Intersection

Which intersection is this?



Nah. It's not Mampang Prapatan :)

We had a trip to Thailand last week - our first time. We went to Bangkok and visited Dudi and Lisa Hermanto in Pattaya. (Don't worry, we don't randomly visit any bloggers - they're our friends back in the U.S.)

Like I've heard from many people, Bangkok is similar to Jakarta in many ways. That is, Jakarta today, not in the past. The most obvious one is traffic. And the number of motorcycles like the ones in the picture above.

The ability (or the lack of) to speak in English is also somewhat similar. People are mostly extremely polite.

The (what seems to be) sex workers are more visible. I guess, well, they generally look prettier and have longer legs. Though I suspect some are transsexual. (I spent three years schooling in Brawijaya area where Baskom - bakso kumis - and transsexuals popped out after dusk)

Yes, traffic. The home-feeling-factor.


We also stopped by at some warungs.


And tried some fried bugs.

Or not... ;)

And enjoyed the sight of the Reclining Buddha

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Déjà vu

Since the first day of our arrival in Kuala Lumpur, about two-and-a-half years ago, both Tari and I share one (of our many) impressions of KL. We think that KL today (or at least part of it) is somewhat like Jakarta around the 80's and 90's - with today's technology.

Don't get me wrong - this is mostly positive impression.

When our relocation agent took us to the Central Market, it immediately reminded us to Blok M, especially the part next to Aldiron Plaza, where Bakmi Boy and shops selling custom plaques, stickers and shirts were located - near the bowling alley. Aldiron Plaza, by the way, rocked. I remember two or three music stores on the ground floor, some video rentals on the top floor, and of course Happy Days. Those were the happy days...
(photo from Yahoo! Travel)

We also think that traffic here is comparable to that of Jakarta in the early 90's - both from the perspectives of traffic jam or congestion, and also from the number of motorcycles. Oh how we thank God for this.

The on-going development, i.e. structural construction, is also similar, in one way or another. There is hardly any places in KL that passes the day without any construction - just like Jakarta during its booming period. Even development of commercial places in residential areas is happening - which I don't think is a good thing.

Nightlife seems to be around the ballpark. I ain't no club hopper - far from it; but even then I can clearly tell the difference from what my friends in Jakarta tell me (yeah, right). You know, it's like the era of Musro, Ori, Ebony, or Parrots in Jakarta. Or when Kemang was still under control. Or Studio East in Bandung. Ouch!

The recent arrest of HINDRAF's members was also quite identical to how freedom of speech was in Indonesia in the 80's. Even Taiping prison seems to serve the same function as Nusa Kambangan prison (well, they are both prisons).

I believe there are more that, being insensitive and ignorant, I overlooked. But my take is, if history is to repeat itself, these two neighboring countries have to learn from each other.

Malaysia can learn to not repeat the mistakes that Indonesia made - whatever they were. For Indonesia, having long term plan and vision (and execute them with less deviation) is probably one of the things to copy from Malaysia.

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I question the effectiveness of busway

Having had the chance to observe Jakarta's famous busway, as well as discussed it with some friends, I doubt that busway is, and will be, effective.

There are several premises and assumptions in this thinking (or perhaps others have done similar approach as well). One is that the goal of having a busway system is to reduce traffic congestion on the streets where the system is implemented.

Here traffic congestion is defined as the number of cars per unit length of street with busway. If this number gets smaller with busway implemented, then it's effective. And vice versa.

There's no hidden agenda, politically or economically, in the opinion below, which concludes that installing busway lanes, indeed, increases traffic congestion.

The framework of determining the effectiveness is very much simplified, that is by looking at whether replacing a vehicle lane with a busway lane will actually reduce the overall traffic (on the other vehicle lanes).

Without considering the cost, I'm looking at the balance of demand (number of people to ride busway) and supply capacity (number of people that the busway system can transport) - on a unit of length.

Let's say a vehicle, running at a decent speed on a traffic lane, will consume an average space of 12.5 meters (4.5 meters length + 8 meters distance between front-end and back-end of two cars). That makes 80 vehicles per lane per kilometer.

If we assume 1.25 passengers per vehicle (that is 5 people for every 4 cars), that'll make 100 people transported per lane per kilometer.

The question is whether taking off one lane for busway will positively affect (reduce congestion on) other lanes. In other words, whether at least these 100 people in 80 cars will use busway.

Another assumption here is that there's no costs of switching (whether financially or based on comfort). These passengers will switch to busway (if available) once they feel there are more than 80 cars per lane per kilometer, and so on to keep the system in balance.

