Joko Calls on NU Congress to Tackle Indonesia’s Escalating Intolerance

Jakarta Globe, Aries Sudiono, Aug 02, 2015

President Joko Widodo raised the pressing issue of growing religious
 intolerance in Indonesia during his opening speech for the annual Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU) congress. (Antara Photo/Zabur Karuru)

Jombang, East Java. President Joko Widodo is calling on Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, to increase its role as a representative of moderate and peaceful Islam and to address the issue of extremism wreaking havoc in the Muslim world.

Joko said NU, which is one of the oldest Islamic organizations in Indonesia and has an estimated 60 million followers across the archipelago, has played a significant part in supporting and preserving the pluralistic spirit of the nation since its establishment in 1926.

He called on NU members to hold fast to the group’s “moderate Islamic values,”  but also increase its role in curbing Islamic extremism by helping address the root cause of the rising global phenomenon.

“NU, which has promoted moderate values of Islam since its birth, can heighten its partnership with various parties in order to build a just global order, especially in regards to eradicating poverty, backwardness and inequality — which are the root cause of terrorism and radicalism,” Joko said in his speech during the opening ceremony of NU’s National Congress in Jombang district, East Java, on Saturday evening.

The president reminded the audience of how NU founding figures had contributed to the establishment of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia — proof of the organization’s commitment to nationalism and pluralism.

“As a role model for the promotion of an Islam which is ‘rahmatan lil alamin‘ [a blessing for the entire universe]… NU members must make Islam their guide in building an advanced community — those who make religion a source of advancement, justice and peace.”

Joko cited his meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, saying the latter had been “impressed” with the role of moderate Muslim groups, such a NU and Muhammadiyah, in promoting a tolerant and peaceful face of Islam in Indonesia.

Muhammadiyah is Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic organization. NU is generally seen as traditionalist in orientation while Muhammadiyah is more modernist.

Inter-religious communication

Cameron visited Jakarta for two days last week to boost bilateral trade and promote British investment in Indonesia, as well as to forge a cooperation between the two countries in addressing the growing threat of religious extremism and terrorism – especially after the rise of the jihadist Islamic State movement in Syria and Iraq.

Joko also touched on the Tolikara incident in Papua, where a small mosque was reportedly burned to the ground as part of a riot during the Idul Fitri holiday last month.

Although Muslims make up the majority of Indonesia’s 250 million population, they are a minority in Papua, where most residents are Christian.

The incident incited hate speeches against Christians across social media platforms – although it was later discovered that the mosque was not intentionally burned, but had accidentally caught fire during a riot .

Still, the brouhaha brought to light threats faced by religious minorities anywhere in Indonesia – whether they are Christians in predominantly Muslim regions or vice versa.

Members of the minority Islamic sect Ahmadiyah and Shiites have suffered their fair share of intolerance in recent years, with security officials receiving heavy criticism for failing to protect them.

“The Tolikara incident reminds us of the need to continue to build positive inter-religious communication. The degree of tolerance we have worked hard to build must not be marred by a small group of people,” Joko said.

‘Concrete recommendations’

Members of Indonesia’s Interfaith Forum (FLI), whose representatives were participating in the NU congress in Jombang, voiced their support for Joko’s appeal.

FLI spokesman Husein Muhammad said the congress, which runs through Wednesday, must underline the blaring issue of growing intolerance in Indonesia.

“[Incidents like Tolikara] must not be repeated,” said Husein, an NU cleric and senior teacher at an Islamic boarding school in West Java. “All of us [FLI members] present here support the suggestion that NU should pay special attention to tackling intolerance in our country.”

Another FLI official, Aan Anshori, added that the Tolikara incident also highlighted local governments’ failure to safeguard religious tolerance in their respective regions.

Meanwhile, Wirya, a representative from Buddhist organization Mahavihara Buddha Trowulan in Mojokokerto, East Java, asked for “concrete recommendations” from the NU congress to address the pressing issue.

Reports of attacks carried out by Buddhist monks on the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar have also sparked malicious sentiments against Buddhists in Indonesia among some hard-line Muslim groups.

Saturday evening’s opening ceremony was attended by Indonesia’s fifth president and chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Megawati Soekarnoputri; the wife of late Indonesian president and NU leader Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, Shinta Nuriyah Wahid; as well as a number of cabinet ministers, political party leaders and foreign ambassadors.

NU’s 33th congress will see the election of a new chairman of Indonesia’s largest Muslim group, with candidates that include incumbent Said Aqil Siradj; Abdurrahman’s brother, Salahuddin “Gus Sholah” Wahid; and Said’s current deputy and former deputy of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), As’ad Said Ali.

