INDONESIA: Trying to solve ARV supply woes

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79288

JAKARTA, 16 July 2008 (PlusNews) - From the day Lenny (not her real name) was diagnosed HIV positive, she opted to get her life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs from overseas - a vote of no-confidence in Indonesia's sclerotic supply system. "I heard from my friends that hospitals often ran out of ARVs, so I became paranoid," she said.

Years later, she still hears the same stories from people living with HIV, even in Jakarta, the capital, and considers herself lucky that she can afford to get her drugs sent directly from abroad: "The government should really fix the system [of distributing ARVs] as well as the health care system," she said.

Once treatment begins, it is vital there are no interruptions to the therapy, otherwise resistance to the medication develops and patients have to start taking more expensive second-line drugs.

Just over 8,000 people in a population of 223 million are on treatment in Indonesia, according to the latest figures. The government provides free first-line drugs - nevirapine, stavudine, lamivudine, zidovudine and efavirenz – produced under licence by the state-owned pharmaceutical company, Kimia Farma. Financing by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria covers the costs of importing second-line medicines.

Caught up in the red tape

Supply or distribution problems have dogged the free ARV programme since it was launched in 2004. Every three months or so, the country's largest AIDS e-network, AIDS-Ina, is inundated with complaints over the latest shortages, and the situation seems to be worsening.

The supply of efavirenz recently dried up, leading to a demonstration by about 50 HIV-positive people in front of the office of the health ministry's AIDS sub-directorate. Around 60 percent of people living with HIV are thought to use efavirenz.

Dyah Erti Mustikawati, head of the AIDS sub-directorate, said complicated customs and import duty requirements had caused second-line drugs to be stuck at the airport; moreover, Kimia Farma imports the chemical compounds to produce first-line drugs, which can also be held up by bureaucracy.

Beyond the red tape, there is the issue of funding. "As the country's financial state is worsening, there has been a budget cut for ARVs. Out of Rp75 billion (around US$8.2 million) proposed in this year's state budget, only Rp38 billion (US$4.3) has been disbursed," Mustikawati said.

An AIDS activist, who declined to be named, said the main problem with ARV availability was the dysfunction of the supply-chain management system, from national forecasting and drug purchasing to the accuracy of the inventory data held by hospital pharmacies.

"Some officials at the health ministry are indeed working hard to solve these problems, but the ministry is overwhelmed with other issues, such as bird flu, dengue hemorrhagic fever, tuberculosis and malaria," he said. "Nobody gives enough attention to this ARV problem, and nobody dares to discuss it at the ministerial level."

There have been attempts at reform, such as special phone or fax lines for hospital supply requests, but stock management problems persist.

"I've heard reports that hospitals are often late in submitting their reports to the ministry, making the ministry unable to work on the exact needs for ARVs every month," said AIDS campaigner C. Supriyadi, who participated in the protest outside the ministry of health's office. "Distribution can also be stuck in many places, such as the ministry itself, or the Kimia Farma warehouse."

Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, has an HIV prevalence rate of 0.16 percent - roughly 250,000 people. The epidemic is concentrated in high-risk groups, such as injecting drug users, sex workers, and men who have sex with men, but the conditions exist for infection to cross into broader society.

HIV-positive activists have urged the government to work more closely with the National AIDS Commission, UN agencies and major donors to provide cheaper ARVs - drugs from Kimia Farma, for example, are more than twice the cost of those provided by the Clinton Foundation - to improve ARV supply.

Mustikawati said the ministry was working on a proposal to secure additional funding for drug purchases, and to decentralise distribution. "In the near future, we will also reduce central government's burden, and health ministry offices in the region will be in charge, particularly on buffer stock provision so that hospitals can have easier and faster access to the medicine."

hd/oa/he

Labels: HIV/AIDS

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Investment forum disappoints

Published in Van Zorge Report Vol.X No.8-9 — June 3, 2008


A number of potential foreign investors walked away from last week’s Indonesian Regional Investment Forum (IRIF 2008) disappointed by the lack of preparedness of local government officials. The forum aimed to attract between US$6 billion and $8 billion in investment, up from $6 billion offered in the first IRIF in 2006.

Opening the conference President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono claimed local government had become more savvy and realistic about how they attracted foreign investment. But his views were not shared by some of the forum’s participants.

One Chinese investor complained that he could not meet local government officials with a genuine understanding of the projects they were attempting to market. He expressed frustration that after spending two days at the forum he did not have the opportunity to invest his money.

