Hi! Zillions of thanks for dropping by to 1412 Avenue, the place where dreams and hopes are lifted high up and where sky is the limit to freedom of expression and creativity!! ^__^
Now while I'm fully aware that being "mysterious" could be a sexy thing to do, but I'm just gonna set it straight: my name is Hanif Adinugroho Widyanto A.K.A. Hanif, KiD, Han, Niph, Kakek (translation: wiseman ^_^), Bon, Skill, you-name-it; anything that refers to the coolest guy in planet Earth -- so if you're looking for the official blog of Matthew Fox, lemme be the first to congratulate you coz you've come to the right place!! ^o^ hehee,,
Anyway... *ehem* Please please please do feel free to wander around my blog, find out more about KiD, read my entries about LIFE as I see fit, leave some comments about my AWESOME-NESS, or simply do anything POSITIVE here (no spam, hack, crack, slash, burn, etc. please)... enjoy your stay!! ^____^
cheers,
KiD
|
My name is Hanif Adinugroho Widyanto, a final-year undergrad student at President University, Jababeka, majoring in International Business study. I was born at St. Boromeous Hospital, Bandung, on October 23, 1987. In the early years of my life, my father got a scholarship to continue his master's at Curtin University so our family moved and lived at Perth, Australia for about 3 1/2 years. That's when my brother born. I remember that I was just a couple of months away before I celebrated my 5th b'day when we returned to Indonesia. Having spent the year after at my granny's house at Tebet, our family finally settled (until today) at a decent house in Melati Mas Residence, Serpong, Tangerang. My educational background from kindergarten until junior high school was dominated with one name: Al-Azhar BSD. I had such fond memories back then, but it was when I finally got accepted at Taruna Nusantara Senior High School, a semi-military boarding school at Magelang, Central Java, that my life hit its critical u-turn and started to drastically change. I started to realize and identify my 'purpose' as a person in this ever-competitive life, a Moslem in such a changing society, and an Indonesian in a globalized era. Today, I'm currently working on my thesis regarding "Analysis of Major Due Diligence Determinants to Attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) on Toll-Road Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Projects" , which has completely drained my very-limited-capacity-when-it-comes-to-doing-thesis brain, to the extent where I'd rather sleep than working on it (huhuuu,, lousy procrastinator me as always,, I know T_T). On the other hand, I'm also involved with the "International Symposium in Commemoration of 100 Years of National Awakening Day" in Berlin, Germany; an international event which is hosted and organized by my friends at the Indonesian Student Association (PPI) in Germany. This blog is just a snapshot of my life's chronicle, and while "I" am naturally gonna be the dominant 'force' in this blog, but my story could also be about you. About the challenging yet amusing life that I always cherish and adore (and hate sometimes ^^;). About every step that I have to take, decisions that I have to make, options and alternatives that I've got to choose (sometimes at a spur-of-the-moment notice!!). But mostly, it's about life in general and how I put things into perspective. This could easily be my story, but one in which (hopefully) you could relate and share with me and the rest of the readers. "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."Now you've heard my A-B-C, so what you think of me? ^__^ |
||
 |
 |
 |
|
Nationalism in Indonesia: Quo Vadis? (Part 2)
Globalization and Free Trade: What Really Happens?
Nowadays, we hear a great deal about “globalization”; about how the world is becoming a global village and how we, the people, being an incorporated part of it. Particularly in the field of International Business, we may also hear plenty about the importance of “free trade”. Our Economics text books teach us about the theories of Absolute Advantage by Adam Smith and Comparative Advantage by David Ricardo, all in support of reducing or even eliminating barriers to trade for the sake of optimum resource allocation in international trade.
In short: western scholars are making their points loud and clear: “Free trade rocks, and you lot must come aboard if you wanna prevail!!” And as if to unanimously concur with the proposal, advanced economies – mostly western countries a.k.a. the United States and co – through their many channels, organizations, movements, ideologies, etc. are promoting the notion of free trade under their celebrated globalization trademark to the extent where developing economies, Indonesia included, are forced to open their markets at the expense of their respective local industries and businesses.
