Uber Esia di Rancamalang

I just came back from a visit to Rancamalang Village in Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday, 25 March, 2010. This village is located near the Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) housing complex. Even though it is only about 6 km or about fifteen minutes away, the condition of this village is markedly different from that of the BSD area. There is very limited infrastructure there, and telecommunication facilities are limited. This is very ironic for a region which is so close to a major city.

The condition of Rancamalang Village has made it a target for the Do Business With Esia program, known as “Uber Esia”. Uber Esia is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program of Bakrie Telecom (Btel). However, Uber Esia is not your ordinary CSR program. It is a sustainable CSR program whose activities are not limited to providing assistance, but also include encouraging them to start business activities. As an analogy, we do not give them fish, but give them fishing poles and teach them how to fish. The hope is that they will soon be able to fish on their own, without our assistance. Continue Reading »

Stanford GSB Indonesia Study Trip Participants

This night I received a special guest, namely participants on a study trip from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) in California, United States. Stanford GSB is where I obtained my Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in 2001.

While studying in the MBA program I also minored in a Global Management Program. I was actively involved in this program aimed at getting Stanford GSB students to develop an international outlook. Even though Forbes Magazine named Stanford GSB as the number one university in the United States (each year they only accept about 300 students), their students still need to develop a broader perspective, including learning about other countries, such as Indonesia.

This trip was part of their study tour to Indonesia and Singapore. This was a chance for Indonesians to promote their country, to introduce our strong points, including matters which are being improved. On top of that, these participants were the cream of the crop, some of whom may go on the become world leaders.
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Cak Nun gave a speech in the joint Reflection & Fast Breaking event for the victims of the Sidoarjo Mud Flow disaster.

Three days ago our family received an unexpected invitation from the residents of four villages which were affected by the mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, to attend an event for breaking the fast and listening to a reflective speech with Emha Ainun Nadjib, who is better known as Cak Nun, a cultural expert and well-liked religious speaker.

Frankly, I was initially reluctant and hesitant to bring this up, because in addition to being heavily covered in the media, this topic is a very sensitive one with many different interpretations. However, based on the spirit of sharing and not to judge who is right and wrong, I am willing to write about it in this blog. In addition to this, this is just my view as a member of the Bakrie family, who coincidentally is very familiar with this topic.
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VIVAnews Grand Launch

Technology has not only changed how information is sent and obtained, but has already and will continue to change the lifestyle of Indonesians. Over the past two decades, with the growth of the Indonesian television industry, 80 million homes housing almost the entire Indonesian population are easily obtaining information and entertainment at no cost. Over the past decade, with the growth of the cellular phone industry, almost 85 million Indonesians can now communicate and interact with various types of information.

I believe that in the coming decade, with the advances to the telecommunication ’backbone’, there will be over 100 million who will be able to access the internet, which of course provides an incredible amount of information.

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After being delayed due to various daily activities, now I can finally realize my intention to write a blog. Not because I want to put on pretenses, but because I think there are many benefits from blogging.

The main this is that I want this blog to be a way for me to share and communicate more broadly with the public. Each person, group, and community sometimes has trouble communicating their ideas. These communities should be able to do so more easily through the internet.

Through this blog, I just want to share ideas, life experiences, or light talk, such as my opinions on food, film, or books. This does not mean that I think that I have the best opinion. I am actually inviting other blogger friends to open communication for discussion and input.