AEC 2015

AEC 2015

            By the end of 2014, it is the ASEAN time to gain their economic center by having an economic integration. This is what so-called as ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The AEC’s blueprint technically has been confirmed by the ministry of ten ASEAN members on January 2007, in Cebu, Philippine. In other words, the AEC 2015 is the realization of the end goal of economic integration. They believe that with a market of over 600 million consumers and combined GDP  of  nearly  US$3  trillion,  ASEAN  is  vibrant  and  growing, offering  a  future  to  its  people  of  increasing  prosperity  and stability (AEC Key Messages Booklet). Thus, The AEC is one of the foundations of that future. Those ten member states of ASEAN also want to hasten the establishment of the AEC by 2015 and to transform ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor, and freer flow of capital. Indonesia which is one of the ten ASEAN members is going to partake in it. However, this can be both a huge opportunity and a big threat for Indonesia.

            On one hand, implementing AEC in Indonesia on 2015 will gave many opportunities for other countries to enlarge their economy system, enhance investment and tourism, recover trade and business facility and decrease poverty and social-economy gap. 

Besides, Indonesia also has opportunities to dominate this AEC because the population is 40% bigger than among those other ASEAN members. Absolutely, it will be a special benefit, that is, demography reward. For example, it will gain many investors to invest in Indonesia. Thus, many un-employees will get new job. Furthermore, the free trading which is one of AEC principles can help many productive citizen of Indonesia to be exported. As a consequence, national income will increase.

Also, the territory of Indonesia gives large opportunities in transacting business and trade. Moreover, as a maritime country which the three fourth of territory is ocean; this country has valuable natural resources. It provides food in the form of fish and shellfish, such as in Lamongan, East Java. It is used for transportation, for example, travelling in Bali and shipping. It also provides jewelry in the form of pearl, such as in Lombok. Furthermore, ocean provides minerals, such as salt in Madura and crude oil in Natuna. Those precious natural resources belong to Indonesia. Indeed, those are valuable things that can be exported.

On the other hand, let us say that Indonesia as developing country has not ready yet to compete against the other ASEAN Countries in AEC 2015. There are two general reasons why this happens. First, infrastructure in Indonesia is still in progress. According to The Global Competitiveness Report 2013/2014 made by World Economic Forum (WEF), Indonesia competence is on the ranking of the 38^th. In addition, infrastructure quality is on the ranking of 5th among ASEAN Countries. It shows that infrastructures, for example, land, marine, air, communication, and power supply are still growing. Thus, it needs to be considered. Second, the human resources are also the crucial things. Having many precious natural resources, much population and large territory will be useless if the human resources cannot manage it as well. Nowadays, there are still many Indonesia citizens which only finish their education in the elementary school while the other 7% are graduated from University.

In order to establish economic system through AEC 2015, the government together with all Indonesia citizens should be well-prepared.

           

                       

The Story of Petrichor

Petrichor

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 “Only those who miss each other can listen to a rhyme of the rain.” 

            Once upon a time, I was only nineteenth when I had a wishful thinking about having two legs which could bring me travel the world, ten fingers which could pick the guitar’s strings and body which could move by itself. However, my wishes were always be a wish. No matter how hard I try, I could not be. Indeed, no one could play with God’s destiny.

            I was not a teenager anymore. I had felt the roasting sunshine, the shivering rain and even the freezing snow. However, I always enjoyed my time when rainy season came. Although on the rainy time like this, my body started to be covered by algae, I liked to be showered by water of rain. There was nothing fabulous but rainy atmosphere at dawn. Moreover, Scandinavia had these. I loved being here.

“Petra! Seriously, don’t take a long time for your unreasonable daydream. Wake up!”  Samantha surprised me. “It’s none of your business!” I shouted.

“Pete, listen to my hot news. Do you know that there will be an Arabic fairy coming here? She’s gonna take half of rain here and bring it to THE desert. I hope she remains the rain for us. And, I hear that she is pretty but too fussy.” Samantha said ambitiously. ”Yes, as fussy as you.” I answered unambitiously. “And as pretty as me.” She said proudly.

            One day, it was sultry. Furthermore, it was raining cats and dogs. Other stones, grasses and flowers were murmuring. But Sam who was a sunflower and I enjoyed it by closing the eyes. Suddenly, the rain stopped. I saw a very bright light came closer to us. The light disappeared, a little pretty creature flew. At a minute, I stared at her amazingly.

“Hi! Sorry for stopping the rain. I didn’t do that on purpose. Anyway, I am Ichoria. I work in a desert in Arabic and my oasis is getting dry and I need a bit rain for them. That’s what brings me here.” I wondered she said it without breathing. In addition, I was still looking at her. She was for about eleven inches. She was flying without wings. Her black long hair was tied backwards. Moreover, she dressed like an Arabic belly dance.

