Bush: number one in failure?

George W. Bush: A Failure Once Again, According To Google, says an article in searchengineland.com; also in the sidebar section.

I took several clips of these searches.

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How can we engage more people in the democratic process?

Barack Obama, a candidate from the Democratic Party for the next U.S. president, is trying something that perhaps no other presidents or candidates have tried. He posted a question in Yahoo!Answer: how can we engage more people in the democratic process?

I'm not exactly clear what he meant by democratic process - whether it is the election only, or the whole democratic process, whatever the process is.

Some answers are quite interesting:

The first thing I would suggest is to reestablish the people's trust in government. Many people have lost trust in the system and this leads to apathy. After all, who wants to participate in a process that is viewed as flawed or biased? I, myself, have become disillusioned with our democratic process (as have many others I know). Many people just no longer believe that the government has their best interest in mind.
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This question assumes that participation in democratic process if a matter of *choice* when in fact its a matter of *ability*. The first step should be to bring all people to equal *ability* to participate in the democratic process. With massive inequalities in education, standard of living, and access to resources - we are clearly not there yet. On one hand we have those who don't even know whether they will get to eat tonight - worrying about voting in the mid-term elections is hardly on the top of their mind. On the other hand we have those who have paid millions of dollars to politician's election campaigns to make sure that their needs are taken care of once the politician gets elected. Can this really be referred to as "the democratic process"?
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It would help if politicians could be trusted. And the best way to gains ones trust is an act of generosity on their behalf. I think proposing legislation to remove corporate and private donations, essentially cleaning up the system, would prove to the voters you are genuine and can be trusted.
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By ending the smear campaigns. Many people have become apathetic to politics because they are fed up with the negativity and mud slinging. We want to hear what the candidates CAN and WILL do, not a list of every crime against the other.
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Send corrupt politicians to real prisons to serve real time. Stop treating us like children. Stop lying.
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The majority of the people I talk to tell me "it doesn't matter what I say or how I vote, Congress does what the people who donate the money to their campaigns tell them to do". I believe most politicians in Washington D.C. probably are bought and paid for and unless their constituency makes enough noise to change their vote they vote with big donor interest in mind. Unless we have Federally funded campaigns and some way to reign-in lobbyist pocket books and influence we will never get enough people engaged in the democratic process to make it really a "Government by the people".

Why do politicians want to engage more people in the democratic process? At the same time, why do people want to get engaged in the democratic process? I guess, whatever the answers are, politicians should not engage people in the process just for the sake of making the process looks democratic.

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He who shoots faster than own shadow

Lucky Luke shoots faster than his own shadow does. One of my favorite comics back then.

I used to collect a lot of comics available in my preteen; my dad reads a lot too. Mostly bought in Gramedia bookstore, some of my favorites include Tintin, EPPO, Album Cerita Ternama, and some more.

Lucky Luke rides Jolly Jumper, who sometimes is smarter than his master. In most editions, Luke fights the Dalton brothers, who are like dumb and dumber among them. There is one where Luke is the host to a Russian visitor or ambassador, of whom he gets in trouble a lot. And in some, Rantanplan, a dumb yet lucky dog, gets in his way. Rantanplan is his journey to look for his parents, if I'm not mistaken.

Tintin is probably one of the most successful comics ever. The first Tintin was published in 1930. It now even has its own official website though there hasn't been any new edition since 1986.

EPPO is a bit unique. It was probably not too suitable for kids in elementary schools. There was Storm, a six-pack hero, and his partner 'Rambut Merah' who almost always wore bikini-type war clothing. I never really understood the story...

I like Roel Djikstra story in EPPO too. One of the plots I remember was when Roel was shot while getting ready for a corner kick. It was all football politics and stuff. And there were Arad and Maya with their teleporter device, and I think a story about a French military guy who tried to put a bomb in the Eiffel tower... or somewhere along that line.

Album Cerita Ternama, a comic series published by Gramedia, was all about classic stories. Not only the stories were from the Western authors like Karl May or Jules Verne, but it also had stories like the Mahabarata, Pandawa, and such. A very enjoyable reading and learning.

I guess I will check out what kind of comics are available in the bookstores nowadays...

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Global Services Location Index is (not) Labor Cost Advantage Index?

As I work in supply chain management area, news related to labor costs or outsourcing always interest me. So does "Malaysia ranks 3rd in labor cost advantage index" in recent newspaper.

The more I dug in, though, I feel the title is inaccurate and, potentially, misleading.

Though I read the article in a newspaper, other news websites, like Bernama, NST, and Business Times, are identical.

The study referred to was done by A.T. Kearney, called Global Services Location Index. Its report, "Labor Cost Advantages of "Offshore" Locations Decline in 2006 According to New A.T. Kearney Study", was posted on March 15. The index itself is comprehensive, comprising of 41 measurements in three major categories.

clipped from www.atkearney.com About The 2007 Global Services Location Index The A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index analyzes the top 50 services locations worldwide against 41 measurements in three major categories: cost, people skills and availability, and business environment. The Index assigns weightings reflecting the drivers of offshoring decisions based on A.T. Kearney research and engagement experience. Because cost advantages have been the primary impetus behind offshoring, financial factors constitute 40 percent of the total Index weight. People skills and availability and business environment each receive a 30 percent weighting.

