Indonesia Expat - issue 145

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J A K A R TA • J AVA • B A L I • LO M B O K • K A L I M A N TA N • S U M AT R A • S U L AW E S I • W E S T PA P U A

W W W. I N D O N E S I A E X PAT. B I Z

MEET BRITTA SLIPPENS HIGH IMPACT DIVING IN THE KOMODO ISLANDS

TRAVEL TO THE BAJAWA HIGHLANDS WHY ARE TEACHERS LEAVING INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS IN JAKARTA?

WEAVING A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IN FLORES WITH DU'ANYAM

THE ISSUE

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Readers,

Recently, Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama aka Ahok, told the press that no sweeping is allowed. “Restaurants can remain open, just cover windows with a cloth,” he said. “Why would you force someone who isn’t fasting to fast?”

Editor in Chief

Angela Richardson angela@indonesiaexpat.biz

Editorial Enquiries

letters@indonesiaexpat.biz

Management

We are well and truly into the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan.

For those who don’t have much understanding of why Muslims fast, the purpose is to feel empathy for those who go without. Through the act of refraining from food or water during daylight hours, as well as from smoking, drinking, getting emotional and carrying out marital relations, Muslims believe they can cleanse their souls, ridding themselves of imperfections.

In the past, we have witnessed what is called ‘sweeping’ in the capital during Ramadhan, where government or religious groups make visits to warung makan or bars which remain open during the fasting month. Religious groups have been known to ransack bars unannounced and oftentimes bribes must be paid.

It is also a month for giving, where Muslims will give zakat (alms) – one of the five pillars of Islam. With people in a generous mood this month, fraudsters play to their heartstrings, as we see in our latest installment of Scams in the City on page 19 where an old man plays beggar in a Winnie the Pooh costume in the East Java town of Sidoarjo.

Edo Frese edo@indonesiaexpat.biz

Sales

Dian Mardianingsih ads@indonesiaexpat.biz

Distribution & Admin

Juni Setiawan admin@indonesiaexpat.biz

Graphics

Frederick Ng Katarina Anindita

Finance

Lini Verawaty finance@indonesiaexpat.biz

Contributors

Bill Dalton Karen Davis Gregg A. Hollomon Tess Joyce Heru Nainggolan Simon Pitchforth Eamonn Sadler Grace Susetyo Antony Sutton Kenneth Yeung

Circulation Enquiries info@indonesiaexpat.biz

As we focus our editorial content on the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (East Nusa Tenggara) this issue, we have some fantastic stories for you, including experiencing the exhilarating diving that the Komodo Islands has to offer, exploring the ancient Ngada Regency in Flores, and the conservation of endangered birds in Sumba. We also meet Britta Slippens, an expat who owns a glorious phinisi schooner that travels around the islands in this stunning province.

I’ve visited Nusa Tenggara Timur twice so far, having just returned from the Komodo Islands last week, and can attest to its stunning natural beauty and glorious sunsets – not to mention the abundant underwater world. If you haven’t had a chance to visit, daily flights from Bali are available, making this unforgettable province one you must tick off your travel destination list.

Angela Richardson Editor in Chief

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Subscriptions

subscriptions@indonesiaexpat.biz

Dear John,

Dear Angela,

Events

events@indonesiaexpat.biz

Published by

PT. Koleksi Klasik Indonesia Graha Eka Formula Building 3rd floor, #302 Jl. Bangka Raya No. 2 Kemang, Jakarta T: 021 719 5908 (sales/editorial) 021 719 3409 (admin/finance) F: 021 719 3409 Office hours: 09.00–17.00 Monday–Friday INDONESIA EXPAT IS PUBLISHED

I moved from a managed apartment some time ago, so haven't read an IE for some time. However, I picked up a copy this morning and had a thought.

Whilst I realise that the IE is not intended to be an investigative journal, it does carry some interesting articles that detail corruption, dodgy dealings, things to look out for when living here, etc.

BI-WEEKLY BY PT. KOLEKSI KLASIK INDONESIA. OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS PUBLICATION ARE THOSE OF THE WRITERS AND THE PUBLISHER DOES NOT ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMMISIONS, OR COMPLAINTS ARISING THERE FROM. NO PARTS OF THIS PUBLICATION CAN BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN

With all the best will in the world, the IE won't change any of the perceived problems, as it undoubtedly doesn't reach the individual ministers/departments/ officials etc. that are named in the various articles – to have any effect,

this has to change. How about sending a complimentary copy of the IE to those individuals (perhaps with a Post-It note attached, saying 'Please see article on Page xx')?

By publishing the IE, the articles are in the public domain anyway, all you would be doing is getting the item to a person who may be able to do something about whatever it is concerning.

ALL newspapers should do this.

Kind Regards, Michael L.

PRINT OR ELECTRONICALLY WITHOUT

Thank you for writing.

We publish Indonesia Expat to inform expatriates and English-speaking Indonesians on topics which we feel may be interesting or relevant to our readers, and indeed some of the stories are investigative and expose some truths. Our intention and our job, however, are not to change things; we merely report on them.

If members of the Government wish to read our publication, then as you said, it is public domain and they are free to do so. As an expat publication in a host country, we have to be careful and do not wish to tread on anyone’s toes, so to speak.

Hopefully you can understand our situation and continue to enjoy reading the publication.

PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. ALL TRADEMARKS, LOGOS, BRANDS AND

Many thanks, Angela and IE Team

DESIGNS ARE COPYRIGHT AND FULLY RESERVED BY PT. KOLEKSI KLASIK INDONESIA.

The Cover The underwater world of the Komodo Islands

by Gregg A. Hollomon

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Issue 145

Contents

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Feature Story The Teacher Exodus

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Expat Business

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Business Profile Travel the Unknown wth Flores XP Adventure

Featured Nusa Tenggara to Support $20 Billion Industry by Transforming Into Industrial Salt Producer

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Meet the Expat Andrew Hairs: On the Job in Jakarta

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Expat Lifestyle

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History Ende: The Womb That Conceived Indonesia

Travel Bajawa Highlands Heartland of Flores

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Meet the Expat Meet Britta Slippens

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Travel Underwater Komodo Adventures

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Scams in the City Winnie the 'Penipu'

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Expat Outreach

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Environment Our Obsession With Birds.

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Worthy Causes Weaving a Social Enterprise in Flores

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Announcements

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Light Entertainment Real Heroes

25

Observations Chain Reaction

26

Events

27

Business Directory

28

Classifieds

Sports Sail Indonesia Promotes Indonesia's Nascent Maritime Leisure Industry

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FEATURE STORY

The Teacher Exodus

Why are International School Teachers Leaving?

By Angela Richardson

Teachers come to Indonesia to teach at international schools for a variety of reasons: the opportunity to grow as an educator with many new experiences coupled with a good working package and beautiful travel destinations in the region. Teaching in the capital of Jakarta, however, is not without its challenges and this year more teachers are leaving than usual for reasons ranging from politics, the economy to not feeling welcome in Indonesia anymore.

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he capital of Jakarta has 30 international schools, a term changed to ‘multicultural schools’ by the Indonesian Government in December 2014, only allowing an exemption for schools affiliated with embassies, leaving six in the country in total. Originally created to provide education of international standards to children of diplomats and expatriates, today these schools are open to Indonesian students as well, a result of the Indonesian financial crisis of 1998 when tens of thousands of expatriates lost their jobs as the currency plummeted and companies were no longer able to pay the largely dollardenominated salaries.

Regulation changes by the Government that took effect at the end of 2014 have meant that international schools must teach Indonesian language, religion (depending on the religion of the student) and civic education. Ministry of Education spokesperson Ibnu Hamad said in a press statement last year that the intention of the regulation was to weed out low-quality schools that charge a premium by adding ‘international’ to their title. Indonesian students wishing to gain an Indonesian Diploma are also obliged to take the national exams before moving up a grade

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shortage of qualified, experienced expat teachers in Indonesia, but not a shortage of expats who want to teach. He feels that teachers will prefer to go to other countries to teach as “there are higher paying options available in other Asian countries; Vietnam and China are opening schools every day.”

or graduating, at the end of the sixth, ninth and 12th grades.

in Indonesia. “If I did start to feel unsafe, I would leave for sure,” he says.

In light of recent raids of foreign workers in Jakarta, and more recently of a raid on a golf course in Jakarta where those not carrying their passport and KITAS were fined Rp.5 million rupiah and one Japanese national was detained, expats and expat teachers are feeling less welcome here.

Also in 2014, teacher Neil Bantleman and teaching assistant Ferdi Tjiong were arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a child at the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS). Although no resounding evidence against them was ever given, both teachers have been sentenced to ten years imprisonment.

Chris Betts is a teacher at ACG School who saw teaching in Indonesia as “an opportunity to try something different.”

Betts moved to Jakarta in early 2015 and did not bear witness to the JIS case and doesn’t feel threatened or unsafe teaching in Indonesia. “If I did start to feel unsafe, I would leave for sure,” he says.

Helen Thomson is a PE teacher at the British International School (BIS) in Jakarta and feels the situation is only going to get worse. “I definitely feel assessed personally and feel less welcome and I think, especially over the month of Ramadhan, that it’s going to be stricter than normal.”

Most international schools are seeing a higher than usual number of foreign teachers leaving the country at the end of this school year. This is on par with the number of expatriates living in Indonesia reducing by 20 percent – from approximately 77,000 to 62,000.

There have also been rumours that the Government plans to reduce the number of expats working in Indonesia to 30,000.

Foreign teachers of international schools on average move every 2.4 years and international school teachers are in high demand. Requirements to be able to teach at an international school include five years teaching experience, a degree in the particular subject they teach – recently changed by the Government, whereas before the degree did not have to relate to the subject taught – health checks, police checks and an international child protection certification.

When asked why she ended her contract at BIS and is moving to Europe, she answered, “Honestly, I’m done with Jakarta; seven years is a long time. The kids are amazing and why we do our job. Indonesians are generally wonderful people and it’s sad that the situation is turning a bit. I want to remember it as it was.”

At ACG School in South Jakarta, approximately 13 teachers are leaving, which is over 25 percent of the teaching staff; again a figure higher than average.

Chris Betts is a teacher at ACG School who saw teaching in Indonesia as “an opportunity to try something different.”

Betts moved to Jakarta in early 2015 and does not feel threatened or unsafe teaching

According to George Tsementzis, an advisor at North Jakarta Intercultural School (NJIS), not all schools adhere to these requirements. NJIS has also provided financial motivators and administrative changes for teachers this year as incentive to stay. Tsementzis believes there is a

Since the JIS trial, BIS has added CCTV cameras all over the school, and more child protection training has been implemented.

“A lot more awareness has been given to teachers of how we should be with the students because as international school teachers, we’re different from British soil teachers – we have more of a relationship with students,” Thomson says. “Anything can be taken out of context and that’s the scary thing.”

International schools have to work harder to enrol new students in a difficult economy.

Former JIS teacher Neil Bantleman behind bars. Courtesy of CBC

Thomson feels her school is becoming more like a business, with less of a community spirit and no longer a family feeling, which she believes is due to the economy and the departure of many oil, gas and mining expats. International schools have to work harder to enrol new students in a difficult economy. BIS is losing 43 foreign teachers this year, an 80 percent increase to last year’s 25. A lot of these are long-term teachers, she says.

schools in Indonesia, people come to JIS to build their careers; it’s one of the top schools in the entire world in its 64th year,” she says.

Originally, applications to fill these 43 positions were high, but Thomson says some teachers decided not to move to Jakarta for various reasons, resulting in a lot of internal appointments and promotions. BIS mainly recruit within Asia and the Middle East, with very few coming from the UK this year as the school prefers to hire teachers with an international background from another school in another country.

Last year, JIS interviewed in excess of 50 teachers for one teaching position.

Although Reynen doesn’t think that there are more teachers leaving JIS than average, she thinks it will be interesting to see what happens when teachers hand in their contract placements in October.

Julia Reynen is a middle school teacher at JIS and says 35 teachers are leaving out of a faculty of over 300, and 63 new teachers will be starting in September. “Unlike other

“It all goes back to the hierarchy of needs: if their needs are being met, one incident won’t make them leave. A compounding situation may make them second-guess, but the quality of teachers JIS attracts is far different than any other school in the city.”

Tsementzis believes that international schools will adjust to the new economy, as will the market. “I think it can only go up from here,” he says. “International schools provide an excellent intercultural experience for both local and expat children seeking an international standard of English-based education in Jakarta”.

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EXPAT BUSINESS FEATURED

Salt hills by Boris Kasimov

East Nusa Tenggara to Support $20B Industry

by Transforming Into Industrial Salt Producer

By Heru Nainggolan

Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province holds great potential to produce salt needed for many industries, including those of glass, paper, rubber, and textiles.

A

s the world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia just so happens to be surrounded by oceans filled with salt. With around three million square kilometres of sea area, it is also home to the fourth longest aggregate coastline in the world, stretching up to 54,716 kilometres. Naturally, one would think the country wouldn’t have a problem producing enough salt to meet domestic demand, however, in recent years, Indonesia has been depending on imported salt, namely for industrial use.

The uses of salt for industrial purposes are important and diverse. 68 percent of the world’s salt output is used for manufacturing and other related processes.

Elements extracted from industrial salt are key ingredients for basic materials like PVC, plastic, paper pulp, and many other organic and inorganic compounds. Salt is an important material for aluminium production. It is also used to make a variety of soaps and glycerines, and plays a crucial role in the process of making synthetic rubber.