Other businessmen were also baffled by local government officials who could not come up with the required information, including basic data such as the Return on Investment (ROI) and business plans. One investor could not hide his amazement after his attempt to get an email address from a Central Java regent failed because he did not have one. The man half-joked that the regent probably did not have any slightest idea of what the Internet was.

Basic manners and etiquette were also found wanting at the seminar with many officials preferring to play with their mobile phones instead of talking to investors, many of whom had hired translators. Another complaint was that officials had a limited scope in projects and tried to push investors into “pet projects” that they had no interest in.

Questioned by the Report, the forum committee said many of the regions did not send their top officials to the gathering. This was strange because up for grabs were about 200 investment projects worth a whopping US$18.9 billion. The projects spread across 35 regions and provinces and were in the agribusiness, plantation, biofuel, infrastructure, oil and gas, mining, energy, property and tourism sectors.

The highest number of projects on the table were for infrastructure development, totalling 44. Among these were the Batam-Bintan and Penajam-Balikpapan bridges, the Cilegon-Bojonegoro toll road, the new Maloy port and Sangkinah airport in Kutai Timur, as well as a railroad and industrial zone in Dumai regency and an international container terminal in Kutai Kertanegara regency.

In the agribusiness sectors, there were 40 projects on offer, including a fish processing plant in West Sumatra, plantation and tea processing in West Java province and an integrated animal husbandry and agribusiness operation in Tulang Bawang regency.

In the mining and energy sector, projects offered included geothermal power plants in Cisukarame, Cisolok and Tampomas (West Java); steam power plants in Lati Berau (Berau regency, East Kalimantan) and Kolese (Bau-Bau regency, Southeast Sulawesi). The Regional Representatives Council (DPD), which organised the forum, said domestic and foreign investors were following up on at least 62 of the projects offered.

Banten province, which offered projects worth $5 billion alone, has attracted a number of investors, an official from the local administration said. He said International Enterprise Singapore was interested in funding the development of a $4 billion oil refinery at Bojonegara (the largest project by value offered at IRIF 2008), a $792.2 million Bojonegara international port and an agribusiness terminal at $4.37 million.

Ramky International Singapore expressed interest in establishing the waste management industry in Banten, which had a high concentration of chemical factories. Local companies PT Tirta Cisadane and PT BaratJaya Sentosa Perkasa were looking to be involved in the construction of the Karian Dam and water supply project valued at $319,000.

Meanwhile, Australian-based Consolidated Rutile Limited was exploring the possibility of investing in bauxite and zircon mines in Kalimantan. The 2008 IRIF offered regions a chance to meet investors in an aim to spur economic growth and job creation in the country. Other investors attending the forum were RimAsia Capital, Saratoga, Merrill Lynch, UOB, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Lehman Brother, BNP, Morgan Stanley, CIMB, Khazanah,
Temasek, DBS, Bain Capital Société Générale and Renaissance Capital.

Also in attendance were former Thai prime minister and founder of Shin Corp. Thaksin Sinawatra, Sime Darby president commissioner Tun Musa Hitam and Khazanah Nasional CEO Dato’ Azman bin Hj. Mokhtar. Yudhoyono singled out Sragen and Sidoarjo in East Java as examples of regions that had enacted a one-door investment policy to cut bureaucratic red tape.

Indonesia has been working to improve its investment climate, with the government set to issue its final package of economic policies this month to attract investment.

The draft package called the “Focus of Economic Programs 2008-2009” comprises a series of regulations by economic ministers, including policies seeking to improve the country’s investment climate and a revision of Government Decree No. 1/2007 on income tax facilities for investment.

Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) data shows that the country secured $9.94 billion in foreign direct investment between January and April this year, a 104 percent increase on the corresponding period last year. The BKPM noted that foreign direct investment in Indonesia was up from $5.97 billion in 2006 to $10.3 billion in 2007 on the back of political stability and an improving economy.

Leading business and corporate strategist Kenichi Ohmae said regional marketing was a crucial factor for Indonesia to attract investment, adding that Indonesia could be as successful as Brazil, India, China and Russia if it developed its regions’ potential.

Labels: Business

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Trouble in smokers' paradise?

Published in Van Zorge Report VOL.X No.7 — April 15, 2008

Soaring tax and excise and public restrictions have left them undeterred. They have also managed to convince the government not to sign nor ratify the international Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. But there is one thing that has been troubling the country’s cigarette producers and it is more difficult to fight — an increasingly unpredictable Mother Nature.

