Indonesia/Borneo-The New Front

[hoot72]

Hi

Indonesia will be the new front of problems for the future. I live out in Borneo, which borders Indonesian Kalimantan and the Sultanate of Brunei.

People here are generally very down to earth and decent people and its only a minority that are actually hard core muslims and problem cases. The Malaysian government has worked hard over the last 20 years to keep these radicals out of politics and out of the country unlike Indonesia which remains a "mess" and extremely fragmented.

In Jakarta, the saying is.."if you are rich, you are super rich...and if you're not, your dirt poor."

On another note, speaking Indonesian, Malaysian and Bruneian has its similarities. But, learning one of the three doesnt mean you can work covertly in any or all three countries. The accents stand out like a sore thumb; imagine a Canadian trying to pass as a guy from Texas or Louisiana or even a New Yorker.

On another note, understanding Sarawakian malay (which is totally different from Malaysian malay and Sabahan malay given the different accents) is hard.

Hence, if anyone is thinking of "visiting" the region, get your accents sorted out and know which country you are planning on visiting if you plan on conducting or operating in any of the three (make it four if you count Sarawak).

rgds

avtar