It's Christmas Time in Jakarta...

Jazz bands playing Christmas tunes, drummer boy lines marching through six flights of a mall, acapella singers humming ‘Silent Night’, children dancing ballet to Christmas-theme music, security guards wearing Santa Claus hats, and of course, Santa and Rudolph taking pictures with children…well, this must be Christmas time in Jakarta…

Indonesia breaks every stereotype that your ‘average Joe’ would think about the largest Muslim country on the planet. There are two major holiday breaks in Indonesia – one is Lebaran, which celebrates the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and the other is Christmas/New Year. Decorations and classic tunes of Frosty and Rudolph started here even before the US kicked off the holiday.

My office building in Jakarta is decked out with statues of lighted trumpeting angels, enlarged Christmas tree decorations, and of course a monster display of Santa Claus’s North Pole (see photo). As I left work today, there was a live chorus singing ‘Hark the Angels’ while head-scarfed mothers took pictures of their kids with a costumed-Santa.

Some may ask, why do Indonesians embrace the holiday? To be honest, I’m not quite sure, but it’s not because they’re Christian (although about 10% are). They just like a holiday like anyone else. Santa is cool, Christmas music is simply happy, and gift-giving is just fun. They are happy to spread the myth of Santa Claus because kids like it…Muslim Indonesians don’t see it as a ‘threat’ on their own faith, but instead embrace the non-religious parts.

There is no reason to over-think the celebration of Christmas in the largest Muslim country in the world. At the end of the day, what employee doesn’t like time off and what kid doesn’t like a fat guy in a red suit giving out gifts? It reminds me of liking holidays like Yom Kippur and Rus A Shana as a kid because it was just a reason to not go to school. It’s that simple and Indonesians are way ahead of the curve on enjoying the good of any religious holiday while not seeing it as an attack on their own faith. God Bless!

Why Mobile Banking? Why Indonesia?

After some adjustment to life in Indonesia, I'm happy to say that we are now testing our product. Servers were delivered and installed, and the application is running. So I figure I'll take time to explain the business and why it's important for not only me. but potentially millions of Indonesians.

We are launching the first inter-operable mobile banking venture in Indonesia. Mobile banking gets a lot of attention today because of some success stories in other emerging markets like Kenya (mPesa) and the Philippines (G-Cash). But first let me explain the mobile banking concept. In its most basic form, your cell phone becomes your debit card. At a point of sale, you can put cash on your phone and take cash out of your phone. The customer is also able to pay bills and buy products online. More than typical debit card features, the customer is also able to send money via text message to another user. Your phone, in essence, becomes your bank account and our company wants to provide these services to Indonesia.

So why Indonesia? First off, this country has been the best kept secret over the last decade for investment opportunities. Venture capitalist are quick to seed companies in the Asian giants like China or India and also don't mind the smaller success stories like Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore, but Indonesia has been consistently overlooked. There has been a bit of buzz here lately since Yahoo! recently acquired a local company, but it is by far the largest untapped market in the region and probably the world.

Secondly, Indonesia is a monster market on any level. It has a population of 240 million, of which half are under the age of 29. Their population ranks them number four in the world after the US. Over the last decade, Indonesia has grown at a healthy 5% to 6% and weathered the economic crisis incredibly well. Outside of simple macro data, Indonesia provides the perfect spot to execute a mobile banking venture. Some 140 million of Indonesians have no bank account and they literally store cash in mattresses. Less than 5% of the population has a credit card and therefore 99% of all financial transactions are in cash.

Not sold yet? Indonesians also speak one language with a Latin alphabet. The population is largely literate and have access to a basic education. Compare this to India, where there are 20 plus languages with multiple alphabets or China with a pictorial alphabet and numerous dialects. The technology works on any phone by sms command, so there is no need to download an application or have a fancy smart phone.

And finally, a mobile banking product solves a lot of problems here. All dot coms are dying for an online payment tool. In order to buy something online, you need to make a bank transfer including bank address, bank code, and account number - an extremely painful process. The unbanked population cannot buy anything online. These people will also have a safe way to store their money and send their money to family for little cost.

The mobile bank mPesa in Kenya became the largest bank within two years. If this venture has a fraction of that success, it will become an important partner company for Indonesia, expand the buying power for the domestic market, and empower the unbanked population.

My First Words: Macet and Banjir

The two first words you learn in Indonesian are macet (ma-chet) and banjir (ban-jeer) – meaning traffic and flooding. These two words also represent the biggest challenge to living in Jakarta. It is the largest metropolis without a metro system and is adding more and more cars on the city’s overused roads every year.There are 1.55 million cars in Jakarta and the roads can only realistically handle 1 million. I live only a few miles from work and it can take me up to an hour to commute at times depending on the weather. When it rains, the streets flood and the scooters take shelter under bridges and very quickly block several lanes creating monster bottlenecks all over the city.

The only means of public transportation is by bus, of which there are a few options. There are the very old and small minibuses which cost a dime to hop on and off. The largest express buses have dedicated lanes during rush hours and have subway-like stops with multiple openings. You pass through a turnstile before getting on the bus platform.

There are taxis of course, which start out at 5,000 Rupiah (50 cents) and slowly click up at 3 cent intervals. A 15 minute ride usually costs a dollar. The preferred cab company is Blue Bird, which has a reputation of honesty, cleanliness, and sense of direction. Blue Bird taxis charge a premium and their fare starts at a whopping 6,000 Rupiah (60 cents).

The biggest challenge of using taxis is that many drivers don’t know where to go and they expect the passenger to give them directions. My almost non-existent Indonesian very quickly included the words ‘left, right, and go straight.’ If both driver and passenger don’t know the way, the driver is quick to pop out on the street to ask for directions. The large majority of drivers are honest and you shouldn't take offense if they get a bit lost.

If you are ever in doubt, the best bet is to take a Silver Bird taxi, which is a black, corporate-style taxi with leather seats. The drivers speak some English and know where to go – the premium for these guys is 16,000 Rupiah ($1.60) and the meters click up a bit faster. It costs about double than a regular Blue Bird.

The best way to avoid macet is to get around by ojek (scooter taxi). You negotiate a price beforehand, which is usually slightly less than a regular cab.But when there is proper macet, it is well worth hopping on the back of these ojek. The only downside is that you have to know exactly where you’re going. While on the back, you yell directions through your helmet. One good thing about Jakarta is that helmets became mandatory in 1992 and has probably saved tens of thousands of lives, so even your driver provides you with a helmet (although not always the cleanest).

To solve this problem, Jakarta passed the '3 in 1 Law,' which requires every non-taxi car to have at least 3 people between the hours of 7:00 - 10:00 and 16:30 - 19:00. Police wait in certain spots along heavily trafficked areas and give out tickets. Many cars now have darkly tinted windows to avoid detection. Another way cars avoid detection is to simply pick up random people who drive with you for a small fee (less than a dollar). At the entrance of many highways, you will see some 30 people holding out either 1 or 2 fingers. The ones holding out 2 fingers are holding their infant kids. Once you arrive back home or to the office, the 3 in 1 workers just find another spot to hitch or take public transport back to their respective neighborhoods.

The solution to this madness is easy - build a metro. But every politician fails to deliver, often bickering on planning in order to gain political points in their own districts. And everyone knows that before a shovel hits the ground, millions of dollars will be lost on corruption. To add, politicians are afraid of failing. The city is littered with half-completed pillars along busy highways that were once for some sort of monorail. The traffic and the broken concrete are constant reminders that nothing is easily accomplished in Jakarta despite the incredible high demand.

Uruguay 7 - Indonesia Disgraced

Indonesia (ranked 131st by FIFA) played a friendly soccer match against Uruguay last week in Jakarta. So the monster nation of 240 million people played the heavily favorite nation of 3.5 million. Indonesians are very much promoting the sport and follow the English premiership by default...and quite fanatically. In fact, I am a current member of 'Indonesia United,' the official Man U club of Jakarta - currently 5,000 plus members (see picture of last event). Not that I'm a Man U fan, but figure it's interesting to find soccer fans anywhere and watch games with people who care about the result.

And quite quickly, Indonesia has taken up soccer as their national sport, which has replaced badminton. In fact, the president and first lady attended the friendly game and went on the pitch to shake hands with all the players before the match. Many locals were upset that Forlan didn't make the match, but still Indonesia was happy to extend a warm welcome to a team that finished fourth in the last World Cup.

Many fans saw this game as a rematch of the 1974 friendly between the two countries when Indonesia defeated Uruguay 2 - 1. Indonesians had quickly thought it possible again when Boaz Solossa from West Papua (the East Bubblefuck of Indonesia) scored the first goal in the 18th minute. The Indonesian high was short-lived with a couple of Uruguayan goals to end the first half, but hope (or at least self-respect) was still very much in the nation's grasp. And the second half, Uruguay decided to give Indonesia a meat platter of not one but two hat tricks by Suarez and Cavani.

Indonesian fans tuned out pretty quickly as the soccer culture here is quite new, but most are saying that the first half was brilliant and the second half was due to lack of player fitness. The national coach is already under pressure as it was huge disappointment for this young soccer nation.