Jakarta Hosts a Plea for Global Peace

Jakarta Globe, Report | October 10, 2010

Imagine this: A crowd of more than 50,000 young people gathered at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta to celebrate peace. Most of the attendees would have been involved in projects that seek to help alleviate poverty and would be enjoying themselves by this time, jamming to performances by the Thousand Youth and Women Choir, as well as Indonesian, Malaysian, Philippine and Korean pop artists.

The Global Peace Festival 2010 hopes to attract
50,000 people. (Photo courtesy of Gpf-asiapacific.org)

The Global Peace Festival, set to take place in the capital between Oct. 15-18, is held in different cities worldwide each year and is expected by organizers to attract 50,000 people.

The festival is organized with the help of the Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s largest Muslim organization, as well as many other local partners.

Its mission is to foster a culture of service, strengthen families and marriages and engage interfaith partnerships in nations that host the event.

According to its Web site, www.globalpeacefestival.org, the GPF “promotes and celebrates persons and programs that contribute to reconciliation, mutual respect, harmony and cooperation, and sees all people as One Family Under God.”

With the support of their schools, students from across Jakarta are set to hit the streets this week to collect money for a new initiative — The Power of Rupiah project — launched to coincide with the GPF.

The Power of Rupiah aims to collect loose change and seeks to emphasize that any act of giving, no matter how small, has the potential to make a difference in the lives of Jakarta’s poor.

Schools and universities will be using the money raised to implement community programs.

“We want to encourage young people in terms of not just focusing on personal achievements, but encourage them to contribute to a social cause,” said Malaysian Teh Su Thye, vice executive director of the Global Peace Festival Asia Pacific 2010.

“We’re getting young people to learn how to give. Giving is important.

“The Global Peace Festival promotes leaders who exemplify the culture of service,” Teh said. “We want to encourage and recognize young people.”

The Youth Leadership Award, aimed at recognizing the many achievements of Jakarta’s youth, is included in the festival’s program.

The award will be presented to the winning student on Oct. 17 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

This is especially significant since the day is also earmarked as the United Nations-sponsored International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

To win the award, the student must be nominated by their school, university or a friend and submit a list of their achievements and community involvement.

Nominees then have to write an essay on why peace is important to them and outline a social issue faced by Indonesians and suggest how this could be solved using the money raised through the Power of Rupiah campaign.

Teh said he has already received 130 entries, and more are still coming in.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a patron of the festival and may attend the event. Teh said the president’s support is an indication of the importance and longevity of their program.

“I think the support from the president is crucial. I don’t want to touch on politics, but we want an endorsement from the president because this is a big project,” he said.

“We want the president to be involved in this program and we want the general public to see that.”

Nahdlatul Ulama’s Slamet Effendy Yusuf, executive chairman for the GPF celebration in Indonesia, said the event aims to have a positive impact on the most marginalized members of Jakarta’s society: the children and the poor.

Slamet emphasized that poverty is a social issue separate from recent religious conflicts in Indonesia.

“I think poverty and stupidity can cause social gaps and can trigger misunderstanding. In my opinion, poverty isn’t about faiths, but this is a social issue,” he said.

He added that the festival is working toward fulfilling Indonesia’s national motto, which is “Unity in Diversity.”

The festival comes at a time when increased incidents of intolerance and its attendant violence have been reported across Indonesia, and organizers say the festival is an event they hope gives young people something positive to focus on in their communities.

For more info, log on to www.gpf-asiapacific.org.

Oct. 16: Global Peace Service initiatives throughout Jakarta.

Oct. 17: Global Peace Festival Asia Pacific 2010, from 5 p.m. at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium

Related Article:

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Buddhist monk emphasizes life, peace

Understanding one`s own religion helps maintain inter-religious harmony

Chinese dissident wins Nobel Peace Prize

Finding Jakarta’s Beauty

Jakarta Globe, Report | October 10, 2010

Finding the beauty in Jakarta is not always easy, but that is what an exhibition at Erasmus Huis is asking us to consider. Shadow puppets, created by artist Eko Nugroho, guide the visitors to different projects in the exhibition. (JG Photos/Sylviana Hamdani)

Englishman Stephen Cairns and Indonesian Daliana Suryawinata have found themselves in the interesting position of proving wrong naysayers who perpetually complain about Jakarta’s haphazard urban sprawl. The two are also curators of “Open City Jakarta,” an exhibition at the Erasmus Huis. The exhibition, which runs until Dec. 1, actually celebrates the capital’s more endearing qualities.

The exhibition is an offshoot of “Open City: Designing Coexistence,” a project of the fourth International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam.

The IABR is a thematically-oriented series of exhibitions, conferences and lectures in the field of architecture and urbanism that looks into cities in third-world countries to see how distinct communities and groups settle and interact with each other and find ways to improve their environment.

Aside from Jakarta, other cities that are a part of the project include Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Istanbul in Turkey and Sao Paulo in Brazil.

For Jakarta, the IABR 2009 committee collaborated with Ikatan Arsitek Indonesia (Indonesian Architects Association) to hold the Gotong Royong City competition, which invited architects from all over the world to contribute ideas on how to make Jakarta more livable. The result of this collaboration is the “Open City Jakarta” exhibition.

“I really like Jakarta,” said Cairns, head of the architecture department at the prestigious University of Edinburgh, last week. “It’s one of my favorite cities.”

The statement, made at a time when traffic and floods are a daily reality for Jakartans, seems quite ironic at first glance.

Yet Cairns may have a unique perspective of the capital that its residents often miss.

After all, he is no occasional tourist.

Since 2001, he has been conducting design and architectural research projects with a number of Jakarta’s universities and has studied the slums and the city’s peripheral zones.

“Last night on [Jalan] Pecenongan, I had dinner at a warung [food stall] on the streets. There were people selling me DVDs, fans and torches. There was also a band that came and played. It’s a very lively street life and it was late at night,” Cairns said.

In the morning, he was surprised to see that all the warungs were gone.

In their place were auto repair shops. “It’s not a chaos, that’s the key,” he said.

“It’s a lovely ecosystem in which the middle-class people maintain a reciprocal relationship with the poor people. There’s a mutual understanding in it. It’s a very, very rich urban phenomenon.”

Cairns said that his own city, Edinburgh, pales in comparison.

“Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Yet, they don’t know how to produce the street life with that kind of richness. It’s very programmed, which means surprises are very difficult to find.”

For her part, Daliana, who was born in Jakarta, used to feel the same as most Jakartans.

When she left for Rotterdam in the Netherlands to pursue a masters degree at the Berlage Institute in 2003, she was actually looking forward to leaving all of Jakarta’s madness.

“I was happy to leave all the mess behind, such as the traffic problem, social issues and my gated way of life of sitting in a car moving between air-conditioned buildings without touching the city, the lack of public space and the impossibility to walk as a pedestrian,” she said.

In her case, being on the other side of the world helped her put things in perspective. “The restaurants and street-side cafes are great [in Rotterdam]. You feel safe. Nobody’s going to rob you. But [Rotterdam is] done. It’s settled. Everything is finished.

“Later on, I missed the street vendors and all the diversity that Jakarta has, which Rotterdam does not have.

"And, by distancing oneself from Jakarta, one can have a clearer and more optimistic observation of the city than those who are in the city,” she said.

After finishing her degree, Daliana established the Rotterdam-based Suryawinata-Heinzelmann Architecture and Urbanism firm with friends Florian Heinzelmann and Tobias Hoffman.

The firm has been working closely with a number of design firms in Jakarta on some of their projects.

“I think Western urbanism in Europe and the United States is stuck,” Daliana said. “They know what to do, they’ve been planning their cities for ages and they’re working well. But they’re also looking for something to spice up the city life more.

"That’s why there are more research and architectural urban projects going to the south, like Southeast Asia and South America. They want to learn form these informal [environments] and improve it.”

The “Open City Jakarta” exhibition is mounted at the open-air pavilion of the Erasmus Huis. It utilizes crates, fiberboards and corrugated plastic roofs to recreate the twists and turns of a Jakarta kampung.

The exhibition features maps, diagrams, posters and pictures from 12 projects. Wooden shadow puppets attached to slanting walls generate an ingenious interplay of light and shadow in the pavilion.

The puppets, created by artist Eko Nugroho, portray stakeholders in Jakarta’s city life. Made of perforated fiberboard, the puppets guide the visitors to different projects in the exhibition.

“We try to note the chaotic configuration of Jakarta in the exhibition,” Daliana said.

“The aim is to ask people to think differently about Jakarta, to look at Jakarta and not to judge it against Western models,” Cairns said.

“Then, Jakarta will always look bad because it’ll never come up to Western standards.”

For the exhibition, Cairns and researchers from the University of Indonesia are also presenting “Cultures of Legibility,” an analytical study of the co-existence of urban and desa kota (rural) activities in the peripheral zones of Jakarta.

“If you go to the BSD [Bumi Serpong Damai] area, you can have a cup of Starbucks cappuccino at the mall and within three minutes, you can be in the middle of the rice fields with buffaloes,” Cairns said. “I find that absolutely amazing.”

Rather than seeing desa kota as a fleeting phase of development, in which the rice fields will one day vanish and be replaced by modern facilities, Cairns sees it as a model for Jakarta’s unique urban condition.

“Unless we change the way we think about the city, then this will always look like a phase on the way to becoming Los Angeles or Rotterdam rather than something that’s legitimate on its own rights,” he said.

“At the moment it’s a beautiful balance between the two elements. And again, you don’t find it in Los Angeles, New York or Rotterdam.”

Erik Prasetya, whose photographs feature at the exhibition, is of a different opinion. “Jakarta is not pretty at all. It was never designed to be beautiful like Paris or New York.”

Despite the bleak images that he has captured, Erik still remains hopeful. “We didn’t have a busway five years ago,” he said.

“Neither did we have car-free days. Positive changes are happening in the city, albeit very slowly. We all have to remain optimistic and fight for them.”

The curators are definitely not blind to the capital’s faults, but in this particular exhibition, they are choosing to look at the bright side. “Jakarta is not yet a beauty, of course,” Daliana said.

“There are mistakes, but also a lot of potential that you wouldn’t want to just get rid of.”

For his part, Cairns remains upbeat about the capital. “Jakarta should be one of the cities we should look at positively, not only criticize.”

N. Sumatra gets ready for Toba Lake festival

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 10/09/2010 11:29 AM

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Seven cities and regencies in North Sumatra declared Lake Toba Cleanup campaign in their respective regions to welcome the upcoming Lake Toba Festival.

The campaign will involve Simalungun, Toba Samosir, North Tapanuli, Humbang Hasundutan, Samosir, Dairi and Asahan.

The festival’s organizing committee secretary, Arthur MD Batubara, said the campaign is held to raise people awareness on the lake’s cleanliness.

He said the lake’s popularity was declining since its cleanliness was not maintained.

The festival, scheduled from Oct. 20-24, will highlight the environment as its theme, he said.

“We see there is a need to seriously take care of Lake Toba, mainly on the environment aspect,” he told The Jakarta Post after the campaign’s declaration at Parapat tourist site Friday.

“We hope that through the festival, the lake becomes clean and beautiful so it can attract tourists both local and foreign to visit.” — JP

Victory: Supreme Court Wipes Prita Mulyasari's Fine for Alleged Defamation

Jakarta Globe, Heru Andriyanto | October 08, 2010

Jakarta. The Supreme Court have found in favor of Indonesian mother-of-two Prita Mulyasari, striking out a lower court ruling that she pay Omni International Hospital Rp 204 million ($23,000) for alleged defamation.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Indonesian
mother Prita Mulyasari does not have to pay Omni
International Hospital a Rp 204 million fine for alleged
defamation but is still yet to rule on the conviction.
(Antara Photo)

“The Supreme Court has decided to accept Prita’s appeal in her civil case,” Slamet Yuwono, one of Prita’s lawyers, told the Jakarta Globe on Friday. “It means that Ibu Prita is free from the obligation of having to pay a Rp 204 million in fine to Omni Hospital and to apologize in national newspapers.”

The mother of two was charged with libel after an e-mail she sent complaining about the alleged poor service she received at the private hospital was circulated on Internet mailing lists.