Muhammad Khayam, Indonesia’s Industry Ministry’s director for basic chemicals, confirms the Government has not been able to meet its domestic demand due to an inability to tap into the potential of the salt industry in East Nusa Tenggara, a region touted by the media and local conglomerates as having the potential of becoming the next hub for industrial salt production.

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“Only West Nusa Tenggara could become the centre because its geography is really suitable for industrial salt production, such as the salt level of its sea water, its humidity, and the fact that it gets lots of sunlight,” Khayam tells Indonesia Expat.

According to Khayam, while many salt companies are eager to invest in East Nusa Tenggara, they face extreme difficulties in acquiring land for production purposes, an all-too-common problem that plagues the archipelago’s public and private sectors across the board. For this reason, salt production in East Nusa Tenggara is still clocking in well below its potential.

One example is the case of an undisclosed salt company that wanted to invest in a 10,000-hectare piece of land in the Teluk Kupang Regency in East Nusa Tenggara.

The firm secured the land 15 years prior, but due to fickle leadership, the company has still done nothing with the estate.

The stretch of land still remains under its ownership today, and therefore may not be cultivated by any other public or private entity in Indonesia. “If we could secure those 10,000 hectares of land, we could produce up to one million tonnes of salt [per year],” explains Khayam.

With such inherent potential, the government is aggressively looking to seize several pieces of undeveloped land in East Nusa Tenggara. At the moment, the Government is working hard to acquire a particular 1,000-hectare plot in the

…while many salt companies are eager to invest in East Nusa Tenggara, they face extreme difficulties in acquiring land for production purposes, an all-too-common problem that plagues the archipelago’s public and private sectors across the board.

Nagekeo region for Australian solar salt firm Cheetham.

“The progress has reached 75 percent,” says Khayam, adding that the company is expected to start production in July. “We are expecting the land to produce 200,000 tonnes of salt in the next two years.”

Besides Cheetham, Indonesian state-owned salt company PT Garam is also planning to open an operation in East Nusa Tenggara, with the company currently in the process of acquiring 7,000 hectares of land in Kupang, the province’s capital.

Three other companies are also eyeing East Nusa Tenggara, including an undisclosed Japanese firm, says Khayam.

For the acquisition and development of the land, PT Garam would receive funding from the Government, on top of Rp.550

billion (US$41 million) provided by the Finance Ministry for its buffer stock, with the hope that the firm would become what the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) is for rice.

With extra funding, the Government expects PT Garam to increase its production to around 120 tonnes per season from its current output rate of 100 tonnes.

Apart from East Nusa Tenggara, the Government has also named several other potential spots for salt cultivation, including 8,000 hectares in West Nusa Tenggara and another 500 hectares in South Sulawesi.

“If the Government is able to push for 30,000 hectares of land for salt production, we can produce 4.6 million tonnes of firstgrade salt annually,” the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s director general for maritime, coastal, and small islands affairs Sudirman Saad told reporters in January.

Heru Nainggolan is a Jakarta-based freelance writer and journalist that's been covering a variety of issues since 2011.

Saad said it was of the utmost importance for the Government to increase national salt production to 4.6 million tonnes, seeing how the annual demand is projected to reach 4.5 million tonnes by 2017, with 10 percent growth per year.

Salt rocks by Everjean

“The industries that need salt will grow,” says Khayam. “For example, we are pushing for the development of smelters, which need sodium hydroxide. This compound is an ingredient of salt. So looking ahead, the demand for salt will go through the roof.”

However, the country’s salt industry has so far not been able to keep up with growing demand. In 2014 alone, Indonesia imported 2.1 million tonnes of industrial salt, more than double the 2013 import of 1.03 million tonnes. Kyaham adds, “We want East Nusa Tenggara to fill the demand of these 2.1 million tonnes of industrial salt.”

Kelimutu from the air by Michael Day

According to Kyaham, Indonesia’s salt farmers are currently only capable of producing salt for household consumption, not for industrial needs. “In terms of salt for household consumption, we have achieved self sufficiency,” Khayam says.

As Indonesia still relies on imported salt, it’s estimated to lose up to US$110 million from imports, according to PT Garam head director Usman Perdana Kusuma.

By transforming East Nusa Tenggara into a salt production centre, it will likely boost profits of industries that depend on the mineral for production, says Khayam. He adds, “The potential is US$20 billion. That’s the export value of local industries that use salt for their production ... That’s why we are pushing for the Government to provide land for investors.”

Khayam is referring to the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry, which is in charge of resolving land conflicts as stipulated in the newly unveiled 2017 roadmap for salt self-sufficiency.

“We have contacted Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Ferry [Mursyidan Baldan] to provide land that has potential [for salt production] in East Nusa Tenggara because that region is underdeveloped and this could be a blessing for the province.

We don’t want to focus only on the western part of Indonesia,” says the director.

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EXPAT BUSINESS BUSINESS PROFILE

Travel the Unknown with Flores XP Adventure Massimiliano de Reviziis is an Italian entrepreneur living in Labuan Bajo, Flores and owner of tour company Flores XP Adventure, a company providing tourists with a truly unique experience of the area. We talk to him about his tour company and his concerns for the future of this region.

By Angela Richardson

Massimiliano, let’s start at the beginning of your Indonesia adventure. You moved here 11 years ago – what brought you here in the first place?

My two brothers were already living in Bali for two years when I came to visit them.

At that time I had just finished my studies and in Italy the crisis was starting. I found opportunities in Bali first, and then I found love – I met the girl who became my wife – and so I prolonged my holiday, and 11 years later I am still here!

What made you decide to move from living in Bali to a life in East Nusa Tenggara?

Bali is not the place I felt in love with 11 years ago; it became crowded, dirty, polluted – even the people changed. I and a few friends of mine invested in a little island resort, Kanawa Island, here in Flores, and so I decided to move to this amazing area, to live in touch with nature.

Where did the idea to start Flores XP Adventure come from? Do you have any competitors?

It started by looking at what was available and what wasn’t in the market. We offer tours that are very different from others.

We saw a big demand for multi-day tours,

especially on the sea, but people were suffering sleeping on boats and getting seasick, so we decided to offer the option of camping on a desert island and so far we have received excellent feedback.

What services does your company offer?

We offer adventure tours in Komodo National Park, with the possibility to scuba dive, as well as inland tours, all with serviced camping, comfortable boats, experienced guides and PADI Divemasters. All of our tour leaders have Emergency First Response certifications and can speak English.

How many staff do you have in total today?

We have a total of 24 staff at the moment.

Talk us through a typical day for you running your company in Labuan Bajo.

I do not run the company myself; I believe in creating opportunities for local people.

My wife and I created this company and trained a good team to run it, giving them the opportunity to grow. For example, we transformed two simple guys who had few skills into very good tour leaders – professional and reliable – and this year we just made them Divemasters,

sponsoring the whole course for them.

I mostly supervise, teach and help my staff. I go on some of the tours, but mostly as a client, enjoying the diving, since they can handle everything themselves now.

Our goal is to make some of our staff partners of the company.

You also offer camping trips. What’s the most popular one and why? Why do you feel it’s important for tourists to experience how locals live?

Our most popular tour is the three-day Dragon Tour, which is a camping tour on a desert island, and we explore the best of Komodo National Park, including trekking with dragons on Komodo and Rinca, snorkelling or diving with manta rays, and snorkelling and/or diving in the best spots of the national park, including the famous pink beach, Batu Bolong, and Mawan Island.

We also go and visit the local traditional village of Rinca, where locals have been living for hundreds of years in harmony with the dragons. It is very important that tourists experience the local way of life – learning their ways and how they survive in hard areas is a really mind-opening experience.

Where do your visitors generally come from? Can you share the demographics and have you noticed any changes in them lately?

Most of our clients are European, the majority Italian, Spanish and French. But we get a lot of expats living in Indonesia and Singapore, too. And the number of local Indonesian tourists is also growing.

Are you noticing any new trends from today’s travellers?

The trend is that people are looking for nature; they want to get away from crowded, polluted places, and from modernity. Everybody is happy on our tours – there is no WiFi and little or no phone signal in the area.

How do you ensure service is excellent every time? Is finding good staff difficult?

Finding good staff is not easy and lots of training is required. To keep our staff motivated we offer bonuses, and chances of career progression.

Sustainability is important to you. How do you ensure sustainability through the tours your company offers? Do you only hire local staff on your liveaboard?

We mostly hire local staff. We have one foreigner, a Spanish manager, and one lady from Semarang working in the office – everybody else is from Flores. We believe in using local products and local energies in order to help grow the local economy.

You own two boats and three cars and are very busy with the tour company. Tell us what Flores has to offer the traveller that other places don’t.

BUSINESS SNIPPETS

Indonesia Sets 19 Percent Renewable Energy Target for 2019 Indonesia has announced a medium-term target for increasing the share of renewable energy in total energy use to 25% by 2025.

The Indonesian government has now set a target to increase the share of renewable energy in total energy mix to 19% by 2019.

The share of renewable energy in Indonesia’s total energy use, at present, stands at around 5% to 6%.

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Source: cleantechnica.com

Interestingly, the announcement of the medium-term target comes just months ahead of the Paris climate change summit, where advanced developing countries, including Indonesia, are expected to face increased pressure to commit to mitigation targets.

Geothermal energy is expected to be central to Indonesia’s renewable energy plans.

the trend is that people are looking for nature; they want to get away from crowded, polluted places, and from modernity.

Our main difference is constant service, and the camping adventure. We always listen to our clients; we try to understand what they want in order to offer them the right product.

You are also owner of Kanawa Island Resort, a resort on a 26-hectare island located on the border of Komodo National Park. Did you take a lease on the island?

How difficult was it to set this resort up?

Yes, I am one of the shareholders of Kanawa Island Resort, and commissioner of the company. We have a few HGB (Hak Guna Bangunan) certificates under the company name on the island. Nothing is easy in this country, but if you love it and have a passion for it, then everything is possible.

What challenges do you face living and working in Labuan Bajo?

There are a lot of challenges. This is a fast growing town, but it is still missing a lot of infrastructure like water, energy, and waste disposal – things people take for granted.

With a new airport, marina, hospital and even a Lippo Mall being built in Labuan Bajo, are you concerned about the preservation of this area’s natural beauty? What can be done to ensure that the area is not ruined through development?

Yes, I am concerned. I am worried it is moving too fast. I just hope proper infrastructure will be put in place. I am personally really happy about the hospital because that was needed here. But we also need a water system, electricity and proper

roads. But what I’d like to say is in town they can do what they want, as long as the national park is protected.

Let’s talk about Komodo National Park.

Who runs this park and do you feel it is well looked after?

Komodo National Park is run by the department of forestry in Jakarta and in my humble opinion not a good job has been done so far with it. It is getting dirty, very busy, and there is a lot of illegal fishing with no control at all.

We asked the local national park authorities if we could work together to organise cleaning days on Komodo and Rinca islands, install additional mooring buoys and create a proper radio and WhatsApp channel for the diving and tour operator community in order to report problems or activities inside the park when the boats are out. We are still waiting for a reply from them.

Do you have any plans to leave East Nusa Tenggara?

Not at all, I love this area and I plan to stay here for a very, very long time.

If you had one dream for the area of Flores/ East Nusa Tenggara, what would it be?

I hope that Flores will be developed in a smart way, respecting nature, and that the park will be protected for many generations to come. I wish renewable energies will be introduced in the area, but my main hope is that local people will keep their smiles and friendliness, even when money will come here.

Thank you, Massimiliano. To get in touch, please e-mail: massidere@gmail.com

Indonesia has an estimated geothermal energy potential of 29 GW — equivalent to about 40% of world’s total geothermal reserves. More than 1 GW of electricity generation capacity is operational or under development. The Government is expected to speed-up development of additional geothermal energy assets. The Government was reported to be working to have 4 to 5 GW of geothermal capacity operational by the end of this year.

The Government is also looking to develop wind energy and other renewable energy

technologies. Construction of the country’s first large-scale wind energy project has already started with the 50 MW project being constructed by a joint venture between an Indonesian and American company. The project is expected to be commissioned in 2019.

Indonesia is also planning to significantly increase investments in the energy sector.

The Government has lined up more over US$300 billion investment in the energy sector, including US$38 billion in the renewable energy sector. issue 145 indonesia expat

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EXPAT BUSINESS MEET THE EXPAT

On the Job in Jakarta

Meet Andrew Hairs

Meet Andrew Hairs, an executive recruitment specialist, who every year places hundreds of people in new jobs in Indonesia and other emerging economies.

By Kenneth Yeung

Where are you from and how did you end up in Indonesia?

I was born in England and raised there until my family immigrated to Australia when I was 10 years old. After stints of work in the UK and Australia, I was hired by Monroe Consulting Group to open a recruitment office in Tokyo. This led to them sending me to Indonesia for a six-month assignment to help open a recruitment office in Jakarta. That was 10 years ago. I’m now Group Managing Director and our Jakarta office has 45 employees. Our success in Indonesia has allowed me to expand to other emerging markets, such as Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, China, Chile and Mexico.

What were the main challenges in getting the company established here?

Ironically, like many companies starting in Indonesia, finding the right employees was the biggest challenge.

As for regulatory challenges, 10 years ago, the answer to most questions about regulations was “that’s a grey area”; although the process of setting up and getting licensed was relatively painless back then.

What are the major skills shortages in Indonesia?

While all industries are suffering, the biggest skills shortages at the moment are in the digital sector. The more senior the position, the harder it becomes to find the skills.

The hardest human resources challenge across all industry sectors in Indonesia is finding sales and marketing people with a proven track record. In a recent survey we conducted, 89% of companies in Indonesia said they found hiring senior managers very or extremely challenging.

Why is there a skills gap?

