Family Assistance Calculator

Try this NZ Family Assistance Calculator (from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007) to work out how much you entitle to receive payment from IRD (Inland Revenue).

You would find a surprising result if your work time meets the required hours (above 20 hours single and 30 hours couples). In some case, you would receive something like the hypothetical examples below.

If "No", it means that your family works 29 hours @$20 for 52 weeks:
If "Yes", it means that your family works 30 hours @$20 for 52 weeks:
Can you see the difference? Yes, with 1 hour difference @$20 for 52 weeks ($1,040), the difference of weekly payment is $60 per week or $3,120 per year.

Why don't add one more hour then?

V8 Supercar Championship in Hamilton NZ

After turning down by Auckland and Wellington, V8 Supercar Championship finally has been secured to be held in Hamilton starting from 2008.

My old posting (May 2005) in the community blog has been answered... At least, apparently it seems like that...

Sejak Wellington City Council mengajukan diri untuk menjadi tuan rumah V8 Supercar Racing, rencana tersebut akhirnya mendapat pertentangan yang lumayan keras dari kalangan kiri Wellingtonian. Kalau memang banyak yang tidak setuju kenapa dipaksakan.

Kenapa sih ga diadain di Hamilton aja? Kurang hiburan nih disini... He he he...

Ok, now for Indonesian community in Hamilton, are you guys ready to sell or show something on the roadside for fund raising? Selling satay for example, or wearing some kind of traditional customes in the middle of the crowd?

Hamilton secures rights to V8 Supercar Championship Series round
Release Date: 16/02/2006

Hamilton has secured the rights to New Zealand’s only round of the V8 Supercar Championship with a proposed street race starting from 2008. Hamilton mayor Michael Redman says the city has been working for nearly a year to position Hamilton as the exclusive New Zealand host city for the international event in an arena of fierce national and international competition.

V8 Supercars Australia agreed for a further two-year extension for the PlaceMakers V8 Supercars at Pukekohe Park Raceway this year and finally in 2007, with a preference for a street race for a further seven years from 2008.

Mr Redman says Hamilton’s major advantages in being able to secure the race include:

• An ideal geographic location with New Zealand’s largest population catchment within two hours by road
• Hamilton’s high youth population
• A comfortable fit for the region with a strong Ford/Holden customer base
• A superb street circuit for drivers, corporates and spectators
• A positive and practical attitude of the Hamilton City Council organisation and the political cohesion of elected members
  
• A realistic opportunity to secure the necessary resource consent with the proposed course.

(link)

SBY Luncurkan Situs Resmi Presiden RI

From: Susan Olivia
Reply-To: olivia@primal.ucdavis.edu
To: Weblog KBMIH
Date: Feb 15, 2006 10:28 AM
Subject: FYI


SBY Luncurkan Situs Resmi Presiden RI

Jakarta, (Analisa)

Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) meluncurkan situs www.presidensby.info untuk menyediakan informasi tentang kegiatan Presiden Yudhoyono, Ibu Negara dan Kantor Kepresidenan.

"Sudah waktunya bagi Presiden untuk memakai internet sebagai sarana komunikasi kepada publik tentang aktivitas Presiden, Ibu Presiden dan Istana Kepresidenan," kata Juru Bicara Kepresidenan, Andi Mallarangeng, di Jakarta, Selasa (14/2).

Andi menuturkan, situs resmi Presiden Yudhoyono itu dapat diakses selama 24 jam ke seluruh dunia terhitung Selasa (14/2) dengan tujuan memberikan data dan informasi langsung, termasuk untuk pers di dalam dan luar negeri serta pers daerah.

Situs www.presidensby.info itu antara lain memuat perspektif Yudhoyono, instruksi dan peraturan presiden, wawancara, kolom, keterangan pers oleh presiden serta juru bicara presiden dan berita-berita yang dimuat media massa.

Menurut Andi, persiapan peluncuran situs yang dikelola oleh Kantor Juru Bicara Kepresidenan itu telah dimulai sejak tiga bulan lalu dan kedua Jubir Presiden, yaitu Andi Mallarangeng serta Dino Patti Djalal bertindak sebagai pemimpin redaksi.

Redaksi situs terdiri dari antara lain dua redaktur pelaksana, tiga wartawan, tiga redaktur foto, lima konsultan teknis, dan Tim AirPutih serta PT Telkom sebagai penanggung jawab teknologi informasi.

Roy Suryo, Heru Nugroho, I Made Wiryana, Adi Abidin dan Budiono Darsono adalah lima konsultan teknis yang menurut Andi bekerja secara sukarela tanpa dibayar.

Mengenai biaya pembuatan situs, kata Andi, Rp84 juta telah digunakan untuk penyediaan piranti lunak, pengembangan, pendaftaran domain dan biaya operasional.

