Thursday, February 24, 2011

Is The World Upside Down, In More Ways Than One?

An office colleague pondered:

Even the world's political ideologies are upside down and the wrong way around. The countries that claim they are all about free trade and capitalism, are becoming increasingly somewhat socialist, at least when it comes to welfare of the people. Equal access to education, health care, sponsored by the state; isn't that a socialist utopia?

And here we have Vietnam, an outspokenly Communist state, yet where many things are left for market forces to decide with minimum supervision from the government outside of sensitive areas. Now, wouldn't that be a capitalist utopia?

And of course, we all know the joke that goes, countries with the title 'Democratic Republic' in their official country name, most likely aren't. Ha ha.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Job Opportunity in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! - Production Director

No, this blog will not become a job site. I am just trying to help out my parent company find a key person for their operations. And mark my words, they have asked specifically if they can have an Indonesian to fill this position.

So the job is titled Production Director, for a local financial news channel called FBNC.

The Production Director is generally in charge of on-air quality, for design, program formats, continuity, and so on, including casting the anchors for the channel. He or she will be in charge of the day-to-day workflow for production, including new programs- especially the English-language programs. Production will also involve the promo items needed for the channel (on-air and off-air), support the ad sales team in selling advertising space and/or sponsored TV programs, and work closely with the Program and Studio departments (which include the journalists). The Production Director reports to the Editor In Chief.

So naturally, we'd want someone who has several years experience for news TV broadcast production and editing, and is used to using English day-to-day for work. An aptitude for new languages would be a plus as you'd have to work with a lot of Vietnamese staff who may or may not be able to speak English.

So if you think you fit perfectly with the requirements above and are interested in working in Vietnam, drop me an email to my Gmail account!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Revisiting #IndonesiaUnite: What You Can Do

If you look back on Indonesia's headlines of 2010, you'd see natural disasters, political upheaval, corruption, pollution, and so many bad things - and you'd think the country is going down the drain. The government, whether it be the central government, is clueless and corrupt, and it seems the country will burst at the seams.

Yet, Indonesia's economy reached the highest growth in six years. 2010 was also the year that Indonesia's impact on the social web - Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare - was a force to be reckoned with, and foreign investment is starting to pour in. So what does this mean?

Business, mostly the private sector, went ahead and moved on while the government was busy with itself. If this continues, it will become a good trend - the Indonesian economy will be healthy regardless of who sits in office. As long as we keep working properly, with focused goals.

Many people have asked themselves, myself included, on what they can do to alleviate the sad state of affairs in this country. The fact stated previously alone should tell you (and myself) what you want to hear: keep doing what you're good at, wherever you are.

Many of us are not politicians, we're not religious leaders, but many of us are office workers, students, freelancers, housewives, teachers, and so on. We should stop wasting time on unnecessary stuff and progress onwards - and our country will grow. If you are sad or angry about the violence in Cikeusik or Temanggung, focus that anger into your work; to make sure that future generations don't fall into that trap.

To put it into another perspective: Indonesia's economy is growing despite the current turmoil. Let's make sure that the growth spreads evenly and benefits all of us, not just the few.

We cannot rely on the government to get its act together right now, so we might as well do it ourselves. To replace the government would be a revolution with unforeseen consequences, but to work better as we are now, ignoring the government when we can, can probably empower the nation better than the politicians can.

If everybody works diligently with a focus for a better nation and the welfare of all, I think we can get there, and I guarantee things will get better.

So whether or not #indonesiaunite is seen as a movement or not, it should be a reminder to all of us that the future of this nation is in our collective hands. So let's make it!

 

PS: so if you're worrying about what you can do about cases like Alanda Kariza's Mom, voice your support, help increase the awareness, and get back to work! :D

Monday, February 7, 2011

Baolixi

Preparing 'lucky money' envelopes to give out to office colleagues tomorrow, as part of the Lunar New Year tradition.

Sent from my BlackBerry®

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Masquerade

Đàm Sen Waterpark

Here are a few pictures from Đàm Sen Waterpark... cross between TMII and Dufan, I think. Complete with the picnicking families and the family-friendly music. These pictures were taken with my Nokia X6; there are more pictures on the Canon 1000D taken by Saski - I might upload them later.
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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Prawn at Ben Thanh Night Market

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Some Thoughts About The Music Industry

This morning I was spurned into tweeting a lot about the music industry because of the article below:
Agnes Siap Go International Lewat Perusahaan Michael Jackson... de.tk/jFnjN

I think Agnes has good potential to break international markets; I really think she can. But some details of the article piqued my attention because they seemed incorrect. So I did some digging, and eventually spent the day tweeting about the music industry in general.

The tweets are as follows: