be Business Commodity” was participated by Mongol, a comedian at Standup Comedy Show.

Mongol shares few things at the event. He said that being a standup comedian (comic) is a very promising job as a lot of people need to be entertained. As a comic, Mongol said, one should very careful when choosing a theme that will be performed to entertain the audience.

Mongol added, “there are some elements to avoid, such as ethnic, race, and religious issues, physical abuse and politics.”

The event was enlivened by the performance of Benny Likumahuwa Project and the band.

Djarum Super Mild TalkIn Jababeka

Manufacturing Indonesia carries the unique distinction of being one of the largest and most comprehensive events for the manufacturing sector. Featuring participation from 26 countries, this show aims to serve the South-East Asian market where companies from diverse industry segments display their wares to an international clientele.

Indonesia, being Asia’s third fastest growing economy after China and India, acts as the perfect backdrop with the Jakarta International Expo center playing host to some 18 international pavilions. Visitors comprise of a large number of professionals and decision makers from innumerable industries who religiously attend the event each year to explore business possibilities in a dynamic business environment.

Manufacturing Indonesia 2012

Indonesia hosted the 4th Min-isterial Conference Organization of Islamic Cooperation, themed “Women’s Role and Regulation in Economic Development of OIC Member Countries”.

The conference was opened by Vice President Boediono and the Minister of Women’s Empow-erment Linda Amalia Sari Gu-melar, at the Ritz Carlton, Mega Kuningan.

In his opening speech, Vice President Boediono said that the conference this time is to contin-ue the good performance by OIC at the Tehran Declaration, and can benefit not only the Muslim community but the entire soci-ety in the world.

He also pointed out that gen-der equality would eventual-ly deliver further affects on de-velopment of women’s capacity thus in other sectors such as ed-ucation, health and politics.

OIC 4th MinisterialLevel Conference

Tree Lighting Ceremony &Charity Event at Grand Sahid Jaya

Grand Sahid Jaya organized a “Tree Lighting Ceremony & Charity Event” on Friday (4/12). Chairman of Sahid Group Prof Sukamdani Sahid Gitosardjono, accompanied by Juliah Sukam-dani vice president Sahid Group, and the board of directors of Sa-hid Group lit the Christmas can-dle on the event.

At the occasion, Grand Sa-hid Jaya invited orphan children choir from Parapatan orphan-age. The employees’ choir also enlivened the event.

He said that Indonesia has put this agenda by taking concrete actions in its mid-haul develop-ment plans from 2010 to 2014, adding that gender mainstream-ing was among three ones set in the plans. The other two were sustainable development and good governance in the govern-ment mainstreaming.

The conference was attended by 160 delegates from OIC mem-ber states, the United Nations and related agencies.

The President Post/Reza Ganesha

The President Post/Rians Rivco

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The President Post/Reza Ganesha

The President Post/Heros Barasakti

The President Post/Heros Barasakti

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The Turkeys Evening Cocktail by AmchamAmCham (American Chambers) held The Turkeys Evening Cocktail on Tuesday, November 20, which was attended by its members. The

event was also a gathering before the completion of AmCham Indonesia Thanksgiving Day Golf Tournament.

The President Post/Rians Rivco

IABC (Indonesia Australia Business Council) held a Gathering Night on Wednesday (21/11) at Intercontinental Hotel and attended by its members. In this event there was also tourism promotion of Lom-bok and Sumbawa.

IABC Gathering Night

The progress made by the ASEAN Community Statistical System Committee and ASEANstats – ASEAN Secretariat Division in charge of the collection, production, and dissemination of regional statistics – over the last four years of cooperation with the European Union (EU) is highlighted at a closing conference of the EU-funded EU-ASEAN Statistical Capacity Building (EASCAB) Programme taking place at the Dharmawangsa Hotel on Tuesday, November 27.

The event brings together ASEAN ambassadors, Heads of the Na-tional Statistical Offices of the ASEAN Member States, and represen-tatives of line ministries, central banks and customs departments. It features key note speeches from Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-Gen-eral of ASEAN, and Colin Crooks, Deputy Head of Delegation, Europe-an Union Delegation to Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam and ASEAN.

The ASEAN Community needs reliable and timely statistical data that are comparable across all ten ASEAN Member States to help for-mulate regional policy and monitor integration in the region and the world. This is also essential for governments, businesses, academics, and civil society groups to improve decision-making.

The EASCAB Programme assisted both ASEANstats and the na-tional statistics offices of all ten ASEAN Member States to produce re-liable and comparable statistical data through serious efforts to har-monise statistics for the trade in goods, trade in services, foreign direct investment, and other key sectors of development, including the pub-lication of the first ever regional report on the status of ASEAN prog-ress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The EASCAB Programme also made possible the initial release of the 2012 ASEAN International Merchandise Trade Statistical Yearbook which is a com-prehensive compilation of harmonised trade statistics for 2010-2011.

ASEAN–EU Cooperationto Achieve MDGs

The President Post/Rians Rivco

The President Post/Reza Ganesha

Breakfast DialogueFinancial Club Jakarta held

a breakfast dialogue, themed “Prospect & Development of In-donesia Trade” with Gusmardi Butami, Director General of Na-tional Export Development, Min-istry of Home Affairs as a speak-er and Justin Doebele, Chief Editorial Advisor Forbes Indone-sia as a moderator.

In his presentation Butami re-vealed that Indonesia’s econo-my is growing positively because 64% of GDP comes from domes-

Kompas Gramedia, Cipu-tra Group, Bank Mandiri, and Aneka Tambang held Kompas CEO Forum for the third time, themed “CEO Talking, Cabinet Listening: Growing Higher or Stagnant”.

The 3rd KOMPAS CEO Forum was held at Cendrawasih Room, Jakarta Convention Center, on November 28.

Attended by around 100 CEOs, this event was opened by Jakob Oetama and present-ed speakers Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo, Governor of Bank Indonesia Darmin Na-

Kompas CEO Forum

tic consumption, therefore Indo-nesia is less dependent on ex-ports.

As for the prospects and fur-ther economic development, Bu-tami said, “Indonesia needs more qualified human resourc-es to be the leader of the nation, and the infrastructure must be improved, as well as focusing on value-added products to im-prove the position in internation-al trade.”

sution, and Chairman of BKPM M. Chatib Basri as speakers. The second session presented Ciputra (Ciputra Group owner), Zulkifli Zaini (Managing Direc-tor of Bank Mandiri), and Alwin-syah Lubis (President Director of PT Antam). The third session featured a discussion between the CEOs and Vice President Bo-ediono, accompanied by CEO of Kompas Gramedia, Agung Ad-iprasetyo. Present at the event were Minister of Trade Gita Wir-jawan, Minister of Mohammad S Hidayat, and Minister for Eco-nomic Affairs Hatta Rajasa.