Extreme weather in the past year has ruined clove crops, a key ingredient in the kretek cigarettes favoured by Indonesians. Local producers can presently provide only 70 percent of the total 100,000 tons of cloves a year needed by cigarette factories. As a result, the price of cloves has soared almost 100 percent since December 2007,
from Rp 30,000 a kilogram to Rp 55,000 a kg.

This situation has led to serious problems for the nation’s many small cigarette producers, particularly the about 20 medium-scale producers and the estimated 5000 small home industries in Java alone that supply cigarettes to their local communities.

For these small businesses, importing cloves is out of the question—because distance and the associated costs make the endeavour prohibitive. Indonesia is the largest clove producer in the world after overtaking the island of Zanzibar and the island nation of Madagascar, both in Africa. Singapore has some limited but insignificant stocks, mostly stored by speculators.

Egged on by the smaller players, the larger cigarette companies are now calling for increased government support for the industry and for it to delay imposing the terms of an industry roadmap that is set to remove all government help for the local industry by 2015. At this point, the public health costs for smoking are also supposed to be reflected in increased taxes for cigarettes. If this deadline is not pushed back, the producers now warn, government revenues and tens of thousands of jobs will be at risk.

However, anti-smoking activists note that the clove price hikes have not yet affected the retail prices of the major cigarette brands. This is because the major manufacturers—Gudang Garam, Djarum, H.M. Sampoerna, Bentoel and Noyorono, which together control 80 percent of the market—have sufficient clove stocks to last for another two years.

Of these big tobacco firms, many have been experiencing high rates of growth of late. Last year, Gudang Garam enjoyed 35.23 percent net profit growth from Rp 900 billion in 2006 to Rp 1.22 trillion in 2007. The profit was mainly boosted by a 6.24 percent increase in sales to Rp 21.79 trillion. Meanwhile, the smaller Bentoel saw its net profit increase from Rp 136 billion in 2006 to Rp 167 billion in 2007. Despite the clove price increases, the company says it plans to move ahead with to construct a new factory in Malang, East Java.

The most lacklustre player in terms of recent growth is also one of the nation’s
most profitable by volume —Sampoerna, now owned by industry giant Phillip Morris International tobacco, only booked a 0.03 percent net profit increase over the previous year, but still managed to bank Rp 3 trillion. However, the company’s net sales did drop slightly to Rp 22 trillion in 2007, down 3.28 percent on the previous year.

Labels: Business

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Banking on its future

Published in Van Zorge Report VOL.X N.5-6 — April 1, 2008

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) is gambling on the future of the Indonesian banking but some analysts believe they are paying too high a price. Maybank’s larger than expected bid of US$2.7 billion for PT Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) saw shares in Malaysia’s biggest bank drop 7.3 percent in one day, its largest tumble in six years.
Analysts agreed.
The reaction of Julian Chua from Citigroup Inc. in Kuala Lumpur was typical. “The price is higher than we assumed for a mediocre franchise [BII],” Chua said late last week, adding he had cut his rating on Maybank stock to “sell” from “buy”.

However, Maybank believes it is backing a winner, at least in the longer term. Last year’s PricewaterhouseCoopers’ report said that by 2050, Indonesia’s banking industry could rival that of France or Italy but with considerably higher returns.

The industry has experienced good growth, in line with the country’s strong economic expansion and surging stock market. The economy grew 6.3 percent in 2007, its biggest increase in more than a decade, while the benchmark stock index increased seven fold in the past six years.

A number of success stories have emerged from the national banking industry, which provides relatively high return-on-equity. Banking credit disbursement was up 25 percent in 2007, compared to 14 percent growth in 2006, while the net profit grew 27.7 percent in 2007 to Rp30 trillion (US$3.27 billion). The profits have been attributed to savings’ interest rate cuts and the growth of small and medium enterprises and consumer credit, which give high margins.

Indonesia’s central bank, meanwhile, is aiming to consolidate the country’s 130 banks, which have total assets of around $200 billion, by promoting mergers and acquisitions.
Maybank agreed to pay $1.5 billion for a 56 percent stake in BII, Indonesia’s sixth-largest bank, and offered $1.2 billion for the remaining stock—4.7 times the book value and almost double the average for Indonesian banks.

