Newsletter of the Belgium & Luxemburg
Indonesia Club

APRIL 2003

Email us at blicjakarta@yahoo.com

Coming events :

May 7 : BLIC Dinner

   What's inside?

• BLIC Agenda
• Belgium-Holland match
• The Embassy of Belgium in Jakarta
• How to drive in Indonesia
• Research on our "Belgian feelings"
• Website of the month

Quite an active time we had with our first Belgium-Holland soccer match in March (hard to keep up with this mixture of numerous goals and lovely cold beers), the pub-night (with the same cold beers and harsh competitions taking place around the dartsboard and the pooltable). We had a lot of fun, and those absent were proven to be wrong again.

Spring is in the air, and our calendar is getting shorter rapidly. Soon we hope to see you all on our last dinner for this BLIC year on May 7. Besides this, we hope there will still be enough interest to organize a few other activities before we go into summer recess (if SARS permits).

Allow me once more to call upon all the enthousiasts among us to seriously consider and join our committee. Our already decimated committee could really do with some new energy and ideas to keep our club alive next year. Any help, however small will be most welcome.

This only leaves me with wishing you all a very Happy Easter! Have fun!

The BLIC Committee

Advertising   in the Parasol is available at low cost.Check out our promotion rates and contact us for details : blicjakarta@yahoo.com or phone Marijke Gelissen

Thank you for your support:

5 years in Indonesia

Looking for a community sports club?
Check out the extensive listing of
Expatriate Sports Clubs and Groups.

Living in Indonesia, a site for Expatriates

BLIC Activity-calendar

BELGIE - HOLLAND 6-a-side Soccer Match

March 23, 2003

Not an easy task it turned out to be, to get a full team of 9 players together for this event. As by magic, most of our BLIC volunteers ran away and left the country, probably unable to coop with the stress now the event was nearing so quickly. We had to call on all bench sitters and pleased to everyone remotely connected to BLIC to join us for this friendly "Battle of the Century".

About ten of us finally assembled on D-day at the NIS at 14.00 pm with no Dutch in sight (apart from those in our team). They probably had their final training in their remote camp where they - no doubt - retreated for at least a week. With the Belgian tricolore flying high, soon we were confident this would be a "forfait" from their side, so our numerous supporters as well as the players started to poor down the beer and jenever.

About half an hour later, our opponents finally appeared, fresh and ready, but apparently facing the same problem that many of their colleagues had disappointed them. They refused to give in however, and off we went in this "six-on-one-side and five-on-the-other-side" soccer match with it's funny never-heard-of rules.

As our B-team really lacked practice and with the alcohol starting to do it's job both in our heads and our legs, pretty soon it became quite obvious that this first half would be a giveaway to them. I cannot really recall how many goals they scored, but it was definitely more than 5 against zero for BLIC.

Miraculously, in the second half (after a few more beers and some harsh words from our sponsor/coach), we seemed to be much better equiped and stronger than ever (I really wonder what was added to this Belgian "space-cake"). Once the first goal was a fact (and I don't mean the one I entered on our own side, nice shot though!), no one was to stop us anymore. This second half (we still had the advantage of having an extra player in the field, I admit), therefore turned out to be more leveled and very enjoyable for both players and supporters alike. BLIC finally won this second party, so I'll take it as a 1 - 1 draw overall.

Only happy (and a few painful) faces afterwards. No serious injuries (though many legs stayed extremely painful for many more days), a very friendly and fair game, good beers and nice jenever, what else can we dream of in Jakarta? Definitely worth a replay, imagine we could get our A-team on the field by then...

Thanks to all players and supporters, and to Bart and Linda (the legs!) for the pictures.

How to contact the Embassy of Belgium in Jakarta...

The Embassy of Belgium in Jakarta is located on:

B Jalan Imam Bonjol 80, on the 16th Floor of the Deutsche Bank Building.

Phone 021-316.20.30

   Fax 021-316.20.35

   e-mail jakarta@diplobel.org

In case of pemergency, you can contact the embassy outside the opening hours by calling the number 0816-947.859

The opening hours for the public are Monday to Friday 08.00 am untill 11.30 am. During these house an employee will receive you at the counter.
However, if you need to meet a compatriot (the Ambassador, the Counselor or the Consul), it is better to take an appointment (for Belgians, this can be done until 4.00 pm) in advance.

• The Ambassador is Mr. Hans-Christian Kint; his secretary is Mrs Ann Aspeslagh
   

• The Counselor is Mr Alain Hanssen; his secretary is Mrs Wina
   

• The Consul is Mr Willy Vromant; his secretary (and responsible for the files of the compatriots, passports, etc.) is Mrs Elvira El Farrissy. Mrs Mugi Sari Asih will answer your routine questions concerning visas; for more complicated matters, you should better speak with the consul.
   

