Global Voices » A. Fatih Syuhud

Indonesia: Kidnapping Children for Ransom

A. Fatih Syuhud — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 03:09:32 +0000

Nobody in Indonesia feels sure as to what motivates the criminals to abduct a child to serve their purpose. One thing is clear this trend is growing and it grows at an alarming pace. The “climax” of such child abduction criminal trend was the release of Raisya, a 4-year-old pre-nursery student yesterday afternoon after being kidnapped for about 9 days in Jakarta.

As the daughter of Ali Said, the head of Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs (HIPMI) group, makes Raisya more fortunate than the other kids in the sense that her case is getting a lot of attention from the media and Indonesian establishment. No less than President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) himself made a plea to the abductor to release her sooner rather than later.

Many schools has beefed up their security arrangements to prevent repeats of such incidents. That's said, some schools think that they have had done enough. Reports Cheetezz:

Despite widespread calls for a greater focus on school security, some city private schools insist they have already taken appropriate action to protect their students.

The North Jakarta International School (NJIS), an elite school in Kelapa Gading, for example, says it already has comprehensive security arrangements in place.

The school says it assigns a teacher’s assistant to accompany students home on the school’s bus service.

But he said the school’s responsibilities did not extend to students who were driven home in private cars.

“Parents are fully responsible for the safety of children who are dropped off and picked up by their own driver,” said Ibu Ish, the transportation coordinator at NJIS.

She said the school kept the identity of all private drivers on file and obliged parents to report the hiring of new drivers to the school.

The principal of another elite institution, Gandhi Memorial International School (GMIS), said his school already had a comprehensive security arrangement but had boosted security somewhat in the wake of the kidnapping.

“Of course, schools should not become fortresses … but security and safety is rule number one for our school. How can we educate correctly without safety?” Ashok Pal Singh said Thursday.

“We have everything under surveillance (at our school),” he said,

According to the Jakarta Post, the abductors ask Raisya parents for ransom about IDR 150 million to 700 million. Interestingly, the mastermind of the kidnapping was the husband of Raisya's Quranic teacher meaning that the suspect was a person whom the unfortunate kid knew very well.

Bachelor Degree for President and the MP's Laptop

A. Fatih Syuhud — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 10:01:08 +0000

In political arena every move becomes political, or considered to be political if it's not in line with certain interest of particular segment of political elites. That's exactly what's happening currently in Indonesian both in politicosphere and blogosphere. A contentious debate over the current plan of DPR (Indonesia's MP) to amend the constitution to make a Bachelor degree a prerequisite for a presidential candidate to be eligible for nomination by any political party has sparked a furore. And that's understandable considering the fact that one of the would-be presidential candidate from PDI-P party, former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, has never finished her bachelor degree.

Terkini believes this move as a means to stop Megawati from the next 2009 general election candidacy. M. Alfian Alfian in his long analysis conclude that a Bachelor degree should not be a requirement for a presidential candidate as it will only create another corrupt practices of another kind: the long line of politicians who want to seek the Degree and some “malicious” universities who are more than willing to accomodate the “market demand” through “special channel and special price.” Qui est votre agrees..

One who agrees with the plan argues that if Bachelor degree becomes a precondition to be a head of district, it's natural that the same rule should be applied to a presidential candidate as well.

Laptop and Indonesian MPs (DPR)

Despite less significant, the issue of DPR (Indonesia's MP)'s plan to buy a laptop for each of DPR's member assumes a bigger interests among Indonesian blogosphere. No less than 160-odd postings has been dedicated talking about this issue.

The public debates on this issue focus mainly on the necessity and the price. On price, for example, Government will allocate IDR 21 million (around $2,100) per laptop for 550 DPR member. Almost all bloggers disagree with the laptop-for-DPR and question the wisdom behind this unnecessary move. Just Ngeblog wonders why does the government spend people's money so easily for such a waste?. Rahning, Pande Baik, Rihart and many others think likewise.

Indonesia: Floods that Paralysed the Capital and its People

A. Fatih Syuhud — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 07:39:16 +0000

Indonesia again gets international media intention for yet another natural disaster. This time the capital Jakarta has gone through the worst floods in five years. The floods paralysed everything - the business activities, its people movement and day-to-day government activities.

Picture from Rifle's Flickr Page

Around 340,000 of Jakarta's population were forced to flee, leaving almost everything but themselves. Around 200,000 are homeless.

Ferry Rahman makes a daily report on the messy situation in the capital right from the first day of torrential rain that led to the flood which up till now has killed 20 people.

In today's posting, he tells his activities in helping his aunt whose house is badly affected:

My mother was already there and the flood gone. Can't believe that a few days ago water covered 1/4 of the house. I could just imagine the damage it had done to it.

It was pretty sunny, the sun was up and..it was just another beautiful day. It rained only for a few minutes during the day, but it was a very sunny day!

I entered the house to check for any damages. Obviously lot's of her clothes and bed sheets were soaked wet and smelly. Also lots of kitchen utensils were submerged in the flood, we had them cleaned but some of them were beyond repair (they were too old to be of any use anyway) so we had to throw them away.

Even two of her beds had to be thrown out. Yup, two spring beds!