Maybank forecast the deal would not boost earnings until the third year, diminishing prospects that the bank would return some of its $11 billion cash on hand to shareholders. The Malaysian lender beat off rivals that included Bank of China Ltd to buy the controlling stake in BII from a group led by Singapore sovereign wealth
fund Temasek Holdings Pte. Temasek, which controls stakes in BII and Bank Danamon, is selling its BII stake to comply with the central bank’s new “single presence policy” that prevents foreign investors from owning more than one bank in Indonesia.

BII’s profit has fallen for the past three years and Temasek has also been accused of not completing knowledge transfer as expected. However, shares in BII have increased four-fold since Temasek bought in in 2003. Maybank’s purchase of BII and its 230 branches will make the Malaysian lender the largest foreign services company in Indonesia. Though streamlining the bank in likely to be a painful process, there is a need for Maybank to acquire growth for the longer term. BII provides such an opportunity.

Analysts believe that the Indonesian banking industry will continue to attract foreign investment. This is good news for Indonesia. The aggressive new players will make the banking industry more professional and competitive. It has also been forecast that it will be more difficult for banks to be able to attract third-party funds. Growing public awareness of stocks, mutual funds or state bonds that give high returns will encourage more people to seek these alternative investment products.

Nevertheless, the outlook for the local banking sector and credit market remains positive, although oil and food price hikes and a stock market slowdown may provide some limited hindrances.

Labels: Business

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INDONESIA: HIV spreads among IDUs despite campaigns

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76589

JAKARTA, 5 February 2008 (PlusNews) - Tanjung Priok District, where the port is located in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, is said to have three suns above it instead of one because of its extreme heat in an already hot city. Aside from the climate, the district is also known for its high levels of crime, especially drug dealing.

Eep*, 24, started using heroin when he was in junior high school while Fendi*, 21, had easy access to drugs because his uncle was a dealer and used drugs in his parents' living room. Similar stories are plentiful here.

There used to be few programmes for drug users in Tanjung Priok with activists often describing the District as too dangerous to operate in, but in the past few years clean needle programmes have been introduced, and a methadone [drug substitute used for treating heroin addicts] clinic opened in 2007.

Drugs are a major problem in Indonesia and injecting drug use is particularly rampant. In 2006 the Ministry of Health estimated the number of injecting drug users (IDUs) at between 190,000 and 247,000.

Injecting drug use is also the primary cause of HIV infection: the health ministry estimated that nearly half the 10,384 HIV/AIDS cases reported by September 2007 were IDUs. In "hot spots", like the capital, 72 percent of HIV/AIDS patients are IDUs; in West Java that number climbs to 80 percent.

Inang Winarso of the National AIDS Commission (NAC) said the government had scaled up efforts to prevent HIV infection among IDUs, mainly by adopting a 'harm reduction' strategy.

Harm reduction can be broadly interpreted to mean anything from safer sex counselling to condom distribution, but in the Asian context it usually means programmes providing clean needles and substitute drugs.

Clean needle programmes only reached 20 percent of IDUs in 2004, but according to the NAC they now reach 80 percent. There are 24 clinics providing methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) at hospitals, community health centres and prisons around the country, with plans to open more in the near future.

A study by the University of Padjadjaran in Bandung, about 100km southwest of Jakarta in West Java, found methadone effective in keeping drug users away from heroin and crime.

Despite the scaled-up efforts, the number of HIV infections among IDUs continues to rise. Recent research found HIV prevalence among Indonesian IDUs ranged between 40 and 90 percent, depending on the area. A study of teenage IDUs by the University of Indonesia's Public Health Faculty revealed that 62 percent of the teenagers reused needles, with one needle being shared by up to 18 people.

Winarso admitted that current efforts were not sufficient: limited facilities, human resources and supplies of methadone, which has to be imported, meant one MMT clinic could only serve up to 150 clients. Another challenge was the lack of available treatment for HIV-positive IDUs. He said many doctors refused to treat IDUs who kept on injecting.

However, Joyce Djaelani Gordon, an activist with the Harapan Permata Hati Kita Foundation, which runs programmes for drug users, said only a few doctors refused to treat HIV-positive IDUs.

"The problem with doctors is an old story," she said. "The [bigger] problem is the IDUs who continue to inject drugs with dirty needles, in dirty places ... so they are easily exposed to infections and other diseases, like Hepatitis C. That's why the progress to AIDS is fast."

Djaelani Gordon said there was an urgent need to scale up clean needle programmes and to provide IDUs with information about how to avoid sexual transmission. "We face an alarming fact, as the IDUs are young and sexually active, and even having kids, so we cannot just talk or focus on clean needles or methadone."

