By Eka Srimulyani and Siti Syamsiyatun
Islamic women have become much more prominent in public life in recent years, as the constraints of New Order authoritarianism fade into memory. New Islamic women’s organisations have been established, and publications on gender and Islam have appeared. The older established mass Islamic organisations Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) have also begun promoting ideas about the empowerment of women.
Although the issue of gender in the modern context is increasingly being recognised, there is still a dearth of public knowledge about Muslim women from both the past and the present. This is not because there are no women worthy of our attention. Rather, it is because such women have not received the same public recognition as their male peers, perhaps because they come from a community tradition which does not focus on the role of women.
The two biographies below seek to correct this historical record and celebrate the lives of Nyai Khoiriyah Hasyim and Siti Ruhaini Dzhayatin. These two Muslim women come from different generations and different organisations, but they share the ideal of dedicated service to the women of their communities. By espousing ideas for the empowerment of women, and pioneering schools for girls, these women are role models for other Muslim women to follow. Both have played public roles in their organisations NU and Muhammadiyah respectively. And both have used community organisations such as NGOs and majelis taklim (Islamic learning circles) as vehicles for spreading their views.
Nyai Khoiriyah Hasyim: advocate of women’s education
Khoiriyah was born in 1906 in Tebuireng, Jombang, East Java, the daughter of Kiyai Hasyim Asy’ary and Nyai Nafiqah. Her father was the founder of the Tebuireng pesantren (Islamic boarding school) and later of NU. Throughout her life Khoiriyah was active in Muslimat NU, the women’s section of NU.
Her family background, particularly her father’s role as an Islamic teacher, gave Khoiriyah an opportunity to study religious teachings in a period when this was extremely rare for a girl. Pesantren did not accept girls as pupils, so the young Khoiriyah followed her father’s lessons from behind a screen as he taught the male students.
Khoiriyah married Maksum Ali, one of her father’s pupils, while still a teenager. In 1921, the pair founded the Salafiyah pesantren in the village of Seblak, and when her husband died in 1933, Khoiriyah continued the leadership of the Seblak pesantren alone. In 1937, following her second marriage to Kiyai Muhaimin, an Indonesian ulama (teacher), she left Indonesia for Mecca. The leadership of the Seblak pesantren passed to her daughter and son-in-law.
Khoiriyah lived in Mecca for 19 years. In 1942, she founded a pioneering school for girls – Madrasah Banat. She believed that through education, women could be liberated from their ignorance. After her second husband died, Khoiriyah met President Sukarno in Mecca. He invited her to return to Indonesia to develop the nation. In 1956, she returned to Jombang where she resumed leadership of the Seblak pesantren, using the experience and knowledge she had gained in Mecca to further develop it. Girls from Jakarta and other regions in Indonesia came to study there.
The Seblak pesantren, which when founded had only male pupils, became the most respected pesantren for girls. In 1964, Khoiriyah opened a kindergarten within the pesantren. In addition to being the director of the Seblak pesantren, she also took over the role of director of the Tebuireng pesantren in the transitional period in 1965.
Khoiriyah was not only actively involved in pesantren educational institutions, but also taught in a number of majelis taklim. Because she was so active, one of her grandchildren relates that she had her own special becak (bicycle rickshaw), with a personal chauffeur, who was always ready to take her to different places to give lessons. Together with the other women of Muslimat NU, she also pioneered a medical centre at Tebuireng under the supervision of Dr Sudioto.
In addition to her teaching, Khoiriyah also published articles about religion – something rarely done by anyone in that time, let alone a woman. One of these, ‘Main points of a lecture: the understanding of mazahib (school of Islamic law) and tolerance’, was published by the magazine Gema Islam in August 1962.
In 1970, on the advice of Dr Sudioto, Khoiriyah retired to Surabaya for health reasons, although she remained actively involved in educational work there. From 1972 to 1979, she was involved in the organisation of the educational foundation, Khadijah. She also pioneered the founding of a women’s Islamic study group, Yasmara, in Surabaya, where she regularly taught classic Islamic literature.
Khoiriyah died on 2 July 1983 and was buried in the family graveyard at the Tebuireng pesantren in Jombang. Despite the traditional seclusion of women her achievements in education were outstanding, as was her service to a community which was still very patriarchal.
Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin: towards just relationships
Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin is one of Indonesia’s leading Muslim women thinkers. She plays a key role in the development of the discourse on gender and Islam in Indonesia today. Ruhaini began promoting ideas about gender perspectives in the interpretation of Islamic law during the 1990s, when large religious bodies and women’s organisations were still reluctant to examine gender issues in Islam. Ruhaini developed her feminist ideas through a variety of different sources and activities: from academic thinking, student groups, mass organisations and NGOs.
Ruhaini was born in 1963 in Blora, Central Java, and grew up in a Muhammadiyah family that provided an egalitarian education to both sons and daughters. She was grateful to her parents for this upbringing, and it inspired her to fight for women’s rights, a resolve which sharpened as she grew older and developed greater life experience.
Of her mother, Ruhaini relates: ‘My mother was an independent women, and I later wondered how she could be like that. She was the principal of a primary school, but she had also inherited a reasonable amount of land and wealth from my grandfather, who was a lurah (village head). Because she was independent, Mother had a fairly strong bargaining position with our father. She was insistent about our education.’
While still at primary school, Ruhaini joined in the prayer meetings, sport and singing activities of Nasyiatul Aisyiyah, the women’s organisation of Muhammadiyah. She continued her education at the Pabelan pesantren in Magelang for six years, where she first became concerned about gender discrimination. When studying religious texts, for example, Ruhaini began to ask her teachers for explanations of teachings that she felt discriminated against women. She also questioned the wisdom of the kiyai, who did not allow female pupils to join boys in events such as the Scout and Guide Jamboree, which took place outside the pesantren.
Ruhaini began to articulate her concerns about gender injustice when she was a student at the Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic Institute (IAIN) in Yogyakarta. While studying in the Faculty of Syariah (Islamic law), she criticised much accepted theological writing as being a misogynist interpretation of the Qur’an and hadith. Ruhaini was also active at this time in the Islamic Students Association (HMI).
After graduating as the top student in the Faculty of Syariah, Ruhaini became a lecturer at her university; and later received a Master of Arts from Monash University. Her studies in Australia allowed her to add another academic tool, western social theory, to her knowledge of Islamic law. This equipped her to better analyse gender inequality in fiqih (Islamic jurisprudence). As a lecturer in the Faculty of Syariah, Ruhaini was also active in the Women’s Study Centre at university, which from the mid 1990s became the backbone of the movement to mainstream gender at the IAIN university.
Not fully satisfied with her academic work, Ruhaini was also active in the community. Together with other Muslim activists, she founded an NGO to help women victims of violence, the Rifka Annisa Women’s Crisis Centre in Yogyakarta. In 1995 Ruhaini again became involved with the women’s organisation of Muhammadiyah as a member of a prayer institute, several years after she had broken ties with it. There, Ruhaini and her friends began to formulate a gender policy for the organisation and strategic steps to implement it. In the same year, Ruhaini was also chosen to become a member of the Tarjih Council, the function of which is to issue rulings on doctrinal issues. She was also chosen as a member of Muhammadiyah’s Council on the Development of Islamic Thought, which is one of the sources of religious authority for the Muslim community in Indonesia. The religious views or fatwa of Muhammadiyah are also issued by this body.
Within the Muhammadiyah environment, Ruhaini avoids using the language of western feminism, preferring religious terms that are known and understood by the community. A relationship between a husband and wife is described as ‘makruf’ (good and appropriate) and a relationship between a man and woman as ‘adil’ (just), equal and in harmony. Ruhaini and her friends’ willingness to compromise in re-joining Nasyiatul Aisyiyah has already borne significant results: Muhammadiyah now includes women in the Tarjih Council in executive positions, and at all leadership levels from the village to the national level.
Taken from Inside Indonesia
Monday, April 03, 2006
Foreign F&B chains flourish amid changing tastes
By Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Doni Danika Putera was eager to open a Starbucks coffee shop in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. "The number of expats working for foreign companies in Balikpapan has increased significantly. It is definitely a promising market," the sales manager of a car leasing company told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a seminar on the food and beverage (F&B) industry here recently.