To complete the demand side of this equation, it is also assumed that in each bus available, 25% of the passengers are actually coming from those who do not drive. These are the people who has the buying power to switch from other means of mass transportation to busway. These people are assumed to be more experienced in using mass transportation, thus will always get in to the busway ahead of the people who are used to drive or use vehicles. In other words, these people are in higher priority.

Let's also say the average speed of a busway is 30 km/h, of which each bus will take 2 minutes to travel for 1 km. If we assume the time between two buses is 1 minute, there will be two buses at any given time in a kilometer of busway lane.

Another important parameter is maximum capacity of a bus. A friend who's a regular busway rider informed me that a normal capacity is 40 passengers, and 60 passengers in an extremely full situation ("kalau dipaksain"). Let's assume an average of 50 passengers per bus.

This will give us a capacity to transport 100 passengers (50 passengers times 2 buses) every one kilometer per one busway lane.

Since 25% of these 100 passengers, or 25 people, come from other mass transportation, only 75 people truly move from driving a car to riding a busway. These 75 people equal to 60 cars (with 1.25 people per car).

A little summary from the above rough estimate:
- number of cars "displaced" when busway lane is installed: 80 cars/km/lane
- number of "cars" that will switch to riding a bus: 60 cars/km/lane

This means, once a busway lane is installed, the other lanes will be more congested by 20 cars for every kilometer. The more lanes available, the less added congestion will occur. But it will always be more congested. E.g. if there is only one other lane, it will be more congested by 20 cars for every kilometer. If there are 20 other lanes, each lane will be more congested by 1 car for every kilometer.

Therefore, busway is not effective in reducing traffic congestion.

Imagine on Jalan Sudirman, which is about 4km long, the two express lanes (jalur cepat) will have an additional of at least 160 cars - displaced from the new installed busway lane.

With this same logic (and only with this logic), several ways to decrease traffic congestion with busway are:
- Increase the capacity of busway - either by using bigger buses (more than 50 passengers per bus) or by having more frequently buses (less than one minute between buses).
- Prioritize passengers who "give up" driving. (How?)
- Add another vehicle lane for every busway lane installed. (Then we may not need busway.)
- Create busway lanes (or other mass rapid transportations) that do not utilize regular vehicle lanes. Subway? LRT? Hmm...

I'm sure there are lots of loopholes in this exercise, mostly through the simplified assumptions (I may need to do some sensitivity analysis?). But the conclusion probably won't be too far...

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Maybank and customer service

I've never had a good experience since banking with Maybank two years ago. Some were OK perhaps, but definitely nothing good. Not the ever-under-maintenance ATM. Not the teller. Not even account opening.

Last year's credit card renewal was horrible. From a phone number that was never picked up, to repeated visits to pick up my card.

They required a number of ridiculous documents. And they put the most unfriendly and incompetent people to talk to customers.

But I received a surprise today. Maybank sent a credit card renewal notification - that my new credit card is ready for collection. Just like that. That's way beyond expectation! (Though I still yet need to prove it)

Maybe because this time is my second renewal. Or perhaps they don't want to let those unfriendly and incompetent people to deal with customers.

Whatever, one thing for sure they've set my expectation so low, that even this makes me happy.

Maybe they've hired a consultant who taught them a (marketing?) theory that suggests that a customer's satisfaction with a service is a function of his expectation. If you can't improve the service, just lower the expectation, huh?

Anyway, good for Maybank. I hope they will do more improvements.


Another thought about customer service: Jakarta public transportation.

In a way, this is a candidate for the best customer service level. These buses, metro mini, and angkot are willing to stop every 20 meters to pickup the passengers. They will fight with other cars for the convenient of their customers.

But only before you get in.

Once you're in, it's a different story - no more customer service. They keep taking passengers in thinking human are compressible. They will do their best to take you to your destination as soon as possible, how unsafe it could be. They want you to get off while the vehicle is still moving.

It's been a while since I took a Jakarta public transportation. And I look forward to hop in to Busway the next time I'm going back - this weekend :D

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A visit to Satria Mandala

I finally was able to keep my word to Aroengbinang to visit the Satria Mandala museum, during my mudik last week. It's been at least 20 years since the last time I visited, and nothing looks to have changed. Okay, my memory isn't so great, but the Rp. 2500 entrance fee is probably a good indication.

Aroengbinang's post tells all about the museum, so I only put a picture of Anya and Ben excited to see a real tank (though not as cool as the ones in the Transformers).