Prita, however, is still waiting for the Supreme Court verdict against her criminal conviction.

“We’re optimistic that we will receive good news from the appeal against Prita’s criminal because it’s unheard of for the Supreme Court to deliver two opposite verdicts,” Slamet said.

OC Kaligis, the head of Prita’s legal team, said the landmark verdict would set an example for other victims of hospital mistreatment.

Prita was charged under the controversial 2008 Electronic Information and Transaction Law that mandates up to six years in prison for defamation. There is a move underway in the House of Representatives to amend the law.

Prita was held in jail for three weeks earlier this year as she awaited trial, but media coverage and a swell of support on the social networking site Facebook compelled police to release her on bail.

The “Prita case,” has been a public relations nightmare for Omni, which from the beginning has been seen in the public’s eyes as attempting to bully a middle-class housewife.

The hospital won a separate civil case against Prita and recently was awarded Rp 204 million in damages, but it decided to drop the suit after Prita appealed.

Indonesians from all walks off life, ranging from scavengers to schoolchildren to members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, donated more than Rp 800 million to pay the fine.

As the tide began to turn, Prita struck back with a Rp 1 trillion countersuit against Omni, which is now seeking an out-of-court settlement.

Related Articles:

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Buddhist monk emphasizes life, peace

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Magelang | Fri, 10/08/2010 9:35 AM

Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh led 500 Buddhists and monks from 15 countries in a series of meditations at the renowned Borobudur Temple complex in Magelang, Central Java, on Thursday.

Buddhist meditation: Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh
(forefront)  and his followers walk to Lumbini Park at the
foot of Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, on
Thursday, after leading ameditation peace walk. Such
meditation has reportedly  been practiced in some parts
of the West, North America and Asia. JP/Suherdjoko

Using slow but deliberate movements, the monk led participants to climb from the bottom to the temple’s highest stupa.

“Through breathing we know about life. When breathing we feel life. That’s the joy of living,” the 84-year-old monk told participants during the activities at the temple’s Lumbini Park.

In a simple way, he taught people that meditation could be done when doing any daily activities — from working, sitting, walking, sleeping and eating to drinking — by concentrating and becoming alert of their surrounding to reach peace.

Monks Dharmavimala and Nyana Suryanadi explained that through meditation, a person could find his or her peace to control anger and desperate feeling.

Nhat Hanh, who had planned his visit here 18 months ago, is on a 15-day trip to the country, his first ever. He also plans to tour Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong.

In Indonesia, the Vietnamese monk is scheduled to lead a series of activities to promote harmony and share his teachings on “mindful living” to people of all backgrounds.

Nhat Hanh, who comes from the Plum Village Monastery in the south of France, is renowned for his teachings of “mindfulness” in which he encourages people to embrace the present instead of being trapped in thoughts of the past and future.

The monk’s activities include a five-day meditation retreat in Bogor, West Java, followed by the peace walk around Borobudur temple.

After that, the monk is scheduled to attend a public meeting at Mega Glodok in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Oct. 9.

The chairman of the Indonesia Buddhayana Council, Sudhamek AWS, said the renowned monk’s presence marked a second Buddhist resurgence in Indonesia.

He said the religion flourished under the previous leadership of monk Aksin Jinarkkhita.

“These two Buddhist leaders share similar visions on the need to promote Buddhism as living and universal religion, free from sectarian restrictions, which may weaken its true spirit and teaching,” Sudhamek said.

Nhat Hanh, who became a monk at the age of 23, has published more than 100 books, including 40 in English. He became renowned for his opposition to the Vietnam war and for his work in promoting peace.

He was kicked out of Vietnam and lived briefly in the US where he completed his studies at Princeton University and became a lecturer at Cornell and Columbia Universities. He then moved to France where he established Plum Village Monastery.

Editorial: Tyranny of the majority

The Jakarta Post | Fri, 10/08/2010 9:45 AM 

The ongoing controversy over whether religious sect Ahmadiyah has the right to persist and it’s followers the right to freely profess their beliefs illustrates the long-standing issue that this nation has failed and is failing to protect the rights of it’s minorities.

