Optimizing Resources

I learned something during my last Aceh trip. It is about optimization of resources. Resouces here can be translated as money. Certain amount of money can be used to construct 2 micro hydros instead of only one. There are many aspects that play role in determining the cost of micro hydro construction and one of them is proper design.

If you look at the picture below, the channel is only more or less 20% filled during normal operation. Free board (min 25 cm of total channel depth) is too much in that particular channel. Normal operation only takes up more or less 20 cm of the depth therefore total depth of channel can only be 50 cm (for safety reason free board is increased to 30 cm). That particular channel has a depth more or less 90 cm (or more) therefore there is a wasted free board and wasted construction money i.e. resources inefficiency.

Further looking at that particular channel, one can see that there are wakes in the channel. This means the water is flowing too fast or it means the gradient of the channel is a bit too big. This is also a waste of resources because one can actually optimize the head by designing proper channel that has optimum gradient.

People can say that channel construction is easy, but to my experience it is not easy at all.

Network Profile Changer

Recently the Internet connection in my office was upgraded. We use Telkom Speedy as the provider and the speed was upgraded from 384 kbps to 1024 kbps (1 Mbps). It was just changing the speed but the effect was quite complex. Since being upgraded, my wireless connection needs fix DNS address if not I cannot connect to the Internet. I certainly have problem with this kind of complexity because I sometimes need to change Access Points e.g. while in the airport, in other office, or when speedy is not speedy anymore. It create unnecessary complexity although I can change the DNS setting easily but the others who also use Wireless Connection in my office and after that constantly on the move cannot.

Finally I found this interesting freeware NetSetMan. It changes network profiles easily. One can create 6 different profiles and use it whenever they are needed. I downloaded the freeware from the following link http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/network/fwnetwork.html.

It works fine and easy. Here is a small screen capture of the software.

Independece Day Celebration - A moment to unite

It has been a custom in Indonesia to celebrate Independence Day by creating community activities such as friendly sport competition, fun children competition and many other activities. The aim of those activities is usually the same i.e. strengthen the unity of that particular community. For a new formed community e.g. new community in a new housing estate, that kind of activities can create certain bond between them so that their community can run smoothly.

In my neighbourhood, we are also doing the same thing. We are all new i.e. less than 4 years living in that area. We started celebrating independece day by doing friendly sports competition since 3 years ago. By doing sport in other part of our housing estate we meet other faces, know them, and at least smile at them when meeting on the street.

But there is always people that are very competitive. Very competitive so that they forgot the true meaning of friendly sport competition. They can blame the referee for not counting the goals, they can start a fight for one point in a badminton match and the worst thing is that they can throw bad words to others (that certainly can make people angry). Instead of making new friends, they are making new enemies (or people that dislike them). So, let's relax and smile although you just lost the volley ball match from your neighbour. Independence day is the moment to show our unity in diversity.

Democracy in All Sectors

Democracy is still far from materialized in Indonesia if you still can see traffic congestions.

3 weeks ago, my boss went to Manila to attend an ADB conference on energy. Back from Manila he told me about a great key note from a former Major of Bogota. He is an expert in transportation and he succeeded in turning Bogota from crowded and full of traffic congestions city into a well organized city (or metropolitan maybe?).

He mentioned that the more democratic a country is, the better she treats the citizens, including in transportation sector. Transport sector is build using public money therefore everyone in the country has the right to use the facility. Road for example, is build using public money. The less democratic a country is, the more unjust the use of public transportation facility and the result is traffic congestions. Many developing countries with less developed democracy suffer from traffic congestions. Cars are filling the road and cannot move. Cars that are owned by rich class of the citizen use up the facility. No space is left for the poor. He mentioned an important sign of democracy (especially in transport sector) is when one can find many people walking comfortably. Walking is the available for everybody. Whether you are rich or poor you can always walk. Walkers friendly city is a sign of developed democracy.

So, when you look at Jakarta you can be sure that Jakarta i.e. Indonesia is not yet at that level. Democracy is still far. So, please let's not hoping so much on next year's election ya?

