Jakartass Home thoughts from abroad. Alien thoughts from home.

According to Dr. Eeva Karjalainen and colleagues at the Finnish Forest Research Institute, a walk in the woods is one of the most enjoyable activities around because it can reduce stress and depression, ease muscle tension, counter attention deficit disorder, even calm an erratic heart.

I have never understood why 'Man' thinks that it is possible to 'own', let alone 'tame' nature. As the ruins of ancient civilisations, should remind us, generations come and go; Mother Nature has only so much tolerance for our greed. All we can do – should do – is safeguard what we borrow and seek to work with, rather than against, our temporary residence.

The collapse of the empires of the Khymer who built Angkor Wat, and of the Incas who built Manu Picchu is attributed to environmental degradation.

The decline of the Roman Empire is also attributed to this and a number of other reasons, such as decaying infrastructure and that "it fell to Islam", a decline in morals, including a rise in corruption among the rich and powerful. It's all inter-related.

Sound familiar?

Planet Earth vs. Man
One winner, billions of losers.

Surely we hold Planet Earth in trust for future generations. This has belatedly been recognised here in Indonesia with such legislation as Law No. 41/1999 regarding protected forests .

Unfortunately, as is recognised worldwide, law enforcement is weak, particularly among civil authorities. This may explain why 100 hectares of protected, but now severely damaged, forest in South Sumatra has ended up in the greasy and greedy hands of local officials.

But even access to areas of relatively untouched nature is limited, not so much by ever-spreading urban areas and privatisation as by the attitudes of 'government'.

According to Dan Quinn, 'gunung bagger' extraordinaire, this hampers access to Jakarta's nearest national parks.

When dealing with gaining access to a peak within the limits of a national park, the process becomes hopelessly complicated. There is a ludicrous obsession with permits – in the notable case of Gede Pangrango – and an advance reservation is sometimes required.

There is a case to be made for limiting damage, but the park's guardians don't actually do this.

It is necessary to let the terrain recover from the thousands of boot prints and mounds of discarded Pop Mie cartons.

Like me, he is originally from Great Britain, where there is a legal 'right to roam', that is, hikers are allowed unfettered access to most mountain areas except, quite understandably, if it involves walking through somebody’s private property.

But this may soon be lost as the new "laissez-faire government", with massive budget cuts in the pipeline, may be planning to sell off nature reserves.

I have already written extensively about how children have rare opportunities to get in touch with nature, for example, both here in Indonesia and back in Blighty .

"More kids today are interested in the natural world than ever before; but far fewer are experiencing it directly, on their own or with their friends, and that's what counts: this is about more than nature."

Yes, attitudes must change. It's surely time that a course on How To Live On Planet Earth is included in the national curriculum and concurrently taught to elected legislators, appointed lecturers, recruited bureaucrats, and business executives – why should Bakrie be the country's largest landowner?
…………………………..
BTW. Other animals are cleaner defecators.
Look at the picture of a Solo loo on this site – and shudder!

I don't like Coca Cola, nor Pepsi come to think of it. Both are too sweet and far from refreshing, but, hey, I'm not going to tell Our Kid to stop drinking it while I'm downing a bottle or two of Bintang Pilsener during our regular sessions at Ya Udah.

Several years ago, because I thought that things went better without Coke, contrary to their then advertising slogan, and having no intention of teaching the world to sing, I went on several treks hoping to actually reach a place where I couldn't actually get a Coke, even if I had wanted one. I failed; I found it in tea stalls outside monasteries in the Karakoram range of the Himalayas, on the Burmese border of the northern hills of Thailand, and at the top of Gunung Batur in Bali.

Although I personally believe that their whole marketing strategy is one of cultural imperialism, what concerns me at the moment is their sheer cynicism – hypocrisy even – when it comes to their 'corporate social responsibility'. I'll explain this in a further post. First read this email I received yesterday from my favourite trough here in Jakarta.

Is Idiot Stencilled Across Consumers' Foreheads?

For over 10 years the Ya Udah Bistro has had on its drinks list Coca Cola products, such as Cola Original, Sprite, Fanta Red and soda water as well as Diet – now Zero – Cola. With the exception of Diet Cola, which always comes in a can, all others have been offered in 295 ml glass bottles. Recently, running low on Sprite, we placed an order with the Cola Company, but did not receive any delivery as they claimed that the 295 ml bottles 'tidak ada stock, i.e. not in stock.

After repeated orders and no delivery we contacted Coca Cola Sales and we were informed that not only Sprite but all other drinks in 295 ml glass bottles have been discontinued and only the baby 200 ml size is still available in glass bottles. There are now only their so-called PET plastic bottles and cans available.

Obviously we are not happy. Firstly, serving drinks in a can or a plastic bottle does not look great in a restaurant.

But what's more, Coca Cola are using this the size reduction as a reason to jack up its prices. After all, even a blind man on a galloping horse can see that one-way cans and plastic bottles cost extra which, alas, the consumer will pay for. With no need to collect and wash the glass bottles, it makes things easier for the Coca Cola Company. They can simply dump the stuff on consumers and have no further responsibility. We wonder if we just paid and did not get supplies, would that make it even easier for them?

And take this quoted comment from the Cola company for good measure: …Our suggestion is moving to can 250 ml which is more efficient because it is a one-way-package thus you don't need a large storage for our product. Plus an added value for our cans which are made by aluminum (Al Who?) and could be re-sold per kg in the market….

We do wonder what happened to avoiding waste, saving energy and all that stuff.

What are we going to do? Well, we have no other alternative but to serve the products in the baby size 200 ml glass bottle, but we shall not, cannot, lower the price. However, dear reader, we will try and discourage the consumption of these products and suggest that you consider an iced lemon tea, a milk shake or a smoothie instead.

One thing is for sure: we shall take the promo banner for Cola Zero off our website.

The Ya Udah would very much welcome it if you would let us know your comments and views on this.

Comment
Apart from continuing to personally boycott Coca Cola, I wonder if a possible alternative for Ya 'Udah and other like-minded establishments is Coke on draft.

Views
My views follow in a separate post – Hokey Pokey Coca Cola.

If you’ve read Okey Dokey Coca Cola?, the post above, you know that I don’t think that things go better with Coke.

However, in the interest of balance, it’s only fair to find out what Coca Cola-Indonesia has to say. Although I can find nothing more recent than this page from Coca-Cola Foundation Indonesia (CCFI) and Coca Cola’s Corporate Responsibility Report 2008 (.pdf), they do say a lot.

Live Positively is our commitment to make a positive difference in the world by redesigning the way we work and live so sustainability is part of everything we do.

Really, Coca Cola? “Everything“? Really?

Why is there no mention in the letter to Ya ‘Udah of Coca Cola’s commitment to recycle the aluminum cans which “could be re-sold per kg in the market.” Are they going to collect them from Ya ‘Udah and their other outlets? And if so, what do they plan to do with them? I doubt that they’ve established a network among the omnipresent scavengers and NGOs.

If they haven’t, they could try the XS Project who inform me that they “are now working with corporations to turn their trash into treasures.”

And what of PET bottles which are being churned out in their billions, yet Ya ‘Udah et al are expected to deal with?

Polyethylene terephthalate (sometimes written polyethylene terephthalate, commonly abbreviated PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination with glass fiber.

One problem with PET is that although these drinks bottles are recyclable, the material itself may be toxic. I also wonder if the process of manufacture along with the recycling process has a smaller carbon footprint than simply reusing glass bottles.

They say that they see packaging as a resource, not waste. We will continue to find ways to reduce the amount of
packaging we use and ensure it is recyclable. CCA has consistently improved rates of packaging waste sent to recycling in our manufacturing plants in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Strangely, it seems that those companies in Indonesia which recycle PET have to also import the material in order to have a viable volume of production.

Back in February 2006 I quoted the following from a now forgotten source: Plastic water bottles can take 1,000 years to biodegrade. Nine out of 10 water bottles end up as garbage or litter, and that means 30 million per day. Only a small percentage are recycled.

Adding soft drinks bottles to that number, however biodegradable they may be, and then considering the Indonesian habit of discarding litter wherever they may be and it seems fairly obvious that Coca Cola has not considered the consequences of their discarding glass bottles, except in a small way in Bali.

