Archive for March, 2008
Yogyakarta Province, (The Jakarta Post) The 61 works on display, comprising paintings, sculptures and graphic designs, were produced by 51 artists, mostly young ones.
Entitled Komedi Putar (Merry-Go-Round), the exhibition features works depicting merry-go-rounds and the famous Sekaten night market.
Such examples could be seen through Gintani Nur Apresia Swastika’s Effortless (silkscreen on canvas, fabric collage, 2008) depicting the scenery around one of the city’s old landmarks, the post office building.
Yogyakarta’s noted pedicab inspired Suharmanto to create Indahnya Tadi Malam (The Beauty of Last Night, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2007), which depicts a driver soundly sleeping in his pedicab.
Other city landmarks can be found in Giring Prihatyasono’s Menggendong Tradisi (Carrying Tradition), Solichin’s Menanti Rejeki (Waiting for Reward) and Mulyo Gunarso’s Hidup Semalam (One Night’s Life).
The exhibition’s curator, Mikke Susanto, told The Jakarta Post that Komedi Putar was selected as theme of the exhibition as it is being held concurrently with this year’s Sekaten night market.
The Sekaten night market is held annually in the month of Maulud, according to the Javanese calendar, or Rabi’ul Awwal according to the Islamic calendar (lunar calendar).
The Sekaten itself is a religious celebration held annually by the Yogyakarta Sultanate to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad, which falls on the 12th day of Rabi’ul Awwal.
Mikke said Komedi Putar was also chosen since the merry-go-round has long been the icon of the night market. Aside from that, he said, a “merry-go-round” also implies that everything, including life, keeps rotating — sometimes up and down.
For the gallery, Mikke said, the theme carries both a poetic and political meaning. It is poetic in the sense that the city has many cultural marks to take note of and preserve.
“Like Sekaten, for example, we can make use of it to show the city’s image, romanticism and attractions,” Mikke said.
In term of politics, he added, through the visual arts exhibited, the gallery aims to open visitors’ eyes and minds to the great potential the city has to offer.
“The task of the artists here is expressing the ideas of beauty through their works of art. Members of the community, including the authorities, are free to make use of them as a new map of the city and do something about it.”
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
March 31st, 2008
JAKARTA, March 30 (Xinhua) — A 6.2 magnitude tectonic quake which jolted Indonesia’s Aceh province Sunday morning had no potential to trigger tsunami, an official said.
”The quake was not followed by tsunami,” Amran, an official of the Meteorological and Geophysic Station in Jakarta, said Sunday.
The quake occurred at 00:30 Jakarta time (1730 GMT Saturday) with epicenter at 113 km northwest Sinabang town of Aceh province and at 30 km under sea bed. But there was no report of damage or casualties.
In 2004, over 170,000 people were dead in Aceh province in northern tip of Sumatra Island after a tsunami triggered by a powerful quake devastated coastal areas of the province and others countries in southeast Asia.
Indonesia is laid at a vulnerable zone so called “the Pacific Ring of Fire” where two continental plates, stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia, meet that cause frequent volcanic movements.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/
March 31st, 2008
With more and more Russians eager to travel abroad, tourists are flocking to unexpected locations like Indonesia. And the Indonesian government is doing everything it can to capitalize on this growing market of Russian tourists by inviting more of them.
If Turkey is the current hot spot for vacationing Russians - with over 2 millions Russian tourists visiting the country in 2007 - then Indonesia, which is further away but far more exotic, might just be the next big tourist destination.
According to Jero Wacik, Indonesia’s State Culture and Tourism Minister, who visited Moscow last week to hold a special night of Indonesian Culture, called Russia a “strategic market” for developing Indonesian tourism. Each year, the number of Russian tourists traveling to Indonesia grows by 48 percent.
This is hardly surprising, since it is becoming increasingly more expensive to vacation inside Russia. Hampered by poor infrastructure, too few hotels, and high prices for air travel, vacationers are opting for the more exotic.
As part of its Year of Indonesian Tourism program, the tourism ministry held an evening of Indonesian culture complete with music, food, and raffled tickets on March 19. Colorful, lavish, and intricate, the dances offered a taste of what visitors could get in Bali on a snowy night in Moscow. Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, consisting of some 17,000 islands. It is also relatively inexpensive.
