Single Playlist Hari Ini

Hari ini iseng nonton pilem lama

I have often dreamed of a far off place
Where a hero's welcome would be waiting for me
Where the crowds will cheer when they see my face
And a voice keeps saying , this is where I'm meant to be

I'll be there someday, I can go the distance
I will find my way, if I can be strong
I know every mile will be worth my while
When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong

Down an unknown road to embrace my fate
Though that road may wander, it will lead me to you
And a thousand years would be worth the wait
It might take a lifetime, but somehow I'll see it through

And I won't look back, I can go the distance
And I'll stay on track, no, I won't accept defeat
It's an uphill slope, but I won't lose hope
Till I go the distance and my journey is complete

But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
For a hero's strength is measured by his heart

Like a shooting star, I will go the distance
I will search the world, I will face its harms
I don't care how far, I can go the distance
Till I find my hero's welcome waiting in your arms

I will search the world, I will face its harm
Till I find my hero's welcome waiting in your arms



Go the Distance - Michael Bolton
lyrics from: http://amayasfavoritelyrics.blogspot.com/2012/03/go-distance-michael-bolton.html

Single Time Zone for Indonesia

The most mind catching headlines this week for me is this: RI to Save Trillions of Rupiah by Merging Time Zone. Upon reading, I was very excited, this is one of the best idea from our goverment! Why? Because this is a low hanging fruit (a.k.a. easy win) to boost our national output. Win? Easy?  Let’s elaborate the pros and cons.

Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Radjasa said that by having time zone across the archipelago and with neighboring countries, economic activities will have better management and could be more efficient. The potential saving can be up to trillions rupiah. There is a logic jump in the minister statement, maybe due to time constraint.

Since I do not have the data and models, I can only guess where the trillions come from. By having three time zone, there are two hours time difference in working window of people in the western zone with the people in the eastern zone. By unifying time zone, suddenly there are an extra two hours for transactions everyday. This should provide some jumps in national outputs. Trading and banking with many other countries in GMT+8 will also get same effect. Countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Hongkong, all are in GMT +8. More trading with these countries will give significant boost to our outputs. I expect this is the major components from the trillions “saved”.

There are also some “minor” advantages. One thing is the flight schedule will be simplified. The Jakartans also would go earlier (according to the sun), so they don’t have to burn as many fuel for air conditioning on their way.

The biggest cons of the plan is, hundreds million of people should change their time agreement and daily habit. Many say that this will cause chaos, but is it true? Maybe because Indonesian are tropical people they have much concern against the idea, but for our fellows at many four-seasoned countries are familiar with “time shifting”, albeit for different reason. To conserve power during winter, many countries adopt Daylight Saving Time (DST).  With DST, people should shift their time twice a year, and they can do it without any chaos.

It can be argued that we can not model our country situation with those country because their situation is too much different. Well, the Philippines, a tropical country, has tried DST in the past. Pakistan, a Muslim country with almost 200 million people also tried DST without much uproar. So there is no reason why Indonesia can not do this shift, once in a life time.

Sure, there will be some discomfort, but Indonesia need to pick up pace as soon as possible. This policy can be a way to tell all the Indonesians that we are changing and moving. And that everybody should shoulder the progress, united as a country.

One thing that is not appropriate from this idea is the way the government present it. One minister talk that there is this “plan” that suppose to “save: trillion of rupiah but it is not clear when or whether the policy will be active at all. This study sparks many debates, as every changes would, which is counter-productive. If the government already did the necessary research (as they claimed) and sure that this policy is the way to go, they should just make a formal press conference, explain the policy, including all the study involved, and release the effective date. And the timing is not elegant. This issue appears just before the increase of subsidized fuel next month. That’s why many people accuse this issue as a diversion from the fuel issue. A pity, since this is a real way to boost our economy.

LaTex !

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