The shortage of skills can be attributed to the low quality of education available to the general population, with just two Indonesian universities appearing in a list of the world’s top 500 universities. Only a limited number of Indonesians have access to reputable Indonesian universities or international education. The problem gets worse because a large percentage of those people are then lost to overseas employment, or they join a family business after returning from education abroad.

Are headhunting specialists playing a bigger role in Indonesia?

We don’t have precise data, but more and more companies are relying on the services provided by recruitment companies. In Monroe’s 2014 survey, companies ranked executive search as the third-most successful source of candidates; by 2015 that had increased to first place.

How do Indonesians compare to other nationalities for company loyalty?

Loyalty is hard to find in any emerging markets, especially when salaries are rapidly increasing. Indonesia is no different in that respect, but what is interesting is that Indonesian professionals feel less guilt than other professionals in the region when resigning to take a 12

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spirit of recent regulatory changes, I believe that further changes are needed to develop a system that balances the needs of companies while respecting and protecting the rights of employees.

Any tips for expats having difficulties with Immigration and the Manpower Ministry?

Keep calm and work with the system you have. Getting angry and frustrated won’t achieve anything, so identify the problem and then find a solution. Following last year’s elections, Immigration took a very hard line against expatriate workers, which caused problems for companies reliant on expatriates. The good news is that the Government and Immigration now seem to be listening to employers, so work permits are becoming a little easier to process.

While I admire and understand the spirit of recent regulatory changes, I believe that further changes are needed to develop a system that balances the needs of companies while respecting and protecting the rights of employees. better offer. Based on our surveys, only 8% of Indonesian professionals who received a job offer from another company decided to stay with their original employer because of feelings of guilt or regret. This is substantially lower than in other emerging Southeast Asian economies, where 30% decided to stay for these reasons.

Which industries have the highest turnover of staff?

Wherever there is a shortage of skills you will find high staff turnover. In the digital and online sector, companies are fighting for the limited talent available. We are seeing a lot of movement in the sector, with approximately 35% of middle- to senior-level professionals changing employers in the last year.

Do you think future Indonesian professionals will eventually replace most expat workers?

I’m always positive about Indonesian professionals, especially the younger generation that are starting to break through. Many of them are motivated and demonstrate a genuine desire to learn and develop. While there is still a need to use expatriates to fill some talent gaps in the short-term, all expatriates should be ensuring that they are giving something back by transferring their knowledge and developing the people around them.

Are Indonesia’s manpower regulations getting better or worse?

Indonesian manpower regulations are focused on the protection of workers, with very little consideration for the rights of employers. While I admire and understand the

Any regulations you would like to wave a magic wand at?

As a long-term guest of Indonesia and as the father of an Indonesian son, I would like to see some regulations adjusted that would guarantee me the right to live and work in the same country as my son. I would also allow foreign ownership of apartments and houses in certain designated zones.

What are the greatest rewards of your job?

Being able to develop people’s talents and giving them opportunities to grow professionally. The office I opened in Indonesia 10 years ago now has an Indonesian managing director and second-tier management.

All of the management team started out as trainees and they have worked hard to develop their skills. To see them become such strong professionals, whom I can rely on and trust, is a very rewarding feeling.

How do you unwind in Indonesia?

Jakarta can be a stressful place, so it’s important to remember to leave the city and breathe a little fresh air to help unwind. If I can’t get out of the city, then soundly thrashing a New Zealand friend, whom I will name only as Cameron Bates, on the tennis court always makes me feel better.

Your favourite thing about Indonesia?

I’m not sure there is just one thing. The natural beauty you find here, the friendliness of the people, the energy of Jakarta and pisang goreng keju coklat (fried banana with cheese and chocolate) are just some of the reasons to love this country.

Your least favourite thing about the country?

Corruption.

Kenneth Yeung is a Jakarta-based editor

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EXPAT LIFESTYLE

TRAVEL Bill Dalton has been writing travel features, book reviews, interviews and guidebooks about Indonesia for more than 40 years, starting with his groundbreaking Indonesia Handbook first published in 1976.

Bajawa Highlands

Heartland of Flores

The growling, battered ‘executive’ bus stopped in front of our hotel in Labuan Bajo, its engine hungrily pointing towards the road out of town. From this thriving, chaotic east coast port of Flores, we first rattled up a steeply forested road through an undeveloped countryside of corrugated-roofed, bamboo woven shacks in the middle of well-swept dirt yards with coffee, cacao and cloves drying on mats.

By Bill Dalton

With great natural beauty on all sides, Flores is the Switzerland of Southeast Asia, one of Indonesia’s most traditional islands, possessing so much more of a distinct Melanesian flavour than its neighbouring island of Sumbawa that it could constitute a foreign country.

Bajawa FLORES

FLORES — Fast Facts Land size Total area Population Highest elevation

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n the other side of the mountain, we descended on a newly built highway with stolid bridges, immense rocky river canyons under steep cliffs, then traversed vast expanses of rice fields. The bus was packed, limbs and boys hanging out of windows, Javanese pop blaring at ear shattering volume as we headed for the Bajawa Highlands, capital of Ngada Regency.

Home to the Ngada people, known in early Dutch literature as the Rokka, this mixed Malay/Melanesian race settled this high fertile plateau around 2,245-metre Mt. Inerie in the 17th century. With great natural beauty on all sides, Flores is the Switzerland of Southeast Asia, one of Indonesia’s most traditional islands, possessing so much more of a distinct Melanesian flavour than its neighbouring island of Sumbawa that it could constitute a foreign country.

After a gruelling all-day ride of tortuous mountain roads, shivering in the darkness under sarongs with freezing air pouring

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through every crack in the chassis, we were dropped off in the rain at 10pm on Jl. A. Yani, Bajawa’s main street. The nearest hotel, the Korina, was the cheapest in town.

Run by three sweet teenage girls, the rooms were small, the pillows brick-hard, rats scurried in the walls, but the place was clean, offered free Wi-Fi and breakfast.

Motorcycle Tours

Although an attraction in itself – clean, relaxing and refreshingly cool with a wide range of accommodations and rumah makan – high altitude Bajawa is principally used as a base for exploring the surrounding hilly countryside where indigenous animist beliefs still flourish, the volcanic scenery is spectacular and where famous sofi alcoholic drink is made and earthy full-bodied coffee is cultivated. No one hassles you to buy anything.

There was no problem finding a guide.

They found you. As soon as we emerged from the Korina the next morning, a press of friendly but persistent touts, motorcycle

Ngada Regency 1,621km square Bajawa 36,082 (2010) 1,100 metres

How to get there Bus fare from Labuan Bajo Rp.100,000Rp.150,000. AC buses cost Rp.250,000, 8–12 hours (depending on season). Any hotel in town can arrange tours and order bus tickets.

Stay Edelweisse is upmarket at Rp.200,000Rp.300,000. Budget Korina Hotel is Rp.150,000. Villa Silverin is simple but nice. Bintang Wistata is OK for a night or two. Marselino’s Homestay is great for backpackers. Hotel Happy Happy is a small, well-run hotel with great breakfasts.

Whichever hotel you stay in, ask for a bucket of hot water, towels and extra thick blankets because it’s cold at night!

What to do Beno, Langa, Bela, Luba, Wogo and Tolelo villages for adat traditional houses and megalithic sculptures. Wawo Muda for volcanic lakes. Guide services (min. 4 people) cost from Rp.75,000–150,000 per day, including transport and driver.

Tours may be tailored to fit your priorities and time restraints. Guides are excellent sources of information on harvest festivals, ritual sacrifices, consecration ceremonies, weddings and other family celebrations.

ojek drivers-cum-guides, greeted us offering their services. After some back and forth bickering, we hired two guides who told us about a kesao house-warming ceremony that was to take place the next morning in the mountaintop village of Tolelo. We struck up a deal for Rp.150,000 for one adult and two kids on two motorcycles.

Dion and Hillalio were at the Korina at 10am the next morning. I asked them to draw a rough map and list in their own hand what stops were included in the price – Tolelo as well as the traditional village of Bena and dip in a hot springs along the way.

The ride took us on a winding road out of town, through towering bamboo stands and at the end, a climb up a steep and muddy dirt path beside a stream as it twisted its way up a mountain through a tropical deciduous forest.

Just before the village, we passed a shrine to the Virgin Mary then paid our respects at the house of the kepala desa (village head) before wandering around and taking photos. We signed the guest book and made a small donation. Rows of high thatched roofed Ngadanese bamboo traditional dwellings and ritual houses with doorways decorated with jawbones and buffalo horns stood around a stone-edged central square.

Dancers were forming up around upright pole-like ngadhu and bhaga ancestor totem stones that were placed in between the structures. Separate groups of women and children started dancing in a circle with arms linked, revolving counter-clockwise.

In these graceful ‘round dances’, they held out a long scarf and danced with shuffling steps, hands fluttering and bodies gyrating while advancing, retreating and encircling other dancers.

Then it was the men’s turn, some with rawhide shields and painted helmets tufted with horsehair which protect the face like an uplifted welder’s mask. Assuming a war-like stance, to the accompaniment of whistling, gongs and drumbeats, circling each other like cats. I sat for a while beside the deep-thumping Florinese orchestra, the best vantage point from which to view the hypnotic, unrehearsed performance in which the entire village took part.

By now it was the middle of the afternoon.

Wanting to get back to town before dark, we said our goodbyes and started on the trail back down. Only 30 minutes from the Tolelo’s parking lot, we made a stop at a river where all our exertions were awarded a swim in hot water that bubbled up from an underwater spring.

Our tour ended at Bena, the most visited of all the old traditional villages in the area, 19km southeast of Bajawa at the foot of extinct Mt. Inerie. This three-tiered village, with totemic figures and tomblike megalithic structures in the village square, practices its own brand of animism as well as cultural and artistic traditions little known outside of obscure missionary journals. After taking photos of several women weaving ikat on their verandas, a boy took me up a hill for an amazing view of the sea beyond a cascade of green hills.

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HISTORY Grace is a freelance writer, former TV journalist, and aspiring documentarist with a passion for Indonesian history and culture. Contact her at g.c.susetyo@gmail.com

Ende, Flores

The Womb that Conceived Indonesia Grace Susetyo takes a trip to Ende, where Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno, was exiled between 1934-1938.

President Sukarno used his time on the island to write plays and poetry with hidden meanings, meditating on his vision of an independent Indonesia.

Words and Photos by Grace Susetyo Gunung Meja

Indonesia 1945, a then futuristic fiction play about the Pacific War and the rise of Japan’s uprising against the USA and Britain, accurately predicted Indonesia’s independence in the year 1945.

It would be easy for a travel writer to call this place the clichéd ‘piece of heaven’. But Ende in the 1930s was anything but that for Sukarno.

Tugu Pancasila

In the mid-1930s, with a population of only 5,000, Ende was considered a primitive outback of the Indies, where Sukarno and his family would be foreign Javanese strangers in the land of the Ende-Lio speaking people.

It was at least a month’s boat ride away from the Europeaneducated Javanese-Malay elites engaging in fiery discourse about independence in Batavia (Jakarta). Intensive contact with them would have been crucial to Sukarno’s political work. Back then, the only way to keep in touch would be through letters that would take months to reach Java and back to Flores.

In other words, the exile to Ende was one of the Dutch Government’s attempts to abort the conception of the Republic of Indonesia.

Pantai Naganesa

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t had been ten days since I’d been going up and down the cool mountains of Flores when I felt the warm marine breeze on my face while beholding the haughty Mount Wongge from my motel window. In this coastal town surrounded by mountains, I’d been looking forward to meeting the womb that conceived the nation of Indonesia.

I first heard of Ende in my primary school history lessons.

Sukarno, later the first president of Indonesia, was exiled here in 1934-1938 because his political activities were viewed as a threat to the Dutch East Indies Government.

I imagined that Ende would be a romantic place that inspired Sukarno to write passionate letters, poetry, and theatrical plays.

As I walked the southern beaches of Ende Island, I felt the grains of black volcanic sand on my bare feet and the waves of clear blue-green water on my legs. Children swimming and paddling their canoes called out to my camera with big smiles. It was by the shores of these beaches that Sukarno coached locals in dramatic vocal exercises as they rehearsed the founding father’s dreams of a future sovereign Indonesia ruled by Indonesians.

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Sukarno made use of his four years here meditating on his vision for an independent Indonesia and engaging with locals to take part in it. To connect on their level, Sukarno wrote a dozen theatre plays and founded the Toneel Club Kelimutu which involved locals in productions performed at the Immaculata Building.

“When Sukarno asked permission from the local parish to use the Immaculata Building, the Dutch priests in charge of the parish were worried that Sukarno would indoctrinate locals with his ideas of nationalism,” said Maria Marietta Bali, lecturer of Indonesian literature and theatre in Universitas Flores, Ende. A friend of Sukarno assured the fearful priests that Sukarno’s activities would be harmless and under responsible supervision.

Indonesia 1945, a then futuristic fiction play about the Pacific War and the rise of Japan’s uprising against the USA and Britain, accurately predicted Indonesia’s independence in the year 1945.

Another play, Dr. Sjaitan, tells of a mad scientist who is able to bring dead organisms back to life by transplanting the heart of another living organism. 17 kilometres out of Ende, eight parts of a robot and thousands of pieces of shrapnel are found. In order to bring the shattered robot back to life, it must be connected to the 45 electric poles, which need to be wired and capture energy from the Great Lightning.

“The shrapnel represents Indonesia’s many islands scattered between the oceans. The lightning symbolises God. When a nation in suspended animation receives the power of God like this robot receives electricity, it can rise up and come back to life,” Bali explained the Frankenstein-inspired play.