Muhammadiyah congress

Muhammadiyah, which has some 20 million to 25 million followers across the country, is also organizing its annual national congress this week. It is due to take place in Makassar, South Sulawesi, from Monday through Friday.

Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin said that among the issues that would be discussed was the organization’s commitment to Indonesia’s founding ideology of Pancasila, which is often cited as the official basis for pluralism.

“[The congress] also will discuss Muhammadiyah’s critical views on the state of the nation, particularly regarding nationalism, universal humanity and other strategic issues,” said Din, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), which consists of senior clerics from Indonesia’s major Muslim groups.

Muhammadiyah was founded in 1912 by Muslim trader and cleric Ahmad Dahlan. NU, meanwhile, was founded in 1926 by late president Gus Dur’s grandfather, Hasyim Asy’arie, to counter the spread of Muhammadiyah.

While NU has been focusing on spreading Islam in Indonesia through its traditional Islamic boarding schools and is mostly concentrated on Java, Muhammadiyah has been spreading Islamic teachings by developing its own regular schools, universities and hospitals.

Related Article:

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Syncretist Celebrations of Imlek, Lent and Tolerance

Red-Letter Day: Catholics and Confucians join in shared celebrations across Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Novianti Setuningsih & Carlos Paath, Feb 20, 2015

In Malang, East Java, a model in Chinese costume celebrates Lunar New Year,
which starts the Year of the Goat. (AFP Photo/Aman Rochman)

Jakarta. With the Chinese New Year coinciding with the second day of Lent, Chinese Catholics and Confucians in several cities across Indonesia staged joint ceremonies on Thursday in a show of religious tolerance.

Joint prayer ceremonies were observed at the Hallowed Cross Catholic Church in Cilincing, North Jakarta, where parishioners say the church has staged Chinese New Year celebrations for the past 10 years.

“This year’s celebration is much simpler because it coincides with our pre-Easter rituals,” said Widiyoko, the church’s Chinese New Year chief organizer.

Celebrations at the church, where 25 percent of its 6,000 members are ethnic Chinese, began at 8 a.m. with a mass and ended with a lion dance performance.

The church also gave alms to hundreds of impoverished locals, mainly Muslims.

“Events like this add to the spirit of togetherness. It makes us appreciate one another and not differentiate people based on their ethnicity or religion,” churchgoer Florentina Ninie said.

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin wished Indonesians a prosperous Chinese New Year on Thursday, urging that celebrations be allowed to take place with tolerance.

“I think our society has already been shown to be tolerant, even though there are many religious communities who do not accustom themselves to Imlek,” said Lukman, referring to the Lunar New Year by its Indonesian name.

A similar joint celebration was also observed at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Cibinong, Bogor, according to Bogor’s bishop, Paskalis Bruno Syukur, who presided over the mass.

The Jakarta Police deployed more than 3,000 officers to boost security in the city ahead of the festivities.

The festivities at the start of the Lunar New Year are most commonly associated with ethnic Chinese, but are also celebrated by other communities, including those who identify as Korean (who call it Seollal) and Vietnamese (who speak of Tet).

During the 32-year rule of the late strongman Suharto, the festivities for the start of the Lunar New Year, as well as other expressions of Chinese cultural identity, were banned.

In 2001, then-president Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, revoked the discriminatory regulations and in 2002, then-president Megawati Soekarnoputri declared Chinese New Year a national holiday; it was celebrated as such for the first time in 2003.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

Widodo Promises to Act on Police Chief Spat as Popularity Hit

Jakarta Globe, Neil Chatterjee and Yudith Ho, Feb 03, 2015

President Joko Widodo welcomed a Japanese business delegation at the
palace on Monday. (Antara Photo/Widodo S. Jusuf)

Indonesian President Joko Widodo will decide this week whether to stick with a controversial pick for police chief, an episode that has undermined his political support and put his graft-fighting credentials in question.

“I hope this week I will decide,” Widodo, known as Jokowi, said Monday in an interview in his office at his Dutch- colonial era residence in Jakarta. Asked which way he was leaning, Jokowi laughed and replied “you’ll know after I decide.”

Just days after Jokowi, 53, announced Budi Gunawan as his choice for police chief, the anti-graft agency named the three- star general a corruption suspect. Jokowi said Jan. 16 he had “postponed but not canceled” the nomination while the agency investigated Gunawan, prompting criticism from anti-graft activists.