“Prices in hotels are relatively low compared to those in Europe,” Wacik said. “For $100 a night you can get an excellent room that will include meals, spas, and other features.” He added that Indonesia was planning to increase spending to try to draw more Russians to the country.
As Russia’s growing middle class discovers new vacationing spots, the tourism culture itself is beginning to change. “Russians have become welcome guests in many countries,” the Russia Today television channel quoted Vladimir Kaganer, head of Tez Tour, as saying. “They spend more and ask less. VIP tourism has also become popular. Russians no longer want to stay in two- or three-star hotels and are ready to pay more.”
Other popular destinations include Thailand and Singapore. But Wacik likes to stress his country’s advantages: “Five days is enough to see Singapore. For Indonesia - even a month won’t be enough.”
By Anna Arutunyan
Source: http://mnweekly.ru/national/
March 28th, 2008
Debnath Guharoy , Consultant , | Tue, 03/11/2008 1:38 AM | Business
As with people of all nationalities, many Indonesians spend their whole lives in their provinces, never traveling far from home.
About 13 percent of the population travel beyond what is required by their daily routines. That figure typically drops by 2 or 3 percent when you eliminate those who travel unexpectantly owing to unforeseen business or family matters.
In a year, only 3 percent of Indonesians travel by plane, the same 3 percent who live the so-called “good life” — that of plastic cards, new cars and luxury holidays — while just over 1 percent of all Indonesians have traveled overseas in the last 12 months, either for business or pleasure.
The Javanese, residents of the world’s most densely populated island, stay within the confines of Indonesia more than any other islander across the archipelago.
That’s understandable, considering distances, availability and cost of convenient transportation and the reality that most people do not have friends or relatives outside of their immediate area.
Sixty-five percent of travelers use buses, making it the most popular form of transportation, even during holdidays. A further 20 percent hop on their family motorbike for vacation.
Another 7 percent travel during holidays by cars owned within the family or by friends, while a mere 2 percent take the boat or ferry.
These statistics are compiled by the country’s largest syndicated survey operator, Roy Morgan Single Source, which surveys more than 27,000 Indonesian respondents annually.
The numbers, updated every 90 days, are estimated to reflect almost 90 percent of the population over the age of 14, representing a total of 140 million people.
All holiday-makers, regardless of the distances they travel, make a contribution to the local economy. Not many industries can claim to receive contributions from such a diverse range of customers.
Even before a traveler steps onto a bus or plane, a ticket has already been sold, a room has been booked. Taxi drivers, porters, doormen, chefs, waitresses and housekeeping staff all have jobs to do to support this one traveler.
As does the craftsman, the shopkeeper, the boatman, the barmaid — the list goes on. If you trace the number of employees called into action by a single tourist couple, the number could well run into the hundreds.
Tourism is good for employment, but it is also good in so many other incalculable ways. The exchange of views, the mingling, the sharing of culture, the goodness that natural beauty can bring, the development of communal pride and purpose. No industry promotes human values, the philosophy to live and let live and the celebration of life more than tourism.
With tourism growing rapidly in Asia, Indonesia is lagging way behind its neighbors. While Vietnam receives more and more tourists every year, Indonesia, hampered by its Bali-centric philosophy, languishes.
The world knows little about Indonesia beyond Bali, and those visiting Bali fail to make a connection to the rest of Indonesia.
It could be argued that the number of underachieving locales in Indonesia rivals the combined total of all other ASEAN countries.
By their own initiative, regional and local budget airlines appear to be doing more to develop travel and tourism than any other business or organization, including the cash-strapped ministry of tourism.
However, airline passengers who aren’t visiting friends and relatives need hotels, food, attractions, activities, shopping and night-life. The infrastructure is lacking.
Equally important is the need for a tourist-friendly local government that has its citizens’ welfare at the top of its agenda.
Here is an open invitation to form a coalition of the willing and to do some good and make some money: would an official from the ministry, a provincial government, a bank or the Investment Coordinating Board please stand up?
An e-mail to this writer from any of the above would result in an enthusiastic response by a group of capable, experienced investors who wish to execute a textbook construction of a new resort that would make proud all concerned.
If challenged to put my energy where my mouth is by readers of this column, I would join this coalition and dedicate as much time as I could to bring an eco-friendly, socially responsible resort to fruition in Indonesia.
It can be done, and with a greater dividend than any new city shopping mall could ever offer.
