Indonesia From tradition to innovation

[Music]

i’m here to tell a story

a story that’s more relatable to you

than you might think

a story with a call to action

so back then during my father’s high

school days in jakarta

before he and his friends would get

together for practice they typically

head down to the neighborhood wadong

what’s a watering you might wonder well

these are typically

mom and pop stores which sell drinks

sweets

rice crackers but the crown jewel on

this watering in particular

was the creepy which are indonesian

spicy crisps

this creepy would be a medium of barter

among the students for

notes and homework and all of that they

really cherished it

as much as we cherish our ham and cheese

paninis here at catrion

and so at this watering typically would

be a middle-aged auntie who would be

the water keeper and next to her would

be this small boy who would help out

so if someone paid with a slightly

larger note for example

he’d have to run down a few blocks to

get some change

and so a packet of this creepy back then

was 50 indonesian rupiah

which when we account for inflation is

roughly 11 pence today

and a student back then like my father

would typically have 100 to 150 rupiah

and so a packet of these cryptic would

be at least a third of his income

but this is indonesia so of course

there’d naturally be a lot of room for

interaction and negotiation

and typically what they do is they’d go

in groups

and they’d say to the auntie oh we’ll

pay for three you give us one

return and it’d also be pretty common

for these waterings to sell on credit

so for things like cigs and snacks for

friends and regulars it’d be pretty

common

uh to keep tabs like you would do in

bars

and so another prized possession of this

watering would be the bakmi gorang which

is an indonesian fried noodle dish

this was served in banana leaves uh with

peanut chili oil sauce poured on top

called the sambal kachang

and this was always served in a leaky

plastic bag with grease dropping all

over it

and actually more precious than the

noodles itself was the sambal kachang

once it was out it was out so my father

remembers that people would race to the

warren there’d always be a small

bustling crowd formed in front of it

and that it wasn’t uncommon at all for

fights to erupt over just this chili

sauce

and he says that you knew what you were

getting this creepy and the me would

always be

as good as you remembered it to be

when they all went back to school for

the 20-year reunion

the wiring itself was gone and all they

could talk about was how

good that could be and how good that me

was

and i think that shows how deeply rooted

and ingrained this water was in their

hearts and in their minds

these weddings are very much personal

small scale

family-owned businesses you’d identify

this water with the auntie who ran it

each watering in its own neighborhood

carried its own sense of homeliness and

nostalgia

and so for many indonesians like my

father these waterings amounted to so

much more than

simple talk shops it’s what he

associated his childhood with

his environment his fondest memories

with his friends

at the heart of it all is a personal

element that

character something about handing over

that 50 rupiah to the auntie

which is something you wouldn’t

necessarily experience at a 7-eleven

so what is it to me you might wonder why

do i care

my father and his father and his father

grew up and

lived in indonesia but i come from hong

kong

and typically once a year i’d be staying

with my grandparents in jakarta

and ensuring these brief stays that i’d

noticed all these very bizarre ways

people were making a living people who

were offering these

no infrastructure illegitimate services

just to get by

but i’ve actually come to appreciate how

homely and iconic these

indonesian idiosyncrasies are i’m

comforted in knowing that

every time i’m in indonesia i’ll be able

to head down the street

and in that obscure spot find my

favorite one man

martabakwarung you see these things

are what indonesia is all about for me

now indonesia is southeast asia’s

largest and most promising economy

and it terrifies me however though that

one day

people will no longer care for things

like the martabak

things like the creepy and that an even

bigger problem yet is that these

torchbearers people like

the warang antis will be left behind by

the economy

it’s important that we uplift and

empower these communities these torch

bearers

while we want to retain as much of this

beloved beloved tradition as possible

we need to make sure that we innovate so

that people can continue to

live and love using these things and

that the people offering these services

are able to lead better lives with

better prospects

i’ll show you that in the coming

examples that

understanding the market in a place like

indonesia is crucial

that establishing networks and

raising accessibility is what the most

successful startups in indonesia

are doing to innovate from tradition

so let’s go back to the example of

bottoms

in recent years jakarta specifically has

been rapidly urbanizing

we’ve seen that new office locations are

springing up

in all sorts of pockets of jakarta and

as a result these waterings have become

increasingly

displaced or shut down they’re seen as

untidy backwards these wadungs have been

the same for decades and

people like the boy and the water auntie

they aren’t getting better off

and so in such a time as this we need to

equip these

micro businesses with scale efficiency

modernity and several

innovative startups like waran pinta or

bukolapak

have done exactly this they’ve innovated

water moves so they understand that

indonesian customers need and want

things like free wi-fi

free charging capabilities so they’ve

given water with this

some even have phone top up what this

does is it keeps watering functionally

competitive

and attracts youngsters to them another

thing they’re doing is that they’re

linking these waterings directly to

producers

so that for example these waterings can

source their noodles for cheaper to make

the bakmi gourang

and that they have higher profit margins

and equally as importantly we’re seeing

e-payment systems card readers buy now

pay later

all this is being introduced by these

firms and that raises accessibility

convenience and ease with which

indonesians can

interact at these waterings and spend at

them

at the moment we’re seeing that

waterings can live to serve a new

generation of customers

now another aspect of the indonesian way

of life that i’d like to talk about

is fishing some of you may know that

indonesia is a sprawling archipelago

spanning thousands of miles and that

