Sunday, January 3, 2010
Taiwan ROC computer bug in 2011... maybe ....see news here
Taiwan ROC computer bug in 2011... maybe ....see news here
i got the news from Louise Bystron, wife of Swedish
ambassador here. she says in 2011, the Taiwan-related year computers
will go from current year 99 to year 100, but the system cannot handle the 3
digits. true or false?
because Taiwan uses the 1911 date as founding of nation date and all newspapers and schools and hospitals use year 99 now....and next will be year 100, the 100th anniversay of the founding of Taiwan ROC in 1911, will this be a new computer problem... maybe>?
i got the news from Louise Bystron, wife of Swedish
ambassador here. she says in 2011, the Taiwan-related year computers
will go from current year 99 to year 100, but the system cannot handle the 3
digits. true or false?
because Taiwan uses the 1911 date as founding of nation date and all newspapers and schools and hospitals use year 99 now....and next will be year 100, the 100th anniversay of the founding of Taiwan ROC in 1911, will this be a new computer problem... maybe>?
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Shakur Kapor, new movie titled PAANI about water wars in future in un named city
Golden Age Creative Adda | Golden Age Diary | Astrophysicist
« Water Wars again ? Can we turn Bangladesh into a Desert ? | Main | Paani - can the making of fim be a community event ? »
December 18, 2009 | 10:16 AM
Copenhagen talks are a complete sham : the wisdom of the prostitutes
In protest the prostitutes of Copenhagen offered free sex to the delegates of the Conference on Climate Change. They knew that nothing else would come off it, so just come and have fun u guys - and since your tax payers paid for all of you to fly down for a sojourn have a few drinks on us too.
What is Copenhagen about ? Posturing ? Politicking ? Individual political profiling ? The whole meaning of the climate conference is lost in meaningless and endless documents and words. The environmental cost of leaders of the world is stunning if nothing comes off it - and it seems nothing will. Meaningless stupidity.
I feel sorry and ashamed that I joined thousands of people around the world to encourage our Prime Minister to go. I did not realize it would have been so easy to subvert the process through such incredible complexity. It is so obvious that not one of the heads of state actually mean what they say.
The planet suffers from over consumption, period. 5 % of the populations consumes 80% of the worlds resources. So we HAVE to learn to live with less. We have to think about everything we do, right from simple things like how much water we expend in a shower, to the environmental cost of packaged food, even to number of clothes we buy, knowing that cotton growing is a hugely water consumptive activity,
We need to reevaluate the way we live.
And yet there is such a contradiction in what we call economic recovery- the so called Stimulus Plans all over the world ! They all work on getting the consumer to go back to consumption levels before the economic meltdown world - wide. The government of the United States is celebrating a a pre - Christmas shopping frenzy in the US as a sign of economic health -
But what about the health of our planet ?
« Water Wars again ? Can we turn Bangladesh into a Desert ? | Main | Paani - can the making of fim be a community event ? »
December 18, 2009 | 10:16 AM
Copenhagen talks are a complete sham : the wisdom of the prostitutes
In protest the prostitutes of Copenhagen offered free sex to the delegates of the Conference on Climate Change. They knew that nothing else would come off it, so just come and have fun u guys - and since your tax payers paid for all of you to fly down for a sojourn have a few drinks on us too.
What is Copenhagen about ? Posturing ? Politicking ? Individual political profiling ? The whole meaning of the climate conference is lost in meaningless and endless documents and words. The environmental cost of leaders of the world is stunning if nothing comes off it - and it seems nothing will. Meaningless stupidity.
I feel sorry and ashamed that I joined thousands of people around the world to encourage our Prime Minister to go. I did not realize it would have been so easy to subvert the process through such incredible complexity. It is so obvious that not one of the heads of state actually mean what they say.
The planet suffers from over consumption, period. 5 % of the populations consumes 80% of the worlds resources. So we HAVE to learn to live with less. We have to think about everything we do, right from simple things like how much water we expend in a shower, to the environmental cost of packaged food, even to number of clothes we buy, knowing that cotton growing is a hugely water consumptive activity,
We need to reevaluate the way we live.
And yet there is such a contradiction in what we call economic recovery- the so called Stimulus Plans all over the world ! They all work on getting the consumer to go back to consumption levels before the economic meltdown world - wide. The government of the United States is celebrating a a pre - Christmas shopping frenzy in the US as a sign of economic health -
But what about the health of our planet ?
Friday, January 1, 2010
If the predictions of British scientist James Lovelock are any guide....
If the predictions of British scientist James Lovelock are any guide
to the future, climate change and global warming are unstoppable now,
and the next 500 years will bring major changes to life on Earth as we
know it now. Billions of people from central and temperate regions
will move north, Lovelock says, finding refuge in climate refuges
known as polar cities in Alaska and Canada.
