Minggu, 02 Mei 2010

Tips Sukses Trading Forex


Seringkali orang sukses besar di Demo Account tapi memble(payah) di real Account. Anda harus serius di Demo maupun di Real. Berikut adalah beberapa tips yang kami kumpulkan untuk Anda. Pastikan anda mengevaluasi diri Anda setelah membaca artikel ini.

Berikut kami rangkumkan tips sukses para trader kawakan dan yang juga telah menjalani profesi Trader(trading for Living).

1. Buat perencanaan dan gambaran trading dengan baik. Kriterianya, Anda harus mengetahui kapan :

* Buka posisi
* Berapa angka Stop Loss & Take Profit yang 'ideal'
* Punya strategi manajemen keuangan (money management). Hal ini terkait dengan berapa lama Anda bertrading dalam satu bulan, bagaimana tingkat ketahanan account anda terhadap resiko loss, kapan tarik dana, kapan menambah dana, dan alokasi pendapatan untuk tabungan, investasi dan konsumsi.



2. Jadikan trend sebagai sahabat karib Anda (Trend Follower). Jangan pernah melawan trend pasar (meski bukan termasuk aturan wajib). Jika harga sedang naik, Anda dapat memasang posisi Buy dan sebaliknya jika harga sedang turun maka Anda dapat memasang posisi Sell. Kebanyakan orang sering mengambil sebaliknya (counter trend) dan seringkali salah - walaupun ada juga sih yang sering benar :).

3. Pertahankan dengan baik & seksama modal Anda. Jangan biarkan modal Anda sampai $0.0. Jika memang loss, cobalah pertahankan 10 - 50% dari modal Anda, sehingga pada saatnya nanti hendak menambah dana atau injeck, Rupiah atau Dollar yang disetor tidak terlalu besar. Bayangkan jika Anda harus menambah dana besar untuk trading Forex akibat loss Anda.

Jika dalam dua tiga kali trading sudah menghabiskan 20 - 40% dari modal akibat loss, berhentilah sejenak. Tahan diri Anda untuk membuka posisi baru. Jangan turuti diri Anda untuk "membalas dendam" atau "ingin balik modal". Coba tenangkan pikiran dan kepala Anda. Susun sistem trading Anda kembali di Demo Account. Sisihkan waktu 3 hari - 1 minggu untuk coba sistem trading di Demo Account.

Jika sudah mantap, silahkan masuk kembali ke Real Account.

4. Mengetahui kapan saatnya buang "racun". Istilah racun adalah posisi Buy atau Sell yang telah dibuka yang telah floating(posisi mengambang/belum ditutup) negatif atau posisi minus yang lumayan besar. Katakanlah jika Buy GBP/USD Anda sudah -150 poin dalam kurun waktu 2 jam, apakah masih layak dipertahankan. Atau jika posisi AUD/USD sudah minus -100 dalam kurun waktu 20 menit, apakah masih disayang-sayang ??!

Ah, nanti kan harga balik lagi. Nah, jika harga ndak balik-balik, kita jadi "keracunan" sendiri, baik pikiran dan jasmani. Kita bisa sakit secara jasmani jika memikirkan posisi yang belum ditutup yang mencapai 200 poin misalnya. Ingat saja, cari uang zaman sekarang agak sulit yah. Kalo sudah ndak produktif dalam waktu 2 - 3 jam, yah harus diamputasi/Cut Loss. Potong, buang yang sudah membengkak & tidak produktif. Apalagi yang mau melakukan posisi menginap, lebih dari satu hari dengan mengharap profit yang lebih wah dan juga mendapat bunga premium, wajib hukumnya memasang Stop Loss. Saran kami, jika hendak diteruskan esok hari,pasanglah Stop Loss 200 poin dari titik open posisi Anda. Gunakan saja fasilitas Trailing Stop jika disediakan oleh platform trading.

Rencanakan Stop Loss Anda sedini mungkin. Hari-hari ini, pergerakan harga untuk Euro & Pound mencapai 200 - 400 poin per hari. Tentukan ideal Modal Awal & Stop Loss Anda dengan situasi seperti itu.

5. Jangan emosi. Jika sudah mencapai target harian atau bulanan, segera keluar dari market. Jangan serakah.

Hindari rasa takut. Nah ini terkait dengan tips no.6, be informed. Jika sudah mengetahui sejauh mana harga bisa bergerak dengan indikator teknikal & fundamental, jangan mencari penyakit. Jangan ragu untuk memasang Stop Loss atau Trailing Stop untuk membatasi kerugian.

6. Be smart & informed. Bukannya bermaksud mendukung salah satu TV Swasta, melainkan jadilah trader yang pintar. Pintar disini adalah punya dasar kenapa harus Buy dan kenapa harus Sell. Artinya, Anda harus meriset pasar secara Fundamental dan Teknikal. Bukalah Berita harian dari Belajarforex.com atau Forexfactory.com. Sesuaikan tanggal & waktunya dengan waktu dimana Anda berada.

7. Segera tulis trading Anda pada sebuah jurnal trading. Buat catatan Laba/Rugi harian Anda. Catat juga sebab-sebabnya, kenapa rugi dan kenapa untung. My Trading Diary .....

8. Saat harga sideways atau sedikit pergerakan, jangan masuk pasar. Intinya jika nurani Anda sendiri ragu-ragu, bagaimana dengan trading forex Anda. Ibaratkan saja Account Forex Anda sebagai mobil yang membawa Anda pada profit/keuntungan.
* Tidak berlaku bagi mereka yang memang spesialisasinya di saat market sideways!

9. Jangan trading terlalu banyak atau berlebihan. Dalam satu hari, bagi Anda seorang scalper maksimal 10 kali posisi. Untuk Anda yang Daytrader baiknya maksimal 2 posisi dan Swing Trader lebih sedikit lagi. Ingat, kondisi analisa teknikal & fundamental Forex yang sering berubah-ubah dari waktu ke waktu.

10. Never Give Up. Jangan menyerah.. jangan pernah menyerah. Loss di Demo $5000 dalam waktu 1 bulan, coba lagi dengan dana $1000. Loss, masuk lagi dengan dana $3000, dst. Temukan sistem trading yang cocok bagi diri Anda. Tujuannya hanya satu : Profit & Konsisten.


--

Welcome to New Wave Marketing

Jawa Pos- 26 Juni 2008

SELASA (24/6) malam, dua hari yang lalu, di MarkPlus Jakarta, saya menyerahkan New Wave Marketing Award yang kedua pada Toyota Astra Motors. Bulan lalu, award khusus itu diserahkan Michael Hermawan, COO MarkPlus Inc, ke kompas.com atas inisiatifnya invest besar-besaran menjadi Mega Portal.

Award itu sengaja saya bikin untuk memberikan semangat dan motivasi kepada perusahaan-perusahaan ''offline'' yang mulai mengambil inisiatif online. Yang dilakukan Toyota Astra Motors kali pertama adalah melibatkan beberapa celebrity bloggers waktu meluncurkan New Altis. Padahal, biasanya kan wartawan media yang diundang dalam acara seperti itu. Harapannya, supaya terjadi publicity yang punya kredibilitas sangat tinggi.

Menurut teori, publicity bisa lebih efektif daripada iklan karena ditulis oleh pihak ketiga. Kalau Anda mengatakan, Anda sendiri bagus kan tidak lucu. Tapi, kalau Anda memberikan konferensi pers dan mereka kemudian secara ''sukarela'' menulis, itulah yang ditunggu.

Sebagian orang yang salah kaprah menganggap, itulah PR atau public relations. Padahal PR kan bukan cuma itu. Bisa even, bisa news, bisa lobby, dan sebagainya.

Tetapi, sekarang zaman sudah berubah lagi. Blogger punya daya viralisasi tinggi karena selebriti biasanya punya web atau blog sendiri. Selain itu, karena banyak diakses orang dan punya link dengan banyak pihak, apa pun yang ditulis mereka akan bisa menciptakan awareness yang tinggi. Kalau mereka memberikan komentar positif, pengaruhnya juga akan luar biasa.

Inilah era I-report dan I-journalism. Orang akan sukarela me-report dan jadi wartawan untuk Anda, asal mereka suka. Gak bisa dibayar karena mereka biasanya lebih suka sesuatu yang natural.

Kalau dulu Anda tidak dimuat oleh media besar, terpaksa Anda harus pasang iklan. Sekarang? Anda bisa ''minta tolong" blogger yang terkenal atau justru membuat blog sendiri, seolah membuat media sendiri. Lalu, membuat komunitas sendiri, online.

Kembali pada Toyota, baru-baru ini, mereka malah bikin kontes nulis tentang Kijang. Jelasnya, mereka meminta orang untuk menuliskan The Kijang Experience. Maklum, Kijang sudah merayakan HUT ke-30 dan sampai ke generasi kelima yang bernama Innova itu. Nah, pasti sudah cukup banyak yang punya pengalaman dengan Kijang.

Sambutannya? Luar biasa. Banyak sekali, ternyata, orang yang kepengin mengekspresikan diri. Bahkan, perasaan cintanya pada Kijang. Itu gejala yang disebut I-express. Persis sama dengan kontes-kontes di TV yang menampilkan kontes nyanyi. Yang daftar ribuan. Kenapa? Sebab, inilah kesempatan untuk manggung gratis, lagi pula siapa tahu bisa menang.

Nah, dengan memanfaatkan fenomena I-express itulah, Kijang ingin menjaring perasaan customer-customer setianya yang bisa dimanfaatkan sebagai brand story yang bisa di-share-kan lagi.

Di akhir 2007, di MarkPlus Conference Jakarta, saya me-launch delapan tren Marketing In Indonesia. Tren nomor satu adalah internet booming. Hingga enam bulan pertama, hal itu sudah terbukti. Jumlah pengguna internet naik pesat. Akses ke internet tambah murah. Pilihannya makin banyak dan makin cepat. Warnet pun makin banyak. Karena itulah, saya mengundang Menkominfo Mohammad Nuh yang arek Suroboyo untuk membuka The MarkPlus Festival, 10 Juli.

Welcome to the New Wave Marketing Era. Join it or you will be left behind. Bagaimana pendapat Anda? (hermawan kartajaya.com)

--

Hermawan Kartajaya guru marketing
Lama tak datang ke Surabaya, Pak Hermawan Kartajaya masih tetap sama. Bicaranya ceplas-ceplos, lancar, mengalir, ada selingan Bahasa Inggris, dan enak didengar. Selalu ada suntikan semangat kepada pendengarnya. Orang selalu tertarik mendengar meskipun, mungkin, kata-kata motivasi itu sudah pernah kita baca di buku atau dengar dari pembicara lain.

Itu memang kelebihan Pak Hermawan yang menekuni "bisnis kata-kata". Sekarang Hermawan Kartajaya lebih dikenal sebagai ahli marketing ternama di Indonesia. Bos Mark-Plus, perusahaan konsultan marketing yang sudah bekembang di tujuh kota. Dimulai dari Surabaya, 1990, Mark-Plus berkembang luar biasa. Toh, Hermawan belum puas.

"Tahun 2010 harus juara ASEAN. Tahun 2015 juara Asia. Tahun 2020 juara dunia," tegas Hermawan serius.