That day, Doni, whose father and brothers have long been working in the car sales business, finally had the chance to talk with Anthony Cottan, the director of PT Sari Kopi, the franchisee for Starbucks Coffee in the country.
But before he was able to to into detail on how to make a nice and cozy coffee shop, Cottan gave him a disappointing answer.
"I was just told that the London-based coffee shop did not sub-franchise," he told the Post. "It's OK, I think I'll open a modern bread store, perhaps BreadTalk," he said, considering the current trend toward globalization.
Globalization -- no matter how cliche the word is today -- has changed everything in people's lives, including in taste in food and drink.
As Indonesian traditional warteg (Tegal food stalls) and warkop (coffee shops) become more and more marginalized and pejoratively identified as "proletarian" bistros, global brands in the F&B industry such as Pizza Hut, Hard Rock Cafe, McDonald's, BreadTalk and Starbucks are rapidly growing in urban areas and their surroundings.
Foreign -- or shall we call them modern -- F&B outlets have become more accepted and are now mushrooming in every corner in major cities.
Starbucks is currently seeking new locations outside Java for its new coffee shops, while BreadTalk is set to open 10 more stores in Jakarta and Manado this year.
"We just opened a new store in Makassar (South Sulawesi) two weeks ago," PT Talkindo Salaksa Anugrah managing director Johnny Andrean told the Post.
Talkindo, the franchisee for BreadTalk and J.Co. Donut & Cofee in the country, has opened 18 BreadTalk stores in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Bali.
Johnny, a successful hair stylist before entering the franchise business, admitted that competition in the F&B industry was extremely fierce today not only for local players but also for international brands such as BreadTalk.
According to the Forum of License Holders of Franchisors, there are currently more than 100 foreign F&B companies that have franchised their businesses in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the number of local F&B franchisors has now reached 70.
The forum said the total sales in the country's franchise F&B business last year reached more Rp 15 trillion (US$1.6 billion).
"We have to be smart in looking at all the opportunities," Johnny said.
F&B is a lucrative business and offers higher profits with lower capital in spite of higher risks. As people spend most of their time outside their home, the competition in the F&B industry is getting tougher than ever.
F&B companies, of course, are trying to attract customers here in many ways, including offering dishes to suit local tastes. Branding does matter but taste never lies.
Many foreign restaurants have modified their products to better suit the local taste. Hard Rock Cafe, for instance, has substituted barbecued pork ribs to beef ribs.
"It's impossible to sell pork ribs here," said Yoris Sebastian, head of F&B division MRA Group, which holds the franchise for Hard Rock Cafe. "You may think globally, but you must act locally."
It's been a different case for Starbucks.
"Starbucks has been fortunate that the concept of drinking coffee and the whole experience of it is universally accepted," Cottan said.
People from Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Japan, and Switzerland say that the experience of enjoying high quality coffee in good surroundings with good service is universally accepted. Everybody deserves it."
He said that Jakarta is no different from other cities in the world. "People here work very hard. They are facing difficult conditions such as traffic jams every day. They need relaxation; they need a reward," he said.
That's why, when the first Starbucks outlet opened in 2002, Anthony had no worries at all. "We're glad that we have done a great job in Indonesia," he said. PT Sari Kopi currently manages and operates 38 coffee shops in Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Surabaya and Bali.
When asked if he had any plan to localize his products, Cottan said it was unlikely. "For beverages, we don't usually localize, but sometimes in the region it could be a good idea. Like green tea cappuccino; green tea is very Asian," he said.
After all, he added, "we're just a big warung kopi."
"It's the same thing. You have a man who makes the coffee for you, (whether it is) kopi tubruk or cappuccino. Kopi tubruk (unfiltered coffee), Cottan said, was another way of saying Turkish coffee.
For Yoris, who has worked at Hard Rock Cafe for more than 10 years, good marketing is the key to success in the F&B business.
"You just have to be unique; you have to be different." he said, adding that good location might be less important if "you have a good marketing strategy."
"Many food stalls are crowded with customers though they don't have a parking lot," he said.
He added that new players in the F&B business should spend at least 15 percent of their budget on marketing. "We usually spare 2.5 to 7 percent of our budget to maintain the brand," he said.
Hard Rock Cafes in Jakarta and Bali have become the icon of a modern food stall that offers not only food and beverages but throws in the added attraction of celebrities and music.
Meanwhile, Cottan said that good location was an important aspect in the F&B business.
"You have to do a study first before deciding to open a restaurant," he said. Starbucks coffee shops are mostly located in high traffic areas such as office buildings and malls.
"You can't simply open a restaurant in Bumi Serpong Damai (Tangerang, Banten) where people are in Jakarta by day and too tired to hang out at night when they get home," he said.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
Doni Danika Putera was eager to open a Starbucks coffee shop in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. "The number of expats working for foreign companies in Balikpapan has increased significantly. It is definitely a promising market," the sales manager of a car leasing company told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a seminar on the food and beverage (F&B) industry here recently.
That day, Doni, whose father and brothers have long been working in the car sales business, finally had the chance to talk with Anthony Cottan, the director of PT Sari Kopi, the franchisee for Starbucks Coffee in the country.
But before he was able to to into detail on how to make a nice and cozy coffee shop, Cottan gave him a disappointing answer.
"I was just told that the London-based coffee shop did not sub-franchise," he told the Post. "It's OK, I think I'll open a modern bread store, perhaps BreadTalk," he said, considering the current trend toward globalization.
Globalization -- no matter how cliche the word is today -- has changed everything in people's lives, including in taste in food and drink.
As Indonesian traditional warteg (Tegal food stalls) and warkop (coffee shops) become more and more marginalized and pejoratively identified as "proletarian" bistros, global brands in the F&B industry such as Pizza Hut, Hard Rock Cafe, McDonald's, BreadTalk and Starbucks are rapidly growing in urban areas and their surroundings.
Foreign -- or shall we call them modern -- F&B outlets have become more accepted and are now mushrooming in every corner in major cities.
Starbucks is currently seeking new locations outside Java for its new coffee shops, while BreadTalk is set to open 10 more stores in Jakarta and Manado this year.
"We just opened a new store in Makassar (South Sulawesi) two weeks ago," PT Talkindo Salaksa Anugrah managing director Johnny Andrean told the Post.
Talkindo, the franchisee for BreadTalk and J.Co. Donut & Cofee in the country, has opened 18 BreadTalk stores in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Bali.
Johnny, a successful hair stylist before entering the franchise business, admitted that competition in the F&B industry was extremely fierce today not only for local players but also for international brands such as BreadTalk.
According to the Forum of License Holders of Franchisors, there are currently more than 100 foreign F&B companies that have franchised their businesses in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the number of local F&B franchisors has now reached 70.
The forum said the total sales in the country's franchise F&B business last year reached more Rp 15 trillion (US$1.6 billion).
"We have to be smart in looking at all the opportunities," Johnny said.
F&B is a lucrative business and offers higher profits with lower capital in spite of higher risks. As people spend most of their time outside their home, the competition in the F&B industry is getting tougher than ever.
F&B companies, of course, are trying to attract customers here in many ways, including offering dishes to suit local tastes. Branding does matter but taste never lies.
Many foreign restaurants have modified their products to better suit the local taste. Hard Rock Cafe, for instance, has substituted barbecued pork ribs to beef ribs.
"It's impossible to sell pork ribs here," said Yoris Sebastian, head of F&B division MRA Group, which holds the franchise for Hard Rock Cafe. "You may think globally, but you must act locally."
It's been a different case for Starbucks.
"Starbucks has been fortunate that the concept of drinking coffee and the whole experience of it is universally accepted," Cottan said.
People from Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Japan, and Switzerland say that the experience of enjoying high quality coffee in good surroundings with good service is universally accepted. Everybody deserves it."
He said that Jakarta is no different from other cities in the world. "People here work very hard. They are facing difficult conditions such as traffic jams every day. They need relaxation; they need a reward," he said.
That's why, when the first Starbucks outlet opened in 2002, Anthony had no worries at all. "We're glad that we have done a great job in Indonesia," he said. PT Sari Kopi currently manages and operates 38 coffee shops in Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Surabaya and Bali.
When asked if he had any plan to localize his products, Cottan said it was unlikely. "For beverages, we don't usually localize, but sometimes in the region it could be a good idea. Like green tea cappuccino; green tea is very Asian," he said.
After all, he added, "we're just a big warung kopi."
"It's the same thing. You have a man who makes the coffee for you, (whether it is) kopi tubruk or cappuccino. Kopi tubruk (unfiltered coffee), Cottan said, was another way of saying Turkish coffee.
For Yoris, who has worked at Hard Rock Cafe for more than 10 years, good marketing is the key to success in the F&B business.
"You just have to be unique; you have to be different." he said, adding that good location might be less important if "you have a good marketing strategy."
"Many food stalls are crowded with customers though they don't have a parking lot," he said.
He added that new players in the F&B business should spend at least 15 percent of their budget on marketing. "We usually spare 2.5 to 7 percent of our budget to maintain the brand," he said.
Hard Rock Cafes in Jakarta and Bali have become the icon of a modern food stall that offers not only food and beverages but throws in the added attraction of celebrities and music.
Meanwhile, Cottan said that good location was an important aspect in the F&B business.
"You have to do a study first before deciding to open a restaurant," he said. Starbucks coffee shops are mostly located in high traffic areas such as office buildings and malls.
"You can't simply open a restaurant in Bumi Serpong Damai (Tangerang, Banten) where people are in Jakarta by day and too tired to hang out at night when they get home," he said.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
Indonesian diplomacy: Much ado about nothing
By J. Soedjati Djiwandono, Jakarta
Never has Indonesian diplomacy shown its clumsiness and short-sightedness more clearly than in dealing with the current issue of 43 asylum seekers from Papua in Australia. In accordance with the laws of the country, the Australian government has given a three-year visa to 42 of them, pending a decision on granting the asylum status they had expected. There is nothing we can do about it, whether we like the law or not.
To quickly recall our ambassador did not seem a well-considered action, as if we were faced with a deep crisis or the threat of war. Indeed, we should have been grateful on behalf of our own people. After all, it is a basic human right for anyone to leave one's country, for whatever reason, as long as there is another country willing to receive them.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains the following articles: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country" [Article 13, (2)], and "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution" [Article 14 (1)]. Indeed, his government may deny that he has suffered persecution. The point is that he perceives himself as having been persecuted.
It is outrageous to accuse the 43 Papuans of not being "nationalistic" or being "unpatriotic". In the first place, nationalism is an outdated and irrelevant concept, particularly in referring to a nation-state like Indonesia. Nationalism was relevant in the age of colonialism or foreign domination and occupation.
The most we can expect from citizens of a nation-state is patriotism, loyalty to, and perhaps love for one's country. But patriotism cannot be taken for granted. One will be proud of one's country or if you like, patriotic, if it delivers the goods, which is general welfare (including security) based on justice, for that is the ultimate goal of the establishment of a nation-state.
The sacrosanct Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia and even national unity, serve only as intermediate goals, and therefore just a means to achieving the ideal of general welfare based on justice. Neither is an end in itself. National pride or patriotism can never be promoted or nourished by the waving of the red-and-white national flag, or playing the national anthem and other nationalistic songs, fiery speeches and public ceremonies.
Nationalism or patriotism cannot be expected when citizens suffer from poverty, injustice, and a feeling of insecurity. To be a citizen of a nation-state is not necessarily one's own choice, we become a citizen by birth in most cases.
Still, if one feels dissatisfied with one's country because it fails to deliver the goods, then it is a person's right to leave, as long as there is another state willing to accept him or her whether through visa, green cards, asylum, etc. The reasons for leaving may include some form of injustice or discrimination, or a violation of one's fundamental human rights, whether they be religious, ethnic, racial, or political in nature.
In fact, what the Australian government has done for those Papuans was a humanitarian gesture. And humanity is of higher value than nationalism or patriotism. Indeed, nationalism in our Constitution is also to be understood in the context of humanism or humanity.
Under the present government, which has tended to pamper the rich and the elite but to trample on the poor and the downtrodden, such a feeling of injustice and insecurity is rampant among the common people everywhere, even in the country's capital and other big cities where people tend to take the law into their own hands. The government has not necessarily engaged in gross violations of human rights, but in many cases it tolerates violations of human rights by violent masses, which are no part of the state's security apparatus.
Indeed, geographic proximity does not guarantee easy relations between neighboring countries. On the contrary, it may be a hindrance to good and friendly relations. It tends to give rise to undue expectations. Consciously or otherwise, Indonesians tend to expect Australia to understand Indonesia better than the United States and, therefore, to be more tolerant and less critical toward Indonesia.
Geographic proximity also tends to create certain perceptions. Because of its sheer size in terms of its territory and population, Indonesia is often perceived by Australians as a potential security threat. Officially, Indonesia often expresses its resentment, although at the same time such a perception may be a way of massaging its own ego.
It is comforting that the government has not been encouraged by emotional suggestions to sever diplomatic relations with Australia. Not only would it make it even harder to seek amicable mutual understanding. It would be even harder to restore relations later. Even the summoning of our envoy from Canberra has certainly reduced the chances of cordial communications. It may even be embarrassing to send him back to his post immediately.
As neither side would like to see a further worsening of relations, it would be wise for both sides to cool down, to start normal and orderly diplomatic communications for the sake of mutual understanding, a speedy solution, and the return to normal and friendly relations. Too much is at stake, and neither side will benefit from the continued tension between the two neighbors.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
Never has Indonesian diplomacy shown its clumsiness and short-sightedness more clearly than in dealing with the current issue of 43 asylum seekers from Papua in Australia. In accordance with the laws of the country, the Australian government has given a three-year visa to 42 of them, pending a decision on granting the asylum status they had expected. There is nothing we can do about it, whether we like the law or not.
To quickly recall our ambassador did not seem a well-considered action, as if we were faced with a deep crisis or the threat of war. Indeed, we should have been grateful on behalf of our own people. After all, it is a basic human right for anyone to leave one's country, for whatever reason, as long as there is another country willing to receive them.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains the following articles: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country" [Article 13, (2)], and "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution" [Article 14 (1)]. Indeed, his government may deny that he has suffered persecution. The point is that he perceives himself as having been persecuted.
It is outrageous to accuse the 43 Papuans of not being "nationalistic" or being "unpatriotic". In the first place, nationalism is an outdated and irrelevant concept, particularly in referring to a nation-state like Indonesia. Nationalism was relevant in the age of colonialism or foreign domination and occupation.
The most we can expect from citizens of a nation-state is patriotism, loyalty to, and perhaps love for one's country. But patriotism cannot be taken for granted. One will be proud of one's country or if you like, patriotic, if it delivers the goods, which is general welfare (including security) based on justice, for that is the ultimate goal of the establishment of a nation-state.
The sacrosanct Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia and even national unity, serve only as intermediate goals, and therefore just a means to achieving the ideal of general welfare based on justice. Neither is an end in itself. National pride or patriotism can never be promoted or nourished by the waving of the red-and-white national flag, or playing the national anthem and other nationalistic songs, fiery speeches and public ceremonies.
Nationalism or patriotism cannot be expected when citizens suffer from poverty, injustice, and a feeling of insecurity. To be a citizen of a nation-state is not necessarily one's own choice, we become a citizen by birth in most cases.
Still, if one feels dissatisfied with one's country because it fails to deliver the goods, then it is a person's right to leave, as long as there is another state willing to accept him or her whether through visa, green cards, asylum, etc. The reasons for leaving may include some form of injustice or discrimination, or a violation of one's fundamental human rights, whether they be religious, ethnic, racial, or political in nature.
In fact, what the Australian government has done for those Papuans was a humanitarian gesture. And humanity is of higher value than nationalism or patriotism. Indeed, nationalism in our Constitution is also to be understood in the context of humanism or humanity.
Under the present government, which has tended to pamper the rich and the elite but to trample on the poor and the downtrodden, such a feeling of injustice and insecurity is rampant among the common people everywhere, even in the country's capital and other big cities where people tend to take the law into their own hands. The government has not necessarily engaged in gross violations of human rights, but in many cases it tolerates violations of human rights by violent masses, which are no part of the state's security apparatus.