Even The Big One Makes Mistake

Today I read in Kompas daily newspaper an article about hydro power development in Simalungun. The title is "Simalungun Akan Bangun PLT Mikro Hidro 10 MW" or "Simalungun is going to Construct a 10 MW Micro Hydro Power Plant". My concern is about the micro classification of a 10 MW power plant.


So far there is no agreement on Hydro Power Plant classification. One says that "micro" size MHP has capacity between 1 MW to 10 MW. The other says that micro hydro should have capacity between 100 kW to 1 MW.


I use GoI's classification to classify hydro power plants. Actually GoI does not make concrete classification but GoI has enacted some regulations that part of them mention about MHP classification. For example Ministerial Decree 1122 of 2002 (Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources) convers only MHP that is in the size range under 1 MW. The decree says that under 1 MW MHP is considered as "kecil" or small. Other regulation from the same ministry (Decree no. 002 of 2006) regulates interconnection of "mid" range MHP or we can call mini range MHP to national grid. Decree 002 of 2006 uses size range between 1 MW - 10 MW as the "mini" category.




So, media should sometimes do some reality checks before publishing an article. The mistake might be very small but it is annoying. Peace...

Anak Lelakiku dan Sekolahnya

Saat pertama kali anakku masuk ke playgroup adalah saat dia berumur sekitar 29 bulan atau 2.5 tahun. Waktu itu kepala sekolah tidak mengijinkan karena kelas sudah penuh, namun dengan argument kuat mamanya si kecil, akhirnya si kecil diterima juga. Bagi kami yang menjadi tujuan awal si kecil sekolah adalah agar dia bergaul. Di sekitar rumah kami, tidak ada anak seumur dia. Kalaupun ada satu orang anak, si anak itu tidak pernah keluar main.

Sebelum sekolah, perlu waktu relative lama bagi si kecil untuk bisa dekat dengan orang lain (terutama saudara yang jarang bertemu). Setelah sekolah dia dengan mudah berbaur dengan saudaranya (sepupu dia) yang bahkan umurnya lebih tua. Dia juga tidak takut ketemu orang, dengan mudah main ke tetangga yang punya anak kecil walau umur tidak sebaya.

Playgroup kecil yang dia ikuti sebenarnya untuk anak berumur minimal 3 tahun, sehingga anak lakiku adalah anggota kelas paling kecil sehingga secara ketrampilan si kecil belum bisa menandingi anak lain, terutama yang perempuan.

Satu hal lain yang membuat kami bangga adalah, si kecil bisa menyabet juara 3 lomba busana heboh saat perayaan hari Kartini 21 April 2008 lalu. Wua…padahal kami tidak target apa-apa, yang penting si kecil berani tampil. Eh ternyata dia menang. Ide busana heboh ini sederhana saja, tidak perlu sewa dan hanya butuh sedikit imaginasi. Temanya adalah badut. Si kecil memakai baju basah dia (baju renang spandex) di bagian perut dijejali dengan boneka sehingga keliatan buncit dan si kecil dipakaikan popok sekali pakai sehingga pantatnya keliatan “nyedit”. Si kecil memakai topi badut (clown) dan dibuatkan topeng dari bahan karton. Di punggung si kecil, kami jahitkan boneka ulat warna-warni jadi tampak si kecil seolah-olah menggendong ulat.
Kreatifitas sederhana, tapi lumayan. Si kecil juara 3 saat umur dia belum 3 tahun. Tahun mendatang temanya adalah dinosaurus dari batik atau bahan sarung. Kami akan jahitkan sendiri pakaian itu, semoga si kecil mau pakai….

Kesimpulan sementara, menyekolahkan si kecil di usia yang relative dini membawa pengaruh positif ke si anak.

Telkomsel and My Complaint

My E398 and web sites is the space goat. Yesterday I filed a complaint to Telkomsel the biggest GSM provider in Indonesia. My problem is that I cannot have fast connection using my Motorola E398 as a GPRS modem. Once I have tried to use my E398 as a modem on a W2K PC and it worked very well. Very well means it was fast. I did not use the connection for a while because it was draining the credit of my GSM card fast.

