Dealing with the press<\/p>\n
With the strike of a gong the APEC ministerial meeting, to be
\nfollowed by a conference of APEC's heads of government on
\nTuesday, was officially opened by President Soeharto yesterday.
\nBut it would be an illusion to believe that only the APEC
\nconference, or the ensuing bilateral meetings among the
\nparticipating government officials have come under the glare of
\nthe television spotlights and the watchful eyes of the thousands
\nof journalists who have come for the meeting. Unavoidably,
\nscrutinizing eyes will be, or perhaps already are, directed at
\nthe host country itself, Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Once described by President Bill Clinton as the most
\nunderestimated country in the world, Indonesia has in the past
\nfew years taken a different course and adopted a more high-
\nprofile foreign policy. The chairmanship of the Non-Aligned
\nMovement and the APEC, to name just two examples, have pushed
\nIndonesia into the spotlight of international politics.<\/p>\n
But this does not mean that Indonesia has only lately
\nattracted the attention of the world media. For years the East
\nTimor issue, for example, has been in the focus of international
\nmedia reports, justifiably to the chagrin of the Indonesian
\ngovernment because those international observations tended to
\nfocus only on the darker sides of the story and forget the more
\npositive sides, such as Indonesia's exceptional achievements in
\nits national development program.<\/p>\n
Despite the government's continuous efforts to counter such
\nnegative reports, certain parties abroad have continued to air
\ncomplaints that the Indonesian authorities are discouraging
\nforeign journalists from visiting certain areas in this country,
\nsuch as East Timor. These charges -- some of which have turned
\nout to be groundless since one can see that more foreign
\njournalists and diplomats are being allowed to visit those areas
\n-- regrettably have tarnished Indonesia's image abroad to some
\nextent.<\/p>\n
But this time a change can be felt. It is as if the arrival of
\nover 1,500 foreign journalists for the APEC meeting has prompted
\nthe government to take a new direction. It is encouraging that
\nnow the government seems not only willing to put itself under
\nscrutiny by the international press, it is also apparently ready
\nto capitalize on the big event and to use it as an opportunity to
\nlaunch a public relations blitz.<\/p>\n
The way the government has opened this country's doors to
\npreviously unwanted foreign journalists is an indication of this.
\nMoreover, the fact that all visiting foreign journalists are
\nallowed to visit any place they like in Indonesia, including East
\nTimor, has further supported the notion that something very
\nrefreshing is indeed brewing.<\/p>\n
We can only welcome such a wise move and hope that it will not
\nbe short-lived. As the world continues to shrink and the
\npenetrating eyes of television cameras will soon become as
\nubiquitous as the antenna discs which relay the images they
\ncapture to viewers around the world, no country will be able to
\nescape the onslaught of the world media. And as Indonesia is
\nmoving further onto the international stage, the best policy is
\nto open up the country since any attempt of cover things up would
\nsurely only invite suspicion that something must be hidden.<\/p>\n
We feel that we should have nothing to hide. No one is perfect
\nand we do for certain still have many shortcomings. But then,
\nthere should be nothing to be ashamed of as long as we really
\nmake the necessary efforts to mend our deficiencies. After all we
\nare a developing country in which about 25 million people still
\nlive below the poverty line. In reaching for a better future we
\nhave made considerable progress and we believe that we are on the
\nright track.<\/p>\n
The all-important thing in all this is that we must maintain
\nour political will and continue to move in the right direction.
\nIt is to be hoped that the new \"openness\" that is now being
\ndisplayed in dealing with the visiting foreign press corps will
\nlast and eventually expand to other sectors of our national life.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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