This is a blog post that I wrote in the Maverick website PR lessons from Bell Pottinger collapse As a young man cutting my teeth in journalism during the Thatcher years, I was in awe of the people behind the company, Bell Pottinger, that helped ensure her electoral victories. I remember they were touted as…
Category: Indonesia
Journey into Taiji
When I was younger I used to think it hyperbole when they said that you’d need seven years to master Taiji (or T’ai Chi if you used the old Wade-Giles spelling). Now, after having taken up Taiji for coming close to three years, I am inclined that you’d take considerably take more time – like…
One by one, the media are falling – Maverick
Here’s a post I wrote on my company blog: If there’s any doubt that disruption is at hand in the communications industry the sheer number of closures of Indonesian newspapers and magazines — at least 33 — since December last year is a firm indication. This raises interesting questions on how corporations can still reach their…
My Republic broadband sucks for me. What’s your experience like?
I few months ago we switched from Play Media as a broadband provider because their service sucked – the speeds got slower and there was no good follow-up customer service. We switched to My Republic because a friend had said that their speeds were rather good. What we found was worse. Not only did the…
Some questions about #SayaPancasila
The hallmark of a good campaign is that it spurs public discourse on a particular subject. In this sense, the #SayaPancasila campaign can be said to be successful, if the preponderance of the hashtag and profile pictures bering the message on social media are concerned. Effective public discourse, however, exists when there are differences of…
When is sorry not enough?
Malaysia’s The Star had controversial front page today. Like in years past the tabloid-sized paper carried a photo of Malaysian Muslims in their first terawih prayers to start off the month of Ramadan. This year, however, it also carried a banner headline above the photo that read: Malaysian Terrorist Leader. Some readers took offence, reading…
Oxford University about to shoot itself on the foot with Kalla invite?
Unspun watched with incredulity and horror a segment from the documentary The Act of Killing in which Yusuf calla addressed a group of Pancasila Youth, who were known to be the secular equivalent of a FPI in their heyday. He told the group that this country needed preman (thugs) because they got things done. Unlike the apparat (bureaucrats) who would…
Where/who should the anger over Ahok’s conviction be directed at?
Many Indonesians and friends of Indonesia are understandably angry at the sentencing of Ahok to two years jail for blasphemy. But to where or whom should this anger be directed at? At Bu Yani whose mistranslation started the whole blasphemy charges? He was only an inconsequential pawn in the game. At the Islamic radicals who have…
Breaking potential crisis: Telkomsel and its hacked website
Crisis Management Students: Fire up your twitter apps and browsers and train them on Telkomsel’s website and their Twitter responses. Someone has hacked into Telkomsel’s website and filled it with vitriol and animal references – and being generally lauded by netizens for doing so. Although hacking is a crime and should be condemned. The hackers…
The mystery behind the Cisewu Tyger
OK, so everyone had a chuckle and some fun over the Cisewu Tiger. And rightly so because it looks like the sculptor was smoking something illegal that the police confiscated when fashioning his magnum opus. But as usual, people miss asking the right questions when it comes to such stories. The questions: Who was the…
Breaking Bread with Sari Roti
Here’s what I posted on the Maverick blog today about the brouhaha over Sari Roti: What corporations can learn from the Sari Roti incident BRANDS & MARKETING / COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT / CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS / CRISIS & ISSUES MANAGEMENT / CRISIS MANAGEMENT / PR & COMMUNICATIONS / SOCIAL MEDIA Out of the blue, the bread manufacterer Sari Roti came under attack by unverified news postings on social media…
How transnational couples can start owning properties in Indonesia
If you are a foreigner married to an Indonesian or vice versa, this would be a forum you’d want to attend. The reason is that until two weeks ago you’d have a pre-nuptial agreement if you want to have a normal life in Indonesia that allows you to buy and sell properties. Article 29 of the 1974 Marriage…
