Beware of geeks bearing formulas.
~Warren Buffett

5 years ago someone pointed out to me that one single US tech company - the behemoth internet stock Google – was worth more than ALL the companies listed on the Indonesian stock exchange!

This is an incredible fact: that one single company from the US - which operates in cyberspace and with no “real” assets - is worth more than all the listed Indonesian banks, coal mining companies, CPO producers, retailers, property developers, and telecommunications firms put together!!!

But if you believe this doesn’t make sense, then it could mean two different things.

Either that Google is highly overvalued.

Or that the Indonesian stock market is highly undervalued.

As it turned out, Indonesian stocks were highly undervalued and with the Indonesian economy growing by more than 10 percent annually in nominal terms, Indonesian share prices have made strong gains in the last five years.

So how does the value of Google compare to Indonesia at the end of 2011?

Well, Google had a reasonably good year and its share price rose 6.9 percent, giving rise to a total market capitalization of US$205.2 billion (up from US$192 billion at the end of 2010):





Indonesian stocks, by comparison, gained 6.4 percent over the year in dollar terms. As a result, Indonesia’s market value rose to US$385 billion at the end of 2011, or up from US$346 billion at the end of 2010.

What this means is that Indonesia is now worth 1.87 times Google - and not far below the 2 times level!

NB: the valuations of tech stocks is utterly insane. The estimated value of Facebook for example is put at a mind blowing US$100 billion!!! – up from an estimated US$42 billion 12 months ago. And as for Twitter? That’s worth an estimated US$8.4 billion (up from US$3.7 billion a year ago and more than 30 times Twitter's projected 2012 ad revenues. Huh? How does that old West Ham song go? I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles / Pretty bubbles in the air / They fly so high, / Nearly reach the sky / Then like my dreams…

Get drunk and stay that way.
On what?
On wine, poetry, virtue, whatever.
But get drunk.
~Baudelaire

Vodka may be the tipple of the proletariat but the plush Red Square vodka bar at Plaza Senayan will certainly be beyond the reach of the masses - one drink here costs around 10 bucks, or considerably more than Jakarta’s daily minimum wage!

Rather, admission is reserved for card-carrying party members only, that is Jakarta’s so-called “elite”.

But no system is completely infallible and a number of imposters do manage to trick their way in – most disguising themselves (although that’s probably not the right term) in extremely sexy and revealing outfits.

As a pressure release from the stresses of Jakarta daily life, I’ve always maintained that it is vital to “let go” at least once in a while and enjoy some of the city’s more hedonistic offerings.

In pursuit of such lofty goals, some get taken on a long and winding road – which is most probably jammed and potholed as well - and end up in places like Alexis or Club 36 in the north of the city, or perhaps one of the down-to-earth girly bars in the south at Blok M.

But the appeal of such places soon wears thin and a “better class” of establishment becomes an enticing prospect.

Like Red Square.

This dark retreat attracts decadent denizens by the bucketful and despite being moderately spacious can be as packed as a Jakarta bus during rush hour(s) if you go there on the weekend (Friday/Saturday). This is no bad thing, however, and helps give the place an “edgy closeness”, which when aided by the social lubricant called alcohol can make for a very interesting evening indeed.

The bartenders like to show off a bit and juggle vodka bottles with special fire effects but I reckon if you pulled the latest party trick of drinking neat vodka through the eyes (I shit you not!) you’d definitely outdo them.

Come here with a thick wallet and the world’s your oyster. Well for one night at least!



Go to Red Square and you could well be on your knees by the end of the evening.

Red Square Jakarta
Plaza Senayan Arcadia
Unit X210-211 Jl. New Delhi No 9
Pintu I Senayan
Jakarta 12710

Tel: (021) 5790 1281