Pengelolaan situs juga harus mengeluarkan dana Rp28,6 juta untuk biaya sewa server dari Telkom, pembayaran Rp4 juta per bulan untuk tiga tenaga teknis, serta Rp12 juta per bulan untuk membayar tenaga dua redaksi pelaksana dan tiga wartawan. Sementara perangkat keras seperti komputer, ujar Andi, disedikan Rumah Tangga Kepresidenan. (Ant)



Susan Olivia
Ph.D. Student
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616

Essay SBY on Prophet Muhammad Cartoons in International Herald Tribune

(Via Enda)

Let's try to get beyond caricatures

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - International Herald Tribune

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2006

The distasteful cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, first published in Denmark in September 2005 and subsequently reproduced in other media, continue to spark a chain of reactions ranging from peaceful protest to violence in many Muslim communities.

The international community must work together to put out this fire. A good start would be to stop justifying the cartoons as "freedom of the press," which only hardens the Muslim community's response. Another vital step would be to discontinue their reproduction, which only prolongs the outrage.

To non-Muslims, the image of the Prophet Muhammad may only be of casual interest. But to Muslim communities worldwide, it is of enormous spiritual importance. For the last 14 centuries, Muslims have adhered to a strict code that prohibits any visual portrait of the Prophet. When this code was violated and their Prophet mocked for the purpose of humor, Muslims felt a direct assault on their faith.

Reprinting the cartoons in order to make a point about free speech is an act of senseless brinkmanship. It is also a disservice to democracy. It sends a conflicting message to the Muslim community: that in a democracy, it is permissible to offend Islam.

This message damages efforts to prove that democracy and Islam go together. The average Muslim who prays five times a day needs to be convinced that the democracy he is embracing, and is expected to defend, also protects and respects Islam's sacred symbols. Otherwise, democracy will not be of much interest to him.

The cartoon crisis serves as a reminder that all hell may break loose in a world of intolerance and ignorance.

The global community needs to cultivate democracies of freedom and tolerance - not democracies of freedom versus tolerance. It is tolerance that protects freedom, harnesses diversity, strengthens peace and delivers progress.

Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, many in the Western world have shown increasing interest in the Islamic world. Yet this interest has not been accompanied by a greater knowledge and understanding of Islam. In December last year, the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Mecca lamented "the feelings of stigmatization and concern over the growing phenomenon of Islamophobia around the world as a form of racism and discrimination."

The West and Islam need not collide in a clash of civilizations. Many Islamic communities comfortably embrace some Western habits. Correspondingly, Islam has become the fastest-growing religion in some Western nations, including the United States. The Western and Islamic worlds can conscientiously work together to nurture a global culture of respect and tolerance.

The international community must not come out of the cartoon crisis broken and divided. We need to build more bridges between religions, civilizations and cultures. Government leaders, religious figures and ordinary citizens can go beyond supporting religious freedom - they can express solidarity with those who are defending the integrity of their faith.

We also need to intensify interfaith dialogue so that we may further tear down the walls of misunderstanding and mistrust - an undertaking that Indonesia has actively promoted.

Muslims around the world also have responsibilities. No one - certainly not Muslims - will be better off if the current crisis descends into open conflict and more bloodshed. The best way for Muslims to fight intolerance and ignorance toward Islam is by tirelessly reaching out to non-Muslims and projecting Islam as a peaceful religion. We also need to be forgiving to those who have sincerely apologized for offending Islam.

Indeed, at this difficult moment, Muslims might emulate the Prophet Muhammad's well-known qualities in dealing with adversity: composure, sound judgment, magnanimity and benevolence.

(Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is the president of Indonesia.)

Salam Kenal dari Hani

Salam kenal buat KBMIH,

Nama saya Hani dan saya sudah 3 minggu di Hamilton. Saya akan studi untuk program master di Uni Waikato. Kebetulan pas datang bersamaan dengan Ibu Lisa. Kebetulan sudah kenal dengan Susi sebelumnya dan sudah bertemu dengan Dede dan Endah dan waktu di Frankton Market ketemu dengan Mbak Utari.

Kalau KBMIH ada acara, dengan senang hati saya ingin ikut serta.

Terima kasih

Salam,

Hani

yang sementara masih cari flat :)

Santa Parade 05 in Auckland

A couple of months ago, our friends in Auckland also participated in Santa Parade 05. The float theme was Borneo. We in Hamilton had actually been officially invited to join them, but after consulting the other members of KBMI, we had prefered to create our own show. Kewl float aye? It's big... the budget. (look up the webpage)

ISP broadband comparison in New Zealand @ $39.95

Say that we have an internet budget of $39.95 per month, which one is worth it?
(... I think Ihug.)

Xtra:
Data allowance per month: 1GB
Download speed per second: 256KB

Ihug:
Data allowance per month: 2GB + bonus 2GB (12am-8am)
Download speed per second: 2MB

Orcon:
Data allowance per month: 1GB
Download speed per second: 2MB

Woosh:
Data allowance per month: 1GB
Download speed per second: 256KB