The President Post/Reza Ganesha

The President Post/Reza Ganesha

2012 Highlightswww.thepresidentpost.com

December 2012No. 39

SECTION C

The President Post

The Queen’sDiamond Jubilee

After an eventful 2011, in which she saw her grand-son William marry Kate Middleton, Queen Elizabeth had two major events cele-brated in 2012. She turned 86 on April 21, and on Feb. 6 marked the 60th anniver-sary since her ascension to the throne. She and Prince Philip marked the Diamond

Jubilee on the home front, tour-ing Britain; the rest of the royals fan out across the globe.

Prince William and Kate vis-ited countries like Malaysia and Singapore, while Prince Harry made a solo trip to the Caribbe-an. Prince Charles and Camil-la’s itinerary includes Australia, New Zealand and a May tour of Canada.

Whitney Houston Died

Whitney Houston, the iconic American singer whose battles

with drugs, alcohol and ex-hus-band Bobby Brown marred her star power, died on February 11. She was 48.

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world’s best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, pow-erful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the mass-es with a pop sheen.

Her success carried her be-yond music to movies, where she starred in hits like “The Body-guard” and “Waiting to Exhale.” She had the perfect voice and the perfect image: a gorgeous sing-er who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who main-tained perfect poise.

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummet-ed and the hits stopped com-ing; her once serene image was

shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearanc-es. She confessed to abusing co-caine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had dur-ing her prime.

Java Jazz 2012

Java Jazz 2012 (March 2-4) boasted an impressive lineup that includes some of the finest jazz musicians in the world, such as Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Al Jarreau, and Erykah Badu.

But it’s not just internation-al acts. Over a hundred Indone-sian musicians also showed the crowd what they’re made of. Ab-dul and The Coffee Theory, Moni-ta Tahalea Quartet, and Mailq & D’Essentials were just some of the home-grown talent taking to the festival’s stages.

Putin Becomes President of Russiafor Third Time

Vladimir Putin became Rus-sia’s president for the third time (May 6). Putin succeeded Dmit-ry Medvedev, who was his prime minister during his two terms as president.

Facebook Goes Public The site, which was born in a

dorm room eight years ago and has grown into a worldwide net-work of almost a billion people, on May 18 made the most talk-ed-about stock market debut in years.

Facebook became a public company, raising $14 billion in its initial public offering, at $38 a share, which gives the compa-ny a value of $104 billion. This

makes Facebook the third-larg-est public offering in the histo-ry of the US, behind General Mo-tors and Visa.

NKOTBSB Mesmerized Jakarta

Appearing in their One Night One Stage joint concert on June 1, NKOTBSB - the 1980s to 1990s Boy Band sensations: New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys, – gave Jakarta audiences a spectacular two-hour show held

at the Grand Mata Elang In-ternational Stadium at An-col Dreamland in North Ja-karta.

The two bands performed no less than 30 songs for their Jakarta performance, enhanced by spectacu-lar stage décor, costumes, lighting, and sound system.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

Al Jarreauat the JAVA Jazz 2012

SEE INSIDEFOR MORE

www.glrfca.org

C2

2012 Highlightswww.thepresidentpost.comDecember 2012

UEFA Euro 2012 OK, so it’s not as big as the

World Cup, but people around the globe will still watched top-flight soccer talents, including Spain’s David Villa, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Germa-ny’s Miroslav Klose, play in the UEFA Euro Cup on June 8-July 1. Spain celebrates again when they win 4-0 from Italy at the fi-nal.

Spain won the 2008 tourney, which was co-hosted by Aus-tria and Switzerland. This year’s contest was co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, who as hosts au-tomatically qualify for the tour-nament. After finishing in the fi-nal six in the 2006 World Cup, Ukraine will appear in its first European soccer championship.

London Olympics Athletes from more than 200

countries on July 27-August 12 were descended on London for the Olympic and Paralym-pic Games. With this event, the British capital became the first city to have hosted the Olympics three times in the modern era (the others were 1908 and 1948). About 10,820 athletes from 204 nations participated in the 302 events in 26 Sports.

The 2012 London Olympics of-ficially kicked off on 27th of July in a Royal style with the world

witnessing the greatest ceremo-ny of all times. English film di-rector and producer Danny Boyle directed the opening cer-emony of the games which was named as Isles of Wonder. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Olympic Games.

Russia Enters the World Trade Organization

After 19 years of negotiations, Russia on August 22 became the newest member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Rus-sia has cut tariffs on imports and set limits on export duties as part of a series of reforms en-acted to qualify for entry into the international trading arena. Ex-pectations of membership in-clude an increase of 3% in the Russian GDP, more foreign in-vestment, and a doubling of US exports to Russia-as long as trade relations are normalized through the lifting of the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment.

Hillary Clinton’s Working Visit to Indonesia

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Indonesia for a working visit on September 3. After arriving at Halim Perdan-akusumah airport, Clinton im-mediately went to see Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Marty

Natalegawa’s to discuss sever-al matters. The focus of the dis-cussion was the implementation of the two countries’ bilateral strategic partnership, following a previous agreement between President Susilo Bambang Yud-hoyono and US President Ba-rack Obama.

SAIL Morotai After the success of Sail Bang-

ka Belitung in 2011, Indone-sia on September 14 geared up for Sail Morotai 2012. Locat-ed on the beautiful sea of North Maluku, Sail Morotai provided more adventures combined with splendid scenery that refreshed body and mind.

A total of 133 yachts from 22 countries took part in Sail Mo-rotai on July 28. There were 47 yachts from Australia, 20 from the US, nine from Canada, eight from New Zealand, seven from the Netherlands, and six from England, among others.

The rally participants were divided into two teams, which would take two different routes to Indonesia. The eastern route would pass through Saumlaki, Banda, Buru, Ternate, Wakato-bi and Takabonerate, while the western route would be through Kupang, Alor, Lembata, Ende, and Riung.

Jakarta’s Gubernatorial Elections

The ex-mayor of Solo, Joko Widodo, prevailed over incum-bent Fauzi Bowo at the elec-tion on September 20. Jokowi was supported by a plethora of artists, scholars, activists and many others. He received wide-spread support from the grass roots in the capital.

Jokowi positioned himself as the “people’s man” with ana-lysts saying that this has been the key reason why he did well in this tight race. Many of the key issues in this election - jobs, cor-ruption, good governance and quality of life – were raised dur-ing the election.

Hurricane Sandy Shatters Eastern Part of the US

The massive storm that start-ed out as Hurricane Sandy in October slammed into the East Coast and morphed into a huge and problematic system, killing at least 74 people in the United States.

Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate in an-ticipation of the storm, includ-ing 375,000 in lower Manhattan and other parts of New York City. At least 50,000 were ordered to evacuate in Delaware alone and 30,000 in Atlantic City, N.J.,

where the city’s 12 casinos were forced to shut down for only the fourth time in the 34-year histo-ry of legalized gambling there.

US Presidential Election

President Obama was re-elected, narrowly defeating Re-publican nominee Mitt Romney. Obama prevailed in both the electoral college (303 to 206) and the popular vote (50% to 48%), buoyed largely by taking sever-al crucial battle states, includ-ing Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Wis-consin (Nov. 7).

Shortly before 1 a.m., Rom-ney delivered his concession speech, saying, “This is a time of great challenges for America, and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our na-tion. The nation, as you know, is at a critical point. At a time like this, we can’t risk partisan bick-ering and political posturing. Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people’s work. And we citizens also have to rise to the occasion.”

UN Approves Non-Member State Status for Palestine

The United Nations Gener-al Assembly on November 29 approved an upgrade from the

Palestinian Authority’s cur-rent observer status to that of a non-member state. The vote comes after Palestinian Pres-ident Mahmoud Abbas spoke to the General Assembly and asked for a “birth certificate” for his country.

Of the 193 nations in the General Assembly, 138 vote in favor of the upgrade in sta-tus. While the vote is a victory for Palestine, it is a diplomatic setback for the US and Israel. Having the title of “non-mem-ber observer state” will allow Palestine access to internation-al organizations such as the International Criminal Court (ICC). If they join the ICC, Pal-estine can file complaints of war crimes against Israel.

In response to the UN vote, Israeli Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu announc-es that Israel will not transfer about $100 million in much-needed tax revenue owed to the struggling Palestinian Author-ity and will resume plans to build 3,000-unit settlement in an area that divides the north and the south parts of the West Bank.

Jenifer Lopez “Dance Again World Tour”

Jennifer Lopez wowed thou-sands of fans in Indonesia on

30 November, but they didn’t see as much of her as concert-goers in other countries — the American pop star toned down both her sexy outfits and her dance moves during her show in the world’s most populous Muslim country.

Lopez’s “Dance Again World Tour” was performed in Jakar-ta, in line with promises Lopez made to make her show more appropriate for the audience. Lopez changed several times during her 90-minute con-cert along with several danc-ers, who also dressed modestly without revealing their chests or cleavage.

The End of the World

Many groups and cultures have prophesied the end of the world, but the Mayan predic-tion seems to hold the most popular interest. Dec. 21, 2012, marks the conclusion of a significant period in the Me-soamerican Long Count cal-endar, and is thus thought to herald the end of life as we know it. Some observers tell us to expect a spiritual transfor-mation rather than Armaged-don, while Mayan scholars tell us to expect business as usual, saying the Mayans never made any claims about the apoca-lypse.

Spain won the UEFA Euro Cup 2012

www.goodfon.com www.santabanta.com

The 2012 London Olympics Obama re-elected

www.waynedemocrats.org

www.urduwire.com

Jennifer Lopez live in Jakarta

C3

Livingwww.thepresidentpost.com December 2012

SOLT (Society of Life Top) is ready to become one of the favor-ite restaurants of Jakartans with the semi-fine-dining concept.

As its name, SOLT is a perfect place for the upper middle class to just get together with family, friends or business associates while enjoying sumptuous Ital-ian cuisines which are the spe-cialties of SOLT.

As we all know, the restaurant business in Indonesia, especial-ly in Jakarta, is growing rapidly so that competition is very tight. However, SOLT is very confident they will have a special place in the hearts of Italian cuisine lov-ers.

SOLT provides uniqueness in its interior, delicious food and warm and elegant services. The entire staff members of SOLT are required to give the best service and be communicative so guests will feel more comfortable and convenient.

Located at Jl. Kemang Raya 31, SOLT offers a unique interior design with the concept of Oak wood pile. “The concept of our in-terior features Oak wood as the base. This was inspired by piles of wood scattered in Italy such as Venice, Borga Nari, and around Rome,” said Maulana Siswan-to, the operations manager of SOLT.

According to him, the Italian architectural of wood pile has existed since the days of neo-re-naissance and is used as home decoration for the middle class since 1856 or better known as the Italian Villa style.

SOLT has 111 variants of Ital-ian menu that can be one of the people’s favorite choices, start-ing from northern Italy to south-ern Italy, both of which have the characteristics of Mediterranean cooking style.

The menu starts from a vari-ety of gorgeous appetizers; one of them is Insalata Caprese, comprising fresh sliced toma-toes with buffalo cheese, which

terior are certainly worth the price of food in this restaurant, which is intended for the upper middle class.

is tempts you to go to the next item in the menu.

Pasta dishes are also avail-able for vegetarian; one of them is Penne Siciliana, the penne pasta with chunks of egg plants and tomato cream blended per-fectly. For the main course, there is Amalfitana Gamberoni, which is presented with three big pieces of shrimp with ri-sotto. For dessert it is Fioriera, which has a texture similar to Tiramisu and looks stunning with fresh cherry fruits on the topmost layer.

Fine cuisine, elegant service along with unique exclusive in-

SOLT’s “Piles of Oak Wood”The President Post/Rians Rivco

Fine cuisine, elegant service along with unique exclusive interior are certainly worth the price of food in this restaurant, which is intended for the upper middle class.

The war between natives and immigrants is end-ing. The natives have won. It was a bloodless conflict fought not with

bullets and spears, but with iP-hones and floppy disks. Now the battle between the haves and have-nots can begin.

The post-millennial “digital native,” a term coined by U.S. author Marc Prensky in 2001 is emerging as the globe’s dom-inant demographic, while the “digital immigrant,” becomes a relic of a previous time. The digi-tal native-immigrant concept de-scribes the generational switcho-ver where people are defined by the technological culture which they’re familiar with.

Prensky defines digital na-tives as those born into an in-nate “new culture” while the dig-ital immigrants are old-world settlers, who have lived in the analogue age and immigrated to the digital world. The author of “Teaching Digital Natives,” whose success pushed him onto the speaking circuit, says the explosion of technology over the last 10 years is just the start of a symbiotic new world. Computers and handsets are becoming an extension of body and mind, cre-ating a Cyborg-like population.

Prensky cites the 100-meter runner Oscar Pistorius, an ath-lete with prosthetic legs, as an example of how technology is used to enhance our lives. He told CNN: “For humans, what used to be this body of flesh and bone, all that is now just the cen-ter... Being human is a moving target.” Prensky says that at no time in history has technology moved so fast. Today the latest

high-tech gizmos can be passe even before hitting the shop floors.