Now here’s an instance of the one-sidedness in this whole purported free-trade arrangement: while advanced economies keep on subsidizing their agriculture (and farming) industry domestically, they force us, developing economies, to open our market, reduce our barriers to trade (i.e., quotas, tariffs), and let their goods enter our markets at a very competitive price. Ultimately, our local agriculture industries – just an instance among many others – wouldn’t be able to compete with the superior quality and aggressive price of foreign imports, and would slowly cease to exist.
Just look at the staggering numbers: The US Agricultural Department subsidizes over two dozen farming commodities, with an average of about $16 billion/year. That’s about $43 million/day for the local farming industry alone!! As a comparison, the budget for the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture for the whole year is only about $1 billion, and the amount allocated for local farming industry is significantly lesser than that. At the same time, the US (and its allies) implements a very strict Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) which prevents products from developing countries to enter their market at a competitive price. To date, China is among one of the few successful cases where a developing country market could deeply penetrate the US market – even creating the largest deficit ever in the US history.
However, Chinese exceptional success story aside, the US and its OECD allies are enjoying the benefits from their imbalanced trading with most developing economies, while they’re having an arguably “protected” domestic market themselves. This issue of agriculture subsidy is one of the core problems that both ends (i.e., developed vs. developing economies) are quarreling about throughout the several recent ministerial-level WTO meetings from Doha to Cancun to Hongkong to Geneva (known as the Doha Development Round); with China, India, and Brazil at the forefront of the developing economies’ opposition to the “imperialism” policy of the western countries.
But even after almost a decade, the Doha Round is still deadlocked over the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) in the agriculture sector. In other words, there seems to be conflicting interests between the “hidden agenda” behind the endorsement of free trade by the developed economies and the opposition of free-trade-as-defined-by-the-US-and-co by the “better-informed”, highly-emerging developing economies. In the midst of all this, where does Indonesia stand?
Wrapping it all up: Why Nationalism?
Now having the above information in mind, let’s return to our concept of nationalism and wrap it up from the context of international trade. As we may now observe, while those developed as well as highly emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China are busy protecting their own interests and developing their economies, countries with mismanaged government and broken authority such as Indonesia is wandering without clear focus on where they want to stand in the global context. Well, how could we do so when we’re having difficulty even to position ourselves domestically? Instead, what happens in my beloved country, Indonesia, is a desperate situation where the blame game between the government, media, NGOs, and the people never seems to reach its “season finale”.
This situation is worsened by the fact that everyday, we Indonesians are always faced with what seems to be an endless series of dire and humiliating news about our broken government and bureaucracy, corruption (infamously known as “KKN”), everlasting poverty and hardship, and so on. The local mainstream media even exacerbate the situation with their “bad news is good news” principle by constantly highlighting the idea that we’re doomed as a nation and that every policy and progress that our government does is a definite letdown and a guaranteed failure (ok, not all media, but still). Eventually, this “we are hopeless and doomed to failure” attitude slowly turns into a collectively accepted opinion nationwide and our productivity as a country gradually reaches its ultimate lows. This may be a huge assumption to prove in my side, but alas, the odds at this moment seem to corroborate what I’ve got to say.
Now to solve the crisis, here’s the simple logic: if you’re an Indonesian and you think that our country is a failure and life couldn’t get any better, there are two major options available. First, you could simply do nothing about it, maintain your indifference, your what-the-hell attitude, or just flee from this country and settle someplace nice abroad (if you could afford it), and that’s it. In such a case, we’re going to fall and collapse together as a nation, and life for most of the 230 million people in this country would get even worse that it already is. We might end up being in the greatest recession ever, with soaring inflation, record-high unemployment, and everlasting budget deficit which will lead our country as a failed state. And yes, when this happen, it’d only be us Indonesians who’re gonna take the downhill, not our “fellow world citizens” or neighboring countries, cos in this imperfect world, we’re not necessarily “equal” and aren’t in a level playing field, and that we’re “boxed” in our own nations according to our fate. So bear with it. (^__^);
Nationalism from within...
