Andrias Yose

[Note: Ini hanya kutipan 3 paragraf pertama dari artikel keseluruhan yang diterbitkan oleh Business News. Kalau ditelusuri di forum-forum luar negeri mengenai agroindustri jarak, sudah beberapa orang mengomentari mengenai kekurangan bibit unggul. Di Indonesia, Presiden telah mengeluarkan InPres Nomor 1 Tahun 2006 tentang Penyediaan dan Pemanfaatan Bahan Bakar Nabati (Biofuel) Sebagai Bahan Bakar Lain (efektif 25 Januari 2006). Menteri Pertanian dinyatakan pendorong "penyediaan tanaman bahan baku bahan bakar nabati (biofuel) termasuk benih dan bibitnya; melakukan penyuluhan pengembangan tanaman bahan baku bahan bakar nabati (biofuel)." Belum cek dengan Departemen Pertanian mengenai apakah mereka mempunyai stok. Setau yg gue denger sih ga ada.]

Business News 7397 / 7 Agustus 2006

5 Agustus 2006

TIPUDAYA AGROINDUSTRI JARAK

Bulan Maret silam, di rubrik ini  pernah dimuat tulisan dengan judul: Hati-hati Terjun ke Agroindustri Jarak. Tetapi tulisan di sebuah buletin seperti ini, tentu sangat kecil dampaknya ke pembaca. Sebab tulisan di harian nasional dengan oplah 500,000 eksemplar pun, masih kalah dengan berita yang terus-menerus ditulis tentang kehebatan jarak. Rakyat, pengusaha, pejabat pemerintah dan media massa, semua terjangkiti demam bertanam jarak. Sebuah majalah prestisius, malahan telah mensponsori eksperimen perjalanan jarak jauh, dengan mobil berbahan bakar minyak jarak.

Ada dua kelompok promotor jarak. Pertama, mereka yang memang berniat tulis ingin mengatasi krisis BBM dengan bahan bakar alternatif, tetapi tidak terlalu menguasai permasalahan.  Kedua, mereka yang sebenarnya hanya ingin memperoleh keuntungan finansial dari proyek jarak dari APBN, yang nilainya triliunan rupiah. Mereka ini cenderung hanya menonjolkan kehebatan jarak, tanpa sedikitpun menunjukkan titik lemahnya. Seorang warga negara Amerika Serikat, berkomentar tentang euforia komoditas jarak di Indonesia ini. "Anda merasa seakan-akan sedang menemukan Roda pada komoditas jarak! Padahal roda sudah ditemukan beberapa abad sebelum masehi."

Pihak yang demikian gencar mempromosikan jarak ini, sebenarnya sedang menipu pemerintah sekaligus rakyat. jarak Pagar (Jatropha curcas), sebenarnya juga pernah populer pada zaman Jepang. Tahun 1980-an, pernah terjadi pula demam bertanam jarak. Tetapi ketika itu, yang diperkenalkan ke masyrakat bukan jarak pager, melainkan jarak kepyar atau jarak kosta (Ricinus Communis). Komoditas yang jgua pernah dihebohkan dan kemudian terbukti menipu adalah pisang abaka, cacing, jangkrik, pace, dan lain-lain. Seperti halnya jarak, pisang abaka juga pernah menjadi proyek pemerintah pada akhir tahun 1990-an dan awal tahun 2000-an.

Source: http://www.moodiereport.com/blank.php?nextpage=mr_rep1.php&category_id=News&tn=document&id=7561

Source: ©The Moodie Report By Martin Moodie

DFS Group “continues to grow” as luxury giant LVMH delivers strong first-half sales rise – 25/07/05

FRANCE. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products group, today reported consolidated sales of €6,173 million (US$7,444 million) in the first half of 2005. This represent a +10% increase year-on-year on a reported basis and +12% on an organic* basis.

LVMH said that sales growth accelerated in the second quarter, despite following a strong +19% increase in the second quarter of 2004.

As usual LVMH did not break out the performance of travel retailer DFS Group from those of the Selective Retailing business group, which posted a +12% rise in reported terms year-on-year (+15% organically).