In the past – during the post-industrial revolution era, for ex-ample – accelerating technolo-gy has plateaued. So, with the meteoric rise of new social me-dia outlets including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Skype, his-tory suggests the world is over-due for a slowdown. But Prensky says this time, any slowdown in the digital age is a “myth,” as in-novation will only press forward “faster... And faster and faster.”

He told CNN: “We are not go-ing through a transition to an-other faze of stability, and that is the key point. People will always be behind now and that will be a stress they have to cope with.”

Connecting with one another in the modern world requires a knack for social networking and texting, which is the norm for the digital native. But for the immi-grant, it can be akin to learning a whole new language.

For humans, what used to be this body of flesh and bone, all that is now just the center. Pren-sky illustrates his point with for-mer director of the CIA David Petraeus. In November, he was embroiled in a scandal that re-vealed he had an affair. The FBI uncovered the affair while it in-vestigated e-mails that Broadwell allegedly sent to a Petraeus fam-ily friend, Jill Kelley. Prensky la-bels this naivety by immigrants as “digital stupidity” – by assum-ing that when people decide to post online or send e-mails, they believe privacy is automatical-ly applicable. “People get fright-ened by change and they should

be. They need courage to face the future these days, especially those who feel left behind.” Pren-sky said. “People adapt instinc-tively and humans are very good at that. The young people live in the context; the older people see the changing context and strug-gle.”

As technology filters into every corner of the globe and tech cities spring up in some unlikely plac-

es from Bangalore to Tel Aviv, a new gulf is emerging to sepa-rate the digitally savvy from the disconnected: Poverty. In India, over two-thirds of the popula-tion live on less than $2 a day, according to the World Bank. But a United Nations report still says that mobile phones are more common than toilets, with nearly half of India’s 1.2 billion population armed with a hand-set.

Nishant Shah, a director at the Centre for Internet and So-ciety in India, told CNN that de-fining natives and immigrants by generation is a “serious con-cern.” According to Shah, Pren-sky’s views were formed from the “privileged” position of living intheU.S.Shahadded:“[Pren-sky’s]observationsmaydescribea generation gap that the U.S. faced, but if you transplant the same definition to other parts of

the world, natives are sometimes indistinguishable from immi-grants.” The real fear for Shah is the new hierarchies created by digital literacy and the class sys-tems that will be shaped by ac-cess to digital technologies.

As mobile networks extend their reach and areas become increasingly urbanized, West-ern tech companies are seeking to tap markets with large popu-

lations. Last year, Finnish phone maker Nokia released a range of smart phones targeted at con-sumers in emerging markets, particularly in Asia, to compete with cheaper Android devices.

But Shah argues bombarding a country with technology and infrastructure is not a round-ed solution to the digital pov-erty problem. India, for exam-ple, has connectivity and access in abundance, but the country continues to suffer from a gen-eration of “digitally poor class-es.” He argues that simply pro-viding the equipment does not help young people understand how that technology can bet-ter their lives without education and training.

Shah told CNN: “Just because young people have tech access in India, it doesn’t make them digi-tal natives.” He added, “It creates digital outcasts – people whose supposed problem of access to the world has been resolved.”

Prensky, however, believes a “networked planet” is a sign de-veloping nations will soon close the digital divide. Even those who don’t yet have the technol-ogy still know that it exists, and will have it before long. By 2020, Prensky predicts people across the globe will be plugged into the “AORTA,” – Always On RealTime Access – a term coined by Mark Anderson, the chief of the Stra-tegic News Service – specializing in technology news. A future in which people are constantly able to access information and news from anywhere on the planet.

Shah says that the works of science fiction may offer the most accurate insight into our futuristic society. He said: “The presents that we live in, are the futures that our pasts have imagined.” “Let us hope that the technologies of the future will also be designed to protect that which is sacred, and that which is important in our own un-derstanding of being human.” (CNN)

What Does It Mean to Be a Digital Native?

U.S. author Marc Prensky defines digital natives as those born into an innate “new culture” while the digital immigrants are old-world settlers, who have lived in the analogue age and immigrated to the digital world.

The explosion of technology over the last 10 years is just the start of a symbiotic

new world. Computers and handsets are becoming an extension of body and mind,

creating a Cyborg-like population.

www.innovativescholar.com

C4

Healthwww.thepresidentpost.comDecember 2012

A report published in Thursday’s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine is one of a num-ber of recent papers suggest-ing that statins not only lim-it the growth of cancer cells but also make them more vulnerable to certain thera-pies.

“Regular statin use before and after a diagnosis of can-cer could theoretically re-duce cancer-related mortali-ty,” wrote study leader Sune F. Nielsen, a biochemist at the University of Copenha-gen who based his findings on an analysis of more than 5.5 million people in Den-mark.

Statins are already used by millions of Americans to improve their cardiovascu-lar health by reducing the liver’s production of choles-terol. Though an excessive amount of cholesterol can inhibit blood flow by narrow-ing or blocking arteries, the waxy substance is actually necessary for good health.

Among other functions, cholesterol helps to build and maintain cell mem-branes, and is essential to their proliferation. Therefore, when cholesterol production is limited, the ability of can-cer cells to reproduce uncon-trollably is diminished, sci-entists say. There has also been some experimental ev-idence that statins may in-crease the effectiveness of radiation therapy.

Nielsen and his colleagues

based their conclusions on an analysis of government death records and other medical data for the entire population of Den-mark between 1995 and 2007.

The researchers zeroed in on cancer patients who were 40 or older, on the assumption that younger people were unlikely to take statins. That left a total of 295,925 cancer patients, includ-ing 18,721 who used statins.

Nielsen and his colleagues

Statins May Lower Risk ofDeath from Cancer

found that patients who took statins were 15% less likely to die during the course of the study — of cancer or any other cause — than those who hadn’t taken the cho-lesterol-lowering medication. But the researchers didn’t find a clear relationship be-tween the size of the statin dose and the patient’s risk of death, which suggested that “any statin dose will suffice in reducing mortality among patients with cancer.”

The authors of the Dan-ish study noted several lim-itations in their analysis, the most significant being that 97% of the patients were whites of Danish descent. “Our results may not neces-sarily apply to other ethnic groups,” they wrote.

They also said it was pos-sible that statin use was a marker for increased health awareness among patients, which could affect the re-sults. LA Times

Bambang Tri Waluyo, President Director of Fortune Star, said that when he studied in Japan, he discov-

ered that the Japanese lifestyle is a good example for people, es-pecially Indonesians, who wish to remain healthy.

The Japanese have a spirit that can be found in all aspects of their life. They appreciate any-thing, including health. So no wonder the average life expectan-cy of the Japanese is the highest in the world. One of the regions, namely Okinawa, is considered as the healthiest region in the world because the average age of women reaches 86 years, while men is 78 years. They not only live longer, they are also healthy and happy.

