Stay on Your Lane Please....

Another quick note...

It upsets me if people (when they are driving a car) change lane while making a turn on an intersection or at a round about. For example, somebody makes turn from the outer lane but while turning, this guy also switch to inner lane cutting every body in the inner lane. First of all, hello, we are not in F1 track, so don't practice your racing line* on public streets. Secondly, those lane markers are made for a purpose, ie to avoid collision. Thirdly, guys, nobody likes being cut in the street, so drive responsibly.

*the shortest distance to go through a track

Just for illustration, below are the right way to negotiate a turn at a round about, please also note when and how we should indicate the turn signal correctly, courtesy of NZ transport agency :

Don't Turn On Your Hazard Signal Please....

Guys,

Just a quick note. Whenever we are driving a car and we want to go straight at an road intersection with no traffic light, please do not turn on the hazard signal as our "sign" to go straight. We will just confuse other people coming from the right and the left of the intersection. They will not be able to see that we are actually turn on the hazard signal. What they can see is just a turn signal going to their direction, but in reality we are going to go straight.

If we are unlucky, this may cause an accident. So please don't use it...

Junior High School : Need Your Feedback

Guys,

My daughter is in 6th Grade at the moment and next term (July 2009) she will go to a Junior High. Since we have been living outside Jakarta in the past 4 years, my wife and I are not updated with the latest school performance and development here. Therefore we have limited of information to choose the best (Junior High) school for her.

In relation to this, I'm inviting all of you to post a comment which Junior High school that you will choose for your kids, with the following conditions :

1. Located and officially listed in South of Jakarta
2. State or Private school
3. Islamic or General school

Your feedback will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi, my name is Suryana......

One noon this Ramadan, I was driving along Karang Tengah road towards Cinere to pick up my wife, when I saw this little boy sitting on the side walk of the road. He wore a black old t-shirt and a dirty green short pants. In front of him were a pile of cobek and ulekan batu (mortar and pestle made out of stone to grind cooking ingredients). Obviously, he was trying to sell them to the motorists who passed by that busy small dusty road.

I immediately remember my own daughter and son. I remember seeing them this morning laughing and smiling. I let them rode their bikes to attend ESQ class for children in one of our neighbour house nearby, they looked so happy... I couldn't imagine if they need to do what this little boy needed to do... Suddenly I felt so sad for this little boy.

On the way back after picking up my wife, I drove by the same road and I saw this boy again. I said to my wife that I wanted to pull over and buy what this boy was selling. She asked me whether I had enough money in pocket, I said yes and I stop on the side of the road.

I walked towards this little boy, he looked tired and sad, his eyes were gloomy as if there is no hope, no tomorrow. His skin was dark, a sign that he has been exposed under a sun for quite a long time. He sat on the side walk, covered by a thin white dingy plastic sack. There was no comfort at all as the thin plastic sack did not provide any cushion, if he wanted to keep his pants clean, it was too late already. I approached him, he was curious. I pointed at a small mortar and asked how much is it.

"Thirty five thousand rupiah" he said, "paired with the pestle"

I nodded, I didn't want to bargain at all. I asked what his name is and how old he is.

"My name is Suryana, I'm twelve years old"

From his voice, I know that this boy is far from happy. I felt sympathy for him and began to ask more questions. Such as, where he lives, how does he get there and so on. Below is his story.

He lives in Padalarang (a small city in West Java, almost 200 km from where he sits right now). He woke up at 4 in the morning and together with a group of 10 friends ride a small minibus to a truck base. He paid twenty thousand rupiah to the truck driver to take him to Cibubur (a suburb 40km from where we were) and again he took another bus to get here. If that's not tough enough for you, remember that you have to carry at least 50kgs of stone mortars in plastic sacks, and if that still not tough enough, you need to stop drinking and eating from dusk till dawn. If you think you cannot do it, imagine how this unfortunate kid has to do it everyday. If you wonder how he manages his study, the answer is he does not. He at the age of 12, already drops out of school.

I gave him fifty thousands rupiah, he said "..mm I don't have change.." I told him not to worry, he can keep the change. I wonder if he even have any previous customers at all today or even this week. With many food processors in the shops, instant recipes, not many people use stone mortars anymore, especially in big cities like Jakarta. If people have one, it must be inherited from their parents. I asked his permission to take photo, he didn't mind. After taking the picture, I went back to my car, I almost shed a tear.

Inside the car, my wife asked how much I gave him. I said 50 for a 35 thousand mortar. She said that's too little and I should give him more. So I went back and give him another fifty thousands rupiah, "This is for you transport money, and also to buy foods and drink to break your fast.." He was so surprised and grateful, I can see from his eyes, he said "...may Allah return your kindness.." I nodded and tapped his head, I wonder if he ever received a tender loving care from his parents.

