Asia Blogging Network

Moderated a talk at the Malaysia Club Jakarta (MCJ) business gathering last night featuring the business blogger Yosef Ardi and The Jakarta Post Managing Editor Riyadi Suparno as speakers. It was the first time that the MCJ organized such an event and even the Malaysian Ambassador took time off from his diplomatic rounds to drop in on the event.

The topic was Business and the Press and some of the insights shared by the two senior journalists were interesting indeed. Among them were that:

• barely a decade after Reformasi the conglomerates are back, except in a more diffused fashion,
• many local business conglomerates are buying into newspapers and other media,
• many of the conglomerate-owned news media are profitable yet are maintained to do the bidding of the owners,
• some conglomerates use these papers to further their business interests, especially if they get in fights with foreign partners,
• there are many Malaysians coming to Indonesia that it has exceeded the 2 million visitor target set by the Indonesian government. There are apparently so many Malaysians visiting Bandung, for instance, than many Indonesians have taken to speaking in Bahasa Melayu to cater to the visitors
• Vice President Jusuf Kalla says he has three main headaches: democracy, local autonomy and the Press, who hound him on perceived between his family business and politics
• there is a perception by some newspeople that Malaysians are better investors here than Singaporeans. The perception is that the Malaysians are less rapacious and are more prone to plough back their profits into business development in Indonesia

As a Malaysian living in Indonesia for the past decade I find the last point I find particularly interesting. I wonder if Indonesians really share the perceptions of some newspeople that Malaysians make better investors than Singaporeans? And is it true that there is some feeling of affinity between Indonesians and Malaysians because of the “serumpun” factor? Is it true that there is much goodwill between both countries and if so have both made the most out of it? I’d be interested to see what others have to say.

Both Lance Armstrong and Seth Godin are superstars in their fields, who deserve their own sparkling stars on the Walk of Fame of Human Civilization.

Both names oftentimes trigger light bulb moments in others and are associated with redefining human beings’ capacity to be extraordinary. Lance has triumphed over deadly cancer and later proven his physical and mental stoutness as an athlete. Seth is one of the most notable contemporary thinkers and doers in our lifetime. Both have their own philosophy over what constitutes failing and quitting.

Lance Armstrong once said, “Live strong. Failure is not an option.” It may sound cliché, but this professional cyclist truly meant what he said, which explained how he won all those world-class titles. He made achieving looked effortless and remarkably easy to do. It is crystal clear that he does not believe in failing and the only way to be is winning.

Seth Godin, on the other hand, believes in quitting. In fact, he wrote in his latest mind-bending and thought-provoking tiny book entitled The Dip: A Little Book that Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick), “Winners quit all the time.” This adage contradicts Vince Lombardi’s, “Quitters never win and winners never quit.”

Apparently this bold bald guy believes in something quite astonishingly “taboo” among winners. Does it mean he believes in failure? If he does, does it mean he opposes Armstrong’s belief as he opposes Lombardi’s? (more…)

Most analysts see the economic outlook for 2007 and 2008 in varying degrees of optimism, depending on where the analyst comes from. A recent presentation by Dr Chatib Basri, a government advisor known for his integrity, gives next year projections of GDP growth at 6 to 6.5%, inflation hovering at 6.5 %, and generally improving trends in macro-economic indicators. This should present an inviting backdrop for business prospects in the Indonesia of the near future. However, care should be taken in disregarding uncertainties affecting these projections. Government priorities required to support these predictions are not necessarily guaranteed. These are in the areas of employment creation, poverty alleviation, reform in the labor market and infrastructure development

Government priorities tend to suffer from interaction with political realities. Take the historic cases of Lapindo Brantas, Newmont and Freeport, where it is difficult to see the border between sound business practice and government-backed political intervention. Many major companies do not combine economic with social interests, as government shies from their role as guardian of the public need.

Take the case of the recent cabinet reshuffle and how much political realities played a part. The original public demands were for accountability ( e.g. transportation, justice, state secretariat), performance (e.g. infocom, industry, health, education) and especially conflict of interest (Minister Coordinator for Social Welfare). Then media and public were distracted from their focus on good governance and effective government to ‘the reshuffle’ as a political happening.

From disappointment in government performance, the focus shifted to ‘who’ and ‘when’. At the end, the reshuffle proved to be politically-driven. Notable exceptions are the dismissals of the cabinet ministers for Justice and Human Rights and for the State Secretariat. While their cases of alleged corruption may not be of major proportions, keeping them in office would have put the President’s credibility at high risk.

Now comes the politics. The vacancy in the State Secretariat allowed SBY to move Hatta Rajasa away from the Transportation Ministry where he had presided over too many disasters in public air, sea and rail transport. Rajasa avoided moral sanctions because his real role in the cabinet makeup is to represent PAN, a party that SBY wants to keep on his side. Hatta Rajasa showed his usefulness when he intermediated between the President and Amien Rais when the latter played the campaign funds gambit, a small matter to which SBY devoted a high-profile television appearance.

Positions for Information and Communications and State Enterprises were shuffled around to get rid of independent-minded Sugiarto with no political party armor and to reward Sofyan Djalil who goes to ridiculous lengths to please the President, even threatening a lawsuit on a popular television parody which offended the First Lady. (more…)