There is nothing more irritating than being ignored. That is what is happening to Indonesia, the so-called largest country in Southeast Asia. Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah revealed last week the Indonesian government had sent 35 notes of protest to Malaysia over Ambalat since 1980. However, the neighboring country, a fellow ASEAN member, has not stopped maneuvering in the area.

Indonesia has been struggling to convince other fellow ASEAN members on the importance of having a credible ASEAN human rights body, during the ongoing debate on the terms of reference for it. Yet Indonesia's views seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Previously, Indonesia's views on the ASEAN Charter were also largely ignored, pushing it to compromise to accept the much tamer version of the charter at the end.

Indonesia has always been forced into compromise or into a corner by other members for the sake of ASEAN. On the East Asian Summit (EAS), for example, we compromised to save Malaysia's face. On the ASEAN Security Community (ASC) idea, we compromised by dropping our proposal about the need for an ASEAN peacekeeping force in October 2003.

We are also asked to show restraint when our territory is violated either by Malaysian ships or Thai trawlers. On the contrary, we are often singled out when it comes to our obligations to ASEAN. We are repeatedly accused of harboring terrorists by Singapore. We are also accused of not being serious in addressing the problem of haze.

Whenever Indonesia wants to be more active and assertive, some of our neighbors, even some of our own people, ridicule the idea by arguing that Indonesia should look at the mirror first before it seeks to play a greater and more independent role in Southeast Asia. We are ridiculed by cynics, both within and without Indonesia, that we should put our house in order first. We are told that we should be ashamed of talking about democracy at the regional level because our democracy at home is not perfect. We are told that as a poor country, we should feed our own people first before we express our sympathy for millions of oppressed Myanmarese.

Yet we continue to uphold our commitment to ASEAN, and continue to provide a special place for the association in our foreign policy. We even call it the cornerstone of Indonesia's foreign policy. We put ASEAN solidarity above all other interests. For that, we sometimes have to defend Myanmar at international forums such as the International Labor Organization (ILO) or even the UN Security Council.

We should stand tall and proclaim that enough is enough. It is enough for Indonesia to imprison itself in the "golden cage" of ASEAN for more than 40 years. We should now declare, "Yes, we are poor in material goods, but we are rich in dignity." We should make it clear to our neighbors that "Yes, our people are still poor economically, but our government values them as human beings by respecting their human rights, guaranteeing their freedom of speech, and protecting their political freedom to choose their own government freely."

As a nation, we should never be ashamed of these facts. We should never allow cynical views from outside, let alone from inside, to prevent us from believing in what we think is right. We should never allow other countries to prevent us from taking our own course. Indeed, as a sovereign nation, we should have the courage to be different from other countries if we have to.

We have no problem in taking different positions from major powers such as the United States on many international issues. It is foolish if we are not brave enough to take a different position from other ASEAN countries, especially on fundamental issues of freedom and human rights.

Indonesia, therefore, needs to begin formulating a post-ASEAN foreign policy. ASEAN should no longer be treated as the only cornerstone of Indonesia's foreign policy. For Indonesia, ASEAN should constitute only one of the available platforms through which we can attain and fulfill our national interests. Some of our foreign policy initiatives - such as the Bali Democracy Forum (BDF), the G20 and strategic partnerships with global and regional major powers - have already shown signs toward that direction.

Yet we should not forget that assertiveness and independence does not mean that we need to resort to force whenever we have problems with our ASEAN neighbors. For Indonesia, ASEAN should continue to be an important forum for managing inter-state relations among Southeast Asian countries through peaceful means.

It is the principal forum for us to ensure good neighborliness in the region. At the end, the stability and security of Southeast Asia is at the core of our strategic interests.

The writer is the executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

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