Ten years after the dismantling of the authoritarian leadership in Indonesia, there is little to excuse that Australia and Indonesia’s ties are not be in full-bloom.
The two neighbors embrace similar values and ideologies, imbued in democracy, transparency and good governance. However, the realization of this similarity has not followed the model of Europe in
the late 1980s, when its eastern hemisphere underwent historic changes.
Australia seems to remain the forgotten country down-under in the Indonesian psyche, in much the same way as it was. Conversely, Indonesia remains a country to watch for its less-than-trustworthy government and for being the possible source of future threats.
Thus, it was inspiring to see President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono addressing more than 220 Australian parliamentarians and senators on Wednesday, the first Indonesian President to do so. He was only the third Indonesian president to have visited Australia (after Soeharto and Abdurrahman Wahid) and the first to have visited the country twice. This is a proof of how highly the Yudhoyono government regards Australia.
But Yudhoyono needs to do more than go on state visits, which should become a custom among leaders of neighboring countries. He should remove the image that Indonesia
is controlled by the military, the most important reason why Indonesia is continually looked upon as a threat.
Fresh from his re-election, Yudhoyono’s hands have been filled with homework. His preoccupation with domestic affairs forced Yudhoyono to postpone trips to Canberra twice, something that earned criticism against his counterpart Kevin Rudd by his political opponents.
The first visit in 2005 was postponed by a severe earthquake and this year it was the political earthquake surrounding the investigations of the Bank Century bailout — allegedly linked to his presidential election campaign (although these claims remain unproven).
Close relations between the two Asia-Pacific giants, both of which are members of the G20, are something we should celebrate. The two countries are never short of complex issues to address — from people-smuggling to border crossings — and are working closely in numerous endeavors such as antiterrorism and disaster mitigation efforts.
First Lady Ani Yudhoyono shed tears upon seeing the bodies of seven Australian volunteers who died in Aceh in 2005 as their remains were lowered from a plane in Australia, not long after Aceh was hit by the tsunami. Ani was accompanying the President on his first visit. Australia offered a multibillion-dollar aid package to Aceh.
Close people-to-people relations, glaringly lacking between Australia and Indonesia, should follow suit. A lot of work needs to be done in this area, not necessarily with governments’ involvement.
A simple question: Why do Indonesians seldom mention that they like Australia, compared to those who say they like America or Europe? Like Indonesia, Australia has no shortage of tourist resorts, but seldom do people say that they don’t like Yogyakarta, for example, after visiting the court town. There must be a reason for this. Honest communication between the two populations is desperately needed.
Indonesians and Australians tend to be inward looking. In Indonesia’s case this is partly because of its enormous domestic problems over the last 10 years. In Australia it is perhaps because of the size of the country and relatively high living standards. Any people who live well often do not see the need to connect with other countries.
But Indonesians seem to be more fortunate than Australians in one respect. The former live in a society that has comprised multiple ethnicities from the outset. Pluralism is a given. Australians are basically a white-based community struggling to create a multicultural nation. This is not to repudiate the fact that Indonesia’s struggle to create a plural society has faced relentless challenges from time to time.
Due to their geographic proximity, it is imperative that people-to-people understanding between Australians and Indonesians be improved. Over the past decade, Australian government funding for Indonesian studies at Australian universities has steadily declined. This does not fare well for people-to-people understanding. The surge of interest among young Australians to study emerging countries such as China and India should not be an excuse.
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|