The euro crisis and its impact on Indonesia’s economy

Arisyi Fariza Raz, Jakarta | Opinion | Thu, 06/07/2012 10:00 AM  (The Jakarta Post Newspapers)

      

At the beginning of 2012, economists expressed optimism regarding the future of the eurozone after a second bailout package for Greece of ¤130 billion plus ¤1 trillion of low-interest, long-term loans from the European Central Bank (ECB) were granted in December 2011. At that time, markets were convinced that Europe would recover from its prolonged crisis even though that recovery might take time.

This optimism was further underpinned by improved economic conditions in the US, after it published its latest economic data, which revealed lower unemployment and higher growth projection.

Nevertheless, this respite only lasted a few months as Europe now once again faces economic terrors. One of the causes is the dispute between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and new French President François Hollande. Merkel shares the same vision with Sarkozy, France’s former president, namely to squeeze the budget through the Fiscal Austerity Plan. On the other hand, Hollande has been given a mandate by the French voters to alter austerity into economic growth, even though it will mean more government debts. The dispute between the leaders of Europe’s two largest economies is undermined further by the upcoming vote in Greece.

Following Greece’s second vote since the crisis hit, political parties in the country have been struggling to form a government. If voters choose to reject the spending cuts and bailout from Europe, the crisis could deteriorate into something far worse. If this happens, Germany, as Europe’s largest debtor nation, would be trapped between two difficult choices: 1) follow the wishes of the Greek voters, which could contain moral hazards, or 2) remove Greece from the eurozone (also called Greexit).

Either of these two options would seriously impact on European economies and would not necessarily guarantee a resolution to the crisis.

If the Greek crisis remains unabated, Europe’s peripheral economies, such as Spain, Portugal and Ireland, may be exposed to the contagion. If this occurs, such an event would clearly provide a new wave of negative sentiment that could plunge the global economy into another recession.

Overall, Indonesia’s economy has not been too affected by the euro crisis, as Europe is not the country’s main export destination. Indonesian exports mostly go to Asian countries, such as China and Japan. The share of Indonesia’s exports in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) is also relatively small compared to other export-oriented countries like China or Singapore. In addition, Indonesia can rely on its domestic market, thanks to its huge population. Indonesia proved its resilience when it survived the 2008 crisis, which was triggered by the Lehman Brothers’ shock.

So far, Indonesia’s economic indicators have shown remarkable results. According to Haver Analytics think tank, GDP growth during the first quarter (Q1) of 2012 was recorded at 6.3 percent, and growth for 2012 is predicted by the Economist Intelligence Unit to be around 5.9 percent due to the global economic slowdown.

Year-on-year inflation as of April 2012 was relatively low (4.5 percent) and still within Bank Indonesia’s inflation targeting range (4.5 percent to 1 percent). In addition, the interest benchmark is set at 5.75 percent. The unemployment rate during QI 2012 was recorded at 6.3 percent, better than India (9.8 percent), the UK (8.2 percent) and the US (8.1 percent).

At least, these statistics show that Indonesia has good economic fundamentals amid the global economic uncertainty. Nevertheless, the main issue might come from the financial sector, as reflected by the falling stock exchange (JSX) in May 2012. At the beginning of May, the JSX reached its highest level (4,226) but since then it has been on a progressive downturn, reaching its lowest level since March 2012, at 3,902.

Moreover, the bond market has also been affected since most government bonds showed sharp corrections last week. Further, the rupiah is also depreciating against the US dollar, which hit Rp 9,600 to the dollar on May 29, its weakest level in 30 months.

One of the causes of this financial turbulence is the immaturity of the domestic financial market, with foreign investors still playing a crucial role in the marketplace. It was evident, for instance, in the mass withdrawal of money by panicking foreign investors due to the worsening global economy. The JSX recorded net sales of stock worth Rp 968 billion with total transactions of Rp 4.87 trillion (Bisnis Indonesia, May 25).