But those can be replaced. What surprised me the most were my cousins official documents, including her high school diploma, birth certificates, etc. They were all just wet and damaged. Don't know how those are gonna get replaced.

Guess in her panic she just…forgot about them and left the house.

So the four of us cleaned what ever could be cleaned until the afternoon. Knowing that we would have to come back and clean again if a flood would ever come again.

We went home shortly after that.

We turned on the TV to get some new info about the flood.
Now even companies are sending messages to their employees not to come to work tomorrow.

How to Help

Peduli (means care) posted some very valuable links to aid organisation's website and their accounts geared specifically to help the flood victims. The links and bank account are particularly beneficial for fellow Indonesians in other part of the city wanting to lend a helping hand.

Meanwhile, for those non-Indonesians or anyone who are staying outside Indonesia, I recommend to extend their help through international aid organisation who they know best. Unspun recommendation is a good one.

Other bloggers talking about the floods
Javajive: Floods in Jakarta
Jakartass: Jakarta floods leave the question: Who's to blame?
Mojomaru

Indonesia: Internet Outage and Flood in Aceh

A. Fatih Syuhud — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:58:07 +0000

There is nothing worse for Indonesian bloggers in particular around the new year eve but to see the sudden temporary “demise” of internet connection.

The cause as reported by Budi Putra, , Sani Asy'ari and Enda Nasution is “the strong quake off Taiwan’s coast on December 26 damaged submarine cables and severely disrupted telecom links in the East, Southeast and South Asia.”

That makes almost 90 percent of Indonesia's internet connection disfunctional or very slow. According to Yulian Firdaus, quoting from a portal media, the recovery could take “as long as as one month” during which Indonesian online activities will witness the lowest traffic ever. Certainly one month, if it's true, a way too much for an internet addicts like Enda Nasution who wonders whether this is what end of days fell like.

Some Indonesian bloggers who are fortunate enough to still have internet connection like Willy Sudiarto Raharjo, still complains over how slow the connection is. Not to say how low the traffic to his blog could be.

Flood in Aceh

Exactly two years after the Tsunami, one of the biggest natural disaster ever happened, Aceh again has to face another natural calamity. Although it's not as big as Tsunami, the loss and severe it afflicts to the Acehnese is unbearable.

70,000 people has been evacuated or are fleeing home taking refuge in neighboring area. About 60 people dead.

So much to “celebrate” a New Year 2007 for Indonesian in general and Indonesian bloggers in particular.

Indonesia: Polygamous Holy Man and MP's Sex Scandal

A. Fatih Syuhud — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 12:10:56 +0000

There is nothing more ovelwheming than the conversations among Indonesian blogosphere these past few weeks. The talk involves two occurences that looks similar but are actually unrelated - Aa Gym's second wife and an Indonesian MP of Golkar party's sex scandal.

First off, for non-Indonesian, here's an intro by TIME magazine about Aa Gym dubbed by as “Indonesia's hottest Muslim preaches a slick mix of piety and prosperity.

So, the hottest Holy Man is now living with two wives. And that sparked the controversy among the Indonesian blogosphere as to the propriety of such an act. Having more than one wife is permitted in Islam but it's highly discouraged. It's only permitted when (1) you can do justice to them (wives) and/or (2) to avoid extramarital relationship (zina, in Islamic term) which is one of major sins in Islam.

That said, ordinary Muslims think that a respected Muslim preacher of his stature with millions of followers should take a high standard example to his followers more than anyone else, including in this case, to avoid having two wives.

Ridho Putradi, quoting a verse from the Quran which is often used by pro-polygamous husband, says that “for whatever reasons I dont agree with polygamous life.” There are 49 comments (and counting) in his post on Aa Gym's polygamy most of which fully support his opinion with various reasons. Similar opinions are posted by many bloggers including Rohprimardho, Tata Danamihardja, Morning Dew, Ida Abidin, Agus Setiawan, Rani, and many more.

Muhammad Solihuddin, however, has no problem with it and wish Aa Gym a good luck and happily ever after with both of them.

MP Sex Scandal

Yahya Zaini, an Indonesian MP from Golkar party, in the meanwhile is making news for very wrong and stupid reasons: his sex scandal with a singer recorded by and through her mobile phone gets out of hand and spreads like a virus among Indonesian mobile phones users and gets talked about by Indonesian bloggers. The incident forces him to resign from his position as MP and he may also get dumped from Golkar party headed by Jusuf Kalla (pron, Yusuf Kala) the current vice president of Indonesia. Ironically, Yahya Zaini is head of Golkar's religious affairs committee (which is responsible for moral issues!!).

Bush and Indonesia Islam

A. Fatih Syuhud — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 16:20:47 +0000

If you watched CNN or BBC before and during Bush's visit to Indonesia, you would see a sea of protersters in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta with slogan of anti-Bush and to some extent, anti-American foreign policy. But with most female protesters were wearing Islamic clothes i.e. jilbab (Indonesian term for Islamic veil), it is easy for people on other parts of the world to think that's it's only those Muslim fundamentalists who were against Bush. As a matter of fact, it's not.

Barring a few–mostly conservative Christian minority, Indonesians are united in condemning Bush/US foreign policy, especially its post-9/11 pre-emptive policy that led to US wars in Afghanistan and especially Iraq which is regarded as sheer breach of a nation sovereignty and blatant show of arrogance.

Both conservative and moderate or even the so-called liberal Muslims intellectuals wrote critically against the US invasion in Iraq. Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, the founder of Jaringan Islam Liberal (JIL) (Liberal Islam Network), for example, wrote at that time (the archive link is no longer available, unfortunately) that the invasion was sheer barbarity and telling example of US double-standard. Important to note here, that JIL, an organisation that focuses on Islamic issues from liberal/moderate Muslim point of view, is funded mostly by US money. Mr Ulil himself now is studying a PhD at Boston.

Andreas H Pareira, a Christian and MP from former president Megawati's PDIP party reported by Indonesia News Agency Antara as saying: “Do not behave softly to the US, so as to not create an impression that we are a US puppet country.”

Berita Sore daily, an evening newspaper from Medan, North Sumatra, quoting an east Indonesia political analyst Professor Muin Salim who said that Bush visit “in no way benefitting Indonesia.”

Yet, Bush PR officers should not be too disappointed as Indonesia Ulama Council or MUI (Majelis Ulama Indonesia), infamous for its conservative opinions, is welcoming Bush with bear hug and regard his visit as “positive and beneficial.”

So, from that background in mind, it's no wonder if Bush visit to Indonesia is facing many unflattered responses from various corners including from the Indonesian blogosphere.

For starter, Senopati Wirang at Intelijen Indonesia (Indonesian Intelligence) makes a lengthy posting on Bush's visit from different angles, particularly from intelligence perspective and intransparency of security officials statement, especially on the justifications behind the excessive use of security guards which he thinks too much exaggerated.

Tata Danamihardja at Buka Mulut does not seem to care of Bush visit and controversies surrounding his visit. Yet he's got something to complain to Indonesian security official as to why a US president visit has to make people sacrifice many imporartant things including six billion rupiah (around USD six million), the temporary ban of street retailer and the temporary closure of many schools in the surrounding areas the US president wants to visit.

MicoKelana, however, thinks in more positive and prudent way. Indonesian economy is worsening, he said. Bush visit, therefore, would make a positive signal: if head of the only superpower comes to Indonesia, so will the other countries. Hence, more investors.

Celebrating Eid ul-Fitr the Blogger Way

A. Fatih Syuhud — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 03:43:04 +0000

Some Indonesian bloggers still talk about Eid ul-Fitr, or something to do with it, days after it passed for various reasons. Agus Setiawan at Blogonesia, for example, discusses the recent fatwa (religious decree) made recently by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Indonesian Muslim organisation, in which it stated that watching gossip program on TV is considered haram or ‘unlawful'.

Agus Setiawan agrees to such fatwa on the ground that (a) 80 percent of Indonesians are Muslim and (b) that doing or listening to gossip news are clearly forbidden or highly discouraged in Islam. Besides, he observes, that watching such program is highly time-wasting and unproductive.

Most commenters in the particular post agree with his statement but Hartanto who thinks that gossip culture is as old as human existence; so let it be as human are made of angel and evil:

Biarkanlah gosip, yang sudah ada sejak manusia ada… Kalo gosip dilarang, kasian mahluk yg berasal dari api, susah cari celah…

Muhammad Ali, an Indonesian student in Honolulu, Hawaii in the meanwhile, enjoys the Eid celebration in what he calls as a ‘Multifaith Lebaran Feast', as he celebrates Eid this year along with his brothers and sisters from other faiths. Says he:

For Muslims in Hawaii, a multifaith, multiethnic and multinational lebaran feast (concluding the fasting month of Ramadhan) is not something unusual. As you can see in the pictures, they are mostly Muslims, but some probably Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Buddhist, Confucians, Agnostics, spiritualists, and possibly atheists too, joined the Indonesia's lebaran feast on Saturday, October 28th, 2006, organized by PERMIAS-H.

He rightly observes that such practice of tolerance needs to be preserved and sustain for better understanding among people from different community:

This practice of a multifaith lebaran is truly enlightening. It is indeed revealing to the fact that most people have interacted with others regardless of religions, ethnicities, nationalities, etc, and the lebaran feast tradition seems to be a good opportunity for them to share sympathy and ask and give forgiveness, in case they have acted or said something hurting or insulting others, consciously or unconcsciously. People say “human errs”, but the best human is the one who asks and gives forgiveness and then try not to repeat the same errors.

Juwono Sudarsono, Indonesian Defence Minister, made “happy Eid” statement not through posting; rather he changes his blog skin appearance with brighter colour with a “Eid Mubarak” in the header.

As far as Juwono's latest posting, he prefer to talk about his favorite topic i.e. politics in which he wrote about “Democracy, Poverty & Radical Politics.” An interesting post and a must-read one for those who are interested in Indonesia, politics and Islam in the largest Muslim country.

Another Indonesian Minister Blog and a Mourning Week

A. Fatih Syuhud — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 20:58:04 +0000

As I wrote here, Indonesian Housing Minister Yusuf Asy'ari becomes the second Minister to start blogging after Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono went blogging a few months back. His blog post is written bilingually in English and Bahasa Indonesia.

Harry Sufehmi, one of Indonesian blogger, is fortunate enough to be invited by the Minister to his office for “consultation” on anything to do with blogging world.

Harry utilises the rare opportunity–imagine, a blogger in a Ministerial office for blogtalk!–to also sort of interview the Housing Minister about the motivation behind his interest to blog. For example whether the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) himself who ask the Minister to blog. In which he said: No. The President only asked his ministers to be more close to their people, to be more care to and interact with them and to know directly their grievances. And blogging is how Mr. Asy'ari thinks as one step to that direction.

Harry Sufehmi who had been in England and worked for e-Government project of Birmingham Municipality during his stay there also advised the Minister to make use of blog as an interactive tool between the ministry office and the people.

The Indonesian blogger-Minister meeting has got much warm welcome comment from other bloggers; congratulating Harry and appreciating the down-to-earth Minister.

Mourning Week

The sudden death of Bunda Zidan (mother of Zidan) known more as Inong, a mother of two kids, aged 32, has sparked an overwhelmed condolences from Indonesian bloggers. Inong who stays in Singapore with her husband and two kids was among the darling of Indonesian bloggers. She's nice, friendly, energetic and humble and that's why many bloggers feel so attached to her even those who never met her personally. See one post from one of her closest friend which I quoted here.

From Technorati, I found out there are 1,053 posts dedicated to her till date alone. And mind you it's still counting. Just confirming how lovable woman, mother and friend she was. May the Almighty God gives her soul an everlasting peace in Heaven. Amen.

Indonesian Blogger Confronts US Media View on Indonesian Muslims

A. Fatih Syuhud — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:57:16 +0000

Here is a stark example on how people from different cultures see the same thing differently. And how bias and pre-occupied notion on certain issue and on certain people or community can lead you to see thing only from the negative side of the picture.

Rasyad A. Parinduri at Sarapan Ekonomi - Indonesia's Economy criticises strongly the editorial view of Washington Times (WT) on the result of LSI survey where. WT said (emphasis is mine):

More than two-thirds of Indonesians favor the country's current secular system of law, according to a privately funded nationwide survey by the Indonesian Survey Circle, a pollster. If that seems like good news, read it this way: This means there are “only” about 82 million Indonesians who favor Shariah. Approximately 216 million out of Indonesia's approximately 246 million inhabitants, or nearly nine-tenths of the population, are Muslims. And while Indonesia's religious and cultural climate is justifiably regarded as moderate in comparison to much of the rest of the Muslim world — and its government is a very useful ally against terrorism — the numbers still leave plenty of room for concern.

… When the aggregate numbers of people are factored in, the study looks considerably more disturbing. If one-quarter of Indonesians favor cutting off the hands of thieves, it suggests that upwards of 60 million Indonesians favor the practice. If roughly 164 million Indonesians oppose stoning adulterers, it means that more than 80 million favor doing so.

Parinduri thinks that such kind of logic–making good thing from “others” look ugly and bad thing uglier– is misleading and by no means it would help people across cultural boundaries getting closer understanding. He asks the WT editor to think at the same token for themselves:

I guess, by similar token, since about 45 millions Americans (15 percent)1 do not think that “democracy is better than any other form of government”, the future of democracy in US is, really, considerably worrisome.

This kind of analysis — it's just beautiful, isn't it?

He explains further trying to put thing in right perspective:

LSI reports that 69.6 percent of Indonesians favor Pancasila, 11.5 percent favor Islamic country like those in the the Middle East, 3.5 percent favor Western style system of law, and the rest, about 15 percent of them, do not respond or do not have any preference.

The Times's editor should have written that “there are about 28 millions Indonesians (out of 246 millions) who favor Shariah”.

By the way, the survey's finding that “more than two-thirds of Indonesians favor the country's current secular system of law” does not mean that “there are ‘only' about 82 million Indonesians who favor Shariah”. The Washington Times editors are simply wrong.

He advises the WT's editor to write his op-ed in more prudent way in the future for the benefit of peaceful co-existence and greater understanding:

The Times's editor should have written that “there are about 28 millions Indonesians (out of 246 millions) who favor Shariah”.

Commenting on the above post, Calson said:

And even among those 28 million who favor Sharia a considerable number of people will not be in favor of the harsh Saudi interpretation.

I guess. I hope.

Even Indcoup, a British expat in Indonesia, whose opinions in his blog tend to highlight Indonesian Muslims in the bad light agrees that “the WT editorial is poor,” but adding that:

The point is, I guess, that ALTHOUGH a small percentage of Indonesians favor Sharia law there IS an impact.

Look at Indonesian society and you can see that extremists, though small in number can, have an effect.

ie: Sharia laws in Padang & Aceh, the idea to ban gossip shows, SMS, segregation of male and female students in some parts of Indonesia, the anti-porno law that would make the kebaya illegal, etc etc.

In which Parinduri responds back:

That's true, IndCoup. But, why don't they just say so? (This also applies to people at IndoMatters).

There is no need to distort the survey results, or to bend the analysis, just to suit one's opinion.

Why don't people provide more balanced analysis. When the survey in 1999 was published that 12 or more percent of Americans “do not support Democracy”, I don't think they would write that “the aggregate numbers of people are factored in, the study looks considerably more disturbing”.

Why is it when it's about Indonesian muslims, suddently it matters? This kind of analysis is just unbelieveable.

And why do people, it seems, expect too much from Indonesia's democracy? It's been only a few years old, for God's sake. Or do they think that democracy is always perfect?

Btw, I don't think NU calls for any gov't laws banning gossip shows as you seem to suggest. But, it's another story.

My point is this: Indonesian muslims have problems, all right. (Others may have problems too, btw). There's no need to paint a picture that make us look much worse. Distorting the picture just to make us uglier is insulting, to say the least.

And you know what, people should not distort the picture of Indonesian muslims if they really want to engange us muslims. They will definitely failed. Unless of course enganging us is not what they want.

(I mean, go ahead, paint an uglier picture of us if they just want us to look uglier. But, one thing for sure, they are not helping moderate and liberal muslims. But again, it doesn't matter if they are not really care).

Mud Disaster and Letter to the Indonesian President

Onceuponaweblog, in the meantime, wrote that she has sent a letter to the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), to handle mud disaster that takes place in Sidoarjo, East Java, as soon as possible to avoid the disaster get deteriorated further:

I have today sent a letter via email to SBY. My main intent is for the president to prioritize on efforts to put a stop to the mud disaster in Sidoarjo, which has drowned four villages to date and the figure is still counting.

61st Anniversary of Indonesia's Independence Day

A. Fatih Syuhud — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 20:21:29 +0000

In commemorating the 61st anniversary of independence day, Indonesian bloggers have many ways to celebrate it.

Agusti Anwar highlights the meaning of flag as a symbol of nation and nationalism:

Flag is indeed a formal expression of recognition. To that effect, if a people dispose or pull out recognition of others, accepting or protesting, the flag would do service either way. Protesters of different nationals would burn the flag of the opposed and that has been a full statement at best.

Remember when our founding fathers and patriots fought against the colonial power of Dutch, those brave young heroes ran to the front against the shooting bullets to pull down the red-white-blue colonial flag just to rip out the blue part and put it high again. The red and white was on the air. The red and white is on the air. And that time, patriots fell down in smile.

He reminds us, however, that the same national flag could mean both ways, good or bad:

Yet, when everyday you read news on corruption, that so many of the rich are in fact embezzlers or pirates of national budgets, you may worry that the extravagant red-and-white exhibition simply equals theatrical gambits of falseness. You may then worry that short after the celebration of 17 August, the house owners would be seen in TV with handcuff and sadly bowing heads, being brought to court for corruption trial. However, you may also worry too much.

Sid Bachtiar, an Indonesian software engineer stays in New Zealand, writes an interesting finding about some names of softwares which seems incidentally similar to familiar names in Indonesia:

The name of one of Apache subprojects, Jakarta, is the name of Indonesia’s capital city.

Java is one of Indonesia’s islands.

Java man is not someone who does Java programming.

From historical perspectiveHerman Akbar Fajar writes an interesting story that it's only one year ago that the Dutch which colonized and ruled Indonesia more than three and half decade recognized and agreed about the date of Indonesia's independence day:

The Netherlands, having taken in a number of loyalist exiles who (for various reasons) viewed Sukarno's government as illegitimate, would only recognize the date of the final withdraw of Dutch forces from Indonesia on December 27, 1949. This changed in 2005 when the Dutch Foreign Minister, Bernard Bot, made several well-publicized goodwill gestures: officially accepting Indonesian independence as beginning on August 17, 1945; expressing a regret for all that suffering caused by the fighting during the war; and attending 61th anniversary commemoration of Sukarno's independence proclamation, as a part of the first Dutch delegation to do so.

In the meanwhile, Lalita, a mother of two daughters, expresses her concern over the ignorance among Indonesian youth who even don't have a clue about who wrote the national anthem:

Today, we are celebrating our 61st independence day …. And how sad to watch the news that many of the younger generation don’t even know the composer of Indonesian anthem.

I asked my daughters whether they know about the composer of Indonesian anthem, and they gave me the same answer as seen on TV.

Among young generation, independence day seems to mean nothing. For them there are more important things to do: to fight to get proper education and better job.

Breastfeeding Day and Indonesian Minister Blog on Middle-East Conflict

A. Fatih Syuhud — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 13:41:12 +0000

When citizen journalists or ‘ordinary' bloggers are making political statements on current Middle East conflicts between Israel and Lebanon, they are usually talking with their hearts. They write whatever they want to write without any consideration of impacts. But when a minister of the largest Muslim country in the world like Indonesia is blogging, he must have been facing difficulties to speak up his mind and hence has to walk in the tight rope between personal statement and the portfolio of ministership he's holding. Hence the ability to read “between the lines” is needed to understand what he is actually talking about.

That's what happens to Juwono Sudarsono, the Indonesian Defense Minister, the first and only Minister to have a blog who is also former professor of international relations at the prominent Universitas Indonesia.

In his latest post he wrote about the current Middle East conflict from various angles especially from the diplomatic point of views.

On the incapablitity of UN and “awkward” position of US stand:

The UN in New York issued its predictable litany of diplomatic statements, underlining its helplessness in having credible leverage over any of the protagonists.

The US Secretary of State rather awkwardly wanted “a ceasefire in days, not weeks” but found her words undercut by intensified shelling and missile attacks by both Israel and Hizbullah.

The deep divisions even among the Arab countries:

Heads of states and of governments in Arab capitals differ in their approaches to seek a solution, depending on the respective Arab government’s strategic attitudes toward Israel, Lebanon and Iran.

He equally states that both Israel and Hizbullah have acted beyond their respective backers i.e. the US and Iran respectively.

What the root cause of the conflict?

The intense hatred arising from anger, fear, deep vengeance and radical rhetoric, combined with personal as well as collective sufferings on both sides have led the military conflict run unchecked.

He thinks that the war will last longer than predicted because,

Hizbullah found new methods of running a total war effort, confounding the Israeli military with their ingenuity and skill in deploying rockets and missiles from wide and dispersed areas. It can ignore calls for a cessation of hostilities so long as its human and military resources remain intact. The Israeli defense force, under increased international pressure to agree to a ceasefire or cessation of hostilities, can only do so if it feels that the Hizbullah forces are dismantled, if not destroyed, entirely. Neither side can afford to be seen as having to step down from its absolute minimum military threshold. So longs the war of military attrition continues, an agreed diplomatic formulation will have to wait for the appropriate balance of military forces.

The post attracts some interesting comments which you can read below:

From Masindi:

I don't see this conflict purely as a result of tension between Lebanon/Hezbollah and Israel, but rather, the two Greater Forces are using the smaller ones to fight each other for whatever objectives that they wanted to achieve.

In my opinion, U.S. is using Israel as an extension of its arm to fight against Iran (Hezbollah gets its military armament from Iran).

All in all, this war can only be stopped when U.S. agrees to give Iran some space to breathe.

Seeharry worries over some Indonesian voices which call for the boycot of the US products, yet he agrees on switch to other currencies instead of U$D:

Right now, I hear some voices to ban american/ european product such as McD, carrefour, starbucks and others. I do not agree with them, because there are some indonesian people who work at those companies. I think we should try to find another way to push america/ israel such as not to use USD for international trade.

Qisai does not seem to agree with the Defense Minister's “elegant” opinion:

Suggesting to “wait for the appropriate balance of military force” before “an agreed diplomatic formulation” could be acheived is, in my opinion, only making the matter worse, especially for the civilians trapped between the conflicting parties.

Should we ignore their desperate plight for peace and security? Or should we force the fonflicting parties to end the hostility for the sake of humanity?

In this current conflict in the Mideast, I see the US govt as an important player that should mediate or take immedate decision in ending the crisis. As the sole superpower in this rather unilateral world, and in its apparent support to the Israeli military agression, I have little doubt that once the US tell Israel to stop all its milatary attacks, ultimately Hizbullah would also stop launching its rockets to Israel.

No diplomatic solution could be achieved by the international community without any active role from the US govt, even when “an appropriate balance of military force” is achieved. And unless there is no change of US policy in the Mideast, a sustainable resolution to the crisis would remain elusive and more and more civilians would only become the victims in a prolonged crisis.

The writer thinks of more radical action agaisnt the powerless UN: dissolve the UN!

Breastfeeding Day

In the meanwhile, Lita, a mother of two kids, at Banana Talk posts an article about breastfeeding day being celebrated around the world. In her introduction of her post she says:

According to the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (the organizers of the week), over 60 countries have legislated all or many provisions of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (the Code), which regulates the marketing of breastmilk substitutes. The week will celebrate this success and draw attention to the work still needed to improve breastfeeding practices worldwide.

In the post, Nyam comments that “Kemaren nonton beritanya di tipi. ASI tetep yang terbaik untuk bayi….. “

I watched the news on TV. Breastfeeding is still and will always remain the best for baby.

Middle-East War and Indonesian Blogger Divided Responses

A. Fatih Syuhud — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 09:40:15 +0000

Echoing the international media headlines on current conflicts in the Middle East between Israel-Lebanon and Israel-Palestine, Indonesian bloggers post similar topics with various comments and responses; pros and cons, supports and condemnation to either sides.

Among Indonesian Muslims bloggers, condemnation towards Israeli atrocities against civilians people in Lebanon almost pouring in in unity.

Ummi Hani regards the blinded attacks as the dead of sanity and common sense on the part of Israel. Triaji thinks that what Israel has been and is doing as an “unforgivable war crime” against humanity. Sun of Day wonders why Israel has the heart to kill so many civilians many of them are women and children. He suspect that Israel has another goal in mind: making Lebanon as another Palestine.

Agusti Anwar at Opinion Counts writes:

Indeed, the conflict of Israel-Palestine has never had a chance to get better but worse every time. The recent attack by Israel in Qana’ of Lebanon, causing death and casualties among civilians has brought the worst of Israel out. Most of the 54 deaths found under the rubble are innocent children. Hundreds of thousand scattered and displaced for safety. In the face of his collapsing nation, Lebanese PM Fuad Siniora, a Christian, was so furious and condemned Israel as war criminal. Many quarters in the international community condemned this inhuman aggression by Israel, another evil brink putting humanity in its cynical verge.