indonesia fishing is such a crucial part

of indonesian heritage

fish is by far indonesia’s superfood and

it’s the livelihood of many many

indonesians

personally one of my favorite memories

of indonesia was when

me and my family stayed in bali for a

wedding and

at night we’d be in these wooden

restaurants alongside the beach

and we’d be eating the freshest seafood

caught by bali fishermen who were maybe

a couple hundred meters away and it was

just magical

now i’m sure many tourists have had such

similar

magical unforgettable memories there

and it all sounds merry and well

but the sobering truth is that on the

other side

these fishermen have been struggling for

as long as we can remember

i’m talking about fishing villages that

have been poor and left behind

for centuries people without access to

health care who could only dream of

sending their children to school

people who barely get by by doing the

only thing they know how to do

which is fishing and in recent years

we’re actually seeing that less and less

indonesians

are becoming fishermen precisely because

they aren’t making enough to survive

these are people who lack business

skills information about the market

any sort of technology they often get

scammed by brokers who

force them to lower their prices

fortunately we’re seeing that firms like

aruna

are stepping in to bridge this gap to

innovate indonesian fishery what they’ve

done is that they’ve

established an online marketplace where

these fishermen are finally able to sell

directly to the customers

these are b2b and b2c can networks

on this online marketplace where they

can sell to wholesalers retailers people

like me and you

who want to buy seafood as a result

they’re getting much fairer prices for

their catch

and we’re also seeing that the people

buying the seafood are getting better

prices as well

we’re also seeing that accessibility has

risen substantially from this

that all transactions are being done on

this online marketplace

and that people are going into these

indonesian villages

helping these fishermen integrate

technology into

their daily lives and into their

livelihoods

and as a result of firms like aruna

we’re finally seeing that

things are starting to turn around for

these indonesian fishermen that

standards of living have gone up that

monthly wages have gone up three to

twelve times

now there are countless other examples

like this that i’d like to go on about

but

for now i’d like to move on to the

social aspect of all of this

you may not realize but all of this is

social entrepreneurship

it’s improving lives when we innovate

with identity at the heart of it all we

end up making

a substantial quantifiable social impact

it’s not just something sentimental

all these examples i’ve shown you have

improved the lives of who they set out

to help

whether it be motorcycle drivers or

fishermen

or families the aunties

they’ve given them financial resilience

made their day-to-day wages more secure

and given the better prospects for their

families

now you may be thinking that i’m cherry

mate cherry picking my examples that

i’m only talking about the once in a

lifetime success stories

the billion dollar ipos i’ve made it

onto wall street

i’m here to tell you that this is

actually happening in all sorts of crazy

ventures

of varying sizes that innovate and

celebrate

indonesian heritage let me give you an

example that hits closer to home for me

so my aunt works with this humble social

enterprise called

duanyam which goes to remote indonesian

islands like florida’s

and goes to these women villagers

and upscales their tradition of basket

weaving which has been passed down for

generations

to make products like sandals baskets

tote bags to be sold on their website

and this gives

these women villagers access to a whole

market within and out of indonesia

but most importantly it empowers them to

financially support themselves

with their own tradition now what i’m

trying to show you from this

is that there are so many innovative

ventures like this

that may be outside of the public eye

but that

improved livelihoods so much more than

we realize

and i think these examples all show that

identity is found in all sorts of

crevices and the nooks and crannies of

daily life that

in fact all of them took something

commonplace

and thought to reimagine the way they

worked these were all

visionaries who dared to innovate who

dared to improve yet preserve the most

quintessential indonesian elements

they all understood the market they were

in they will establish vital networks

and

they raise accessibility with which

indonesians can

interact with these traditions

now you may be wondering what’s the

takeaway for all of us listening here

may not be indonesian well

i think what’s been done in indonesia

has been vastly impressive

that innovating on identity improves

lives

it allows what we love growing up what

we love growing up with

to be shared with our children and their

children

and that these models have shown us that

there’s actually a whole ocean

of ideas and opportunities that is

waiting to be jumped on

and that every one of us should be

encouraged to look and see

that’s the first thing to do looking and

seeing the founder of watering pinta

saw that there was a watering that was

about to be displaced and he thought

why don’t i work with that owner to tidy

it up instead of watching it go the

founder of aruna saw that there was

massive potential along the coastline

but that these fishermen lacked

access to information into technology

and so i encourage everyone to just

start actively paying

attention in today’s world

it’s so hard not to be distracted so i

want everyone to just

pause from obsessively moving forward

with life

and in the present ponder on what’s

something you’ll be

looking back on in 20 years time and

saying

ah how i miss that what you what will

you be talking about at your 20-year

reunion

start thinking about what everything

what everyday things you cherish

you know what makes where you live home

what do you associate your own identity

and your own upbringing with what

experiences make you

you then we can start thinking about

what needs changing and how we can use

what we have

to innovate maybe what skill sets of

yours could you employ

i’m telling you you don’t have to be any

sort of genius

tech genius or a mathematician you could

be

a social media guru an athlete a chef a

community volunteer

anyone who’s passionate about anything

and has their own particular skill set

can innovate from tradition

small ideas turn into big ones and

thanks to you

the world would get to know the

wonderful things that made you

you thanks very much

[Music]

you