Tag Archives: Indonesia

2012 - a Palm Oil free year?

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I consider myself a fairly ethical individual. Not a goat-rearing, hair-shirt wearing, placard-waving vegan: but the sort of person who recycles, buys ‘ethical’ products, says no to plastic bags when I can and is generally environmentally aware. OK so I fly and I drive a petrol-powered car, so I’m no ethical saint, but I think I’m on the right track. Yet there is one thing I am doing every single day, mostly unwittingly, that’s arguably more harmful to the planet than owning ten Hummers and flying to New York fifteen times a year: using Palm Oil.

By now, most of us will have read somewhere about the evils of Palm Oil, perhaps registered something about the fact that Palm Oil = destruction of the South-East Asian rainforest. But aside from thinking ‘Oh, that’s awful’ before putting down the newspaper and carrying on with your day, how much have you really considered the matter, or thought about quite how much you - we all - use the stuff? The scary truth is that Palm Oil is in 50-60% of the products we use and consume. We brush our teeth with it, moisturise our faces with it, wash our hands in it, spread it on our toast, feed it to our dogs and eat it daily. This dastardly oil sneaks its nefarious way into every nook and cranny of our existence.


Take my bathroom as an example. An examination of its contents last night revealed over six products that had it lurking in their ingredients. And all the products in my bathroom are made by ethical brands who trade on being green, paraben free, against animal testing etc.

Palm Oil plantation next to virgin rainforest, Borneo

Even worse, Palm Oil comes in a number of disguises. Very rarely will it reveal itself simply as ‘Palm Oil’. Instead it hides under a confusing array of pseudonyms such as; elaeis guineensis, sodium lauryl sulphate, sodium laureth sulphate, cetyl alcohol, stearic acid, isopropyl, palmitate, steareth-2, steareth-20 and fatty alcohol sulphates. Apart from needing a PhD in pharmacology to comprehend this labelling, you also need to go around with a list of these names in order to banish it from your shopping basket. And there is absolutely no law in the UK which forces companies to state simply whether a product has the evil oil in or not.


Why should we give two hoots about Palm Oil though? Why the fuss? Well, it always helps to see things first hand, and I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some time working in Malaysia and Indonesia, and to witness the catastrophic effects of Palm Oil production with my own eyes. The South-East Asian rainforest is the oldest consistent rainforest on earth, with a biological richness and diversity unequalled even by the Equatorial or Amazon rainforests. Yet thanks to the rapacious growth of Palm Oil, these forests are being destroyed at a terrifying rate. Borneo and Sumatra, once covered in primary rainforest, now have barely any left. Rather, both islands have been covered in thousands of hectares of uniform ranks of Palm Oil plantations. Orang Utangs are vanishing, the Penan nomads have nowhere left to go, the Sumatran tiger is almost extinct and countless other species of flora and fauna are teetering on the edge of existence. Moreover, if we humans destroy all the rainforests on this planet, we are cutting down our lungs and humanity will not be able to survive. It really is that simple.

Wild Orang Utang, Borneo, 2008

It may sound dramatic, but making a stand against Palm Oil and trying to save the last of South-East Asia’s rainforests could be the single most important thing in terms of saving our planet. So why not try and make 2012 a Palm Oil Free year? Isn’t our planet worth it?

Palm oil facts*

  • 90 per cent of Sumatra’s orangutan population has disappeared since 1900. They now face extinction
  • 90 per cent of wildlife disappears when the forest is replaced by palm, creating a biological desert
  • 98 per cent of Indonesia’s forests may be destroyed by 2022 according to the United Nations
  • 43 of Britain’s 100 top grocery brands contain or are thought to contain palm oil

How to spot Palm Oil

Palm Oil is hidden in products under numerous guises - here are a few of the main culprits.

Vegetable oil, Sodium Lauryl Sulphates, Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate, Palmate, Palm Oil Kernal, Palmitate, Stearic Acid, Glyceryl Stearate, Elaeis Guineensis, Steareth-2, Steareth-20, Hydrated palm glycerides, Cety palmitate & ocyl palmitate (anything ending with palmitate)

Some common products that contain Palm Oil

Philadephia cheese, Heinz baked beans, Pedigree Chum dog food, Hovis bread, Persil, Flora margarine, Head & Shoulders shampoo, most biscuits and chocolate.