The connection did not go as fast as before since I changed my PC (it uses XP). The indicator shows 234 Kbps but the reality is far from that. Downloading normal email, without any attachment, usually takes minutes. Because of this difference, I filed a complaint to Telkomsel. I used 116 from my Simpati card to call the Call Center. She asked me many questions except technical questions e.g. what is your PC’s operating system; do you setup your GPRS modem correctly; what is your current setup. Instead of asking technical questions, she asked me what site I usually access; what error message I get; is the GPRS already active. She promised me to report my problem to technical department. I asked her whether I can get the report number to refer but she did not give me. She told me to call 116 in 3 days after I try to connect to Internet with my E398. I wonder how this will work, because when you call 116 you cannot ask for specific person that talked to you 2-3 days ago.

Then Telkomsel contacted me and explained me why the things got slow. It is the web sites (I said I access Google much) that usually “heavy” although I access it at 2 a.m. She could not explain when I asked why my email client also works slow. Then she started blaming my E398 because it has bigger memory now (actually it still has original 64 Mb memory not 1 Gb as I mentioned).

My conclusion is Telkomsel does not care at all to customer satisfaction. Telkomsel is not able to see the problems inside them (if any).

Merendahkan Karakter Bangsa Sendiri - Didukung Negara!!

Nation’s Character Assassination – Supported by State

Pernahkah anda mendengar kabar bahwa setiap Kejaksaan Tinggi mendapat target untuk mengungkap 3 kasus korupsi setiap tahunnya? Semoga sudah. Pertanyaan yang timbul bagi saya adalah: apakah bangsa ini pasti korupsi? Apakah karakter bangsa ini sudah sedemikian buruk? Mengapa Negara memiliki kecurigaan sedemikian besar? Apakah tidak ada lagi rasa percaya?

Bagi saya target semacam ini malah melemahkan bangsa sendiri. Pasti banyak yang setuju bahwa melakukan sesuatu di Indonesia perlu fleksibilitas. Peraturan yang diikuti secara mentah malah mempersulit pencapaian tujuan.

Korupsi menurut saya akan hilang dengan pendidikan yang baik, demokrasi di segala bidang, dan ketegasan pemerintah dalam mendukung demokrasi tersebut. Sistem pemerintahan yang baik juga prasyarat yang tidak bisa dilepas.

OK. Merendahkan bangsa sendiri bukan solusi untuk memberantas korupsi.

Local District Prosecutor Offices have obligation to reveal at least 3 corruption cases each year. Have you heard about this? I hope you had heard that news. The questions that came into my mind after hearing this: is this nation so corrupt? Is the character of this nation already that bad? Why the state has so much suspicion? Is there any trust left?

For me, such obligation will just create demoralization. There must be many people agree with me that doing things in Indonesia needs flexibility. Rule that is followed as it is might just end up with more problems.

Corruption, in my opinion, will be gone with better education, democracy in all sectors (I mean all sectors), and full support from the government in developing democracy for all. Good governance is also an important requirement.

OK. Creating bad character to your own fellow citizens is not the solution to wipe corruption from Indonesia.

Recipe For Unsustainable Micro Hydro

Apakah resep terbaik untuk membuat PLTMH berbasis masyarakat tidak langgeng? Menurut pengamatan, resep terbaik adalah perangkat keras yang tidak baik. Kondisi fisik yang tidak baik seperti bangunan sipil yang mudah runtuh, controller yang tidak beroperasi baik dan lain-lain akan cenderung menyebabkan banyak permasalahan dalam operasional yang berefek pada masalah social dan pengelolaan sehingga PLTMH tidak akan langgeng.

Kondisi fisik PLTMH yang baik merupakan kunci dan pemberi pekerjaan yang merencanakan dengan baik serta kontraktor yang bertanggung jawab adalah kuncinya lainnya bagi kelestarian PLTMH. Eh jangan lupa efisiensi ya? Jadi US$ 10.000 /kW bukan jawabannya.

What is the best recipe to make an unsustainable micro hydro? According to my observations, the best recipe is bad hardware quality. Physical conditions of a bad micro hydro for example are civil works that collapse easily, turbine controller that does not function well and many more examples. Those conditions will create operational problems that can trigger social and managerial problems. Social and managerial problems are the basic ingredient of unsustainable micro hydro.