She added that 17km, 8 parts and 45 poles prophesied Indonesia’s independence date of 17 August 1945, though this was never written explicitly in the script.

During his exile in Ende, Sukarno and his family lived on Jalan Perwira. Their house is now known as Situs Pengasingan Soekarno, a national heritage museum run by former friends of the Sukarno family. The museum houses goods owned and used by Sukarno during his stay in Ende. Visitors to the museum have reported pleasant visits reminiscing Sukarno’s conception of the Republic of Indonesia in the womb that is Ende through old photographs, newspaper clippings, oration quotes and vintage exhibits.

Unfortunately, I failed to enter the house during my visit in Ende because the museum’s caretaker decided not to show up for work for the weekend. The neighbours didn’t have his number. According to an Endenese acquaintance who is related to him, the caretaker is a low-waged, paid-by the hour worker who still takes his canoe out fishing for a living.

I came to Ende expecting to encounter romantic walks down memory lane that give me euphoric bursts of last century’s Indonesian dreams. Instead, I spent the afternoon waiting for the absent museum caretaker at a mediocre warung Padang whose waitresses were busy watching a sappy sinetron (soap opera).

Seeing how some Indonesians today seem to struggle respecting other Indonesians who are different from them as human beings, I find it embarrassing that Sukarno’s vision from last century to unite Indonesia may have been replaced in favour of cheap soap operas loaded with fake drama and palm-oil drenched, highcholesterol, spicy curries.

On the other hand, positive developments have taken place in Sukarno’s memorial sites in Ende. Since receiving funds from Yayasan Bung Karno in collaboration with the Ende regency government, the Immaculata Building is currently under renovation. When I visited in December 2013, the building was greatly damaged and infested with wild vines.

That year, Universitas Flores’ production of Dr. Sjaitan had to be performed in a small tent in the streets outside Immaculata Building. The production was performed in honour of Sukarno’s 102nd birthday and attended by then Vice President Boediono. “We are looking forward to perform in the new Immaculata Building in the future, and to see Sukarno’s memorial sites better taken care of,” said Bali.

EXPAT LIFESTYLE

MEET THE EXPAT Karen Davis is a NYC artist and writer

Setting Sail for the Waters in the East

Meet Britta Slippens Britta Slippens is the founder of Blue Ocean Cruises which offers charters for diving, surfing, health retreats, and lifestyle cruises sailing on the Al Isra, a traditional handmade boat. Leaving from its port in Mentigi Bay, the most popular cruises sail to Flores and the Komodo Islands.

By Karen Davis

We sailed to remote islands where there are no people or none of the inhabitants use plastic, yet there is plastic and trash on the beaches; the garbage of our modern society greatly affects the people who are not even creating the garbage. the boat is docked and maintained in Sulawesi during monsoon. We set sail from the Gili Islands and the first stop is the west coast of Sumbawa, where at sunset the sky is black with millions of bats. The next stop is Moyo, a tropical paradise where we hike, swim in the many waterfalls and visit the remote traditional villages with Sulawesi-style houses.

Where are you from and when did you come to Indonesia?

I am from Cologne, Germany. I came here in 1993 when I was 21 years old. I went to the islands of Bali, the Gilis and Sulawesi.

Upon my return trip the following year, I put a deposit on a beautiful traditional boat, the Al Isra, which means ‘night journey’ in Arabic. It is in chapter 17 of the Qur’an and refers to the spiritual trip of Mohammed.

Did you know about sailing when you invested in the Al Isra?

No, not at all! Cologne is landlocked.

I learned from the guys in Sulawesi where everyone works with boats in some way.

The older men work on land building boats after having been sailors or fishermen. I stayed there for three years. When I was involved building the boats, I was pregnant.

I had to stay in Sulawesi where there was so much work still to be done. My daughter was born in Makassar and the people there looked after me; the whole village was like my family. Traditional values of family and community are followed and respected there as they have been for centuries.

It was an experience which initiated my love of Indonesia and its people.

Do you still maintain a close relationship to the people of Sulawesi?

Yes, of course; they are a permanent part of my life. Being people of the seas, I am always learning from them and cherish the relationships we have built over the years.

Some of the men who were involved in building my boat are keeping it in top shape and maintaining it over the years. The daughter I gave birth to so long ago there has grown up and is now a new mother.

I still see a few of the women who helped me during my pregnancy and the birth.

Then we go to the island of Santonda, where there is a sunken volcano crater with a brilliant salt water lake, which the locals believe has magical powers. It is a tradition to hang stones in the trees and make a wish. If there is time we stop in Banta Island; an uninhabited National Park with pristine growth and many diving places in the clean and beautiful blue waters.

Next we go to Komodo National Park, where we visit five of the many islands.

There are islands with reefs for snorkelling and great diving spots, and, of course, the most well-known island of Komodo where most of the dragons are. After that, the final stop is Flores where you may choose to fly back to Bali or Jakarta. Some people prefer to fly to Flores and sail to the Gilis with the same agenda.

When did you start Blue Water Cruises and how many boats have you acquired?

I started the company in the year 2000 out of Mentigi Bay. We offered boat cruises and speedboat taxi services to neighbouring islands. I have three boats but at present I am only running the Al Isra. I want to slow down a bit and focus on doing unique trips on my original boat. It keeps the experience on a more personal level for all involved and we are able to do interesting adventures which make our offerings unique.

Tell me about your cruises from Mentigi Bay, Lombok, to Flores.

We run this route from April to December. In January and February

The cruises are on traditional schooners with modern safety equipment and are reasonably priced and comfortable, with good food prepared by our chef. We always have dive guides on board. People can join our groups or charter the whole boat with their own group. Lifelong friendships are made on this experience!

You have Mentigi Bay Villa Development Company and have sustainably built a small resort of dome structures. What process and materials did you use in building the domes?

We started with bamboo structures to achieve the curvature and strength.

The materials are all sustainable and the process is a mix of ancient building techniques with modern technology.

The terraced buildings and swimming

pools have stunning views of the ocean and it is a short walk down to a white sand beach. It is an oasis of tranquillity and beauty.

Tell me about the ‘art cruise’ you recently organised.

I had just completely renovated the boat which is now 20 years old. Wolfgang Widmoser, the renowned German artist, was at the launching and suggested we should do a special cruise. He and Aubrey, the artist who painted the sails, came up with the idea of an art cruise and I loved it!

The Slam Jam Brothers came along, who shot a video for our cruises last year. We flew 62 kites to give thanks to the universe, created by Ebon Heath, who made the kites in Indonesian, English, and the lost font of the language of the Bugis. We wanted to celebrate the Bugis, the sea gypsies and all those who are still living from the bounty of the ocean.

The theme for the sails was researched and done in Makassar, in the Bugis special font and addressed the global problem of trash, a problem this cruise was raising awareness of. We sailed to remote islands where there are no people or none of the inhabitants use plastic, yet there is plastic and trash on the beaches; the garbage of our modern society greatly affects the people who are not even creating the garbage. It is a problem which ultimately must be addressed by the huge corporations who choose to use these toxic materials with no plan to recycle and who take no responsibility for the effects of the packaging they continue to use.

What are your future plans?

I plan to continue the life I have created in these diverse islands and to focus on bringing awareness of the environmental problems which are endangering our planet. There are solutions and it is time to implement them. We must all be conscious of our role and place nature and our survival over profit.

Thank you, Britta! Visit www.bluewatercruises.com

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TRAVEL

Underwater Komodo Adventures

Gregg Hollomon is a seasoned American expatriate who has lived in various countries of SE Asia and north Europe.

He is a geologist by education and profession with over 33 years of experience in the oil and gas business.

Gregg A. Hollomon partakes in the exhilarating, high-current dives of Komodo National Park to photograph the large and small delights this region has to offer.

By Gregg A. Hollomon

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he Komodo archipelago is truly an adventure getaway, but most importantly the people are lovely, and the diving is straight out of a Jules Verne episode. My wife and I decided to make a last minute trip to Komodo National Park, prior to our final departure from Indonesia as permanent residents. In the planning phase, I soon found that last-minute booking of a dive boat is an adventure in itself. My advice is to start at least six months out, as Komodo is almost as popular with the international crowd as Raja Ampat (particularly during high season of September to November).

Fortunately, a newly constructed airport in Labuan Bajo, Flores now serves daily flights which drastically shorten the trip out from Bali or other Indonesian locations. The town is a small port which is loaded with dive operators, light industry, homestays and restaurants. Once you land, it is very simple to get around with available transportation.

Many of the two-star-and-up hotels offer free shuttle into town.

Impact Diving

During our week of diving, I really didn’t have a chance to reflect on all the beauty, diversity and exhilaration the northern Komodo waters have to offer. Most of the diving days were followed up with a night dive, even though we were exhausted from the daylight hours. It was truly a situation where you felt you just didn’t want to miss out on encountering something exciting just around the corner. Over the week, we managed 16 dives, all of which were of variable in topography, currents, special critters and large feeding pelagics. The best dive sites (personal opinion) are Castle Rock, Crystal Rock, Manta Point, and Batu Bulong (hole in the rock).

Check Dive

Our first dive was a slope and shallow wall off Sebayur Kecil Island. In 2013, a rogue wave hit this beach and six-metre waves destroyed the upper reef of principally big table corals. Below the five-metre mark, life abounds. It was very exciting to see a large cuttlefish locating eggs while two males (or females?) spar it out for dominance.

Further on, we found unicorn fish hunting small sardines while on the upper bommies, thousands of spectacular glass fish fill the water. Masked rabbitfish mill around during this whole show.

After an absolutely amazing sunset we headed back down for a night dive at this same site. We descend a sandy slope looking for flying gannets then headed east to another beautiful pristine wall.

Purple glowing bioluminescence was everywhere. Jimmy, our guide from Flores, is a particularly good night spotter. Hidden within a crevasse of the wall was a large solar-powered nudibranch of over 20cm.

As if that wasn’t enough, a companion shrimp was lurking on his back cleaning off parasites. Just a metre up is a sleeping green turtle. As my wife states, this dive was of a thousand eyes made up of cleaner shrimp, banded boxer shrimp, glass shrimp decorator crabs, flatworms and spawning soft corals.

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Favourite Dive Site

Komodo National Park Fast Facts Location Lesser Sunda Islands Size 1,733km square Getting there Garuda and Wings Air are the major airlines serving Labuan Bajo currently.

These flights are not non-stop from Jakarta and may experience a short layover in Bali or Makassar.

What to bring Your own diving equipment, or at least bring your own dive watch, sunblock and camera What to do Diving, snorkelling, touring the Komodo sanctuary on Rinca Island

A fantastic fish bowl menagerie, the site offers giant cod and sweetlips at cleaning stations while huge schools of yellowstriped sweetlips and surgeonfish allow you to join in their ranks.

My favourite dive of the week was Crystal Rock, north of Gili Lawa Laut. The top of this rock sits at wave-base and can sometimes be difficult to spot. The base of the monolith drops to over 35 metres but most of the fish action is at less than 27 meters. This site is known for big currents and must be dived during slack tide, which just means you can get down to depth prior to being swept off-site. Jump in the water and get down fast. Water temperatures range from 28 degree Centigrade near the surface to 19 degrees from deep water upwelling.

A fantastic fish bowl menagerie, the site offers giant cod and sweetlips at cleaning stations while huge schools of yellow-striped sweetlips and surgeonfish allow you to join in their ranks. Surrounding all this action are scattered trevallies, jackfish and encircling white tip sharks.

Manta Encounter of a Third Kind

At Manta Point (Karang Makassar), we jumped into some highly churned water and started to drift-rip along the bottom at 17 metres. Five minutes later, we come across a huge manta which Jimmy later explained was a pregnant female. She was at a small cleaning station and floating into the current just about 60cm above a small set of rocky corals.

I came in upstream and latched my reef hook onto a rock to start the photography session. Before I knew it, she had further progressed in my direction and settled about 30cm right over me. I have never heard of a person getting crushed by a manta but the thought crossed my mind as this encounter played out. After a few moments she moved laterally away to my sigh of relief. Further down current we bumped into five more mantas with one completely black, known as Darth Vader.

Danger Ahead

The scariest dive of the trip happened to be a simple dive at Seiba Kecil Island.

Jimmy checks the local conditions but is unsure which direction the current will take us so he jumps in the water to look at the fish orientation. After he is satisfied, we drop down to 18 metres and go with the current. Almost immediately we are hit with a very strong down current. All this happened so fast none of us had a chance to get the reef hooks out and were basically holding on to small floor rubble that hopefully wouldn’t move.

The four of us were initially separated by a number of metres and it took some time for each of us to alternately make forward headway. I had my BCD completely full of air and every time I made a move I was swept further down. We slowly crept along the face of the slope hoping the current would let up. Once it did, we moved shallower and then promptly aborted the dive after the safety stop. This dive taught me a new level of respect for the unexpected; by the end of this 23-minute shallow dive we all were down to less than a half tank of air.

Cautionary Note

Some people say that diving Komodo is not for the fainthearted. I don’t agree with this general statement but certainly all divers should establish a plan of action in the case of separation from the guide or dive partner.

This plan needs to be fully discussed and understood by the guide and others within the dive group. Additionally, I recommend everyone carry a safety sausage, reef hook and emergency strobe with you on all dives – even the simple ‘beginner dives’.

What makes Komodo so vibrant underwater is the flow of current bringing in an abundant supply of nutrients so divers just have to live with it. Live is the key word here!