Dubbed the world’s third-largest democracy, Indonesia has been facing difficulties in adopting and adapting itself to that very principle of democracy that is the respect for and protection of minorities.

Minority groups in Indonesia, including the approximately 200,000 Ahmadis, have to face the ugly fact that they are small in number and therefore prone to marginalization, discrimination and sometimes even persecution.

As of today, hundreds of Ahmadis on Lombok Island in West Nusa Tenggara have been living in shelters since their expulsion from their homes in February 2006. They have been denied their economic right to live a better life and their right to vote as evidenced when the local poll commission scrapped them from the voter roll in last year’s elections.

Worse, their children have had to experience the ordeal. Only last month the local government moved to provide free education for Ahmadi children.

The latest in a string of attacks on Ahmadiyah followers last week indicates the absence of any form of protection for minorities. Hundreds of Ahmadiyah members living in an enclave in the West Java regency of Bogor lost not only their belongings but perhaps also their hopes for a peaceful life in this country.

Regardless of the cause of last week’s arson attack, Ahmadiyah has been perceived as a threat to mainstream Muslims and a cause of destabilization. With ulema and Muslim figures failing to promote dialog, and instead fighting for a ban against Ahmadiyah, hard-line groups have found clemency in carrying out acts of violence against the religious sect.

Solutions for the Ahmadiyah problem initiated by Muslim leaders have so far constituted one-way traffic, in which the majority dictates and enforces it’s will on the minority. It is  tyranny of the majority that is currently plaguing the country’s efforts to deal with Ahmadiyah.

Sadly, this is how this nation understands democracy. Political parties form a coalition within the House of Representatives annihilate dissenting voices during decision-making processes. Democracy has been hijacked to help the majority groups fulfill their interests.

In the Ahmadiyah case, the government as the representation of the state has failed to draw a line to protect the weak or the minority vis-à-vis the majority. But democracy prevails only if the rights of the minority are protected.

The enforcement of the 2008 joint ministerial decree on Ahmadiyah spoke volumes about the government’s perceptions on the rights of the strong, as the regulation amputated the basic rights of the Islamic sect’s followers and reinforced a stigma on them as an unwanted society.

A plan to review the decree that many expect will result in a permanent solution to the Ahmadiyah issue will be translated into a permanent ban against the religious sect as long as the tyranny of majority is at play. A new decree banning the sect would read as an expression of supreme power and illustrate that the government has failed to listen to their wishes.

British political philosopher John Stuart Mill noted that the danger of the tyranny of the majority lay not just in the infringements of individuals’ rights or the marginalization of a political minority, but in the oppression of minority groups in society based simply on criteria such as skin color, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation. Ahmadiyah and other minority groups deserve equal rights, unless of course this nation no longer believes in democracy.

Unesco to declare Angklung world heritage soon

Antara News, Friday, October 8, 2010 03:32 WIB

Angklungschool of Pak Udjo / Bandung

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s traditional music instrument, the `Angklung`, is soon to be officially delared a world heritage item by the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) like batik, wayang, and the keris before.

"On November 18, angklung will be declared a world heritage article ," Wardiyanto, secretary general of the Tourism and Culture Ministry, said here Thursday.

He said the ministry had made intensive efforts to convince UNESCO of the need to recognize angklung as one of the world`s heritage items like batik, the keris (ceremonal dagger) and wayang (Javanese traditional puppets) which had obtained the world heritage status earlier, he said.

The efforts to get the angklung included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, were made for the first time years ago, he said.

"We plan to have more things of Indonesian culture recognized as part of the world`s heritage," he said.

At present a total of 890 objects world wide are on UNESCO`s world heritage list and 689 of them are in the culture category, 176 in the nature category and 25 in both the culture and nature categories.

Of the 890 objects with world heritage status 11 were Indonesian with four of them in the nature, three in the culture and four in the intangible culture categories.

The Indonesian natural heritages consist of Ujung Kulon National Park in Banten Province, Komodo National Park in East Nusa Tenggara, Lorentz National Park in West Papua province, and Sumatran tropical forests comprising the Gunung Leuser, Kerinci Sablat and Bukit Barisan national parks.

The three cultural heritages are the Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple, and Sangiran Pre-historical site.