Malaysia does rank 3rd in overall - considering the three categories: financial, people, and environment. However, Malaysia ranks 21st in financial attractiveness, 19th in people skills & availability, and 14th in business environment. Vietnam tops the financial attractiveness category. See the data behind the 2007 Global Services Location Index here (pdf). A.T. Kearney also provides regional highlights of the study. Indonesia, by the way, ranks 2nd, 14th, and 49th in the same categories respectively.

Unless I'm totally off, i.e. I'm talking about a totally different study, I think it's pretty fair to say the report is somewhat inaccurate, i.e. there's no such Labor Cost Advantage Index. (I hope my words are politically-correct enough to not get me into trouble.)

One explanation of this, I can recall from one of my previous courses, Managerial Effectiveness, is confirmation bias. So I searched my old class notes (it's Sunday, I can do anything I want, right?) on this topic. Here's what the notes say about confirmation bias: the tendency to gather evidence that is consistent with a prior hypothesis. Some of the reasons are (1) laziness, (2) incomplete search, and/or (3) desire to reach a specific conclusion.

"The human understanding, when any proposition has been once laid down... forces everything else to add fresh support and confirmation... it is the peculiar and perpetual error of the human understanding to be more moved and excited by affirmatives than negatives." - Francis Bacon (1620)

Boooring... enough for the theories.

Another interesting example was when one poll was interpreted in two opposite ways: optimistic and pessimistic. Dave nicely put his views on this. I guess, we really are what we think we are.

So this perhaps can explain why Malaysia’s ministers are blogophobic as Unspun brought up, although in this case it's not only for bloggers, but also other official websites.

Well, I might be simply wrong or be “provocative, politically motivated, inaccurate or just floating rumors for the interests of certain parties.”

On the A.T. Kearney study itself, I'll save it for next week... enough study notes for one Sunday...

Source: A.T. Kearney Global Service Location Index 2007

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Find what's not right

Can anyone find what's not "right" in the picture below? (not to be taken seriously)


The image is from Yahoo!News Photo, one of the most emailed: "A man holds a little dog during Saint Lazaro's celebration in Masaya, some 25 kms (15 miles ) south of Managua, Sunday, March 25, 2007. Every year hundreds of parishioners take their dogs, most dressed up in costumes, to ask Saint Lazaro for their health." (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

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On dirty toilets and being hygienic

Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim said dirty toilets are the most common complaint foreign tourists have about Malaysia - I read in the Sun newspaper. It's not a surprise. Even he didn't deny that the condition of many public toilets leaves much room for improvements.

Also quoted in New Straits Times, Malaysian Tourist Guides Council president Jimmy Leong Wie Kong said: "Tourists are quite shocked when they visit our toilets. The toilets are dirty, wet, smelly and are often without toilet paper or soap."

It's enlightening to see them agree that this is a problem. Some actions have been taken, or planned, I guess, like introducing college courses in lavatory management. College course? Seriously, it's part of what Malaysia is doing to flush away its insanitary reputation. Or the "high-tech, self-cleaning toilets" that cost RM 400k each, as Screenshots blogged. (If I understood correctly, these sophisticated toilets will auto-flush. Kind of high-tech in early 90's to me. But still, thumbs up for providing this kind of toilets in public areas.)

What's sad is the main motive to solve this seems to be the tourism or image from outside, and not to be truly clean and hygienic - which is more the root cause.

clipped from www.timesonline.co.uk

“Try to imagine dirty, disgusting toilets that make you nauseous — these will
surely give us a negative image,” Najib Razak, the Deputy Prime Minister,
said at a speech last year at the National Toilet Expo and Forum.

Unspun has brought up the issue of dirty habit a few months back. This is perhaps true for most of the cultures in Asia. But there should be a shift in the habit - the one that is aware of personal hygiene.

Being hygienic, by the way, is not too difficult. We can all start with a discipline in washing our hands. And please dry them appropriately before getting off the toilet. I always wonder what it could be on the door handle when it's wet.

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Indonesia post-oil

In one of his posts, Indonesia an oil-rich country?, Philips, interestingly started the post with his opinion on Playboy Indonesia magazine, cited an interview from Warta Ekonomi about Indonesia's oil reserve - that it will last only for the next 20-25 years.

Even now Indonesia is already a net importer of oil. How will it be 25 years from now? Importing 100% oil requirements? How will it pay?

Is the government aware of this?

But there's a potential solution. Water. More specifically, from the rain.

Indonesia is among the countries that will get more rainfall due to global warming; while other regions will have their rivers, lakes and aquifers depleted. As water availability is very likely to increase, it could be the new oil for Indonesia. Perhaps 25 years from now we can trade water for oil.

Of course, selling water from rainfalls is not straightforward. For the time being, some people have tried this in smaller scale. But if there is a good business case, or a case for survival, it's worthwhile for the government to explore and develop.