Kenneth Yeung is a Jakarta-based editor

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nce again, ’tis the season for giving alms – if you’re a devout Muslim keen on scoring points to get into heaven. Just remember that there are plenty of confidence tricksters (penipu in Indonesian) ready to help you purchase penance.

The couple had Rp.268,000 on them when they were questioned. Officers sent the pair to the Social Affairs Office in Mojokerto, where they signed an agreement promising to stop begging. To demonstrate their sincerity, they burned the Winnie the Pooh costume and Karsih’s costume before being released. The two were then picked up by their son, Muadi.

The East Java regency of Sidoarjo is infamous for two reasons: the 1993 rape, torture and murder of a labour rights activist, Marsinah, whose killers have never been brought to justice; and the ongoing mudflow disaster that started in 2006 when a company linked to tycoon Aburizal Bakrie neglected to use a protective casing when drilling a natural gas well.

A few days later, reporters tracked down Suwadi’s house, located by some rice fields.

Muadi sent Suwadi out to perform his evening prayers and told reporters to stop bothering his father because of his advanced age. He said the house was evidently not luxurious and claimed he had built it himself.

Sidoarjo was back in the headlines recently over the story of the geriatric beggar, Suwadi, who attracted attention by wearing a shabby Winnie the Pooh costume. He rarely wore the bear head, but instead used it as his begging bowl. He wanted people to see that he was an old man. An old, stooping, crippled man with a mournful expression.

Suwadi shuffled pathetically along the street outside Sidoarjo’s Lippo Mall, dragging his right leg, while his right arm and hand were bent awkwardly. If anyone asked, he told them he had suffered a debilitating stroke two years ago. He had been begging for about one year.

Winnie the ‘Penipu’

His wretched appearance eventually caught the attention of the Voice of Surabaya radio station, which on June 14 ran a news item about him. The sob story described how Suwadi lived all alone but “still worked by entertaining children with his ragged Winnie the Pooh costume”.

Sympathy began pouring in after the article and photos were posted on the radio station’s E100 Facebook page. The story quickly received over 32,000 ‘Likes’, thousands of ‘Shares’ and more than a thousand comments oozing with compassion, pity, admiration and religious platitudes. Some commenters boasted of how they had helped him. Further details of Suwadi’s wretched life emerged online. He lived somewhere in the town of Gresik but often had to sleep rough when he had failed to collect enough money for a bus fare home.

The social media attention prompted Sidoarjo Social Affairs and Manpower Office to investigate whether the old man was ill and being exploited by relatives or a begging mafia. After officers brought him in for questioning and a health check, he confessed that he lived not in Gresik but in Mojokerto.

He also provided additional revelations about his life, which were passed on to the media. The following day, Suwadi made national headlines, with reports declaring the 75-yearold had built himself a luxury mansion with the proceeds of his begging, and that he had accumulated seven wives and a couple of motorcycles, including a Yamaha V-Ixion worth about Rp.20 million.

Newspapers said Suwadi had been collecting at least Rp.500,000 ($38) a day and “working” only four days a week, which meant he was making about Rp.8 million a month. Not bad when the minimum wage for Sidoarjo regency is Rp.2.7 million.

Husni Tamrin, head of the Social Affairs Office, said Suwadi was in good health and had never suffered a stroke. The limp and crippled appearance were just an act to attract more sympathy. The old man had five adult children, all of them living independently.

An elderly beggar who wore a tattered Winnie the Pooh costume has been deemed a scammer following reports that he was pocketing Rp.500,000 daily and lived in a mansion with seven wives. But as usual, that’s not quite the full story.

By Kenneth Yeung

But did he really have seven wives? He was indeed up to wife number seven, but the previous six were no longer with him, having been divorced over the years. And was he living in an opulent mansion? No, just in a nice house that had cost him Rp.70 million to renovate.

When Suwadi was detained, a woman rushed to the Social Affairs Office to demand his release. She was carrying a bag containing another novelty costume. She initially claimed to be his daughter. Suwadi told officials she was his seventh wife, Karsih.

She said they collected about only Rp.150,000 to Rp.160,000 a day, although on weekends they could receive Rp.200,000 to 250,000 when the roads were more crowded.

The sob story described how Suwadi lived all alone but “still worked by entertaining children with his ragged Winnie the Pooh costume”.

Social media commenters had a lot to say about the story, but there were few calls for Indonesia to improve its taxation and social security systems. The country does have a state-run pension scheme, called Jamsostek, which administers provident funds for private employees. Unfortunately it has been tainted by corruption scandals in the past. A former Australian Federal Police officer who provided security services on Christmas Island when it functioned as a casino for corrupt Indonesians, recalls one high roller who did not mind losing hundreds of thousands of dollars at the tables because he had a senior position in Jamsostek.

Even if Indonesia did improve its social safety net, people would continue to beg because it’s easy money in a country where religion is compulsory.

The Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan brings an influx of beggars to Indonesian cities, especially around busy traffic lights and mosques. Begging is illegal, so panhandlers risk being arrested, though they are generally just briefly detained by public order officials and sent home with stern warnings not to return.

Raids against beggars have already commenced in dozens of cities. On Madura Island, east of Java, Social Affairs official Ahmad Zubaidi said the raids are necessary because a local government program to help beggars become independent entrepreneurs had failed. He said people become beggars not because of extreme economic hardship but because they view begging as easy and lucrative work. He said beggars in the past were given financial assistance and goats to become livestock breeders, but they had simply sold the goats and resumed begging.

Begging mafias often use children to pull at the heartstrings of people. The Indonesian Commission on Child Protection has urged schools, the Education Ministry and parents to discourage children from begging independently or being recruited by begging gangs. Commission official Susanto said Indonesia should focus on developing a young generation that is creative and innovative, rather than a generation looking for handouts.

A few publications have been publishing lists of tips to help Muslims avoid giving to potentially dubious charities or bogus beggars. Such lists advise people to avoid just about all types of beggars, from seemingly pregnant women to the disabled, and to instead donate to reputable charities. Even then, you may be better off giving to someone who never has their hand out, such as a scavenger. Otherwise, you’ll just perpetuate the begging business. issue 145 indonesia expat

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EXPAT OUTREACH SPORTS

Sail Indonesia Promotes Indonesia’s Nascent Maritime Leisure Industry

Antony is a freelance writer based in Jakarta.

Please send comments and suggestions to antony@the-spiceislands.com

Hardy crews get up close and personal to spectacular and remote destinations in the eastern islands.

By Antony Sutton

W

ith 17,000 islands of all shapes and sizes spread over three time zones, a rich maritime history dating back hundreds of years, traders from Makassar to the Spice Islands and on to the historic port city of Banten, you would imagine Indonesia to be a world leader in the maritime leisure industry. Surely all it had to do would be to flutter its collective eyelids and the moneyed from around the world would be spending several months of the year lazily flitting from one welcoming port to another.

Imagine what you want, unfortunately that is not the reality. Red tape and security issues, coupled with a reluctance to embrace the outside world, means Indonesia is lagging behind its more welcoming neighbours like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in the maritime department.

that the whole of Indonesia runs on ‘rubber’ time. The rally organisers advised us to throw away our clocks and trust that what you need will eventually happen. The theory has worked so far!

The ten hours battling negative currents paid off with a good wind angle for the remainder of the journey and a relatively smooth trip.

More than 40 yachts have entered the event, ranging in size from the 33ft Australian HEBGB to the UK-registered Dana Felicia, which is almost twice the size, with more expected. The fun starts, at least from an Indonesian point of view, when the yachts gather in Kupang on the island of West Timor. Kupang, of course, as all maritime historians will tell you, has its own place in the history books.

Back in 1789, Captain Bligh was in charge of a journey to Tahiti to find a cheap source of food for slaves in the West Indian plantations. To cut a long story short, he upset a few members of his crew who mutinied and set him adrift with four swords, five days supply of bread and water and 18 loyalists.

For some six weeks, Bligh guided his motley crew through 6,500 kilometres of rough, little known waters, all the while keeping studious notes for posterity and attempting to keep a tight reign over his bedraggled crew.

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From Kupang, the yachts head north to Alor where a cultural expo has been laid on for the sailors at the local stadium with hundreds of locals dressed up in traditional costumes for a bit of a sing-song.

After a leisurely few days sailing around the myriad inlets of South Sulawesi, the yachts get more traditional with stops in Lombok and Bali before visiting Karimunjawa and Warung Ibu Esther who can expect a busy few days meeting the needs of these ravenous, old sea dogs.

Things are changing, though.

July sees the start of a three-month yachting rally that starts in Darwin, Australia and winds its way through some of the most beautiful islands in the Indonesian archipelago before ending up in Singapore. To coincide with the rally, named Sail Indonesia, a number of cultural events and festivals are being organised in places such as Timor, Banda, Lembata, Wakatobi, Flores, Sulawesi, Bali, Java, Borneo, Belitung, as well as the islands just south of Singapore.

“In short, we found the local people really friendly and best of all they love having their photo taken. David and I spent hours the first day wandering the streets getting a feel for daily life in Saumlaki. The people were keen to interact but didn’t hassle you like they are inclined to do in Bali.”

Finally Kupang grew close and "it is not possible for me to describe the pleasure which the blessing of the sight of this land diffused among us," wrote the captain using words that perhaps many of us in our Twitter/Facebook word of brevity would find a tad too much.

No doubt the hardy mariners heading north from Darwin will have their own tall tales with which to regale their peers when they get together at a function to be laid on by local officials, but none could come close to that journey made more than 200 years ago with little more than a few oars and a keen eye for navigation. Take, for example, the recollections of one of the yachts, Cool Bananas, that did the journey back in 2009.

Bypassing Jakarta and spurning the delights of Bandung with its factory outlets and numerous shops selling brownies, the yachts head north across the Java Sea to the Kumai River and its world famous orangutan rehabilitation project before ending the Indonesian leg in Bangka and Belitung and heading north for Singapore.

It all sounds like a logistical nightmare, but the whole event is carried out by a loose group of organisers and everything is done via the Internet to keep expenses to a minimum.

The organisers are at pains to say they get full support from government officials, be they in a tiny coastal hamlet or the real power brokers in Jakarta. Still, it has been an annual event in various guises since the turn of the 21st century and given the ever increasing complexity and numbers of competitors, it says much for the efforts of all concerned.

“We left Darwin with the fleet of 135 yachts on Saturday 18th July,” says Laurel Fisher. “On board, the team has expanded by one; joining us is Lydia, one of the key organisers of the rally at the Darwin end. She happens to have a degree in Indonesian politics and speaks fluent Indonesian, so no prizes for guessing why we asked her to join us!

When you consider all the work that goes on behind the scenes it is perhaps a shame the rally is so poorly publicised around the rest of the country. Ok, so we can’t expect local papers to embed reporters on one of the yachts but surely something on this scale deserves more in the way of promotion, and after all the resultant publicity can only be good for Indonesia!

“We were so excited to anchor up in Saumlaki, Indonesia.

We regarded ourselves lucky to be getting all the official paperwork done within a day and with little stress. We gather

Visit: www.sailindonesia.net

EXPAT OUTREACH ENVIRONMENT

Our Obsession with Birds

The Sad Words of the Yellow-Crested Cockatoo You many have heard about the recent shocking photographs of at least 21 yellow-crested cockatoos smuggled in plastic bottles in jampacked crates. The peering, suffocating birds were recently recovered by Indonesian wildlife officers during an attempted smuggle into Java by a wildlife trafficker. Why is an obsession with birds leading to such drastic action, since a large proportion of these birds die during the smuggling process? And what impact does this have on wild populations?

By Tess Joyce Yellow-crested Cockatoo, Sumba sub-species (Cacatua sulphurea citrinocristata)

T

he yellow-crested cockatoo is now critically endangered.

It doesn’t have much time left.

Yet interestingly, none of the 21 birds had been captured from the island of Sumba, which is making some advances in the conservation field.

But why are these protected cockatoos coveted? Apparently these friendly birds make good pets; they are able to imitate human speech and can be trained to learn certain behaviours. Kept away from their family groups, these sad pets have even been filmed mimicking swear words – one video of an Indonesian cockatoo called Peaches shows the bird swearing and arguing with itself after living with a volatile couple who later divorced. As Peaches angrily shakes its head, I do not find the video ‘hilarious’ – I feel the impact of our actions and emotions on all living beings and feel nothing but sadness.

Captured from the islands of Sulawesi and the Lesser Sundas, there are in fact four subspecies of the yellow-crested cockatoo, including the Sumbanese citron-crested cockatoo. Sumba is a birdwatcher’s paradise.

According to recent research there are 212 bird species on Sumba, of which nine are only found on this island. Sumba is home to endemic delights such as the Sumba buttonquail, the Sumba boobook owl, the red-naped fruit-dove, the Sumba green pigeon, the Sumba flycatcher, the apricotbreasted sunbird and the threatened Sumba Hornbill, which is also traded illegally.

Islands have always been stews of colour and diversity and Sumba is certainly no exception. A jewel of the Wallacea region (named after the famous explorer Alfred Wallace) and close to the Wallace line, the island lies in a transitional place between the eco-zones of Asia and Australia and the

yellow-crested cockatoo is an example of a species whose ancestors descended from Australia.

Although this cockatoo has faced many threats on Sumba, historically it has always been valued within society. “Kaka maka bunggur pirihu kanguting,” is a Sumbanese term about deliberation and consensus and it refers to a cockatoo motif carved on gravestones. Living in clustered groups, the cockatoos symbolise the island’s society, which always seeks to maintain harmony.

It is ironic that as Sumba begins to evolve, its relationship with the natural world is being threatened.

