a few weeks later i was attending the world islamic economic conference in kuala lumpur convention centre. a 3 days event where the first day are open for public and the other second days are government to government talk. met up with a few kind business people that accept me as a student and spectators (because they have their own expectation to expand their networking through this event). the talk in the lunch table are quite interesting.
the big theme : why muslim world are so difficult to join with each other.
we have a conclusion that we actually speak different language, and each of us has our own issue, that we dont have common interest. except the religion things. that has been proved so far with the recent issues how the muslim country react differently with the freedom flotilla event instead of have some single resolution about the incident.
yet the relation between countries are still unclear ( compared to European Union ) with all the gaps in economics, education and so on. however, i saw malaysian are so proactive to propose anything in muslim world to tied them up (that’s why they held this WIEF event). i have to admit that malaysian are have the muscle to held and tied due to it’s economic condition. malaysian are strong in business and economics. they have strong relationship with middle east capital like kuwait, abu dhabi and UAE.
while my beloved country –indonesia- are still struggling with the classical issues on corruption, internal politics and welfare. honestly my perspective are that they just care about their own issues and interest despite the constitution that “freedom is a basic right of every nation” and “the indonesian foreign politics are free and active in any means”. please note that malaysia and indonesia are also still have issues between each other which is i believe can explode in anytime. the tied with middle east are so weak – so far, only hajj things that tied up with saudi, we sent the largest numbers of people for doing hajj every year. indonesian are more to europe, american and chinese.
i think what we dont have at the moment are figure –a strong committed and respected person – and the common interest is not yet found.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Agree with this. In Indonesia, especially in media, things are publish more like internal politics issue, economic condition, natural disaster, gossip on celebrities, etc. Natural disaster which happen recently might a factor which cause Indonesian put first priority on how to help and stabilize the country instead of concerning to tie them up with middle east community.
indeed. seems indonesia still have a long way to go to be “nations” and part of the world entities…
As you mentioned, Indonesia is still struggling with their domestic issues such as corruptions and poverty, hence that is why they have not stand up and position themselves in the world stage. Its simple, if you have one broken leg, then that wont able you to stand properly. I think its best that Indonesia reform its internal sectors first, then off to join the world forces. There are too many loop holes left opened before we wanted to build our roof top. Considering our country is huge (Both land and population), you can’t always compare it to Malaysia with only 25 Million people to manage. Its not worth of a comparator I suggest.
Above the all, I personally think that Indonesia has done some efforts towards international issues, such as on HIV/AIDS, Reforestation and emission reduction in fight of global warming and even last years WIEF was held in Jakarta.
Indeed, that effort wasn’t too realistic to take in consideration. But having a ‘special’ relationship with the USA (eventhough Obama cancled his visit for 3 times), and Sri Mulyani in the world Bank as well as other Indonesian components like Mr. Abdurahman Mashur potentials, I think Indonesia has great chance of expanding their multilateral relationship worldwide. It’s just a matter of time and our support to build our archipelago!
Yes, I aggreed with some points that youre mentioned above.
We have a very complex internal problems, however it’s not an excuse. proven by Mr Soekarno, that we also have some sort of multidimensional complex in the past that we still playing a big role in foreign affairs ( remember how non-block movement, even that we are struggling with massive inflation at that time, and corruption too that’s why i mentioned as classic).
also if you follow auiss while i was the executive committe. we are weak in internal with all those organizational problems, but we are doing good & solid in external.
the international issues as you mentioned in HIV/AIDS and reforestation whatsoever i do hope that it’s done nicely, and i also do hope that it’s not a play by some elite and activist for short term purpose.
my point of view is that if we are playing some role in foreign affairs, it doesnt meant that we must free from this classical issues. even americans they are struggling with healthcare before at the same time they are attacking iraq and afghanistan.
Even the EU members are having their own internal problems. but they are still solid due their common interest in lot’s of problems.