So it seems that water could be the 'gold' of the future - especially with rich countries also face the problems of water stress. Even now some people are selling water with premium, like what Jakartass found (scroll down to March 4).

Anyhow, it's still 25 years from now. The government perhaps should think about how to manage the potential flood from the increasing rainfall.

We don't want to end up with no oil and flood, do we?

What's sad is that one major cause of global warming is us burning the fossil fuel - coal, gas, and oil.

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Bleachers

I recently finished reading John Grisham's Bleachers. One of Grisham's books that do not feature court room in the story. It is around the death of a football coach and all the experiences of his former players. What they learned. What they loved, and hated. What they wanted to, but couldn't, forget.

Eddie Rake, the coach, was a tough one. A very tough one. He swears, pushes his players to the limit, and makes them throw up during practices.

It reminds me of Pak Bobby who passed away a few years back. He was my high school sport (physical education) teacher.

Like Eddie Rake, Pak Bobby was tough and made us throw up during physical exercise. Despite that, he was like a father figure to some of us. But I believe there were students who hated him as well.

I was out of the country when he passed away. And I just couldn't make the time to visit his widow and children every time I was back. I heard they moved out of Jakarta.

It's kinda a guilty feeling that I have. One promise to myself I just couldn't keep.

Probably I managed to spend some time thinking about life.

Birthday

Thanks to Jennie for the wish. And to friends whose SMS I didn't reply until late in the evening. Like my buddy Sheque said, it's the symptom of getting old -- late SMS replies.

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Expensive communication

I find it amazing that it is so expensive to make a call to Indonesia from Malaysia. It's even more expensive than a call to the U.S. -- which takes about 10 more times to travel to (20-hour vs. 2-hour flying). It's MYR 1.80 (~USD 0.50) for a minute to Indonesia, while it costs only half of that to call the U.S. (Telekom Malaysia's (TM) rate)

Of course, there are other countries with more expensive calling rate. Like India at MYR 3.50 a minute. Or Cuba at MYR 5.00 a minute.

The calling rate from the U.S. is no different (except it's cheaper). A call to Indonesia from the U.S. costs USD 0.35 (AT&T) or USD 0.12 (Vonage). A minute to Malaysia is USD 0.22 (AT&T) or USD 0.06 (Vonage). India is USD 0.34 and 0.17 with AT&T and Vonage respectively.

Why is it so expensive to call Indonesia - more expensive than to call Malaysia?

One explanation is monopoly (or duopoly or triopoly, for that matter). But if this is the case, I don't think Malaysia is much different. In fact, TM is probably the only international call carrier in Malaysia.

Or higher initial investment required. The main telecommunication infrastructure difference between the two countries is Indonesia requires more across-islands connection, while Malaysia is pretty much two big areas (West, or peninsular, Malaysia, and East Malaysia). This will also require higher maintenance costs.

Another explanation is high operations costs due to older networks. Though this seems to be a good explanation, I don't have any intelligent information.

It could also be higher operations costs due to other reasons. Like poor efficiency. Or inflated costs. Or pungli. And so on (corruption too).

Or is it merely one of the government's cash cows?

Not to say that these things don't happen in Malaysia. It's just probably not as bad (so the rate can still be lower).

But, with Malaysian telecom companies entering Indonesia (Telekom Malaysia acquired Excelcomindo and Maxis took over PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler), will this change? It's not directly linked to international call rate or settlement rate, but there might be hope.

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Bango mania blog

Through Enda Nasution's blog, I found this community of kecap* Bango fans: bango mania. The blog is said to be presented by bloggers, from many countries, who love, enjoy or crazy about kecap Bango. It does not have any ties with the producer of kecap Bango.

As amazed as Enda was, I'm very happy to find this blog, particularly because it says it's presented by bloggers from many countries. My first thought was that it has informations and postings on where to find kecap Bango. But unfortunately it has only one post on the topic in Singapore.

I myself am a loyalist of kecap Bango. Most of the time, I can distinguish Bango from the other kecap (which my wife finds it a bit weird). I think it's the thickness and sweetness that set it apart from the other kecap.

I find it more difficult to find kecap Bango abroad, as compared to kecap ABC. Even here in Malaysia, as Coffeeliqueur also confirmed. It's kinda not nice to ask visiting friends and family to bring a couple of heavy bottles or refills of kecap Bango.

Back in the U.S. we were pretty much dependent on online merchants like indomerchant.com, though some Chinese grocery stores might carry some.

After the brand acquisition by Unilever in 2001, it is said that the business size has grown by 2.2 times, while market share grew by 3% annually. Now it's the matter of distribution worldwide. Bango should benefit from Unilever's worldwide network, as ABC probably does after being acquired by Heinz. So the hope is there.

* Kecap is soy sauce. Bango, in particular, is sweet soy sauce, which has a thick, almost syrupy consistency and a pronounced sweet, treacle-like flavor due to generous addition of palm sugar. It is a unique variety; in a pinch, it may be replaced by molasses with a little vegetable stock stirred in. (Wikipedia)

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