Departing from the desire to improve the quality of Indone-sians, Bambang Tri Waluyo es-tablished Fortune Star in 1996. Initially, Fortune Star is a mar-keting company that markets health supporting products orig-inating from Japan. Their mar-keting technique is very unique, which is providing education through seminars.

For almost 16 years, Fortune Star has conducted seminars in more than 360 cities across In-donesia. Bambang said, “Our experience of directly jump to society allows us to discover that Indonesians are still poor in

terms of of knowledge and health information. A lot of misunder-standings about health have been around for a long time in our society.”

According to him, Indonesians need more knowledge on health governance which may be ob-tained freely from media or gov-ernment programs.

Bambang revealed some fac-tors that influence a healthy body:• Genetic factors — inherited

from parents which cannot be avoided

• Lifestyle — can be adjust-ed and changed. Lifestyle in-cludes diet (eating culture, food quality, etc.), stress man-agement, and motion patterns

• Environment — includes wa-ter, air, and soil. No one can guarantee these three are in good condition, especially in urban areas.

Regarding these three factors, Bambang emphasized on life-style factor which he thinks In-donesian are still very underde-veloped compared to the healthy lifestyle of the Japanese. For ex-ample, the Japanese have a pref-erence for vegetables or raw food because they think food does not need to go through the long pro-cess of cooking so that the dam-age and free radicals formed from cooking will be very mini-mal, and the quality of the food is still good. On the other hand,

Living a Healthy Life Longer“Being old doesn’t mean being sick”. This thought crossed Bambang Tri Waluyo’s mind when he became fascinated with the lifestyle of Japan’s elderly, who stay healthy, fit, and independent at their old age.

This is in contrast to the people of Indonesia, who claim to be re-ligious but in fact are full of ha-tred, suspicion, anger, and are easily offended. “So I can say that the emotional intelligence of Indonesians is still below that of the Japanese society,” said Bam-bang.

For motion pattern, if you take the example of Japanese people, their daily exercise of walking is not just in the gym. In Japan, its culture, lifestyle, infrastructure and habitats support the com-munity to walk many miles each day.

Under these conditions, Bam-bang established Preventive & Care (P & C) Healthcare as a place to educate society by con-veying the reality so they are more aware of the importance of health.

Since its establishment in 2010 P & C Healthcare has put forward the concept of Preven-tive Health Management, which aims to extend a healthy life as long as possible as well as pre-venting illness.

The P & C Healthcare offers three types of preventive servic-es:• Primary prevention

The service is intended for those who are healthy and really want to stay healthy; those who aware that being sick is so bad, and afraid to get sick. P&C Healthcare will seek the risk factors of diseas-es so it could be prevented as early as possible.

• Secondary preventionThe service is intended for those in the recovering pro-cess so they will not get sick again. Hospitals only help cure diseases but do not look for the causes, so there is the potential for relapse. P & C Healthcare will look out for

the cause of any illness, so the disease will not get worse. There is also counseling that provides comprehensive and maximum solutions.

• Tertiary preventionThe service is intended for those who have to do rehabili-tation. For example, for stroke patients, the P & C Health-care provides therapies that will help the healing process faster.

Bambang would like to invite Indonesians to actualize the slo-gan ‘prevention is better thancure’ in everyday life. “Society has the right to actualize their rights to living a healthy life as long as possible,” Bambang con-cluded.

Bambang would like to invite Indonesians to actualize the slogan ‘prevention is better than cure’ in everyday life. “Society has the right to actualize their rights to living a healthy life as long as possible.”

Indonesians like deep-fried food because it’s tasty yet so harmful to the body.

Another example is that while the majority of the Japanese peo-ple do not believe in God and call themselves atheists, they live with a sincere soul and as such do not experience much stress.

Regular statin use before and after a diagnosis of cancer could theoretically reduce cancer-related mortality.”

Sune F. Nielsena Biochemist at the University of Copenhagen

If you take statins to lower your cholesterol, you may also be lowering your risk of death from cancer, new research suggests.

www.healthhub.org

C5

Tourismwww.thepresidentpost.com December 2012

The traditional vehicles of Indonesia, popular-ly known as “becaks”, which are basically pedicabs or tricycles,

are rarely seen these days in the metropolitan city of Jakarta.

Becaks cluttering the main streets of Jakarta were a com-mon sight before 1994. After that, they were banned in the city because of their propensi-ty to cause traffic jams. Con-sequently, becaks are widely missed by people living in hous-ing complexes situated away from the main roads, because of the lack of public transportation means in the small and narrow streets of the city.

But these traditional vehi-cles are still a favourite in cities and towns across Java island and elsewhere. In the nation’s leading cultural city, Yogyakar-ta, which has numerous attrac-tions and is the second most visited destination in Indone-sia after Bali, the becak is being promoted as a tourism icon.

The head of Yogyakar-ta’s tourism development of-fice, Bambang Suwarmintarta, said the becak would contin-ue to exist as a means of pub-lic transport even as Yogyakar-ta develops as a metropolitan city. “The becak has had a pos-itive impact on the development of Yogyakarta s public civiliza-tion,” he noted.

“The link between becak and the development of public civili-zation in Yogyakarta can be seen from several dimensions, name-ly becak as a mode of tradition-al transportation, becak driv-ers being responsible citizens of the city, and becak as the mover of economic activity,” Bambang pointed out.

“In the city of Yogyakarta, which covers a total area of 30.5 sqkm, becak has become the es-sential mode of transportation for the city’s people, especially for tourists who are keen to vis-it the cultural tourism sites,” he said.

Yogyakarta’s cultural heritage includes, among other things, magnificent temples, ruins of palaces and monasteries, vari-ous traditions, cultural events, traditional folk and performing arts, and architecture. It is im-portant to note that this is all part of the living culture of Yo-gyakarta that colours the daily activities of local inhabitants.

Due to its rich cultural heri-tage, Yogyakarta has long been known as the cradle of Javanese culture, which continues to at-tract domestic and foreign tour-ists every year. Foreign tourists visiting Yogyakarta admit that they love travelling around by becak because it is “fun and ex-citing”.

Besides, the city’s becak driv-

ers are friendly and always ready to take tourists around at rea-sonable fares. That is why, this traditional mode of transport has for years been a special at-traction for foreign tourists.

“I like travelling by becak ev-ery time I visit Yogyakarta be-cause the drivers are friendly and never ask for unreasonably high fares,” said Marianne Lam-mers, a tourist from the Nether-lands. The Dutch woman from the city of Haarlem said she had visited Indonesia several times and Yogyakarta was her favou-rite destination.

Some tourists even want to buy becaks and take them to their home country as souve-nirs. Some Indonesian students who were invited to a barbeque at the house of Andrew Dodd in Melbourne, Australia, were sur-prised to see a becak parked in his backyard.

