Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
The difference a chief makes
Here's a story. On Wednesday, I went to Manado to attend an ASEAN sub regional transportation ministers meeting. The ministry invited me, so I went with them, including the chief.
We were set for a 13.30 flight with Lion Air, and arrived in the airport at around 12.30-ish. Sitting on the waiting room, I looked at my watch and when it said 12.45, I decided to open my laptop and write a story I was supposed to submit that day.
I was surprised when at around 13.00-ish, we were called to board the plane. The minister, of course, had his own access to the plane's business class. I rushed to pack my laptop and boarded the new Boeing.
At exactly 13.35, we were taxiing down the runway, ready to take off. Two minutes later, the pilot's voice came through the speaker, apologizing for the delay. The five-minute delay from what was written on our tickets.
The next day, Thursday, we were scheduled to fly back to Jakarta at 18.40. This time, the minister was not with us - he went back with Friday's first flight out. We went to Manado's airport, and were called to board at 18.45.
After a long, long, exhausting boarding process because some passengers just don't seem to understand the correct behavior to travel by planes, we took off at around 19.15.
Any apology this time? No.
Who was with us this time? "Only" the director of air traffic, some second-level official at the ministry. Even though he is the one who gives and refuses permits for airlines to operate.
Speaking of awful behavior, people, why don't you understand that you read your tickets to know where you sit. If it says 24 A, you don't sit in 24 F. It's not a bus, where seats don't matter.
Also, if you bring your children, make sure to feed them a hell lot of foods and warm milk so they would just snooze all the time. So they don't try to pinch a jacket hoodie worn by a very tired lady sitting in front of them.
Kids, if you think your innocent smiles will make me stop glaring at you, think again.
We were set for a 13.30 flight with Lion Air, and arrived in the airport at around 12.30-ish. Sitting on the waiting room, I looked at my watch and when it said 12.45, I decided to open my laptop and write a story I was supposed to submit that day.
I was surprised when at around 13.00-ish, we were called to board the plane. The minister, of course, had his own access to the plane's business class. I rushed to pack my laptop and boarded the new Boeing.
At exactly 13.35, we were taxiing down the runway, ready to take off. Two minutes later, the pilot's voice came through the speaker, apologizing for the delay. The five-minute delay from what was written on our tickets.
The next day, Thursday, we were scheduled to fly back to Jakarta at 18.40. This time, the minister was not with us - he went back with Friday's first flight out. We went to Manado's airport, and were called to board at 18.45.
After a long, long, exhausting boarding process because some passengers just don't seem to understand the correct behavior to travel by planes, we took off at around 19.15.
Any apology this time? No.
Who was with us this time? "Only" the director of air traffic, some second-level official at the ministry. Even though he is the one who gives and refuses permits for airlines to operate.
Speaking of awful behavior, people, why don't you understand that you read your tickets to know where you sit. If it says 24 A, you don't sit in 24 F. It's not a bus, where seats don't matter.
Also, if you bring your children, make sure to feed them a hell lot of foods and warm milk so they would just snooze all the time. So they don't try to pinch a jacket hoodie worn by a very tired lady sitting in front of them.
Kids, if you think your innocent smiles will make me stop glaring at you, think again.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Gloat a little
The Jakarta Globe has won an award for business reporting from one of Asia’s most prestigious journalism organizations.
The Society of Publishers in Asia on Thursday night gave the Globe its award for Excellence in Business Reporting for our series last year on the collapse of the Tripanca Group.
Over two weeks in November, Globe Business Editor Roffie Kurniawan and reporters Ardian Wibisono, Arientha Primanita and Kafil Yamin investigated and explained events surrounding Tripanca Group’s failure to pay creditors for thousands of tons of coffee beans being stored by the group. This panicked depositors at BPR Tripanca, the group’s banking arm, who withdrew their assets en masse from the bank’s vaults.
The SOPA judges singled out the Globe’s coverage as the best business reporting among the local newspapers category. The annual Awards for Editorial Excellence are open to newspapers across Asia, and the Globe beat off strong competition in the category from The Straits Times, South China Morning Post and publications from Australia, Thailand and Malaysia.
“We are grateful to be honored, and really happy. We were only publishing for six weeks in 2008, but our journalists did a great job,” said deputy editor Bhimanto Suwastoyo, who received the award at a gala dinner in Hong Kong.
----------------
That's something to be proud of, I think.
The Society of Publishers in Asia on Thursday night gave the Globe its award for Excellence in Business Reporting for our series last year on the collapse of the Tripanca Group.
Over two weeks in November, Globe Business Editor Roffie Kurniawan and reporters Ardian Wibisono, Arientha Primanita and Kafil Yamin investigated and explained events surrounding Tripanca Group’s failure to pay creditors for thousands of tons of coffee beans being stored by the group. This panicked depositors at BPR Tripanca, the group’s banking arm, who withdrew their assets en masse from the bank’s vaults.
The SOPA judges singled out the Globe’s coverage as the best business reporting among the local newspapers category. The annual Awards for Editorial Excellence are open to newspapers across Asia, and the Globe beat off strong competition in the category from The Straits Times, South China Morning Post and publications from Australia, Thailand and Malaysia.
“We are grateful to be honored, and really happy. We were only publishing for six weeks in 2008, but our journalists did a great job,” said deputy editor Bhimanto Suwastoyo, who received the award at a gala dinner in Hong Kong.
----------------
That's something to be proud of, I think.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
At this stage, it could be all staged
Amid all this fiasco over ladies claiming their human rights and trying, some effortlessly and some very hardly, to get people's attention, I choose to lay my concern on... the Air France accident.
Well, it's more mystery than accident since it hasn't been found.
My heart goes out to all 200-something passengers and crew, and I sincerely hope that the search team will find the black box. Clock is ticking, people. Thirty days or it's going to end in the list of world's biggest mysteries.
Besides, I sure as hell wanna know what caused a huge, twin-engined Airbus 330 that's known as one of the safest plane to crash. The biggest incident to hit A330, Time.com reported, was last year's Qantas turbulence.
My heart also goes out to Prita Mulyasari. Sorry, Mano, mother of two in jail for what women do best; telling stories? No chest bruises can beat that. But hey, let's see these event as this: both women get the attention they want, and they're also giving the presidential hopefuls a reason to attract more supporters.
It's a win-win situation, really.
Well, it's more mystery than accident since it hasn't been found.
My heart goes out to all 200-something passengers and crew, and I sincerely hope that the search team will find the black box. Clock is ticking, people. Thirty days or it's going to end in the list of world's biggest mysteries.
Besides, I sure as hell wanna know what caused a huge, twin-engined Airbus 330 that's known as one of the safest plane to crash. The biggest incident to hit A330, Time.com reported, was last year's Qantas turbulence.
My heart also goes out to Prita Mulyasari. Sorry, Mano, mother of two in jail for what women do best; telling stories? No chest bruises can beat that. But hey, let's see these event as this: both women get the attention they want, and they're also giving the presidential hopefuls a reason to attract more supporters.
It's a win-win situation, really.
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