>
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin does not believe in Lovelock's
predictions, preferring to base her life and thinking on the baseless
predictions of the Bible and the debunked ideas of Intelligent Design.
While she believes that global warming is real, she also believes it
is caused not by men and their machines but by the natural cycles of
the Sun and Moon.
>
> But with her head in the sand, Palin -- widely tipped to be the
> Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential elections in the USA --
> cannot fathom the ideas of Dr Lovelock. Nor can she fathom the ideas
> of a former Alaskan resident named Danny Bloom who bills himself as
> "a modern-day climate Jeremiah" on blogs and websites worldwide.
> Bloom, taking his cue from interviews with Lovelock, is predicting
> that millions, perhaps billions, of climate refugees will flood Alaska
> in the coming centuries, beginning around 2121 A.D. and continuing
> until well in what he calls "The Great Interruption" (a 10,000-year
> period in which all of mankind will migrate north to polar cities in
> the Arctic regions in order to serve as breeding pairs for the
> survival of the human species).
>
> Bloom says that as the Earth heats up in the next 100 to 500 years,
> temperatures will rise, sea levels will rise, food will become scarce
> in the Lower 48 due to soaring temperatures in agricultural areas and
> millions of Americans (and Mexicans) will move "north to Alaska". The
> modern-day climate Jeremiah predicts that these events will not signal
> the end of the world but the beginning of a new chapter in human
> history, with a lot hanging on the outcome.
>
> "If we survive The Great Interruption, the human species will be okay,
> and we will thrive again later," Bloom, 60, says. "I am an optimist
> and I fully believe we will survive, the breeding pairs in the Arctic
> will become part of Lifeboat Earth and all will be well, in the end.
> Around 12,500 A.D, humans will come out of the polar cities in the
> north and begin to repopulate the Earth again. I only wish former
> Governor Palin could understand the massive shift that is about to
> begin. Sadly, due to her education and upbringing, she cannot see the
> forest from the trees. She thinks everything is okay now, and that Al
> Gore and James Lovelock are nuts, not to mention James Hansen or Mark
> Lynas. But the descendants of Sarah Palin in the next few centuries
> come to learn just how wrong their famous relative was!"
>
> Bloom predicts that by the year 2500 A.D. the entire U.S. government
> will have relocated north to Alaska and parts of Canada. The Northern
> White House will be in Juneau, he says. The U.S. Congress will be
> housed on the campus of what is now the Univeristy of Alaska in
> Fairbanks. And the Supreme Court will be located in Anchorage, Alaska,
> housed in the buildings that were formerly part of the then-defunct
> Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport there. By 2500, Bloom
> says, there will be no more aviation fuel and all airplanes worldwide
> will be grounded.
>
> So get ready, Alaska, for an influx of millions of climate refugees
> and climate stragglers within the next 500 years. The flood will occur
> slowly, glacially, over time, and the state will be able to handle the
> mass migration events as they occur. But it won't be a pretty picture,
> Bloom says, comparing it to something like when "'Mad Max' meets
> Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road'."
>
> Bloom's jeremiads on the Internet are worth reading, if only to get a
> glimpse of what the future might be for our descendants, a few
> centuries down the road. On the other hand, this modern-day Jeremiah
> might be completely off his rocker and not worth listening to at all.
>
> Would you wager he's right or that he's going to be way wrong? It''s
> food for thought, if nothing else. Sarah Palin might even consider the
> consequences.
> --
> POLAR CITIES:
> http://pcillu101.blogspot.com
to the future, climate change and global warming are unstoppable now,
and the next 500 years will bring major changes to life on Earth as we
know it now. Billions of people from central and temperate regions
will move north, Lovelock says, finding refuge in climate refuges
known as polar cities in Alaska and Canada.
>
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin does not believe in Lovelock's
predictions, preferring to base her life and thinking on the baseless
predictions of the Bible and the debunked ideas of Intelligent Design.
While she believes that global warming is real, she also believes it
is caused not by men and their machines but by the natural cycles of
the Sun and Moon.
>
> But with her head in the sand, Palin -- widely tipped to be the
> Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential elections in the USA --
> cannot fathom the ideas of Dr Lovelock. Nor can she fathom the ideas
> of a former Alaskan resident named Danny Bloom who bills himself as
> "a modern-day climate Jeremiah" on blogs and websites worldwide.
> Bloom, taking his cue from interviews with Lovelock, is predicting
> that millions, perhaps billions, of climate refugees will flood Alaska
> in the coming centuries, beginning around 2121 A.D. and continuing
> until well in what he calls "The Great Interruption" (a 10,000-year
> period in which all of mankind will migrate north to polar cities in
> the Arctic regions in order to serve as breeding pairs for the
> survival of the human species).