Otherwise, you could say it out loud that “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”, and that we’re gonna get together as one nation and start rebuild our economy. Together, you and I could stand up for the people of Indonesia and work hand-in-hand to establish good governance, prioritize on education, diminish corruption, enforce laws and regulations, create new jobs, eradicate poverty, and restore our dignity as a great nation. Sounds gibberish? Well, just ask China, India, Singapore, South Korea, or even Malaysia; whether it’s possible to rise together as a nation and become a successful economy. These countries will answer with a definite YES. So what about us?
As you may now see, the turning point here, ladies and gentlemen, is Nationalism.
Labels: Economics, Indonesia, Nationalism, Politics, World
posted by KiD_HaHn! on 11:44 AM | 1-comment(s)
Nationalism in Indonesia: Quo Vadis? (Part 1)
Judging from the title alone, you might expect this post to be yet another deliberate attempt to bear out the importance of “nationalism”. Well, I can’t argue on that. This post is indeed intended to address the issue. But this time around, I’m gonna point out the case from the perspective of an International Business student. Thus, the following is the very reason why I love my country, Indonesia, and why I will do anything at my disposal to defend and develop my country for the rest of my life. (Oh, since it turned out to be a pretty extensive post, I’m dividing it into two parts. Enjoy!)
Being an Indonesian vs. Citizen of the World
First of all: I’m an Indonesian, first, last, and for good. I live in my great and beautiful country which is suffering from major calamity in virtually every aspect of life. Corruption, poverty, high unemployment, soaring inflation, poor infrastructure, drawn-out bureaucracy, moral degradation, broken law enforcement, and the list goes on; the entire nation is in a great jeopardy of becoming a failing state. The newly released Doing Business 2009 report has shown how Indonesia’s rating stumbled down yet again in the midst of the ever competitive world market. Personally, I am ashamed of this. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s worthless to stand up for Indonesia. In fact, I’m gonna show you that having the spirit of nationalism burning within might as well be our last resort to survival.
Let’s face it: the world is sometimes harsh and tricky. And it only comes as natural for us to have wishful thinking of living in a picture perfect environment where we don’t have to break a sweat (at least) to earn a decent life cos we’ve got social security covering our entire life. Cos the government actually work in our best interest. Well, it doesn’t take a Ph.D. in economics to say that such a situation is a far cry for the case of Indonesia. So then we hear about the old remarks (which is strongly associated with globalization) saying, “Hey, what’s with this whole nationhood thingy? What’s the point of having the so-called nationalism? Don’t these terms only tear us humans apart? In the slightest of sense, in the end, aren’t we all citizens of the world?”
Precisely. Citizen of the world. The idea that we’re all essentially equal as humans and thus should be treated accordingly. Just google it and you’ll find around 9.4 million entries (and counting) about the term, including “how to register as a world citizen”. For some us (ignorant) Indonesians, it might sound like a great runaway – and excuse – to break out from the harsh reality of living in Indonesia or being an Indonesian. Why should we even bother to raise and develop Indonesia? A “failing” state in the verge of a major collapse with virtually no hope… why don’t we just simply forgo the concept of Indonesia as an entity which unites the whole country as one, and become part of this “world citizen”? Sounds fun and less complicated, isn’t it? Well, for me, this is where we got it all wrong, folks…
Lemme get it straight. As a Moslem, I do believe that in the eye of God Almighty, we’re all equal. Make no mistake about it. But unfortunately, we couldn’t be so naïve as to say that the same situation holds true when it comes to the world “order”. The world as we know it consists of different nations with their own unique history and cultures. And while most members of a particular nation may never meet each other, but they feel a common bond which unites them in the “imagined community” called nation. Once originated from one of the most influential doctrines in Western Europe since the late 18th century or so, the concept of nationhood has since evolved until it becomes what we have now taken for granted as “nation” – from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Hence the evolution and implementation of the term nationalism in our daily life.
to be continued...