In other words, foreign investors can have a positive impact during healthy market conditions, but can deal a significant blow to the Indonesian economy if there is negative sentiment toward global economic conditions.


Hence, it is necessary to increase our awareness regarding the importance of the domestic financial market. By utilizing more local investors, Indonesia’s financial market would be more resilient from external shocks.


Another possible cause of the fluctuations is the lack of government credibility. One example is the uncertain implementation of the subsidized-fuel reduction. The unclear decision-making process caused the JSX to move reluctantly in February and March. The ongoing uncertainty has also prevented businessmen from adjusting their costs in order to efficiently run their businesses.


Another adverse impact of this bad policy-making is the delay of Standard and Poor’s decision to upgrade Indonesia’s investment rating, despite, fortunately, still giving a positive outlook on Indonesia’s economy. In this regard, a paper by Canavan and Tommasi from Boston University concludes that a more credible government would be more capable of executing policies than one with an unclear policy-making strategy.


Hence, in order to increase the government’s credibility in times of crisis, it should implement unambiguous policies in order to prevent uncertainty, which can lead to negative perceptions. In other words, policy implementation should be based solely on objective considerations that provide positive welfare rather than merely political interests. By doing so, policy implementation would work efficiently.


In summary, Indonesia’s economy is resilient enough to prevent the contagious effect of the European crisis due to its positive outlook, which is supported by strong domestic purchasing power.


The impact of the euro crisis could be minimized further by enhancing the role of local investors. If this happens, the market will be able to withstand any shocks resulting from foreign-fund withdrawals.


Above all, clear decision-making is a must to prevent public confusion that could eventually put the national economy at risk.


The writer is credit analyst at The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. The opinions expressed are his own.

London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay

The Olympic Torch will travel across the UK for 70 days before arriving at the Olympic Stadium for the start of the Olympic Games.
Eight thousand Torchbearers will carry the Torch through more than 1,000 communities. Some unusual methods of transport will be used, including horse, steam train and even zip wire.
The Torch will arrive in London on 21 July, passing through all of London's boroughs on its way to the Olympic Stadium.

About the Olympic Torch

The Torch was designed by East Londoners Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.
Its triangular shape was inspired by a series of "threes":

• The three Olympic values of respect, excellence and friendship
• The three words of the Olympic motto: faster, higher, stronger
• The fact that London is hosting the Games for the third time
• The three main topics covered by the London 2012 Games: sport, education and culture

The Torch is perforated by 8,000 circles, representing the 8,000 Torchbearers.

Olympic Stadium
Olympic Stadium in June 2011
Location	Marshgate Lane, Stratford, London, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°32′19″N 0°00′59″WCoordinates: 51°32′19″N 0°00′59″W
Broke ground	2007
Built	2011
Opened	2011
Operator	Olympic Delivery Authority
Surface	Track & Field (Grass)
Construction cost	£486 million[1]
Architect	Populous
Structural engineer	Buro Happold
Services engineer	Buro Happold
Main contractors	Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd
Capacity	80,000[2]

The Olympic Stadium in Olympic Park, London, England, is designed to be the centrepiece of the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics, and the venue of the athletic events as well as the Olympic Games' opening and closing ceremonies. It is located at Marshgate Lane in London's Stratford district in the Lower Lea Valley and has capacity for the games of approximately 80,000 making it temporarily the third-largest stadium in Britain behind Wembley Stadium and Twickenham Stadium.
Land preparation for the stadium began in mid-2007, with the official construction start date on 22 May 2008, although piling works for the foundation unofficially began four weeks ahead of that date. The stadium was chosen to host the 2017 World Championships in Athletics.^[3]

Men in Black III - The Movie Review

Men in Black 3 (stylized as MIB³ and Men in Black III) is a 2012 American 3D science fiction comedy film starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin. The film was released on May 25, 2012, ten years after its predecessor Men in Black II and fifteen years after the release of the original Men in Black.^[4] It also stars Jemaine Clement and Emma Thompson with Barry Sonnenfeld returning as director, and Steven Spielberg returning as executive producer. The film is the third installment in the Men in Black film series which is based on the The Men in Black comic book series from Malibu / Marvel Comics by Lowell Cunningham. Principal photography began in New York City on November 16, 2010.