LVMH commented: “In the Selective Retailing business group, DFS continues to grow, particularly in Asia. [Beauty chain] Sephora continues to deliver good performance in Europe. In the US, sales growth is accelerating with, once again, a double-digit increase on a comparable store basis.”
*****

Le Bon Marché
Founded in: 1852
Activity: Department stores, La Grande Epicerie, La Boutique Mariage, Balthazar
24, rue de Sèvres
75007 Paris - France
www.lebonmarche.fr
*****

DFS Group LTD (San Francisco, California, USA) is under the Selective Retailing Division of Le Bon Marché (Paris, France). DFS was founded in 1961.
*****

DFS VENTURE SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.
PT SONA TOPAS TOURISM I TBK
    DFS Indonesia (Administration Jakarta)
PT INTI DUFREE PROMOSINDO (HQ – Bali)
PT INTI DUFREE PROMOSINDO
*****

DFS Galleria Singapore
DFS Galleria Bali
DFS Discover Bali
DFS Bali International Airport
*****

==Same Line of Biz in Indonesia, under…==
Japan Office “Plaza Bali Tokyo”
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Andrias Y.
May ‘06
(Sources: various)

      The One School One Lab programme was made possible through the Minister of Communication and Information Technology Decree No. 17/KEP/M.KOMINFO/4/2003 regarding the introduction of “An integrated program to reduce gap and information technology handicap in young generation and students.” The OSOL program is part of Indonesia’s effort to increase the level of computer penetration in schools, particularly the K-12 students.

      The Way Kanan Project in the Lampung province, for example, is a part of the 199 cities nationwide classified as underdeveloped. The Way Kanan Project is part of the programs that the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (KOMINFO) and the Directorate of Special and Underdeveloped Territorial Development (BAPPENAS) developed in providing telecommunication access to underdeveloped regions.

      During the 2003 to 2005 periods alone, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology planned to build 30 OSOL. The minimum requirement to maintain the standard ICT interoperability in OSOL program for software and hardware are: CPU equal or better than Pentium II, RAM equal or better than 128 MB, Hard Disk capacity equal or better than 20 GB, motherboard equipped with extra slot for external memory, Open Source O/S or equal or better than Windows 98 .

      The OSOL projects involved partnership cooperation from various sectors, including multinational companies and oil and mining companies such as Dell, Microsoft, Pertamina, Hewlett Packard, SuSE, and others.
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Andrias Y.
June 29, 2006
(sources: various; listed in original)

      The development of Indonesia’s telecommunication industry covers improvement of telecommunication and information services to reach the village area that is implemented by the Universal Service Obligation (USO). It is also able to support the restructuring and reforming in the telecommunication sector.

      In support of the national development, the State-Owned telecommunication company, PT Telkom has facilitated to a faster information flow and a more extended range of telecommunication services to all over Indonesia. The goal is to improve the capability, efficiency, and reliability of telecommunication and information services to the public. The use of telephone since the post-economic crisis period to the present day has steadily increased.

      In order to reach the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), ensuring that over 50 percent of the citizens in each country should have access to the internet by 2015, warnet can play a pivotal role in promoting the use of the internet among Indonesian. The Indonesian State Ministry for Communication and Information plans to penetrate 43,000 villages with community internet access-points as part of the Universal Service Obligation or USO project.

      The slogan for Universal Service Obligation in Indonesia is known as, “Community Access Within Walking Range,” a provision of basic telephony services, where priority is emphasized in areas with existing technical support and economical potency/viability. Existing technical support refers to the site support, electricity support, and proximity to a telephone central).

      The Universal Service Obligation is also part of the plan detailed in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), targeting over 50% of the population to have access to basic telephony services as well as Internet access by 2015. The Indonesian State Ministry for Communication and Information Technology plans to penetrate some 43,000 villages with community Internet access-points (CAP) as part of the short-term USO project.

      For the medium-term project, provision of access and services to local economic centers, schools, health centers, and households are targeted. Whilst long-term project includes the provision of information access for all, and include the educating of people and developing and fitting contents and applications.

      The government’s deployment scheme for Phase I (2003 – 2004) of the USO Project targeted 7,500 villages and 870 municipalities with funding from the annual state budget (APBN). Phase II (2005 – 2007) of the project targeted 17,000 villages with the telecommunications operator contributing 1% of their gross revenues to support the development and implementation. Whilst in phase III (2008 – 2010) will target 18,522 villages by implementing and developing technologies such as VSAT, cellular, radio point-to-piont, IP Base, and PFS[1].

      The technology implemented is based on the USO region’s geographical and infrastructure characteristics, and include other alternatives such as cable (wirelines), wireless (radio), and satellite. The USO project is a long-term project involving continuous and sustainable process from the government sector (central and local governments), commercial sector, as well as the independent sector comprising mainly of ICT community members throughout Indonesia.

