Bird Mumblings (鳥話)

While checking Singapore media websites for updates on the National Day Rally the other day, Jeremiah came across this syndicated Jakarta Post article on the Blue Bird taxi service in Jakarta.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/06/26/%E2%80%98joe-le-taxi%E2%80%99-inside-blue-bird-group.html

Blue Bird is generally considered one of the most reliable taxi companies in Indonesia.  They are present in almost every big Indonesian city, such as Jakarta, Denpasar, Surabaya, Semarang etc.  The article begins with fradulent Bluebird taxis in Jakarta, and then moves on to the granddaughter of the founder's comments on how Bluebird started.

“The company [started] in our house,” [the granddaughter of the founder] recounted, “it was very, very close. The drivers would eat with us every night…Nowadays, with 24,000 drivers across Indonesia, it’s a bit difficult for us to sit all around one table! But we still have an open house day once a year …where myself and my mother serve the drivers. It’s a time for everyone to eat together. The family values are still there.”

The article then continues as follows:

In theory, at least, Blue Bird is impressive, and has been commended for this — this year it was the proud recipient of the 2010 IMAC (Indonesia’s Most Admired Company) award. But, in practice, there’s a different story.

Many consider Express taxis to be more clued-up to street names and addresses, with one customer commenting that Blue Bird’s “biggest problem is with the drivers’ road knowledge. 

Yesterday, what should have been a 5-minute journey took one full hour of going up and down the same street to find the address.”


Having taken Blue Birds and other companies' taxis a few times, Jeremiah must say that the article is right on the dot.  Undoubtedly, the Blue Bird spirit and its modern fleet is what sets the company aside from its competitors.  Bird Bird taxis are generally modern and well-maintained, and its drivers polite.  But at the same time, Bird Bird seemed to have expanded too rapidly.  Quite a few Blue Bird drivers that Jeremiah encountered were very young, poorly trained and did not even know key landmarks in Indonesia.

The moral of the story: Companies in the service industry must focus on its service standards too.  Growth and cheap labour are not everything.  Chasing growth at the expense of other priorities could potentially damage one's reputation, the spirit that made one strong, and be detrimental over the long run.

Grand, Grand Indonesia

Having been to a tad too many overhyped shopping malls in Indonesia, Grand Indonesia came as a very pleasant surprise to Jeremiah.  Spanning over 600,000 square metres and occupying the primest location in the heart of Jakarta, the Grand Indonesia complex consists of a office tower, Hotel Indonesia-Kempinski, a high-end residential complex, anchored by the opulent Grand Indonesia Shopping Town (which incidentally feels more like a shopping city than a town).

With over three hundred shops and restaurants in its two wings, Grand Indonesia is about three times Paragon and VicoCity combined, and beats any mall in Singapore hands down with its opulence and range of shops.  In the East Wing are top-end stores like Chanel, Burberry and Salvatore Ferragamo, while more affordable brands like Mango, Raoul, Top Shop as way as Japanese departmental store chain Seibu can be found in the other wing.   For food lovers, fret not.  There are two Crystal Jades, Sushi Tel, Waraku and many, many excellent restaurants.  There is even a Cold Stone Creamery!

Do check out this mall if you are ever in Jakarta, but be mentally prepared for the high prices in some of the shops. In one of the homeware store there, a small dustbin was selling for S$100, while at Kinokuniya, the Saturday edition of the Straits Times retailed for S$7.50.

Artist Impression of the Plaza Indonesia Complex

Specialty haircut shop for kids - a sign of the atas-ness of the clientele

Food court at Grand Indonesia

The dining cluster area feels like a mini-Genting.  In this section of the dining cluster, genuine-looking bamboo shoots and plum trees are used to create a Northeast Asian experience.

Pearls of Wisdom

Not too long ago, Jeremiah wrote about Miss Environment Indonesia beseeching Indonesians to "safe the water".

http://lawrence-a-constant-gardener.blogspot.com/2010/03/store-your-water-in-your-safe.html

It seems like Miss Indonesia Qory Sandioriva, too, has come under flak for her English.  During an interview during the preliminary round of the Miss Universe competition, Qory was asked for the best advice she would give to men.  She nervously replied,

“I think when you down the women can make you up, and I think the women can be said that ‘I have advice for you’ if you way up, you have to be nice with people, include women, so when you down, women can be nice with you.”

Does she mean: Women really like to be on top but if you are nice to them, they will be nice to you and not insist to be on top.  Or is it a classic case of lost in translation?  There is only one way to find out.  Be nice to women!

Love You Like the Sky Above

Do you heart eggs like Jeremiah too?

Warning: This music video is very addictive.  Do not listen to it with volume at full blast in the office.  Embedding is disabled.  Click on link below to view on YouTube at your own peril. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFW9fMDAF9w&feature=related


Sidenote: This is Jeremiah's 100th blog post.  He would like to thank all the readers out there for their support all this while, through good times and bad, through smiles and tears.  Merci!