Pada 2020 usia Hermawan Kartajaya 73 tahun. Apa masih mungkin punya tenaga kuat, gesit, lincah, seperti sekarang? Dia tidak menjelaskan. Yang pasti, Pak Hermawan senantiasa mencanangkan visi dan cita-cita setinggi mungkin. Ini untuk memotivasi diri, memacu adrenalin, agar visi itu bisa dijangkau. "Yang penting, future, bukan past," begitu prinsip Hermawan Kartajaya.

Saya tahu Pak Hermawan sangat serius dengan marketing. Di mana pun dia bicara marketing, marketing, marketing. Kalau diminta bicara tentang nabi-nabi dari sejumlah agama, Pak Hermawan menekankan aspek pemasaran alias marketing. "Di keluarga kami topik yang dibicarakan, ya, maketing. Anak saya yang dua orang, Michael dan Stpehany, bicaranya ya marketing."

Sebagai pembicara internasional, Pak Hermawan sangat sering terbang ke mancanegara. Singapura, Kuala Lumpur, Hongkong, New York, ibarat tanah air sendiri. Lantas, apa yang dilakukan selama penerbangan? "Nonton film, capek, tidur, bangun lagi.... Pulang ke Indonesia, menulis jadi buku. Hehehe," ujar kolumnis sejumlah surat kabar ini.

Ada tiga kegiatan yang sangat mendorong kreativitasnya: travelling, joking, showering. Ketika jalan-jalan, bercanda, mandi, selalu saja muncul ide-ide marketing untuk disampaikan kepada masyarakat. Jangan heran Pak Hermawan menulis begitu banyak buku tentang marketing karena kreativitasnya senantiasa mengalir dari tiga kegiatan sederhana tadi.

"Bagaimanapun juga saya ini kan guru. Sampai sekarang saya masih merasa sebagai seorang guru. Bedanya, saya tidak berdiri di depan kelas seperti dulu," ujarnya serius.

Sebagai kilas balik, Hermawan Kartajaya lahir dari keluarga Tionghoa miskin. Tinggal di gang kecil, Kapasan Gang IV. Ini salah satu kantung warga Tionghoa alias pecinan di Kota Surabaya.

"Papa miskin sekali. Dia kasir semacam BUMN, tapi terlalu jujur, nggak bisa korupsi. Makanya, hidup Papa pas-pasan, gak punya apa-apa," kenang Pak Hermawan Kartajaya.

Yang menarik, sang ayah melarang Hermawan masuk sekolah Tionghoa. Kenapa? "Tujuan Papa supaya anak-anaknya nasionalis. Cinta tanah air," kenangnya.

Karena penghasilan orang tua sangat sedikit, Hermawan harus ikut mencari uang pada usia remaja. Memberi les ke mana-mana. Hasil kasih les itu dipakai untuk ongkos kuliah di ITS [Institut Teknologi 10 Nopember Surabaya]. Makanya, Hermawan selalu menyebut dirinya "terlahir sebagai guru". Born to be a teacher!

Saat kuliah di ITS--Pak Muhammad Nuh, menteri komunikasi dan informasi teman angkatannya--Hermawan merasa kurang sreg. Mata kuliah yang diajarkan lewat begitu saja. "Bagaimana bisa menikmati? Aku iki kan gak seneng teknik. Gak bakat lah. Aku nang E-6, Pak Nuh E-18," tutur pria yang kerap digandeng Philip Kotler, pakar manajemen terkemuka sebagai pembicara seminar atau penulis buku itu.

Tanpa gelar sarjana, karena drop out ITS, Hermawan Kartajaya menjadi guru SMAK St Louis I Surabaya. Ini karena penguasaan matematika dan fisikanya luar biasa. Hermawan Kartajaya bahkan menjadi guru favorit. Anak-anak sekolah gandrung pelajaran Hermawan. Kenapa?

"Karena saya selalu berusaha menyederhanakan materi-materi yang rumit. Saya pakai contoh-contoh konket. Membahas kubus, misalnya, saya suruh anak-anak bawa benang. Lalu, dibuat peragaan."

Hermawan memang cakap. Kapabilitasnya sebagai guru ilmu pasti tak diragukan lagi. Dia juga sudah merasa mantan di St Louis. Namun, pemerintah Orde Baru menuntut gelar sarjana [strata satu] untuk guru SMA. Diam-diam Hermawan diketahui petugas Dinas Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan bahwa ia belum sarjana. Kok dibiarkan mengajar di SMA St Louis? Pihak sekolah kemudian ditekan.

"Mampu tapi tanpa gelar dianggap tidak kompeten! Sebaliknya, tidak mampu tapi punya gelar dianggap mampu!" begitu kira-kira prinsip Orde Baru. Maka, posisi Hermawan mulai digoyang.

Singkat cerita, dia harus kuliah sambil tetap mengajar. Kuliahnya ekonomi di Ubaya [Universitas Surabaya]. Pelajaran-pelajaran di Ubaya dilahap habis sama Hermawan. Dosen-dosennya bahkan meminta masukan Hermawan, yang nota bene mahasiswa. "Wong apa yang diajarkan itu sudah saya baca semua. Malah sudah ketinggalan zaman," tuturnya.

Hermawan dengan cepat beroleh gelar sarjana ekonomi. Selama 20 tahun dia bekerja sebagai guru. Kemudian Hermawan muda yang cemerlang direkrut PT HM Sampoerna untuk mengelola PT Panggung. Penghasilan sebagai profesional tentu jauh lebih ciamik ketimbang guru matematika/fisika. Tapi lama-lama Hermawan jenuh. Alasannya sama: jiwanya guru.

"Teaching iku kan giving inspiration kepada orang lain supaya wong-wong iku iso change himself, supaya uripe lebih ciamik," papar Hermawan dalam gaya bahasa khasnya yang gado-gado: Indonesia campur Suroboyo campur Inggris campur Hokian.

Tahun 1990 Hermawan Kartajaya memutuskan keluar dari zone nyaman di HM Sampoerna. Dia mencari tantangan baru. Dibikinlah MarkPlus. Nama Hermawan lekas dikenal karena media massa di Surabaya, khususnya Jawa Pos dan Surabaya Post, sangat membantu mensosialisasikan ide-idenya. Hermawan sudah berpikir jauh ke depan. Bahwa marketing akan menjadi unsur penting dalam manajemen modern.

Saat itu profesi konsultan belum banyak dikenal di Surabaya, bahkan Indonesia umumnya. Hermawan sering dicibir hanya jualan omongan. Hanya bisa bicara, tapi belum tentu mampu mengelola perusahaan.

"Salah pendapat seperti itu. Saya ini mengajar, memberi inspirasi. Karena jualan saya abstrak, ya, gak kelihatan. Sama salahnya dengan pendapat bahwa pengusaha itu jahat, suka menipu," tegasnya.

"Saya tetap guru dan tidak pernah berubah. Marketing itu membuat sebuah produk [barang atau jasa] selalu dibutuhkan. Customer butuh terus," tambahnya.

Prinsip inilah yang selalu dikembangkan Hermawan Kartajaya selama menekuni profesi sebagai konsultan marketing. Apakah Hermawan Kartajaya menikmati profesi sekarang?

Tanpa ragu-ragu konsultan perbankan syariah ini [satu-satunya nonmuslim yang direkrut Bank indonesia] mengatakan sangat bahagia. Sukses materi sudah. Anak-anak sudah mandiri dan ikut jejaknya di marketing.

Menurut Hermawan, pekerjaan itu ada tiga macam: job, profession, calling. Kalau sudah tahap panggilan [calling], maka manusia akan menikmati kebahagiaan dalam pekerjaannya. Kerja dinikmati selama 24 jam, tidak lagi terikat jam kerja, atau pertimbangan-pertimbangan lain. Hidup Hermawan saat ini diabdikan untuk marketing karena itulah calling-nya.

"Di keluarga, ya, kami bicara marketing. Positioning, diferensiasi, dan seterusnya. Ketemu anak saya, Michael (31) dan Stephany (26), ya, bicara marketing. Tapi anak-anak saya juga punya their own life."

Omong-omong, apakah Sampeyan merasa kesepian di usia 60 tahun?

"Yah, bisa begitu. Ada istilah lonely at the top. Orang akan kesepian ketika berada di puncak. Tapi dari situ kita sadar bahwa pada akhirnya manusia baru bisa hidup kalau diperlukan orang lain. Terutama keluarga terdekat. Sebab, kita ini lahir karena cinta."

Hermawan mengakui saat ini sangat susah empat orang itu [suami-istri plus dua anak] bisa berkumpul sama-sama. Michael dan Stephany tinggal di apartemen masing-masing. Hermawan berbicara di mana-mana. "Biasanya, kalau ada ulang tahun kami bisa kumpul bareng-bareng."

Yah, lonely at the top!

--

Hermawan Kartajaya sudah lama dikenal sebagai seorang "Marketing Icon of Indonesia". Sosok Pendiri dan Presiden MarkPlus & Co, serta President World Marketing Association (WMA) tahun 2002-2003 ini, selain kondang sebagai pembicara/narasumber di pelbagai seminar dalam dan luar negeri, juga menulis beberapa buku : Repositioning Asia: From Buble to Sustainable Economy (John Wiley&Son, 2000), Rethinking Marketing; Sustainable Marketing Enterprise in Asia (Prentice Hall, 2002) --keduanya ditulis bersama Prof. Philip Kotler. Kemudian Hermawan Kartajaya on Marketing (GPU, 2002) dan Marketing in Venus (GPU, 2003).

Pada tahun 2003, pria yang menyelesaikan studi Master di Stratchlyde University - Glasgow, England ini terpilih sebagai salah satu dari "50 gurus who have shaped the future of marketing" oleh CIM-UK. Dua wakil yang terpilih dari Asia adalah belaiu dan Kenichi Ohmae (Jepang).

Kini, Hermawan juga merambah dunia blog. Melalui email, pria kelahiran Surabaya, 18 November 1947 ini menjawab sejumlah pertanyaan dari redaksi bz! tentang fenomena serta peran blog dalam dunia marketing.

Berikut petikannya:


Bagaimana Tanggapan Bapak mengenai fenomena dan perkembangan Blog di Indonesia saat ini?

Seperti yang sering saya katakan dalam berbagai kesempatan, blog adalah sebuah media baru di ‘dunia baru'. Buat saya blog adalah satu dari sekian banyak alat baru di ‘dunia baru’ yang memberikan kekuasaan untuk individual. Lewat blog, individu dapat berprofesi sambilan sebagai jurnalis. Ia bebas mengeluarkan pendapat, meluapkan emosi, atau bahkan sekedar menceritakan catatan hariannya. Namun sayangnya di Indonesia masih banyak yang belum menyadari manfaat dari blog. Banyak juga yang masih bingung apa bedanya blog dengan online forum, atau bahkan website. Selain itu kalau saya lihat bloggers di Indonesia masih sebatas perorangan belum sampai ke perusahaan. Padahal di US, corporate blog sudah banyak bermunculan. Bahkan ada satu perusahaan yang membuat blog sebagai media untuk curhat-curhatan karyawannya. Dalam hal ini, blog juga dapat digunakan sebagai media untuk internal marketing.


Apakah menurut Bapak, blog dapat dimanfaatkan menjadi salah satu bentuk kiat pemasaran yang cukup strategisdi era globalisasi dan digital saat ini?