As part of [the} ongoing, year-round campaign to clean up Bali’s major beaches and waterways, we installed 200 public place recycling bins on Kuta, Legian and Sanur beaches, strategically located next to vendors’ ice chests.

And in Jakarta? What is the programme which ensures that their fine words aren't hollow? What is Ya 'Udah to do with their recyclable waste? As they haven't been informed, we may presume that neither have the umpteen bars, warungs, shops and other outlets for Coca Cola products.

Ah, but Coca Cola does have a Corporate Bullshit Policy. They have philanthropic Foundations in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea [which] distribute in total more than $1.5 million dollars annually to projects which assist local communities in Indonesia [including] micro-loans for people to start their own businesses.

Is this really an appropriate project for Coca Cola? To me, it appears that for all its vast reach, Coca Cola does little for Indonesia. It may well gloat that in 2007(?) Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia was awarded a certificate for environmentally responsible companies from Environment Minister, Rachmat Witoelar.

That may look good hanging on an office wall, but it doesn’t look good from where I’m sitting and you can be sure that Ya ‘Udah doesn’t want a copy. Why is there a Coca-Cola Indonesia Eco-bus, powered with bio-diesel, touring schools educating students about recycling, energy saving and waste processing when they don’t seem to practice what they preach?
………………………………………………
Coca-Cola Foundation Indonesia (CCFI) est. 2000.
Contact Information:
Ms. Titie Sadarini
Wisma GKBI, 8th Floor
JI. Jenderal Sudirman No. 28
Jakarta 10210
Email: ccfi@apac.ko.com

I subscribe to the weekly email sent out by to Eco Geek. I'm particularly interested in small scale inventions and developments which could, with a little will, be applied here in Indonesia.

Street Lamps Powered by Garbage

A cool new design concept marries composting with clean energy: garbage-powered street lamps. The Gaon Street Light from designer Haneum Lee keeps food waste out of landfills while keeping streets illuminated. The street lamp features a garbage bin at its base where food products can be deposited. The waste is then composted and the methane from the waste powers the lamp at the top.

A No-Draw Charger

AT&T has just announced a USB-based telephone charger that does not pull electricity from the wall when it's not charging a phone. I don't know about you, but my charger is plugged in 100% of the time. That charger pulls a tiny amount of energy from the wall 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Multiply that by 100 million chargers in Indonesia and there's probably at least one coal-fired power plant dedicated entirely to that wasted power.

Better yet is a charger which doesn't draw any energy at all from the grid.

Pedal Your Way to a Charged Cell Phone

Nokia has just unveiled a way to charge your cell phone without hitting up the grid – a bicycle charger kit. Dedicated cyclists may never have to plug a phone into a wall again. The Bicycle Charger Kit mounts onto the handlebars of your bike and includes a holder for your cell phone. The charger plugs into the phone and then your pedaling does the work. The faster you pedal, the faster the phone charges. At just shy of 4 mph, the charging starts and if you can up your speed to 8 mph, the phone will charge as fast as being plugged into a wall outlet.

Going at 8 mph (13 kph) is rarely possible in Jakarta, but perhaps they can be installed in fitness centre machines.

Bead-Filled Washing Machine Uses 90% Less Water

A new washing machine design uses 90 percent less water and reduces utility bills by 30 percent by cleaning clothes with tiny plastic beads. The machine by UK company Xeros Ltd uses 3mm-long nylon beads that can get into all crevices and folds of clothing and absorb stains and dirt. Stephen Burkinshaw, a polymer chemist at Leeds University, discovered that nylon beads at 100 percent humidity could attract stains away from clothing and into the center of the beads, preventing deposition back onto the clothes.

Solar Refrigerators Save Lives
The distribution of vaccines through the developing world is sometimes limited by a lack of available refrigeration for the storage of the vaccines. In some parts of the world, more than half of the vaccines spoil before they can be administered. Millions of lives and billions of dollars are lost due to a lack of refrigeration. A new solar refrigerator developed by the Appropriate Technology Collaborative can provide lifesaving cold storage for vaccines with an inexpensive system that can be built from locally available materials. The refrigerator needs no electricity and should require only minimal maintenance since it has no valves or moving parts.

