Việt Nam, Here We Come!

To mark 6 years of blogging (which technically fell on October 1st), I have decided to actually write something on my blog. And frankly, to save time retelling the story to everyone I meet, I am writing it here, so I can just say "just read my blog".
6 years ago I started this blog as part of a new life - and shortly, this blog will be a witness to another new stage in my life. Something rather unfathomable for some, but somehow rather fitting for others - depending on how well they know me.
Saskia and I will be moving to Việt Nam within the next month. After 6 years in the music and digital industry, I have decided to accept a position with a local company based in Hồ Chí Minh City which works in the movie and TV industry there. I will be joining the marketing team, as they have tons of TV programming to sell, in-house produced movies, and they also distribute many of the American (read: Hollywood) movies on behalf of the movie studios. They even have their own movie theater!

I will be leaving Detik.com after only 6 months - the only part of this decision I regret, as I have learned a lot during my short time here, and have been honored to work with such a good team, which have become good friends also. But we think it is the best time for us to do this - so it's not just for the job, it's for the adventure.

You learn a lot from immersing yourself into various cultures - and what better way to do that than just moving to a completely different country? Heheh.

And let me state for the record - we are doing this not because our disillusion regarding Indonesia's current state. We love Jakarta and almost all of our beloved family and friends are here; but recently Jakarta has become quite unlivable and unhealthy, so we are taking this opportunity to somewhat take a break. By November, you can count Jakarta less one car and two people, at least for the next few years ahead; a miniscule effort to decrease our carbon footprint.

For me, there are 2 basic ways to be a patriot for your country:

1. work in Indonesia and build industries, jobs, creative work, and so on - to build the nation; or


2. work overseas to help other countries build, with Indonesian expertise, skill and tenacity.

So, if you ever come to Hồ Chí Minh City, I'll be the one wearing a batik shirt at the office, because I don't want anyone to forget that there is an Indonesian helping you build your business. Well, hopefully I will be able to successfully, so wish us luck!

Most likely this blog will also have a slight change of tune once we move there, to chronicle life of an Indonesian in Hồ Chí Minh City, so until then, stay tuned!