Photo by Burung Indonesia

major threats. “The cockatoo is considered a pest by farmers because they eat the corn crop. The illegal trade has led to a Simon Onggo, co-author of the book drastic reduction in the population and Membingkai Harmoni Alam Konservasi clearing for agriculture and tree felling are also major causes of habitat loss.

(Framing the Harmony of The availability of holes for Nature Conservation) nests is important for works in conservation at supporting populations, Laiwangi Wanggameti Apparently these friendly therefore protecting National Park in birds make good pets; they certain tree species East Sumba. An are able to imitate human with patrols is vital,” avid photographer, speech and can be trained he said.

Onggo has always been keen to capture to learn certain behaviours.

Due to the success the island’s birds to Kept away from their family of raids at customs enable more people groups, these sad pets have in airports and to become aware even been filmed mimicking ports across Sumba, of the uniqueness of smuggling activities each species. Using the swear words. have decreased over vehicle of photography, recent years. Conservation Onggo explained why he groups such as Burung believes that his book is a helpful Indonesia have also helped protect conservation tool. “Visual language is a this endangered species and I had the preferable means to bring a new experience opportunity to interview its Head of concerning familiar conservation activities and to inspire further potential. The images Conservation, Dian Agista, who explained are now open to international spaces to that one of their major activities on Sumba encourage interest in the nature of Sumba.” was habitat protection.

Curious to learn more about the citroncrested cockatoo, I asked Onggo about its

“The main threats for the yellow-crested cockatoo are the limited remaining habitats, since forests are generally dispersed throughout a small area.

Cockatoo poaching still occurs in some places, despite a reduction in smuggling over the past 10 years. Small forest blocks reduce the cockatoo’s range and there are limited genetic exchanges amongst populations.

“For forest protection, Burung Indonesia has been working with both the authority and local community. Working with villages and stakeholders around the Manupeu

Traditional village

Simon Onggo

Tanadaru National Park, agreements have been facilitated which combine conservation and development needs and seek to promote the role of local people in protecting resources and to improve their livelihoods,” Agista explained.

Sumba is considered to be one of the poorest islands in Indonesia and although villages often engage in deforestation, traditionally the ties between society and nature have been strong – their animist cultures are interwoven with the patterns of nature. Therefore, working closely with communities is a priority.

“Our ‘Forest to Garden’ programme has also been promoted to address the need for wood. Local conservation groups have been encouraged to plant forest tree species on their private land and improve forest cover.

Moreover, public awareness strategies have been implemented widely. The message is to make people aware about the richness and uniqueness of their natural resources and to promote the importance of conservation. Burung Indonesia has also succeeded in making conservation part of the local curriculum which has been taught in all elementary schools in three districts,” said Agista.

Burung Indonesia also engages in mapping, research and the creation of information boards, which are implemented at ports across Sumba to raise more awareness.

Perhaps it’s time we question our perceptions about what a caged bird represents – is it really hilarious to see Peaches the cockatoo swearing and shaking? Or would it be more beautiful to see Peaches sitting tightly with its family in a healthy forest? The birds speak, but we write the words.

Tess Joyce is a writer, nomad and environmentalist from the UK. Her travel writings and poetry have been published in various online websites and magazines. Please contact her on tessdylanjoyce@gmail.com issue 145 indonesia expat

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EXPAT OUTREACH WORTHY CAUSES

“We are not here to replace their main activities; we just give them opportunities for alternative employment,” says Melia Winata, CMO and marketing manager. “We discovered from our survey that there was an existing weaving technique in the community using palmera (lontar) leaves, with the older generations still remembering how to weave baskets, which they use for ceremonies and rituals. We decided to focus on this weaving as a way of helping these women.”

Du’Anyam teaches the women to create more functional products through weaving – as pretty as baskets are, not everybody needs them in their modern lives – and came up with the idea of sandals, primarily indoor, for private villas and hotels in Bali. The women are taught what colours and styles to

hopes to enter the retail market in Jakarta.

Sustainability is extremely important to this gang of young entrepreneurs, having learned a lot from social competitions they’ve participated and won in, including the Harvard Social Business Competition, the MIT Global Idea Challenge, which they won in 2013, and in the top 23 of the British Council Community Enterprise Competition, which helped to expand their network.Du’Anyam’s most recent competition win was the Global Social Venture Competition.

Supported by business incubator, UnLtd Indonesia, Executive Director, Romy Chahyadi, approached the group to support them with grants and become a mentor. It’s clear he saw vision and a

Weaving a Social Enterprise in Flores Du’Anyam is a social enterprise focusing on bettering the lives of mothers and families in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, through the art of weaving. The seven young founders have a myriad of educational backgrounds ranging from Harvard Business School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wharton University of Pennsylvania.

By Angela Richardson

W

ith high inflation (15%), unemployment (30%) and interest rates (22–24%), Nusa Tenggara Timur is one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia, with approximately 65 percent living below the poverty line. One of its main hardships is the population’s dependency on local agriculture in a challenging and arid environment. Due to low household incomes and purchasing power, food insecurity is high and education levels are low. Most people have insufficient access to basic health care.

Child malnutrition rates in five of this region’s districts are above 40 percent and maternal mortality is also on the rise.

Chronic lack of energy and anaemia among mothers is reported at 64 percent and early marriage and pregnancies are common.

Gender discrimination is entrenched in some local traditions, excluding women and girls from participation in development planning and decision-making. The practice of paying families for young brides still persists, leading to domestic violence.

For these reasons and more, the group of school friends behind Du’Anyam decided to choose NTT as the area to start their social enterprise, believing that the Government focuses enough of its efforts on western Dua Tangan Cukup

A mother told of her story during her third pregnancy, now in her fourth, where she relied on the local witch doctor, dukun to help her; a customary occurrence here.

When this did not work, midwives came to her home to take her to the hospital, but it was too late and the mother ended up giving birth on the side of the road to a stillborn baby. Since hearing this story, Du’Anyam have worked hard to realise their dream of helping the mothers and women in this region.

Today, Du’Anyam works with 40 women from three villages in East Flores Regency.

Traditionally, and quite shocking to most, women are the ones who plough the fields, harvesting the crops, and do so even when seven to eight months pregnant. Men often stay at home or work at sea.

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is an endangered species that can only be found in the Komodo National Park (KNP) in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). Given the unique and rare nature of the Komodos, KNP was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986.

Located in the West Manggarai district, the Komodo Island and its surrounding areas are currently facing a rubbish problem. Based on research done by the WWF Indonesia and KNP, the problem stems from the growing number of visitors, improperly disposed trash and limited trash management facilities in the area.

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weave, and the women are paid per finished product they produce. What Du’Anyam soon discovered is a sharing system between the mothers in the region. If one woman is unable to work in her field, she will pay her friend to cover for her in a rotating fashion.

Since Du’Anyam have infiltrated the area, if there are no pregnant women in the village, the women will farm in the mornings and weave in the afternoons. If there is a pregnant woman in the group, her friends will work the field while the pregnant woman will weave for herself and her friends at home, thus reducing the hardship and risk of complication for the pregnant women.

“We act as a mediator; we give them the design of what the market wants and then we distribute the products to the market on behalf of these women,” Meli explains.

Future plans include the development of a nutrition programme in collaboration with other NGOs in the area. Du’Anyam would also like to create more modern products, for instance laptop cases and phone covers and

determined group of young people in Du’Anyam.

Currently Du’Anyam has one field facilitator from the village in Flores, who looks after admin and keeps in touch with the team in Jakarta via a mobile phone. There is also a project officer based in Flores who is in charge of quality control and approaches new women to join the women’s weaving group.

By 2016, Du’Anyam plans to have 150 weaving women in their social enterprise, helping more mothers and newborns through wicker weaving. Products come with a thank you card and a postcard, reassuring the customer that their money has gone towards doing a great thing and helping the hardest hit in one of the poorest regions of Indonesia.

Visit www.duanyam.com for more information and to see the product range. Items can be made to order.

Actions From Across The Archipelago

WWF Indonesia Reduces Waste in the Komodo Islands

By Erma Syawal Putri

Indonesia. COO of the group, Yohanna Keraf, is also a native of the region.

Before setting up Du’Anyam, the team did a site survey in 2013, visiting villages in Flores to find out how specifically they could help. Locals in the region still have a lot of children, with little or no future planning. During their visit, when listening to stories from the mothers and women gathered together, one particular story shook the group of founders to their core.

Traditionally, and quite shocking to most, women are the ones who plough the fields, harvesting the crops, and do so even when seven to eight months pregnant.

A shocking 90 percent of the rubbish is in the form of plastic, leaving only 10% as general waste. The accumulated rubbish clogs drains, piles up under trees and leaves the roads and beaches littered.

compact and reduce the garbage with high labour efficiency. However, it is the plastic trash that needs special attention; the nonbiodegradable materials that form 90% of the debris.

The alarming situation brought about cooperation between the Government, WWF Indonesia and the public. In support of reducing the negative impact of waste in the region, the WWF started with developing people’s awareness about trash management, supporting regulations relating to it.

Decomposing plastic has a negative effect on the oceans and the environment. The sewing machine for plastic trash donated by the WWF helps turn the plastics into reusable materials as well as reinforcing any businesses and communities that deal with reproducing trash and turning it into income.

Moreover, the international nongovernmental organisation donated the essential machines to process trash. The carrier, enumerator and press machine

What’s your Dua Tangan Cukup action?

Send them to: letters@indonesiaexpat.biz and we’ll share them here for everyone to see!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ramadhan at VIN+ Jakarta

JAKARTA As the sun sets during the Holy Month of Ramadan, VIN+ offers special break fasting choices to suit everybody’s tastes. Executive Chef Djoko Sarwono and Head Chef Deni Sugiarto have created a special meal to satisfy your taste buds, with refined traditional cuisine.

Kempinski Jakarta announces new food and beverage appointments

Guests can begin their iftar with tajil selections; a traditional snack to break the fast, followed by a sumptuous selection of Indonesian cuisine.

Guests can also host their iftar gatherings at VIN+, who offer a banquet service, where the team will assist in every aspect of planning a memorable event during Ramadhan.

Paris Sucré to deliver pastries and croissants to customers in Jakarta

JAKARTA Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta announces two new appointments to its culinary departments. Swedish-born Mathias Olsson joins the hotel as executive chef, and Frederik Van den Borre is the hotel’s new director of food and beverage.

Mathias Olsson previously held positions that included executive chef at the Sheraton Hua Hin and Sheraton Pranburi Villas in Thailand, as well as executive chef at Kempinski Gold Coast City in Accra, Ghana. He regards Asia as his home, having spent nine years here, and was a kickboxing champion when he was only 15 prior to his first position serving in the Royal Swedish Navy as a chef. Despite his love of martial arts, he believes that trust, not force, is key when it comes to managing his team.

JAKARTA Paris Sucré has recently opened its doors to Jakarta’s pastry-loving customers. Producing a variety of pastries, cakes and croissants, Paris Sucre will deliver seven days a week to South Jakarta and its surrounding areas, with plans of expanding to West and East Jakarta soon.

Customers will be able to order online, receiving affordable prices and free delivery on delicious baked goods. Paris Sucré also gives customers the chance to place orders before 4pm to receive their fresh orders at 6am the following day.

Meanwhile, German-born Frederik Van den Borre most recently lead the food & beverage operations at Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay, Turkey, prior to which he was food & beverage manager and then director of food & beverage at Kempinski Nile Hotel in Egypt.

Frederik is an avid photographer in his spare time, and whilst he is married to a spa consultant, he admits to not being a big fan of massages.

Founder Ricardo, a Swiss national with more than eight years experience in the food and beverage industry, saw potential in this business opportunity due to congestion and traffic in Jakarta. Together with his partner, Philippe, an experienced French pastry chef with a similar business for over 37 years in Switzerland, they believe this business will be an interesting one for the people in Jakarta.

Indonesia rejects French man Serge Atlaoui’s appeal for clemency

Vacation fun together with XPOGO at Baywalk Mall

Xtreme Stunt Pogo is a sport carried out by Xpogo athletes using a pogo stick. The sport was formed by King Armstrong and although relatively new, it is gradually gaining in popularity.

JAKARTA Welcoming the school holidays, Baywalk Mall will be presenting high-action, acrobatic performances by Guinness World Record troupe, Pogo Xtreme, from June 19 until June 28, 2015.

During the school holidays, Baywalk Mall in Pluit, North Jakarta, will have a Midnight Madness Sale with discounts up to 70 percent.

There will also be a Late Night Lucky Dip and cashback of Rp.150,000 for all visitors who spend at least Rp.2,000,000 at Baywalk Mall on June 21, 2015. Other festivities include a summer fireworks show by the sea on June 21, 2015.

TANGERANG A court in Indonesia has rejected the final appeal of a French national facing the death penalty for drug-related offences.

The court said it would not overturn a rejection of clemency for Serge Atlaoui from Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

In April, Atlaoui was granted a last-minute reprieve and was left out of a group of foreigners who were executed by firing squad.

The Attorney General's Office has said the appeal against the rejection of his clemency bid was the final legal recourse for Atlaoui. His lawyers have nonetheless vowed to continue to seek legal avenues. An execution date has not yet been set.

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* Answers in the next edition!

LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

CROSSWORD

Real Heroes

By Eamonn Sadler

I

’ve never been a fan of those works of fiction that portray super muscular, superheroes performing amazing and noble feats of bravery and derring-do.

Batman, Superman and Spiderman are great for stoking the imaginations of children in my opinion, but I really don’t see the appeal for adults. It’s not because I am jealous or because they are so unbelievable, and it’s not because I don’t understand the therapeutic importance of being able to suspend disbelief for a while. It’s because there are many real people who have performed many real acts so amazing that if they were written as fiction nobody would believe them.