There are of course other bits of Green Stuff which may otherwise be overlooked.

Such as Whale Poo.
Australian scientists have discovered that whale poo is not only helping ocean plant life to flourish, but also increasing the ocean's ability to absorb CO2. Because whales' diets are made up largely of iron-rich krill (small crustaceans), their droppings are a great fertilizer for marine plants, helping them to grow like weeds (or algae). These plants then do their part by absorbing CO2 as they grow, a process that scientists have tried to amp up (unsuccessfully) in Antarctic waters with iron fertilization.

It makes sense, therefore, to sign the latest petition being organised by Avaaz.org.

In one week, the International Whaling Commission will hold its final vote on a proposal to legalize commercial whale hunting for the first time in a generation. The outcome rests on whose voices are heard most clearly in the final hours: the pro-whaling lobby – or the world's people?

I’ve just returned from a 3-day workshop in Surabaya yet I can’t say that I’ve actually learnt much about Indonesia’s second city.

Inevitably there were problems in actually getting there; we were told that our flight on Batavia Air – motto: Trust Us To Fly – was delayed by two hours, but we could transfer to one scheduled to depart half an hour later than the one we expected to board.

Ok, we said, checked in and went off to have a leisurely cup of coffee. Then we heard our names paged. We were late boarding the flight due to depart at 5 because it was actually set to depart at the time we originally expected to leave, 16:30.

A passenger informed us that the flight we were now on had been delayed since 3pm.

Surabaya’s Juanda International Airport has recently undergone major renovation, with a dedicated toll road providing access. Its code used to be SBY but has been changed, presumably because of President SBY, to SUB.

Arriving was familiar: it was akin Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta. There were no trolleys available to shift our load of books for participants and cakes for bosses. I went outside in search of one through the one narrow doorway to be accosted with crowds yelling at me – “Taxi, Mister?” . That I actually found a trolley was something of a miracle, and that I managed to manoevre it back into the arrivals hall dedicated through the crowds exiting by the one door even more so.

We queued for a taxi but were then informed that we needed a prepaid ticket; only one company has the right to operate there, which meant re-entering the throng. At least the driver knew where the Ciputra Hotel and Golf Club is; we were booked there because it was apparently the only hotel in Surabaya with vacancies. (Really??). As it was dark, we saw little of anything and learnt less about the city as we both had problems deciphering the dialectical sludge spoken by East Javanese men.

As we reached the Ciputra Hotel, all we had been aware of was that it is plonked in the middle of a hitherto green area. There were no bellhops to greet us and carry our heavy load and it was a long, not very triumphal, trudge therough a colonade to the reception desk in the distance, and we had to ask for porter assistance to our rooms. At least the beds were comfortable, and having a hot shower in the early morning was an unanticipated pleasure.

Transport was laid on for our first day’s toil and that was when we grew aware of what what was being wrought. There were green fields on which rose grandiose mansions rampant with tall frontage columns, strange ornate ‘eastern’ domes atop, but set in splendid isolation. Not one was alike except in perverse pretensions. I couldn’t help exclaiming “Yuk, that’s ugly” at regular intervals. What seemed even stranger was that for all the size of the plots, no space had been allocated for a garden.

All seemed to announce how much money had been spent and how little intelligence (or humility) had been used in the designs. On the five minute drive to where there were people, we saw nowhere to eat; offices and salons with spas, yes, but it seemed, correctly as it turned out, that without transport of our own we were marooned and doomed to eat in the hotel’s Resto.

The food was indeed adequate, but at Rp.80,000 for a much needed large Bintang at the end of the day, not anything to write home about. (This begs the question as to why I mention it here.) I stuck with the American breakfast, and my colleague with the familiar nasi goreng – fried rice – for his.

I wrote a post about the international real estate industry ‘going green’ a couple of weeks ago, and without knowing how soon I would encounter his particular concept, used Ciputra as an example of how little the industry really cares about the environment, and thinks only of short-term profits.

Hotel Ciputra was to prove this at the last. My colleague had to stay a further night thanks to a hastily arranged presentation, leaving me to come home alone. It would have been nice to have gone back to my room after our day’s exertions. However, checkout time is 12 noon and I wanted 4pm. As far as we could tell, room occupancy was about 10%, if that; most of the ‘guests’ were there for rounds of golf.

