Indonesia from a distance<\/p>\n
Three and a half months have passed since my wife and I left
\nIndonesia for the colder pastures of England. In the first two
\nmonths we had to live in a small hotel room in what is supposed
\nto be the leading hotel in Cambridge (a far cry from what a
\ncheaper hotel in Jakarta would offer) and look at the continuous
\npouring rain of the England summer, that did not take place this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Then at least our furniture arrived from Indonesia and some
\neven fitted through the door of our new home, with a big part of
\nit filling the garage waiting for better times.<\/p>\n
Now we have settled here in our Indonesian furniture and are
\noften thinking back to Indonesia and its beauty, but also its
\nshortcomings as well. But as life must go on, one has to look
\nforward again to new beginnings in these times of change for
\neveryone. However this does not mean that there is no more
\ninterest in what is happening in our previous home country, where
\nwe enjoyed living so much.<\/p>\n
For that reason, not yet being on the Internet, I am reading
\nthe International Herald Tribune where one can still get some
\nnews about Indonesia occasionally, apart from reading about the
\n\"adventures\" of Bill Clinton. The English newspapers are more
\nconcerned with the Spice Girls or even worse subjects, it seems.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it is quite disturbing to receive news from
\nIndonesia as basically nothing much seems to have changed, quite
\nthe contrary, it seems to be getting worse. People will face
\nstarvation to a greater extent than already experienced and the
\nChinese minority remain targets of looting and violence, which
\nwill further drain the country of a lot of money and intellect,
\nboth of which are desperately needed now.<\/p>\n
People with politically different ideas are still in prison or
\ndisappear and it appears no trust base exists for the present
\ngovernment (which does not come as a surprise). All of this and
\nmuch more might lead to even more social unrest and violence,
\nwhich is partially understandable from the poor people's
\nperspective, but does not help anyone and may ultimately lead to
\nthe military taking over for good again.<\/p>\n
As one correspondent in the International Herald Tribune put
\nit: Indonesia could have tremendous potential to become the
\nleading nation for the whole region if it could become a truly
\ndemocratic country and of course if it could overcome the
\neconomic turmoil of these days and I'm afraid, years.<\/p>\n
I will keep my fingers crossed from a distance that both
\nthings can subsequently be achieved and that it won't take too
\nlong.<\/p>\n
ROLAND WOEHRLE<\/p>\n
Cambridgeshire, England<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-from-a-distance-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }