Izkandar's Profile

I like this article a lot, and now want to check out the MET the next time I am up in NYC. My question though, is whether VR and AR could have a significant impact on the industry. As VR and AR develop, the physical location of the museum becomes somewhat irrelevant to the discovery and learning experience. Do you think the MET should be focusing on incorporating VR and AR into the physical museum or do you think they should be building the digital museum for VR and AR, i.e. with their knowledge and ability to develop content, that can be experienced anywhere? Also, how does the ability to use VR and AR shift the need the need to buy and curate physical exhibits, I wonder whether museums will move away from acquiring new works and artifacts, and what this will mean for the art industry as a whole.

I like this a lot! Do you think there is value for HMHC in adapting their business model to include non HMHC-generated content? i.e. with their platform and technology in place in schools, should they push content from other providers, particularly of niche topic areas etc. Could be an interesting value-add proposition for HMHC if they were to think about M&A with other content developers.

I empathize with this, the train system in Malaysia has similar issues. Has this seen an increase in the number of passengers using a train as a means for transport? Or does the nature of the network not support it, i.e. will some people never really need to use it irrespective of relative convenience? A challenge faced in Malaysia is that the long-standing inconvenience of the railway network made it a means of transport for lower-income groups, resulting in trains becoming less well-maintained. I would be skeptical, in Malaysia, if significant efficiency gains would attract many people to use the railway network over a car etc, given the quality of the service in place.

Jolynn, I’m a frequent user of Blue Bird. When you think about the competition for Indonesia amongst ride-hailing (and ride-sharing apps) do you think Blue Bird is diverting a lot of their stable cash flows to compete against Uber / Go-Jek et al? I expect that the size of Blue Bird allows for this, but I wonder how this aligns with their shareholders. Do you foresee a similar deal between Uber and Blue Bird to that of Uber and Didi in China?

Taka, like you I am a huge fan of Go-Jek, having used it to get to the airport in Jakarta and for deliveries in Bali. My question is how do you think the insurance issues, which affect Uber come to affect Go-Jek. What happens if someone gets hurt on a Go-Jek? What happens if Go-Jek delivers alcohol to those under the age of 18? Does the (for now, lax) regulatory environment allow Go-Jek to exist, and do you think that Go-Jek can be so easily replicated overseas?

Krishna, this is great! I think any way forward should include greater use of Robusta beans! You will know that Robusta beans is easier to care for and has a greater crop yield than Arabica beans. Do you know whether Starbucks today only uses 100% Arabica Beans or whether it is trying to develop blends of Arabica and Robusta? A good blend of Robusta and Arabica can produce a wonderful tasting coffee that has a great “strength” and “finish” (as seen in Italian coffee culture). That said, there is often a shortage of good quality supply of Robusta beans, and I wonder whether Starbucks should be developing this supply chain alongside its efforts with the Arabica supply chain. Indonesia (like Vietnam) has an underdeveloped industry supplying Robusta beans, has significant government support for the development of the industry, and has a large consumer base that is already attuned to the unique Robusta taste! Starbucks should consider investing into the likes of Indonesia to grow its supply base, and adapt its beverage portfolio for these markets.

This is great! Building off what what John Smith has said, there’s a lot more that Kaveri could eventually do to enhance agricultural yields in India. There are some great Indian agri-tech companies that are being identified by http://www.omnivore.vc/. As we saw with the Indigo case, the key to the proliferation of these technologies is to have them actively in the field with customers. Kaveri could take a more active role in driving the adoption of these technologies amongst its consumer base. More than this, Kaveri, with its access to its consumer base, could look to play a more active role in identifying and investing into emerging into Indian agri-tech companies – they would be a hugely value adding partner!

This is incredibly interesting! I think the idea of expanding on its current business model to that of a systems integrator and platform developer is a great one! Do you think its possible to do this without proprietary technology or IP? I wonder whether for IoT the “Product-as-a-Service” will be the way forward for IP holders? That said, for as long as the IoT market is fragmented (i.e. across technologies as opposed to total smart home or smart building solutions) I think the role of a systems integrator will continue to be appealing!

Fascinating! With everything you’ve brought up, and in light of the budget considerations raised by mmd, do you think this would be more effective as a model if (1) the DoD builds partners to take care of themselves or (2) the DoD builds partners to take care of regions? To my mind, this could work by having developed countries like Australia (who could partner with the DoD to support the Southeast Asia region) play a bigger role. This strikes me as a more cost effective route, but it’s not clear whether the archetypal partner countries would be willing to cooperate.

Interesting! It’s amazing that our Section’s Malaysian and Indonesian have jumped to the defense of palm oil. I completely agree with you that consumers of palm oil must be willing to absorb some of the costs associated with creating a sustainable supply chain. There’s a real difference among the sustainable practices of players in the industry and yet they all work for the same price. How would you feel if either Malaysia and Indonesia (as Palm Oil suppliers) or importer countries were to set export or import bans on palm oil that is not RSPO+ certified? This would certainly shrink supply, but at the detriment of current smallholders? Is that too much short term pain?