The intangible world heritages from Indonesia were the wayang and keris which were recognized as masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity in 2003 and 2005, and also batik as a tangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2010.

The 'angklung' is soon to be named on Unesco's Intangible
Cultural Heritage list. (Antara Photo/Agus Bebeng)

Related Article:

Unesco to Declare Indonesia’s Angklung World Heritage

Southern Baptist leader on yoga: Not Christianity

Jakarta Post, Dylan Lovan, The Associated Press, Louisville, Kentucky | Thu, 10/07/2010 9:05 PM

A Southern Baptist leader who is calling for Christians to avoid yoga and its spiritual attachments is getting plenty of pushback from enthusiasts who defend the ancient practice.

Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler says the stretching and meditative discipline derived from Eastern religions is not a Christian pathway to God.

Mohler said he objects to "the idea that the body is a vehicle for reaching consciousness with the divine."

"That's just not Cristianity," Mohler told The Associated Press.

Mohler said feedback has come through e-mail and comments on blogs and other websites since he wrote an essay to address questions about yoga he has heard for years.

"I'm really surprised by the depth of the commitment to yoga found on the part of many ho identify as Christians," Mohler said.

Yoga fans say their numbers have been growing in the U.S. A 2008 study by the Yoga Journal put the number at 15.8 million, or nearly 7 percent of adults. About 6.7 percent of American adults are Southern Baptists, according to a 2007 survey by the Pew Research Centr Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Mohler argued in his online essay last month that Christians who practice yoga "must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitments and their embrace of yoga."

He said his view is "not an eccentic Christian position."

Other Christian leaders have said practicing yoga is incompatible with the teachings of Jesus. Pat Robertson has called the chanting and other spiritual components that go along with yoga "really spooky." California megachurch pastor John MacArthur called yoga a "false religon." Muslim clerics have banned Muslims from practicing yoga in Egypt, Malaysia and Indonesia, citing similar concerns.

Yoga proponents say the wide-ranging discipline, which originated in India, offers physical and mental healing through stretching poses and concentration.

"Lots of people come to yoga because they are often in chronic pain. Others come because they think it's a nice workout," said Allison Terracio, who runs the Infinite Bliss studio in Louisville.

And some yoga studios have made the techniques more palatable for Christians by removing the chanting and associations to eastern religions, namely Hinduism and its multiple deities.

Stephanie Dillon, who has injected Christian themes into her studio in Louisville, said yoga brought her closer to her Christian faith, which had faded after college and service in the Army.

"What I found is that it opened my spirit, it renewed my spirituality," Dillon said. "That happened first and then I went back to church." Dillon attends Southeast Christian Church in Louisville and says many evangelical Christians from the church attend her yoga classes.

She said she prayed on the question of whether to mix yoga and Christianity before opening her studio, PM Yoga, where she discusses her relationship with Jesus during classes.

"My objection (to Mohler's view) personally is that I feel that yoga enhances a person's spirituality," Dillon said. "I don't like to look at religion from a law standpoint but a relationship standpoint, a relationship with Jesus Christ specifically."

Mohler wrote the essay after reading "The Subtle Body," in which author Stefanie Syman traces the history of yoga in America. Syman noted the growing popularity of yoga in the U.S. by pointing out that first lady Michelle Obama has added it to the festivities at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the front lawn.

Mohler said many people have written him to say they're simply doing exercises and forgoing yoga's eastern mysticism and meditation.

"My response to that would be simple and straightforward: You're just not doing yoga," Mohler said.

Online: Albert Mohler's website: http://www.albertmohler.com/

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Royal treatment

Ricky Yudhistira, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 10/07/2010 7:32 PM

Miss Universe 2010 Ximena Navarrete Rosete (center) enjoys a traditional Javanese massage at Sari Royal Heritage Spa in Jakarta, on Thursday. Rosete is scheduled to stay in Indonesia until Oct. 16. Besides attending the crowning of Puteri Indonesia 2010 beauty pageant, she will also visit Yogyakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Medan. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

President: Good relations imply mutual respect

Antara News, Thursday, October 7, 2010 18:28 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said here on Thursday that good relations between countries also implied the upholding of mutual respect and appreciation by the two sides.

