Alatas legacy: A staff member at the Foreign Ministry walks past the bookshelves at the ministry’s newly-renovated library. Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda inaugurated the library on Monday, naming it after Ali Alatas to honor the seasoned diplomat. JP/Nurhayati
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, who has been at the helm of Indonesian diplomacy for eight years, presented a speech on Monday after opening the ministry’s newly refurbished library, naming it after his predecessor, the late Ali Alatas, to honor the highly revered diplomat.
“Diplomats are like teachers. They are heroes without medals,” the minister told a gathering of diplomats, including former foreign minister Mochtar Kusumaatmadja and senior diplomat Hadi Thayeb, father of the Asia Pacific and African Affairs Director General Hamzah Thayeb.
Most of the top Foreign Ministry officials came to the inauguration ceremony. “The diplomats who attended the ceremony were from different generations,” the ministry’s spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.
Yunisa Ali Alatas, the wife of Alatas, also attended, representing her late husband, who died last year in Singapore.
Indonesia has greatly benefited from democracy, Hassan said. But he maintained the appreciation diplomats received for their duties was far from adequate.
In Surakarta on Sunday night, Hassan was quoted as saying by tempointeraktif.com that eight years was enough experience to be a foreign minister in a democracy. But he said it was “not easy and full of challenges.”
However he claimed the foreign ministry under his leadership had managed to overcome those challenges, and said, “We have given our best in upholding democratic values for the sake of the national interest.”
He said on Monday he would continue to serve the country in whatever capacity he could.
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