There was a movie star back in the 50s and 60s called Audie Murphy. He made several war movies and became very famous. But many people don’t know that the reason why Audie Murphy became a movie star is because he was America’s most decorated soldier of World War II. In fact, he won every available medal for valour during his service, including America’s highest accolade, the Medal of Honour. He also received recognitions for valour from France and Belgium. Why did he receive so many decorations? Well, one was for saving the lives of his men in the Third Infantry Division by single-handedly holding off wave after wave of German infantry and tank attacks using only a .50 calibre machine gun while standing on top of a burning M10 tank destroyer.

Only when he ran out of ammunition did he stop firing. Badly wounded in the leg, he then crawled back to his men and rallied them for a counter-attack, which pushed the Germans back and won the battle.

In April 1969, Leonid Rogozov was the medic at a Soviet Weather Research Station in Antarctica when he started to feel ill.

Slowly his condition deteriorated until he ended up with acute pain in his abdomen, which he diagnosed himself as appendicitis.

If left untreated, the infection would cause severe swelling and eventually rupture the lining of his stomach causing peritonitis and certain death. In a plot more fantastic than anything Hollywood could dream up, Rogozov gave a crash course in surgery to three of the meteorological scientists working at the station, then had them act as his assistants while he removed his own appendix. Even more amazing, he had to do the whole thing backwards, watching

He cut his own arm open in several places, allowed the wounds to heal then described how it felt to himself… the reflection of his gaping abdomen in a mirror held by one of the station’s drivers.

He went on to make a full recovery with no complications.

Then there is the incredible story of Sir Henry Head who was, amazingly enough with a name like that, a neurologist. Sir Henry was extremely curious about the effect various types of nerve damage might have on people’s ability to feel pain after their injuries had healed. Unfortunately, all the injured civilians he interviewed were unable to describe their feelings to his satisfaction so, with the help of his assistant Mr. Rivers, he cut his own arm open in several places, allowed the wounds to heal then described how it felt to himself.

Great sacrifice in the name of science I hear you say, but wait. In an effort to make his name even more appropriate, he decided he would then carry out an investigation into the sensitivity of the male reproductive organ to heat and cold. To this end (childish giggle), he submerged his own organ in water that had been heated to 40 degrees Celsius (I would have thought it was Mr Rivers’ turn but apparently Sir Henry pulled rank). He then recorded that when the tip of his penis touched the water he felt no sensation of heat at all, only a “disagreeable sensation of pain”. But the experiment was not a complete waste of time because once Sir Henry pushed his old fella in a bit deeper he felt “an exquisitely pleasant sensation of heat”.

Apparently Sir Henry repeated the experiment several times to verify his findings, and the whole thing was scientifically written up in the neurology journal Brain by Dr. Russell Brain, The First Baron Brain (and no, the journal was not named after him).

I swear I’m not making it up. If I were making it up, you wouldn’t believe it would you? (I wonder how many perfectly good cups of tea will be ruined as a result of this story…)

Eamonn has lived and worked in Indonesia for over 20 years but doesn’t understand the country at all and now realises that he never will. He is an entrepreneur, businessman and writer, lead singer with expat band Xhibit A and the owner and operator of The Jakarta Comedy Club and The Bali Comedy Club.

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Across 1. One who ruins others' enjoyment (10) 7. Teach (8) 8. Ass - clown (4) 9. Mediterranean island (4) 10. Alarm suddenly (7) 12. Social 1 across (5,6) 14. Shake - quiver (7) 16. Apartment - on the level (4) 19. Object of worship (4) 20. Unconventional - like King Wenceslas! (8) 21. Nobleman (10)

DOWN 1. Feel intuitively (5) 2. Month (7) 3. Antisocial person (4) 4. Request, maybe signed by many (8) 5. Allude (5) 6. Currency (6) 11. Prescribed course of study (8) 12. Skit (6) 13. Compound of macromolecules (such as starch) (7) 15. Type of tooth (5) 17. It may be eaten (or drunk!) (5) 18. Go away! (4)

ANSWERS OF ISSUE 144

ACROSS — 1. Godiva 4. Fracas 9. Overlap 10. Motor 11. Vesta 12. Rosehip 13. Cheek by jowl 18. Halibut 20. Baton 22. Braid 23. Obloquy 24. Silver 25. Severe

DOWN — 1. Groove 2. Dregs 3. Village 5. Remus

6. Cat show 7. Script 8. Approbation 14. Holdall 15. Jubilee 16. Thebes 17. Enzyme 19. Badge

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HUMOROUS OBSERVATIONS

Chain Reaction

By Simon Pitchforth

Our intrepid reporter tackles the idyllic island of Sumba by bicycle.

I

f you're a wild-eyed bounder of adventure and boast a pair of those absence-of-flesh-in-the-earlobe, wooden, hoopy, handicraft earring things, then Indonesia is surely a superb place in which to engage in a few high-adrenaline extreme sports.

Scuba diving, surfing, parasailing, climbing, bungee jumping, kite boarding and topless badminton can all be enjoyed across the archipelago by tattooed thrillseekers. My own personal preference is for the perhaps somewhat more prosaic pastime of cycle touring.

As a proud MAMIL (middle-aged man in Lycra), I have terrorised Lion Air ground crews the length and breadth of the country into manhandling my wheels through check-in desks as they try to avert their gaze from my Lycra-clad man handle. My tours have taken me around rural idylls all the way from Aceh to Timor and included a recent jaunt navigating the low hills of Sumba, which proved to be a thoroughly life affirming experience and, even better, I didn't contract malaria (I always research my tours meticulously beforehand, you understand, and this time around it was only a mere three days after completing my trans-Sumba ride that I found out that the island is in fact a high malaria risk).

In any case, my Wings Air flight touched down in the town of Tambolaka in the west of Sumba in the middle of a torrential storm, which didn't seem to bode well for the days ahead. Incidentally, a subdivision of the much-hated Lion Air Wings may well be, however its turboprop flights around the country are terrific fun. While Lion itself could do with retiming all of its flights to be two hours later than currently scheduled, so that then they’ll actually all be on time, Wings offer a prompt service and, moreover, passengers are treated

to some splendid views of the country's islands, as these diminutive babies fly at about half the altitude of their jetpowered siblings. My favourite Wings route runs from Surabaya over spectacular views of East Java's monstrous peaks before finally landing at Belimbingsari Airport in Banyuwangi, which boasts a terminal building slightly smaller than the average public lavatory.

Tambolaka's airport is a decent size by contrast, although that ensured an unsettling amount of rubbernecking passengers and ground staff all having a good laugh at me as I peeled the plastic suitcase wrapping from my iron steed, pumped up my tyres, strapped on my panniers and waited 90 minutes for the torrential rain to subside. Luckily, this would prove to be the last precipitation that I would encounter over the next five days, as the tropical sun was to burst forth in all of its bule singeing glory the following morning.

George Bernard Shaw famously said that, "There is no sincerer love than the love of food." The culinary inspiration underlying this quotation has been lost in the mists of time, however I'm personally pretty convinced that it wasn't the fried rice breakfast served up down at Tambolaka's Hotel Sinar. No matter though, as a decent stomach lining of stodge and orangutan raping palm oil was exactly what I needed to propel me up Sumba's slopes to the busy town of Waikabubak. Thankfully, the Sumba landscape is punctuated by relatively low limestone hills, as opposed to the steep volcanic slopes that are found on the Indonesian islands lying further north.

Even better, once one travels outside of Java, Indonesia's roads generally become far pleasanter places, and on less-developed

constitution and the whole thing sounds quite upsetting if you ask me.

The next three days of riding across the fertile, sparsely populated plains of Sumba proved to be absolutely breathtaking, both in the sheer beauty of the island’s verdant, rolling hills and the incomparable shoddiness of its budget accommodation.

islands such as Sumba, it's often just you, the mellifluous sound of your drive-chain whirring round, a few masticating cows (careful, Simon) and the sheer magnificence of the RI countryside. Scuba diving? Meh. I soon rolled into Waikabubak, which I would describe as a one-horse town if it weren’t for the thousands of equine dung cakes that had been ploughed into the main thoroughfare. It was time to check out a little local culture. Sumba is famed for its megalithic burials, traditional thatched clan houses and, perhaps most famously, for its Pasola festival, a ritualised battle during which groups of men from different tribal backgrounds ride bareback horses and lob hand-carved spears at each other.

The Pasola is ostensibly a simulated battle, however real blood is spilled as the spears puncture flesh, and this is believed to fertilise the soil ready for the next rice planting. It's supposed to be an amazing spectacle and one guaranteed to get National Geographic presenters steaming up their Oakley shades. Alas, I didn't get to witness this Southeast Asian Game of Thrones, although I don't have a cast-iron

Waikabubak did offer some traditional thatched houses clustered around central courtyards though. Housing arranged around a different organising principle to that of the public highway really does evoke a bygone era, however those ubiquitous signifiers of Indonesian modernity, the noodle packet and the television blaring out sinetron dramas, took the edge slightly off this window onto the country's more bucolic, tribal past.

The next three days of riding across the fertile, sparsely populated plains of Sumba proved to be absolutely breathtaking, both in the sheer beauty of the island’s verdant, rolling hills and the incomparable shoddiness of its budget accommodation.

I consider myself one of the country's greatest connoisseurs of the Rp.100,000150,000 per night flop house and am never happier than when I'm cloistered in a dingy room with only a two-watt light bulb, a shower that can trickle out one litre an hour and a mattress covered in stains of dubious provenance for company.

The final swoop down off the hills into Sumba's largest urban conurbation of Waingapu was truly majestic and offered a terrific panoramic sweep of coastline as I screamed down to sea level with my rambutans on fire.

Mr. P hopes that one day he will love something the way women in commercials love yogurt.

issue 145 indonesia expat

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If you want your event to be posted here, please contact (+62) 0 21 719 5908 or e-mail: events@indonesiaexpat.biz

EVENTS

JAKARTA Music

Maroon 5 World Tour 23 September 2015 Live Nation Indonesia proudly announces the upcoming concert by mu lt i-plat i nu m- sel l i ng , Grammy Award-winning rock band Maroon 5, set to perform in Jakarta in support of their fifth studio album, V. The gig will take place at Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) with special guest act Dirty Loops. Tickets go on sale on 8 May online as well as at Disctarra outlets and major ticket boxes in Indonesia. Get on down there and see if you’ve got your own ‘Moves Like Jagger’! www.maroon5jakarta.com

artist since P. Diddy (Sean Combs) in 1997 to have his debut single top the charts. His album was certified double platinum and he is known for chart toppers such as “With You” or “Kiss Kiss”. Get your tickets at www.ice-indonesia.com

Indonesia Jazz Festival 2015 29–30 August 2015 Five stages will present bands from different jazz genres this August. More than 120 local musicians will participate in the event, ranging from famous Indonesian jazz musicians to the newly discovered talents. Enjoy the performances of Indonesia’s jazz legends this August at Istora Senayan. http://indojazzfest.com

Ginés Serran-Pagan 5 June – 26 July, 2015 Born in Spain in 1949 and living most of his life in New York, the artist Ginés Serran-Pagan came to work in Bali (Sanur and Ubud) in 1993, 1994, 1996 and in Jogjakarta in 2014. His work, full of Spanish emotion, colour and poetr y, remains for him the diary of his life expressed through a vigorous and unique contemporary abstract style.

This is your chance to v iew his paintings and sculptures displayed at Duta Fine A r ts gallery and museum in Kemang. www.jktgo.com/activities/dutafine-arts

ACEH Culture

Exhibition

We the Fest 9 August 2015 Ismaya Live, the creative, dynamic group passionate about lifestyle and entertainment is bringing international acts to Indonesia’s live music scene. Followed by their successful debut last year, We the Fest is back with a strong line-up of performers such as Cyril Hahn, Darius, Echosmith, Flight Facilities, Jessie Ware, Passion Pit, Rufus, Sheppard, Elephant Kind, L’alphalpha and the YouTube sensation Madeon.

But that’s not all because more local and international artists will be announced on the second phase. www.wethefest.com Chris Brown Live 25 July 2015 As part of his X World Tour, this will be Chris Brown’s first time performing in Indonesia.

The American recording artist, dancer and actor is the first male

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indonesia expat issue 145

Jakarta Fair 2015 29 May–5 July, 2015 The capital city of Jakarta will aga in hold it s a nnua l mega exhibition and entertainment show for over a f ull month.

Acknowledged as the largest fair in the country, Jakarta Fair is held annually in conjunction with Jakarta’s anniversary, which falls on 22nd June. As in previous fairs, the event will feature pavilions from provincial governments, corporations, and small- and me d iu m- si z e d ent er pr i s e s .

Various top products from all scales of businesses will fill booths and pavilions at the sprawling Jakarta International Exhibition Center at Kemayoran. The fair will also be enhanced with various art performances to entertain visitors, ranging from musical shows, the Miss Jakarta Fair Beauty Pageant, carnivals, and many others. www.jakartafair. co.id

100th Anniversary of Aceh Museum 30 July 2015 Aceh museum is one of the oldest museums in Indonesia, originally used as an Acehnese stage house and the Aceh Pavilion during ‘The Colonial Exhibition’ in Semarang in 1914. To commemorate its 100th anniversary and memorialise Aceh’s history, there will be tourist attractions and other cultural performances held at the museum.

If you’re in the area, don’t miss it! www.disbudpar.acehprof.go.id Sports Aceh International Surfing Championship 2015 6–9 August 2015 Simeulue Island is known for beaches with alluring waves. With a consistent 2-4 feet wave for the majority of the day, surfers will see plenty of action here.

