Comment: RI’s international image is at stake

Aug. 11, p. 2: We often claim to be the largest moderate Muslim-majority country on earth and to be on the path toward becoming the third-largest democracy in the world. Indonesia’s foreign policy over the last eight years or so has been geared towards projecting that image on the international stage. Indeed, a foreign policy document on public diplomacy published by Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry states that the government seeks to promote a “new face” for Indonesia that is moderate, democratic and progressive.Indonesia’s public diplomacy under former foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda achieved precisely that. Democracy and moderate Islam have become associated with post-Soeharto Indonesia. World leaders often praised Indonesia as an exemplary model of progress where democracy, modernity and Islam go hand in hand. Some, including people within the Indonesian government, even began to urge the country to play a larger role as a bridge between the Muslim world and the West. To a certain degree, such a new images and policy directions are indeed a noble and reflect Indonesia’s  own reality at home. The majority of Indonesian Muslims are indeed moderate and eschew violence as an instrument to resolve problems, conflict and differences.  The majority of Indonesian Muslims do prefer democracy over the authoritarian system. They genuinely believe that democracy works better for Indonesia’s political life. (Rizal Sukma, Jakarta)

Your comments:

I am not so sure that the majority of Indonesians prefer democracy over the previous authoritarian system. Many compare the Soeharto years to what is happening now. What democracy ought to improve in terms of an “acceptable standard” of living for the majority, and that is the poor, is taken away by uncontrolled corruption, lack of the rule of law and a lack of basic services.
Although democratic governance under Soeharto was minimal, the outcomes: poverty eradication, rule of law, religious harmony, etc... were much better than under the post-Soeharto governments.
Soeharto encouraged a culture of passivity. However, under the “democracies” that followed the New Order, this passivity certainly has not been replaced by boldness and courage, simply because it is still strongly discouraged. Overbearing Javanese cultural norms have a lot to do with this.
However, that runs counter to what democracy is all about. Are we ready for western-style democracy. I am afraid not. However, we have not tried to find a way to allow the people to speak and to be heard. We haven’t got the courage and the boldness to make demands — so we stay poor and accept second best as the only choice.
Henry Manoe
Kupang

Just 10 years ago everything was perfect about Islam and its culture and its behavior, but after 9/11 everything relating to Islam was criticized and scrutinized by the west. Many Muslims just follow them.
Why don’t we ask ourselves what we really want, instead of blaming our culture and our society?
If our law enforcement agencies do their jobs, we’ll never ever talk about such things. A society can sustain and flourish under any religion but can’t be sustained under a prolonged absence of justice and the rule of law.
Arshad
Dubai

It seems that we just busy striving to live up to the standards set by others.
We are not really confident with ourselves. This mentality may be a result of living under colonialism for hundreds of years.
While it is of course good to take into account what the international community thinks of us, it is better to set our own standards and values.
Yusuf
Jakarta

It’s useless to be thinking about images or other people’s thinking about our country. It shows nothing but our own self-consciousness, and lack of confidence. Just be ourselves with confidence and try to make everything better for ourselves, with our own measures.
Kemal
Bandung