Here’s a link to an exhaustive list of products with and without Palm Oil

A few brands that don’t use Palm Oil
It is possible to find food and cosmetic products that don’t contain Palm Oil and there are alternatives - it’s just that Palm Oil is cheaper and easier to produce than the alternatives so most brands use it. 30 years ago, it was hardly in anything…
Alpine Coffee Shop, Betws-y-Coed, Wales
Little Satsuma beauty products
Dorset Cereals

Please note, many brands now use RSPO (Responsibly Sourced Palm Oil). However, there are questions over this and the best policy is to avoid it altogether.

*Source: The Independent

 

 

Surviving Jakarta

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The Big Durian at night

Jakarta isn’t the sort of place you’d choose to go to on holiday. Its reputation as a polluted, heinously overcrowded city doesn’t have the same allure as say, Bali’s beaches or Yogyakarta’s temples. And with Greater Jakarta’s population tipping 23 million, it ain’t exactly relaxing. But scratch the surface of the ‘Big Durian’, as it’s dubbed, and you’ll find a vibrant, edgy city with an infectious energy and the best nightlife in South East Asia. Having just spent three weeks working in the city, here are a few ways which I found to survive, thrive and fall for the city in a way I never expected.

Eat on the street: While the burgeoning urban elite hang out in swanky bars and restaurants, where dishes regularly cost the same as a poor Jakartan’s daily income, some of the best food in Jakarta can be found on the street. You can feast on nasi goreng (fried rice), mie goreng (fried noodles), soto ayam (a sort of chicken noodle soup), satay (meat grilled in peanut sauce) and a multitude of other delicious dishes, all for under £1. Not only is the food tasty and ridiculously cheap, but sitting at a street stall, amongst a chattering crowd, with the smell of spices and clove cigarettes wafting around you, is a truly Jakartan experience.

Street food stalls, Jakarta

Go to a nightclub… or two: Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country, and Jakarta its beating heart. Yet quite incongruously, the city also has the best nightlife in South East Asia. Stadium,in Chinatown, holds 4,000 people and doesn’t close between Thursday and Monday. Alcohol is not the drug of choice here, and internationally renowned DJs like Sasha spin electronica to a mainly Indonesian crowd of hardcore ravers. Perhaps the fact that Indonesia is the largest producer of ecstasy in the world has something to do with its enduring popularity…

If you want something slightly less full on, try Kemang, an area packed with bars and clubs, and popular with ex-pats. Nu China is a good bet here, a bar-cum-club crammed with glamorous, well heeled types sipping on Grey Goose and Martinis.

Imbine a G&T at Cafe Batavia: If you want to get away from the crowds and sample almost the only remaining slice of colonial Jakarta, then get a cab to Old City and dive into the cool interior of Cafe Batavia. Most of Old City is in a ruinous state, blackened buildings literally collapsing in on themselves, but Cafe Batavia is a glorious homage to the city’s Dutch Colonial past. The teak and rattan interior and vast ceiling vans are redolent of a very different era, and even on a Saturday evening you will have the place almost to yourself. The fact that I had to explain to the staff how to make a G&T didn’t matter a jot. A really fabulous place to while away an evening.

Take an Ojek: The traffic (macat) in Jakarta is hellishly awful, allegedly the second worst in the world after Bogota. Imagine a population of over 20 million people with no trains, no metro, very few cyclists or pedestrians and one struggling Transjakarta bus network. It’s enough to drive even the most sanguine of people utterly insane.

An alternative to sitting in hours and hours of macat, is to take an Ojek, a motorbike taxi. Most busy street corners have an Ojek stand, characterised by a gaggle of men lounging on their mopeds, smoking - as nearly all Indonesian men do. Although at times a little hairy, you’ll get around much faster by Ojek, and for very little cost. For an impatient person like me, it’s well worth the risk…

A taste of Jakarta's traffic

Launching the new Adventurists ASEAN Rickshaw Run in Jakarta

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One of he rickshaws...

After an epic three days of launch celebrations the Pioneer’s Adventurists ASEAN Rickshaw Run finally spluttered forth a few days ago, at possibly the grandest launch ceremony The Adventurists have ever witnessed. Organising this beast of an adventure has been rather time consuming of late, hence the slight Itinerant absence.