Jokowi, a former small businessman who rose through the ranks of local government without the support of the major parties, became president after a campaign pledging zero tolerance on corruption and staking his reputation as a reformer.

Three months into his term the furor over his police chief pick threatens to become a distraction from his broader policy agenda in a parliament where he lacks a majority.

Faced with a public backlash if he proceeds with Gunawan, and with spiking tensions between the anti-graft agency known as the KPK and the police, as the police retaliate by moving against two senior KPK officials, Jokowi said he would uphold the rule of law. “I must respect the legal process,” he said.

The rupiah gained 0.4 percent, the most in two weeks, as investors look for a quick conclusion to the dispute following Jokowi’s comments, said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore.

Police Investigations

As the KPK investigates Gunawan, police have begun probes into senior officers at the anti-graft body.

Police are examining a complaint against KPK chairman Abraham Samad related to the issuance of a passport, said Ronny Sompie, a spokesman for the national police, and are looking at his meetings with politicians from Jokowi’s party. Samad was touted as a potential vice-presidential candidate for Jokowi last year.

Relations between the police and corruption fighters were once so marred by acrimony that dozens of officers barged into the KPK to try and arrest an agent investigating the chief traffic cop. Transparency International has described the police force as the nation’s most corrupt institution.

Ratings Slide

Gunawan’s ties to former President Megawati Soekarnoputri could complicate the decision-making process for Jokowi as he seeks to show he’s free from influence. Gunawan was a personal adjutant of Megawati, who was president from 2001 to 2004 and heads the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, the party that backed Jokowi. Jokowi appointed Megawati’s daughter to a post in the Cabinet.

With his popularity sliding, former Jakarta governor Jokowi dismissed the possibility of impeachment, which would need the support of more than three-quarters of parliament. “There is still support from our party, our coalition,” he said, sitting at a desk at Istana Merdeka — or Freedom Palace — in front of a bust of India independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.

Former president Abdurrahman Wahid, known as Gus Dur and Indonesia’s first elected leader after the downfall of dictator Suharto, was impeached in 2001 after less than two years in power, following claims of involvement in financial scandals.

Fallen Popularity

Public satisfaction with Jokowi fell from 71.7 percent in August to 42.3 percent 100 days into his term, a poll late last month by Lingkaran Survei Indonesia showed. Of the 1,200 respondents, 53.1% were unhappy with his nomination of Gunawan for police chief.

“This sort of episode reminds us that he still needs to maintain a tight balancing act between the interests of his own party while maintaining his popularity in the public,” said Euben Paracuelles, an economist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Singapore. “The longer Jokowi allows this to drag on, the more difficult it will be for him” to restore credibility on tackling graft, he said.

Jokowi downplayed the prospect of an alliance with opposition parties, having met last week with opposition leader Prabowo Subianto. Former army general Prabowo, Jokowi’s rival in last year’s presidential race, heads the Gerindra Party and his coalition has a parliamentary majority. Prabowo said in October he’d support Jokowi while being a critic on policies that would harm the nation.

Asked if the meeting could pave the way for an alliance, Jokowi said “there is no talk about that.”

Economics, Politics

“Last week when I met Pak Prabowo we discussed about economics and also about politics,” said Jokowi, who takes a break while in his car by playing phone games and listening to Megadeth, Metallica and Queen.

As Jokowi nears his decision, Gunawan missed an appearance at the KPK last week for scheduled questioning. A hearing where he will seek to have the case dismissed has been delayed to Feb. 9, Kompas reported on its website. He has denied any wrongdoing.

The KPK was set up in 2003 to put teeth into anti-graft efforts across the world’s fourth-most populous nation. It has a 100 percent conviction rate and prosecuted 72 members of parliament, six central bankers and dozens of chief executives in the decade since it was formed in 2003, earning it the support of ordinary Indonesians.

‘Save KPK’

KPK Commissioner Bambang Widjojanto submitted his resignation Jan. 26 after police arrested him for allegedly ordering witnesses to give false testimony to judges ruling in a local election dispute in 2010. Widjojanto will be summoned for police questioning Tuesday, Sompie said.

The KPK, citing Widjojanto, said on Twitter that its fight against corruption would not be silenced. After Widjojanto’s arrest, protesters gathered outside the agency’s offices, shouting “save KPK”. Jokowi now needs to restore trust, said Paul Rowland, a political consultant in Jakarta.

“Indonesians are pretty forgiving in the end, but it depends on whether he takes enough action on the things they care about,” said Rowland.

Whatever his decision on Gunawan, Jokowi will seek to return focus to his planned reforms, including changes to tax collection.

“As a president I must make sure everything must be on track,” he said. “It’s only been 100 days. My work is for five years, so there’s still a lot that hasn’t been done.”

Bloomberg

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Indonesia Looks to an ‘Asian Century’ With China

Jakarta Globe, Vita A.D. Busyra, May 28, 2014

Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, second from right, and
 Chinese President Xi Jinping — accompanied by their wives — shake hands
 during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta in this file photo taken
 on Oct. 2, 2013. Xi’s stop in Jakarta is part of his first official trip across Southeast
Asia. (AFP Photo/Bay Ismoyo)

Jakarta. The Indonesian-Chinese Friendship Association, or PPIT, has officially inaugurated its new 2014-2016 board of supervisors, trustees and advisory council, as it seeks to continue improving the bilateral relations between the two countries in the social, economic and cultural sectors.

PPIT chairman Bondan Gunawan, who served as the Indonesian state secretary in 2000, said on Saturday that Indonesia and China had “countless commonalities” and the need to enhance strategic cooperation should be targeted “not only by strengthening the bilateral relationship, but also increasing the compactness through education, art and culture, sports and humanitarian collaboration.”

“With the appointment of new PPIT board members, coming from various backgrounds and walks of life, we would like to show that Indonesian-Chinese have a strong feeling for Indonesia and a spirit to nurture better relations and cooperation between the two countries,” he told the Jakarta Globe.

“They also have the competence as well as alacrity to mingle with other Indonesians to build a better and greater nation in the future.”

Bondan said several programs were planned by the association, including a film festival in Beijing, and Indonesian-Chinese student exchange program, and the joint production of traditional Chinese medicine.

Sinta Nuriyah, the widow of the late former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid — who ended a decades-long restriction on the practice of Chinese traditions and observations of Chinese holidays imposed by the strongman Suharto — also attended the inauguration and delivered a short remark stating her full support for the association.

Xiao Yiwu, the counselor for cultural affairs at the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta, underscored the importance of sustainable comprehensive strategic partnerships.

“President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono once said that both countries must continuously boost more partnerships in economics, politics, trade and culture as well as increasing people-to-people communication,” he said.

Last year, bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to $52.45 billion, with the value expected to top $ 80 billion by 2015. Direct investment by China in Indonesia amounted to $292.1 billion last year, a dramatic increase from $141 billion the previous year.

Esti Andayani, the Foreign Ministry’s director general for information and public diplomacy, pledged support for the PPIT’s programs.

“We’ve entered what we call the ‘Asian Century,’ in which all countries in Asia, including Indonesia and China, play a pivotal role at the regional and global levels,” Esti said. “And with both countries’ sharing the same vision and perception on, for example, climate change, food security, energy and global financial institution reformation, we’ve come to agree to increase cooperation and coordination, while upholding the commitment to peace, stability and prosperity for the region and on the international stage.”

Gus Dur to Receive National Hero Honors: E. Java Official

Jakarta Globe, Amir Tejo & Candra Malik | October 05, 2010       

Jakarta. The government will soon declare late President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid a national hero in response to widespread demand from the people of East Java.

Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, seen in this file photo,
 will soon be named a national hero by the government
 in response to widespread demand from the people
of East Java. (JG Photo)    

Deputy Governor Syaifullah Yusuf said he had received verbal notification from the Ministry of Social Affairs and was now waiting for the formal letter to be issued as the province plans to officially announce the honor on National Heroes day on Nov. 10.

Gus Dur, much noted for his efforts in promoting pluralism in the country, was born in Jombang district, East Java.

“We are waiting for the president to sign the letter to be handed over in time for National Heroes day,” Syaifullah said. “We thank the government for its prompt response to our request.”

There were many spontaneous appeals to the government to grant Gus Dur the honor after he passed away in December.

However, Gus Dur’s family said it had not been notified by the government of the plan to declare him a hero.

“Our family has never proposed anything to the government to honor Gus Dur in any form. We did not request the government to renovate his grave, nor did we ask for a national hero title,” Annita Hayatunnufus, Gus Dur’s third daughter, told the Jakarta Globe.

The family said it would wait for formal notification before responding.

In addition to the national honor, the provincial government is planning to renovate the former president’s burial site by widening the access road to allow more visitors.

About 8,000 visitors make their way to the tomb for weekend pilgrimages, with 4,000 more coming during the week, according to provincial government data.

Gus Dur, known as a champion of democracy and moderate Islam, died at the age of 69.

He was Indonesia’s fourth president and was the first elected head of state after the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998.