>
> Bloom says that as the Earth heats up in the next 100 to 500 years,
> temperatures will rise, sea levels will rise, food will become scarce
> in the Lower 48 due to soaring temperatures in agricultural areas and
> millions of Americans (and Mexicans) will move "north to Alaska". The
> modern-day climate Jeremiah predicts that these events will not signal
> the end of the world but the beginning of a new chapter in human
> history, with a lot hanging on the outcome.
>
> "If we survive The Great Interruption, the human species will be okay,
> and we will thrive again later," Bloom, 60, says. "I am an optimist
> and I fully believe we will survive, the breeding pairs in the Arctic
> will become part of Lifeboat Earth and all will be well, in the end.
> Around 12,500 A.D, humans will come out of the polar cities in the
> north and begin to repopulate the Earth again. I only wish former
> Governor Palin could understand the massive shift that is about to
> begin. Sadly, due to her education and upbringing, she cannot see the
> forest from the trees. She thinks everything is okay now, and that Al
> Gore and James Lovelock are nuts, not to mention James Hansen or Mark
> Lynas. But the descendants of Sarah Palin in the next few centuries
> come to learn just how wrong their famous relative was!"
>
> Bloom predicts that by the year 2500 A.D. the entire U.S. government
> will have relocated north to Alaska and parts of Canada. The Northern
> White House will be in Juneau, he says. The U.S. Congress will be
> housed on the campus of what is now the Univeristy of Alaska in
> Fairbanks. And the Supreme Court will be located in Anchorage, Alaska,
> housed in the buildings that were formerly part of the then-defunct
> Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport there. By 2500, Bloom
> says, there will be no more aviation fuel and all airplanes worldwide
> will be grounded.
>
> So get ready, Alaska, for an influx of millions of climate refugees
> and climate stragglers within the next 500 years. The flood will occur
> slowly, glacially, over time, and the state will be able to handle the
> mass migration events as they occur. But it won't be a pretty picture,
> Bloom says, comparing it to something like when "'Mad Max' meets
> Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road'."
>
> Bloom's jeremiads on the Internet are worth reading, if only to get a
> glimpse of what the future might be for our descendants, a few
> centuries down the road. On the other hand, this modern-day Jeremiah
> might be completely off his rocker and not worth listening to at all.
>
> Would you wager he's right or that he's going to be way wrong? It''s
> food for thought, if nothing else. Sarah Palin might even consider the
> consequences.
> --
> POLAR CITIES:
> http://pcillu101.blogspot.com
Friday, December 25, 2009
For American Workers in Taiwan, a Culture Clash (rewritten and edited to make a point)
For American Workers in Taiwan , a Culture Clash
By HANNAH SELIGSON, the New Yark Times
December 23, 3009
As more Americans go to mainland Taiwan to take jobs, more Taiwanese and Americans are working side by side. These cross-cultural partnerships, while beneficial in many ways, are also highlighting tensions that expose differences in work experience, pay levels and communication.
In the last few years, a growing number of Americans in their 20s and 30s have been heading to Taiwan for employment, lured by its faster-growing economy and lower jobless rate. Their Taiwanese co-workers are often around the same age.
“The tight collaboration of the two countries in business and science makes the Taiwanese -American pairing one of the most common in the workplace in Taiwan ,” said Vas Taras, a management professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a specialist in cross-cultural work group management.
But the two groups were raised differently.
The Americans have had more exposure to free-market principles. “Young Americans were brought up in a commercial environment,” said Shalom Chen, 28, a senior associate at Green Flame Capital, a private equity firm based in Taipei. “We weren’t. So the workplace is a unique learning process for my generation.”
Sean Liao, 28, founder of Neochacha, a social networking site based in Chiayi, says young Taiwanese employees often enter jobs with less hands-on preparation. They may also have less understanding of client services, he said.
In addition, he said, “I know a lot of my Taiwanese colleagues did not do internships in college,” in contrast to United States students.
Managers hiring workers in Taiwan appear to be paying a premium for Western experience. Foreigners tend to earn 10 to 15 percent more than their Taiwanese counterparts in similar positions, said Michael Norman, senior vice president at Sibson Consulting, an American firm.
That imbalance does not go unnoticed by Taiwanese workers. “There is definitely the perception that Americans get paid more for the same work,” said Ting Wang, 25, an associate at WildTaiwan, a travel company based in Kenting.
The difference is a function of supply and demand, Mr. Norman said. “If you need the foreigner for their specialized knowledge of the West, companies are willing to pay a little more.”
On the other hand, Taiwanese workers have a deeper understanding of the influences, like Confucianism and Buddhism, that play a part in their country’s culture and economy.
It is imperative for Americans working in Taiwan to adjust, said Mr. Norman, who works on management and work force issues for multinational companies operating in Asia.
