Alistair Speirs
Tanjung Kelayang Reserve: A Passionate Attempt to Preserve Nature
What is the first thing on a hotel or resort developer’s mind as they sit down with architects and planners, engineers and interior decorators, to put together the plans to create a new and unique property? Is it ‘the guest experience’? Perhaps a desire to amaze with brilliant food venues? What about simply ‘let’s make
Yogyakarta – a Special Report on a Special Place
Yogyakarta is a Daerah Istimewa, special district, in south-central Java, and is often affectionately known as Jogja. It is bounded to the west, north, and east by Central Java Province (Propinsi Jawa Tengah) and fronts the Indian Ocean to the south. The district includes the city of Yogyakarta, and most people think that only the city
Sheraton Belitung Resort: Fresh Air, Forests, Fishing, and Fine Food!
In a previous issue of NOW! Jakarta, we described the Sheraton Belitung Resort as ‘The Future Definition of Exclusive Luxury’ because it is on a quiet, verdant island with little traffic, is surrounded by crystal clear seas, fresh air and has virtually no pollution, even from noise! And honestly, there are very few places we can find
Waste(d)land
As you drive about most cities, or better still walk, you can get the feeling of how it was planned. There are really different feelings evoked by different districts, through their design & layout, through the type of shops and restaurants that are housed there, the offices, the apartments, the houses, the schools and of
The Music Markers: Ibu Giok Hartono and Avip Priatna of The Resonanz Music Studio
NOW! Jakarta speaks to Ibu Giok Hartono and Avip Priatna of The Resonanz Music Studio, who share about the musical arts in Jakarta and Indonesia. For those of you keyed into Indonesia’s music world, there will be names that you know. Avip Priatna (AP) is certainly one of them, a highly celebrated conductor, and Director
Sustainability on Show at The Apurva Kempinksi Bali
From afar Indonesia can appear as just another anonymous emerging country, something like China but maybe more like India, but when you get here and start to uncover its unique heritage of history, culture and tradition you realise that – wow – this is a powerhouse of art, dance, architecture, music, design, cuisine, textiles and
The Consultant Conundrum: The Infantilising of Government
First of all, I have to admit, I am, at least part of the time, a consultant, so everything I write from here on in has to be conditioned by that. I am part of the problem, though I have to admit, a very small part indeed… But hold on, I haven’t told you what
Can Jakarta Become a ‘Biophilic’ City?
I was recently watching a very good documentary on Singapore’s impressive progress on sustainability, which now falls under a new but very relevant term: Biophilia. This is a term given for the love of biodiversity, and whilst it may seem futile to compare what Jakarta has done or can do in comparison, we honestly have
Metta Murdaya: Championing Jamu and Indonesia’s Herbal Traditions
In this far-reaching and diverse interview, NOW! Jakarta publisher Alistair Speirs talks about enterprise in both the cosmetics and jamu businesses with a lady who is a New York-based Indonesian, but really beginning to go worldwide, entrepreneur. Her name is Metta Murdaya and she has recently published a great book called Jamu Lifestyle, which attracted our
What Makes a Successful Woman? Answered by the NOW! Jakarta Community
Everyone’s measure of success is different, but people always look at successful women in a different way to men, sometimes questioning why they have done so well. Publisher Alistair Speirs’ first boss in the City of London was a German lady who succeeded in the cut-throat, public-school, English dominated insurance industry despite all her disadvantages,
The Era of Suspicious Sustainability
Yes, finally it’s the time for everyone to claim “sustainability” as their new mantra, new passion, or in many cases, just their latest marketing campaign. “Surely not“, I hear you say, “doesn’t sustainability have to be real, certified, audited or something to prove the claimant isn’t just giving us a load of hot air?” (or
Can’t be Bothered to go to Work? Here’s why.
I don’t know about you but I honestly believe that governments are elected – and paid – to look after their citizens, exercising their judgment as to the right path of course, but basically looking at the essential elements in the lives of their people and saying: “right we’ve got to fix this or make
Celebrating Imlek, Embracing Identity
It’s not that many years ago that anything even vaguely Chinese was absolutely forbidden in Indonesia, even though for literally hundreds of years there has been a strong presence of ethnic Chinese people here. There was no visible Chinese language anywhere public or published, and certainly celebrations were not allowed in public places. Even the