Educated in Indonesia, Egypt, Iraq and Canada, Gus Dur had a reputation for religious tolerance and moderate politics.

Aside from his prominent political role, he was also leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, a Muslim organization with about 40 million members and one of the largest independent Islamic organizations in the world.

Nico Schulte Nordholt: Dutch scholar demands ‘genuine’ recognition of 1945 independence

The Jakarta Post, Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Leiden | Thu, 07/08/2010 9:18 AM

When Nico Schulte Nordholt and other prominent Dutch intellectuals signed and launched a petition demanding that the Dutch government should genuinely, in a political and moral sense, recognize Aug. 17, 1945, instead of Dec. 27, 1949, as the birth of Indonesia’s independence, they were shrugged off by many quarters of Dutch society.

Nico Schulte Nordholt - JP/Alpha Amirrachman

This is because the then Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister, Ben Bot, when attending the national flag ceremony at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta in 2005, had already stated the Dutch government accepted Aug. 17, 1945 as the historical start point of Indonesian independence.

“However, for the signatories of the petition this official stance of the Dutch government is not sufficient.”

The signatories are convinced, he said, “that the acceptance of Aug. 17, 1945 as a historical fact is significantly different from our plea to a genuine recognition, in a political and a moral sense, of Aug. 17, 1945 as the birth of Indonesia’s independence,” Nordholt said during a recent discussion. It was on “pluralization of narratives on the history of Indonesian independence,” recently held at Leiden University.

So why is “acceptance” not enough?

“By using ‘acceptance’, indeed a historical event, namely the proclamation, is no longer denied, but with ‘acceptance’ one does not acknowledge the deeper meaning of this proclamation, namely the fact that the Indonesian people have the right to proclaim their independence on the moment their leaders choose to act.

‘Recognition’ also implies the acknowledgment of the strong nationalist movement that had led to this proclamation, with all its political implications, also for the present,” said Nordholt.

Born on Oct. 1, 1940, in Kefamenanoe, the capital of Timor Tengah Utara in West Timor province, Nordholt has long ties with Indonesia.

His father, Herman Gerrit Nordholt, was a local official within the colonial administration. From 1936 to 1947 the family spent their time in Indonesia, including during the turbulent period of Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945.

He recalled how the Japanese imprisoned all the members of his family without trial for three years.

He also remembered how his mother, Oetje Zielhuis, taught his two elder sisters, Johanna Gezina and Neeltje, school lessons at home.

After the Japanese surrender, many Dutch people returned home. However, his father was again posted in Kefamenanoe. He often accompanied his father on his duties when touring his district.

This experience gave Nordholt a sense of the pulse of the society he later lived in for many years again. In 1947, just two years after Sukarno and Hatta declared Indonesia’s independence, his family returned to the Netherlands.

Asked if the petition would also do any good to Dutch society, he said there were four groups of “victims of history” residing in the Netherlands.

First, these were veteran soldiers who had served the Dutch East Indies; second, the “Eurasians” with Dutch and Indonesian backgrounds — many of whom had severely suffered atrocities during the independence movement.

The third group were the Moluccans, the ex-Dutch East Indies Army soldiers, shipped to the Netherlands with their families under the false argument of a “temporary arrangement”; and fourth, the Papuans, who arrived in the Netherlands after 1969.

“Recognition also implies the acknowledgment of the strong nationalist movement that had led to this proclamation.”

He said if the Dutch eventually and genuinely recognize Aug. 17 1945 as Indonesia’s day of independence, they should first settle the remaining problems that beset these groups of victims of history, including any family members currently living in the Netherlands.

Later, Nordholt’s father became a history teacher, and in the 1960s he became professor in anthropology at the Free University in Amsterdam.

Nordholt finally decided to take up anthropology too. However, in 1961, when starting his studies,, Indonesia was closed to the Dutch, due to the dispute between the Netherlands and Indonesia over West Papua. Hence, his studies shifted among others to North Africa and Morocco.

In 1966, bilateral relations improved. He then followed lectures with Wim F. Wertheim at the University of Amsterdam.

A renown professor, Wertheim was regarded as the expert on modern Indonesia and was known for his strong support for Indonesia’s independence revolution.

Nordholt completed his masters thesis in 1968 on the Pamong Praja, members of the nobility recruited into the colonial administration, who became the embrio of the nation’s future bureaucracy.

His PhD research was on the role of the district head under the New Order from 1969 to 1979.

On the invitation of prominent scholar Selo Sumardjan, he lectured at the Faculty of Political and Social Science, at the University of Indonesia in 1981.