Dunia sekarang ini terus mengalami pembaharuan. Kita hidup di dunia yang (terus) baru. Dunia seperti apa? Dunia venus. Di venus ini, alat promosi yang bersifat top-down, one-way dan massal menjadi kurang efektif lagi, dan komunikasi yang bersifat horizontal dari mulut ke mulut yang bersifat peer-to-peer, human-to-human, interaktif, kolegial, dan dialog one-to-one justru yang paling efektif.

Dalam buku Marketing in Venus, saya katakan bahwa ada dua hal yang menyebabkannya. Pertama, adanya ads clutter atau banjir iklan sudah demikian membingungkan pelanggan. Kedua, pelanggan mulai menemukan alat dan medium yang pas dan natural untuk berbagi informasi atau berbincang-bincang. Medium itu adalah internet melalui email, chatting, SMS, mailing list, blog dan sebagainya. Pelanggan dapat meminta nasehat dan mendapatkan masukan dari teman-temannya dari manapun di seluruh dunia mengenai informasi produk yang akan dibeli atau apakah seharusnya mereka membeli suatu merek tertentu atau tidak dengan mudah. Oleh karena itu, komunikasi word of mouth ini menjadi tumbuh subur dan menjadi alat promosi yang ampuh. Makanya saya selalu mengatakan bahwa personal conversation is the winning formula untuk komunikasi pemasaran di dunia interaktif seperti sekarang. Perbincangan pribadi atau komunikasi horizontal pada tingkat yang setara (peer level) dan dua arah sangatlah efektif ketimbang komunikasi vertikal yang top-down, hirarkis, dan satu arah.

Selain itu saya melihat blog sebagai suatu media untuk menangkap anxiety dan desire dari si konsumen. Asia Wall Street Journal dalam sebuah artikelnya beberapa bulan lalu pernah menguak sebuah cerita bagaimana perusahaan-perusahaan di US melakukan riset customer insight dari blog postings yang memang mengandung kegelisahan dari konsumen.

bz!tamu Mungkin Bapak sudah mendengar istilah mengenai Chief Blogging Officer. Apakah menurut Bapak jabatan CBO cukup aplikatif diterapkan di dunia usaha Indonesia sekarang ini, khususnya sebagai ujung tombak marketing?

CBO menurut saya adalah istilah lain untuk Chief Corporate Communication atau Corporate Secretary di dunia venus. Maksudnya di dunia seperti sekarang, nge-blog harus menjadi responsibility dari seorang CCC atau Corp-Sec.

Jika menurut Bapak cukup aplikatif, apa tantangan terbesar yang bakal dihadapi sang CBO dan bagaimana menyiasatinya?

Tantangan besarnya saya rasa adalah bagaimana menggunakan peluang untuk melakukan dialog interaktif secara continuous dengan blog visitor.


Apakah latar belakang atau motivasi Bapak dalam membuat blog serta apakah harapan Bapak dengan kehadiran blog ini?

Pada dasarnya blog saya lebih untuk jurnal pribadi saya di mana saya betul-betul buka-bukaan tentang kegiatan saya sehari-hari. Yang ’menyetani’ saya untuk bikin blog sebenarnya adalah orang-orang di kantor. Pertamanya saya ogah-ogahan karena nggak begitu ngerti tentang dunia blogosphere. Sampai akhirnya asisten saya menjelaskan apa untungnya ngeblog. Dan kebetulan dia sendiri menawarkan dirinya untuk jadi CBO saya. hehehe


Apa saran-saran Bapak untuk memberdayakan komunitas blogger Indonesia (seperti blogfam) pada dunia yang kian "ceper" (flat) akibat merebaknya secara luas pengaruh teknologi digital dan internet dewasa ini?

Saya rasa edukasi publik di Indonesia tentang apa itu blog harus terus dijalankan. Seperti yang saya bilang tadi, masih banyak orang yang nggak tahu apa bedanya blog dengan forum dan website. Mudah-mudahan blogfam dapat mengambil peranannya dalam hal itu.

Bisa Bapak ceritakan jika ada pengalaman menarik setelah membuka blog sendiri?

Banyak sekali ya. Bisa kenal dengan Tiara Lestari, Enda Nasution, dan sebagainya. Sampai-sampai curhat-curhatan kalau lagi kesel. Waktu itu saya juga pernah didatangi oleh PR manager dari satu perusahaan di Indonesia yang ’menghimbau’ saya jangan mengkritik perusahaan itu di blog saya. hehehe...

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Hermawan Kartajaya (lahir di Surabaya, Jawa Timur, 18 November 1947; umur 62 tahun) adalah seorang pakar pemasaran berkewarganegaraan Indonesia. [1] Sejak tahun 2002, ia menjabat sebagai Presiden World Marketing Association dan oleh The Chartered Institute of Marketing yang berkedudukan di Inggris ia dinobatkan sebagai 50 Gurus Who Have Shaped The Future of Marketing. [2] Saat ini ia juga menjabat sebagai Presiden MarkPlus&Co, perusahaan konsultan manajemen yang berbasis di Asia yang dirintisnya sejak tahun 1990. [3] Ia juga aktif menulis buku-buku seputar dunia pemasaran. Kartajaya merupakan orang Indonesia pertama yang memasuki ranah pemasaran internasional dengan model yang ia buat sendiri. Ia adalah seroang yang unik kombinasi dari orang yang memiliki pemikiran akan konsep bisnis yang strategis dalam bidang marketing dan seorang praktisi. [4] Hermawan yang juga founder dan President MarkPlus itu selalu mengatakan bahwa jika ingin membangun brand yang kuat perusahaan tidak boleh hanya mengandalkan iklan. Perusahaan harus melakukan sesuatu yang mengena di benak konsumen, tidak sekadar menjual tetapi memiliki implikasi jangka panjang. [5]

Menurut Asian Marketing Guru itu, perusahaan yang memiliki reputasi bagus tidak lagi memerlukan promosi, marketing, public relation, atau corporate social responsibility (CSR) karena hal itu telah terjadi dengan sendirinya.


* Pendidikan di Teknik Elektro ITS, keluar dari Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember karena masalah ekonomi [6]
* Menyelesaikan gelar sarjana di Universitas Udayana [7]
* Pendidikan master di University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business, Scotland 1995 [8]
* Pada 1990 membentuk MarkPlus, perusahaan konsultan marketing di Jakarta Indonesia
* Sejak 2002 Hermawan Kartajaya menjadi presiden dari World Marketing Association
* is also the one the few Asians who has been invited to give a speech in the American Marketing Association (AMA) Educators Conference[rujukan?]
* Dinobatkan sebagai 50 Gurus Who Have Shaped The Future of Marketing [9]


Publikasi buku oleh Hermawan Kartajaya: [10]

Buku Internasional:

• Attracting Investors: A Marketing Approach to Finding Funds For Your Business, with Philip Kotler (Kellogg School of Management) and S. David Young (INSEAD), published by John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, 2004.

• Rethinking Marketing: Sustainable Market-ing Enterprise in Asia, with Philip Kotler (Kellogg School of Management), Hooi Den Huan (Nanyang Business School) and Sandra Liu (Purdue University), published by Prentice Hall Asia, 2002. This book is launched at the University of Chicago Graduate Business School—Asian Campus, Singapore, September 2002. Currently, this book is being used as second textbook for Marketing Course at Nanyang Business School, Singapore. This book has been translated into several languages.

• Repositioning Asia: From Bubble to Sustainable Economy, with Philip Kotler (Kellogg School of Management) and wholly supported by Andersen Consulting Asia Pacific, published by John Wiley & Sons, Singapore, 2000. This book was bestseller in Asia. This book has been translated into several languages.

• “The 18 Guiding Principles of Marketing Company” in Warren J. Keegan (Pace University), Global Marketing Management, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1999.

• “The Strategic Marketing Plus 2000 Conceptual framework for Competitive Audit, Strategy Formulation and Capability Enhancement” in Warren J. Keegan (Pace University) and Mark C. Green (Simpson College), Principles of Global Marketing, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1997.


Buku lain:

• Attracting Tourist, Traders & Investors, diterbitkan oleh PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 2005.

• 4G Marketing: A 90-Year Journey in Creating Everlasting Brands, diterbitkan oleh MarkPlus&Co, Jakarta, 2005. This book is about journey of HM Sampoerna of creating everlasting cigarette brands in Indonesia.

• Aa Gym: A Spiritual Marketer, diterbitkan oleh MarkPlus&Co, Jakarta, 2005.

• Winning the Mom Market in Indonesia, diterbitkan oleh MarkPlus&Co, Jakarta, 2005.

• Marketing in Venus Playbook Volume I, II, III, diterbitkan oleh MarkPlus&Co, Jakarta, 2005.

• Marketing in Venus: The Garuda Indonesia Story, diterbitkan oleh MarkPlus&Co, Jakarta, 2005.

• Metrosexuals in Venus, diterbitkan oleh MarkPlus&Co, Jakarta, 2004.

• Marketing Yourself, diterbitkan oleh MarkPlus&Co, Jakarta, 2004.

• Berbisnis dengan Hati (Compassionate Marketing), with K.H. Abdullah Gymnastiar (Aa Gym), published by MarkPlus&Co, Jakarta, 2004.

• Positioning Differentiation Brand, diterbitkan oleh PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 2004.

• On Becoming a Customer-Centric Company, diterbitkan oleh PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 2004. This book is a about the transformation of PT Pos Indonesia of becoming the customer-centric company.

• Hermawan Kartajaya on Positioning, diterbitkan oleh Mizan Media Utama, Bandung, 2004.

• Hermawan Kartajaya on Differentiation, diterbitkan oleh Mizan Media Utama, Bandung, 2004.

• Hermawan Kartajaya on Brand, diterbitkan oleh Mizan Media Utama, Bandung, 2004.

• Marketing in Venus, diterbitkan oleh PT Gramedia Pustaka Media, Jakarta, 2003. This book is a bestseller in Indonesia.

• Hermawan Kartajaya on Marketing, diterbitkan oleh PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 2002.

• MarkPlus on Strategy, diterbitkan oleh PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 2002.

• Marketing Plus 2000, diterbitkan oleh PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 2001.

• Bridging the Network Company, diterbitkan oleh PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 1999. This book is about on the transformation of PT Pos Indonesia of becoming the network company.

• Kiat Memenangkan Persaingan di Era Krisis (Winning in the Era of Crisis), diterbitkan oleh PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 1998.

• Siasat Bisnis: Menang dan Bertahan di Abad Asia Pasifik (Business Strategy: Winning and Sustaining in Asia Pacific), diterbitkan oleh PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama in cooperation with Majalah Berita Mingguan Gatra, Jakarta, 1997.

• Seri 36 Kasus Pemasaran Asli Indonesia: Rangkaian Strategi, Siasat, dan Taktik Jitu (Series of 36 Indonesia Business Cases: Strategy and Tactic), with Dyah Hasto Palupi, diterbitkan oleh PT Elex Media Komputindo, Jakarta. This series consist of 2 books.

• Marketing Plus Series, diterbitkan oleh Pustaka Sinar Harapan, Jakarta. This series consist of 5 books.

Journals:

• Guest Editor, with Philip Kotler (Kellogg School of Management) and Karthik Siva (Global Brand Forum), Nanyang Business Review, Special Global Brand Forum edition 2004.

• Guest Editor, with Philip Kotler (Kellogg School of Management), Nanyang Business Review, Vol. 2 No. 1, January-June 2003.

• “Only the Sustainable Succeed: Lessons from Asian Survivors”, Nanyang Business Review, Vol. 1 No. 1 January-June 2002, with Philip Kotler (Kellogg School of Management).

• “Consumer Behavior in the Economic Crisis and Its Implication for Marketing Strategy”, Kelola Gadjah Mada University Business Review, No.18/VII/1998.

• “Marketing Audit: Based on Strategic Marketing Plus 2000”, Kelola Gadjah Mada University Business Review, No.9/IV/1995.



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Flipped Excerpt: Too Many Choices, Not Enough Time

With too many tangible offerings, people create filters and use other tools, like social media, to make sense of the many messages they’re bombarded with every day. In every category of business there are more product choices than anyone could ever try, let alone purchase. No matter how much branding or advertising a company does, it’s increasingly difficult to wade through the clutter. Studies have demonstrated that providing too many options – particularly when the real distinctions between them are small (there are over three dozen different flavors of Crest Toothpaste, for example) can cause people to feel overwhelmed and overloaded, and as a result, less likely to pursue any of the options available.

People want variety, but they want companies to be reasonable at the same time. When the products available to them are relevant to their needs and their lifestyles, customers will feel that those companies have actually done their homework. Throwing out dozens of choices and assuming people will find something they like doesn’t foster intimacy between companies and their customers. People don’t necessarily need more choices; they need choices that are personally relevant. The reality is that in response to this product overload, people are suggesting that more isn’t always better; that perhaps quality – or at least relevance – is more important than quantity. The only possible exception to this way of thinking is in people’s ongoing quest to somehow find more time.

Articles in the 1960’s and 70’s used to talk about the rise of leisure time we would experience by the year 2000 because of the promise of productivity following the development of technologies like the computer. What happened? Remember how many futurists accepted the notion of a four-day workweek as the norm for most of us at the turn of the century? What happened? With our infinite choices, from 500 television channels to 125,000 new books every year, we’ve filled up our “extra” time pretty fast.

If there is one constant for all of us it is our lack of time, whether real or perceived. I look at it this way: I’m 49. The average American male lives to be 77.8 years old (according to the National Center For Health Statistics). That’s 28,397 days, so I’ve got about 10,512 days left. If you’re like me, you: sleep eight hours per day (if you’re lucky) – 3,565 days; eat for two and a half hours per day – 1,114 days; spend half an hour per day in the bathroom (hot showers rule!) – 223 days; work eight hours per day (16 years, maybe, maybe not) – 1,927 days; work out one hour per day (hopefully) – 446 days; commute one hour per day (at least) – 446 days; hang out with the family two hours per day – 892 days; do things you don’t really want to do one hour per day (pay bills, listen to telemarketers, do yard work) – 446 days. That leaves 1,453 days, or about one hour per day, left for following your bliss.

I don’t know about you, but anyone hoping to get my attention these days better make it really mean something to me, especially if it infringes on that one sacred hour.

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Thang D. Nguyen's Column

Monday, December 03, 2007
ASEAN destroys its own credibility


Asiasentinel
www.asiasentinel.com

Thang D. Nguyen
03 December 2007

The publicity over ASEAN's failure of nerve about Burma obscures other troubles with its new charter


While international organizations and regional blocs like the European Union are trying so hard to stay relevant, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) seems not to be bothering.

First was the disastrous and disgraceful climbdown at the recent 13th ASEAN summit in Singapore, when the organization bent to the demands of Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein in refusing to allow United Nations Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to brief leaders and their dialogue partners from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea on Burma’s crackdown on Buddhist monks and civilian protesters — forcing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, which now chairs ASEAN, to scrap the meeting.



Worse yet is the ASEAN Charter, which confirms that the principle of non-interference will remain unchanged. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, herself mired charges of corruption and a domestic mess last week with an attempted coup, at least stood up and said she wouldn't sign the charter unless the long-confined Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Ky is freed and Burma agrees to some degree of human rights liberalization.

Leaders from the 10 member countries ended up signing a charter that aims towards comprehensive integration, but that has significant problems that certainly render the charter problematical, if not meaningless. On the economic front, the charter contains the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint that was adopted at the summit. Similar to — if not inspired by — the European Economic Community, the AEC Blueprint aims for complete economic integration among 10 member countries by 2015.

For a group as diverse as ASEAN, whose members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, the AEC Blueprint is, indeed, a bold and encouraging vision. But at the same time, the very diversity of or imbalance among the 10 members' economies makes it very difficult to realize the AEC Blueprint by 2015 as planned.

At the heart of this plan is the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT), which ultimately targets a zero tariff rate among the 10 members. While this goal is easier to reach for advanced economies in ASEAN, namely Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, it is more difficult for their less developed fellow economies, namely Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Vietnam. The main reason is that the latter group, as do most developing countries, tends to have high tariff rates as a way to maintain or improve their terms of trade (prices of a country's exports over its imports).

Understandably enough, ASEAN's less-developed economies are given a later schedule for tariff reduction. But for the AEC vision to be realized, it will require a strong political will, discipline and leadership from them and the rest of ASEAN.

Put differently, what happens if any member — regardless of its economic stage — which does not respect and meet the deadline of tariff reduction and other requirements set out by the AEC Blueprint? Is there some sort of punishment for those that don't do their parts and, thus, fail the whole AEC vision altogether? And may other members have any say?

Sadly, the answer to these questions is negative. The cause of this is nothing other than ASEAN's fundamental principle of non-interference.

Forty years ago when ASEAN was founded, its founding fathers — some of whom are still alive — agreed that all ASEAN members would not interfere with matters considered to be a fellow member's domestic affairs. After the Cold War, this principle seemed to work well for ASEAN, whose members then were Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

As the group grew larger and inducted Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Vietnam in the early 1990s, however, the political structure changed. Indeed, the new four members' political systems and ideologies were, and still are, very different from those of the original six. Nevertheless, ASEAN's political culture, or the principle of non-interference, stayed the same.

To be fair, ASEAN did surprise the world in 2003 when it urged Burma's military rulers to free Ms Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy secured a landslide, but unrecognized, victory in a 1990 election. Last year, an ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus was even established, with the primary aims of pushing democracy in Burma and helping free Ms Suu Kyi. To ASEAN's credit, the pressure it exerted in the past led to Burma giving up its scheduled turn as the chair of the association last year (the Philippines took the position, as it was next in line).

And at first in September, when the Burmese junta cracked down brutally on protestors, ASEAN initially showed that it was breaking away from its excessively polite political culture and the principle of non-interference. Singapore’s Lee, who currently chairs the group, said ASEAN cannot "credibly remain silent or uninvolved in this matter."

"National reconciliation means opening of meaningful dialogue with Aung San Su Kyi and the NLD (National League for Democracy); (it) means releasing political detainees, including Aung San Su Kyi; (it) means moving forward to achieve a peaceful transition to democracy and to address the economic hardships of the population of Myanmar," he said.

But, alas, ASEAN is not in favor of sanctions or dismembering Burma, as the US Senate and the Human Rights Watch Group have urged, although during the summit, ASEAN did make its position clear that Burma cannot go back to the status quo — a position obscured by the cave-in on Gambari's briefing. By all accounts, ASEAN is the loser, having first attempted to discipline Burma and then being forced to back away. In addition, international outrage over Burma's military crackdown is stalling ASEAN's trade negotiations with the United States and causing serious diplomatic difficulties with the European Union

This is no way for ASEAN to maintain its credibility. Now that it has broken its premise of non-interference through its statements and actions towards ASEAN thus far, maintaining the principle, if anything, will make ASEAN hypocritical.

Burma, as a consequence, will get spoiled again, as it knows that it can continue to keep Aung San Suu Kyi under arrest and suppress democracy and ASEAN won't do a thing since it is considered an internal matter. Not only has ASEAN continued to back the wrong horse, but it has lost its face in the international community.

The writer is a Jakarta-based columnist. More of his writings can be read at www.thangthecolumnist.blogspot.com .

posted by Thang D. Nguyen at 12:08 AM 6 comments
Monday, October 22, 2007
Jakarta's poor need jobs, not law

The Business Times
Singapore

Published October 17, 2007

Outlawing begging will not help as it is the job of the government to pursue policies which create jobs for its citizens

By THANG D NGUYEN

(JAKARTA) In other parts of the world, giving a few coins to help a less fortunate person would be considered a humane act. But if you do that in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta, it can cost you a lot more money.

Last month, the Jakarta City Council approved a bylaw that bans busking, begging and street hawking as well as banning people from giving money to beggars, vendors and hawkers.

Initiated by the city's departing governor, Sutioyoso, the bylaw says that anyone who is caught giving money to beggars, and others of their ilk, will be fined of 50 million rupiah (S$8,072).

While this new policy is well-meant as it is intended to help make Jakarta, a city of more than 12 million people, a less squalid place and, thus, a more attractive destination for visitors, it is - like many Indonesian laws - vacuous and ridiculous.

For one thing, this policy violates a personal liberty. Giving, after all, is a personal choice and, as such, it should neither be forced nor prohibited.

Thus, by enforcing this bylaw, the City of Jakarta is denying its residents their freedom to give.

Furthermore, like prostitution, begging is one of the world's oldest professions. Even in the world's richest countries one can find beggars.

And in a country like Indonesia, where half of its 230 million people live on less than the equivalent of US$2 a day, and there is no social welfare system, it is no wonder that there are so many beggars in Jakarta and elsewhere in the country.

To be sure, many of the beggars one sees in Jakarta are members of syndicates run by gangs who rent out toddlers and are said to earn more than an average Indonesian government official. But not all of these beggars are con artists. Unemployment, old age and poor health are among the other factors which force people to beg for a living.

'I have nowhere to work in my hometown, so I came to Jakarta and start selling cigarettes on the street to get a little money to live,' Chakim, a 24-year-old streetside cigarette vendor in Jakarta, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Countries like Switzerland and Luxembourg have not become some of the world's richest places by banning their citizens from giving to beggars. Instead, they try to ensure that their citizens can find jobs.

And for those who are unemployed, disabled, aged, or in poor health, there is a social welfare system - financed with tax revenues - that saves them from begging for a living.

In Indonesia, the establishment of such a social safety net is currently impossible. This is because there is no effective tax revenue and expenditure system in place and there is still so much corruption entrenched in the government.

Employment creation is possible, however. It is, after all, the job of the government of Indonesia and the City of Jakarta to pursue policies which create jobs for their citizens.

And if they can't do their job, at least they should let unemployed, poor, and less able citizens find a way to make a living, even if that happens to be by begging.

By the same token, those who are willing and able to help other less fortunate Indonesians should be allowed to do so.

While Mr Sutioyoso and his colleagues may insist that their policy is the way to clean up Jakarta, it is not.

Simply put, the bylaw won't work because there is no sound alternative, that is, employment.

Beggars may move away from begging on Jakarta's streets, but they will simply do it somewhere else.

'I have agreed with many buskers that we will stay on the streets, whatever it takes. The new bylaws don't scare me too much,' said Susi, a transvestite who sings daily at a dusty and congested intersection in Central Jakarta. 'I can earn up to 30,000 rupiah a day.'

While beggars like Susi are determined to stay on the streets, departing Governor Sutioyoso is said to be running for president in 2009.

