Missing the story among the mussles of Cilincing

July 12, 2009 in Indonesia, journalists with 1 Comment
Tags: , ,

It’s one of those stories that you read and wonder what the editor was doing when they edited this story.

Ostensibly its a photo essay story. A few mediocre shots about the mussle farmers of Cilincing, North Jakarta, slap in a few words and one page gone. Pack up and go for a beer.

Bu what a story the Post missed in the few words of this photo essay! In the second last paragraph the author says: “Before the water became contaminated with industrial waste, local fishermen could collect up to 1,000 buckets of mussels in one day. Today, they can only collect about 30 buckets. “

Hang on. Isn’t there a story here about how these guys are harvesting mussles from contaminated waters and selling it to unwary consumers in Jakarta? Do the health authorities have nothing to say about it? Can’t the reporter get a sample of the mussles and subject it to testing for toxins and heavy metals?

Imagine what a story it can be if the results of the test are postitive.

But The Post being The Post, nothing wil probably be done about this. So keep away from the mussles.

Here’s the Cilincing story from today’s paper:

Photo Gallery

Mussel cultivation in Cilincing

sp24-b-2.jpg

Many people in town may love to eat mussels, but only few of them know where they come from. Among the places that supply these clams, Cilincing in North Jakarta must be high on the list.

For many people in Cilincing, mussels have become a source of income. The people in that area, from kids to adult, make money by transporting and cleaning up these shellfish. The men go to sea to harvest the bivalves while the women and the kids clean up the mollusks from the shells.

Mussels cultivation has become a profession. With an initial investment of Rp5 million to Rp10 million, local people can start their own mussel business. Usually, they can harvest the mussels once every four months. Before the water became contaminated with industrial waste, local fishermen could collect up to 1,000 buckets of mussels in one day. Today, they can only collect about 30 buckets.

Equipped with hand-made diving devices, the fishermen dive around three to seven- meters deep under the water.

They sell the mussels to vendors for Rp 3,000 to Rp 6,000 per bucket.

Model Nation #22: Hubby says Monohara’s mum an evil mother

July 7, 2009 in Indonesia with 2 Comments

And the soap suds keep building up. The Malay Mail is going to town digging the dirt on Manohara’s mum and boy is there dirt there.
clipped from www.mmail.com.my

“My ex-wife’s an evil mother” says Manohara’s dad

Submitted by pekwan on Monday, July 6th, 2009
    First hubby speaks out against Daisy’s hold on Manohara
    Frankie D’Cruz
    Monday, July 6th, 2009 07:42:00

    PRINCESS Manohara Odelia’s father, George Manz, has described his ex-wife Daisy Fajarina “as an evil mother” who dabbles in black magic.
    Speaking to Malay Mail from Canada, Manz, 58, said that Daisy, 44, took Manohara away from him when she was aged two, 15 years ago.

    Asked to back his claims of Daisy dabbling in black magic, he said: “Once when we were together, I took Daisy to a dentist who was shocked when he saw her X-ray. She had small gold needles and diamond stones embedded inside her chin.”
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    Twitter as marketing and corporate communications tool

    July 7, 2009 in Indonesia with 1 Comment
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    This article in USA Today contains interesting information related to using Twitter as a marketing and corporate communications tool.Of particular interest, further down the story, is how Twitter can be used to improve customer service. The question is: are any Indonesian companies/institutions ready to embrace such technology?
    clipped from www.usatoday.com
    Twitter took off from simple to ‘tweet’ success

    SAN FRANCISCO — “What are you doing?”

    That question is the rocket fuel for Twitter — a hot social-network service that lets you tell people what you are up to at any given moment of the day — via cellphone, instant messenger, or the Web. Never heard of it, you say?

    “What are you doing?” is the question Twitter asks “Twitterers” to answer in a simple text message as they connect with friends, co-workers or the wider world. Twitterers “tweet” about everything from what they had for lunch to how much they enjoyed their latest Netflix DVD. If that sounds silly and incredibly narrow at first, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

    “When people hear about Twitter, their immediate reaction is that it’s the simplest and stupidest idea in the world,” says co-founder Biz Stone.
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    What do Indonesian journalists think about Malaysia?