It is therefore physical condition of a micro hydro that is derived from good planning by project owner and responsible contractor is key element of micro hydro sustainability. But please do not forget efficiency. A US$ 10.000 per kW installed is not the answer.

Ford Ranger DCab

Misi kali ini kami disokong oleh pemerintah dalam hal ini dari kantor gubernur. Kami mendapat bantuan mobil operasional untuk ke lapangan. Mobil yang kita pakai adalah Ford Ranger double cabin baru dan penggerak empat roda.

Our mission this time is supported by governor’s office. We got an operational car that we can use during field visits. The car is a brand new Ford Ranger 4by4 double cabin.

Kesan pertama adalah “bagus” dibandingkan Ford Ranger double cab pertama yang saya rasakan pada bulan tahun kemarin. FR Dcab yang tahun kemarin kami pakai tidak memiliki tempat duduk khusus di belakang, jadi yang kebetulan dapat giliran duduk di belakang agak kesusahan untuk mendapat posisi nyaman.

The first impression is good compared to the ranger once we used last year. Our first ranger does not have special rear seat so the one that got the chance to sit at the back will suffer a little bit.

FR Dcab kali ini jauh lebih nyaman. Pintu belakang bisa dibuka secara independen dan ada tempat duduk bagi penumpang belakang. Walau tidak bisa recline tapi sudah jauh lebih nyaman. Memang mungkin kelemahan Dcab adalah itu.

The ranger we rode this time was much nicer and much comfortable. Rear door can open independently and it has rear seat although it cannot recline.

FR Dcab yang kami pakai kali ini memiliki spesifikasi full dalam arti keempat jendela memiliki power window, electric mirror, integrated audio yang bisa MP3, AC untuk panas dan dingin serta mode 4 WD yang intelligent. Dari segi mesin kami tidak sempat membandingkan, namun FR Dcab yang dulu kami pakai tidak menggunakan turbo dan 3000 CC. FR yang kali ini nampaknya menggunakan turbo dengan kapasitas mesin yang lebih kecil.

The ranger we rode this time has full specification. Full specification means all windows have power windows, it has electric mirror, integrated audio system with MP3 capability, warm and cold air conditioner, and intelligent 4WD mode. I could not compare the engine of the two Ranger we had, but the first ranger was not equipped with turbo while the one we just rode has turbo although the engine capacity is smaller than the first ranger we had rode last year.

Tarikan terasa kurang menyentak. Hal ini dikatakan pengguna harian FR Dcab itu. Dia membandingkan dengan Mitsubishi Strada yang akselerasinya OK. Interior relative enak. Bahan kain tempat duduk nyaman dan tidak licin. Tempat duduk sopir dan penumpang depan terasa enak. Kualitas audio juga relative baik karena memiliki 4 speaker di keempat pintu.

According to the driver, this ranger has a bit slow acceleration compared to Mitsubishi Strada he once drove. Interior is good because the material is good. Front seats are comfortable and really keep your back in place comfortably. Audio quality is also good because it has 4 speakers on 4 doors.

Secara umum FR Dcab ini terasa enak dikendarai dan bagi penumpang belakang tidak terlalu besar kendalanya. Perjalanan 2 jam bisa ditempuh dengan nyaman tanpa terasa capek berlebihan walaupun duduk di bangku belakang.

Generally, this Ranger DCab feels good to ride and especially for rear passengers there are no special complaints. A 2 hours ride is OK although one sits at the rear.

Side Intake

Dalam kunjungan ke NAD kemarin ini sempat melihat beberapa lokasi micro hydro. Dan yang bisa dipelajari dari beberapa site tersebut salah satunya mengenai design "side intake". Pada gambar di atas terlihat bahwa intake micro hydro tidak menggunakan side intake. Jika menggunakan side intake maka lubang intake seharusnya ada di sebelah kanan gambar. Pada bangunan intake di atas, intake berada sejajar dengan bendung dan pintu penguras (pintu intake di kanan, pintu penguras di tengah, bendung di paling kiri gambar). Apa resiko susunan seperti itu?

