First Internet connection in 6 days... and then Jelutong
It's like building a complete kitchen with Michelin Star Rating but forgetting the plumbing.
I understand this is entirely out of control of my good host, Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism and Culture. Alongside with other international bloggers, I have been accommodated in 5-Star hotels but Internet connection has been difficult in three cities in the past six days.
Telkomsel was kind enough to loan us a HSDPA wireless broadband USB-kit the very first day I dropped into Bali, and I was delighted to note that their USB kit is an updated version compared to the one Maxis and Celcom adopted -- both are supplied by Huaiwei. (But my friends in Indonesia say the one Indosat used is supplied by ZTE, and works fine!)
But it was not plug-and-play. The account activation requires human interaction with a human voice at the Help Desk. The moment I got it activated, it was time to leave for Jogjakarta the next morning.
In Jogja, I realised that though I had the prepaid access has a time credit of some five hours, the but Telkomsel SIM card was not carrying any usage credit in rupiah value, or pulsa in Bahasa Indonesia.
It didn't make things better in Jogja. Though the kind Ministry staff gave me a 4-hour prepaid Internet card to access Wi-Fi at the Melia Purosani hotel, wireless signal was limited to certain blocks and mine was not service-covered.
Today, I was moved into another posh hotel in Jakarta and was told that Internet is limited to the lobby bar. So, I posted this blog at the lobby, but was very delighted to discover that Wi-Fi is indeed accessible on the 11th floor. Deja vu!
I must state here that, though there's ample room for public Internet infrastructure to improve further, I am impressed that even the Kota Tua area adjacent to the Old Batavia of Jakarta is readily connected with WiFi hotspots.
WiFi hotspot readily available at the Kota Tua area adjacent to Old Batavia, Jakarta
Now, I have so much backlog to clear -- reply emails, send new emails, and post pictures.
The right 'Penang Formula'
I am so eager to log in because someone alerted me to read an article by Soo Ewe Jin, a Penangite who insists that 'you can take a Penangite out of Penang but never the Penang out of a Penangite'.
In the commentary titled: Penang should think small to grow big, Ewe Jin dishes some free advice for Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, whom he thinks to be "in a bit of a dilemma over how to develop the state".
In the footnote, Ewe Jin was described as someone whose family house in Jelutong -- my parliamentary constituency -- was demolished to make way for development earlier this year. He hopes a nice 5-storey media and advertising hub rather than a 22-storey high-rise will come up in its place.
I only came to know that Ewe Jin's demolished house was precisely the one that cut all fears (of the incumbent) to supply electricity to the little construction cabin that was used as the operation room for my GE2008 campaign. And now it's gone.
I will treasure what Ewe Jin writes today. It's a wake-up call for the present state government of Penang. Cut the crap about the misadventures of the previous Koh Tsu Koon state government. They are completed history.
To Penangites, it's the present and the future that matters. Just get to know Penangites better and run Penang well.
Comments
Yup. Stop carping on the previous State government. We all know they stink. No need to keep telling us.
Start to run Penang well, with the minimum of show-boating. I'm confident LGE's heart is in the right place.
Posted by: Yumcious![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 21, 2008 03:40 PM
The World Heritage status should be maintained; any contractual commitment for the new blocks would have been with the previous state government; legally check if that doesn't render them null and void.
There will always be a stand-off on funds from the federal government; the only way is to create a position to negotiate. Let's say it's possible to insert a new state tax that will fall under expenditure in the accounts of companies operating in the state. The new state tax will be revenue for the state while reducing the gross profit before tax of the company's exposure to the federal income taxation system. If federal doesn't like it, it should wake up that Penang is one state which must be supported not just for its silicon valley base but also for new things it can do starting next year when downturns hit our shores and many people return retrenched from Singapore etc.
This idea about e-applications should be pursued to the hilt as they are doing in Singapore. As again, the wireless project seems to have quietened. If on, promote-lah. There need to be new programs to push for people to be able to telework. That will help keep family budgets ringing and the retail sector buffered.
In fact, state should start canvassing ideas from the folks. If they have ideas, where to sound them? Through that committee, etc? Get the g2c communication channels cleared and loud.
Make every Penangite an indirect voluntary marketing agent for the island. When they go overseas to do their own thing, they should be able to sell the island as a logical choice for the next business location based on x factors in y situations.
I don't think all these have been thought out. I also think the island can do with another 100 percent increase in industry and business concentration. You just need to landscape around the concentrations and create a metropolis effect without forfeiting the old charms by marrying them with the jazziest lifestyles.
Since there are no corals, get waterfront projects up. A theme park featuring oriental comic characters using disneyland technologies, perhaps.
sigh.
Posted by: Neil![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 21, 2008 06:31 PM
The World Heritage status should be maintained; any contractual commitment for the new blocks would have been with the previous state government; legally check if that doesn't render them null and void.
There will always be a stand-off on funds from the federal government; the only way is to create a position to negotiate. Let's say it's possible to insert a new state tax that will fall under expenditure in the accounts of companies operating in the state. The new state tax will be revenue for the state while reducing the gross profit before tax of the company's exposure to the federal income taxation system. If federal doesn't like it, it should wake up that Penang is one state which must be supported not just for its silicon valley base but also for new things it can do starting next year when downturns hit our shores and many people return retrenched from Singapore etc.
This idea about e-applications should be pursued to the hilt as they are doing in Singapore. As again, the wireless project seems to have quietened. If on, promote-lah. There need to be new programs to push for people to be able to telework. That will help keep family budgets ringing and the retail sector buffered.
In fact, state should start canvassing ideas from the folks. If they have ideas, where to sound them? Through that committee, etc? Get the g2c communication channels cleared and loud.
Make every Penangite an indirect voluntary marketing agent for the island. When they go overseas to do their own thing, they should be able to sell the island as a logical choice for the next business location based on x factors in y situations.
I don't think all these have been thought out. I also think the island can do with another 100 percent increase in industry and business concentration. You just need to landscape around the concentrations and create a metropolis effect without forfeiting the old charms by marrying them with the jazziest lifestyles.
Since there are no corals, get waterfront projects up. A theme park featuring oriental comic characters using disneyland technologies, perhaps.
sigh.
Posted by: Neil![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 21, 2008 06:36 PM
INTERNET STILL A LUXURY FOR MANY
Don't take the Internet for granted
For in some countries it's a luxury
That very few can afford to have it connected
Since it's not available simply as cash and carry
(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng - 211108
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Fri. 21st Nov. 2008.
Posted by: samgoh10![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 21, 2008 11:47 PM
Jeff, is this you???
http://tekno.kompas.com/read/xml/2008/11/04/07531659/lima.blogger.asing.terkemuka.keliling.indonesia
Posted by: mrbrown![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 22, 2008 03:09 AM