The epic launch celebrations took place over there days, in the sweltering heat of Jakarta. First up was two days of Test Driving - a chance for the teams to get acquainted with the brand spanking new fleet of 28 ‘Bemo Bemos’. This was followed by a grandiose programme of workshops at the ASEAN Secretariat in Blok M, Jakarta, and a football match at the Indonesian Police HQ. The workshops took place in the ridiculously snazzy ASEAN Hall, more used to hosting politicians and ambassadors than a motley crew of 64 raggle-taggle Adventurists. Amazingly, given the night out some of the teams had had the night before, almost everyone made it to the workshop, and were blessed with pearls of wisdom from a host of dignitaries. Dr William Sabandar, Director of Corporate Affairs at ASEAN, kicked off with the lowdown on ASEAN. He was followed by several highly decorated members of the Indonesian police, their shirts weighed down by medals and badges of distinction. Whilst giving advice on driving in Sumatra, the main leg of the journey, one of them proffered that although there were many wild boars, it was ‘ok to play with them’. Unfortunately the translator wasn’t quite sure what the word for wild boar was, and instead stated it was ok ‘to play with the wild whores’. He was quickly corrected, amidst peals of laughter from the assembled. Last up was Mr Nittee, Director of the Thai Tourism Authority, who informed the teams all about Thailand, including showing them the all important ‘elephants crossing’ road sign: not one most of the participants are used to in their home countries.

The workshop was followed by a splendid, exceptionally hot football game at the Indonesian Police HQ in Blok M. 11 Adventurists bravely volunteered to play, despite the 95 degree heat and a very nimble looking opposing team, three of whom were professional players. Unsurprisingly, and true to form, the home team gave The Adventurists a good roasting, beating them 6-3. Luckily there were no casualties from the heat.

The day was finished off by the launch party, held in Jalan Jaksa, the highlight of which was a performance from a debus group. This involved traditional music, dancers and a large quota of lying on glass, slicing their arms and necks with knives and generally doing things with sharp implements that one really shouldn’t try at home. I was dragged in to demonstrate the authenticity of this, having some of my hair chopped off with a saw, arms sliced with a sword and neck sawed. And yes, it was real, and my arms are still bearing large slices across them a few days later…

The Official Launch ceremony at ASEAN kicked off early on Sunday morning, and teams arrived bleary eyed from 7 a.m onwards to pack up their steeds and make last minute adjustments. The 28 three-wheeled beasts were lined up magnificently in front of the ASEAN building, the flags of the 10 ASEAN member states fluttering overhead. As 9 a.m. approached the teams were engulfed by a gaggle of media - AP, Reuters, Spanish news agency EFE, South China TV, the Jakarta Globe, Jakarta Post and Ant TV to name but a few. Team Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, from Sydney, proved a particular hit, attired as they were in full Chitty Chitty Bang Bang garb. As one Australian team were having their photo taken with their ‘extra’ team mate, an Ann Summers doll, Mr Rajarethnam, Advisor to the Secretary-General of ASEAN said with a chuckle that ‘ASEAN has never seen the likes of this before’.

Interviews were interrupted however by the arrival of a cavalcade of VVIPs in blacked-out cars; His Excellency Dr Surin Pitsuwan, the Secretary General of ASEAN, His Excellency Mr Fauzi Bowo, the Governor of Jakarta, His Excellency Mark Canning, the British Ambassador to Indonesia, and representatives from the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Tourism. Teams followed these rather important chaps into the main hall, where they feasted on a wonderful breakfast laid out by ASEAN, as Dr Surin, Mr Bowo and Mr Tom of The Adventurists gave speeches. Both Dr Surin and Mr Bowo have been incredibly supportive of the event, and both said they couldn’t wait for it to become a regular feature on the SE Asian calender.

Start line of The Adventurists ASEAN Rickshaw Run

A quick group photo and it was time for Lift Off. As the teams got into their ‘shaws and the air was filled with the throaty roar of 28 175 cc engines choking into life, the VIPs and media chatted to the teams, whilst drummers and girls scattering rose petals followed them down the line. A quick cut of the start ribbons and they were off! Dr Surin and Mark Canning greeted every single team as they drove out, accompanied by a police escort. Dr Surin even gave his business card to every team…. does he know he’s now going to be getting phone calls from teams stuck in the Sumatran jungle?

In true Adventurists style, one rickshaw didn’t want to start - and only left an hour later after our team of mechanics had tended to it’s needs.

A few days after the launch and the teams are struggling through the Sumatran jungle, although 4 teams have already capitulated. To follow their progress see www.theadventurists.com