Stretching the rules was, of course, impossible – except for a 50% surcharge + 21% tax etc. etc. so I moved my luggage into colleague’s room and vowed to never stay there again .

Notes:

• My room had a dual flush toilet; my colleague’s didn’t.
• There was a small notice about conserving water – cut down laundry bills by using the same bed sheets for more than one night.
• The baths were deep.
• A few, very few, farmers could be spotted among the mansions tending their small plots.
• I didn’t see any solar panels or a solar water tank on any mansion roof.
• There was no public transport to, let alone within, Ciputraland.
• We guessed that within 3/4 years all the plots would be built on resulting in yet another middle-class ghetto, its residents living in splendid isolation.

Next time we will definitely find rooms in another hotel; we prefer to be amongst people.

As I wrote above, we saw little of Surabaya. We saw no buses and few angkots (people carriers). What did catch our eye was an extremely long yet-to-be opened shopping mall, all glass frontage. As to why it remains unopened seems a little strange: it can’t be connected to the national electricity grid which can be seen in front, pylons and cables striding across the wasteland.

So, leaving the splendid isolation of the western outer reach of the city, and leaving my colleague behind, I headed to the eastern outer reach and checked in with bags of time to spare for my flight at 19:20.

It was, of course, delayed for two hours.

Yep, I trust Batavia Air to fly, but never on time.
…………………………….
Footnote
I didn’t have time to get to the Sidoarjo mudflow which locals have named Lapindo. It’s amazing how much hatred Bakrie has generated.

Whilst sitting in a traffic jam on a toll road heading out of Jakarta, I spotted this catchy phrase on a giant hoarding. It was put there by a real estate company plugging a new housing development being built in one of the ever-expanding townships which surround Jakarta where fields and trees used to be.

Yep, the real estate sector is trying to convince us that in plonking bricks and mortar where nature previously had a relatively free rein (reign?) that they have the best interests of the planet at heart. They are going green – whoopee.

What they have demonstrated in those four words, however, is that the only 'green' they exhibit is their naivety. After all, nature is life.

The International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) held a congress in Bali last month and its theme was “Save The World: Green Shoots for Sustainable Real Estate." Ciputra, a past president of FIABCI (and the 8th richest man in Indonesia) welcomed delegates on the official website with these stirring words:

Real estate industry is one of the most dynamic industries in Indonesia and I have had tremendous privilege to take part in its development since the very beginning back in the early '60s. The needs of comfortable places for living and working evolve with the time. I have seen such times, particularly when this industry flourished. Yet, sadly, I witnessed the downfall of the industry in the late '90s. The economic crisis that hit Asia in 1998 shows how fragile humans are, and how important it is to maintain sustainability in the financial sector and in the spirit of innovation.

Achieving balance between continuous development and environmental protection is also the main issue, and this really warms my heart to see how the majority of people on this planet, including the thinkers and professionals in real estate industry, get together confronting the issue.

Taken from the Ciputra Development website, which doesn't appear to have the platitudinous words 'green', 'sustainable' or 'environment' anywhere, this is a list of his real estate developments within Jakarta and commuter range: Jakarta – CitraGarden City, Ciputra Mall & Hotel, Somerset Grand Citra, Ciputra World, and Bogor – CitraIndah, and Tangerang – CitraRaya. There are also major developments in Surabaya, Sidoarjo, Semarang, South Sumatra and Kalimantan.

The Company's and its subsidiaries are to engaged in development and sale of real estate, especially in large scale integrated projects combining housing, commercial and recreational centers and mixed-use developments including hotel, shopping and office complexes.

We have big land bank located in strategic and high growth urban area for future utilization.

Speaking at the opening of FIABCI, Vice President Boediono called for the central and local governments to adopt a more “rational” approach while developing a grand strategy for urban planning, especially in housing.

Boediono said such an approach was needed to mitigate the undesirable effects of the rapid urbanization resulting from surging economic development.

“We often feel and see that the growth of housing in Indonesia has no clear and rational design. Numbers-wise, the growing demand is being met, but it is growth without rational design.”