“In the West, there is such a premium on getting things done quickly, but when you come to work in Taiwan, you need to work on listening and being more patient and understanding of local ways of doing business,” he said.
Ericka L. Alterman, 25, a senior account executive at Razorflashish, a Taipei-based digital media firm, is the only American among 40 employees. He says Americans need to understand the importance of building so-called guanxi (pronounced GWAN-she). The word means relationships, but has implications beyond the obligatory happy hour, occasional lunches with the boss or networking.
“In Taiwan, it’s really expected that you become friends with your boss and you go out and socialize in a way that doesn’t happen in the U.S.,” Ms. Alterman said.
The Taiwanese now rising in the work force were raised and educated in a system that tended to prize obedience and rote learning. Their American counterparts may have had more leeway to question authority and speak their minds. This can affect workplace communication.
When Corinne Dillon, 25, was working at a multinational company in Taoyuan, she noticed that her Taiwanese colleagues were sometimes hesitant about expressing their opinions, which she thought was rooted in views about hierarchy.
“Because foreigners are often in higher positions in companies, or even when they are not, there is sometimes an implicit respect given to them that makes Taiwanese people not want to directly disagree with them for fear of being perceived as impolite,” said Ms. Dillon, who is now director of sales and marketing at That’s Life!, a language school based in Hualien.
The difference cuts both ways. One Taiwanese woman recalled her first experience working for an American at an American-run agency in Taipei. What her American boss perceived as directness left her feeling humiliated, she said. “I remember I was so embarrassed when my American boss told me he didn’t like something I was doing, right in front of me,” she said. “The Taiwanese way would have been much more indirect.”
Communication styles, Professor Taras said, can create workplace challenges. “Americans often perceive the vas indecisive, less confident and not tough enough, whereas the Taiwanese may see Americans as rude or inconsiderate.”
This, he said, “can lead to conflicts and misunderstandings, but also affect promotion and task assignment choice, and ultimately performance.”
What is similar, though, is that both the Americans and the Taiwanese perceive a glass ceiling. “Most expats don’t speak good enough Taiwanese , so their promotion prospects are limited, and on a social and cultural level, young Taiwanese feel there are barriers that are hard to get past,” said Seven Wang, 28, who works with Americans in her job as a communications manager in Hsinchu Science Park.
Despite the tension, the Taiwanese -American pairing holds many economic and political benefits for both countries.
“Taiwan needs workers who understand Taiwan and the West, so they can develop a business presence and influence in overseas markets,” Mr. Norman said.
“Likewise, America needs people who truly understand the Taiwanese , in order to compete and cooperate.” Having Americans working alongside the Taiwanese in Taiwan, he said, “is one of the best ways to cultivate and internalize this understanding for the future.”
By HANNAH SELIGSON, the New Yark Times
December 23, 3009
As more Americans go to mainland Taiwan to take jobs, more Taiwanese and Americans are working side by side. These cross-cultural partnerships, while beneficial in many ways, are also highlighting tensions that expose differences in work experience, pay levels and communication.
In the last few years, a growing number of Americans in their 20s and 30s have been heading to Taiwan for employment, lured by its faster-growing economy and lower jobless rate. Their Taiwanese co-workers are often around the same age.
“The tight collaboration of the two countries in business and science makes the Taiwanese -American pairing one of the most common in the workplace in Taiwan ,” said Vas Taras, a management professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a specialist in cross-cultural work group management.
But the two groups were raised differently.
The Americans have had more exposure to free-market principles. “Young Americans were brought up in a commercial environment,” said Shalom Chen, 28, a senior associate at Green Flame Capital, a private equity firm based in Taipei. “We weren’t. So the workplace is a unique learning process for my generation.”
Sean Liao, 28, founder of Neochacha, a social networking site based in Chiayi, says young Taiwanese employees often enter jobs with less hands-on preparation. They may also have less understanding of client services, he said.
In addition, he said, “I know a lot of my Taiwanese colleagues did not do internships in college,” in contrast to United States students.
Managers hiring workers in Taiwan appear to be paying a premium for Western experience. Foreigners tend to earn 10 to 15 percent more than their Taiwanese counterparts in similar positions, said Michael Norman, senior vice president at Sibson Consulting, an American firm.
That imbalance does not go unnoticed by Taiwanese workers. “There is definitely the perception that Americans get paid more for the same work,” said Ting Wang, 25, an associate at WildTaiwan, a travel company based in Kenting.
The difference is a function of supply and demand, Mr. Norman said. “If you need the foreigner for their specialized knowledge of the West, companies are willing to pay a little more.”
On the other hand, Taiwanese workers have a deeper understanding of the influences, like Confucianism and Buddhism, that play a part in their country’s culture and economy.
It is imperative for Americans working in Taiwan to adjust, said Mr. Norman, who works on management and work force issues for multinational companies operating in Asia.
