{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1314968,
        "msgid": "not-in-my-backyard-1447893297",
        "date": "2000-07-07 00:00:00",
        "title": "Not in my backyard",
        "author": null,
        "source": "JP",
        "tags": null,
        "topic": null,
        "summary": "Not in my backyard We all want reform, but we don't always want it to happen too close to home. The recently formed National Dialog Forum comprises some of the most credible reform-minded persons in the country. Their reformist credentials and dedication cannot be doubted. But like the herds of visiting U.S. Members of Congress on their Indonesian fact-finding trips, to hold their first forum the reformers headed for -- where else? -- Bali.",
        "content": "<p>Not in my backyard<\/p>\n<p>We all want reform, but we don't always want it to happen too<br>\nclose to home. The recently formed National Dialog Forum<br>\ncomprises some of the most credible reform-minded persons in the<br>\ncountry. Their reformist credentials and dedication cannot be<br>\ndoubted. But like the herds of visiting U.S. Members of Congress<br>\non their Indonesian fact-finding trips, to hold their first forum<br>\nthe reformers headed for -- where else? -- Bali.<\/p>\n<p>Why is it that so many important seminars are held either in<br>\nBali or in the grand hotels of Jakarta? Why did the National<br>\nDialog Forum select Bali? Most key participants seem to be<br>\naffiliated with organizations in Jakarta or other cities of Java.<br>\nSo Bali wasn't selected for its convenience. Bali hotels might<br>\nhave offered great package deals; but it seems unlikely that<br>\nequally good deals might not have been found in cities more<br>\nstarved for tourist\/convention income. I know that hotels around<br>\nLake Toba would have bent over backwards for the privilege of<br>\nhosting this group, if a small island ambience were so important.<\/p>\n<p>Careful use of resources is one of the most basic imperatives<br>\nfor most Indonesians these days, and one of the most urgent<br>\nresponsibilities of the government. If prominent reform leaders<br>\nproject insensitivity to this issue, how deep into the community<br>\nwill their influence as reformers reach? Reform cannot be thought<br>\nof as macro-level matter only. An organization like the National<br>\nDialog Forum needs to be not just a symbol but a sacrament of<br>\nreform, by its own operations effectuating the reforms that it<br>\nespouses. If it becomes just another organization whose members<br>\nmeet in Bali hotels or Jakarta four-star restaurants and issue<br>\nposition papers, while the group's leaders enjoy the usual<br>\nbureaucratic perks, it will lose its reform bearings quickly.<\/p>\n<p>I for one wish that some of the group's Bali budget might have<br>\nbeen used to set up a special fax number and e-mail address and<br>\nto publish them via newspaper ads. Then the National Dialog Forum<br>\ncould receive input from the broadest range of community groups<br>\nand individuals. And a letter like this could have been addressed<br>\ndirectly to the proper recipients.<\/p>\n<p>DONNA K. WOODWARD<\/p>\n<p>Medan, North Sumatra<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/not-in-my-backyard-1447893297",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}