Plot

The intergalactic criminal Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) is aided in escape by his girlfriend, Lily Poison (Nicole Scherzinger), from the LunarMax prison on Earth's moon. He is intent on going back in time and killing Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), who on July 16, 1969, shot off his arm and captured him. After investigating a spaceship crash in New York City, and following a skirmish in a Chinese restaurant, Boris appears, and K and J give chase. Boris reveals to K, "you are already dead, you just don't know it yet," and then disappears in an explosion. K deduces that Boris has escaped, and K regrets not having killed him. K returns to his apartment, and suddenly all traces of him disappear. Agent J (Will Smith), however, still remembers K, though no one else at Men in Black headquarters does.
Agent O (Emma Thompson), the new Chief deduces from J's statements that a fracture has occurred in the space-time continuum. The two realize Boris must have time-jumped to 1969 and killed K, resulting in an imminent invasion of Earth by his race, the Boglodites, due to the absence of the protective ArcNet shield around Earth, which was installed by K in 1969. Aided by electronic-shop owner Jeffrey Price (Michael Chernus), son of Boris' fellow prisoner Obadiah Price (Lanny Flaherty), who created the time-travel device, J time-jumps off the Chrysler Building to reach time-travel velocity (Jeffrey also cryptically, though excitedly, informing J that the reason he remembers K where nobody else can is because he was 'there'). With only 24 hours to stop Boris, J arrives a day before Boris kills K.
J follows a clue to Coney Island, where 29-year-old junior agent K (Josh Brolin) arrests him and then questions him at MIB headquarters, while a young Agent O (Alice Eve) and Chief X (David Rasche) come by. Getting no answers, K decides to place J in a large, primitive Neuralyzer. At the last second, J says to junior K to kill Boris when he sees him tomorrow, not arrest him. After stopping the primitive Neuralyzer, J tells K the truth. As a team, they follow Boris' trail to a bowling alley and then to The Factory, the studio / party space of Andy Warhol's (Bill Hader), who is actually the undercover Agent W. The Agents meet the alien Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg), an Arcadian who possesses the ArcNet and is able to see all possible futures. Griffin leaves before Boris arrives to snatch him. The Agents locate Griffin at Shea Stadium, where he gives them the ArcNet and instructs them to place it onto the Apollo 11 lunar rocket launch occurring in less than six hours. Boris then snatches Griffin, but the agents, on monocycles, give chase and recover Griffin.
Upon arriving at Cape Canaveral, the agents and Griffin are arrested by military police. The Colonel (Mike Colter) in command, however, allows the agents to carry on their mission after Griffin uses his precognitive power to show him what J and K will accomplish. J uses the time-jump device to confuse future Boris- allowing Boris to shoot him before jumping back in time so that he can attack Boris again while avoiding the alien's attacks-, and pushes him off the pad. K, battling the current Boris, shoots Boris' left arm, causing him to fall back to the ground. K plants the ArcNet on the rocket, and the protective shield deploys after leaving Earth's atmosphere, the launch sequence destroying the future Boris. The Colonel congratulates K, who invites him to join the agency.
As J watches from the distance, however, 1969 Boris emerges from the blast chamber and fires at K. The Colonel intercepts and saves K's life but is killed by the attack in the process, just as K shoots and kills 1969 Boris. A child named James exits a military vehicle looking for his father. He pulls out a pocket watch, revealed earlier to have been passed down to Agent J by his father, and J realizes that the colonel killed by Boris was actually his father. K neuralyzes young James, telling him his father was a hero, thus fulfilling the 'prediction' that J would be present at the moment history changed.
J returns to the present day, where he meets his partner at the usual diner. There, he shows K his father's pocket watch. The senior agent, in return, tells him it was an honor to have met him that fateful day. As they leave the diner, Griffin, a few seats away, muses all is well with the world (breaking the fourth wall in the process and revealing to the audience that his powers of observation also make him aware of the real world moviegoers), except for the fact that K forgot to leave a tip, indicating they are in a timeline where the Earth is about to be hit by an asteroid. Then, K returns to the diner and leaves a tip, revealing this timeline to be one where the asteroid disintegrates when hitting a satellite, and the film ends.