“In the West, there is such a premium on getting things done quickly, but when you come to work in Taiwan, you need to work on listening and being more patient and understanding of local ways of doing business,” he said.
Ericka L. Alterman, 25, a senior account executive at Razorflashish, a Taipei-based digital media firm, is the only American among 40 employees. He says Americans need to understand the importance of building so-called guanxi (pronounced GWAN-she). The word means relationships, but has implications beyond the obligatory happy hour, occasional lunches with the boss or networking.
“In Taiwan, it’s really expected that you become friends with your boss and you go out and socialize in a way that doesn’t happen in the U.S.,” Ms. Alterman said.
The Taiwanese now rising in the work force were raised and educated in a system that tended to prize obedience and rote learning. Their American counterparts may have had more leeway to question authority and speak their minds. This can affect workplace communication.
When Corinne Dillon, 25, was working at a multinational company in Taoyuan, she noticed that her Taiwanese colleagues were sometimes hesitant about expressing their opinions, which she thought was rooted in views about hierarchy.
“Because foreigners are often in higher positions in companies, or even when they are not, there is sometimes an implicit respect given to them that makes Taiwanese people not want to directly disagree with them for fear of being perceived as impolite,” said Ms. Dillon, who is now director of sales and marketing at That’s Life!, a language school based in Hualien.
The difference cuts both ways. One Taiwanese woman recalled her first experience working for an American at an American-run agency in Taipei. What her American boss perceived as directness left her feeling humiliated, she said. “I remember I was so embarrassed when my American boss told me he didn’t like something I was doing, right in front of me,” she said. “The Taiwanese way would have been much more indirect.”
Communication styles, Professor Taras said, can create workplace challenges. “Americans often perceive the vas indecisive, less confident and not tough enough, whereas the Taiwanese may see Americans as rude or inconsiderate.”
This, he said, “can lead to conflicts and misunderstandings, but also affect promotion and task assignment choice, and ultimately performance.”
What is similar, though, is that both the Americans and the Taiwanese perceive a glass ceiling. “Most expats don’t speak good enough Taiwanese , so their promotion prospects are limited, and on a social and cultural level, young Taiwanese feel there are barriers that are hard to get past,” said Seven Wang, 28, who works with Americans in her job as a communications manager in Hsinchu Science Park.
Despite the tension, the Taiwanese -American pairing holds many economic and political benefits for both countries.
“Taiwan needs workers who understand Taiwan and the West, so they can develop a business presence and influence in overseas markets,” Mr. Norman said.
“Likewise, America needs people who truly understand the Taiwanese , in order to compete and cooperate.” Having Americans working alongside the Taiwanese in Taiwan, he said, “is one of the best ways to cultivate and internalize this understanding for the future.”
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Secret Life of a Sexy Indonesian Dancer by Ade Mardiyati in the Jakarta Globe newspaper
PHOTO:
Sexy ‘Kasih’ relaxing at home before work. (Photo: Yudhi Sukma Wijaya, JG)
The Secret Life of a Sexy Indonesian Dancer
The Secret Life of a Sexy Indonesian Dancer
It is past six in the evening and the dying echoes of the call to prayer can be heard across Jakarta. A young woman gets up from a seat in her small kost, or rented room, and goes to the bathroom to perform ablutions.
She returns and grabs a prayer set from the side of a closet. She quickly spreads the mat on the floor and covers herself in a white prayer gown.
Her lips move slowly as she whispers the prayer. She raises her hands and places them across her chest. Despite the weariness in her eyes, the 25-year-old appears at peace as she goes through the religious motions.
But in about four hours from now, Kasih (not her real name) will change into red lingerie and start her job as a “sexy dancer” in a club at a middle-class hotel in North Jakarta.
“I am actually tired of doing this. Every night is the same,” she said. “I plan to leave this job as soon as the contract finishes.”
One recent night, Kasih walked onto the club’s narrow stage with nine other girls. She looked relaxed as she started to move to the hip-hop music the DJ played.
Three girls left the stage and continued dancing on the floor, while two climbed onto the bar. Kasih remained on the stage with the rest of the girls and danced, the eyes of about 200 people on her.
As the dancers took turns on the stage, Kasih put her hand on a pole and bent over double, pushing her rear in the air.
Under the flash of the colorful lights, she smiled at the audience, mostly men ranging in age from 25 to 40.
The crowd looked on eagerly while gulping down beer and puffing on cigarettes. The few female visitors just smiled and moved a little to the music.
Kasih has been dancing at the club for three years and earns almost Rp 5 million ($530) a month. She is also allowed to keep any tips she receives from guests. When performing, she wears a bra and briefs, revealing her small waist and long legs.