UNICEF estimates that thousands of Indonesian women have been infected with HIV through sexual contact with men who inject drugs.

Sekar Wulan Sari, from the Stigma Foundation, a community-based organisation set up to empower drug users and combat stigma and discrimination, slammed the government's focus on drug users rather than drug dealers. "There have been programmes and campaigns, but the HIV infection rate among IDUs continues to increase because the programmes started late and have been sporadic."

She said the harm reduction policy had been introduced without first conducting a proper assessment to ascertain the different rates of infection in different places, and suggested that "There should be good assessment and regulation before we continue with all the programmes and campaigns."

*Not their real names

hd/ks/he

Labels: HIV/AIDS

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INDONESIA: Female condom programme falters

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73983

JAKARTA, 28 August 2007 (PlusNews) - Ningsih [not her real name], 22, was taken aback when she was handed a pack of two female condoms in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, but was even more surprised when she opened one. Measuring 17cm long and 7cm in diameter with a sponge attached inside, the female condom is indeed large compared to a male condom.

"My, it's so huge. Will it be painful using it?" asked the self-professed freelance sex worker, who was hanging out at a sidewalk stall in the Pramuka area of East Jakarta, a well known pick-up spot.

She told IRIN/PlusNews she was not willing to try the female condom; she was fine with a tri-monthly contraceptive injection, which kept her from getting pregnant.

What about sexually transmitted infections (STIs)? "I heard condoms might prevent that, but most of the clients don't want to use them, and I don't dare to insist, although I sometimes provide them," she said. "If a client ejaculates inside me I wash with Betadine," she added, referring to a popular feminine hygiene product.

Indonesia has worked hard to increase condom use but, hampered by a strong patriarchal culture and a sporadic approach to promoting them, the results have been disappointing.

Data from the nonprofit public health organisation, Family Health International, puts Indonesia at the bottom of a list ranking condom usage in Asian countries.

According to official statistics from June 2007, the country's HIV infection rate has reached around one percent, with 5,813 recorded cases of people living with HIV and another 9,689 people living with AIDS, but experts estimate that the real number of HIV-infected Indonesians is between 90,000 and 250,000 out of a population of 223 million.

While HIV infection rates are highest among injecting drug users (IDUs), sex workers and their clients, government officials estimate that 20 percent to 30 percent of infections occur during unprotected sex.

"We've done campaigns to increase [male] condom use and failed. We're facing an alarming situation at the moment, with the general population becoming infected," Sri Kusniyati, deputy secretary of the National AIDS Commission, told IRIN/PlusNews

HIV infections have already become generalised in the easternmost province of Papua. In this remote mountainous area, where levels of awareness are low and condoms difficult to access, more than two percent of the 2.5 million population are estimated to be HIV-infected.

Some encouragement

The government ran a trial of female condoms in selected areas of Papua in August 2006. According to Kusniyati, women who tried the condoms said they and their husbands enjoyed using them.

Encouraged by the positive feedback from the trial, the government launched a national female condom programme in February 2007. Six months later, however, the programme has been criticised for poor distribution and supply, the high price of the condoms (15,000 rupiahs, or US$1.60 for a pack of two), and even for discriminating against women.

"It has been a year since the female condom was distributed in Papua but, until today, not even one condom can be accessed by our group and we're based in the provincial capital [Jayapura], not in a remote area," said Robert Sihombing of the Jayapura Support Group, a local organisation that provides food packages, financial assistance and emotional support to local people living with HIV/AIDS.

Activists have slammed the programme for, once again, putting the burden on women. "The campaign against HIV/AIDS in this country is often discriminatory," said activist Mukhotib MD from Magelang, a city in Central Java Province.

"In East Nusa Tenggara Province [in the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, consisting of 550 islands], for instance, fishermen are called on not to have sex with sex workers without using a condom, but there's no mention in the campaign of not having sex with their wives without using condoms," he said.

"We're afraid that 10 years from now, if HIV infections remain uncontrolled, then women will be blamed, when in fact it's the whole problem of social construction which positions men with the rights to sex and women with the duty to serve them," Mukhotib added.

Kusniyati, of the National AIDS Commission, said the female condom programme was launched to give women more options and to empower them, not to discriminate against them. The Commission was currently training campaigners in six provinces, not only to promote female condoms but also to increase knowledge of HIV/AIDS.

The price of female condoms remained relatively high because they had to be imported, Kusniyati admitted. "We need to push for cooperation with the state Family Planning Coordinating Body, which provides contraceptive products, including condoms, for poor people ... [but it] will only launch a female condom programme some time in 2008."