Cast

• Will Smith as Agent J, a senior MIB agent^[5]
• Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K, a senior MIB agent^[5]
• Josh Brolin as Young Agent K
• Jemaine Clement as Boris The Animal ^[6]
• Emma Thompson as Agent O, the head of MIB in present day^[7][8]
• Michael Stuhlbarg as Griffin, an alien with precognitive powers^[9]
• Mike Colter as Colonel James Darrell Edwards Jr.
• Nicole Scherzinger as Lily, Boris' girlfriend^[10]
• Michael Chernus as Jeffrey Price
• Alice Eve as Young Agent O
• David Rasche as Agent X, the head of MIB in 1969^[11]
• Keone Young as Mr. Wu
• Bill Hader as Andy Warhol / Agent W
• Will Arnett as Agent AA, Agent J's partner after K's "death"
• Lady Gaga as Alien
• Lanny Flaherty as Obadiah Price
• Cayen Martin as Young James Darrell Edwards III/Young Agent J

Kentang dalam Kantong

Suatu hari seorang guru TK bermaksud mengadakan permainan. Ia menyuruh setiap anak muridnya membawa kantong plastik transparan dan kentang.
Masing-masing kentang tersebut diberi nama berdasarkan nama orang yang dibenci, sehingga jumlah kentangnya tidak ditentukan berapa, tergantung jumlah orang-orang yang dibenci.

Pada hari yang disepakati masing-masing murid membawa kentang dalam kantong plastik. Ada yang berjumlah 2, ada yang 3 bahkan ada yang 5. Seperti perintah guru mereka, tiap-tiap kentang diberi nama orang yang dibenci.

Murid-murid diharuskan membawa kantong plastik berisi kentang tersebut kemana saja mereka pergi, bahkan ke toilet sekalipun selama 1 minggu. Hari berganti hari kentang-kentang pun mulai membusuk, murid-murid mulai mengeluh, apalagi yang membawa 5 buah kentang, selain berat baunya juga tidak sedap.

Setelah 1 minggu murid-murid TK tersebut merasa lega karena penderitaan mereka akan segera berakhir.

Guru: "Bagaimana rasanya membawa kentang selama 1 minggu?"
Keluarlah keluhan dari murid-murid TK tersebut, pada umumnya mereka tidak merasa nyaman harus membawa kentang-kentang busuk tersebut kemanapun mereka pergi. Gurupun menjelaskan apa arti dari permainan yang mereka lakukan.

Guru: "Seperti itulah kebencian yang selalu kita bawa-bawa apabila kita tidak bisa memaafkan orang lain. Sungguh sangat tidak menyenangkan membawa kentang busuk kemanapun kita pergi. Itu hanya 1 minggu bagaimana jika kita membawa kebencian seumur hidup?"

“alangkah tidak nyamannya..”

Jika anda bisa menahan kemarahan,
anda bisa terhindar dari seratus hari yang menyedihkan

Anda Adalah Apa Yang Anda Baca

Ketika membaca sebuah kisah heroik, pernahkah Anda membayangkan diri Anda menjadi tokoh protagonis yang bertemu dengan orang-orang jahat lalu menghabisi mereka dan membawa kedamaian ke muka bumi? Atau ketika Anda membaca kisah tentang seorang putri, pernahkah diri Anda membayangkan bahwa Andalah sang putri yang ditolong oleh pangeran tampan dari nenek sihir jahat? Jika ya, Anda tidaklah sendirian. Hasil penelitian yang dilakukan oleh psikolog di Amerika Serikat menunjukkan ketika kita membaca ketika kita membaca sebuah cerita ataupun novel, tanpa sadar manusia akan mengadopsi banyak hal dari karakter pujaan kita tersebut.