      In the commercial regions characterized by competitions and non-USO related, the government provides full opportunity for investors to participate and compete in the telecommunication development in these regions. The government is currently repositioning itself as a facilitator, providing the necessary policies and regulations to develop a dynamic and fair competitive environment.

      In the non-commercial regions characterized by non-commercialized regions and USO-related, the government will be actively setting up funding strategies and the implementation of telecommunication development in USO areas.

      Aside from the three major national promotion policies mentioned above, the government has also collaborated with the commercial sector, non-government organizations, community organizations and others in promoting the development of the telecommunication industry in a national scale. Below are a few of the examples.

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Andrias Y.
June 29, ‘06

(Sources: Various; Listed in Original)

      someone once told me when i was 14-15 years old, that a diamond generally costs about US$ 5. he told me that the diamond jewel market was really over-hyped to the point of lunacy. and people around the world just bought into that delusion best described as, "diamond’s forever" and "diamonds are a woman’s best friend."
      those words entered my mind again quite recently, regarding the energy industry. energy industry includes upstream/downstream oil and gas, coal, electricity, and alternative energy.
      alternative energy like biodiesel, biofuel, and biomass ain’t really anything new. the idea, the research, and the technology already existed years ago. this is not to mention existing alternative energy from the sun, water, wind, and what-nots.
      me and AA talked recently about why multinational oil and gas companies have not expand and/or invest in the biofuel energy business. well, there were several possibilities that came to our mind, but at least one possibility was left undiscussed.
      big oil and gas companies already have the resources (human resource, capital resource, technological know-how), so it ain’t really that difficult for them to focus on biofuel. however, it would be easier, imo, for big oil and gas companies to simply acquire or merge a company/ies that are already established in the biofuel busines rather than simply establishing another division or affiliate/subsidiary company.
      my arguments? cheaper, less hassle, lower risk.
      anyway, on to a related but not coherent line of thought…
      indonesia already has a lot of rubbish, and even more problems dealing with the rubbish in our own backyards. yet, we still purchase other countries’ rubbish. ain’t that amazing?
      i always thought that setting up a waste recycling vis-a-vis electric energy conversion is such a cool idea. the business potential is really huge in Indonesia. yet…, why aren’t big businesses (domestic investment or PMDN) investing their money on it?
      possibly, the profit to gain from it is puny, whilst the risk or risk might be high. ‘coz i ain’t an engineer, a scientist, nor an expert, i don’t really know how much of the recycled waste can be converted into electric power.
      back when i was 14-15, i drew up this idea of converting energy from the human bodies. well, my tutor said that the idea was cool, but would never be realized. for me back then, i saw nothing wrong with converting energy from human corpses. today, i still see nothing wrong with it. i still think that it’s such a waste to let a human corpse goes to waste by burying it or cremating it. but technological-wise, maybe there we don’t have that kind of technology yet. to convert human corpses into energy.
      like i said, the idea was just a teenager’s imagination. we learned in school that oil is created through millions maybe billions of years of pressurized process. so there you go, if we have the technology to pressurized animal bodies or human bodies and convert it to oil, wouldn’t that be something? hahaha. realizing it, however, wouldn’t be cool at all. ‘coz the issues of morality and ethicality would definitely smash that idea to smithereen.
      in one of my sociology classes, i learned about conservism versus consumerism. after graduating from college, the concept of global consumerism began to be clearer to me. would it be justified to reason that increase consumerism means increase rubbish? yes. and, no.
      for some developed countries, the societies have generally adapted the habit of recycling. recycling is an alternative to deal with the waste created with increased consumerism habit. but, for many or all of the developing countries, i don’t believe that recycling and conservism are something of a priority. moreover, considering that probably half or more of the world’s population are in the developing countries.
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Andrias Y.
August 4, 2006

      found this article by accident on Gamespot.com as i was browsing around looking for maps patch for WoW. the original article…, well… it’s not really an article but more of an interview. if you are curious to read more about discrimination in games, you can check it out at the following link:

      http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/warcraft3reignofchaos/news.html?sid=6154591

      some years back, someone (can’t remember who), told me something interesting to me back then. he said, race, gender and religion ain’t the only things in this world that people use to discriminate against others.

      he quoted me other examples, such as, age discrimination, height discrimination, weight discrimination, popularity/unpopular discrmination, and so on.

      recalling those words and the article, i reflected accidentally on a Chinese proverb that literally translates to "Evils are the same everywhere."

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Andrias Y.

August 1, 2006