Nordholt also joined the Commission of Dialogue formed by the Dutch NGO, Novib, to support the then newly established Institute for Legal Assistance (LBH). The Institute rapidly became a thorn in the government’s side for its critical voice on issues related to justice.

He recalled when he once sat with future president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid at Lake Toba, while sharing durian, after a conference in August 1983, Gus Dur told him about his determination to democratize Indonesia using NU (Nahdlatul Ulama, the biggest Muslim organization in Indonesia) as his platform when he was elected as NU Chairman.

In December 1984 when the late Gus Dur chaired the NU, Nordholt was also at the center of Indonesia’s pro-democracy movement in the 1990s.

Until 2008 Nordholt, who last taught at the Twente University in the Netherlands, still travels frequently to Indonesia for research, his persistent passion.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati: Woman of the century

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 05/06/2010 8:34 AM

JP/ARIEF SUHARDIMAN

“She could be the finance minister anywhere in the world,” says James Castle, founder of the consultancy Castle Asia. “She’s that good”.

Castle told that to Newsweek magazine last year on Indonesia’s outgoing finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. She is stepping down from her post, which she had held since 2005, to join the top ranks of the World Bank under its president Robert Zoellick.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono approved of her resignation to work for the World Bank.

In a televised statement Yudhoyono on the departure of Mulyani, who was crowned as the best finance minister in Asia by Emerging Market Forum and finance minister of the year in the world by EuroMoney in 2006, said her departure was “a big loss”.

He said he would ensure however that her successor would carry on the financial and tax reforms she had initiated during her tenure.

Mulyani, 47, will start June 1 as one of the Washington-based bank’s three managing directors, the highest rank under Zoellick.

She will replace Juan Jose Daboub, former minister of El Salvador, who will complete his four-year term June 30, overseeing 74 nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, the World Bank said.

Analysts said this was a good exit for Mulyani, who with Vice President Boediono, was the target of an opposition campaign accusing them of abusing their authority during the Rp 6.7 trillion (US$716 million) bailout of Bank Century in 2008.

“The appointment is like a win-win solution,” said Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, an economist at the Danareksa Research Institute in Jakarta. The new job can help Sri Mulyani save face. “She has been facing a lot of political pressure,” he said as quoted by Bloomberg.

Mulyani’s support for the decision to bail out Bank Century in 2008 in order to avert a wider systemic banking and financial crisis was the subject of a highly politicized parliamentary inquiry. The Corruption Eradication Commission is currently investigating the case and has questioned Mulyani on her policy decision.

Legislators had proposed to remove Mulyani from her official duties during any investigation or legal process. The government refused this proposal.

However, apart from the Century saga, her work in dismantling the structure of crony capitalism built during Soeharto’s authoritarian regime, slashing public and private debt, and spearheading sweeping reforms in customs and tax administration is testament to her outstanding achievements in the field of Indonesian economic reform.

During Mulyani’s time as finance minister, Southeast Asia’s largest economy has become a member of the group of 20 leading economies and one of the fastest growing in the region.

Fitch upgraded the country to “BB+”, a notch below investment grade, in January 2010 primarily in recognition of the improvements to sovereign credit-worthiness arising from improved fiscal policy discipline and falling debt ratios. Indonesia is expected to achieve the coveted investment grade within a couple of years to be on par with the emerging market elite of Brazil, Russia, India and China, known as the BRIC nations.

The World Bank said that Mulyani had navigated successfully in the midst of the global economic crisis.

“She has been an outstanding finance minister, with in-depth knowledge of both development issues and the role of the World Bank Group,” Zoellick stated in a press release.

Mulyani, born in 1962 in Tanjung Karang, Lampung, completed her doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois. She has been an avid fighter for Indonesia’s economic reform since the days following the 1997 Asian economic crisis. She was then the head of the University of Indonesia’s Institute for Economics and Social Research (LPEM UI).

Together with 13 other young economists, including Mari Elka Pangestu (now trade minister), Miranda S. Goeltom (former senior deputy governor of Bank Indonesia), and Anggito Abimanyu (now the Finance Ministry’s head of fiscal policy), they presented the Declaration for Saving Indonesia’s Economy.

Mulyani and Anggito later became the members of president Abdurrahman Wahid’s economic advisory team. Wahid’s presidency lasted less than a year and ended in July 2001 with the rise of president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

When rumors spread on Mul-yani’s candidacy in the new cabinet, she silenced them by heading to Atlanta in the US, to work as a consultant for the US Agency for International Development. In October 2002, she was appointed as the executive director of the International Monetary Fund to represent the Southeast Asian countries in its Washington, DC headquarters.