Fenomena yang dinamakan “pengambilan pengalaman” oleh para ahli ini membuat pembaca akan mengadopsi tingkah laku, cara berpikir, kepercayaan, serta respon internal dari tokoh fiktif yang dibacanya. Bahkan, ada kalanya mereka benar-benar mengubah tingkah laku dan cara pikir mereka agar menyamai tokoh fiksi yang mereka sukai. 

Para peneliti dari Ohio State University yang melakukan enam jenis penelitian berbeda kepada 500 orang responden menemukan bahwa dalam situasi tertentu, situasi pengambilan pengalaman dari cerita dapat berkembang di dunia nyata secara temporer. Dari hasil penelitian mereka ini, terlihat bahwa dalam cerita-cerita yang menggunakan kata ganti orang pertama untuk sementara dapat mengubah cara pandang pembaca terhadap diri mereka sendiri, lingkungan, bahkan dunia.

Dalam sebuah eksperimen yang dilakukan oleh Geoff Kaufman, seorang peneliti post doktoral di Laboratorium Tiltfactor, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire dan rekannya Lisa Libby, asisten profesor psikologi di Ohio State University, menemukan bahwa perbedaan waktu pengungkapan identitas dan karakteristik tokoh di awal atapun di akhir cerita juga memiliki makna penting dalam momen “pengambilan pengalaman” ini.

Ketika seorang tokoh fiksi telah diungkapkan kepribadian maupun identitasnya di awal cerita, pembaca akan merasa lebih sulit untuk masuk ke dalam cerita dan merasakan diri mereka sebagai tokoh fiksi di cerita tersebut.

Dalam studi yang dipublikasikan di dalam Journal of Personality and Social Psychology ini, mereka juga menemukan bahwa penting untuk merasakan pengalaman seperti ini, pembaca harus tenang dan dalam kondisi nyaman, sehingga dapat merasakan sendiri sensasi masuk ke dalam cerita.

Hal menarik lainnya adalah, ketika pembaca diharuskan untuk membaca di depan cermin, proses personifikasi pembaca menjadi tokoh akan berkurang. Hal itu disebabkan karena setiap kali memandang cermin, mereka dibawa masuk kembali ke dunia nyata, dan disadarkan kepada identitas asli  mereka sesungguhnya.

Nah, kali ini karakter apa yang ingin Anda selami? Bangsawan kaya di abad pertengahan Inggris? Panglima perang yang tak pernah kalah di medan pertempuran? Ataukah seorang anak miskin dari desa terpencil yang berjuang demi meraih cita-citanya? [Tika/Mizan.com, Diolah dari: Medical Daily]

Energy-Saving & Environment Friendly Led Light Bulbs

Technological advancement is only possible through constant research and innovations. The latest example of such progress is the LED light bulb. Most research is carried out in order to find a way of improving the performance of an existing facility or to find a new product that will prove to be more economical and more efficient than the existing facility.

Positive Aspects of LED Light Bulbs

LED light bulbs have been developed to take the place of incandescent light bulbs or halogen light bulbs because they save energy, their efficiency is nearly double that of normal halogen bulbs and they do not have any harmful substance such as mercury. Moreover, these bulbs are environment-friendly because they can be recycled and they do not produce any heat. The durability and life expectancy of LED bulbs is in the region of 50,000 hours, which is much higher than that of the earlier bulbs. As such, once you have installed these LED light bulbs, you can forget about any cost of replacing them in the near future.

Energy-Saving Feature

The earlier incandescent or halogen light bulbs used to dissipate a large amount of energy by producing heat. This meant that the electricity bill was unnecessarily high. LED light bulbs have been created after a lot of research to eliminate the energy wasted due to heating, This has resulted in the creation of the latest innovative LED bulbs that do not produce any heat and consequently use much less energy to light up a room.

