 INDONESIA
IS a HUGE, vast sprawling country
and it takes more than 10 hours
on a Boeing 747 jet flight (Jakarta-Sorong, Papua 7
hours to the east, and JKT-Sabang, Sumatra
4
hours to the west - as hundreds of thousands
of international & domestic travellers will vouch) 1 more hour than
mainland China 9 hours, to cross Indonesia's 3 time zones, DOUBLE the 5.5
hours flight time to cross the continental US territory; that NATIONWIDE
is the same distance from London, across west and east Europe, to the Middle
East past Iran. That its London-to-Tehran
area is covered by 11 mobile system operators, 4 GSM, 2 CDMA, 1 NMT, 3
AMPS & GSM+Satellite mobile systems, some of which provide free nationwide
roaming, that handphone buyers come all the way as far as the Middle East
and Africa to buy handphones because secondhand ones are sold for as low
as US$15, and that thousands of roadside stalls in large cities and villages,
and 1-, 2-storey & 5-storey malls that take up to 3 days to cover all
the shops, only sell handphones and US$10-$13 prepaid or $ 2.50 monthly
subscription SIM cards; and in addition to those systems, Indonesia's GSM
+ satellite mobile, world's smallest satellite phone the size of a 1.5
pack of cigarettes weighing 200 gms / 7 ozs. and fixed system, covers parts
of the Middle East, Pakistan, all of China & Japan, all Asian countries
& beyond the Pacific rim, and all the way south to the northern parts
of Australia... at 0.20-0.35 US$ cents a minute.. and seamlessly reverts
to GSM mode whenever the user enters a GSM-serviced area and back to satellite
mode whenever it leaves a GSM area in 78 countries which have reciprocal
agreements; that 32 years ago in 1971, Indonesia
(the Government under newly elected 4-star Army General, Soeharto who forced
out Soekarno), couldn't pay an international
loan of US$ 50 million at the time, was the world's 3rd owner
of its own several hundred million dollar Domestic Satellite System after
the U.S. and Canada – provided by the United States, (Hughes Corp. &
U.S. Government records) akin to the U.S. today giving to Indonesia the
latest U.S. "stealth" fighter technology because Indonesia's 1st president,
Soekarno, gave assistance to Kennedy's Administration
in the form of large amounts of gold & platinum bullion in the early
'60s (which Soekarno got from the Javanese
Kings who in turn got them from over 2,000 years of spice trading.See below)
that enabled the U.S. to fund NASA to
catch up with the Soviet Union and then become the world's space leader
(and fight a war against Castro's Cuba) because at that time the Soviets
did not even have their own satellite communications technology even though
they launched their "Sputnik" Satellite during U.S. President Kennedy's
time. Documentaion and other data are available in books around the world
(e.g. London, Australia, Singapore) based on U.S. Government, C.I.A. and
other official former highly secret U.S. sources now open to the public
under the Public Domain category as the 30-year time limit is now over.
That its 220 MILLION+ population is the world's youngest, 75% are under the age of 30 or 165 million youngsters, that over 60% of the total population are women and that its 9 nationwide TV stations reflect its youthful culture and language (besides the local & international 55-channel cable and satellite channels), and that only 8% are above the age of 60 (National Statistics Board Aug. 2001), and are made up of 582 ethnic, culture & language groups as different as French and Arabs; that "Indonesia" (a word made up in 1945 by its founding fathers) are Chinese, Javanese/ Malays, Arabs, Indians and are made up of browns, yellows, blacks and whites and every color in between; where there are Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, Zoroasterians, other religions most never heard of, and that Moslems make up 85% of the people where Mosques and Churches stand side by side making it the world largest Islamic nation, but is a secular (unspecified religious or political) state with rights to worship any religion, and it's as diverse as the U.S.A; That its 220 million-plus population is the world's 4th. largest populated out of 235 countries after China, India and the U.S., and 3rd. largest democracy after India & the U.S.; that 85% of commercial shipping and the world's navies use its waters (US President Bill Clinton) passing through its 17,508 islands, one of them being the world- renowned island-of-the gods Bali with its own lifestyle, with 85,000 kilometer (52,800 miles) of Hawaiian-like tropical coastline, (Marine & Fishery Dept. & Mapping Agency satellite photos) making it the world's largest tropical paradise with an average temperature of 21 to 32 Celcius (70-90 Fahrenheit); that its capital city's 12 million night time population increases during the day (published 1997 & 98 Jakarta Govt. statistics) making JAKARTA the same size as the whole Australian nation of 20 million, and is one of the world's 5 largest cities (United Nations population statistics) with "intelligent" skyscrapers & that it needs 1 hour at a constant speed of 55 mph/85 kph to travel its internal circular city toll road on concrete stilts to reach the same point of departure - and that it's as modern as New York, Paris & London with as many as, and larger shopping malls; and that it is cheaper to live and shop for the same things than in Hong Kong, Singapore and other world-known shopping centers because many of their citizens come to shop here (part of nighttime Jakarta, below right photo); That the world's leaders in fashion, computer & auto magazines have their Bahasa Indonesia- (Indonesian) language versions (Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Cosmo Boy, Cosmo Girl, Seventeen, Her, Men's Health, Auto, Autocar, Computer World, etc.) and 95% of all trucks, cars, small & large motor bikes including the Harley Davidsons & big 1,100cc BMWs one sees on the roads are locally assembled by their various manufacturers, and that it makes its own weapons, airplanes, 2-man attack helicopter gunships that can loop (fly a complete circle, close to impossible for a helicopter); that the "Flight-By-Wire" technology (moving an object by remote control) available in the European airbus and now copied all over the world for other forms of moveable objects including missiles was invented over 25 years ago by B.J. Habibie, a former senior vice-president at a German aircraft company which co-manufacturers the Airbus, and former vice-president and then president of Indonesia; and that original $5 Macdonalds cost .70cents Pizza Huts, Wendys, Kentucky Frieds, Cokes, Pepsi, licensed CDs, VCDs and DVDs cost a fraction (15-35%) of their country of origin? 
