Over the weekend, my sister-in-law sent me an e-mail about an article on bloomberg by William Pesek, Jr. comparing Google to Indonesia in terms of their market value at the stock exchange. Well the bottom line of his article was basically on how undervalued the Jakarta Stock Exchange (BEJ) and how ridiculous it is that Google's market cap actually surpasses the value of the entire stock market of the world's fourth most populous nation. It's definitely nice to see a somewhat positive view on my country from a business perspective because it's not the same when politicians make positive statements. There's just too much patriotism and political correctness when statements are made by governmental spokepeople while the business community is more blunt and practical, thus rendering it more real.

But earlier today, I received the latest Corruptions Perceptions Index by Transparency International, the Germany-based watchdog. Well, surprise, surprise, Indonesia is rounding up the bottom fifth sharing the 137th spot with Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Iraq, Liberia, and Uzbekistan. I can't believe we're worse off than countries like Sierra Leone (126), the Philippines (13), or even war-torn countries like Serbia & Montenegro (97) and Bosnia & Herzegovina (88).

Well I suppose, when you're at the bottom, there's no other way but up, is there?