The writer can be contacted at Debnath.Guharoy@roymorgan.com
Source: The Jakarta Post
March 28th, 2008
Rilwan Hamzah , Contributor , Jakarta | Thu, 03/27/2008 1:02 AM | Headlines
There’s good news for Jakartan fans of opera and musicals this week, with young Indonesian singers and a visiting Austrian flutist set to perform in a mixed-genre concert on Thursday night.
The first part of the concert, presented by the Resonanz Music Studio, will consist of opera compositions taken from famous operas by Mozart, Puccini and Verdi, with solos, duets and a quartet accompanied by pianist Avip Priatna.
The second part of the concert will showcase musical pieces taken from various composers, with most of the compositions newer and lighter in mood.
Four of the singers are leading members of the Batavia Madrigal Singers (BMS): soprano Fitri Muliati, alto Yosefin Emilia, tenor Farman Purnama and bass Rainer Revireino.
The quartet has won several international choral competitions and performed locally and abroad.
Another soprano, Silvya Wiryadi, born in 1982, will sing solo compositions by Mozart, Puccini and Verdi, as well as duets with the others.
Silvya studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing with Zhao Deng Yin as a 17-year-old and later at Tubingen Music Academy and the University of Music in Karlsruhe, where she graduated in 2005. She is currently studying opera at the University of Music in Saarland.
Austrian flutist Gerhard Maier studied flute at the Upper Province Music School and the University of Anton Bruckner Linz in Austria.
Later he graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He further studied the piccolo in Frankfurt, Germany, with Thaddeus Watson and performed as a soloist with the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester.
He joined orchestras such as the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Opera and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
On Thursday, Maier will perform “Carmen Fantasy”, originally composed for violin and orchestra by George Bizet and later adapted for a variety of chamber arrangements. Maier will be accompanied by Adelaide Simbolon Simanjuntak on the piano.
The grand finale will feature all five singers in a quintet accompanied by Avip on the piano, singing “Make our Garden Grow” from the musical Candide by American conductor, composer and pianist Leonard Berstein.
Opera and Musical Night
Thursday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Italian Cultural Center, Jl. HOS Cokroaminoto 119, Central Jakarta. For further information contact Hermien at 021-70121312 or Rani at 021-7201918.
Source: The Jakarta Post
March 27th, 2008
JAKARTA, March 25 (Xinhua) — The Indonesian government will invite Chinese investors to attend the Investment Forum in Jakarta in May, an official said Tuesday.
”All preparations have been ripe and as many investors as possible from China are expected to attend the forum in Jakarta,” Mohamad Oemar, a spokesman for the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, told the national Antara news agency.
To make the forum a success, a number of officials from various institutions in Indonesia, including those from the embassy in Beijing, visited Kunming, Yunnan province in southwest China, last week to meet and discuss the plan with Chinese investors and representatives from various provinces in China, he said.
In the meeting, the Indonesian officials from the Industry Ministry, the Trade Ministry, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry had friendly and frank discussions with the Chinese investors.
”The Chinese investors on the occasion expressed their interest to invest in various fields in Indonesia, and thus the central and regional government should be ready to develop their respective regions through the Jakarta Investment Forum in the mid of May,” Oemar said.
Oemar noted that the Jakarta Investment Forum is by the government in an effort to net as many Chinese investors as possible to invest in various sectors in Indonesia.
He said the government would offer business opportunities to the Chinese investors in the sectors of energy, industry, forestry, agriculture, marine, and infrastructure.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/
March 26th, 2008
Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia will resume the operation of its low-cost carrier (LCC) unit Citilink in June or July which was stopped in January, director for strategy and information tehcnology Elisa Lumban Toruan said Friday.
“CitiLink as Garuda’s business unit will seriously perform as an LCC player without disregarding flight safety,” she said.
“We halted the operation temporarily to formulate the most appropriate business strategy for CitiLink.”
CitiLink operation was halted on Jan. 15 after suffering losses in the past three years. Earlier, the unit managed to bring profits after being established in 2001.
Elisa said Garuda was determined to develop CitiLink as a leading domestic LCC.
The airline plans to use Boeing 737-300 and expects the arrival of five aircraft this year with an expected fleet of 25 airplanes “in three or five years depending on market dynamics,” said Elisa.
Contacted separately, air transportation director at Transportation’s air transportation directorate general Tri Sunoko said all CitiLink’s route licenses had been revoked since the unit stopped operation.