That in spite of some negative international economic & political press publicity, the nation is NOT bankrupt (the Government is because past governments ran up debts of US$ 120 billion to international institutions, 70% of it lost through corruption), because 85% of middle and low level, or some 35 million businesses owned directly by the people NOT associated with the government, including publicly-owned companies, are in fact growing during the country's 4 year economic crises because new real estate housing projects & malls in cities and their satellite towns throughout the country are sprouting all over; that new US$500,000 Bentleys, Rolls Royces and Ferraris and $250,000 Porsches, double their prices in their home countries, as well as the modestly-priced US$6,200 Ceria & $9,200 mini 5-passenger vehicles made by KIA, Daewoo & Daihatsu are still being sold (Recession? ..Never heard of it?... Chicago Tribune); and that its people are NOT against foreigners because foreigners have NEVER done anything wrong to Indonesians. Some foreign government official announcements that advise "Indonesia harbors terrorists" and "don't go to Indonesia because you are a foreigner.." is like saying because an American was caught red-handed & arrested as a member of the Osama bin Laden organization in Afghanistan (and not counting those who are undiscovered), it does not mean that the U.S. is a nest of terrorists; or that a miniscule number of people in the U.S. are against blacks, it does not mean that 99.9% of the whole American nation is against blacks, just like 99.9% of Indonesians are not against foreigners and is certainly not a nest of terrorists. Yet, no foreigners were ever harmed, nor kidnapped or attacked in Indonesia. To be balanced, these foreign announcements should also announce: "Don't go to the U.S. because you are black...you may be attacked". That is how ridiculous this analogy sounds to the typical Indonesian (and exptariates who know and lived in Indonesia). The country is TOO BIG, and its people and hundreds of its numerous cultures are TOO LARGE to be stereotyped... just as Western AND Eastern Europe AND parts of the Middle East - the area that is Indonesia - is too large and its people and languages are TOO diverse to be stereotyped. That rubber, chocolate, tobacco, rice, pepper and other spices which the whole world has come to regard as its own, came from this area of 121 former royal kingdoms over 2000 years ago which included the Sriwidjaya & Majapahit Empires (700-1300 & 1100 AD), and were traded all over the world in Europe, Asia, and the South Americas, and that these traders seeded areas in South Africa, Madagascar, Hawaii, New Zealand, Suriname in central America among many other areas, because the Javanese cultural imprint still make up their present indigenous culture. | The Makings of a world Superpower, by L. Soares.. Please click here ||How? Click here | Living in Indonesia (by expatriates) & in Jakarta where there is no serious rush to meet deadlines because if the weather or something else doesn't get you and messes up your plans, the traffic jams will... 
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Sunset in one of the 17,508 islands 
A part of the City - Our Jakarta Home 
The Beach not far from home–or in one of the 17,508 islands 
These sites were uploaded to U.K. and U.S. servers from our Jakarta home using fibre optic broadband technology. Some of The Life-Connection Website Stories based on actual real-life experiences... Some Great Things About Becoming Old | Why People Have Different Beliefs? | Traveling to Bali by land? | That Crazy Old Man On His 300 kmh/191 mph Kawasaki Ninja ZZR 1100cc MotorBike|| ADCs Are Real|| The Miracle of the fan | The Amazing Grasshopper Event By website visitors based on their real-life experiences... 01 Aug, 21 Apr, 27th Nov. '01 Be a Mom (or Dad) - For all Moms - past, present and future ... | A Man's Visit to Heaven and Back | NDEs, A Brush with the Hereafter 23/Sep/01-JKT Post | If you love something... | Trying to understand the pain when someone we love leaves us The other stories: The former (James Bond) Field Operative and his girl as parents • Now Grandparenting • The Diplomat • The Businessman whom God said to us "I'll Lend you My Child for awhile..." - There is an afterlife: Our 1st. year experience - Our Son's smile 18 hours after crossing to the other dimension - The Do's and Don'ts in facing bereaved parents – from the bereaved's perspectives - A Road Map for the Bereaved – from the bereaved’s perspectives • More stories |