Indonesia
Now that I am leaving my Indonesia projects, I look back at the country and my experiences…
Jakarta alone has a population of 18 million people. When I first arrived for the first time, it was what I had expected to see. Jams, pushcart hawkers on the streets, people carrying babies walking among the cars asking for money. People laid out their wares on the pavements anyway they want. The sky was always grey. I was told not to drink any water that was not bottled, even from restaurants and hotels. Even when you brush your teeth in the hotel, it is advisable not to use the water from the tap mixer to gargle, especially if you have a week stomach like me. Always try to use bottled water to gargle. (I forgot this one time and paid dearly in medical bills.)
The threat of terrorism is real, after all the hotel bombings. So you see security guards everywhere, in hotels, shopping centres. Before you enter each building, they scan you with metal detectors. Labour is cheap. There are always security guards, carpark attendants everywhere you go. Some of them are real occupations, some of them are just deployed by the mafia to ‘invent’ their own jobs and collect tips. For instance, in a multistory carpark where you can find your own lot by reading the signs, some ‘attendant’ pops up from nowhere and guides you to a lot and after that you MUST tip. Some people even station themselves on the roads at the difficult U turns to guide you after which you gotta tip. A local security guard (which is probably the most common occupation) I was told starts at 100USD a month in salary. Most of the locals can never afford to travel out of the country, and seldom eat at restaurants. It has the largest Muslim population in the world.
Jakarta’s tourists numbers are almost zero. Nobody goes there for recreation since the 98 anti Chinese riots. Hotels business come from business people and expats. I don’t see tourist buses like I see in Bangkok. One of the greatest shame is that they do not have a city train system (MRT).
Now the Indo Chinese. The more I visit this country, the more stories I hear and the more I think they are legend. Haha. Heard there is about only about 4% of Chinese in Jakarta, but yet they are one of the main drivers of the economy. There are entire shopping centers built just for their leisure. I stepped into 1 for the first time and all the shoppers are Chinese looking. Haha Of course there are also the low end shopping centres built for locals. I went into one the other day to buy soap and the moment I stepped in everyone inside were local Indos, and they are stared at me like I was an alien. I can never stop being amazed at how our business partners have been telling me their stories of how they made thier money. The way their mind thinks is really different and thier determination is admirable.
Of course not every Chinese is rich. There are also the mid income ones and the ones that lost their business. Actually why the Chinese choose to do business started out of the need to survival. Being a muslim country, the opportunities for education and government jobs naturally went to the local Indos first. The Chinese had to think of another way to survive and their business instincts kicked in. For the Chinese who did well, the trend was for them to send their children to Singapore to study their primary to high school and subsequently to the western countries for University. Then they are expected to come back to help their parents in their family business. The Indo Chinese are very brand conscious. They chase brands and the latest models which is why Singapore is thier favourite shopping destination on the weekends.
In my service apartment I am always impressed by how they staff always seem to smile at you and also at the malls, eg the cashier. I always thought they they were trained to smile in all circumstances but my Jakarta colleauge said that its in them. And I thought to myself, sigh how nice it would be if service staff in Singapore actually smile genuinely or even smile at all.
In the day it can be quite hot and dusty, but in the night the weather is actually cooler than Singapore and it is nice to walk along the streets. The people asking for money and the street hawkers do not actually haress you and my Jakarta colleauge mentioned that he feels safer than in KL. He also felt that the people are more gentle and friendly than Thais, which is well, arguable la. Being chaffuered from place to place is common here especially for the Chinese people. And you get saluted everywhere you go haha by the security guards.
The big C is a way of life here. But this is a sensitive subject and I shall not talk about it, otherwise next time I go to Jakarta I may be escorted away by the Army and never seen again. Haha
But Jakarta is changing. It is becoming more and more open minded about the economy, about investments. In fact in some ways I feel the government is more open than China, and it does not rule with an iron hand. It is in fact a democracy. It is still a young nation with great potential and natural resources.