Speaking before opening a limited cabinet meeting on political, security and legal affairs, the President said mutual respect in bilateral relations also included mutual respect between the leaders of the countries concerned.

He made the statement in connection with his decision to cancel his scheduled visit to the Netherlands on Wednesday.

"Relations between nations are not only about mutual interest or signing memorandums of understanding but also about mutual respect between the nations and their leaders involved," he said.

Although Indonesia always wanted to build good relations with other countries, including the Netherlands, it could not but show firmness in the face of an impending incident that had the potential of causing political complications.

"So, I decided to postpone (the visit) while observing further developments," he said.

The President also questioned the fact that the court in The Hague had handled the lawsuit on human rights violation and the related demand for the arrest of the Indonesian president with unusual expediency and at the same time as his expected arrival in the country.

"The lawsuit was filed on October 4 and the court decided to open the session on the case on October 5. I think that was the fastest court procedure in the world, the law suit was filed yesterday and processed the day after," he said.

After receiving information from Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and Indonesian ambassador to the Netherlands JE Habibie and inputs from Vice President Boediono and several ministers concerned (regarding the case), President Yudhoyono on

October 5,2010 decided to postpone his planned state visit to the Netherlands.

He said he could understand the Dutch government`s statement that it could not interfere in court proceedings. However, there remained the question why it was necessary for the court to hear the case during or in conjunction with his planned visit in the Netherlands.

"This was clearly a wrong signal. The staging of the court session was against ethics and norms in relations between nations," he said.

President Yudhoyono then recalled the visit of Queen Beatrix in Indonesia in 2005 when she was given a warm and unfettered welcome as was Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende when he came to Indonesia in 2006.

"It was very difficult for me to understand that I should be greeted with a court session upon my arrival there," he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Thursday that the Dutch trial, which was held when he was due to be flying to the Netherlands, was subject to the "fastest court hearing delay in the world." (EPA Photo/Bagus Indahono)

Related Articles:

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Indonesia-Netherlands: Let the past rest and move on (JP/President Office)

Indonesian President Says Dutch Court Is Unethical

Maluku artist team undeterred by canceled President`s Holland trip

Antara News, Wednesday, October 6, 2010 17:45 WIB

Ambon, Maluku (ANTARA News) - The cancelation of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s trip to the Netherlands does not deter a Maluku artist team from going to the country.

Pasar Malam Indonesia 2010, The Hague - April 2010

Spokesperson of culture and art affairs at Maluku Culture and Tourism Office Ms An Likko said here on Wednesday that the art team from the province would perform at Indonesian Culture Performance in the Netherlands on October 7, 2010.

"After listening to President Yudhoyono`s statement on TV about the crenelation of his trip to the Netherlands, I immediately contacted the artist team coordinator Semmy Toisutta and he said the team was undeterred by the cancelation," Likko said.

She said the artist team from Maluku was scheduled to perform in the Netherlands to grace a banquet to be hosted by Queen Beatrix for President Yudhoyono.

"The Maluku artist team with the similar teams from Aceh and East Nusa Tenggara provinces had undergone special training in Jakarta since September 30, 2010 to perform in the Netherlands," Likko said.

She added that the team of six has arrived in the Netherlands to perform Lenso, Terine Mamae, and Orlapeip dances to entertain Dutch people, especially of Maluku origin in the country.

In April this year the Indonesian Embassy in the Netherlands organized an Indonesia Fair which was also graced by an artist team from Maluku.

Chief of Maluku`s Cultural Park Semmy Toisutta said the artist team at the time was made up of a Hawaiian music band and a number of traditional dancers to highlight the Indonesia Fair early April this year.

He said the artist team at the time presented Maluku songs accompanied by Hawaiian music, and Maluku traditional dances, namely Tari Lenso, Pinemou, Pataheri, Sasi Laut, Kabaressy, Mahina Arika, and two other contemporary dances produced by the Maluku Cultural Park to accompany Banda Neira and Panggayo songs.

Besides highlighting the Indonesia Fair which lasted from April 1-5, 2010, the artist team from Maluku also performed in five major cities in the Netherlands.

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