'Ideas must not threaten stability'<\/p>\n
By Rikza Abdullah<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (JP): President Soeharto asserted that Indonesia
\nwelcomes new ideas but will reject any views, however good they
\nare, which may affect stability in the country.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a dinner meeting at the Grand Hyatt hotel here
\nWednesday evening, Soeharto said Indonesia has long recognized
\nthat development requires public participation and that
\ndevelopment entails democracy.<\/p>\n
\"We believe that progress needs new ideas and knowledge to
\nmake political processes dynamic. That is why we do welcome new
\nideas,\" he told the meeting held to commemorate the 40th
\nanniversary of the Asia Society, a leading institution dedicated
\nto fostering understanding of Asia and communications between
\nAmericans and peoples of Asia and the Pacific.<\/p>\n
The meeting, which also presented Philippine President Fidel
\nV. Ramos as a speaker, was attended by almost 800 participants,
\nincluding Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmonov, former U.S.
\nsecretary of state Henry Kissinger, the foreign ministers of
\nThailand, Vietnam and Australia and more than 50 ambassadors
\nrepresenting Asian countries.<\/p>\n
\"However, it should be clearly understood that we will not
\naccept ideas which we consider inconsistent with our values and
\nour sense of nationhood,\" Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
\"Consequently, we reject any efforts, however noble they may
\nseem, that are designed to inject into our society any influence
\nor factor which we consider contrary to our society's interests.\"<\/p>\n
He explained that Indonesia's economy grew by an annual
\naverage of 8.3 percent between 1989 and 1994 and is expected to
\ncontinue expanding by 7.1 percent in the coming four years.<\/p>\n
The country's per capita income rose from US$70 in 1969 to
\n$920 in 1994 and is expected to increase to $1,280 by 1999, while
\nthe number of people living below the poverty line decreased from
\n60 percent of the total population in 1969 to around 14 percent
\nin 1993, he said.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said regional and international stability is also
\nessential to sustain growth and development.<\/p>\n
\"As a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
\n(ASEAN), we have long recognized that security cannot be gained
\nsolely through increased expenditures for defense. Security is,
\nin fact, primarily contingent on economic and social progress,\"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
\nSingapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with a total population of about
\n420 million people.<\/p>\n
The President said he was heartened that Cambodia had signed
\nthe ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.<\/p>\n
\"We now look forward to years of closer economic cooperation
\nwith Cambodia and its eventual acceptance into ASEAN as a full
\nmember in the not-too-distant time,\" he said.<\/p>\n
By the end of this decade, he said, all 10 Southeast Asian
\ncountries are expected to have become full members of ASEAN,
\nthereby boosting the economic and social development in the
\nregion, he added.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said ASEAN appreciates the United States policies of
\nhelping enhance stability and security in the Southeast Asian
\nregion.<\/p>\n
Before attending the dinner meeting, Soeharto received a
\ncourtesy call from a committee for the construction of an
\nIndonesian Moslems' mosque in Queens, New York.<\/p>\n
The committee's chairman, Prang Sukirman, said that Indonesian
\nMoslems in New York have bought a two-story warehouse in Queens
\nfor $385,000 and redesigned it to become a mosque with a capacity
\nof 600 prayers.<\/p>\n
Minister of Religion Tarmizi Taher is expected to inaugurate
\nthe mosque on Nov. 5 with the presence of Indonesian Ambassador
\nto the United States Arifin Siregar, Sukirman said.<\/p>\n
He said the mosque will be equipped with various facilities,
\nincluding a multi-purpose hall, recreation room, library,
\nclassrooms and kitchen, the construction of which will not be
\ncompleted until 1998.<\/p>",
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