Jakarta alone has a population of 18 million people. When I first arrived for the first time, it was what I had expected to see. Jams, pushcart hawkers on the streets, people carrying babies walking among the cars asking for money. People laid out their wares on the pavements anyway they want. The sky was always grey. I was told not to drink any water that was not bottled, even from restaurants and hotels. Even when you brush your teeth in the hotel, it is advisable not to use the water from the tap mixer to gargle, especially if you have a week stomach like me. Always try to use bottled water to gargle. (I forgot this one time and paid dearly in medical bills.)
The threat of terrorism is real, after all the hotel bombings. So you see security guards everywhere, in hotels, shopping centres. Before you enter each building, they scan you with metal detectors. Labour is cheap. There are always security guards, carpark attendants everywhere you go. Some of them are real occupations, some of them are just deployed by the mafia to ‘invent’ their own jobs and collect tips. For instance, in a multistory carpark where you can find your own lot by reading the signs, some ‘attendant’ pops up from nowhere and guides you to a lot and after that you MUST tip. Some people even station themselves on the roads at the difficult U turns to guide you after which you gotta tip. A local security guard (which is probably the most common occupation) I was told starts at 100USD a month in salary. Most of the locals can never afford to travel out of the country, and seldom eat at restaurants. It has the largest Muslim population in the world.
Jakarta’s tourists numbers are almost zero. Nobody goes there for recreation since the 98 anti Chinese riots. Hotels business come from business people and expats. I don’t see tourist buses like I see in Bangkok. One of the greatest shame is that they do not have a city train system (MRT).
Now the Indo Chinese. The more I visit this country, the more stories I hear and the more I think they are legend. Haha. Heard there is about only about 4% of Chinese in Jakarta, but yet they are one of the main drivers of the economy. There are entire shopping centers built just for their leisure. I stepped into 1 for the first time and all the shoppers are Chinese looking. Haha Of course there are also the low end shopping centres built for locals. I went into one the other day to buy soap and the moment I stepped in everyone inside were local Indos, and they are stared at me like I was an alien. I can never stop being amazed at how our business partners have been telling me their stories of how they made thier money. The way their mind thinks is really different and thier determination is admirable.
Of course not every Chinese is rich. There are also the mid income ones and the ones that lost their business. Actually why the Chinese choose to do business started out of the need to survival. Being a muslim country, the opportunities for education and government jobs naturally went to the local Indos first. The Chinese had to think of another way to survive and their business instincts kicked in. For the Chinese who did well, the trend was for them to send their children to Singapore to study their primary to high school and subsequently to the western countries for University. Then they are expected to come back to help their parents in their family business. The Indo Chinese are very brand conscious. They chase brands and the latest models which is why Singapore is thier favourite shopping destination on the weekends.
In my service apartment I am always impressed by how they staff always seem to smile at you and also at the malls, eg the cashier. I always thought they they were trained to smile in all circumstances but my Jakarta colleauge said that its in them. And I thought to myself, sigh how nice it would be if service staff in Singapore actually smile genuinely or even smile at all.
In the day it can be quite hot and dusty, but in the night the weather is actually cooler than Singapore and it is nice to walk along the streets. The people asking for money and the street hawkers do not actually haress you and my Jakarta colleauge mentioned that he feels safer than in KL. He also felt that the people are more gentle and friendly than Thais, which is well, arguable la. Being chaffuered from place to place is common here especially for the Chinese people. And you get saluted everywhere you go haha by the security guards.
The big C is a way of life here. But this is a sensitive subject and I shall not talk about it, otherwise next time I go to Jakarta I may be escorted away by the Army and never seen again. Haha
But Jakarta is changing. It is becoming more and more open minded about the economy, about investments. In fact in some ways I feel the government is more open than China, and it does not rule with an iron hand. It is in fact a democracy. It is still a young nation with great potential and natural resources.
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