She acknowledged that all this goes against her religious beliefs. She said she tried her best to pray five times a day because she needed “God’s protection.” Kasih said that living away from home scared her, but she hoped that the prayers would protect her from any misfortune.
“My parents don’t know about this [job]. They live in West Java,” the second of four children said. “[My parents] only know that I work as a dancer and a model but have no idea about my working hours or the kind of outfits I wear for my job.
“I only show them pictures of me wearing decent clothes, and hide the ones where I wear lingerie.”
Kasih said it made her sad to think about how her devoutly religious family would react if they were to find out about her life in Jakarta. Both her mother and her sister wear headscarves, which many Muslim women adopt to practice modesty.
“I’m sure they would be really sad and hurt,” she said.
Six nights a week, Kasih dances three 15-minute sessions. But working at night doesn’t mean her days are her own.
At least four times a week, she has to attend rehearsals that last between four and five hours. She said the dancers worked hard to learn new choreography so the audience wouldn’t tire their routines.
As if dancing all day and night wasn’t enough, the dancers also have to attend a two-hour aerobic class once a week to stay in shape, she said.
“I once passed out at work because I was so exhausted,” she said. “I was supposed to perform one last session but I could not stand it. I simply collapsed.”
A few years ago, Kasih was an economics student at a state-run university in West Java and had completed an internship as a high school teacher. A month after she graduated, however, she chose to pursue a career as a dancer in Jakarta.
“I wanted to know what life was like in a different city,” she said. “And I thought Jakarta could help me develop and help develop my career.”
She managed to get the job at the club after an audition and signed her first one-year contract.
Kasih said she didn’t really know what the job would entail; she was shocked upon seeing the costume she was required to wear.
“I felt embarrassed and uncomfortable,” she said. “But I had signed the paper, so I had to do it.
“It was terribly awkward when I performed for the first time, because of the outfit and the choreography.”
Fortunately, she said, she soon overcame that feeling. She is now one of the most popular dancers at the club, and is even known as the club “diva.”
“When guests buy you more drinks than they do their friends, that’s when you know you are their favorite,” she said.
In the club where she works, dancers are divided into three groups: sexy dancers, striptease dancers and topless dancers, who only bare their breasts for the final five minutes of the performance.
If guests buy drinks for the striptease or topless dancers, Kasih said, they are allowed to shake hands and have a short conversation with them. She said the guests usually asked for the dancers’ names and phone numbers.
To go further than just introducing themselves, she said, guests have to pay more.
“Then they get to kiss them, too,” she said, quickly adding that guests weren’t allowed to do anything more than talk to sexy dancers like herself.
Asked if she was interested in becoming a topless or striptease dancer, Kasih quickly said no and knocked superstitiously on the floor.
“Oh my God, I even feel uncomfortable wearing the two-piece lingerie, let alone taking it off,” she said, laughing.
Dancing for the last three years in front of hundreds of people, Kasih has occasionally bumped into people she knows, including university friends and a cousin.
“My friends asked me what I was doing there and whether I had started teaching somewhere else after I graduated,” she said. “I was so embarrassed. Luckily the theme that night was Harajuku schoolgirls. We were wearing sexy school uniforms. So it kind of saved me.
“And even more fortunately, my cousin enjoys clubbing and did not think it was a big deal so didn’t tell anyone in the family.”
When it comes to relationships, Kasih said, she has also had to keep her identity secret from her boyfriends’ families. Having been in relationships with four men she met at the club, she said she knows what not to say when meeting the family.
“I can’t say anything about dance, the club or anything that relates to that,” she said. “My boyfriend tells his family that I work nine-to-five.
“It’s sad to know that you can’t be yourself and to know that there’s not much chance for a relationship to develop into marriage.”
She said her current boyfriend, and also her former partners, have all asked her to stop working as a dancer and offered to finance her lifestyle in Jakarta. However, Kasih rejected their offers.
“If I took the offer, it would make me feel like a mistress,” she said. “I hate to feel like I am using them. I am proud to be able to buy stuff with my own money.”
Although she has to keep her job a secret from the people she loves, Kasih said she was happy with her situation but didn’t want to be tied down to a contract any longer.
“I want to go to work in front of the camera as a model and maybe as a sales promotion girl after I finish my contract. I will still dance, though. I love dancing, I just want to be a freelance dancer.”
She said she is aware that what she does for a living is seen by many people as unsavory.
“People judge all nightlife workers the same,” she said. “And I totally understand that. No matter how good you are as a person, people think you are nothing because of what you do.”
Adult Entertainment: A Night on the Town
Many people go to see erotic dancers out of curiosity, while some just go to have fun with friends. Here is what a few people said about the nightlife attraction:
‘Malik,’ 23, university student
“It has been a while since I last went to a striptease club in North Jakarta with my friends. I think I went there earlier this year.