A report issued in March by the World Resource Institute (WRI) and HSBC, assesses the financial risks faced by commercial real estates in Indonesia, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam due to energy insecurity, water scarcity and climate change.

Key Points

• Emerging energy insecurity, water scarcity, and climate change trends in South and Southeast Asia will affect the risk and return associated with investments in (1) commercial building projects and (2) companies involved in commercial real estate development and investing.
• The focus countries’ limited energy and water infrastructure; rapidly growing demand for energy and water resources; and physical exposure and vulnerability to climate change impacts, all increase the likelihood and magnitude of financial impacts.
• Green building investments can minimize energy and water-related risks while achieving net positive returns in as few as three years.

Can we expect the real estate sector to offer real solutions? Or, as usual, are we going to get piecemeal, bandaid tokenism?

With a great fanfare, a couple of weeks ago we were told that the construction of the first office building designed with environmentally friendly green concept started in the Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) satellite city, South Tangerang.

PT BSD president Harry Budi Hartanto explained that the building, which is (being) built on a 2.5-hectare plot of land brings forward a concept that focuses on saving energy and water because it uses echo (sic) friendly building materials that can also improve air circulation quality to give healthy effect to the people inside it.

Nothing about micro sewage plants or local power plants.

The chairman of the West Java branch of the Indonesian Real Estate Developers Association (REI), Hari Raharta Sudrajat, said that full adoption of the green building concept remained hard due to various factors.

Hari said almost of all of the 100 housing developers in Banding took environmental issues into account when planning and managing housing estates but "there are very few who really implement green designs.”

The main objective of the Mega Cities Project in Jakarta has been to assist the private and public sectors in improving urban management toward sustainable development by strengthening and empowering community participation. With … many qualitative and quantitative problems, Jakarta needs better urban management that is based on an urban ecology approach.

And hopefully, as advocated by VP Boediono, a rational one too.

It is well known that Jakarta is sinking due to water extraction and pressure from high-rise buildings in the city. Particularly prone to subsidence is the north coastline which has relatively young and porous soil beneath.

Is it rational to reclaim 2,700 hectares and build luxury houses, hotels, condominiums, an industrial zone, a port, business centers, massive shopping malls, offices and recreational areas?

The Supreme Court has ruled the project to be illegal but City Hall has sided with the developers.

Made Suarjaya, the head of the law dispute division at the city’s legal bureau, said last Friday that the city gave its full support because the six developers cooperated with the Management Body (BP) Pantura, a body established by the city to manage the North Coast development.

The six companies worry that they will suffer financial losses. And presumably the bureaucrats worry that they will lose their 'commissions'.

There is a small measure of rationality displayed here.

And a great deal of immorality.

Change Your World is an annual campaign that takes place across the UK each June. Run by the charity, Sustrans, it encourages everyone to walk, cycle or take public transport more often because collectively it will add up to make a big difference – healthier journeys, cleaner air* and quieter streets.

Once you’ve made your pledge you’ll also be able to tell Government they must act too – to invest more in making it easier for everyone to travel in ways that are good for our health and the environment.

OK, that's the UK sorted.

But Jakarta?

The Busway authority is working with Jakarta's commuter train overlords to introduce a ‘JakCard’ system . Apparently it's debit card which will enable commuters to transit between selected train stations and busway stops. It seems overly complicated in conception and still overlooks the fact that to get from the Sudirman station on the main road through Jakarta's business district onto the busway system involves a hike in either direction of at least half a kilometre.

At least that particular pavement (Am. sidewalk) is in fairly reasonable condition. In general though, pedestrians may like to know that City Hall agrees that the condition of Jakarta's pavements is worrisome. They devote a page to this – Kondisi trotoar di DKI mengkhawatirkan – without suggesting that they know how to deal with it.

So, as ever, it's up to the commuter communities to organise and hopefully to join forces in time for next year's campaign to Change Our World.

This is a short list of groups who offer hope through their forums (generally in Indonesian).
- Rujak.org
- Car sharing
- Bike To Work
- Train commuters

And I'll stick to taxis and buses depending on when and where (and why) I go.
…………………………………………
*Jakarta is in the top ten of the world's most polluted cities, but car-free days clear the air.