"Be careful" I said and went back to my car.

"On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith." Quran 2:286

Green Planet: Smart(er) Way To Choose Your Air Conditioner

Once you know the PK requirement of your AC, then what you need to do is to find an AC with the same PK that has the highest BTU number with the least Watt consumption. The ratio of BTU (cooling power) to the Watt (energy consumption) is called EER or Energy Efficiency Ratio. The higher the EER the less energy it will consumes.

As a current benchmark, good 1/2PK (5000BTU) AC will require 320Watt, 3/4PK (7000BTU)will require 590Watt, 1PK (9000BTU) will require 795Watt.

Don't be fooled by the cheap AC from China, please check their specs. Most of them will consume higher Watt compare to leading brands. Try to look for branded AC such as LG, Panasonic and Sharp, at the moment they have the lowest wattage.

Another key factor to consider is the max electricity power (Daya PLN) installed in your home. It ranges from 900 to 6600 VA (or Watt). Just make sure that you have enough electricity power to run all you ACs. Otherwise, you don't have other choice than to limit the number of AC installed or choose AC with one step PK lower than it should be (eg 1/2 instead 3/4 PK). Off course the cooling will not be maximum but its better than none.

As an illustration, if you have 2200VA electricity installed, you can only turn on 3 unit of 3/4PK AC at the same time, with only 400-430 watt left to spare for lamps, refrigerator, tv etc. Please note that : microwave, plasma tv, water heater, water pump require a lot of electricity power.

Finally here's some tips to efficiently use your AC : a. please ensure all windows and doors are properly closed, b. please block sunlight by closing your curtain or shades. if you have extra money, you can ask for special curtain materials that will effectively block sunlight like what they used in the hotels, c. trade in your old AC with the new one that has higher EER. Your old unit will be valued at IDR 500-900K depends on their type and conditions. You can find the buyer at the classifieds in the newspaper

Green Planet: Smart Way To Choose Your Air Conditioner

Jakarta is hot, so may of us installed Air Conditioner (AC) in our home so we can rest, relax and cool down. Nevertheless, on the other hand, AC consumes a lot of energy (electricity) which triggers and increases the global warming which will negatively impact our planet and our children.

In relation to this, let me share with you a smart way to eco-friendly choose your AC.

First, you must choose the correct cooling capacity, otherwise your room will be either too warm or too cold. If you go to the shops, there are several capacities you can choose; 1/2PK, 3/4PK, 1PK, 1 1/2PK and 2PK (PK or Paard Kracht is Horse Power in Dutch). Even though higher PK equivalent with higher cooling power, but the actual cooling power will be determine by the BTU (British Thermal Unit) number.

Nonetheless in Indonesia, most consumer shops will only know PK, while BTU is often used by commercial contractors, engineer etc. In simplicity, 1/2 PK equal to 5000BTU, 3/4PK equal to 7000BTU, 1PK equal to 9000BTU, 1 1/2PK equal to 12000BTU, and 2PK equal to 18000BTU.

The simplest way to calculate the PK required to cool a room is as follows :

PK = L x W x H x 0.233

while L,W,H are the lenght, width, and height of the room in meter (m). With this formula, you will find that most of the time the result will not exactly be 1/2, 3/4PK and so on, therefore please use your judgement to round it up or down. Please note that any room in upper floor, or has more exposure to the sun (eg many windows facing to the West) will require higher cooling power compare to the room on the ground floor and has less exposure to the sunlight.

Education, BBM and a President

What is the relation between education, BBM (fuel) and the president of the Republic of Indonesia?

The answer are goodwill and politics. This year, education budget (for 2009) and fuel price increase are among the key decisions made by our President. While people hated the fuel price increase, now people are happy with the eduction budget increase.

However there are few people and politicians who are not convinced and skeptical about the eduction budget increase in APBN 2009. Some says that is only a political move or early campaign to pre-emp the general election in 2009.

Let me share my opinion. Every government decisions is always a political decisions. The key question is whether that decision is made for the benefit of all people in Indonesia or for just his/her political party? As long as his/her decision is for the benefit of all Indonesians, I don't care what the oppositions say.

I think it is very cowardly act for any president to deliberately delay the fuel price increase until the next general election despite the actual economics condition. It is not just he/she tries to fool people to keep voting for him/her, but also in case he/she is not re-elected, then he/she will leave a time bomb for the new president. So that when the new president later on have to increase the fuel price, his/her party can blame or discredit the new government.

Therefore, please be very careful if you hear the Oppositions discredit current government of increasing the fuel price, because this is an unfavorable condition that not only happens in Indonesia. Most rich countries in the world also increase their fuel price. I don't think the Oppositions are able to avoid the price increase as well.

This is when education plays an important role in the society. Is the ability to make up our mind and not easily fooled by politicians.