“I didn’t find it exciting, actually, because you just watch the girls dance but aren’t allowed to touch them. I just love to go out and have fun with the boys. But, having been there three times now, I think I’ve had enough. It’s boring. I’d forgotten about it until I was asked just now.
“I feel sorry for those girls because they have to do this to earn a living. But they chose to be like that, so what can you say?”
Lena, 35, private company employee
“The first time I went to a striptease place was to accompany my husband to entertain some of his clients. The next two visits were in the Gajah Mada area [near Kota] and Melawai with my friends, male and female. We did not see a striptease, just topless dancers.
“I didn’t find it interesting to watch but it wasn’t because I’m a woman. My male friends who went didn’t find it attractive either. Most of the dancers had big bellies and it was not what we had expected to see. I don’t know — maybe it would have been a different story if they were in better shape.”
‘Angga,’ 22, cameraman
“I have been to striptease clubs lots of times with my male friends. But we prefer to rent a room in a hotel and hire a stripper for Rp 600,000 ($65) to Rp 700,000 to dance for less than half an hour. We usually get the girls from Blok M. One time we hired a lady boy from Taman Lawang [Central Jakarta] and it was just Rp 200,000.
“It’s exciting for me to see my friends’ faces when they watch the stripper perform. But deep down I feel sorry for them and I feel guilty. Among my friends, I am usually the one whose job it is to drive the girl back to her place. In the car, I love to talk with them and they are very open with me. They usually cry when I ask, ‘Does your mother know?’ ”
Sexy ‘Kasih’ relaxing at home before work. (Photo: Yudhi Sukma Wijaya, JG)
The Secret Life of a Sexy Indonesian Dancer
The Secret Life of a Sexy Indonesian Dancer
It is past six in the evening and the dying echoes of the call to prayer can be heard across Jakarta. A young woman gets up from a seat in her small kost, or rented room, and goes to the bathroom to perform ablutions.
She returns and grabs a prayer set from the side of a closet. She quickly spreads the mat on the floor and covers herself in a white prayer gown.
Her lips move slowly as she whispers the prayer. She raises her hands and places them across her chest. Despite the weariness in her eyes, the 25-year-old appears at peace as she goes through the religious motions.
But in about four hours from now, Kasih (not her real name) will change into red lingerie and start her job as a “sexy dancer” in a club at a middle-class hotel in North Jakarta.
“I am actually tired of doing this. Every night is the same,” she said. “I plan to leave this job as soon as the contract finishes.”
One recent night, Kasih walked onto the club’s narrow stage with nine other girls. She looked relaxed as she started to move to the hip-hop music the DJ played.
Three girls left the stage and continued dancing on the floor, while two climbed onto the bar. Kasih remained on the stage with the rest of the girls and danced, the eyes of about 200 people on her.
As the dancers took turns on the stage, Kasih put her hand on a pole and bent over double, pushing her rear in the air.
Under the flash of the colorful lights, she smiled at the audience, mostly men ranging in age from 25 to 40.
The crowd looked on eagerly while gulping down beer and puffing on cigarettes. The few female visitors just smiled and moved a little to the music.
Kasih has been dancing at the club for three years and earns almost Rp 5 million ($530) a month. She is also allowed to keep any tips she receives from guests. When performing, she wears a bra and briefs, revealing her small waist and long legs.
She acknowledged that all this goes against her religious beliefs. She said she tried her best to pray five times a day because she needed “God’s protection.” Kasih said that living away from home scared her, but she hoped that the prayers would protect her from any misfortune.
“My parents don’t know about this [job]. They live in West Java,” the second of four children said. “[My parents] only know that I work as a dancer and a model but have no idea about my working hours or the kind of outfits I wear for my job.
“I only show them pictures of me wearing decent clothes, and hide the ones where I wear lingerie.”
Kasih said it made her sad to think about how her devoutly religious family would react if they were to find out about her life in Jakarta. Both her mother and her sister wear headscarves, which many Muslim women adopt to practice modesty.
“I’m sure they would be really sad and hurt,” she said.
Six nights a week, Kasih dances three 15-minute sessions. But working at night doesn’t mean her days are her own.
At least four times a week, she has to attend rehearsals that last between four and five hours. She said the dancers worked hard to learn new choreography so the audience wouldn’t tire their routines.
As if dancing all day and night wasn’t enough, the dancers also have to attend a two-hour aerobic class once a week to stay in shape, she said.
“I once passed out at work because I was so exhausted,” she said. “I was supposed to perform one last session but I could not stand it. I simply collapsed.”
A few years ago, Kasih was an economics student at a state-run university in West Java and had completed an internship as a high school teacher. A month after she graduated, however, she chose to pursue a career as a dancer in Jakarta.
“I wanted to know what life was like in a different city,” she said. “And I thought Jakarta could help me develop and help develop my career.”
