Why Are a Group of Indonesian Journalists Boycotting Starbucks?

Vice.com - The growing popularity of big American brands in Jakarta is undeniable. However, a group of journalists are boycotting some of the very biggest.

Why? Because they believe many of these brands, including Starbucks, are owned by one of the most corrupt, greedy, and filthy rich businessmen that Indonesia has ever produced.

Business tycoon Syjamsul Nursalim embezzled over $607 million U.S. from his own bank, BDNI, during the chaos inflicted by the 1997 Asian financial crisis and subsequent Jakarta riots. After channeling the cash to offshore accounts, BDNI customers made a run on their accounts. Nursalim then convinced the state bank to bail out his flailing business to the tune of over $2.5 billion.

He was indicted and imprisoned in April 2001 by Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office, but oddly Nursalim was granted medical leave to go to Japan for treatment shortly after. Guess what? He didn't come back.

It's not clear why the Attorney General’s Office stopped chasing Nursalim in 2004, although having friends in high places probably had something to do with it.

Now, with an estimated personal wealth of over $950 million, Nursalim resides comfortably in Singapore while 100 million Indonesians scrape by on $2 dollars a day or less (not even enough for a small Starbucks latte). The brands he owns under his primary company and biggest lifestyle retailer in Indonesia, Mitra Adiperkasa (MAP), include Starbucks, Burger King and Zara among many others.

Jakarta has more malls than any other city in the world, and in order to compete, they need the big brands. Such is MAP’s domination that they can demand whatever fee they want from new malls.

While many latte-sipping Indonesians are unaware of Nursalim’s involvement (or simply choose to ignore an inconvenient truth—some people do actually LIKE the taste of Starbucks coffee), the green and white giant cannot plead the same ignorance. Insider sources have since confirmed to VICE that Starbucks knew full well about Nursalim’s underhand activities before they formed their incredibly profitable partnership.

But not everyone is willing to support the relentless lining of Nursalim’s bulging pockets. Bambang Harymurti, CEO of one of Indonesia’s oldest news organisations, renowned upholder of the free press and qualified astronaut, is leading the charge. Bambang, who likes his coffee strong and tasty, continues to pass the truth about Nursalim (and other such cronies) onto his young generation of journalists in an attempt to make them more socially conscious. He, and many of his staff, now boycott Starbucks and the other brands of Nursalim to make an example of those Indonesians who have benefited while others have suffered.

“Those of us who are privileged enough to have jobs, and the ability to buy consumer products, should be standing up for those who have been thrown into poverty by people like Nursalim,” he said. “My main focus is to get the truth out about the way these people make their money, but in the meantime I'm more than happy to drink local coffee.”

After the near-collapse of Indonesia’s economy in 1997, GDP per capita fell over 15 percent while 51 million new poor people emerged (i.e. those living on less than $2 per day).

In an election year for the world’s third biggest democracy, journalists like Bambang are optimistic that Indonesians will take greater effort to scrutinise not only the coffee they are drinking but also the presidential candidates, many of whom have shady backgrounds of corruption and even human rights abuses.

Hopefully they will forgo the Starbucks-equivalent candidate (nice packaging but that's about it) and opt for a more honest and independent brand of politician to avoid a frothy disappointment.

Hong Kong Starbucks Used "Toilet Water" To Make Coffee

Kotaku.com - In Hong Kong, Starbucks patrons are upset and for good reason: the coffee chain's Central Hong Kong branch has used "toilet water" to brew coffee since it opened two years ago.

According to Apple Daily, a staffer would push a cart into a men's restroom in a nearby parking garage, fill it will water, and then push the cart back to Starbucks, where the "toilet water" would be then filtered. This would happen up to seventy times a day. The bathroom faucet was used because there was no nearby water source.

The faucet that Starbucks used was only a few feet away from a urinal. There were concerns about hygiene, and Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department told Apple Daily that this Starbucks' use of water was not within regulations. Since this discovery, the department has apparently issued a warning to the coffee chain's Central Hong Kong restaurant.

Ben Cowling, associate professor from the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, told HK Magazine that filtering the water should remove harmful bacteria. However, a purifier would be necessary to remove the smaller-sized viruses that could be present in the water.

But that wasn't his only concern, HK Magazine pointed out. "If the staff need to frequently visit the toilet, they may increase the risk of bringing other pathogens from the washroom into their food and drink preparation area," Cowling added.

Patrons are understandably upset. One woman told Apple Daily that it was Starbucks' responsiblity to have a clean water supply, no matter the cost. "People with common sense wouldn't have used the water from toilet pipes," said a male Hong Kong resident. Many Starbucks patrons expressed uneasiness about the whole situation.

While it might be debatable whether what we all are drinking is technically "toilet water", the thing that many patrons seem to find most offensive is where the water was taken from—literally, a faucet next to a urinal.

"Making huge profits globally but chose [SIC] to use toilet water for making coffee in that store rather than spending a few cents to use distilled water," wrote Hong Kong resident Kevin L on the Starbucks Facebook page. "We pay a few dollars to buy a cup of coffee (and you know your profit margin) and we get this kind of disrespect for our mind and health!"

On Facebook, Starbucks Hong Kong issued this reply: "Please kindly accept our apologies for the concerns raised by the coverage on the water source at the Bank of China Tower store. While the water used at that store was drinking water and certified as safe, we would like to clarify any misperceptions, as quality and safety have always been our top priority. We are now using distilled water to serve that store while we work with all parties on acceptable options."

The Starbucks began using distilled bottled water this past weekend.

Coffee Shrinks Breasts

Damn you, Starbucks: Too much coffee can cause a woman’s breasts to shrink, according to a new study.

The research, conducted at Sweden’s Lund University, found gals who drank as few as three cups of joe a day had measurable effects. (I tried to apply for the “official measurer” job, but they never responded to my application.) The scientists believe about half of all women have a random gene that causes the coffee-breast connection. In those women, they believe, the cup size goes down with every cup downed.

“They will get smaller, but the breasts aren’t just going to disappear,” says Helena Jernstroem, an experimental oncology lecturer at Lund University.

Just when we thought we’d come up with a great new game, though, the researchers nixed our idea:

“Anyone who thinks they can tell which women are coffee drinkers just from their bra measurements will be disappointed,” Jernstroem insists. “The problem is that there are two measures for a bra, the cup size and the girth, so you wouldn’t be able to tell.”