“Regulation has it that if a route is not served in 21 consecutive days than the license is automatically revoked,” he said.
Citilink has to submit new license request if it wants to fly again. The government will not grant the license especially in saturated routes such as those to Denpasar, Medan and Surabaya.
Garuda has yet to spin off CitiLink although the management has several times stated that it would do so.
Source: The Jakarta Post
March 25th, 2008
Traffic congestions hit Puncak, West Java as well as Gilimanuk, East Java as holiday goers traveled to spend their long weekend following public holidays on Thursday and Friday.
Metro TV reported that a two-kilometer traffic jam was seen in Gilimanuk seaport as many people from Java were heading to the neighboring island of Bali for holidays.
In Puncak, traffic jam began at the 45th kilometer of the Jagorawi turnpike as Jakartans went to a mountainous area of Puncak, about 100 kilometers south of Jakarta.
Thursday is a public holiday to observe the birth of Prophet Muhammad, while Friday is for Good Friday.
Source: The Jakarta Post
March 25th, 2008
The Indonesia International Travel Fair 2008 which is considered to be an important event in the Visit Indonesia Year (VIY 2008) calendar of events, will be held on 27-30 March 2008.Balai Kartini Expo, located at the heart of Jakarta, was chosen to be the venue for IITF 2008 which is a one-day B2B and a 3-day consumer show where the Jakarta consumers can purchase domestic and international travel packages at very special prices. Trade Visitor To provide an opportunity for the business transaction, the Organizers has opened the first day, Thursday, 27 March for Trade, including travel agents from outside Jakarta to do Business to Business (B2B) transactions.
The exhibitors on the first day will be given the opportunity to meet with the trade visitors which consist of travel agent, PCO, event manager corporate and media. “We are also going to invite around 3000 corporations that consist of secretaries and decision makers who wish to have information regarding Meeting, Incentives, Convention & Exhibition (MICE)” To support the VIY 2008, the organizers are inviting 50 foreign buyers which consist of wholesaler, top outboud agent, Corporate event manager from ASEAN countries in the hosted program.
This program has the support of the hotels in Jakarta who will be providing accommodation facilities and local and international airlines who will be giving special discounts. Who Should Visit 1.Media 2.Travel Agent 3.Wholesaler 4.Tour Operator 5.Event Manager 6.Corporate secretary 7.Top outbound agent from ASEAN Countries 8.Tourism School Representation 9.Hotel Suppliers Why Exhibit 1.The 1st & Only International Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer (B2B2C) Travel Fair in Indonesia 2.A Place to Sell Room/ Seat Inventory During Low Periods 3.The Only Comprehensive Platform that Represents All Facets of Travel & Tourism Under-One-Roof 4.Presents the Opportunity to Meet the Right Target Market for On-the-Spot Transactions 5.Supported by the Ministry of Culture & Tourism, Republic of Indonesia, and is Part of the National Series of Events for Visit Indonesia Year 2008 6.Presents the Opportunity to Undergo “Internal Driven Transactions” during the Exhibition Period 7.Presents the Opportunity to Undergo “Internal Driven Transactions” during the Exhibition Period
For more information:
Ibu Patricia Mediana Email : patricia@indonesiatravelfair.com Jl Puri Mutiara Raya 3B, Cipete Kebayoran Baru Jakarta 12410 Tel. 6221. 7590 2647, 6221. 7590 6812 Fax: 6221. 766 0164/ www.indonesiatravelfair.com
Source: http://my-indonesia.info/
March 24th, 2008
Helly Minarti , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta
It seems that Jakarta is finally catching up with the other world metropolises by tapping into the Argentine tango music and dance craze.
With more dramatic movements and tunes than other Latin dances, the Argentine tango has started to seduce aficionados in the capital.
“Tango is sort of an alien dance for Asians,” mused Ogie Mendoza, a tango teacher who frequently flies from Manila to hold tango workshops in Jakarta and Bali.
He said the Argentine tango’s signature close abrazo (embrace) might look rather inhibiting, if not daunting for many Asians who are used to a more detached form of dancing.
Mendoza saw tango for the first time in Hong Kong about thirteen years ago and was instantly hooked.
“I always liked dancing, but I never danced professionally before. But when I watched a couple of Argentinean tangueros (a person deeply passionate about tango) in Hong Kong, I just knew that this was it,” he said.