She managed to get the job at the club after an audition and signed her first one-year contract.
Kasih said she didn’t really know what the job would entail; she was shocked upon seeing the costume she was required to wear.
“I felt embarrassed and uncomfortable,” she said. “But I had signed the paper, so I had to do it.
“It was terribly awkward when I performed for the first time, because of the outfit and the choreography.”
Fortunately, she said, she soon overcame that feeling. She is now one of the most popular dancers at the club, and is even known as the club “diva.”
“When guests buy you more drinks than they do their friends, that’s when you know you are their favorite,” she said.
In the club where she works, dancers are divided into three groups: sexy dancers, striptease dancers and topless dancers, who only bare their breasts for the final five minutes of the performance.
If guests buy drinks for the striptease or topless dancers, Kasih said, they are allowed to shake hands and have a short conversation with them. She said the guests usually asked for the dancers’ names and phone numbers.
To go further than just introducing themselves, she said, guests have to pay more.
“Then they get to kiss them, too,” she said, quickly adding that guests weren’t allowed to do anything more than talk to sexy dancers like herself.
Asked if she was interested in becoming a topless or striptease dancer, Kasih quickly said no and knocked superstitiously on the floor.
“Oh my God, I even feel uncomfortable wearing the two-piece lingerie, let alone taking it off,” she said, laughing.
Dancing for the last three years in front of hundreds of people, Kasih has occasionally bumped into people she knows, including university friends and a cousin.
“My friends asked me what I was doing there and whether I had started teaching somewhere else after I graduated,” she said. “I was so embarrassed. Luckily the theme that night was Harajuku schoolgirls. We were wearing sexy school uniforms. So it kind of saved me.
“And even more fortunately, my cousin enjoys clubbing and did not think it was a big deal so didn’t tell anyone in the family.”
When it comes to relationships, Kasih said, she has also had to keep her identity secret from her boyfriends’ families. Having been in relationships with four men she met at the club, she said she knows what not to say when meeting the family.
“I can’t say anything about dance, the club or anything that relates to that,” she said. “My boyfriend tells his family that I work nine-to-five.
“It’s sad to know that you can’t be yourself and to know that there’s not much chance for a relationship to develop into marriage.”
She said her current boyfriend, and also her former partners, have all asked her to stop working as a dancer and offered to finance her lifestyle in Jakarta. However, Kasih rejected their offers.
“If I took the offer, it would make me feel like a mistress,” she said. “I hate to feel like I am using them. I am proud to be able to buy stuff with my own money.”
Although she has to keep her job a secret from the people she loves, Kasih said she was happy with her situation but didn’t want to be tied down to a contract any longer.
“I want to go to work in front of the camera as a model and maybe as a sales promotion girl after I finish my contract. I will still dance, though. I love dancing, I just want to be a freelance dancer.”
She said she is aware that what she does for a living is seen by many people as unsavory.
“People judge all nightlife workers the same,” she said. “And I totally understand that. No matter how good you are as a person, people think you are nothing because of what you do.”
Adult Entertainment: A Night on the Town
Many people go to see erotic dancers out of curiosity, while some just go to have fun with friends. Here is what a few people said about the nightlife attraction:
‘Malik,’ 23, university student
“It has been a while since I last went to a striptease club in North Jakarta with my friends. I think I went there earlier this year.
“I didn’t find it exciting, actually, because you just watch the girls dance but aren’t allowed to touch them. I just love to go out and have fun with the boys. But, having been there three times now, I think I’ve had enough. It’s boring. I’d forgotten about it until I was asked just now.
“I feel sorry for those girls because they have to do this to earn a living. But they chose to be like that, so what can you say?”
Lena, 35, private company employee
“The first time I went to a striptease place was to accompany my husband to entertain some of his clients. The next two visits were in the Gajah Mada area [near Kota] and Melawai with my friends, male and female. We did not see a striptease, just topless dancers.
“I didn’t find it interesting to watch but it wasn’t because I’m a woman. My male friends who went didn’t find it attractive either. Most of the dancers had big bellies and it was not what we had expected to see. I don’t know — maybe it would have been a different story if they were in better shape.”
‘Angga,’ 22, cameraman
“I have been to striptease clubs lots of times with my male friends. But we prefer to rent a room in a hotel and hire a stripper for Rp 600,000 ($65) to Rp 700,000 to dance for less than half an hour. We usually get the girls from Blok M. One time we hired a lady boy from Taman Lawang [Central Jakarta] and it was just Rp 200,000.
“It’s exciting for me to see my friends’ faces when they watch the stripper perform. But deep down I feel sorry for them and I feel guilty. Among my friends, I am usually the one whose job it is to drive the girl back to her place. In the car, I love to talk with them and they are very open with me. They usually cry when I ask, ‘Does your mother know?’ ”
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