“Wow! Where and how do you get this Indonesian traditional vehicle here?” asked Bambang Purwanto, one of the students. “I bought it in Yogyakarta when I went there some years ago,” An-drew replied with a chuckle.

Becaks Urgedto be Indonesia’sTourism IconIn the nation’s leading cultural city, Yogyakarta, which has numerous attractions and is the second most visited destination in Indonesia after Bali, the becak is being promoted as a tourism icon.

www.therealdita.blogspot.com

Andrew is now a senior lec-turer and the Convener of Jour-nalism at Swinburne Universi-ty of Technology in Melbourne. He has been a journalist for over 25 years and has worked in the broadcast, print and online me-dia. His work often took him to Indonesia, particularly Yogya-karta. Andrew said he bought the becak in Yogyakarta, had it dismantled and packed in a box, and later got it reassem-bled after arriving at his North-cote home in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Yogyakarta Gov-ernor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X said in Yogyakar-ta on Wednesday that becaks have been part of the district and the city’s economic system “Becak is not the only mode of transportation but it has played a significant role in supporting the local economy,” the gover-nor noted.

According to Sri Sultan, this non-motorised mode of trans-portation has attracted many foreign tourists to Yogyakarta. Sri Sultan said becak drivers in Yogyakarta have “directly or in-directly” acted as tour guides.

Besides, becaks are inextricably linked to craft vendors and tour-ist spots in the cultural city of Yogyakarta, he added.

“Being a becak driver is an honourable job, just like any oth-er profession,” Sri Sultan ex-plained. “During their journey, becak passengers have ample opportunities to enjoy the beau-ty of Yogyakarta and under-stand the local wisdom that is captured on the slogans written all over the city’s walls,” he said.

Therefore, the governor urged becak drivers to be role models of traffic safety and give the best possible services to their passen-gers. “By giving the best possi-ble service to their passengers, becak drivers can promote their mode of transportation as a cul-tural asset and a tourism icon in Yogyakarta,” he added.

More interestingly, a big rally of becaks, which was organized by Yogyakarta Regional Traffic Police Directorate, won the In-donesia World Record Museum (MURI) Award on Tuesday. Held at the North Square, the ral-ly was attended by more than 1,000 becaks and becak drivers

from all districts of Yogyakarta.The award was presented by

the Indonesia World Record Mu-seum chairman Jaya Suprana. In the beginning, the becak ral-ly was conducted to make a na-tional record but MURI wanted it to become a world record. “I don t want this rally to become just an Indonesian record; it should be more than that: a world record,” Jaya Suprana said.

“The becak represents a phi-losophy of life. It is not hard to see how hard a becak driver works to eke out a living for his family,” he pointed out. “Besides, the rally demonstrated that Yo-gyakarta was the only city and province in Indonesia to that up-held the dignity of becak driv-ers,” Suprana stated.

He noted that becaks were used in Paris as a mode of trans-port for tourists, although in lim-ited numbers. “We can also see becaks in Paris but as many as that in Yogyakarta,” Suprana said, adding that he would soon send a proposal to the UNESCO to list the becak as a world cul-tural heritage.

Gunung Kidul Promotes,Develops Tourist Spots

The Gunung Kidul local government in Yogyakarta is making efforts to promote and develop the district`s tourist spots under the framework of its tourism investment development mission, according to regional development planning board spokesman Syarief Armunanto.

“The tourism investment development mission will focus on natural tourism, village tourism, cultural tourism, and special-interest tourism,” he said here on Thursday. “The local government will step up efforts to provide improved infrastructure facilities at tourist attractions in the dis-trict.”

He noted that Gunung Kidul had many natural tourist attractions, such as the Ngrancah waterfall in Ngleri village, along with the pris-tine beaches of Gesing, Ngrenehan, Ngobaran, Baron, Krakal, Sunduk, Watu Lawang, Drini, and Sepanjang.

“In 2013, we are going to build and renovate various supporting in-

frastructure facilities such as souvenir shops and restaurants,” Syarief said, adding that the district had many interesting tourism villages as well.

Some of the popular tourism villages of Gunung Kidul are Putat, Ng-langgeran, Bendung, Ngeposari, Beji, Bleberan, Umbulrejo, and Ke-madang. “In a bid to develop these tourism villages, officials from the Gunung Kidul Culture and Tourism office will provide English and tour-ism management training lessons to the villagers,” Syarief explained.

The district also has numerous cultural tourism sites in Gunung Gam-bar and Wonokobaran.

London ‘Black Cabs’ PromoteIndonesian Tourism

As many as 250 cabs in London, popularly known as `Black Cabs , are promoting Indonesian tourism by displaying slogans and pictures of `Wonderful Indonesia .

“Promoting tourism by using iconic cabs in London is an attempt to improve the image of Indonesian tourism, particularly in the UK mar-ket,” said Director for Indonesia Image of Tourism and Creative Econ-omy Ministry, Esthy Reko Astuty, in an interview with ANTARA News on Friday.

TOURISM UPDATESAstuty explained that the Ministry, together with the Indonesian Em-

bassy in London, hoped to attract British tourists in the second largest tourism exhibition in the world, the World Tourism Market (WTM) 2012, held at the Excel London building, November 5 to 8.

“We try to promote Indonesian tourism in many ways apart from the exhibition. We also promote `Wonderful Indonesia` by using `Black Cabs ,” she further explained. “Indonesia is targeting 200,000 British tourists. We hope that by promoting Indonesian tourism through the popular cabs in London, the target would be achieved.”

Astuty also noted that it is the second time for the Ministry to promote tourism through cabs. “The ministry intends to strengthen Indonesia`s position in the world tourism industry by participating in the World Tour-ism Market 2012 in London,” she said.

According to the Head of Indonesia Imagery Strategy Agency, Agus-tini Rahayu, the promotion of Indonesian tourism is carried out by dis-playing pictures of Indonesian tourist spots on the cabs.

“Most of the pictures we display on the cabs show tropical tourist spots in Indonesia since the British tend to prefer warmer places for their vacation during the winter break,” Rahayu explained.

She also said that the 250 `Black Cabs’ operate more frequently in certain landmarks in London and tourist centres, such as the Oxford Street.

The head of Yogyakarta’s tourism development office, Bambang Suwarmintarta, said the becak would continue to exist as a means of public transport even as Yogyakarta develops as a metropolitan city.

The link between becak and the development of public civilization in Yogyakarta can be seen from several dimensions, namely becak as a mode of traditional transportation, becak drivers being responsible citizens of the city, and becak as the mover of economic activity.”