Many years of training under different tango masters and three trips to Argentina saw him fully dedicate himself to become a tango teacher.
Mendoza not only teaches tango in the Southeast Asian region, but also organizes special tango events and arranges tours to Argentina for those wishing to experience authentic milonga (tango dance parties) in Buenos Aires’ tango bars, whilst honing their dance skills through workshops by Argentine tango masters.
“I’ve also reached Dubai and have started to perform in Bangkok,” he said.
Mendoza pointed to Tokyo and Hong Kong as the two main Asian metropolises taking the lead in tango. He is now hoping other capitals in the region will catch up.
“The interest is still somewhat low, and we lack male dancers,” said Stefani K., Ogie’s dance partner and fellow tango instructor, who lives in Bali and established a tango community on the island.
“We are planning to stay for two weekends in Jakarta to conduct workshops, so it will give people more time to learn,” she said.
To kick things off, the first club offering milonga nights was opened recently in Jakarta.
On the opening Saturday night, a group of milongueros (people who love to tango and join milonga) came to enjoy a night of Argentine tango at the W9 Club, in South Jakarta, where couples took turns dancing while others lingered to enjoy the sultry tango tunes.
People are drawn to tango for different reasons. For Nuni, a lady in her 50s, dancing is a form of exercise. Nuni learned many other social dances — from ballroom to rumba — before taking lessons in tango.
“I’ve been learning for a year, but on and off,” she said, after trying out some new leg combinations she had learned in an afternoon workshop.
Nuni took up dancing as a serious hobby about three years ago.
“It’s good for my health. I used to have high cholesterol … dancing has helped me lower it,” she said, adding that dancing was also good for keeping osteoporosis at bay.
Meanwhile Itang, a salsa instructor, simply wished to add tango to his dancing repertoire.
“Basically, I like dancing, that is enough of a reason,” he said.
There are only a few tango teachers in town who hold regular practicas (practice sessions). One of them is Christopher Wibowo.
Watching people dance tango for the first time at a barbecue party in Bali a few years ago, Chris was mesmerized by the music, especially the strange sound of the bandoneon (a free-reed aerophone, a popular musical instrument in Argentina).
“I first thought it was harmonica,” he said.
Chris spent a considerable amount of time listening to the music before deciding to learn the dance it accompanied. He learned the tango in workshops conducted by visiting Argentinean tangueros.
Chris now holds practicas in a gym at a hotel in Central Jakarta and regularly brings his students to the Saturday night milongas.
Tango has been spreading globally for quite some time, with Berlin now taking over Paris as the tango capital of Europe, and Tokyo and Hong Kong competing head-to-head to lead in Asia. Tango even arrived in Beijing several years ago — brought by some expatriates who formed a tango community in the capital of post-cultural revolution China.
“Tango is evolving, now the young generation has brought new influences to the music and dance,” said Ogie.
Once a purist of traditional Argentine tango with its signature close abrazo, Ogie is now venturing into the latest trend, tango nuevo, which is a freer style of tango.
In his seminal book, Tango and the Political Economy of Passion, tango expert Dr. Marta E. Savigliano, who will be coming to Indonesia for an international dance workshop in Yogyakarta later this month, examines the construction of the exoticism and the passion of this dance.
Her’s is a critical cultural analysis under the pretext of colonialism and racial relations. She says similar to other urban dance cultures going global — for example, hip hop and capoeira — tango continues to recreate a new meaning on the foreign soils it reaches.
First and foremost, tango is very personal and intimate.
“Unlike ballroom dancing, where the dancers ‘reach out’ to the audience, in tango the two dancers seem to intensely converse with each other, and their conversation is what actually attracts the audience to immerse into their act of dancing,” said Ogie of the fundamental nature of the dance.
Hence, it takes more than fascination and passion to tango.
“You have to like the music … you also have to exercise self-discipline,” said Stefani K.
A combination of practicas with a good teacher, disciplined training at home and hours of milonga on the dance floor, she said, is the only way to master following the man’s lead, which requires flow and improvisation.
For further information on practicas, milongas and tango in Indonesia, see these websites:
- Tango in Jakarta: www.tangojakarta.com
- Tangoxposed: www.tangoxposed.com
- Tango in Bali: www.tangobali.com
- Ogie Mendoza: www.ogiemendozatango.com
- Chistopher Wibowo: www.myspace.com/shinechris
Source: The Jakarta Post
March 24th, 2008
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