Indonesia’s next president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, came to power in October 2004 and managed to lure her back as the state minister for national development planning.

A year later, in 2005, during a cabinet reshuffle, Mulyani was made the head of the Finance Ministry.

Mulyani in an interview said that as finance minister the goal of government economic policies was for people “to develop, be prosperous, get enough income, be able to meet all their needs from the day they were born until the day they die: education, food, health, recreation, all at affordable levels”.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, left, flanked by Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie. Golkar says the pair have made up but deny suggestions they struck a political deal to force Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati from office.

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Gus Dur's faces

The Jakarta Post, Sun, 03/28/2010 5:51 PM

Gus Dur's faces: A visitor looks at a displayed painting of late former president Abdurrahman Wahid in an exhibition to mark 100 days after Gus Dur's death at the Olympic Garden Mall in Malang, East Java, on Sunday. The exhibit features 191 paintings of Gus Dur, and runs from March 28 to April 1. JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana

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Gus Dur exhibit kicks off

Chinese-Language Media Is Still Finding Its Footing After a 30-Year Ban

Jakarta Globe, Emmy Fitri & Ismira Lutfia, February 12, 2010

Nine years ago Bambang Suryono rediscovered his passion for journalism when he began working for a Chinese-language newspaper, a dream he never thought he would fulfill.

The newspaper, Guo Ji Ri Bao (International Daily), is one of 10 Chinese-language papers that began publishing in the wake of former President Suharto’s resignation in 1998 and the lifting in 2000 of a ban on Chinese-language media by President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid.

But while Chinese-Indonesians make up about 3.5 percent to 4 percent of the country’s population, Bambang, the chief editor of Guo Ji Ri Bao, isn’t sure what the future holds for the paper.

“The market segment is solid and tends to increase, but we are dealing with a human resource crisis,” said Bambang, whose birth name is Lie Tho Hui. “It is not easy to find good writers. University graduates studying Mandarin speak flawlessly but they can’t write proper Mandarin.”

Young readership is picking up for the papers, but most readers are still between the ages of 60 and 70.

One of these is businessman Andi Jaya Purnama, who is in his mid-70s.

“It’s a matter of habit, and it reminds me of my youth before our Chinese schools were forcibly closed down,” he said. “I can also track my friends and relatives because these newspapers carry announcements about what families are up to.”

Guo Ri Ji Bao began publishing soon after the ban was lifted in 2000, printing about 1,000 copies. Bambang said that within two years the paper had returned its initial capital.

“Now we are publishing 70,000 copies and they are available in Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Pontianak,” he said.

“The kind of growth is inevitable. Indonesia is more open and Chinese investors are coming to Indonesia like a flash flood . Before 2000 there were less than 20 Chinese companies operating here and now there are hundreds of them, ranging from medium to large-scale,” Bambang said.

“The Chinese are well-known for their familial connections; they value their family ties. Big ads are coming from Chinese families. They put in huge ads when they get married and have children. Especially for condolences, big ads can last for a week.”

Advertising revenue alone is enough to cover most of the expenses of the paper, which sells for Rp 3,500 (37 cents).

Bambang has been a journalist for a little over 50 years. In his early 20s he worked for the country’s largest and oldest daily, Sin Po, which was published in Indonesian and Chinese.

The daily was banned in 1966 after a failed coup was blamed on the Communist Party, allegedly backed by China. After Suharto assumed power, broadcasting, printing and teaching in Chinese were outlawed. This ban stood for three decades, until Abdurrahman lifted it.

It has not only been political sentiment at home, however, that has hampered Chinese media in Indonesia. Batam-based radio station Era Baru received an injunction to stop broadcasting in 2008 from the Indonesian government.

The injunction was reportedly issued following pressure from the Chinese government, which alleged that the station was connected to the banned Falun Gong movement.

Gatot Machali, the station’s director, has denied the link and has pursued the case through the courts. The station is now back on the air, but not on a regular basis.

“We are competing with radio stations in Singapore and Malaysia that broadcast entirely in Mandarin,” he said.

“The prospects are good since there is a niche market that we can tap into,” Gatot said, adding that the station had overwhelmingly received a positive response from listeners.

“Our listeners have formed their own community and they are always engaging in various social activities. This is proof that our radio has a solid listener base,” he said.

Finding radio announcers who speak good Mandarin is a challenge, however, and Gatot said management had to invest in enrolling them in Mandarin language courses.