C6

Travelwww.thepresidentpost.comDecember 2012

Almost every house here had a motorboat. The motorboat is the main transportation

to fish, carry woods, to visit neighbors and even to shepherd flocks…

The motorboat tore apart the surface of a swamp in Da-nau Panggang sub-district, Hulu Sun-gai Utara district,

South Kalimantan, as it carried me and my friends who had just arrived from Jakarta.

Although the swamp water wasn’t clear, the water splash-es and the surface of the swamp could still reflect the blue sky above. The swamp was also dec-orated with green water hya-cinth or water lilies. Throughout our journey to Tampakang vil-lage that morning, we were pam-pered with beautiful scenery.

After half an hour, the float-ing houses of the Tampakang residents started to appear be-fore our eyes. Our boat ap-proached one of the houses that had a floating toilet in front of it. We were greeted by Pak Mis-ro, one of the local residents who allowed us to take a rest at his porch.

Most of the houses in this vil-lage are floating houses. Well, actually these houses don’t real-ly float because they have wood-en pillars that gripped them from the bottom of the swamp. There were also wooden lanes to con-nect one house to another.

The swamp water is the source of their livelihood. They wash their clothes, clean themselves, answer the call of nature and other activities with the swamp water. Although the water didn’t meet the hygienic standard plus there were also rubbish float-ing around, the locals’ activities revolved around the water. Al-though several houses have al-ready used pumped water from wells, swamp water remains the main source of water for them.

Almost every house here had a motorboat. The motorboat is the main transportation to fish, car-ry woods, to visit neighbors and even to shepherd flocks …

Shepherding with boats? Yes, aside from being fishermen and weaving mats, the main liveli-hood of the locals is breeding swamp buffalos. And Pak Mis-ro is one of the locals who breed swamp buffalos.

After taking a rest, we boarded a small motorboat to head to the buffalo barn. The boat was so small! It could only carry three people. Pak Misro took us to the middle of the swamp, where he kept the buffalo barn. The boat slowly moved forward and tore apart the water lilies.

longer. And one thing for cer-tain, swamp buffalos are good swimmers.

Pak Misro passed through the buffalos to lift the bar at the front door as we tailed him. Once the bar was lifted, the buffalos went out in an orderly manner one by one. Led by the oldest fe-male buffalo, the animals slow-ly descended the steep wood-en floor and fell into the water! Within minutes, all of Pak Mis-ro’s one hundred buffalos were already in the swamp and swimming along the swamp to look for food. The buffalos con-tinue to chew as they swam. An adult buffalo could swim more than one kilometer long and eat about 50 kilograms of grass each day and return to the barn only in the evening.

Shortly later, buffalo barns started to appear before our eyes. Hmm… they look like stilt houses, supported by wooden logs of 3.5 meters high from the bottom of the swamp. Kalang, that’s how the locals call them. Every kalang could house up to a hundred buffalos. There was also a special barn for female buffalos to give birth.

After approaching one of the kalangs, Pak Misro took us to see the buffalos from a close range. Swamp buffalos have blackish brown skin and not dark grey like the land buffa-los because they soak in the swamp almost the whole day. Other differences are that the body of swamp buffalos is more stocky compared to regular buf-falos and their curvy horns are

Throughout the journey, Pak Misro didn’t start the boat’s en-gine because he didn’t want to disturb the flocks. Instead, he used a long bamboo to push the boat. Wearing a woven hat, Pak Misro stood on his boat and made specific sounds to instruct his buffalos. You could only hear the sounds of water and shep-herds and nothing other than that. The situation was calm and I felt like swimming with the buf-falos but dropped the idea be-cause the water was murky.

Male buffalos are usually con-sumed for daily needs and ma-jor events such as weddings and Idul Adha. One buffalo usually costs fifteen million rupiah.

Aside from being the source of living, swamp buffalos are also

the source of entertainment for the Tampakang people. The lo-cals hold a buffalo race every year to celebrate Independence Day where the buffalos and their jockeys must swim to the finish line.

Swamp buffalo tourism can be one of the entertainment al-ternatives that can be enjoyed by local and foreign tourists. But the cleanliness of the water and swamp environment needs to be increased to improve the liv-ing standards of the locals and to make tourists feel comfort-able. The buffalos’ food, the wa-ter lilies and padihiyang or grass that grow in the swamp, should also be conserved so that swamp buffalos can continue their rou-tines to swim and return to their barns.

Aside from being the source of living, swamp buffalos are also the source of entertainment for the Tampakang people. The locals hold a buffalo race every year to celebrate Independence Day where the buffalos and their jockeys must swim to the finish line.

LANDOVERWATERS Text & Photos by Iqbal Alaik

C7

Technologywww.thepresidentpost.com December 2012

The early models in the FZ series (FZ1 - FZ20) had lenses with constant maxi-mum apertures, but that stopped with

the FZ30, launched back in 2005. Last year’s DMC-FZ150 had an F2.8 - F5.2 lens, so the lens on the FZ200 is a huge im-provement, and the extra bright-ness should make a real differ-ence at long focal lengths and/or in poor light, allowing you to shoot at lower, less noisy ISO set-tings.

Successor to the FZ150 mod-el, the bridge-style Panasonic FZ200 compact offers a 3-inch 460K-pixel rotating LCD screen, a 1.31-million-dot electron-ic viewfinder, 1920x1080 50p Full HD video recording, a 12.1 megapixel high-sensitivity MOS image sensor, and 12fps contin-uous shooting without autofocus and 5.5fps with autofocus.

The LUMIX FZ200’s power-ful 24x optical zoom can be in-creased to 48x equivalent with the Intelligent Zoom function, and takes advantage of Intelli-gent Resolution technology to maintain picture quality. The camera’s POWER O.I.S. (Opti-cal Image Stabilizer) provides improved correction accura-cy to minimize blur, even when zoomed, and Active Mode effec-tively suppresses handshake vi-bration in both still picture and video recording.

It’s a speedy performer, im-ages are sharp, and videogra-phers will appreciate the excel-lent 1080p30 video quality and the option to add an external mi-crophone. The relatively fast ap-erture allows for shallow depth of field at longer focal lengths for stills and video alike.

Looking a lot like a scaled-down D-SLR, the FZ200 takes its design cues from other super zoom cameras.

It measures 3.4 by 4.9 by 4.3 inches (HWD) and weighs about

1.3 pounds. The front of the FZ200 is very sparse looking, save for a lamp for the AF as-sist light/self-timer to the left of the lens (when viewed head on). A good-sized hand-grip with tactile, leather-effect detailing houses the battery pack in its base. It’s good to see a chunky lithium-ion rechargeable bat-tery fitted as standard when some bridge models seem to think that four standard-qual-ity AAs will suffice to get you going out of the box. Above the lens is a swift access pop up flash with a dedicated activa-tion switch sitting alongside it, and there’s also a hot shoe for mounting an external flash-gun.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 produced images of very good quality during the review period.