If that is the case, the beggar bylaw may not be a good thing for him when the time comes for Jakarta residents like Susi, Chakim, and thousands of beggars to cast their votes for the president in two years' time.

And should Mr Sutioyoso make it, it may be good for him to keep in mind three things that make a country peaceful, prosperous, and clean. They are: jobs, jobs, and jobs.

The writer is a Jakarta-based columnist.

posted by Thang D. Nguyen at 3:29 AM 4 comments
Friday, September 28, 2007
UN needs to give Myanmar an ultimatum

The Jakarta Post
October 4, 2007

By Thang D. Nguyen

JAKARTA—As the crisis in Myanmar worsens, protesters in neighboring Malaysia and elsewhere in Asia are increasing their calls for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to play a more proactive role in overcoming the situation.

But really, what else can ASEAN do about Myanmar?

ASEAN - whose members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - has tried to work with Myanmar in a constructive way to bring democracy into the country.

In 2003, foreign ministers from ASEAN issued a statement urging Myanmar's military rulers to free Nobel Laureate and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy secured a landslide, but unrecognized, victory in a 1990 election.

Last year, an ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus was established, with the primary aims of pushing democracy in Myanmar and helping free Ms. Suu Kyi.

Let's not forget that ASEAN has only recently moved away from its founding principle of non-interference - i.e. members will not get involved in issues considered to be the internal affairs of other members.

To ASEAN's credit, the pressure it exerted in the past led to Myanmar giving up its scheduled turn as the chair of the association last year (the Philippines took the position, as it was next in line).

After consulting other members, Singapore, which assumed the chairmanship of ASEAN in July, called on the organization to make a statement on the crisis in Myanmar.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said ASEAN cannot "credibly remain silent or uninvolved in this matter".

But, let's face it, a statement from ASEAN may be helpful, but it won't be a critical force. In other words, the Myanmarese junta is really beyond the reach of ASEAN at this point.

Do not forget, this is the same government that defied calls from the U.S., the European Union, ASEAN itself and the entire international community to free Aung San Suu Kyi and allow democracy to take place.

The proof is that despite U.S. sanctions that President George W. Bush announced in New York during the United Nations (UN) General Assembly last week, the Myanmarese junta went ahead with its crackdown on Buddhist monks and civilian protesters, arresting more than 100 and killing at least 17.

India and China - two neighboring countries outside ASEAN that have influence on Myanmar - have reacted disappointingly to the situation. While they both expressed concern about the crisis, they clearly said it falls into the category of Myanmar's internal affairs.

As a close trading partner and corridor to the Indian Ocean, Myanmar must be stable in China's eyes.

However, a Beijing-backed crackdown on the monks over their protests would hurt China's image, especially as it prepares to host the Olympics next year.

As for India, Myanmar is its source of oil, so it will remain diplomatic.

With news from Myanmar overwhelming the mood at the General Assembly, the UN Security Council held an urgent meeting and agreed to send the UN Secretary-General's special envoy, Ibraham Gambari, to Myanmar to deal with the junta.

However, Gambari's presence is not strong enough for the junta.

He handed over a message from the UN urging the junta to stop its crackdown on the monks and civilian protesters.

But this regime has shown, and continues to show, defiance of instructions, no matter how strong they are or who they are from.

After all, the junta has been living with warnings, sanctions and other forms of pressure from the international community for the past 19 years.

So as sad as it may be, another visit from another envoy with another message from the UN is nothing new for the junta.

Therefore, if the crisis in Myanmar is to be resolved, the UN needs to gather its will, consensus and resources to send an ultimatum to the junta.

The ultimatum is simply this: If the junta does not stop its crackdown, the UN will move its troops into Myanmar!

The junta is smart enough to know that its military resources do not outnumber those of the UN, should it decide to take this path.

And if this scenario materializes, the people of Myanmar will side with - you guessed it - the UN troops, adding more force to this democratic revolution.

This is an opportunity for the international community to bring peace and democracy to Myanmar once and for all. And if the world misses this opportunity, Burma - as Myanmar it is affectionately known - will never be free.

The writer is a Jakarta-based columnist. More of his articles can be found at www.thangthecolumnist.blogspot.com

posted by Thang D. Nguyen at 6:23 AM 3 comments
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Martyring for freedom in Burma


By Thang D. Nguyen

JAKARTA—Politics and religion should not be mixed. And for good reasons, that is. For one thing, secularism prevents a nation from becoming a theocracy—the antithesis of democracy.

And in the case of radical Islamic groups, their battle for God, or jihad, is carried out as massive, deadly terrorist attacks.

But in Burma, a Buddhist-majority country, religion is now a powerful force for democracy.

It has been over a week since a few hundred Buddhist monks started a protest against the ruling junta in the former capital of Rangoon and other major cities in Burma.

Walking in the rain in Buddhist robes and with their hand clasped, the monks demand for an apology from the Burmese junta for the violent break-up of a civilian rally that was triggered by protests over price rises last month.

Civilians have joined the monks, even though they have asked not to do so for fear of provoking reprisals by the security forces.

To be sure, many activists have been jailed and some have allegedly been tortured for participating in earlier protests.

As a matter of fact, the monks’ march sends a chilled reminder of a mass protest in 1988 when the junta cracked down on activists, killing hundreds, if not thousands, of them.

In the beginning, the junta was reluctant and cautious. The main reason is that, in a country where Buddhist monks are the highest moral authority, a crackdown on them will certainly cause a massive national outcry.

But, after a week of mysterious silence, the junta broke its silence and warned the monks of military action if they did not stop protesting.

Next, military forces arrested over 100 monks and civilians for participating in the protest. But the protesters did not give up, and the military started to crack down on them with tear gas and gun-firing.

So far, three monks are dead and 20 other protestors injured during their clash with security forces. As part of the crackdown, security forces have also raided several Buddhist monasteries.

If anything, the clash shows how defiant the junta is—as always.

As he spoke before the UN general assembly in New York this week, President George W. Bush announced US sanctions against the Burmese military regime.

“Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma, where a military junta has imposed a 19-year reign of fear. The ruling junta remains unyielding, yet the people's desire for freedom is unmistakable,” he said.

The junta obviously did not care much about Mr. Bush's speech.

Lest we forget, this is the junta that has kept democracy leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest since 1990 when her National League for Democracy (NLD) won landslide elections but was never allowed to govern.

This is the same junta that has since defied pressure from the US, the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations—of which Burma is a member—and the entire international community to free Aung San Suu Kyi and allow democracy to take place.

Sadly, the one country that can influence the junta’s action, China, has only urged for stability but refused to get intervene, saying that the protest is a matter of Burma’s internal affairs.

As one of its trading partners and corridor to the Indian Ocean, China does not like an unstable Burma.

But, a Beijing-backed crackdown on the monks over their protest will hurt China’s image as it is hosting the Olympics next year.

It remains to be seen how the clash between the junta and Burmese protestors will turn out in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the protest is most significant in several ways.

First, it is a protest initiated and organized by a religious force, as opposed to a civilian one. To be sure, Burmese monks were involved in the 1998 bloody protest, but only from behind the scenes.

Second, because of their position in Burmese society, the monks present the most serious challenge the junta has faced thus far in the country’s modern history.

Third, if protest results in a crackdown similar to that in 1988, it will be remembered as a most significant event that has ever happened for democracy in Burma.

Fighting for democracy is never easy. Or, as Thomas Jefferson put it: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

More monks and civilians will get hurt in this protest. More will die because of it.

But they will die martyrs, not for God, but for democracy.

The writer is an Asia-based columnist. His writing can be read at www.thangthecolumnist.blogspot.com.

posted by Thang D. Nguyen at 9:11 AM 1 comments
TIME ruling a setback for democracy in Indonesia

By Thang D. Nguyen

JAKARTA—Sometimes when things appear to be better, they are actually worse. This is certainly the case with press freedom in Indonesia.

As the largest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia’s democratic transformation since 1998—when strongman Suharto was toppled—has been an exemplary example for the world.

In addition to having free elections and a government they select, Indonesians today practice a variety of democratic rights, including demonstrating—something that would put them in jail or could cost them their lives under the old regime.

Indeed, Indonesia has thus far shown a steady democratic transition, despite resistance from some minor groups—mostly hard-line Muslim organizations.

For instance, in 2002, the Indonesian Parliament rejected a motion to institute sharia, or Islamic Laws, across Indonesia.

What is more, in July this year, the Constitutional Court scrapped Articles 154 and 155 from Indonesia’s Criminal Code and banned the government from imprisoning anyone whose expression of thoughts and ideas was considered hostile or subversive towards the state.

Media and civil society organizations, among others, gladly welcomed this decision and considered it another step forward for democracy in Indonesia.

But, alas, only a month later, Indonesia’s Supreme Court did something that, de facto, undoes what the Constitutional Court did. On 30 August, the Supreme Court ordered Time magazine to pay former president Suharto Rp. 1 trillion (US$ 106 million).

The ruling resulted from a suit filed by Suharto against the US magazine over an article in which it said that he had stashed a massive amount of his wealth abroad.

In an article titled “Suharto Inc.: The Family Firm”, published in May 1990, Time wrote that it “has learned that $9 billion of Suharto’s money was transferred from Switzerland to a nominee bank account in Austria”.

For someone who does not know much about Indonesia, this article might have brought some startling facts. But for those who do, it is hardly any news.

During the 32 years when he was in power, Suharto himself, his children, and cronies are said to have accumulated trillions dollars worth of personal wealth and kept it both here in Indonesia and overseas.

But where they have kept their monies is not the issue. Rather, it is that their monies have come from what Indonesians call KKN, or corruption, collusion, and nepotism.

As a matter of fact, there have been efforts to try Suharto for corruption, but so far, they have been unsuccessful.

Back in 2000, Suharto was indicted for alleged corruption, but judges dismissed a US$600m corruption case on the grounds of his ill health. Last August, the Office of Attorney General dropped Suharto’s corruption charges altogether on the ground that his poor health did not allow him to stand trial.

"Our conclusion, after hearing the statement from the doctors, is that Suharto's condition is getting worse [sic],” said former attorney general Rahman Saleh.

While it remains to be seen if Suharto will ever be tried for corruption, the Time ruling has several negative impacts.

For one thing, it paints a wrong picture of Indonesia abroad as a nation that indulges corruption.

Together with the decision last year to drop Suharto’s corruption charges, the Time ruling sends a message to the world that he is, indeed, above the law.

Interestingly enough, the Time ruling came out just two weeks before the United Nations and the World Bank issued a joint report on the so-called Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative. In the report, Suharto is mentioned as one of the leaders who have misappropriated national assets in developing countries.

What’s more, the Time ruling illustrates the self-contradiction in the Indonesian government. On the one hand, the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration prides itself on fighting corruption. But on the other hand, Indonesian courts continue to make such counterproductive decisions as the Time ruling.

In other words, how can corrupters be brought to justice if the media, Indonesian and foreign alike, are scared of paying millions worth of defamation for filing stories about their corruption?

But most importantly, the Time ruling is a setback for democracy in Indonesia. In addition to freedom of speech, a free press is a sign of a healthy democracy.

To be sure, the media have found a lot more freedom in Indonesia now than they ever did under the old regime.

The Time ruling, however, undermines the very democratic progress that Indonesia has made so far.