Hera Diani

Labels: HIV/AIDS, women's right

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Not so NEET Japanese Youth

(Published in the July 2007 edition of SOAP magazine)

Budaya pop anak muda Jepang telah memberikan inspirasi dan impresi bagi banyak orang di seluruh dunia, dari Gwen Stefani sampai juri Academy Awards. Namun di balik hip-nya Harajuku, manga dan J-Pop, generasi muda itu menyimpan kegelisahan yang dalam, jika tidak ingin disebut destruktif.

Oleh Hera Diani

Angin bertiup kencang di kampus Keio University di Tokyo saat itu dan kami, jurnalis yang rata-rata datang dari negara dunia ketiga yang beriklim tropis mulai menggigil. Eri Miyoshi, mahasiswi S1 jurusan ekonomi di universitas tertua di Jepang yang ditunjuk sebagai chaperone itu tertawa kecil melihat keadaan kami.

"Ini sama sekali belum terasa dingin buat kami," ujar Eri, dengan bahasa Inggris logat Amerika yang lancar, sisa-sisa menjadi peserta pertukaran pelajar. Ia, seperti layaknya anak muda Jepang, sangat keren dan trendi, dengan rok mini dan sepatu bot, dan sesekali bercanda dengan kawan-kawannya yang juga tampak sangat stylish tapi juga quirky, khas anak muda Jepang.

Melihat mereka sekilas, sepertinya anak muda Jepang had it all good. Datang dari negara maju dan kaya di mana cuma ada dua kelas ekonomi, kelas atas dan kelas menengah, tidak ada kelas bawah di Jepang. Anak-anak muda Jepang pun dikenal kreatif dan punya gaya sendiri, dengan budaya pop yang menginspirasi dunia.

Namun di balik itu semua, bahkan Eri dan kawan-kawan pun menyimpan kegelisahan. Selain ketatnya persaingan dan sistem pembelajaran di universitas, setelah lulus, persaingan pun semakin tajam ditambah budaya dan beban di tempat kerja yang begitu berat, dengan jam kerja yang panjang.

"Meski kami mahasiswa universitas terkemuka, tapi belum tentu juga kami akan mudah mendapat kerja. Banyak teman kami yang tidak kunjung mendapat pekerjaan, akhirnya malah menjadi NEET," kata Eri.

Apa pula itu?
Pertama kali dilontarkan di Inggris, NEET merupakan singkatan dari 'Not currently engaged in Employment, Education and Training', alias orang-orang yang tidak sedang bersekolah, bekerja atau ikut pelatihan serta tidak menikah.

Jika tidak melakukan aktivitas-aktivitas tersebut, jadi apa yang mereka lakukan sehari-hari? Ya, nongkrong-nongkrong gitu deh. Atau diam seharian di rumah (orang tua), bahkan mengunci diri di dalam kamar.

Di Jepang, fenomena NEET ini telah memunculkan isu sosial dan ekonomi yang serius karena kurang lebih satu dari 40 orang dari kelompok umur 15 sampai 34 tahun atau sekitar 850,000 orang menurut data 2004 tergolong NEET. Diperkirakan jumlah itu akan terus bertambah menjadi 984.000 pada 2010. Belum lagi ada sekitar dua juta orang muda yang lebih suka jadi freeters alias loncat dari satu pekerjaan paruh waktu ke pekerjaan paruh waktu lainnya, ditambah sekitar 650.000 orang lainnya (data lain mematok angka 1,46 juta) yang pengangguran.

Semua masalah ini tentunya meresahkan karena bisa merusak ekonomi negara berpenduduk 128 juta itu. Anak-anak muda yang seharusnya produktif (60 persen NEET berusia 25-34 tahun) dan menyumbang pada pendapatan negara, salah satunya dengan membayar asuransi, malah ada di posisi menerima bantuan keuangan. Lebih lanjut lagi, gejala ini dikhawatirkan akan meningkatkan pemakaian narkoba, kriminalitas, dan memunculkan kelas ekonomi bawah yang tadinya tidak ada di Jepang.

NEET dan Latar Belakang
Ada beberapa jenis NEET yang dikategorikan oleh para peneliti di Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training, yaitu tipe anti sosial dan hedonistik; tipe penarik diri, yang tidak mampu membangun relasi dengan masyarakat dan sebagai gantinya menutup diri; tipe ‘paralyzed’, yang berpikir terlalu keras dalam mencari pekerjaan dan malah menghadapi jalan buntu; dan tipe cepat menyerah, yaitu yang sudah pernah bekerja namun tidak lama kemudian keluar dari pekerjaannya dan alhasil kehilangan kepercayaan diri.