• Mrs Francisca Seloadji is in charge of the scholarschips (she works only Wednesday and Friday).
   

• Mrs Maudy Sjachrial is the receptionist-telephonist.
   

• Mrs Ingrid Manan is the bookkeeper.
   

• The office of Export Vlaanderen is located at the same premises. It is headed by Mr Pierre-Etienne Vaemewijk (untill the end of May). Robert Sarwono is his assistant, and Gaby Tabaluyan is the secretary.
  The   phone number is 021-316.20.36/7
  The   fax number is 021-316.20.38
  The   e-mail vlev.jakarta@attglobal.net
   

• There are also honorary Consulates in:

  • Medan (in charge of Sumatra): Mr Patrick Baskett (Tel 061-616.066)

  • Surabaya (in charge of Eastern Java, Bali and Lombok): Mr Stefaan Vancolen (Tel 0343-740.274)

Honorary consuls are private persons, mos of the time businessmen, fulfilling a series of administrative tasks and helping the compatriots when necessary. They are not renumerated.

(This information was provided by the Embassy of Belgium in Jakarta)

How to drive in indonesia...

Please pay attention:

The Road:

Includes not only the paved portion of the highway, but also what others might call the verge, the curb, the sidewalk, the front yard and the roadside restaurant. The paved portion of the highway is generally one lane wide. Not one lane in each direction, but one lane.

Respect:

All animals are granted the greatest respect in Indonesia. It is presumed that, being highly involved creatures, chickens, dogs and the like know how to side-step a Mitsubishi going 78 mph on a fog-shrouded road during a national religious holiday. This same position of honor is granted to small children, men with 30 pounds of hay on their shoulders, unattended oxcarts and elderly women in mystic trances. Slowing or swerving to avoid these beings would cause thein dishonor.

Lanes:

These colorful white and yellow markings wish a hearty Selamat Datang (welcome) to every traveller. They have no other function.

Passing :

The national sport of Indonesia. Observant motorists may encounter the certical triple (passing three vehicles in one acceleratory movement), the horizontal triple (passing a vehicle that itself is in the process of passing a vehicle), or even the rare double-double (passing a vehicle at precisely the same time that another vehicle -coming in the other direction- is also engaged in the act of passing.

What to do when not passing.

Being passed:

An insult not to be endured. The greater the differential between your vehicles, the greater the potential loss of prestige. The owner of the less powerful vehicle must always do everything in their power to thwart the attempt to overtake.

Seat Belts:

Absolutely unnecessary. Not only are they not worn, they are not even provided. Passengers are fully protected by the horn.

Lights:

Rapidly blinking the headlights can mean many things, including "OK to pass now", "dangerous to pass now", "get out of my way", or "may you find the thread of gold in the line of existence".  It takes years, sometimes an entire lifetime, to learn this subtle and intriguing intuitive non-verbal communication skill. Generally however, you have about three seconds.

The horn:

When sounded loudly and frequently, the horn sets up an invisible energy barrier protecting the vehicle and its inhabitants from all harm. The faster the vehicle is going, the better the horn works. This is the central concept of Indonesian motoring.

Accidents:

Rare. Usually the result of a malfunctioning horn.

Call for help from a Belgian Research Student

Hello, I'm a student at the St Anna College in Antwerp (Belgium). I'm working on a final school task about Belgians abroad, about how they manage to keep up a Belgian feeling. You could do me a favor by answerring the following three questions :

1. Did you follow the marriage of Prince Laurent and Claire Coombs? And if you did, what did you think of the ceremony?
    
2. Do you have regular contact with Belgian friends and relatives over the internet?
    
3. Are there in your region activities to keep up the Belgian feeling?

It would be perfect (not necessary) to receive by e-mail a picture of the person giving the answers.

Thanks in advance!
Chris De Jonghe
c.dejonghe@pandora.be

W
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Official Belgian Polling Site

A while ago, the Federal Ministry of Home Affairs and the Federal Public Service for Information and Communication Technology have started the official website for the announcement of the results of the elections for the Belgian Federal Chamber and Senate, to be held on 18 May 2003. On the site, part of the federal portal side "belgium.be", you can find already an election calendar and more general info. There is also a simulation of the electronic voting (you need a Flash-plugin, a link is provided).

As from beginning of May, we are promised an overview of the voting ballots, and on the election day, a list of the elected candidates will be posted.

Languages:

Nederland: http://verkiezingen2003.belgium.be
Français: http://elections2003.belgium.be
English: http://polling2003.belgium.be
Deutsch: http://wahl2003.belgium.be