The writer is a Jakarta-based columnist and editor of two books on Indonesia. His writing can be read at www.thangthecolumnist.blogspot.com.

posted by Thang D. Nguyen at 8:37 AM 1 comments
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Jakarta turns off investors, big time!

The Business Times

Singapore, 31 August 2007


Dark clouds a-gathering: Business-unfriendly laws, corruption, lack of infrastructure and political and legal uncertainty raise the costs of doing business for investors in Indonesia and may drive them away


By Thang D. Nguyen


SOMETIMES, when things appear to be better, they are actually worse. Recent events in Indonesia show that this is the case with the country's business climate.

In late April, Newmont - the world's second largest gold miner - was acquitted after being accused three years ago of dumping unsafe levels of waste in a bay on Sulawesi island.
Not only was this a vindication for Newmont Indonesia and its chief executive, Richard Ness, but it was also a positive development that the business community in Indonesia gladly welcomed.


More importantly, the government of Indonesia initiated a number of economic reforms earlier this year in an effort to boost investment in Indonesia. Specifically, these reforms were designed to improve tax and investment laws and therefore create more incentives for investors in South-east Asia's largest economy.


The business community viewed these reforms as well as the Newmont verdict positively as they showed that Jakarta was serious about making Indonesia a more attractive place for investment.


But before it can show progress on these reforms, the government has already built another hurdle for businesses.


In late July, Indonesian lawmakers passed a bill that makes corporate social responsibility, or CSR, mandatory for businesses - particularly resource-based industries - in Indonesia.


The bill, of course, met resistance from the business community.


'CSR programmes should be (voluntary). They should not be made a corporate responsibility,' said Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo).


Despite opposition, the bill was passed, making Indonesia the only country in the world where CSR is a duty, not a choice.


For one thing, CSR is a form of social contribution, not a tax. Thus, it is unclear why the bill was drawn up in the first place and then passed in Indonesia's House of Representatives.


Furthermore, there is no point making CSR a duty for businesses in Indonesia when many companies are already doing it as a matter of corporate practice. But most importantly - now that the CSR bill has been passed - it will only be a burden for the business community and another barrier for investors in Indonesia.


Let's face it. Investors, both foreign and domestic, already have more than enough laws and regulations, among other issues, to deal with in Indonesia.


The last thing they need is another law that makes their business in Indonesia more difficult and costlier.


By passing the CSR bill, Indonesian lawmakers might have meant well and seen the good of CSR for society.


Making it a duty, however, is likely to discourage investors from Indonesia and thereby hurt the country's investment as they might find it better and cheaper for them to do business in another country where they don't have to deal with this law.


Thus, not only does the CSR remind us of how challenging Indonesia's business climate still is, but it also shows Indonesia's lack of competitiveness in today's global economy.


In addition to its business-unfriendly labour and investment laws, investors face a host of issues in Indonesia, including corruption, the lack of infrastructure, political instability and legal uncertainty.


Together, these issues raise the costs of doing business for investors in Indonesia and may drive them away.


To be fair, the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration does recognise these problems. Since assuming power in October 2004, Dr Yudhoyono's administration has taken a number of initiatives to improve Indonesia's investment climate.


For example, it has held two major conferences to lure foreign investors to infrastructure projects in Indonesia. But, alas, little has resulted from these events.


Likewise, Dr Yudhoyono, who campaigned, among other things, on the platform of fighting corruption, set up the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).


For about three years, the KPK did its job, tackling a number of high-level corruption cases. But earlier this year the KPK was dissolved, as though its job were completed.


Does that mean that corruption in Indonesia is eradicated? Far from it! If anything, now is the time when the government needs to do more, not less, to carry out its economic, legal and social reforms.


Just as importantly, the government has to ensure that investment laws, such as the CSR law, that the Indonesian parliament passes do not clash with its efforts to improve the business and investment climate in Indonesia.


If not, it will create distrust among investors and drive them away, and that will make FDI not 'Foreign Direct Investment', but as The Economist put it, 'Foreigners Ditching Indonesia'!


The writer is a Jakarta-based columnist. His articles are available at http://www.thangthecolumnist.blogspot.com/

posted by Thang D. Nguyen at 3:10 AM 3 comments
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Democracy the right choice over theocracy


The Jakarta Post
Tuesday, 28 August 2007

Thang D. Nguyen, Jakarta


As Indonesia turns 62 this month, Indonesians should be proud of their nation's democratic transformation.


Since 1998 when strongman Soeharto was toppled, Indonesia has become a rising democracy. With free elections and a democratically selected government, Indonesia is, in fact, the world's third-largest democracy, after the U.S. and India.


But what makes Indonesia's democratic transition outstanding is that it has taken place in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.


Amid global debates on whether Islam and democracy can coexist, this transition has, indeed, been an inspiring success story.


Although most Indonesian Muslims are considered moderate, radical, hard-line Islamic groups do exist in Indonesia, and they are not happy with the country's democratic change.


What these groups want, instead, is a theocratic state, an Indonesia that is ruled by sharia, or Islamic law. And to that end they have made numerous attempts.


In 2002, for instance, a motion to institute sharia in Indonesia was put before the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), but it was rejected.


This Aug. 12, 90,000 Muslims gathered at Jakarta's Bung Karno Stadium for the International Caliphate Conference. This was the second conference by Hizbut Tahrir, a global Islamic organization whose mission is to build an Islamic state throughout the world.


During the event, the group blamed democracy as the main reason why Indonesia is lagging behind other nations.


"What has democracy brought us?" asked Muhammad Ismail Yusanto, spokesperson of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a chapter of two million members. "Democracy only brings us secular policies, like what's happening nowadays (sic)."


But, seriously, what can theocracy, or sharia, bring to Indonesia, where 39 million people live in poverty and 22 million others are still unemployed?


And if sharia is the key to Indonesia's, or any other country's, problems, why is it that the Islamic world is so far behind the West and other non-Muslim countries in economic development and other spheres?


To be sure, if we take a good look at the Islamic world today and ask ourselves which countries are peaceful, prosperous and advanced, we can only name a few: Brunei, Malaysia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.


As for the rest, some are either at war with a foreign country or in a civil war, e.g. Iraq, while others face the threat of terrorism masterminded and launched by homegrown radical Islamic groups, e.g. Indonesia.


Ironically, this is the Islamic world that is 1.3 billion strong and has the biggest oil reserve in the world, among a wealth of other natural resources. And, lest we forget, this is the same Islamic world that was the most powerful, advanced and enlightened civilization at one point in history.


Unfortunately, as the West developed and gained dominance following the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, the Islamic world continued to live in its once-glorious past and gradually fell behind.


And as the development gap between the West and the Islamic world has widened, Muslim groups, such as Hizbut Tahrir, have put the blame on democracy as the cause of all the wrongs in the Islamic world.


Some other groups, such as al-Qaeda, have taken a more extreme view, calling the West the enemy of Islam. Thus, they have turned to jihad as the way to fight against the West, particularly the U.S. and its allies, in defense of Islam.


This is certainly the case of the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI). With its links and operations across Southeast Asia, the JI has been responsible for major terrorist acts in Indonesia, namely the Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005; the Jakarta JW Marriott blast in 2003; and the attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta right before the 2004 elections.


As we have seen, violent jihadism is no solution to poverty, backwardness and other problems that Islamic countries are facing today; in fact, it has done more harm to Islam and Muslim-majority nations.


In the JI attacks, for instance, most of the victims were innocent Muslim Indonesians. What is more, these attacks have damaged Indonesia's global image, investor confidence and tourism industry.


But most importantly, these attacks have darkened the good name of Islam.
In a nutshell, such jihadism is no way for Indonesia, or any other Muslim-majority nation, to overcome its national challenges and move forward.


Likewise, instituting sharia, as Hizbut Tahrir would have you believe, is not the answer to Indonesia's problems either.


To be sure, democracy may not be the best political system in the world. Or, as the former British prime minister Winston Churchill put it: "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except those other forms that have been tried from time to time."


So, until Indonesia finds a better form of government, it had better stick with democracy.


The writer is a Jakarta-based columnist. His writing can be read at www.thangthecolumnist.blogspot.com

posted by Thang D. Nguyen at 2:26 AM 5 comments
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Just Do It instead of playing blame games

Business Times - 07 Aug 2007

Indonesia must step up moves to improve its investment climate to retain foreign players


By THANG D NGUYEN


IF you want to solve a problem, the first step is to acknowledge it exists. But sadly, this is not the case with some people in Indonesia, who like to blame foreigners for many things that go wrong in the country.


Take the case of Nike. Recently, thousands of workers from Naga Sakti Parama Shoes Industry (Nasa) and Hardaya Aneka Shoes Industry (Hasi) took to the streets in rallies against the American athletic apparel company because it ended working contracts with them.


Nike said it did this because of poor quality and late deliveries.


But the workers thought otherwise. Carrying banners like 'I hate Nike' and 'Go to hell Nike', they demanded the company restore its contracts with their factories - and denied the problems that Nike said it had.


What these workers do not realise is that Nike is not responsible for their problem and therefore they are not entitled to seek compensation from it.


'Nike is only a buyer - not the investor who owns the factories and employs the workers,' Nike spokesman Maretha Sambe was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying. Furthermore, Nasa and Hasi were given the chance to improve their production quality and retain their contracts with Nike. But they failed.


'Nike had already warned them of their sub-standard output and other problems in March this year,' said Nike's director for corporate responsibility communications Erin Dobson.


And 'because there has been no significant change in quality and delivery, Nike headquarters sent termination notices', said Maretha Sambe.


Like many Indonesians, Nasa and Hasi workers do not realise that in today's global economy, making a good product is no longer enough for investors or buyers.


They demand the best product in terms of both quality and production cost. And if this demand is not met, they will go somewhere else where it can be met.
That's exactly what Nike did. It shifted orders to 37 other sports-gear factories in Indonesia to meet its demand.


What's more, Nike, which started sourcing from Indonesia in 1989, said this week that it remains committed to doing business with Indonesia despite the problems it has had with Nasa and Hasi and despite the worker protests. Nike could have shifted its orders to India, China or Vietnam. It could have wound up doing business with Indonesia because of the problems it has faced and the Nasa-Hasi protests. But it did not.


As opposition against Nike mounted, the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) intervened and helped resolve the dispute.


And the outcome is positive: Nike agreed to extend its contracts with Nasa and Hasi, ending weeks of confrontation among the parties involved.


Still, the Nasa-Hasi protest reminds us of how challenging Indonesia's business or investment climate is.


Besides labour laws and worker protests, foreign investors face a host of issues including corruption, inadequate infrastructure, political instability and legal uncertainty. Together, these issues raise the cost of doing business and drive investors away.


To be fair, the Indonesian government does recognise the problems. Since taking office in October 2004, the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has taken numerous steps to improve the investment climate.


It has held two major conferences to lure foreign investors for infrastructure projects, though little has resulted from these events.


There are major problems, like poor infrastructure as traffic jams in Jakarta and Bandung are getting worse day by day.


Mr Yudhoyono, who campaigned for fighting corruption among other things, set up the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). And for about three years, KPK did a good job, filing several high-level cases. But earlier this year it was dissolved, even though its job was far from completed.


If anything, now is the time that the Mr Yudhoyono's government needs to do more - not less - to carry out its economic, legal and social reforms.