    July 6, 2009 in Indonesia, Malaysia, journalists with 2 Comments
    Tags: ,

    Find out in this posting at Maverick Network and listen too when UKM’s Pfro. Ahmat Adam has to say about the deterioration of the Indonesian language.

    more about “What do Indonesian journalists think …“, posted with vodpod

    Dive, click and stand a chance of winning

    June 30, 2009 in Indonesia with 1 Comment
    Tags: , ,

    The US Embassy in Jakarta is nothing but a hive of activity, in cyberspace (see Facebook page) and now, it seems under water as well.The Embassy, an ardent supporter of Pesta Blogger, is now running a competition for underwater photography, but it ends today.

    So try your luck, submit your photographs and who knows, you may even win a camera and underwater case, or even a free trip to Bunaken. Now, Unspun’s got to look for his diving photos…

    clipped from www.facebook.com

    “OCEAN IN FOCUS” Competition
    Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 5:04pm
    National Underwater Photography Competition “OCEAN IN FOCUS”
    Join the competition and win prizes!
    Prizes (for each category, Student and Public):

    1st Prize : Canon Digital PowerShot G10 + underwater case
    2nd Prize : Canon Digital Camera Ixus 980 + underwater case

    3rd Prize : Canon Digital Camera Ixus 90 + underwater case
    Winning photos taken with a Canon Digital Camera will receive an additional Canon SELPHY Compact Photo Printer CP770.
    Additional Grand prize from Coca Cola for first winner of each category

    * Trip to Bunaken tour
    * Return airplane tickets Jakarta-Manado
    * Hotel accommodation Manado

    * Bunaken tour with glass bottom boat and snorkeling
    All winners will also receive certificates from the U.S. Embassy Jakarta, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and Canon Datascrip.

    U.S. Embassy – Jakarta, Indonesia’s Notes
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    Black mark for Blackberry

    June 29, 2009 in Indonesia with 4 Comments
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    Unspun thinks the Government of Indonesia is on the right track with getting Blackberry to open up a local office here. With up to one million BBs sold in Indonesia by the end of this year RIM should take this market seriously.

    Gone should be the days when Indonesia is considered a backwater and has to be serviced by Singapore. It is a huge market and it should flex its muscles as a huge market.

    Unspun himself is a disgruntled BB user. The synchronization with Mac computers suck an up to now neither BB nor it vendor PocketMac has not seen it urgent to address this problem.

    The bluetooth sucks as well and its almost impossible to transfer files between BB and Mac. It does not have tethering capabilities – the ability to use the phone as a modem for computers – either.

    The address book is also screwed up, showing multiple entries for one name – and the worst thing is that there is no one to bring it to. The online forums BB maintains are crap – try to find a solution that works for Mac synchronization, for instance.

    It’s so frustrating that Unspun is thinking of shifting to an iPhone 3G(S), now that its hit Indonesian shores.

    clipped from thejakartaglobe.com

    Govt Promises No Service Interruption As BlackBerry Gets Its House in Order

    The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology on Sunday threw a lifeline to Research in Motion, the maker of BlackBerry smartphones, saying it would be given time to establish a local office before the temporary ban on licensing its new models became permanent.
    Ministry spokesman Gatot S. Dewabroto also said on Sunday that even if RIM did not move forward with opening an office, BlackBerry service would not be interrupted.
    Without licenses, products cannot be imported to Indonesia, officials said.
    The ministry on Thursday stopped issuing licenses for new types of BlackBerry units until RIM opened a branch that could provide customers with after-sales service.
    Ministry officials discussed their demands for a BlackBerry branch office with RIM’s vice president, Robert E. Crow, on June 15, but the company only promised to conduct a feasibility study.
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    Bolehsia’s religious apartheid for maids

    June 24, 2009 in Indonesia, Malaysia, shit-for-brains with 6 Comments

    In Malaysia the politicians have really nothing better to do but to think of things that would be considered really stupid by right thinking people.

    Here’s another example of Bolehsia’s intellectual caliber of its politicians. Do Malaysians even realize that Indonesians do not even come close to them in anal-ity (is that a word?) when it comes to race/religion issues?

    Does this mean that only non-Muslims abuse their maids?

    clipped from www.bernama.com
    Muslims Maids Only For Muslim Families

    KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Bernama)– Pas Youth has called on the government to set down a regulation that Muslim maids from Indonesia or other countries are allowed to work only for Muslim families and non-Muslim families be allowed only non-Muslim maids.
    The movement’s chief, Nasrudin Hassan, in a statement today said the matter had been suggested several times by it as well as by several non-governmental organisations so that the issue of the denial of right to pray, fast, halal food, comfortable and clean dwelling, and fair wages could be resolved.
    Nasrudin said if the problem was not resolved and allowed to persist it would sour ties between the peoples of Malaysia and Indonesia.
    He cited several recent cases of abuse of Indonesian maids that led the Indonesian Minister for Human Resources and Transmigration, Erman Suparno, to suggest temporarily halting Indonesian maids coming to Malaysia
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    Pestablogger.com makeover

    June 24, 2009 in Indonesia, PB09, Pesta Blogger, blogging with 1 Comment

    Pesta Blogger 2009 Chairman Iman Brotoseno and designer Ipul have been busy giving the pestablogger.com site a makeover and Unspun thinks it’s looking good. Announcement of sponsors and more details of this year’s Pesta Blogger likely by first half of July.

    Tune in to Pesta Blogger. Now Najib and his hagiographers better not claim that it has its origins in Malaysia…

    PB

    1-pack better than 6-pack

    June 24, 2009 in Indonesia with 4 Comments

    Poor Unspun, after all these months sweating it out on the gym, abstaining from eating his favorite sam chan, and eating rabbit food for dinner he now discovers that all that abstemious behavior is for naught.
    Under the delusion that a six-pack tummy is the epitome of health Unspun all this time, Unspun’s finally learned from the article below that the one-pack that Unspun’s been sporting all these years is actually the healthier choice.

    So there Ade Rai! You can sit on your sit ups! Unspun is going to sit on his ass and have another serve of the sam chan…

    clipped from www.reuters.com

    A few extra pounds can add years to your life: study
    Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:04am EDT
    NEW YORK (Reuters) – Carrying a little extra weight may actually be good for you, according to a Canadian study that showed a few pounds appear to protect people from an early death.


    Researchers found that while underweight and extremely obese people die earlier than people of a normal weight, people who are slightly overweight actually live longer than those of a normal weight.
    The findings of the new study were published online in the journal Obesity by researchers at Statistics Canada, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, and McGill University.
    “It’s not surprising that extreme underweight and extreme obesity increase the risk of dying, but it is surprising that carrying a little extra weight may give people a longevity advantage,” researcher David Feeny from the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research said in a statement.
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    Personal Branding? Puhleze!

    June 23, 2009 in Indonesia with Leave a Comment

    The same sentiments as expressed by Nathan Burke in the clib below has been percolating on Unspun’s mind, but he’s not got around to blogging about it.

    Like Nathan, Unspun cringes and badly feel the urge to unspin the people who make a virtue of personal branding. It’s all about your personality, your reputation and yourself not some marketable commodity you can manufacture and get away with it.

    clipped from www.socialmediatoday.com

    The Term Personal Brand Makes Me Want To Kick Myself In The Face.



    by
    Nathan Burke
    on
    06/22/2009 10:44  
    9 comments
    , 982 views

    Categories: Public Relations, Marketing




    I’m sorry. It does.

    While looking through my RSS reader today I saw two articles back-to-back talking about developing a “personal brand”. I can’t explain how angry that phrase makes me. A short list of reasons why I loathe “personal branding”

    • It strips away our humanity and turns us into a fictional concept
    • It describes something so inherently self-important and egotistical that borders on delusional
    • I want to be a brand about as much as I want to be a building
    • It’s a stupid buzzword created to make something obvious seem more complicated and real

    Do we really need to come up with a new buzzwordish term for everything we do as human beings?

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