Why blog?
Thanks Bart for the plug in your
Indonesian Expat Newsletter; I wonder how many of your 4,000+ subscribers will read this and wonder what kind of egomaniac I am to put my thoughts out there for all and sundry to read.
Well, maybe I'm a bit like you and
the Reveller. Other than the fact that you both spend a lot more time in bars than I do, alas a lack, I'm a long-term expat with an Indonesian family to support who lives in Jakarta. Like you both, I have an interest in the Internet and its power to communicate.
I also believe that it has the potential to educate. Potential ~ ah. Now isn't that the one positive word we all use to describe the country we now call home?
Certainly the telecommunications industry has potential. That's one reason why the counting of the votes in the now not-so-recent election is taking so long. According to today's
Jakarta Post, Rp.200 billion ($23.2 million) has been spent for establishing the computer-based ballot counting. Unfortunately, some local polling stations submitted handwritten results, possibly because their areas lack electricity, and others used a software programme other than Excel. Yep, there's certainly potential to improve the process for the next election in 2009.
Like most expats here, I can only be an observer; there's little scope for involvement but there's certainly potential, whoops, to initiate ideas. We'd be arrogant, even colonial, to impose change.
So, there's my theme. As for my motivations, well I've got family and friends outside the country ~ hi there Fred and Ginger, Tom and Jerry and Ann On ~ who, I hope, are desperate to keep in touch. (Post me a letter, send me an e-mail, call me. PLEASE.)
My interests outside my family can be deduced from the list of links to the right. They're family too. For example, I know of only one other genuine Charlton Athletic supporter resident here. If you're another one, drop me a line. My musical connections are from when I was an unashamed groupie.
But still there lies the crucial point as to why I've started this thing rolling. I'm not going to gaze at my navel and tell you about my bowel movements ~ is that physically or philologically possible? But this will be an attempt to improve my writing style, which inherently means thinking. So, it's a diary of sorts.
Your mother may have told you that it's not the done thing to read others' diaries, but in so far as Jakartass is concerned, my life is an open book. I hope you enjoy the read.
There are now more than 2,000,000 blogs online. Why have I joined them? I'll now let
others answer for me.
|