If not, distrust will only intensify. For foreign investors, it will be distrust in Indonesia as a place to do business. And for Indonesians - particularly those who voted for Mr Yudhoyono - it will be distrust in democracy.


The writer is a Jakarta-based columnist. His writings can be read at www.thangthecolumnist.blogspot.com

--

New Media: Cara Baru Menerobos Pasar Massal

June 21, 2008
Oleh Nukman Luthfie


Televisi memang masih ampuh menembus pasar massal di berbagai negara di Asia, kata Hermawan Kartajaya ketika memberikan keynote speech di World Marketing Conference, Manila, pekan lalu. Namun, pengaruh teve kian hari kian mengecil karena konsumen semakin banyak yang memiliki telepon genggam dan menggunakan Internet. Saat ini, pengaruh teve dalam merengkuh pasar Asia masih 90% dan new media baru sekitar 20%. “Namun, pada tahun 2020, dua belas tahun dari sekarang, pengaruh teve tinggal 10%,” kata Presiden World Marketing Association tersebut ketika diwawancarai oleh ABS-CBN News.

Bukan hanya Hermawan yang berpendapat seperti itu di forum bergengsi tersebut. Stephen Yap, Direktur sebuah perusahaan pemasaran , Client Services and Insight, pun mengatakan demikian. “Saat ini masih sulit mengalahkan teve untuk menjangkau kalangan luas,” katanya. Namun, pengaruh new media, terutama mobile phone, tumbuh dengan cepat. Konsumen lebih sering menggunakan mobile phone — baik untuk menelpon, sms, browsing, cek email, dan lain-lain — ketimbang nonton teve.

Oleh karena itu, para marketer harus mulai memperhatikan new media ini dengan serius.

Tumbuhnya new media ini akan mengubah strategi pemasaran perusahaan. Strategi vertikal promosi dan penjualan barang melalui teve, media cetak dan radio, akan berubah ke strategi horisontal: produk dan jasa tampil di Internet dan bersentuhan langsung dengan konsumen.

Kompetitor anda terkoneksi ke Internet. Konsumen Anda juga pengguna Internet. Semua agen perubahan juga tersambung ke jagad maya. “Jika Anda tidak terkoneksi ke Internet, maka Anda akan mati,” tegas Hermawan Kartajaya.

Apa boleh buat, perubahan ini juga menuntut perubahan strategi para marketer dan advertiser. Mereka tidak bisa lagi sekadar promo dengan cara konvesional. Mereka harus membangun percakapan dengan konsumen melalui media online. “You can only do conversation. Conversation will be more effective than top-down communication,” kata Hermawan yang sedang getol mengkampanyekan New Wave Marketing ini.

Nah, pekerjaan rumahnya adalah: Bagaimana cara membangun online conversation itu?

--




Toyota Astra Motor Makin Serius di Web 2.0 Marketing, Gelar Blogging Competition

June 6, 2008
Oleh Nukman Luthfie


Setelah sebelumnya sukses merangkul para blogger dalam acara peluncuran All New Corolla Altis, PT. Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) kini makin serius menerapkan online marketing. Langkah terbaru anak perusahaan Astra Group tersebut adalah membuat lomba menulis di blog. TAM mengajak semua blogger untuk menuliskan pengalaman berlibur mereka sekeluarga bersama Kijang.

Saya mencatat ada peningkatan langkah strategis TAM di dunia maya dalam memanfaatkan era Web 2.0 marketing.

lomba blog kijangPertama, dari endorser ke publik.

Jika sebelumnya di acara All New Corolla Altis hanya mengundang sejumlah kecil seleb blog sebagai endorser untuk menimbulkan efek viral, kini TAM memperluas upayanya dengan mengajak semua blogger di Indonesia, yang konon jumlahnya sekitar 250 ribuan. Sayang, profil demografis blogger Indonesia belum tersedia, sehingga mempersulit pemetaan apakah mereka pemilik atau pengguna Kijang. Tapi, paling tidak, semangat dari langkah TAM ini adalah memperluas pasar, dari endorser ke user.

Kedua, dari peluncuran ke pengalaman.

Pada saat acara All New Corolla Altis, TAM menggunakan blogger sebagai pelengkap media cetak. Biasanya, setiap ada acara peluncuran mobil baru, TAM melakukan banyak upaya marketing dan PR-ing (public relations), termasuk mengundang media agar meliput acara peluncurannya. Nah, pada saat peluncuran All New Corolla Altis, TAM mengundang blogger berpengaruh agar menimbulkan gema di dunia maya.

Kini TAM lebih berani. Mereka langsung mengundang konsumen, para pemilik atau pemakai mobil Kijang, untuk menceriterakan pengalaman mereka, terserah, apakah mereka akan menceritakan pengalaman berlibur sekeluarga bersama Toyota Kijang Innova, atau mobil Kijang yang lama.

Akan sangat menarik mendengarkan pengalaman langsung end-user seperti ini melalui blog, mengingat setiap blogger memiliki gaya bahasa masing-masing.

Jika upaya ini berhasil, TAM bukan hanya mendapat user insight tetapi juga sekaligus mengkampanyekan kembali Kijang sebagai mobil keluarga.

Ketiga, dari blog ke agregator.

Pada saat peluncuran All New Corolla Altis, sekitar 15 blogger dipersilahkan untuk memposting di blog masing-masing, dan dibiarkan begitu saja. Kini, TAM mempersiapkan blog agregator di situs Toyota Owner Club.

Upaya ini sekaligus akan berefek pada kampanye situs Toyota Owner Club.

Strategi dan eksekusi yang digarap tim Virtual Consulting ini memberi kesempatan TAM untuk sekali mendayung dua tiga pulau terlampaui. Bukan hanya citra Kijang sebagai mobil keluarga yang bakal terbangun di dunia maya melalui kompetisi ini, langkah ini juga sekaligus mempererat hubungan antara TAM dengan para blogger, membentuk jaringan dengan mereka melalui marketing Web 2.0, kemudian mendapatkan user insight, sekaligus mengkampanyekan situs yang dipersembahkan untuk para pemilik mobil Toyota.

Tidak mengherankan jika dalam hal hadiah, TAM terlihat amat royal. Pemenangnya berhak untuk bertamasya ke Disney Land di Hongkong. (Yang pingin ikutan, buruan daftar di sini. Batas terakhir pengiriman tulisan blog 31 Juli 2008)

Inilah langkah pemasaran baru yang oleh Hermawan Kartajaya, bos Markplus, disebut sebagai New Wave Marketing.

--

Bill Gates
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Bill Gates
Bill Gates - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2008 number3.jpg
Bill Gates pada World Economic Forum di Davos, 2008
Lahir 28 Oktober 1955 (umur 54)
Seattle, Washington
Tempat tinggal Bendera Amerika Serikat Amerika serikat
Alma mater Harvard University (dropped out in 1975, honorary degree in 2007)[1]
Pekerjaan Chairman of Microsoft
Co-Chair dari Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Kekayaan bersih Green Arrow Up Darker.svgUS$58 miliar (2008)[2]
Pasangan Melinda Gates (1994–sekarang)
Anak Jennifer Katharine Gates (1996), Rory John Gates (1999) dan Phoebe Adele Gates (2002)
Tanda tangan
BillGates Signature.svg
Situs
Bill Gates

William Henry Gates III (lahir di Seattle, Washington, 28 Oktober 1955; umur 54 tahun), lebih dikenal sebagai Bill Gates, adalah pendiri (bersama Paul Allen) dan ketua umum perusahaan perangkat lunak AS, Microsoft. Ia juga merupakan seorang filantropis melalui kegiatannya di Yayasan Bill & Melinda Gates. Ia menempati posisi pertama dalam orang terkaya di dunia versi majalah Forbes selama 13 tahun (1995 hingga 2007), namun sejak 5 Maret 2008 berada di posisi ketiga setelah pebisnis AS Warren Buffett dan pebisnis Meksiko Carlos Slim Helú.[3]
Daftar isi

[sunting] Biografi

Bill Gates dilahirkan di Seattle, Washington dari William Henry Gates, Sr., seorang pengacara, dan Mary Maxwell, pegawai First Interstate Bank, Pacific Northwest Bell, dan anggota Tingkat Nasional United Way. Gates belajar di Lakeside School, sekolah elit yang paling unggul di Seattle, dan meneruskan berkuliah di Universitas Harvard, tetapi di-drop out.

William Henry Gates III lahir pada tahun 1955, anak kedua dari tiga bersaudara dalam keadaan sosialnya terkemuka di Seattle, Washington. Ayahnya seorang pengacara dengan perusahaan yang punya banyak koneksi di kota, dan ibunya seorang guru, yang aktif dalam kegiatan amal. Bill seorang anak yang cerdas, tetapi dia terlalu penuh semangat dan cenderung sering mendapatkan kesulitan di sekolah. Ketika dia berumur tiga belas tahun, orang tuanya memutuskan untuk membuat perubahan dan mengirimnya ke Lakeside School, sebuah sekolah dasar yang bergengsi khusus bagi anak laki-laki.

Di Lakeside itulah pada tahun 1968 Gates untuk pertama kalinya diperkenalkan dengan dunia komputer, dalam bentuk mesin teletype yang dihubungkan dengan telepon ke sebuah komputer pembagian waktu. Mesin ini, yang disebut ASR-33, keadaannya masih pasaran. Pada intinya ini sebuah mesin ketik yang selanjutnya siswa bisa memasukkan perintah yang dikirimkan kepada komputer; jawaban kembali diketikkan ke gulungan kertas pada teletype. Proses ini merepotkan, tetapi mengubah kehidupan Gates. Dia dengan cepat menguasai BASIC, bahasa pemrograman komputer, dan bersama dengan para hacker yang belajar sendiri di Lakeside, dia melewatkan waktu berjam-jam menulis program, melakukan permainan, dan secara umum mempelajari banyak hal tentang komputer. "Dia adalah seorang 'nerd' (eksentrik)," sebagaimana salah seorang guru memberikan Gates julukan itu.

Sekitar tahun 1975 ketika Gates bersama Paul Allen sewaktu masih sekolah bersama-sama menyiapkan program software pertama untuk mikro komputer. Seperti cerita di Popular Electronics mengenai "era komputer di rumah-rumah" dan mereka berdua yakin software adalah masa depan. Inilah awal Microsoft.

Semasa ia belajar di Harvard, ia dan Paul Allen menulis perangkat lunak Altair BASIC untuk Altair 8800 dalam dasawarsa 1970. Altair merupakan komputer pribadi pertama yang sukses. Diberi inspirasi oleh BASIC, sebuah bahasa komputer yang mudah dipelajari dan ditulis di kolese Dartmouth untuk mengajar, versi Gates dan Allen kemudian menjadi Microsoft BASIC, bahasa komputer terjemahan yang utama untuk sistem operasi komputer MS-DOS, yang menjadi kunci pada kesuksesan Microsoft. Microsoft Basic pada nantinya dijadikan Microsoft QuickBasic. Versi Microsoft QuickBasic yang dijual tanpa kompiler QuickBasic dikenal sebagai QBasic. QuickBasic juga dijadikan Visual Basic, yang masih popular hingga masa sekarang.