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First posting from Jakarta

Just a quick two postings from other blogs --> on the middle column, Interesting Read section.

The first one is an old post by Marina Mahatir - the daughter of Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. She posted it in January this year, but since the similarity (or difference) between Indonesians and Malaysians is currently a hot topic, it's worth it to revisit her view.

Another one is written by David Lavoie, a Canadian teacher living in Malaysia, on the New Straits Times. Some light and humorous observations about some Malaysians' quirkiness, of which a few is shared by some Indonesians.

In case the link is not working anymore, here's what David wrote.

DAVID LAVOIE: The puzzling quirkiness of some Malaysians
The New Straits Times, Thursday, October 11, 2007

I have to admit that I love it. I enjoy Malaysia very much and I think that Malaysians are fine, fine people. They are warm, friendly, interesting and hospitable. But some of the things they do puzzle me enormously.

What follows are, and probably always will be to me, some of the mysteries of Malaysia. Alang-alang mandi, biar sampai basah; alang-alang berdakwat, biar sampai hitam.

Mystery number one, why do many Malaysians swim in such a bizarre way? Don’t get me wrong, a number of the Malaysians I see every day in my condominium pool are superb swimmers, but the majority employ a strong scooping motion of the arms along with a vigorous frog-like kick which takes them completely underwater for a metre or two. Then they shoot to the surface, desperately suck in a strangled gasp of air and disappear under the surface again, despair in their goggled eyes.

It’s a slow, slow method of swimming and it seems to require an enormous expenditure of energy as well as the risk of serious oxygen deprivation. I may be wrong, but I always thought, silly me, the whole purpose of swimming was to stay on the surface where the oxygen is.

How about roads? It amazes me that Malaysians can build fine-looking roads so quickly, but why, within a month, are they plagued with potholes the size of the Grand Canyon? Wouldn’t it be cheaper, and easier on cars, to put down a proper road base first before laying on the black-top?

Actually I’ve got a theory. I’ve decided that this is all some sort of gigantic Malaysian lottery. Those guys on the side of the road pretending to walk along? They’re really bookies taking bets on which car will hit the hole hardest. When you smack into one, they chortle and money surreptitiously changes hands.

What about double-parking? I realise that Kuala Lumpur, in particular, is plagued with too many cars and not nearly enough parking spaces. The problem seems the same in kind, if not in degree of intensity, elsewhere. I understand why people double-park.

What I don’t get is, where are all the people whose cars are parked on the inside? Why aren’t they outraged?

As a matter of fact, where are all the people who have boxed in other drivers gone as well? Why isn’t there mayhem? Stationary road rage? Wild screaming matches? Where have all the drivers been spirited off to? Extraterrestrials perhaps? This is one of the mysteries of the age.

Why, in so many public toilets, are washbasins, cabinets and urinals numbered? This, I really don’t get. I mean, it’s not like when I pay my 20 or 30 sen, the attendant says: “You are assigned to urinal No 3. Wash your hands in washbasin No 5.”

Is there a mysterious purpose for these numbers or is it just a peculiar Malaysian fetish for order?

Why do all those guys on motorcycles wear their jackets backwards? What’s the point?

Is it to cut down the wind in your progress? To keep you dry in case of rain, to keep your clothes clean? Does it keep you warmer?

I suspect a combination of many factors here, but, if so, that, too, is a mystery.

If it’s to keep your clothes clean, for instance, that means that you are perfectly clean as you approach people, but a mess when you turn around to leave.

I’ve decided that since I will probably never figure this one out, it must be a uniquely Malaysian fashion statement.

Why do Malaysians consider public streets and sidewalks an extension of their front yard or business? Restaurants block sidewalks with extra chairs and tables during peak hours. Businesses expand onto the same sidewalk with a maze of tables and shelves of merchandise.

Best of all are the home parties that block entire streets to vehicular traffic. I have to admit that I sort of like and admire this one.

You need room for your party? Why not put up a tent in the street? Cars can always back up and take an alternate route. It’s so liberated.

Why do Malaysians use plates?

I had to come here before I ate my first meal off a banana leaf and the beauty of it brought tears to my eyes.

If we all ate every meal off banana leaves, no one would ever have to wash a dish again (a chore I hate). It’s too beautiful.

Why, Malaysia could become the world’s largest exporter of banana leaves! Of course, I haven’t quite figured out what to do about laksa.

So there they are, just a few of the mysteries that keep me fascinated with this wonderful country.