Dhika, from Indonesian Muslim Blogger Community calls for action to all Indonesian Bloggers by putting a “Indonesian Bloggers Condemn Israel” banner in their respective blogs. His rationales are as follows:

August is an important month, 61 years ago our country, Indonesia, declared its independence. As describe in our Preamble of 1945 Basic Constitution, we believe that every country has rights to freedom. Israeli aggression against Palestine and Lebanon is an infringement to human rights. The indiscriminate Israeli military aggression is a gross violation of international laws, including humanitarian law that clearly prohibits the targeting of civilian populations (non-combatants). Dozens of children were killed in the Israeli raid in Lebanon and Palestine. The civilian population is bearing the brunt of the Israeli military operations. No other word, Israel is the root of the problems in Middle East.

We believe that every problems has a solution, but not by killing children and civilian population. This action is a moral action to show to the world that we, Indonesian Bloggers, condemn Israeli atrocities’ and their aggression should stop immediately.

Having said that, as Agusti Anwar pointed out, Indonesia is a country with a divided voice, sadly on religious line. Although in minority, there are some voices which justify the Israeli action in the Middle East.

Patung at Indonesia Matters, for example, complains the Indonesian media “bias” in covering the current Middle-East conflict:

One of the most striking factors in Indonesian press reports of the conflict is the level of bias and partisanship. Detiknews.com in particular seems unable to mention the name of Israel without partnering the word with “brutal”. Even the state news agency, Antara, is not immune.

He thinks that such media bias could lead into further radicalising of Indonesian Muslims.

Any radicalising of Indonesian Muslims can be blamed just as much on the press reaction to events in the middle east as on the events themselves. Needless to say, repeated terrorist attacks by Hamas and Hizbullah, now and in the past, have not excited the interest of Indonesian media to anywhere near the same extent, nor have they provoked such creative use of emotion-stirring adjectives in reporting.

Comments in above post questioning Indonesian Muslim anger towards the conflict:

From Magy:

Why is it so important for muslim and Arab countries to unite? Why do RI have to bond with a certain part when there is no such need? Why can RI not be open and bond with EU, Japan, the US, China and India AND the Arabs? Why just the Arabs? I don’t think this make sense.

From Tony:

Strange Country: fighting in the Middle East with the Arabs and in Maluku against Indonesian, solidarity with people living 10,000Km apart while evicting and oppressing neigbours such as Ahmedyyah followers, Papuan, Timorese etc. It seems to me religion is more important than nationality.

From O. Bule:

As my Indonesian relatives put it, ‘Crazy Arabs, what can you say about them?’ There is no need for Indonesia to go down the same insane road as the Arabs follow; to do so would be foolish. Let the Arabs and Israelis figure out a way to live together on their own.

Indonesia: One Day without TV

A. Fatih Syuhud — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 20:36:20 +0000

Can we live a day without TV? Many Indonesian bloggers almost simultaneously posted a piece about a day without television to commemorate National Children Day on July 23.

Many of them are worried about the quality of Indonesian tv programs which they see as a threat to the children creativity specially when it is seen from quality point of view.

Lita Mariana at Banana Talk, Priyadi, Triaji, Solyaris, and Bocah Cilik are among Indonesian bloggers who urge everyone to stop watching a tv program to pay respect for children and to warn Indonesian tv channels about their programs that could harm children in many ways.

This “one day without tv” campaign is initiated by Kidia a portal media dedicated specifically for children education.

Lita Mariana fully supports such campaign. As a mother of a couple of kids, she is very concerned with many tv programs that she thinks could pose a threat to the way the kids will behave in the future.

So what the point of making such campaign when they know that their voices will reach the deaf ears of Indonesian tv producers if it's not accompanied with a proper law? A comment here tell us the reason.

Says Rendy AK

It's not about anti-TV as a technology. It's just too-much-violence-and-junk-shows on (Indonesian) TV. This is not about proposing a bill that makes TV ilegal, just showing respect to the National Child Day.

As we all know Indonesian TV show is far from child-friendly. Despite that Indonesian children spend more time on TV than on other activities.

Masindi gives an interesting comment on Banana Talk post about how not watching tv can benefit you:

We have lived happily without TV since many years ago:

Read here: ” Celebrating Life at Home Without TV”

-We’ve read more books.
-We’ve entertained more guests (really, we had meaningful conversations and played musical instruments).
-We’ve copulated more often.
-We’ve tried more interesting recipes.
-Now, we’ve got all the time in the world to take care of Noe.

Israel condemnation and the Cause of War and Conflicts

A. Fatih Syuhud — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:27:01 +0000

Many Indonesian bloggers respond to the current brutal and terror act against civilians in Palestine and Lebanon with disgust and condemnation.

Indra Pramanawho is very concerned about the current escalation of tension in the middle-east, especially the use of excessive force by Israelis against civilians in Palestinian territory and Lebanon, questioning the actions of the Jewish state and the silent voice of the world on the events:

I still don't understand, why Israel has to kill a lot of innocent civilians, including children, only because they want to save two of their soldiers which are being captured by Hezbollah militants. Why they have to bomb the Beirut international airport? Why they have to sacrifice the life of a lot of Lebanese civilians, including children?

Why all countries around the world did not immediately condemn the attack? When North Korea did a “show-off” with its missiles, most of all countries around the world immediately condemned the move. When terrorists strike Mumbai's rapid transportation with several blasts to its trains, all countries immediately condemned the attack. Why up to the moment, it's quite difficult for most countries around the world to condemn the Israel's attack? Why so far, only Indonesia condemned the attack, while the Philippines only issued Lebanon travel ban for its citizens? And why the UN Security Council finds it difficult to come out with a resolution to condemn the attack?

I really hope that the international community can immediately look into this matter. This matter is obviously more serious than the North Korea issue. North Korea only performed a show-off, while in this case, a lot of civilians, including children, has been killed by the brutal attacks. I also really hope that the international community can do the necessary to stop Israel's attacks, so there's no further innocent people become victims.

While many Indonesian bloggers condem the acts of the Israelis against Lebanon and Palesine, Romi Satro Wahono highlights more on the root cause of conflicts happens in any parts of the world including in the Middle East where he elaborates three major factors of conflicts and war that happen throughout the history of the world adding a note that it's the US who has waged the most wars:

First, ambition to show off and gain recognition on the part of more powerful countries with all possible pretext to support the action.

Second, war as a very profitable business. You can see the table in his blog on the top five countries who export and import weapons and its values in US dollars

Third, poverty, injustices, and big social gap between the haves and the have-nots.

Some commenters seem to agree with him. Arif Widianto, for example, comment that:

Saya tidak terkejut kalau Amerika merupakan negara yang terbanyak terlibat dalam konflik (perang) internasional. Industri senjata di negara tersebut merupakan industri yang besar dan harus diserap. Kalau pasar tidak menyerap, minimal negara sendiri yang menyerap. Boleh dilihat, setiap kali Partai Republik berkuasa di Amerika, dijamin bakal akan ada perang di suatu belahan dunia karena Partai Republik disokong oleh industri senjata. Lihat George Bush dan George Walker Bush sebagai sedikit contoh dari penguasa yang berasal dari Partai Republik. Kedua orang ini menggelar perang yang cukup dahsyat di akhir abad 20 dan awal abad 21.

I am not surprised to see the US as a country with the most involvement in international conflicts (war). Weapon industry in the country is one of the biggest business and has to be dealt with. If the (international) market does not absorb that (weapon) production, it'll become the burden of state to do it. See, everytime the Republic is in the helm of power, it'll be rest assured there would be a war in other parts of the world because the Republic party is supported by weapons industry. See for example George Bush Sr. and Jr as a case in point. The two father and son president have waged the greatest war in the late 20th century and early 21st century respectively.

Indonesia Double Take to Israel and Looking at the Future

A. Fatih Syuhud — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 17:45:19 +0000

Politics, sport, business towards Israel
Ahmad Qisai at Politics and Society highlights the ever growing tension between Israel and Palestine and Indonesian government decision to boycot the playoff of the World Group II in Tel Aviv later this month but seems to have a double standard in case of economy. He said,

The unjustified ‘collective punishment’ by Israel to the Palestinian people seems to have evoked contradicting responses in Indonesia. Being a staunch supporter of Palestinian cause and statehood, Indonesian leaders think that Indonesia needs to show her sympathy and solidarity to the Palestinian people. But sport and business in Indonesia seem to have different take on this Israel – Palestine political conflict.

Based on the precedence set by Indonesia Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) who had government nod to go to Israel, the Indonesian Fed team should go ahead as they are invited by an independent institution not by Israeli government:

… Showing sympathy and solidarity to the Palestinian people does not mean that we have to sacrifice our national interests. Kadin has given this example. Being able to play more active role in international forums to pressurize Israel to solve the conflict in the region peacefully is more important for Indonesia than boycotting a tennis tournament.

Charity There, Charity Here too
Yosef Ardi at Indonesia Today, one of the most active Indonesian blogger-journalist discusses a new phenomenon among Indonesian big bosses: setting up a charity foundation. Even though some skeptic see this current trend with cynical view, they got no less appreciation from some other corners. He wrote:

Some praised these foundations for what they have done so far, just like Bill and Melinda Gates or Warren Buffett who decided to give away most of his fortunes to Bill's foundation. These foundations are aggresively announce what they called ‘donations' or corporate social responsibility (CSR)…give scholarships or professorships to big universities…give billions of rupiah to help the victims of the recent Yogyakarta earthquake or tsunami in Aceh…
But others are cynical, especially certain names with poor track records (still) and considered the criminals to the state as bad debtors or walked away smartly with huge burden to the state and the people..or their current operations of destroying forest for raw materials.

Looking up to the Future

Martin Manurung, in the meantime, disagree with the current statements made by many national figures like Abdurrahman Wahid, former Indonesian president, who urges the nation to go back to UUD' 45 philosophical constitution instead of go ahead with the reformasi. He believes that:

Leaders are called on to build their nations by creating the future rather than investing in the past, vision matters more than ever. Vision requires what looks to others like a leap of faith: the ability to go beyond the data and to make a smart guess.