Archive for the 'Medan Nightmare' Category

The Maid issue

I am positively and definitely sure that I am not alone….

Maid, it’s a love and hate situation in this country.. basically, you can’t live without them but at the same time, you just can’t live with them..

I never have a maid who managed to stay with me longer than a year.. having said that,

1. I never scold/nag/whine at them.

2. their basic salary has always been the above average as I often feel that they are always underpaid

3. I never mistreated them and food in my home is pleantiful

now, with that, what have I done wrong???  initially, I often get a local Medan Maid and since I have to keep finding a new one every year, I decidied to get a Surabaya with 2 years contract, paying 3JT.. thinking that I am maid hassel free for the next 2 years…

guess what… after 7 months, on my bright sunny morning, she ran in to my room sobbing that her mum has passed away… I felt bad instantly.. and of course she wants to go back home… apparently she lived in Kupang.. after deducting those advance money that she had already taken and the air ticket that she need to buy back herself, she has little left to bring home..

before she left, she insists that she would be back as she liked it here… and put long story short… a typical Indonesian maid… after arriving home, she decided that being poor is ok.. not having to work to support her daughter is ok… what else can I said.. her salary is at Rp 700.000 purly doing simple house work and not even laundry or cooking!!!

My friends and families often advice me against being too nice or I will often be the one to lose out… this has been going on and on ,one after the other and frankly in the past, I did not take those advices seriously as often these maid are the poor people and that for me, I see it as doing some charity work.. thats all…

But now, I am at a point where… I have given up hope and that I am simply seeing my daily life here like in the UK where I have to clean and look after the house myself with no maid…  that’s what I have been doing for the past 2 weeks… and surprisingly, I am enjoying it… and feel a lot much better

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medankota on October 27th 2008 in Medan Living, Medan Nightmare, the people

Medan and the Online Scam

Sometimes last year, I received an enquiry from a doctor living in the states requesting help in purchasing a vintage Mercedes in Medan.. somehow, a Medanese guy post up the vintage car photos and according to Mr Doctor, he said that the car is really rare and that he wants it badly…. desperately enough, he wanted to fly to Medan to see the car as well… and Mr Doctor was ready to transfer the money to this scammer!!! Initially he wanted us to help in finding information on how to send the car over to the US and my husband and I thought that this whole thing did not sound right, so we asked him for the address of where this vintage car is located…. amazingly enough, this Medan scammer gave him the address of the car accessories shop ‘Sejatera Ban” at Jl Nibung (which is the street of car dealers)… but as we drove by the street everyday, we had never in our life saw such a car, so, we sort of told Mr Doctor that we believe that this whole deal is a scam….. the whole ending is that.. he gave up and and a very happy man …… thank god..

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BUT! thats not it!!… yesterday I received a comment about how another foreign businessman is being cheated off of USD$ 3000 from a claimed bicycle shop in Medan @ Jl. Putri Hijau

Take a look.. here is what he said..

 

Comment:
Medan crooks badly damage the economy of Indonesia !

A lot of dealers from Europe and the United States get cheated of young criminals from Indonesia and mainly from the city Medan via InterNet. This modern kind of cybercrime

This criminality does not only harm the businessmen from the foreign countries, it harms also the reputation of the Indonesian business in the world. Also the institutions of Indonesia. Likewise authorities and institutions of Indonesia appear weakly in relation to a small minority of criminals.
I believe, it exists a problem, which does not admit in the Indonesian public, but it must be known and solved.

They use Alibaba.com a Community channel and a place that allows business people to exchange business ideas, communicate business issues and find business resources.

A lot of Criminals meanly from MEDAN – and in my case – Andre Kusmana and Erwin Candra and their company “Original Bike.Co.,Ltd” in Medan, Jl. Putri Hijau No. 25 create a dummy firm.
They offer in the InterNet at Alibaba.com not existing goods.
They recruit with the following text and look for international dealers.
„We are the most professional manufacturer and exporter for high end bicycle and spare parts, based in Medan, Indonesia. Our products enjoy fast
Sales in worldwide market at present, due to our superior products and professional service. We have some kinds of mountain bikes and many types for choosing.“
They discribe their enterprise as Distributor/Wholesaler with 5 – 10 employees and a total annual purchase volume of US$5 Million – US$10 Million. (http://www.alibaba.com/member/id101342118.html)
But nothin exists!
They cheat buisinessman from Europa and North Amerika in simulating
buisiness dealings. They arrange dealings and operate in a big scale, promise to deliver and after the
international buissinessman had correctly paid the amount to their account, they hide in the suppost obscure internet!
This kind of cybercrime damaged the credit and the reputation of all the fair Indonesian buissinessman in international trade and I think, traders, politicans and the authorities are confronted with the problem to find a solution of this criminal problem and to protect international customers and also Indonesian exporter against this kind of cybercrime!

