More Questions, Bloody QuestionsYet another survey of expats has been published, but this one doesn't personally affect me. I wasn't asked because I'm not an Asian expat, I'm European. And this one is conducted annually by
ECA International which is in the self-perpetuating and lucrative business of servicing multi-national conglomerates.
When an employee is sent on an international assignment, the differences the expatriate and family will experience and the impact on their lifestyle is often compensated for as part of the remuneration package. ECA's location ranking system measures the quality of expatriate living conditions in 240 locations around the world and assesses the level of difficulty the expatriate will experience in adapting to a new location.Naturally, you have to pay but how much is subject to the following:
Membership is subscription based, but some products and services are available to non-members. Please contact us providing details of your requirements and someone will get back to you to discuss your needs. So you'll have to take my word and that of the
Jakarta Post that ECA has done a good job in reporting that Singapore is considered to be the best place for Asian expats to stash their cash. I presume that's why the city state is rated above both Basel and Geneva in Switzerland.
Singapore may have press and political restrictions, but that's of little concern to businesses seeking to relocate there. After all, the city state
is working to improve its image as a place for fun and entertainment, with new restaurants and bars springing up and two multi-billion dollar casinos on the way. Indonesian businessfolk may also prefer Singapore because there isn't yet an extradition treaty between the two countries. Besides, here there is a lack of casinos with the slight risk of prosecution for corruption. Without access to the full data, we can only hazard a guess as to where Jakarta is in the survey of 254 locations worldwide.
253rd?
Another survey is reported today in the Jakarta Post. Given that it was conducted by the 'respected', i.e. often quoted in the local mass media,
Indonesian Survey Circle (
Lingkaran Survei Indonesia), I would have expected the results or a press release about it online. But no, there is nothing more recent than a poll from December last year purporting to show that Vice President Josef
Kalla won't become President in 2009 because he's not Javanese. And the previous one leads to very strong misgivings:
The Perception on the Aids for Yogyakarta Earthquake Victims. Do these people have a hidden agenda?
Today's poll apparently reveals that the party of the last president, Megawati Soekarnoputri, PDI-P is now the most popular, with Golkar, now headed by Kalla and once Suharto's vehicle of
faux electoral legitimacy, down in second place.
The Post makes a great song and dance about all this, suggesting that her party's support, 22.6%, up from 18.43% at the 2004 General Election, is a reflection of its oppositional stance in parliament. Maybe so, and few would say that they are experiencing a better life under SBY. But what the Post neglects to mention is that SBY's Partai Democratik has more than doubled its support, up to 16.3% from 7.45%.
Finally, here's one of
another set of questions, a regular feature in the Guardian of t
he week's weirdest news stories. Personally, I think the inclusion of this particular question is weird; as anyone who lives here can tell you, all the suggested scenarios are feasible.
Why are the Indonesian police threatening to sue the cigarette maker PT Djarum?
A For portraying the police as drug addicts in a poster campaign.
B For saying police don't enforce laws on the selling of tobacco to children.
C For portraying police as sleeping on the job in adverts.
D For saying that police officers are their best customers.
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