T

he suicide bombings at the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta last week have devastated Indonesia's image as a safe place for foreigners to live in and visit, but unlike the previous major terror attacks, the recovery process this time around will likely be that much harder and probably even longer.

Among the dead and injured on Friday were several genuine friends of Indonesia - those who truly believed in the country, in its people, in its democracy, in its government, in its economy and in what the nation can achieve, given the opportunity.

They had been prominent in helping restore international confidence in Indonesia in each of the four times the nation came under terrorist attacks since the nightclub bombings in Bali in October 2002. They spoke for Indonesia at many regional and international forums, believing that in spite of the security threats from terrorism, Indonesia was still a good and safe place to live and do business.

They put a positive spin on Indonesia while recognizing the immense challenges the world's fourth most populous nation was facing, including in its fight against terrorism. They continued to speak for Indonesia even when the terrorists picked, somewhat randomly, places frequented by foreigners as their bombing targets.

One of those friends of Indonesia who will no longer speak for the country is Tim MacKay, a New Zealander who was the CEO of the Indonesian operation of Holcim, the Swiss cement giant. MacKay, may his soul rest in peace, was killed in Friday's bombing while attending a breakfast forum held by CastleAsia at the JW Marriott.

Jim Castle, chairman of the consultancy and host of the meeting, was among those injured. Several of his staff and other guests, including top executives of major multinational companies, were among those hit by the bombs.

CastleAsia regularly publishes bulletins giving realistic yet upbeat assessments of the country. (Castle - we wish him a speedy recovery - also regularly writes opinion columns for The Jakarta Post, and each time always manages to see the positive when everybody else is predicting gloom and doom for Indonesia.)

It would have been unimaginable how Indonesia could have recovered so far and so fast from the earlier terrorist attacks without the support and the personal endorsements from the likes of Castle and MacKay.

Before Friday, Indonesia was even riding high, after the country conducted peaceful and democratic elections in April and in July. The economy, growing at 4 percent-plus, is considered a rare success story in Asia, when most other countries are struggling with a deep economic recession.

And there was the relative peace and calm. Indonesia could even claim it had been free from terrorist attacks in nearly five years. The last previous major terrorist attack actually happened in September 2004.

Since then, the police have made significant progress in spearheading Indonesia's war on terrorism. They ambushed and killed one of the two Malaysian terrorist masters, busted their networks, arrested dozens of suspected terrorists, and got many of them convicted. They also foiled more than one planned bomb attack. In November, Indonesia even executed three terrorists who carried out the Bali bombings in 2002.

Almost everyone was aware the terrorist threat was always there, but we had all been working on the assumption that the police were on top of things, and that it was only a matter of time before they caught Noordin M. Top, the other Malaysian terror master who left his traces in all four earlier bombings.

With not even the slightest hint of an imminent attack, this positive mood about Indonesia remained strong until last Friday, especially in the wake of the July 8 presidential election. Almost everyone had looked forward to the official announcement of the election results this week, and to the transition to a new government, and therefore to new policies, in October.

How wrong this optimistic assumption turned out to be.

How will this impact Indonesia and its image abroad, and how soon and how far will it recover?

Indonesia has been here before and will surely be able to recover just as it did after the four previous terrorist attacks. But this time, it will have to do without the help of the likes of MacKay and Castle, who had not only been speaking for Indonesia, but who had also graced us with their presence in Indonesia to prove their point.