TheJakartaPost
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Your letters: Luhut's appointment
Courtesy of Presidential Office/RusmanThe appointment of Luhut Panjaitan as chief of staff to the Indonesian President is good news
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Courtesy of Presidential Office/Rusman
The appointment of Luhut Panjaitan as chief of staff to the Indonesian President is good news. Luhut's ability, experience, connections and loyalty distinguish him as the right man in the right place at the right time. And I have had observed these qualities firsthand.
In 2002, Luhut was the Jakarta patron for one of the most important exhibitions of Australian Art to tour Indonesia.
Symbolically, 'Tracking Cloth' (co-sponsored by the University of Wollongong) illustrated to a wide audience that Australians respected Indonesia and the Indonesian people ' a message that was enthusiastically covered by the local press (including generous coverage by The Jakarta Post).
In fact, in an extraordinary and unprecedented expression of warmth, the then Indonesian President, Megawati Soekarnoputri, stated, 'The exhibition has created a symbol of goodwill between our two neighboring nations.'
(The networking opportunities from 'Tracking Cloth' resonate to the present day. It was during the exhibition that Luhut was introduced to Australian prime minister Paul Keating by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's Australian representative, Ian Siagian.)
Together with Peter O'Neill (OAM), we also had the privilege of assisting Luhut with the development of Del Polytechnic ' which was established and funded by Luhut himself.
Rob Goodfellow
Wollongong, Australia