Labels: Economics, Indonesia, Nationalism, Politics, World
posted by KiD_HaHn! on 6:19 AM | 0-comment(s)
The Thesis Chronicle
I had to do this, you know...And the truth of the matter is, it’s not until mid-August that I began working on my thesis. Yes, the procrastinator in me had successfully distorted my mind. Besides, honestly, it‘s freakin hard for me to actually work on something when the remaining time’s still far-off. It’s not.. umm.. "challenging" in a way. But anyway, I’d to bear the consequences of having such an attitude. I could hardly sleep these past couple of weeks to finish my thesis +_+
Finally, my thesis draft!! My baby!!Well, two weeks of uphill struggle, loads of multivitamins, less DVDs and games, and 150++ pages of writing later, I’ve got my brain drained and my body all tired out. Now my thesis is done, but I’ve got to save the euphoria for later cause my final thesis defense is scheduled for next week. OMG!! Next week!! And now it’s Thursday already!! Cut me some slack… *sob sob* I just keep on imagining that once this whole things are over, I’ll be free as a bird!! Hohooo…
Wish me luck for my defense, okay? ^__^
KiD posted by KiD_HaHn! on 10:22 AM | 0-comment(s)
Behind the Scene: the 1412 Avenue
Well, truth is, I kinda like my blog's conventional old layout. It's more... humm.. "navigable" and blog-like if you will
. But somehow, the fact that I couldn't manage to get around the coding (html, css, javascript, blahblahblah) so that it could be viewed with firefox as perfect as it was with Internet Explorer really bugged me cos I am an avid firefox user myself. So I finally decided that I should get outta my "comfy zone" and change my blog's layout to a fresh look.While it's been quite some time since the last time I actually wrote something in this blog, but I never really quit blogging. I always do some "blogwalking" to find inspirations for my blog. Well, as it turned out, many of my friends have pretty amazing and interesting stuffs to showcase at their blogs, and I particularly like some of them. But wait!! That's when I realized something: my blog is totally BORING to read!!
The thing is, having viewed and read some of my friend's or random people's blogs for awhile, I got to the point where I realized that my style of writing is way too "formal" (a friend of mine also criticized me about this), my topics are too self-centered, the blog itself is rarely updated, and the list goes on. On the other hand, I also have this sudden urge of sensation to liven up my blog and make it more interesting to tag along. So I have to sort of "re-energize" my blog, and the first thing that came up in my mind was to completely change the layout of the blog. I even considered about migrating my blog to wordpress, but decided to stick with blogger since I got frustrated when I learned that I couldn't freely customize the layout of wordpress. Too bad really, I kinda like some of its features though.
I got the basic layout for my current blog from blogskins.com, a blogger template provider that was recommended by my sis, Kamila. The layout is very minimalist, yet its javascript tweak enables me to have multiple pages in my blog -- something that's become one of blogger's main drawbacks compared to other free blog hosting provider. I had some fun in configuring the javascript and CSS codes in order to match my header design and blog contents. In the "5W1H" section, I applied a bit (and the only
) of my web-development skill to make it look neat with its round-shaped edges. All in all, it was a fun process to do.Now that my blog already has a fresh look, I'm committed to update the entries more often. Hopefully, this time around, it's for real!!
while listening to Ports of Lima,
KiD
Labels: Reflection
posted by KiD_HaHn! on 9:01 AM | 0-comment(s)
Revocation of The US Independence!! (You Wish :P)
Just got it off the mailing list of indobebaters, and thought that it's amusing!! Credit goes to whoever made this in the first place; presumably a typical stuck-up Briton (but I like it ^_^). So here it is... Enjoy!!
To the citizens of the United States of America, in the light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.
Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Kansas, which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The Right Honourable Gordon Brown, MP for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a Governor-General for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
- You should look up revocation in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up aluminium. Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour', skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters. You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix ize will be replaced by the suffix ise. You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation.
Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up vocabulary. Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up interspersed. There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary then you won't have to use bad language as often. - There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.
- You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier). You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents - Scottish dramas such as Taggart will no longer be broadcast with subtitles. While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is Devon. If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become shires e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.
- Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters. British sit-coms such as Men Behaving Badly or Red Dwarf will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness.
- You should relearn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen but only after fully carrying out task #1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.
- You should stop playing American football. There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American football is not a very good game. The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays American football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US Rugby sevens side by the end of 2008. You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders,your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called rounders, which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.
- You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
- All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
- You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat. Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.
- The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all, it is lager. From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer,and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. The substances formerly known as American Beer will henceforth be referred to as Near-Frozen Knat's Urine,with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as Weak Near-Frozen Knat's Urine. This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in Pilsen,Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.
- From March 1st the UK will harmonise petrol (or Gasoline, as you will be permitted to keep calling it until April 1st 2008) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $8/US gallon- get used to it).
- You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.
- Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.
- Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).
Thank you for your co-operation and have a great day.
John Cleese
Labels: Joke
posted by KiD_HaHn! on 6:51 PM | 1-comment(s)
Oil Price: yet another RECORD HIGH!!
Now I wonder what will happen next?! $200/barrel?! Yea right,, and we'll be healthier indeed for we'll be going about WALKING,,!! Hehee,, Could I still be laughing about it when it actually happens?! Not in my wildest imagination!! Hope things are gonna be okay,, Godspeed!!
>> Update
Remember how it was $105/barrel? Now (3/14) it's (finally) reached the psychological level of $110/barrel!!!
,,,and the dollar keeps plummeting to its worst point against several major currencies,, I have a feeling that the worst is yet to come,, let's just wait n see ^_^;
Labels: Economics, Events, Oil, World
posted by KiD_HaHn! on 11:12 AM | 0-comment(s)
Yes, We Can.
The US Presidential Election means a lot to the world, especially in light of the upcoming (or ongoing?) recession that could impact not only the people in the States, but elsewhere in the world. I’ve been trailing the election for some time now, seeing and measuring all the candidates from both parties (the DNC and GOP) and am now certain of one thing: Barack Obama is the right candidate for president of the US!! What can I say? He’s young, charismatic, visionary, and has this enormous message that’s totally inspiring and unifying; anyway you look at it. He’s got extensive supports nationwide especially from young voters, and endorsements from prominent figures who’re fed up with the current Bush administration, just like the rest of the world do. What's more, I also believe that he's the much-needed president to improve the country's image in the eye of the world (that's been greatly devastated by the current administration).
Just now when I was browsing the net, I happened to stumble upon these two great music vids which would pretty much explain how he’s inspired many people; in this case: artists and celebrities.
Well, as you may see for yourself from the video, there're some prominent celebrities featured - all endorsing Barack Obama - including will.i.am (the rockin’ Black Eyed Peas member), Scarlett Johansson (yes, the lovely Scarlett ^^), John Legend (what a divine voice!!), Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh (my favorite cast from Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice!!), Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Kelly Hu (Kelly Who?! *apaan sih niif*), Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta, Nick Cannon, and some others. The vid itself was produced by will.i.am and directed by Jesse Dylan (yepp, son of the legendary Bob Dylan).
And if that’s not enough, now you gotta watch this other cool vid by the Bergevin Brothers, with lyrics inspired by Obama's speeches; also endorsing the campaign:
Should I say more? Just three simple words: Yes, We Can.
Fired Up, Ready to go.
KiD
Labels: Politics, Video, World
posted by KiD_HaHn! on 10:35 AM | 0-comment(s)
On Internship @ Bappenas
Labels: Life
posted by KiD_HaHn! on 7:55 PM | 0-comment(s)
Internship: updated and some other stuffs,,
Labels: Future, Life, Reflection
posted by KiD_HaHn! on 11:18 AM | 3-comment(s)
Internship, 2007, and Resolution
...here's to 2008...!!
Labels: Future, Life, Reflection
posted by KiD_HaHn! on 11:44 PM | 1-comment(s)|
let's tag along!! |
archives
October 2004 June 2006 July 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 June 2008 September 2008 *please refer to "the blog" to see KiD's entry(s) after clicking on any specific month.
|