1. endapan cenderung akan mengarah ke pintu intake, karena posisinya di pojok sehingga
2. pintu penguras tidak bisa berfungsi maksimal
3. tumpukan sampah juga cenderung menutup pintu intake
4. dan karena endapan bisa terbawa oleh saluran maka sepanjang saluran bisa terjadi endapan sehingga mengurangi kecepatan aliran air ke forebay
5. aliran air di pintu intake cenderung turbulen keras

Yang jelas resiko terbesar adalah pengendapan di pintu intake. Susunan di atas dibarengi dengan bak pengendap pertama di belakang intake, karena material yang terendap di depan intake bisa terbawa masuk maka bak pengendap pertama akan bisa terbebani lebih cepat sehingga kerja operator juga lebih berat. Belum lagi pengendapan yang gila-gilaan bisa mengurangi debit air yang menuju ke forebay.

Namun posisi di atas mungkin merupakan pilihan paling mudah karena kondisi alam, misalnya daerah sekitar intake banyak mengandung batu yang berukuran besar sehingga flesibilitas design intake terganggu. just my 2 cents....

Lion Air

Minggu kemarin, 8 Juni 2008, ada tugas ke NAD dan Garuda tidak ada seat sama sekali. Akhirnya kantor bookingkan Lion Air untuk berangkat ke sana. Jadwal penerbangan adalah 16.45 sore dan boarding jam 16.25. Namun kita boarding baru jam 16.50 dan berangkat sekitar 30 menit kemudian di dalam pesawat yang terasa “hangat” dan bikin keringetan.

Akhirnya, terbang juga sayangnya kita naik MD-82. Perjalanan jauh Jakarta Aceh pakai pesawat tidak nyaman sama sekali. Paling tidak naik 737 seharusnya yang mana tempat duduknya lebih enak. Seat di Lion begitu keras dan tidak nyaman.

Perjalanan jauh seperti itu, tidak ada snack sama sekali. Apa karena penerbangan murah terus tidak ada snack? Penerbangan lain yang murah juga bisa berikan paling tidak air dan sedikit kue pengganjal perut. Tetangga kursi bahkan harus beli nasi bungkus dan dimakan di dalam pesawat saat transit di Medan.
Saya rasa pengusaha sekarang hanya mementingkan diri mereka sendiri. Mementingkan keuntungan semata dan tidak memanusiakan pelanggan.

Would I be a businessperson, I would treat my employee and my customer better than Lion Air.



Last Sunday, eight of June 2008, I had to go to Aceh for a monitoring mission. We got no seat with Garuda and therefore finally we flew with Lion Air. Out flight should be at 16.45 but instead of being on time, the flight was delayed for more or less 45 minutes. We had to wait inside the aircraft in quite high temperature that made us sweat.

Finally, the plane took off at 17.30. Instead of using bigger aircraft, Lion Air chose MD-82 for this long flight. For such a long flight, the airline should consider the comfort of its passenger. I prefer Boeing 737 that usually has more legrooms and better seat. Lion Air’s seat is hard and not comfortable at all.
Lion Air is famous for its catch phrase “makes people fly”, but there is no reason for being stingy. We had no on flight service at all during this long flight, not even a drop of water. My neighbor even had to eat his “nasi bungkus” during transit in Medan.

I think businesspersons now are only caring for their own profit and forgetting the valuable customer. They do not treat customers as human.Would I be a businessperson, I would treat my employee and my customers better than Lion Air.

Introduction

Sudah lama ingin memulai membuat blog sendiri. Selama ini hanya mengurus blog kampung. Banyak catatan sudah dikumpulkan dan bisa segera ditayangkan. Oleh karena itu dalam sebulan ini akan banyak "posting" yang akan saya lakukan. Mari berteman.

Creating my own blog has been my dream for some times. I usually administer the neighbourhood blog (check rt10vni3.blogspot.com). I have been writting for quite a while therefore many can be uploaded soon. Let's be friend and comment on my English please. This blog is intended to be my English writting practice ground...thanks.