Noise is well-controlled until ISO 1600, which exhibits some artifacts, blurring of detail and slight colour desaturation.

The LUMIX FZ200 is able to produce not only stunning pho-tos but also stunning full-HD in 1,920x1080p60 videos in AVCHD Progressive (MPEG-4) and MP4 formats. Video is re-corded at up to 1080p60 in AVCHD format. You can also opt for MP4 recording, but that tops out at 1080p30. The quality is excellent, with saturated col-ors and crisp detail. The power-ful 24x optical zoom with 2-step zoom and POWER O.I.S. is avail-able in video recording and high-quality Dolby® Digital Stereo Creator offers highly realistic, powerful sound for videos.

A mini HDMI port lets you connect the camera to an HDTV, and a proprietary USB port is on board for computer connectivity. Standard SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards are supported.

You can get Panasonic Lu-mix DMC-FZ200 with $600. It is rather high but you can get the best-performing superzoom camera so far.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 is a super-zoom camera

featuring a wide-angle 24x zoom lens with a constant f/2.8

maximum aperture throughout its 25-600mm range, which means

that the same amount of light is captured, regardless of whether

you are zoomed out at 25mm or all the way in at 600mm.

a Super-Zoom Camera The LUMIX FZ200

is able to produce not only stunning photos but also stunning full-HD in 1,920x1080p60 videos in AVCHD Progressive

(MPEG-4) and MP4 formats.

www.dpreview.com

The Cengkareng Golf Club is a semi-private facility that welcomes visitors alongside a roster of active mem-

bers. The club has been open since 1999 and established it-self as the club of choice for lo-cal and expatriate communities in Jakarta.

Located adjacent to Jakarta’s International airport Soekarno-Hatta, the Cengkareng Golf Club is a “must play” on any visitor’s itinerary. Classic Californian ar-chitecture in the best tradition of golf is designed by renowned ar-chitects PT Pacific Andhika In-ternusa (PAI).

The club prides itself on its personalized attentive service and offers International stan-dards of hospitality along with a

championship golf course, pre-sented in immaculate condition throughout the year.

Cengkareng’s swank, open-air colonial-style clubhouse restau-rant is one of the nation’s best in terms of food, drink, service and ambience. An expert, all-female caddie corps extends this spirit of service to the golf course itself, which has hosted its share of pro-fessional tour events (the 2005 and 2008 Indonesian Opens, both co-sanctioned by the Eu-ropean PGA tour). However, just

C8

Golfwww.thepresidentpost.comDecember 2012

The allures of the Cengkareng GC

go well beyond its expertly designed

and maintained golf course. At

Cengkareng, the traveling golfer has

the opportunity to hit that first range ball, enjoy a drink in the clubhouse, or head

straight to the 1st tee a mere 45 minutes

after touching down at nearby Jakarta’s

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Indonesia’s no-fuss

visa on arrival system plays a remarkable

role here as well.6,300 meters from the very back tees, Cengkareng is supreme-ly playable for all levels of play-er, with fairways shaped to gath-er tee shots instead of repelling them into the underbrush.

The allures of the Cengkareng GC go well beyond its expert-ly designed and maintained golf course. At Cengkareng, the trav-eling golfer has the opportunity to hit that first range ball, enjoy a drink in the clubhouse, or head straight to the 1st tee a mere 45

PHOTOS: www.golfwonderfulindonesia.com

The CengkarengGolf Club and Courses

minutes after touching down at nearby Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hat-ta International Airport. Indone-sia’s no-fuss visa on arrival sys-tem plays a remarkable role here as well.

After hosting both the 2005 and 2008 Indonesian Opens, which are part of the European PGA tour, the Cengkareng Golf Club has clearly defined itself as a leader in event management. The tournaments were seen by millions of TV viewers across the world.

After hosting both the 2005 and 2008 Indonesian Opens, which are part of the European PGA tour, the Cengkareng Golf Club

has clearly defined itself as a leader in event management. The tournaments were seen by millions of TV viewers across the world.

World number one golfer, Rory McIlroy, won the PGA Tour Play-er of the Year award. After that, he also received the European Golf Writers Trophy 2012.

This year is an amazing year for him as he ended the season with two major titles and won the most money in the Atlantic. Total the world number one has won four PGA titles this year.

He explaned that he was in-spired by his girlfriend, Caroline Wozniacki. Caroline Wozniacki is a former world number one tennis player.

“Seeing how hard she works, how she set the discipline of life, and how high her dedication to the sport, inspired me to be like her. Her spirit and passion affected me,” said the golfer from Northern Ire-land.

McIlroy now be-comes the young-est golfer who ever won such a pres-tigious award af-ter Tiger Woods got such award at the age

of 21 back in 1998. He also be-came the third European golf-er to have achieved this in the last five years, following in the footsteps of Padraig Harrington in 2008, and Luke Donald last year.

“I always win when she’s on my side. I must continue to take her to all my tournament,” McIl-roy said after his victory in the Dubai World Tour Champion-ship in Dubai, recently.

Rory MciIlroy Won 2012PGA Tour Player of the Year

Each year more and more fea-tures are packed into devices that are put out to help the golfer move their way around the golf course. Distance measuring de-vices are truly an invaluable tool that can help speed up play, as well as for players to be more ef-ficient in their club selection and hone their abilities in course management.

I have found many devices that can help you for better golf play. The latest offering from Cal-laway is hoping to enter that list and move towards the top of a market with their newest offer-ing.

The Callaway uPro MX Plus GPS is the only golf GPS device with ProMode featuring actual aerial imagery and aerial video flyover in a compact and easy to use device. ProMode provides a realistic view of the course using actual aerial photography with precise yardage to hazards and key points selected using Any-Poin Technology.

In this mode you can pan the entire hole with the swipe of a finger and zoom in and out to see more or less detail, allowing you to make better decisions and play with confidence.

Featuring next-generation software for ease of use, the upro mx+ also offers a full-col-

or, multi-gesture touch screen; an omni-directional antenna to help maintain GPS lock even in adverse conditions; and no an-nual fees or subscriptions.

Not only that, there is also a Digital Scorecard which en-ables golfers to track their scores and basic golf stats on the de-vice, ranging from fairways hit to greens in regulation and putts

Golf Gadget:

Callaway uPro MX Plus GPS

during each round, amongst others.

It also includes a free, 25,000-course database, including course aerial photography, that may be updated for free online by using a simplified download process.

The Callaway uPro MX Plus GPS is priced $199. So what do you think?

McIlroy now becomes the youngest golfer who ever won such a prestigious award after Tiger Woods got such award at the age of 21 back in 1998.

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