Quote: (08-03-2013 08:14 AM)Rutting Elephant Wrote:
1) Tiny diaspora compared to Chinese people. Most Americans have never met an Indonesian or eaten Indonesian food (the latter not a big loss). Millions of poor Indonesians do menial work abroad in the Gulf, Singapore, Malaysia, and elsewhere but not so much in the US.
True, but these are basically non-educated workers working as maids.
Quote: (08-03-2013 08:14 AM)Rutting Elephant Wrote:
2) Well-deserved reputation as a corrupt, increasingly Islamist hellhole as far as government and justice is concerned, and as a flooded, disease-ridden, tsunami- and volcano-prone death trap on the environmental side.
Corruption is good. It makes things easier and faster. If you don't have street smart skills, don't ever attempt to start business in Indonesia.
Quote: (08-03-2013 08:14 AM)Rutting Elephant Wrote:
3) Little economic incentive to learn the language. Besides textiles, manufacturing is weak. Natural resources are the only capital, and the big foreign interests already have full control of its extraction. The economic boom is not passed to the man on the street, and some of it is just bull, such as classifying households who spend more than $200/month as "middle class" despite some of the highest food prices in the world. Systemic, total corruption from elementary school onwards does not foster start-ups or entrepreneurship.
Textile is also weak in Indonesia. They are now importing a lot of textiles from China. LOL @ middle class. Most middle managers in MNCs there make about 3000 USD a month. These are educated folks. If you don't have education, you will make 200 USD a month like the rest of the people who are lazy as fuck. You're dead wrong about corruption. It fosters the ability to adapt to the situation. Only the strong survive. That's why you see a lot of small businesses in Indonesia as compared to other countries. The startup culture is unlike the US whereby a lot of venture capitalists will fund businesses; it's more like asking loans from relatives and close friends. My uncle is due to become multi millionaire soon due to his investment in Anthocephalus Cadamba. His initial investment was about 300K. If you know what you're doing and you're street smart, you will make big money in Indonesia. However, if you're like most western educated men, you will be slaughtered the day you start your business. Rules don't apply there. Only the strong survive.
Quote: (08-03-2013 08:14 AM)Rutting Elephant Wrote:
4) Cultural and intellectual atrophy caused in part by the slaughter of every thinking person in the anti-"Communist" genocide of 1965. Since all the schoolteachers were killed, soldiers had to take their place. No Nobel Prize contenders in any field, possibly ever. Restricted freedom of expression doesn't help.
Where do you get this idea? You can badmouth the president and still not going to jail. Try doing that in Singapore, and you will get sued. In Indonesia, there's press freedom and freedom of speech.
Quote: (08-03-2013 08:14 AM)Rutting Elephant Wrote:
5) Nonexistent sports prestige, except in badminton and a decent boxer, Daud, further reduces international visibly. Absolutely wretched national soccer team got humiliated in the past three weeks, losing to visiting Arsenal 7-0, Liverpool 2-0, and Chelsea 8-1. Though the games were in Jakarta, almost everybody wore English team jerseys and rooted against their own scrubs.
Indonesians really don't give a shit about sports achievements. Their only care is money just like most third world countries people. Besides the government is fucked up as hell. They never invest into sports or anything. So tough luck on that.