Kei Kudo, salah satu pendiri Master & Pupil (MP) yang mengorganisir NEET, mengatakan bahwa banyak NEET yang sangat tertekan karena tidak kunjung mendapat pekerjaan sampai terkena penyakit kulit dan gangguan jiwa.

"Yang termasuk NEET ini ada juga perempuan-perempuan muda yang harus tinggal di rumah untuk mengurus kakek neneknya (Jepang memiliki populasi berusia sepuh yang sangat tinggi, tapi itu soal lain). Ada juga lulusan-lulusan dari luar negeri yang kesulitan berintegrasi dengan masyarakat," katanya.

Namun Kudo menolak prasangka bahwa NEET adalah sekumpulan anak-anak manja yang terbiasa hidup enak dan tidak mau susah, karena banyak di antara mereka juga bukan anak-anak orang kaya.

"Persoalan NEET bukan sekedar anak-anak manja yang tidak mau berjuang, tapi lebih dari itu. Ada persoalan psikologis yang membuat mereka menarik diri dari masyarakat dan memilih tinggal di rumah daripada mencari pekerjaan," ujarnya baru-baru ini saat kami bertemu di Tokyo.

Mariko Fujimoto, direktur riset di lembaga penelitian Hakuhodo Inc. Institute of Life and Living, berkata bahwa kemunculan NEET dilatarbelakangi salah satunya oleh masalah ekonomi. Sepuluh sampai 12 tahun terakhir ini, menurut Fujimoto, merupakan periode yang turbulen bagi ekonomi negara matahari terbit itu, meski Jepang masih termasuk negara terkaya di dunia.

Dalam periode ini, ada perusahaan-perusahaan yang mendapuk untung, tapi banyak juga yang merugi dan akibatnya banyak yang harus mem-PHK karyawan-karyawannya. Selain itu, teknologi robot juga mengambil alih sehingga proses manufaktur di Jepang tidak lagi terlalu memerlukan tenaga manusia. Banyak juga perusahaan yang lebih memilih melakukan produksinya di negara lain. Jadi, desain bisa saja dilakukan di Jepang, tapi pabrik didirikan di luar Jepang.

"Generasi muda sekarang menghadapi situasi yang berbeda dengan generasi sebelumnya yang mencicipi masa 'booming economy'. Anak-anak muda berusia 20-30 tahun sekarang ini merupakan kelompok pertama yang mengalami masa resesi panjang. Dan meski mereka mendapatkan pendidikan bermutu, banyak yang sulit mencari pekerjaan ketika lulus SMA dan universitas," kata Fujimoto saat ditemui di kantornya yang juga merupakan biro iklan besar.

Pasar tenaga kerja menjadi sangat kompetitif dan sangat tidak stabil bagi anak muda. Banyak perusahaan yang lebih memilih mempekerjakan pegawai paruh waktu agar tidak usah memberikan asuransi dan pesangon.

Di lain pihak, bukan hanya resesi yang menyebabkan sulitnya lapangan pekerjaan, tapi ada juga masalah ketidakselarasan antara dunia pendidikan dan industri.

"Ada lulusan-lulusan yang oversupply, misalnya dari jurusan teknik, sains lingkungan, kajian Asia, ekonomi dan sosiologi. Para lulusan juga tidak terlatih dan tidak dipersiapkan untuk kebutuhan industri. Hal ini menyulitkan Jepang yang ingin lebih jauh terlibat dalam ekon" kata Fujimoto.

Menteri Pendidikan, Kebudayaan, Olah Raga, Sains dan Teknologi, Nariaki Nakayama mengatakan bahwa kompetisi pendidikan yang ketat juga berkontribusi dalam menghasilkan NEET ini.

"Dulu kita mengajarkan di sekolah bahwa kompetisi itu tidak baik. Tapi nyatanya begitu kita bekerja, kita dihadapkan pada kompetisi super ketat, dan anak-anak jadi bingung karenanya. Bukankah pendidikan saat ini menghasilkan gelombang NEET dan freeters yang besar?" ujarnya tahun lalu.

Produk pemanjaan orang tua
Meski Kudo menolak stigma NEET sebagai anak manja kaya, namun diakui banyak ahli bahwa sebagian NEET memang produk pola asuh dari orang tua yang terlalu memanjakan anak-anaknya.