Maybe I’ll stick around for a while. After all, I’ve obviously got a lot to learn, lah.

David Lavoie is a retired Canadian teacher who now makes Malaysia his home.

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Jakarta flood - the aftermath

Many people here in Malaysia asked about the Jakarta flood. Not much I could tell about it, other than what I saw on the TV and read on the internet. I think pictures from Javajive and Marek Bialoglowy capture most of it.

One of my close relatives' home was badly hit by the flood. The family stayed at my parents' for a couple of nights, and the last two weekends my family has been going there to help clean the house. Almost everything is gone or no more usable. Sofa, mattress, TV, refrigerator, clothes, documents... We're now trying to get their life started and going again.

Letter from a Sun's reader questions the RM3.6 billion fund to help mitigate flood in Johor. That's about USD 1 billion (Malaysia's 2005 GDP was $290 billion.) The letter nicely put it that the flood could've been prevented if developments around Johor had been properly assessed.

"... The root cause is no doubt due to corrupt practices. The government is trying to fool people by putting the blame on global warming."

Quite a similar situation to Jakarta. What about the fund for tsunami , earthquake, and others?

Will the government ever learn?

Because anything that can go wrong, will -- at the worst possible moment.

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5 out of 100 Jakarta students have had pre-marital sex

A recent research by a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Indonesia's Public Health Department discovered that five out of one hundred high school students in Jakarta have had sex.

The research surveyed 8941 students from 119 high schools, or equivalent, in Jakarta. It grouped sexual behaviors into eleven categories: sex (I assume sexual intercourse), oral sex, petting, and eight other categories which include chatting and hugging. The survey results for the most interesting categories are as follows -- behavior (% female / % male / % total): sexual intercourse (1.8 / 4.3 / 3.2), oral sex (1.8 / 4.5 / 3.3), petting (2.2 / 6.5 / 4.5)

Here's what I found interesting; please help me understand the statistics.

First, what it means by sex is not clear. (What's not clear about sex, c'mon!) Where does the 5 out of 100 figure come from? My best bet is only when sex here is defined as both sexual intercourse as well as oral sex.

Since 3.2% of the respondents does sexual intercourse, thus there is 1.8% who does only oral sex. This means 1.5% of those doing oral sex also does sexual intercourse. So far so good. But then it also indicates that there is 1.7% respondents who does sexual intercourse (more than 50% of them) without having oral sex. This can mean three things: the definition is not correct, my argument is flawed, or these kids are having a boring life!

Second, the proportion of male-female. Taking a big assumption that the respondents are split evenly 50-50 between males and females, I can argue from the study, referring to the population surveyed, that there are more "active" male students than their female counterparts.

However, it could be that: (1) the female students who have sex are doing so with more than one male student partners, or (2) the male students have sex with not only female students (perhaps with "tante"), or (3) there have been survey errors, from both males and females (e.g. courtesy bias, prestige seeking, social desirability response bias)

The newspaper/reporter should've done a better job explaining this. But I think in Indonesia we still lack individuals with good knowledge in statistics and/or market research. Reporters or politicians can easily swing a survey to the direction they want -- intentionally or unintentionally.

Nevertheless, a good research. We probably are more interested in knowing what the 119 schools are...

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Oh, Jakarta...

Jakarta is just too crowded and has far too short and narrow streets. While it's nice to see everyone again, family and friends, commuting from one place to another may take half a day. If that is not stressful enough, add millions of motorcycles into the equation!

Wikipedia claims Jakarta's population is 8.8 million. I heard, and believe, it is over 15 million during the day and about 12 million at night while everyone is back home in Bekasi, Tangerang and Bogor. Make no mistake, however, that the nightlife is amazing.

From Wikipedia:

Jakarta (also Djakarta or DKI Jakarta), formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Located on the northwest coast of the island of Java, it has an area of 661.52 km² and a population of 8,792,000 (2004).^[1] Jakarta has been developed for more than 490 years and currently is the ninth most densely populated city in the world with 44,283 people per sq mile.^[2] Its metropolitan area is called Jabotabek and contains more than 23 million people, and it comprises an even larger Jakarta-Bandung megalopolis.

Jakarta is served by the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Since 2004, Jakarta, under the governance of Sutiyoso, has developed its new transportation system, which is known as "TransJakarta" or "Busway" and in 2007, Jakarta will establish its newest transportation system, the Jakarta Monorail. Jakarta also is the location of the Jakarta Stock Exchange and the National Monument.

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