Destination Ang Mo Kio

The bus route was exactly the same, but the journey different.  While he was still a recruit on his Basic Military Training, Jeremiah used to take Bus Service 159 between Nee Soon Camp and Ang Mo Kio Central.  It was a pleasant but roller-coaster ride back then.  Pleasant because Jeremiah never really had to wait long for the bus, which was seldom packed. Pleasant because the traffic was smooth and there were lots of greenery along the way.  Roller-coaster because the happiness felt at every book-out morphed into xianness that intensifies as the bus nears Nee Soon Camp on the return trip.

Last weekend, many many years after his Basic Military Training, Jeremiah took Bus Service 159 home again after his IPPT at Khatib Camp.  That journey home was a microcosm of current-day Singapore and a mirror of the changes that have taken place in Singapore over the past few years. 

Leaving the camp at about 5:30 pm, Jeremiah waited for about 25 minutes for the bus to arrive.  Back in the days when Singapore did not have a world-class transport system, Jeremiah did not have have to wait for more than 15 minutes for the bus, even late at night when the bus service was running on a reduced frequency.  Halfway through the journey this time round, the bus became packed with foreign workers, the cacophony of their loud voices shattering the tranquillity.  Several new buildings could be seen along the way, taking the place of what was then green fields and forests. Whether the changes are good or bad Jeremiah would leave to another day, but the bus journey was certainly no longer as pleasant as it used to be.  Nonetheless, Jeremiah was as glad as previously when he reached home.  After all, home is where the heart is, regardless of how arduous the odyssey may be.

Bo Zheng Hu

Some rules are meant to be broken, but motorcycles on a pedestrian overhead bridge are a tad too much!

Photo from the Jakarta Post

Animal Business in Makassar

For a ultimate urbanite like Jeremiah, the preponderance of wild animals running around in Makassar came as a rude shock.  Hens, cocks, dogs, goats and cats were a common sight around his hostel.  The traffic jams and air pollution notwithstanding, Jakarta has been a welcome relief for Jeremiah.  But he sure misses the cheap and fresh seafood in Makassar. 

Wild goats 10m away from Jeremiah's hostel

Hens running amok in the front yard

They seem to be enjoying their game of hide and seek

Yummy seafood being grilled

Lunch for Jeremiah.  This huge fish only costs S$3

A Love Story

Not exactly a big fan of tearjerkers, Jeremiah nonetheless found himself catching "Basic Love" ("愛情故事") out of boredom but was glad that he caught it.  Set in Hong Kong, the movie revolves around a love triangle spanning ten years.   While the theme was typical, the acting and plot were excellent with the film full of dramatic tensions.

In essence, the protagonists - Guy A, Gals B and C - have known one another since their high school days.  Gals B and C are best friends.  Guy A has been in love with Gal B for the longest time, Gal B too likes Guy A but pretends that she doesn't know that Guy A likes her because she has leukemia and feels that they do not have a future together.  Gal C, on the other hand, carries a torch for Guy A.  Things come to a head when Gal B's condition worsened and she could no longer keep her condition a secret.  She and Guy A got together for a while before she disappeared.  Out of love for Guy A, she would like him to be together with Gal C as she is dying.  Out of love, Guy A of course would like to spend Gal B's last days together with her.  Out of love, Gal C decided to further her studies overseas for she knew that one cannot love to order and sometimes love means letting someone go.  In the end, Gal B dies but makes Guy A promise that he would not fall in love with another woman unless that woman is Gal C.

The cute actresses aside, what Jeremiah liked most about the film was how it brought out the complex nature of love.  The same love that drew all the protagonists today also has a centrifugal side to it.  Love means fighting for your loved one but at the same time, it can also mean giving him/her up.  Ultimately, it is about giving, rather than taking.  It is about making sacrifices, including giving up your loved one.

That, Jeremiah feels, is the essence of love.

Get Them While Young

Even for a Singaporean, Indonesians seem to like to sing a lot.  Karaoke joints are everywhere.  Coaches are equipped with basic karaoke systems.  Go to any tourist-oriented restaurant and chances are that it would have a live band that would happily welcome diners to perform stand-up karaoke acts.  Even in upmarket lounges, guests are welcomed to go on stage to sing.

The secret as to why karaoke is so popular?  Perhaps it got to do with the abundance of kiddie MTVs for young children here in Indonesia. 

Young girl at Fort Rotterdam, Makassar lip-synching while shooting a kiddie MTV.

Watching the Waves Go By

The biggest Indonesian city east of Java and the gateway to eastern Indonesia, Makassar is a sprawling city of 1.5 million.  Yet surprisingly, the city centre is an oasis of calm and tranquility with straight roads, pavements not overcrowded with street vendors, and where one chill and watch the waves go by.

View of the sunset from outside Fort Rotterdam

Losari Beach

Charming neighbourhood where Jeremiah's hotel was located

Jalan Somba Opu, which is populated by over 30 jewellery shops at last count

Generally big ships are more sea-worthy than smaller ones.  Not this one though.