Menurut Fujimoto, kebanyakan dari kelompok NEET ini datang dari keluarga dengan jumlah anak yang lebih sedikit dari generasi sebelumnya, dengan orang tua yang cukup berada dan sanggup membiayai pendidikan berkualitas.

"Para orang tua tersebut saking sayangnya pada anak-anak mereka, tidak memaksa anak-anaknya untuk langsung bekerja setelah lulus. Mereka senang-senang saja mengakomodasi anak-anaknya untuk sementara sehingga banyak anak muda yang masih tinggal bersama orang tuanya," katanya.

Para orang tua itu mendorong si anak untuk mencari 'passion' nya, dan meminta mereka untuk tidak bertahan dalam pekerjaan yang tidak mereka senangi.

Pola pengasuhan ini ternyata berbalik menyesatkan anak-anak muda itu. Alih-alih mencari passion hidupnya, mereka malah tidak tahu apa yang mereka inginkan dalam hidup mereka.

"Anak-anak muda ini juga tidak merasa ada masalah jika mereka tidak bekerja. Para orang tua mereka patut disalahkan karena tidak berhasil mengajarkan anak-anak mereka makna dari bekerja," ujar presiden Hosei University, Tadao Kiyonari, suatu waktu.
Atau dalam istilah salah seorang kawan, jurnalis Amerika yang sempat bertugas di Jepang selama lebih 20 tahun, "Young Japanese are not 'hungry' anymore."

Solusi untuk NEET
Prof. Akira Takanashi dari Shinshu University pernah mengatakan bahwa "Fenomena NEET merupakan pemberontakan anak muda terhadap tatanan masyarakat secara diam-diam. Jika dulu pada periode 1960an-1970an para mahasiswa memberontak secara sadar dan melakukan protes, karakteristik dari NEET sekarang ini adalah mereka tidak sadar telah melakukan protes (unconscious quality)."

Ia menambahkan bahwa masyarakat, termasuk sektor industri dan pendidikan, bertanggung jawab memecah fenomena ini. "Sekolah sangat kurang memberikan informasi pendidikan kerja," katanya.

Pemerintah Jepang sendiri pada 2005 sudah membentuk satu komite untuk membangun strategi dalam menolong anak muda menjadi lebih mandiri dan bisa menyelesaikan masalah-masalah mereka. Ada juga usulan untuk membangun sekolah di mana anak-anak muda bisa mendapatkan keterampilan dasar, dengan format seperti 'training camp.'
Kalangan industri juga sudah mulai memiliki perhatian terhadap masalah NEET. Kenzaburo Mogi, vice chairman dari Kikkoman Corporation, mengatakan bahwa industri juga turut bertanggung jawab karena tidak mampu menyediakan lapangan pekerjaan yang cukup.

"Industri seharusnya melakukan sesuatu bersama dengan pemerintah, misalnya dengan melakukan pelatihan," ujar Mogi, meski ia mengakui perusahaan tempat ia bernaung belum memiliki program untuk NEET.

Sementara itu, Kei Kudo dengan Master & Pupil-nya (www.sodateage.net) yang dibentuk 2001 berusaha membantu anak muda mendapatkan pekerjaan lewat pelatihan kerja serta pelayanan konseling.

Namun program di MP ini tidak gratis, karena biaya tiap peserta per bulannya sekitar 50.000 Yen per bulan atau sekitar Rp 10 juta, meski setengahnya disubsidi pemerintah. Pelatihan yang diberikan di antaranya pelatihan untuk sektor pertanian, informasi teknologi dan manufaktur.

Sejauh ini, menurut Kudo, sudah ada sekitar 10.000 – 15.000 orang yang sudah mendapatkan pelatihan dan bekerja di kantor pemerintahan atau swasta.

"Organisasi kami masih terbatas dalam menjangkau NEET dan menyediakan aktivitas dan kesempatan untuk mereka. Kami percaya dan merekomendasikan bahwa membangun jaringan dengan komunitas akan membantu para NEET," ujar Kudo.

Yang penting menurut Prof. Takanashi adalah masyarakat tidak memandang sebelah mata pada para NEET ini.

"Tidak ada gunanya menyalahkan NEET dan memberitahu mereka supaya berhenti bersikap seperti anak kecil. Yang paling penting adalah supaya masyarakat berubah dan lebih dekat dengan anak-anak muda ini."

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