TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Letter: Indonesia, Australia, Ba'asyir
It is really sad to see footage of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir's speech being broadcast over and over again on a local news program, reinforcing never-ending tensions between religion and politics of both countries
Change Size
It is really sad to see footage of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir's speech being broadcast over and over again on a local news program, reinforcing never-ending tensions between religion and politics of both countries.
In the footage, Ba'asyir reprimands followers and calls on them to physically assault western tourists whom he refers to, sunbathing in bikinis on beaches in Bali.
I myself, an Indonesian though not Muslim, feel deeply saddened and secretly enraged to have to witness this over and over again through my magic box at home, knowing perhaps this religious and cultural conflict will never be resolved.
The lack of government efforts to lobby Muslim extremist groups (including the suspicious trial processes over what happened in Bali in previous years) is unacceptable.
Ba'asyir, the strongly opinionated charismatic leader, seems to be the most impossible adult to discuss such topics with--let alone make peace with.
Conflicts in Middle East have long been politicians' toughest challenge. Without a doubt, extremist groups in Indonesia win by numbers of followers,
As long as their brothers in the Middle East have no experience of peace, such terrorist attacks will continue as an act of compassion and support from these groups.
Everyone knows terrorism is not like a paint ball game, so we should leave the United States to be more mature with its policies and decisions--the ripple effects of which have caused inhumane and unjust damages to innocent people.
Aside from its corrupted and 'developed' economy, Indonesian society and culture urgently needs sociological and anthropological assessment work. Its microcosm is experiencing difficulties taking the leap to the next level of a mature and idealized developed country and civilization.
This lack of understanding and compassion will only enhance the fear of being forward, and certainly cause a huge loss of potential and profitable economic opportunities.
The negative stigma Indonesia must face is unquestionably necessary for the country's persona to recuperate from its past political mistakes, and to help its people become proud about being Indonesian.
MELANIE CAMARO
Newtown, Australia