Erwin Candra!

Andre Kusmana!

I dispatch this text to you, because I would like to get back my deposited 3000 $ I have payed this criminals … but also because I dislieke the damage of the Indonesian economy and society. If you need more Informations:
Heinrich Hohage ( XXXXX @gmx.de )
Hasenberger Weg 2a
42897 Remscheid
Deutschland

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after I finished reading it, I felt bad.. really bad… because, on my previous post, I wrote of how I make money online… scam happens everywhere, and yes I do agree that Indonesia is very well known for it… why? many affiliate companies decline us once they detect the IP address is from Indonesia… and as a honest Indonesian, its terrible to be considered as one…

From my experiences, we will only accept money and send money online using reputable 3rd party like Paypal…. as these companies protect both buyers and sellers.. and me as a merchant, for me to request for money, Paypal required me to submit all sorts of proof to verified that I am REAL!!… so, my advice is that, if you need to pay for something online, using Paypal is safe… never pay directly to the bank account unless you are sure that they are known and reputable…. never go for company that provide you with only email address. Full contact details are often attached in the email for the legitimate company… like me @ MedanKu.com… hehhe

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p.s. to all foreign businessman, should you need help in verifying whatever online company that you have come across in MEDAN and is not sure of the company status, leave a note in any of my comment box and I will try my very best to help..

 

 

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medankota on May 8th 2008 in Guides, Medan Bisnis, Medan Nightmare

Carrefour – what a cashier!!

I am not a regular shopper at Carrefour but I am there today simply because I have received some free vouchers…  just as  I was at the cashier to pay, and since seeing that she is alone and has no one to help her, I decided to place all my groceries into the bag myself to speed up the check out time….  rather than waiting for her to do it all at the end of the scanning… and believe it or not, she gave me a look (like I am trying to ask for free plastic bag to bring home!!) when I asked for some of those  Carrefour Labelled Bag!!.. and smart of her enough, she gave me ONE !!! for the Rp 750.000 worth of goods that I was buying!!! … and as I asked for the second one, and explained my intention of helping her, she gave me just an extra of ONE again!! (my maid was loading all stuff onto the belt and it was very obvious that my purchase was gonna be lots)….  at that point, I dropped everything and decided to just stopped what I was trying to help her to do and let her do it all by herself!!!….  I guess towards the end, she had then just really realised what I wanted to do…. and by then queue started to form….

just imagine how much I can help to make this whole shopping experience more efficient and not as time consuming…. ai.ai.ai…. I have no word to describe what a cashier Carrefour has for its consumers…..

p.s. I always have this problem whenever I shop there… why?.. why?.. why?

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medankota on March 18th 2008 in Medan Nightmare, Medan Shopping

My Luggage was lost

well… on 9 Nov, I have to fly back to Bangkok for my brothers wedding on the 10 Nov…. even before my departure day and while I have my booking done, my instinct told me that its not going to be a smooth trip as always… and well its does not as expected…

for the past years that I have to fly out of medan, I will always and at all times make sure that the luggage tag that is put onto my bag belongs to me and that the destination is right but some how, its not for this trip… as we all know that, most of the time, the travel agent will deal with all the check in and so he does it for me and just as well, he is a new guy…ai..

as i arrived, my husband and me met a few friends who happens to be going to BKK and starts telling me how much they all enjoy thailand…  and so, i did not do what I should have done… i ignore my luggage check in….

as i arrived in Singapore to be told that my luggage had been cross tag, meaning that i have someones else luggage and another person have mine….  to cut story short, it was brought to Taipei and lost for a few days and I got it all back on 13Nov!!! and now i have to apply for all the compensations…. the worst was that my gowns for the wedding was in there and i had only 2 hours in BKK to search for it….

I could never really understand why Medan airport is so way out of this world…. I was in Padang and their airport is nothing compare to here….  the arrival hall has to be the worst and it just makes you feel totally pissed off the moment you step back to Medan….

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medankota on November 18th 2007 in Medan Nightmare

Corruption and Fraud

As we all know that Indonesia are known for corruption but never have i realised that Indonesian are even more known for fraud.   First of all, most major internet company will not accept payment from Indonesian.  Secondly, applying for any affiliate from Indonesia is often decline coz they detect Indonesia IP address.  I didn’t really understand it till one day I stumble upon a site that actually show you a list of credit card numbers that you can pick and choose and start buying things online!!!  I was really shocked and thats when you start worrying…

My card was a target some 10 years back when I first came here for holidays.  I use the card to pay for a restaurant bill at the Danau Toba Hotel.  Even before I left the town, I already received call from the bank that my have been used heavily in Malaysia.  What can i say, just be extra careful.  It is mostly targeted at all the credit card issued overseas.

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medankota on September 9th 2007 in Medan Living, Medan Nightmare