Readwrotes Blog

Although today (Monday) the weather seems to be improving a bit – the risk of another deluge seems by consensus of my esteemed colleagues at around 50%. But that is before the influence of the local soothsayers and psychics have been taken into account. Given the existing flood, the fact that several sluice gates surrounding the city are at, or over capacity, this is a precarious state of affairs. Reports put the displaced at 200,000, then that was revised upwards quickly to 300,000. Certainly the earlier figure I would not disagree with. I live in a street not in a particularly hard hit section of Jakarta , and there would be more than 500 displaced. The numbers of displaced, like the general population of the greater Jakarta area, will never be known. You just can’t track such a diaspora of humanity. The worst effected are the very poorest and not “officially” living in Jakarta “legally”. They come from the very poor parts of Indonesia , in particular central Java in search of a be...

Financial planning offers a coordinated and comprehensive approach to helping you achieve your personal and reasonable financial goals. Building, managing and preserving wealth is not an easy task. Maybe you have recently retired and are concerned about outliving your nest egg. Perhaps you are a baby boomer trying to plan for a secure retirement. Maybe you are part of the "sandwich generation", caring for your own children at home while also caring for the needs of aging parents. Maybe you are recently widowed or divorced with all of the complications that these life challenges bring. Maybe you have accumulated substantial wealth and want to protect your assets from lawsuits, spendthrift relatives, divorce or other potential threats not only to yourself but also to your heirs. Selecting appropriate investments is simply one ingredient in the recipe for an effective financial plan that should also include retirement and estate planning. An experienced financial planning team s...

A take-charge attitude may lead you to your next job. Looking for a new job can be extraordinarily taxing--scouring classifieds, searching the Web and mass-mailing your resume can produce unsatisfactory results, despite the intense time and personal effort. The issue may not be the amount of work you put into your job hunt, but the type of work. Now, there isn't an easy way to find a job--you are still going to have to work hard at it. But the following principles of an aggressive job search can lead you to bypass the classifieds and HR departments and get in front of employers. 1. You alone are accountable for your success. Let's face it, jobs don't just fall into your lap. Accepting ownership for your career and the progress of your job search is instrumental to finding a position that meets your personal and professional goals, and positioning yourself for potential employers. During a job search, regularly assessing your progress will help you to measure your results an...

The key to a successful career is no longer held within your resume. Networking is the career mantra of the millennium. It spells the difference between a good career break and a great career breakthrough. Whether you like it or not, meeting people and nurturing contacts can put you on the express highway to reach your career destination. “Going to conferences is a way of updating me with the happenings in my field. It is also a way of keeping in touch with potential employers and sniffing around for opportunities. Who knows what kind of break I might stumble upon,” says Priti Ghia, a professional interior designer. Mini Mather gives her point of view. “I passed by a great opportunity with a leading publication two years ago and unfortunately could not take up their offer since I had just delivered. But I kept in touch with the CEO through e-mails, phone calls and even occasionally dropping in at the office to say hello.” This constant contact was useful since she was referred the job,...

“Leadership almost always involves thinking and acting like the underdog. That’s because leaders work to change things, and the people who are winning rarely do.” Seth Godin. A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads). It's our nature. Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, they're enabling countless new tribes to be born - groups of ten or ten thousand or ten million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming. And so the key question: Who is going to lead us? The Web can do amazing things, but it can't provide leadership. That still has to come from individuals - people just like ...

With the growing number of schools in Jakarta , parents find it even harder to find the ‘Right’ school for their child. Most are confused and many call me to ask for help. There is not only a lack of understanding of the systems and curriculum followed in each school but also a lot of expectations from parents that makes it harder for them to find the ‘right’ school, say Sony Vasandani. Rather than confuse over other parents talks or advertisements, it is best for parents to shortlist the schools based on the following: 1. The fees of the schools that you can afford without causing stress. 2. The distance that your child can take and the means and cost of transport. These are important factors to consider and be comfortable with or you will find yourself changing your child’s school every other year! Most schools, international or National plus, do have the IGCSE curriculum and board exams. So, it is best not to worry about the curriculum. Having shortlisted the schools, the tricky par...

Tourism has given a new colour to local handicraft production. Other than enjoying the elegance of nature and culture of Bali , many visitors also search, sourcing for the richness of local handicraft. This condition drives local craftsmen to make more and more items, with a wholesale price, redesign and give new functionality. As a result, craftsmen become more creative and add a new value to unused materials at large. Field of handicrafts includes local tradition, aesthetics and emotion. Craftsmen creatively and innovatively continue to manifest their talent that has been inherited over time. Here sprawls the bridge connecting the past and the future. Old items can be enjoyed in modern perspective, presented in a stylish look or even become a costly antique when it is no longer in use. A water jug was used to contain drinking water or fresh water taken from a well nearby. Now, the jug is refilled with mineral water in keeping with the people's need to get more hygienic water. In ...

The Prelude to the Festival of India was held at the residence of the Ambassador of India, His Excellency Shri Birendra Nanda, on Tuesday, June 2. In a colorful evening of fashion organized by the Embassy of India and Femina Indonesia , renowned Indian designers Malini Ramani and Tarun Tahliani showcased their work to bring together artists, models and cultural connoisseurs from both India and Indonesia .In a successful, exclusive sale that preceded the runway show, one got a closer look at the two collections, while the designers busied themselves with photo shoots. Solid, earthy tones cut in contemporary (almost sophisticated hippie) styles seemed to dominate Malini’s hangers, and touches of genius—like a small hood on a black and gold, ankle-length dress belted lightly at the waist—added a wicked twist to her work.Tahiliani’s collection exhibited a wider array of colors and fabrics, and a more distinctly Indian style. Bright, intricately embroidered oranges and pinks cut into short...

The humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural and social sciences. Examples of the disciplines related to humanities are ancient and modern languages, literature, history, philosophy, religion, visual and performing arts (including music). Additional subjects sometimes included in the humanities are anthropology, area studies, Communication studies and cultural studies, although these are often regarded as social sciences. Scholars working in the humanities are sometimes described as "humanists". However, that term also describes the philosophical position of humanism, which some "antihumanist" scholars in the humanities reject.The classics, in the Western academic tradition, refer to cultures of classical antiquity , namely the Ancient Greek and Roman cultures. The classics were formerly considered...