“In terms of advertising, it is going well, although we have not broken even yet,” Gatot said, adding that the radio’s listeners provided a niche market that advertisers could target.

“Advertisers can be sure that their commercials will reach the right target market,” he said.

Religion, ethnicity kill love

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya, Thu, 02/11/2010 1:00 PM

Drum up harmony: A man beats a bedug (a traditional drum) at the Hong Tiek Hian Temple, the oldest temple in Surabaya. Many mosques in Indonesia also use bedug to call for prayers.

Thirty-year-old Yenni (not her real name) was forced to have an abortion after her extended family refused to accept her marriage to Budi (not his real name), a Muslim of the same age from a Javanese family.

“My family said I had to marry a man of Chinese descent to continue the family business. The man my family rejected did not come from a business family and practiced a different religion,” she said.

Although she has been blessed with two children from a marriage to a man her parents ended up choosing for her, she is now filing for a divorce.

A sociologist from Airlangga University in Surabaya, Bagong Suyanto, explained that relations between people of Chinese descent and other ethnicities in Indonesia were on the mend since the Reform period and the elimination of a number of rules applying to citizenship.

However, while laws had relaxed, he noted, discrimination still permeated society on a personal level.

“Society is entering a period of transition after living for decades under old rules, especially those made during the New Order regime that compartmentalized people into different religious groups and classes.

Society has only gradually come to know real pluralism under Gus Dur’s leadership,” he said.

A union between a Hadramaut (Arabian) descendant and a Javanese would be easier than a marriage between a Javanese and a Chinese, he went on.

“A union between a Hadramaut descendant living in Java and a Javanese is easier because both parties follow the same religion. Hadramaut names are also sometimes used as a Javanese names, like Mohammad.”

Many Chinese descendants married other ethnicities between the 16th and 19th century, following the arrival of Admiral Cheng Ho on the North coast of Java. Totokers (traders, migrants of Chinese descent who came to do business in Indonesia) married local women, bringing in a new culture and icons such as potehi (wooden puppets), kebaya encim (Chinese blouses) and new local dialects.

Human mirror: A collection of Potehi dolls are arranged in a box before the performance.

Under the Dutch colonial government, people were categorized into three groups, namely Europeans, indigenous people and Eastern foreigners (Timur Asing), which at the time meant Arabs and Chinese. Not only did this encourage racist practices, but also competition between people from different classes.

Liem Sian Yu, a businessman of Chinese descent, built a luxury complex in Lawang, East Java, to show people from Chinese descent could be just as successful as Europeans. The building, now called the Niagara Hotel, has become a cultural conservation site in the town of Lawang, East Java.

Racist practices were also encouraged under the Sukarno government with the passing of Presidential Regulation No. 10 of 1959, prohibiting small businesses from being owned by foreigners at the village level. In practice, the ban only applied to ethnic Chinese as a result of anti-Chinese political developments in 1956.

Discriminatory practices persisted under the Soeharto regime. Under the 1977 Instruction of the Minister of Domestic Affairs No. X 01, Indonesian citizens of foreign descent were still required to show proof of citizenship.

The situation started to change under President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, who in 2001 declared Chinese New Year a public holiday and recognized the followers of Confucius.

Under President Megawati Soekarnoputri’s administration, citizenship issues spread to the sports arena.

National badminton player Thomas Hendrawan, who won the national trophy five times, was rejected by officials because he couldn’t prove his Indonesian citizenship. The 1977 controversial instruction was finally removed after July 2006, when the House of Representatives approved a new Citizenship Law.

Ustadz Hariyono Ong, who oversees the Takmir Cheng Hoo Mosque, argued that humans, by nature, were inclined to differentiate between various groups.

“But differences can be evened out through religion, as the construction of the Muhammad Cheng Hoo Mosque in Surabaya shows. It is expected to become a symbol of harmony and peace in the Muslim community, especially for Muslims of Chinese ethnicity,” he said.

The Muhammad Cheng Hoo Mosque, built with pagodas, was opened in May 2001 and is known as the first mosque in Indonesia to use a Muslim Chinese name.

The room used by the priest to lead the prayer is deliberately shaped to look like a church door, promoting a message of peace, love and harmony, and show that Islam recognizes and respects the existence of the Prophet Isa (or Jesus) as the messenger of God.

“The real meaning for Islam and the community of Chinese descent is to love one another and live in peace, show mutual respect and not interfere with the beliefs of others. Whatever our religion, we are still brothers because we are God’s creatures,” said Hariyono.

— Photos by Indra Harsaputra