Even you maybe are also have your own problems. but you still have some role in your organization, college and academics rite
big influence, strong role, leads to more investment(in the end, it’s marketing). middle east have strong capital. yet we still dont have a common issue.
it doesnt have to be one man solved everything. that’s why the president have their ministers.
and we dont have the figure yet.
oh yeah,
one more. about sri mulyani case. if youre tweeting and following indonesian politician & influencer. she’s actually dumped. eniwei this is out of topic.
Lool.. man as I said, when you make comparasion try to be more realistic. The problems that Soekarno and SBY faces are way different, the economic, political and social pressure to the state is also different. So you have to admit that its on a progressive mode. Flash back to 2008 economic downturns, Indonesia able to survive, yet making surpluses. (We should also acknowledge the economic team of the country, ie Sri Mulyani,etc)
I strongly agree that as a leader, they must have the ability of multitasking. Both focusing in domestic, bilateral and multilateral issues, since they all will effect the country or organization somehow. Shamefully, both Auiss or Indonesia doesn’t have the kind of leader that we desired.
Come to think of it, are the problem lies on the leadership style or the personal skill of the leader? Do you think Indonesia is more suitable with autocratic style of leadership just like the past? coz thats when Indonesia is at its peak.
We just dont have the figure yet. And the common interest as i mentioned before.
About 2008 crisis. i believe that we are lucky because we have strong small-medium business. thanks to indonesian enterpreneur. and the ministry as well by their fast decision during that era. if you noticed that sri mulyani shut down stock exchange for a week. to keep the major corporations from shut down forever. this is good, if they are closed down, it will increase the unemployment rate and make the situations getting worse.
in that so called very critical condition (including the bail-out and so on) mr president is giving his speech in harvard university.
spesific about the leadership.
I believe the problem lies on the leadership style and the guts.
Speaking about Mr. SBY actually have all the necessary skills to be a leader. proved by many times he achieved award both locally and internationally.
He is well known to be worried about his fashion performance than his decision. Even about deciding speed, he is slow. it’s the style. Try to ask your relatives or friends that living in outside about this. and my personal opinion. he doesn’t have vision where to bring the indonesian move forward. almost all the policy are just for short term period. it is getting worse by inefficiency in his cabinet.
speaking about authocratic, it’s also not the actual problem.
Mr. Habibie is a very democratic person, despite that he just ruled for not more than 2 years in a very chaotic situation. He is also well know as big spender. I already check many literatures about mr Habibie and he is brilliant but not means perfect. He also have some flaws as well. He is a man. a human being. he is a high temper. that’s why we lose timor-timur.
But I do respect him very well because at his era. we have strong rule in foreign affairs. not just with the europeans, but with middle east as well. His foreign minister(alm. ali alatas) , finance, and central bank governor did his job very well too. proven by rupiah getting strong in such a short time.
mr. ali alatas ( may be peace upon him) try his best to restore indonesian image in all over the world, including the middle east. he can debate with anyone about indonesian current situation and ensure that indonesian will succeded the reformation even we failed on timor leste’s diplomacy.
there’s foreign investment at large during that era as a result of mr. ali alatas work.
the next ball is on the other ministers hand.
please read below for the acknowledgment
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=105963010595
i’m actually disappointed, that we are supposed to playing a big role in international society, because we have everything that we need to. except that two things in the first line. with all the advantages of playing a role.
hey hey so why muslim world difficult to join each other again? Im blurrr… 0.o
i get it indonesia still struggling to walk straight because we don’t have the figure.
maybe the israeli-palestinian issue could bring us together? …but many arab countries are silent.
In Indonesia we have demos and activists everywhere, the whole gaza thing is basically on every tv channel, yet we did nothing. On the television debate there is even politician who bluntly said our presiden’t diplomacy style is ‘letoy’ far worse than soft (lets throw in the guts! yea !!).. So how can we make an impact? How can we play a role in the foreign affairs??
apart from that, I agree for the fact that sby seemed to not know exactly where the country should be heading or lack of vision. I kinda think he gets the majority out of citizens simpathism. But again. The government now is so way better than last time. Considering bits and pieces. One of it might be the transparancies in government bodies and hence leads to the fact that more youth are becoming more aware of the political happenings.
reshila: totally agree. I can’t stand another minute of that celebrity gossip on luna maya and ariel mesum video or the fact that someone broke up again. Jeeeeeesshh
why can’t they educate the people on what’s happening globally.
Anyways, Go Malaysia for trying to bond us.
haha, me & danial are going too deep i guess. so we miss the big theme. please read through paragraph #3.
novita got my point. agreed. that’s why we need to do something to find the bond. so we know what the exact thing that tied us together. we also need to know why that they are keep silent on a lot’s of issues. but sad to say that israel-palestine is not strong enough to tied the whole muslim community.
After Alm. Yasser Arafat passed away. there’s no one that can replace him to playing a key role in middle east.
the rest of it. We are on the same opinions.
paragraph #3 man?
… in simple words. negara2 muslim sekarang cuek bebek. dan beberapa masih berkacamata kuda. Hhe.
specifically for indonesia, sama perancis aja kalah tegas statementnya. Apa kita patut bangga sebagai negara muslim terbesar di dunia?? ><
sebenernya ada solusinya nov. tapi sifatnya long-term.. bukan short term..
suatu saat nanti, mungkin 10-15 tahun lagi, bakalan generasi kita yg mimpin. nah sebelum itu.. this is what we can do :
- membuka diri dengan siapapun. tentunya dengan karakter kita sendiri..
kita mesti bergaul juga sama orang2 luar yang ada dikampus. dengan bangsa siapa aja, supaya kita bisa tau karakter & ciri khas masing2 bangsa, kalau bisa kerja bareng. i knew that all of you (reshila, novita, and danial) already did this. but how many doesn’t?
kita keliatan susah bergaul kalo secara general, tapi personal sih ga ada masalah.. kan dimana2 prinsipnya tak kenal maka tak sayang.
- tunjukan bahwa kita expert dalam satu hal, atau banyak hal tergantung kemampuan.
salah satu cara dapetin respect ya kita kudu nunjukin kalo kita juga mampu buat sesuatu. ini modal awal dan investasi kita kedepan. meskipun mungkin dalam prosesnya makan hati & sakit badan macem2.
- sabar ketika kita tau ada “clash” dengan orang lain, terutama yg beda bangsa.
nah, disini mental kita diuji. soalnya kita tau sendiri kan.. bbrapa bangsa tertentu kadang2 mreka cenderung merendahkan & bikin sakit hati dll, klo kita bisa sabar.. & berhasil nunjukin hasil, gw yakin mreka juga bakal berubah pelan2. terakhir begitu kita ngomong apa mreka nurut aja deh.
yang terakhir.. stay hungry, stay foolish.. selalu merasa bodoh.. supaya kita bisa terus belajar & beradaptasi.
silahkan kalau mau ditambahin.
Indonesia, a state with ironicaly tradition and cultures among south eastern. having biggest number of moslem people but less commited on islamic issues. i could say that Indonesian have been and always a step behind to cope up with islamic affairs especially foreign diplomacy and economic strategic. being said it’s quite ironic based on some of my experience once we spent few weeks together in malaysia, we know that we could only find 1 mosque ‘let say in 1 district’ but malaysian are really active at islamic world affair. at some point, palestine case has given us a real ‘examination’ to consolidate our vision and not to be falling apart. Indonesia till date has not given any recognition to israel as an independent state but still it seems anticlimax. we shouldn’t have wasted time to overcome internal problem otherwise we would always lose a step ahead, i think at this point we have to make a move as the struggle will always remain.
agreed, we must find some connection and bonds with the middle east.
I’m still confused and wonder why the arab world-or muslim in general- doesn’t have any single statement at all.
it will take some years, but someone must do it.