Dalam awal dasawarsa 1970, Gates menulis Surat Terbuka kepada Penghobi (Open Letter to Hobbyists), yang mengejutkan komunitas yang mempunyai hobi pada komputer dengan menyatakan bahwa ada pasaran komersial untuk perangkat lunak/software dan bahwa software tidak layak dikopi dan digandakan tanpa izin penerbitnya. Pada masa itu, komunitas tersebut dipengaruhi kuat oleh dasar radio hamnya dan etika hacker, yang berpendapat bahwa innovasi dan pengetahuan patut dibagi oleh komunitas pengguna komputer. Gates kemudian mendirikan Microsoft Corporation, salah satu perusahaan paling sukses di dunia, dan memimpin arah kepada pembukaan industri software komputer.

Gates juga mendapat reputasi yang tidak baik untuk caranya berdagang. Satu contoh ialah MS-DOS. Pada akhir dasawarsa 1970, IBM berencana untuk memasuki pasaran komputer personal dengan komputer personal IBM, yang diterbitkan pada 1981. IBM memerlukan sistem operasi untuk komputernya, yang direncanakan dapat mencakup dan mengelola arkitektur 16-bit oleh keluarga chip x86 Intel. Setelah berunding dengan sebuah perusahaan lain (Perusahaan Digital Research di California), IBM bertanya kepada Microsoft. Tanpa memberitahu tentang ikatan mereka dengan IBM, eksekutif-eksekutif Microsoft membeli sebuah system operasi x86 dari perusahaan Seattle Computer seharga $50,000. (Ada kemungkinan Microsoft dilarang IBM untuk memberitahukan tentang ikatannya kepada orang awam) Microsoft kemudian melisensikan sistem operasi ini ke IBM (yang menerbitkannya dengan nama PC-DOS) dan bekerja dengan perusahaan komputer untuk menerbitkannya dengan nama MS-DOS, pada setiap system komputer yang dijual.

Rencana Microsoft amat sukses tetapi digugat oleh Seattle Computer karena Microsoft tidak memberitahukan mengenai ikatannya dengan IBM untuk membeli system operasi itu dengan murah; oleh sebab ini, Microsoft membayar uang kepada Seattle Computer, tetapi tidak mengakui kesalahannya. Reputasi Gates kemudian lebih diburukkan oleh tuntutan dakwaan monopoli oleh Departemen Keadilan A.S. dan perusahaan-perusahaan individu yang menentang Microsoft dalam akhir dasawarsa 1990.

Dalam dasawarsa 1980 Gates gembira atas kemungkinan penggunaan CD-ROM sebagai media penyimpanan dokumen, dan mensponsori penerbitan buku CD-ROM: The New Papyrus yang mempromosikan ini.

Tidak dapat disangkal bahwa Bill Gates telah melakukan beberapa kesalahan dalam bisnis softwarenya. Hal ini terbukti dengan beberapa dakwaan yang diarahkan kepadanya berkaitan dengan cara - cara bisnis yang melanggar undang-undang bisnis Amerika Serikat, misalnya monopoli Internet Explorer pada sistem operasi Windows.

Pada tahun 2000, Bill Gates mengundurkan diri dari jabatannya sebagai CEO dan memandatkannya kepada kawan lamanya, Steve Ballmer. Gates kemudian memilih untuk kembali ke profesi lamanya yang ia cintai yaitu sebagai pencipta perangkat lunak. Kini Bill Gates menjadi Kepala Penelitian dan Pengembangan Perangkat Lunak di perusahaannya sendiri, Microsoft Corp.

Dalam kehidupan pribadinya, Gates menikah dengan Melinda French pada 1 Januari 1994. Mereka mempunyai tiga orang anak, Jennifer Katharine Gates (1996), Rory John Gates (1999) and Phoebe Adele Gates (2002).

Dengan istrinya, Gates telah mendirikan Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, sebuah yayasan sosial filantropi. Para kritikus mengatakan ini merupakan pembuktian terhadap kemarahan orang banyak tentang atas praktik monopoli dan adikuasa perusahaannya, tetapi mereka yang dekat dengan Gates berkata bahwa ia telah lama berencana untuk menyumbangkan sebagian besar hartanya. Pada tahun 1997 koran Washington Post menyatakan bahwa "Gates telah menyatakan bahwa dia memutuskan untuk menyumbangkan 90 persen daripada hartanya semasa dia masih hidup." Untuk meletakkan ini dalam perspektif yang benar, sumbangan ini, walau apa sebabnya, telah menyediakan uang yang amat diperlukan untuk beasiswa universitas kaum minoritas, menentang AIDS dan sebab-sebab lain, kebanyakannya isu-isu yang biasa tidak dipedulikan oleh komunitas penderma, seperti penyakit-penyakit yang biasa kita lihat di dunia ketiga. Dalam bulan Juni 1999, Gates dan istrinya mendermakan $5 milyar kepada organisasi mereka, pendermaan yang paling besar dalam dunia oleh individu-individu yang hidup.

Pada tahun 1994, ia membeli Codex Leicester, sebuah koleksi naskah manuskrip Leonardo da Vinci; pada tahun 2003 koleksi ini dipamerkan di Museum Seni Seattle.

Pada tahun 2005, Gates menerima penghargaan kesatriaan (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Kehormatan) dari Ratu Elizabeth II.

Pada 27 Juni 2008, Gates mengundurkan diri dari sebagian besar jabatannya di Microsoft (namun tetap bertahan sebagai ketua dewan direktur) dan mengkonsentrasikan diri pada kerja kedermawanan melalui yayasan yang didirikannya, Yayasan Bill & Melinda Gates.
[sunting] Perkiraan kekayaannya

Menurut senarai Forbes orang-orang paling kaya dalam dunia [1]:

* 1996 - $18,5 milyar, peringkat #1
* 1997 - $36,4 milyar, peringkat #2
* 1998 - $51,0 milyar, peringkat #1
* 1999 - $90,0 milyar, peringkat #1
* 2000 - $60,0 milyar, peringkat #1
* 2001 - $58,7 milyar, peringkat #1
* 2002 - $52,8 milyar, peringkat #1
* 2003 - $40,7 milyar, peringkat #1
* 2004 - $46,6 milyar, peringkat #1
* 2010 - $53,0 milyar, peringkat #2

[sunting] Pujian

* 100 orang yang paling berpengaruh dalam media, The Guardian, 2001
* Forbes "400 rakyat Amerika yang paling kaya" dan "Senarai orang paling kaya dalam dunia", peringkat #1: 1996-2003
* Sunday Times senarai kuasa, 1999
* Upside 100 Elit, peringkat #2, 1999
* 50 Orang Elit Siber, majalah TIME, peringkat #1, 1998
* 100 orang paling berkuasa dalam sukan, Sporting News, 1997
* Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif dalam Tahun Ini, majalah Chief Executive Officers, 1994
* Ahli-ahli entomologi telah menamakan lalat bunga Bill Gates, Eristalis gatesi, dalam kehormatannya, lihat http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/Diptera/syrphid/gates.htm

[sunting] Penerbitan

* Business @ The Speed of Thought (1999) ISBN 0-446-67596-2
* The Road Ahead (1996) ISBN 0-14-026040-4

[sunting] Bill Gates dalam film

Beberapa film dan program televisi bertemakan Bill Gates. Antaranya:

* The Simpsons (15 Februari, 1998) (Musim 9, Episode 5F11) Bill Gates "membeli" perusahaan Internet Homer Simpson, CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet.
* South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999) - seorang jenderal tentara mengadu bahwa Windows 98 tidak lebih cepat daripada Windows 95, dan hendak jumpai Bill Gates. Apabila Gates bermula menerangkan bagaimana Windows 98 memang lebih cepat daripada Windows 95, dia ditembak oleh jenderal tersebut.
* Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999), sebuah film yang telah didramatis, tentang perusahaan Apple and Microsoft.
* AntiTrust (2001), sebuah film tentang seorang penulis software komputer yang bekerja dalam sebuah perusahaan. Tim Robbins ialah Gary Winston, ketua perusahaan tersebut, dan ada yang percaya bahwa karakternya meniru Bill Gates.
* Nothing So Strange (2002), sebuah film fiksi tentang pembunuhan Gates.


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Olic Capai Partai Terbaiknya
Narayana Mahendra Prastya - detiksport


Ivica Olic (Reuters)

Lyon - Berkat trigol yang dibukukannya, Ivica Olic merasa dirinya bagai terbang ke langit. Ujung tombak Bayern Munich itu mengatakan bahwa pencapaian ini merupakan laga terbaik di sepanjang hidupnya.

Olic menjadi aktor utama kemenangan Bayern 3-0 atas Lyon di leg kedua semifinal Liga Champions, Rabu (28/4/2010) dinihari WIB. Pemain bernomor punggung sebelas itu memborong seluruh gol kemenagnan Die Roten.

Hasil ini membawa Bayern melangkah ke final dengan agregat 4-0. Ini merupakan kali pertama tim asal Bavaria itu hadir di partai puncak Liga Champions setelah menunggu hampir satu dekade.

"Sungguh luar biasa memenangi laga dengan skor seperti ini dan saya berhasil mencetak tiga gol," seru Olic seperti dikutip dari AFP.

"Mungkin ini merupakan laga terbaik di sepanjang hidup saya. Tapi di atas itu semua, seluruh tim tampil luar biasa. Kini kami harus mengulangi permainan seperti ini di final," tambah pemain yang akrab dipanggil Ivi tersebut.

Olic merupakan pemain kedua Bayern yang berhasil menorehkan hat-trick di Liga Champions. Ada pun pendahulu pemain Kroasia itu adalah striker Roy Makaay yang menggelontor gawang Ajax Amsterdam di musim 2004/2005.

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Markas Madrid Didatangi 'Robin Hood'
Narayana Mahendra Prastya - detiksport


Getty Images

Madrid - Robin Hood adalah seorang perampok yang merampas harta orang-orang kaya untuk dibagikan ke orang miskin. Baru-baru ini Robin Hood menyambangi markas klub kaya, Real Madrid. Apa yang dia lakukan?

Tentu saja tidak ada tindakan perampokan di sini. Robin Hood yang dimaksud adalah Russel Crowe. Artis kelahiran Selandia Baru itu berada di Madrid dalam rangka promosi film terbarunya yakni Robin Hood.

Selama berada di ibukota Spanyol, Crowe menyempatkan diri mengunjungi tempat latihan Madrid, Valdebebas.

Seperti diberitakan Daily Mail, artis yang membintangi film Gladiator itu sempat berfoto bersama Cristiano Ronaldo dan berbincang dengan Alvaro Arbeloa, Pepe, Guti Hernandez, dan Raul Gonzalez.

"Setiap saya melihat klasemen sementara Liga Spanyol, saya selalu melihat di mana posisi Real Madrid dan Barcelona," demikian Crowe soal La Liga.

Artis berusia 46 tahun itu juga memiliki klub rugby di Australia bernama South Sydney Rabbitohs. Dari kunjungannya ke markas Los Blancos dia berharap bisa mempelajari bagaimana menghandle sebuah tim olahraga.

"Selalu menarik untuk melihat bagaimana kerja dari klub-klub lain, terutama dari klub terbesear di dunia," tukasnya

Dalam lawatannya ini, Crowe berhasil mewujudkan keinginannya terkait dengan Cristiano Ronaldo. "Misi terpenuhi. Cristiano Ronaldo dengan bangga mengenakan topi dari tim kelinci (Rabbitohs)," tuntas Crowe.

1 komentar:

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