The yearly surfing championship

began in 2011 with the aim of growing the sport of surf ing in Southeast Asia. Local and international participants will have the opportunity to train, develop their skills and compete. www.asiansurfingtour.com

BALI Festivals

Bali Kite Festival 18–20 July 2015 Padang Galak, Sanur Beach. Bali’s beautiful sky will look even more stunning this July. When you watch the clouds come and go at Sanur beach, expect a myriad of colourful kites in different sizes and shapes. The kites are f lown by teams of kite f lyers from the villages of Denpasar.

They compete at Padang Galak’s rice fields every July, the month with the best wind condition to fly kites. Other than the kite festival, Padang Galak offers tourist attractions such as open stages for both traditional and contemporary art performances and laser light with waterfall as the background. www.disparda. baliprov.go.id

Bali Gourmet Festival 14–16 August 2015 The Ba l i G ou r me t Fe s t iva l showc a ses the best of f ine dining restaurants to an affluent audience. It is an opportunity for chefs from near and far to show their wares. Whether they usually work in five or six-star hotels, or just a little warung around the corner, their food is on offer for you to judge. Held at Bali Nusa Dua Convention Centre, Nusa Dua. www.baligourmetfestival. com or contact Ms. Julita Chandra at +62 (0)361 283 356.

The Bali Arts Festival 13 June–11 July 2015 For one full month, the best of Bali’s dances, music, and artistic expressions will be on display as Bali showcases its best cultural presentations. There w ill be daily performances of dance and music alongside countless related cultural and commercial activities during which literally the whole of Bali will converge on the city to present offerings of dance, music and beauty. The monthlong festival will commence with a parade of performers from all districts in Bali and other Indonesian provinces. There will also be foreign participants. www.bali-indonesia.com/ magazine/bali-arts-festival.htm Sports

PADI Women's Dive Day 18 July 2015 Here’s Crystal Divers’ way of celebrating the Women's Day of Diving; a fabulous brunch on a boat while pampering yourself with our free-f low sparkling wine in your new dive accessories provided by Crystal Divers. The full day on a private chartered boat will be filled with activities to choose from; diving, snorkelling or intro-dive during the day in the waters of Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan. It will be a special day to get women together, in the water and involved in diving. www.crystal-divers.com Wellness

Bali Unite 31 July–2 August 2015 A three-day event that offers a mix of international and local artists, yoga, wellness workshops

and a wide array of organic food and drinks, Bali Unite will reveal domestic and international acts in the coming weeks, including a major surprise headliner. In addition to great music and overnight camping, the festival will serve up delicious and healthy foods and drinks and feature a wellness sanctuary with daily yoga, massage, dance workshops, and more. Held in the newly inaugurated 7Temples Eco Beach Complex located a short distance from the main eastern port of Padang Bai in Karangasem. www. baliunite.com Music

Ubud Village Jazz Festival 7–8 August 2015 The 3rd annual Ubud Village Jazz Festival will be held at ARMA Ubud. The concept of hosting a community concert in this unique village was born with the involvement and support of artists an communities. This year, world-class artist will be featured, among them are; MILES! From Holland, the Future Leaders Jazz Award Winner, Alex Lahey, Julian Banks Trio from Australia, artists from USA as well as local artist from Indonesia. w w w. ubudvillagejazzfestival.com

7th International Body Music Festival (IBMF) 3 July 2015 For nine days, pa r ticipa nt s will stay at the Suly Resort in Ubud, travel to local villages, concer ts, par ticipate in workshops led by local kecak performers and international body music artists, as well as enjoy traditional cuisine, study gamelan, tour cultural hotspots, and savour the beaches and spas.

Participants have full access to all events, plus resort lodging, g rou nd t ra n spor t at ion a nd meals. Participating musicians i nclude C or p oson ic (US A), Barbatuques (Brazil), Pedro Consorte (Brazil), Cambuyón (Canar y Islands), Cudamani and Wayan Dibia (Bali). www. internationalbodymusicfestival. com

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issue 145 indonesia expat

27

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Jakarta Looking for work L ook ing for job a s Persona l Assistant. Female with 18 years ex per ience in multinationa l compa ny. E xcellent English communication skills, Computer Literate, Admin skills. Dynamic, independent, dedicated, loyal, honest. Willing to travel.

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Please contact : 085714221679 or email at budi1873@gmail.com Hi! I'm looking for part time job after the office hours. I can do washing, ironing, cleaning and cook. can live in or live out. preferably if you are single and lives in an apartment around sudirman or nearby. Pls contact me at 087887736996 or srinles@ yahoo.com Housekeeper cum Na nny available for live-out. Has good experience in expat houses in Jakarta and abroad. Good at cleaning, babysitting and basic cooking. Looking for job in areas Sudirman, Senopati, Kemang, Kuningan or nearby. Contact Sumi at 082122578359 Ibu Sukatmi Umi, Pembantu/ housekeeper. Ibu Umi has been our pembantu/housekeeper for the past four years and we have nothing but good things to say about her. She is unfailingly kind, generous with her time, completely honest and highly reliable. She spea k s some English a nd is familiar with expat ways of life and housework, as she has been working for expat families for 8 years. We very warmly recommend Ibu Umi, and will gladly provide a full reference on request (email hossain.naomi@gmail.com). available from August onwards.

0878 82596627 English-speaking driver available.

Pak Marius speaks excellent English. Before employ ment with us, he was working 12 years for an Australian expat family, where he also brought the kids

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indonesia expat issue 145

around, and he likes children.

As a Christian, he can work any time of the day all year round and always willing to adjust to meet his employer's expectations. For references: Ib Larsen Iblarsen1@ gmail.com. contact him directly: 0819 0893 5717.

L ook ing for an ex per ienced Nanny for my little one. Someone who can speak very well English and has worked for expat families with reliable references. Please text me if you know someone who is suitable: 08151804160.

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Competitive rates and travel allowance are offered. Please send your CV to recruitment@ kpiconsultancy.com Services Bahasa Indonesia lessons for expats living in South Jakarta, Kuningan, Country Wood, BSD, given by instructor with 20 years experience. Flexible Schedule.

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Property

House for Rent. One nice house 2 storey, one large joined pool, b e aut i f u l g a rden , 24Hou r s security compound, no cement wa ll bet ween houses in the compound. Approx.500 M2 house with 1,000 M2 land, located at Jl. Margasatwa Raya, 10 Minutes to Cilandak Commercial Estate. @ USD 3,000,- per month with min. one year lease. If interested (no Broker/Agent), call owner 0811180605 B e v erl y Tow er A p a r t ment , a dd re s s: T B Si mat upa ng street, Cilandak Barat, South Jakar ta. Semi- f urnished, 2 bedroom+Hall+K itchen area 90m2. Good location, Excellent View of JIS Playg rounds and Jakarta City, next to JIS Simatupa ng gate, less tha n 10min to Pondok Indah Mall, Poins Square, RS Siloam, RS Fatmawati, RS Pondok CITOS Mall, nearbyTOLL gate entry and exits.Facilities: swimming pool for kids and adult, fitness r o om , l a u nd r y r o om , m i n i market, 24-hour security and one private parking USD1,500/ month (negotiable), contact Kamath:+62-(0)81381611693 A brand new exclusive apartment beautifully decorated and fully

furnished at Botanica Apartment w ith pr ivate lif t , located at Jalan Iskandar Muda No. 8, Simprug South Jakarta, only 5 minutes from Senayan City/ Plaza Senayan, close proximity to Pondok Indah Golf and JIS, Gandaria City and Pondok Indah Mall. Large living and dining room, big ma ster bedroom, mid size second bedroom plus comfortable and beautiful study/ working room with first class furnishing. Modern kitchen, compact storage room and maid room. Total area 195 m2 at high floor with unobstructed view and price negotiable. Please contact the owner Mr. Sugi at mobile/ whatsapp: 08121025426 or home: 7690050 or email: sugi9@cbn. net.id Sudirman Mansion Apartment.

FOR RENT: At SCBD, Jakarta Selatan, Sudirman Mansion Apt, 2 Bedroom, 90 sqm, Private Lift, Furnished, Please Call: 0812.100.8927 maharaniproperty We are moving to Jakarta in July and are looking for a house at the Executive Paradise Complex. Does anybody know about available houses there in the next few months? Please write to daniela. hirsiger@hotmail.com if you know any available houses in the next few months.

Automotive 2012 Kijang Innova 2.5 V Diesel, automatic. 36,300km. Colour: Silver metallic. Asking price: USD 25,000 Available: early July.

Contact: peti3@me.com

rupiah. E-mail: jackie.scott. russell@gmail.com

L at e 2011 BM W 523i. CBU import. 6 cylinder. Black. Tan leather. 20 inch BMW M series wheels. M5 Teknik Body. KW coil over shock absorbers. Cat-back Eisenman exhaust. 31,000 km.

I drive myself. No driver. No marks. No damage. Rp 540 mill A mer ican ow ner mov ing.

Kemang car. 0813 9885 5885 Sedan: Mercedes Benz E280.

Colour: Black. Year: 2009. Model: E280 7G Tronic Edition 9 K ms: 95,000. Maintenance: C ompa ny Ma i nt a i ne d w it h Mercedes Benz Service Center only. STNK: May 2016. Price: Rp 550 million.

TOYOTA AVANZA 1.3 G A/T 2010 model. 80,000 kilometers.

Very good condition.Tax paid, full history. Quick sale required as moving soon. Only $8,000 or best offer. SMS/call on 0811 9791147 1973 BMW Bavaria 3.0 with A lpina selec t ed pa r t s. Fu ll documents. 4 speed transmission Ma r o on pa i nt i n e xc el lent condition. No rust anywhere. 1973 BMW Bavaria 3.0 with Alpina selected parts, full documents. 4 speed transmission. Maroon paint in excellent condition. No rust anywhere. Black leather interior, 4 Alpina wheels/ good tires, Alpina steering wheel, Alpina cam

covers, Weber triple downdraft carbs. Modifications: enlarged radiator and fan, upgraded air conditioning, New: battery, belts and hoses, alternator, tie rods, boot rubber seals, carpets. This is a fine classic ready for Jakarta road conditions. Fast. American owner moving.0813 9885 5885 Others B a c on , S a u s a g e a nd Bl a c k Pudding! Do you miss really good dry-cured bacon or plump English bangers? Or do you crave for a delicious black pudding? Do you miss honey-roasted ham, sliced or a whole joint? Email THE BACON STATION Jakarta at meatmein@ outlook.com for a menu and price list. Free Samples with orders in June and July I'm looking for a balance bike for my toddler. Text me with pictures to 0811117577 Schumann upright Piano for sale. good condition. needs tuning.

Rp. 6 million. contact kjsrs@ yahoo.co.uk D ow n s i z i ng s a le . We h av e moved to a smaller apartment and would like to sell electrical items, or na ment s a nd baby goods. If interested please sms 081519004732 For sale Pool Table, 9 foot in very good condition. Only 5 million

Samsung WF8692N VF front lo a d i ng w a s h i ng m a c h i ne .

Capacit y 7kg. 1200 R PM. 3 million IDR Modena ED650 front loading tumble dryer. 2 million IDR Richter running machine.

Great for daily 20/30 minute jog. Price 5 million IDR Soliel Charcoal BBQPrice 400,000 IDR Contact Andrew; 0811 9721145.

All goods in Cipete. Buyer collects.

Beautiful brand new designer wingback chairs for sale. Brown leather wingback chair with foot stool- IDR 4m. Grey wingback w i t h s t o o l - I DR 3 . 5m . Fo r further details please contact 08119937374 Photography Equipment For Sale.

Fujifilm X100S Silver. As new.

IDR 9.9 mil. Nikon AF Micro Nikkor 60mm f2.8D IDR 4.1 mil. 0816976707 100% new informa board. Size is 110cm*83cm. 7-level adjustable height. With heat resistant cover.

RP. 250,000. Please contact me v ia 081282331768 if you are interested.

LOCALLY-MADE FURNITURE FOR SA LE. Large A r t Deco S t y l e C o f f e e Ta b l e . S o l i d Mangowood/Mahogany, 2 yrs old, 1,300x900x400(h), super quality, custom from Kemang - 2.5jt (good condition). Buyer pickup.

SMS for details 0811841431 asking for Neil or email maclean.neil@ yahoo.co.uk.

Trampoline with enclosure 12ft = 3,6 m. the mat is in perfect condition, bought in Europe.

Rp. 5mill. Smoothie maker for children. Rarely used Rp.150,000.

Contact 085883235032 e mail jakartas401@yahoo.com Beautiful Dining Set for sale.

Six slim, comfortable and sturdy teak chairs with batik covered cushions. Elegant mahogany veneer table 110cm X 220cm.

Rp. 20 mill. 081 1155 8187.

Wooden High Table with five stools (Bar type), rustic finish, Rp. 2,500,000. Long modern wooden table, rustic finish red color from Konsep Rp. 2,000,000. Drumset LUDWIG with extra cymbals and drums, nego price Rp.6,000,000.

Dining room table for 6 people with chairs Rp. 4,000,000. Buyer pick-up. Kemang dalam. 0812 4488 8916 Personal 40-year-old expat man looking for some fun. will take you on fun trips, all expenses paid, can pay for your apartment. contact me! jakartalinks@gmail.com

Bali Property New western style villa furnished for rent Sanur 3 mins from beach, 1 min from bypass, 3/bedroom, 3/ bath, aircon, w/large pool.

Available on August 1 - October 31, 2015 short term 3 months, with option of yearly or long term. Call directly no commission, please contact Julian at 082247287737

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