Whereas the halogen bulbs were using 85% of the electrical energy to produce heat and only the 15% balance was being used to produce light, the LED light bulbs utilize 90% of the electrical energy to produce light. Halogen bulbs were fitted with filaments through which electricity was passed in order to produce light but these filaments heat up and consume nearly 90% of the electricity for heating. In the case of LED bulbs, which use light emitting diodes for producing light, almost the entire electrical energy is converted into light energy without wasting any energy for heating. By using LED bulbs you can save 80% of your previous electricity bill. By using the LED bulbs you can make sure that you are contributing towards lessening global warming because no heating from the bulb is being dissipated into the atmosphere.

Cost Aspect

Although LED bulbs are more expensive than the halogen bulbs, it is almost a one-time expense because these bulbs have a long life, which means they do not need to be changed for a long time. The extra initial cost will easily pay for itself over the years. Moreover, since these bulbs use so little energy, they are environment friendly and do not add to pollution. The LED light bulbs have standard bulb fitting features making them convenient to install and replace anywhere.

GU10 LED Bulbs

GU10 LED bulbs are the most common replacement LED bulbs. Though they are similar to the normal LED bulbs, they have many similar LED lights placed in one fitting. GU10 LED bulbs have a specific type of fastening and in most commonwealth countries such as the UK, New Zealand and Australia; the standard fastening is the bayonet mount. These types of LED light bulbs are mostly used in offices, shops, commercial spaces and in showrooms. They are high in style and efficiency.

The Author : Green Sim - http://www.ledlightbulbsdirect.co.uk

How to Care for an Elderly Person or Senior

It is not always easy caring for an elderly person. Their physical condition, health issues and their emotional state can present challenges for you, the caregiver. There are no doubts that caring for an elderly person is admirable, but it certainly comes with stress and at times can be overwhelming.


Far too many people feel guilty that they can not care for an elderly person on their own. Life presents far too many challenges and more often than not raising a family, paying into a mortgage and keeping food on the table can be challenging enough let alone adding to this caring for an elderly loved one. Although this can be challenging – it is not impossible. Preparing yourself and your family members for the transition is essential in order to make this work well.


Physical Considerations
Get informed about the physical needs of your loved one. Talk to the doctor and to anyone else who may have the wisdom and knowledge to help you care for the elderly member of your family. Know what to expect, what medications are required. Using services provided by a certified in-home caregiver from a professional agency can assist you in times that you need that extra help.


Keeping all important information in one file is important and this includes all medical information including test results, names and phone numbers of doctors, appointment dates, hospital cards, and insurance information. If your loved one is taking a lot of medications, make a chart to help keep track of what medication is to be taken and when.


Always be sure the home is safe. If your loved one uses a walker be sure throw rugs are secure, and there are no obstacles for them to trip over. Install safety railings should this help. If your loved one can get confused at times, it’s also a good safety precaution to have a baby gate positioned high enough in the door frame at staircases so that they can not fall down.


Emotional Considerations
Spending time caring for the elderly does not have to be all about taking care of their personal needs. Spend time asking them about their life. Everyone has stories to share about their life and some seniors have great experiences to share.


Teach an elderly person about the Internet. Many elderly people are nervous about computers and teaching them about all the amazing benefits of the Internet can spark new life in the person you are caring for.


The brain likes to stay active and no better way to do this than to play word games, crossword puzzles or even some board games such as Scrabble.


Always remember to be understanding because as we get older we tend to be very set in our ways and this means being stubborn at times. If the person you are caring for is being very stubborn and it is not a big issue, let it go. If the stubbornness is over something that is not negotiable it's much easier to handle and you'll have much less stress when you know to expect it.


When you have all the tools you need, it will make caring for the elderly much easier.

The Author : Starlet Nicole - http://www.gcnexus.com

Starlet is professional author for GC Nexus Group, Elderly Caregivers Agency help in finding professional caregivers throughout Montreal and Toronto in Canada. GC Nexus offers Live in Caregivers Canada, senior caregiver and elderly home care services for your parents and spouses by professionals.