Sam interrupted, “Sorry, what’s your name again?” “Ichoria, ma’am! I was born in Greek, that’s why my name is Greek alike.” She answered.

“So, do you come here to take the Scandinavian rain?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“No, you can’t do that.”

“My queen asked me to do this. You have nothing to do with this, stone!”

I hold my breath. I got so angry yet I admired her at the same time. I did not understand what I felt. Then, I saw THAT she flew away. I felt sorry for myself. Samantha was silent looking at me.

            Day pass by, Ichoria had done her duty as well. Her queen gave her a reward, that WAS, to stay a bit longer here. Even though she hated me, we were getting closer step by step. We were accustomed to spend our day sitting under the rain together. And I enjoyed that time a lot. I hoped she felt the same.

“PeteR, do you hear that song?” Ichoria asked me while sitting on the grass. I let her body padded on mine.

“It’s raining.”

“I know. But close your eyes. Strengthen your ear. Seriously! You’re gonna listen to the most melodious rhyme.” She said it with her eyes closed.”

I tried once and it worked. Only noise of the rain that made me felt calm. I slept away.

            One day, I was surprised by that angelic creature, Ichoria. She was weeping. Then, I realized that it was the day when she had to back to her origin. I felt something painful. All of sudden, Samantha and I begged her to stay. Moreover, I begged her to live in Scandinavia with me.

            She was fussy and stubborn yet tricky at the same time. She also wanted to stay. She just loved the rain which did not exist in that sandy place. Thus, she planned to redo the work she had done in order to stay here longer. My advice not to do that was not listened. One thing that Sam and I were afraid of was about the queen’s anger.

“My queen? She is great. She is very good to me. Don’t worry!”

“But this belongs to crime. You aren’t supposed to do this.”

“The thing is I love Scandinavian rain, dude!”

Nothing could stop her. Sam and I kept our silence. I was exciting but I was worried. Suddenly, the cloud was getting dark. The lighting made us surprised.

“Ichoria! You’ve done a mistake. You break my trust. I’ll give you a punishment” The queen spoke angrily.

“I am sorry, My Lord. But I want to live here. I don’t want to go home.” She concealed on my back. My body got stiff.

“How dare you, Ichoria!”

In order to make she felt scare, the queen gave her a great thunder. However, the queen misplaced the thunder. Instead of cracked another ground, a great scary thunder was cracked my body into piece. Then, I saw my adorable genie girl was flying away taken by the queen. She was crying. Therefore, the rain poured suddenly. I could not move or shout. Also, I could not enjoy the rain. I stared at my pathetic body piece. Samantha was crying loudly.

            Ichoria and I would never meet anymore. However, I believed that the rain always gave the same rhyme and smell. We united there. Water from sky that fell down touching the earth would give the best smell. Thus, whenever the rain poured, I heard Ichoria was flying around me. And whenever the rain stopped, we smell the same petrichor, that is, the smell of the earth after the rain.

My Legendaddy

My Legendaddy

            A man who is responsible for his family member is called father. However, any man can be a father but it takes someone special to be a daddy. This informal term, somehow, means more meaningful either on the meaning or the person itself. And so does my daddy. I state that my daddy is the special one. His appearances, personalities, and activities make him special just the way he is.

            As a daddy’s daughter, my daddy is the most handsome man in my entire world. He is quite tall measuring 1.68 meters. He has a black eyebrow and brilliant white teeth. He also has a fair skin. Therefore, he always cuts a dash in suits or shirts. However, he likes wearing hat in order to hide his little baldness.

            Although my daddy suffers asthma, he is still a king among my family kingdom. Frankly, he is both responsible and patient daddy. I remember on my early youth, he taught me how to ride cycle forbearingly. Yet, once he gets angry, everything seems on trouble. Moreover, he is not only a loyal husband but also a generous daddy. Thankfully, my little brother and I are often given some additional pocket money by him. Nevertheless, he is neither a romantic husband nor daddy, he is kind of man who expresses everything at point.

            My daddy is a breadwinner.  He sells refill and mineral water at a little store near my house. Hence, he has much time gathering with his family. My father, my little brother and I have something in common with. We usually sing together even my voice is out of tune. Furthermore, my daddy is the only person at home who can repair the broken household stuff. For example, he changes the broken lamp, fixes the iron, re-paints the wall, etc. On the free time, he often tells the children about his awkward hard life when he was young. For instance, the story about how my daddy works as a key keeper just for the sake of school because he has no fee. These stories are so much inspiring. Besides, he also gives advice about my future life.

            Actually, describing my wonderful daddy would never enough just in a piece of paper. Somehow, it is unspeakable because I can only cherish it. In short, my daddy is the family leader, the mother’s forever love, the son’s first hero and the daughter’s first love. My daddy is legendary.