INDONESIA.......the 4th NATION, worked!

Indonesia is the 4th country i've actually "worked" in. The other 3 were the UK, Philippines and of course...Malaysia!

7 things I liked about Indonesia:-

• NOT having to wait for taxis.


• CHEAP Services e.g. Haircut, Shoe repairs by a Cobbler, Reflexology massage etc.


• ENTREPRENEURIAL people.


• One's patronage at most establishment are really valued/appreciated!


• RANGE of Choices to suit one's budget...from dead cheap to extremely extravagant.


• Spending around 1million Rupiah per month for a shared Room(Rumah Kos) with laundry & ironing thrown in!


• CREATIVE, elections!

Summary of my exposure:-

INDONESIA (the 4th NATION): Internship programme at the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta. Attached to the Political & Security Co-operation Directorate under Mr. Termsak. APSC is one of the 3 pillars of the ASEAN community. May - July 2009.

I like to dedicate the song "BERITA KEPADA KAWAN" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAaFPPTSvhY ) to all my Indonesian friends. I find this song so apt to describe Indonesia...so much potential and resources whilst at the same time so much sufferings!

PHILIPPINES (the 3rd STATE): Attached to NDT, Manila and went to PETRON Depot, Sasa City, Mindanao. Mindanao was my first ever experience in a 'conflict' area...skirmishes were taking place at Cotabato. What an experience...to be 'working' with one's back to the beautiful sea and experiencing cool sea breeze whilst surrounded by guards with guns & machine guns watching anxiously! Never been back to Mindanao, since.

United Kingdom the second Country (1991-1994)! As a student...mainly menial labour! Dish-Washer, General Cleaner, Kitchen Assistant, Cook & Head Cook. My main employer was Kelly's and Salina's German Coffeehouse in Sheffield.

Also did small-scale businesses...mainly food-related.

MALAYSIA (HOME COUNTRY). 1st Paid Job was as a Shop Assistant when I was 8-9years old...1st official Job - at Shangri-la Hotel, KL after my SPM. Other organisations included A&W, Athlete's World, EON Finance(EON Bank Group), UNISYS MSC...where I was attached to the PM's Department at the newly completed Putrajaya administrative city in 2000-2001, Perfect Know-How & Araf Vektor.

MY RM177 Comment / 177 Rupiah Ngobrol:

Having stayed in Indonesia (Jakarta, Bandung & Yogyakarta...in addition to Bali in 1996) - but NOT as a tourist, I'd learnt to appreciate Malaysia more. INDONESIA for me is a SLEEPING GIANT, so...so much potential...if only they can get their act together!

PS: This posting was supposed to appear before I went to Jakarta....BUT due to security reason(s) namely not wanting others to know of my absence, only NOW is the posting made!

ASEAN in need of a HIGH IMPACT Branding Project!

UPDATE: June 2009,"The Jakarta Globe"

" ASEAN Agrees to Co-operate in Space Work "

( http://thejakartaglobe.com/national/asean-agrees-to-cooperate-in-space-work/310495 )

2015 is the D-Day for the creation of an ASEAN Community. However, Talk to the food stall operators operating around the ASEAN Secretariat and chances are they won't know what ASEAN stands for apart from it i.e. Gedung ASEAN being some sort of a diplomatic place.

It's time therefore for ASEAN to embark on a high impact branding exercise to ensure that ASEAN citizens can relate to being part of ASEAN and the "One Vision, One Identity, One Community" slogan. Just having an ASEAN anthem, ASEAN logo on declaration forms and general capacity building exercises......DOES NOT cut it anymore!

Hence, where better to start than from SPACE...the final frontier i.e. by having an ASEAN Satelite for Monitoring Purposes programme. It is with this motive in mind that a similarly titled Policy Paper was proposed and submitted to the ASEAN Secretariat(ASEC) during my Internship Programme at the ASEC.

The advent of an ASEAN Satellite for Monitoring Purposes will not only endear ASEAN citizens to ASEAN if promoted and marketed right but, more importantly it can be used to monitor/address non-traditional security issues like:-

• 
  
  Natural Disasters e.g. Asian Tsunami & Huricane Nargis
  


• 
  
  Trans-border Haze



• 
  
  Piracy and other Maritime Issues like Illegal Fishing
  and Overlapping Teritorial Claims ( South China Sea & Ambalat )



• 
  
  Overlapping Airspace Control issues
  ( Johore-Malaysia & Singapore and Singapore & Batam-Indonesia )

Countries with a Comparative Advantage(CA) in Satellite Technology are Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. By virtue of having an Astronaut(Angkasawan) programme...Malaysia, should seize the initiative and further expand the workings of the SCOSA - Sub Committe on Space Technology & Applications!

(Clockwise from Top Right: Fauziah Jalil, Myself, Azrul Shahreen, Muhammad Rum & Zokhri Idris. Not in pict. Zikry Kholil).
http://thejakartaglobe.com/national/asean-agrees-to-cooperate-in-space-work/310495

Fauziah Jalil & I proposed the Satellite Policy Paper Proposal whilst Azrul, Rum, Zokhri and Zikry(not in pict) proposed a Monitoring Mechanism for the Myanmar elections.

Thank you to Mr.Dhannan Sunoto (Director,Cross Sectoral Co-operation), Ms.Adelina Kamal(ADR/Head-Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance) & Mr. Alexander Lim(ADR/Head-Science & Technology) for consenting to grant an interview with my team and for the valuable inputs. Our heartfelt thanks is also extended to Ms.Gayatri Probosasi (Special Officer to ASEAN Sec-Gen & Strategic Planning) for helping us with the structure and format of our proposal!

Not forgetting,the ever wonderful Miss Arlene Taulu for making things happen for us.