Indeed, geographic proximity does not guarantee easy relations between neighboring countries. On the contrary, it may be a hindrance to good and friendly relations. It tends to give rise to undue expectations. Consciously or otherwise, Indonesians tend to expect Australia to understand Indonesia better than the United States and, therefore, to be more tolerant and less critical toward Indonesia.
Geographic proximity also tends to create certain perceptions. Because of its sheer size in terms of its territory and population, Indonesia is often perceived by Australians as a potential security threat. Officially, Indonesia often expresses its resentment, although at the same time such a perception may be a way of massaging its own ego.
It is comforting that the government has not been encouraged by emotional suggestions to sever diplomatic relations with Australia. Not only would it make it even harder to seek amicable mutual understanding. It would be even harder to restore relations later. Even the summoning of our envoy from Canberra has certainly reduced the chances of cordial communications. It may even be embarrassing to send him back to his post immediately.
As neither side would like to see a further worsening of relations, it would be wise for both sides to cool down, to start normal and orderly diplomatic communications for the sake of mutual understanding, a speedy solution, and the return to normal and friendly relations. Too much is at stake, and neither side will benefit from the continued tension between the two neighbors.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
Downer plays down Yudhoyono comments
Monday Apr 3 21:04 AEST
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has played down the implications of calls by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for a review of its dealings with Australia.
In a televised national press conference, Yudhoyono on Monday declared that bilateral relations had hit a "difficult phase" and he suggested a review of agreements, such as those on people-smuggling.
He warned that "obscene and destructive" cartoons over Australia's granting of protection visas to 42 Papuan asylum seekers risked sparking the sort of violence whipped up by caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
Yudhoyono, who has already recalled his ambassador from Canberra in protest, criticised Australia's decision.
He said both sides needed "serious and intensive diplomatic meetings to review a strategic and comprehensive framework for cooperation and friendship between Indonesia and Australia for now and for the future".
"We should review again the various agreements we have agreed on, for example, cooperation in the field of illegal migration," he said.
Prime Minister John Howard has pressed Indonesia hard in recent years to stop mostly Afghan and Iraqi asylum seekers from using the country as a stepping stone to Australia.
But Yudhoyono said Indonesia would not tolerate support for Papuan separatism in Australia or anywhere else.
Mr Downer on Monday night played down the implications of the Indonesian leader's remarks.
He said cooperation between Australia and Indonesia over people smuggling remained intact.
"We're very supportive of what he has to say about the situation of our bilateral relationship," a spokesman for Mr Downer said.
"We have ongoing cooperation against people-smuggling," he said.
"It's absolutely not in jeopardy."
The spokesman said Yudhoyono's remarks made cooperation between the two nations even more important.
"His remarks today underscore how important it is for us to continue our cooperation."
Taken from Ninemsn News
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has played down the implications of calls by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for a review of its dealings with Australia.
In a televised national press conference, Yudhoyono on Monday declared that bilateral relations had hit a "difficult phase" and he suggested a review of agreements, such as those on people-smuggling.
He warned that "obscene and destructive" cartoons over Australia's granting of protection visas to 42 Papuan asylum seekers risked sparking the sort of violence whipped up by caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
Yudhoyono, who has already recalled his ambassador from Canberra in protest, criticised Australia's decision.
He said both sides needed "serious and intensive diplomatic meetings to review a strategic and comprehensive framework for cooperation and friendship between Indonesia and Australia for now and for the future".
"We should review again the various agreements we have agreed on, for example, cooperation in the field of illegal migration," he said.
Prime Minister John Howard has pressed Indonesia hard in recent years to stop mostly Afghan and Iraqi asylum seekers from using the country as a stepping stone to Australia.
But Yudhoyono said Indonesia would not tolerate support for Papuan separatism in Australia or anywhere else.
Mr Downer on Monday night played down the implications of the Indonesian leader's remarks.
He said cooperation between Australia and Indonesia over people smuggling remained intact.
"We're very supportive of what he has to say about the situation of our bilateral relationship," a spokesman for Mr Downer said.
"We have ongoing cooperation against people-smuggling," he said.
"It's absolutely not in jeopardy."
The spokesman said Yudhoyono's remarks made cooperation between the two nations even more important.
"His remarks today underscore how important it is for us to continue our cooperation."
Taken from Ninemsn News
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)