Senior PR man explains economic recovery<\/p>\n
Robert S. Finnegan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
With 44 years of experience in the profession, Wisaksono Noeradi
\nis internationally recognized as a leading pioneer-practitioner
\nof the public relations industry in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Question: The Bali bombings are an unqualified disaster for
\nIndonesia, even if we did have competent investigators working on
\nit -- which we don't. What does this mean for the future in
\nterms of at least getting back to where we were -- in an economic
\nsense -- before Bali?
\nAnswer: When the bombs rocked Bali on Oct. 12, Indonesians
\nimmediately realized that all the hard work done to revitalize
\nthe economy went up in smoke in Kuta.<\/p>\n
We now live in discomfort and uncertainty as shopping malls
\nand office buildings are implementing increasingly intrusive
\nsecurity measures. Tourism, once the backbone of our already
\nlimping economy, is no longer able to attract visitors from other
\ncountries due to travel advisories, warnings and bans issued by
\nvarious foreign governments. We now live in a time of loneliness,
\nas the world community views Indonesia with continuous suspicion
\ncaused by our failure to timely adapt to global values.
\nSounds ominous. Where should we begin to address these problems?<\/p>\n
After the Bali attack our lives completely changed, and yet we
\nremain determined to continue building a new Indonesia. There is
\nno lack of will on the part of Indonesians, however we now need
\nto be introspective and realistic. As a nation we have neglected
\nworld opinion for far too long and now we are paying for it. We
\nwere either too confident in ourselves or just took it for
\ngranted that the world community had no option other than to
\nsupport us, as Indonesians tend to regard and treat the
\ninternational community as an extension of the Indonesian public.<\/p>\n
For decades outsiders never dared to express their opinions
\nand preferred to just say \"amen\" to our actions.<\/p>\n
Five years ago when the economic crisis hit the country, some
\nof us woke up and became convinced that it is vitally important
\nto win the understanding and sympathy of the world. It was only a
\nyear later when we entered a year of political reforms that we
\nbegan to recognize the importance of public opinion, that winning
\nworld public opinion is a must.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has been and continues to be in an extended period
\nof transition. In our haste to move forward and our concern that
\nwe address issues that must be addressed it is easy to overlook
\nthe advantages of being a member of the world family. We can no
\nlonger afford independence in its traditional form as we now live
\nin a world of dependency.
\nIt all started with the Asian economic crisis?<\/p>\n
The Asian economic crisis as you well know began in Thailand
\nand spread to South Korea and Indonesia. Thailand and South Korea
\nthen entered a recovery phase after a year or so, while Indonesia
\nwas entering into a political crisis and the era of reform, the
\nfall of Soeharto and the accompanying euphoria of freedom.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the public perception of these freedoms --
\nincluding political freedom and individual rights -- did not
\ninclude individual responsibility. Consequently, everybody wants
\nhis or her rights. But how is this possible, when in a democracy
\nrights and individual responsibility go hand in hand? On top of
\nthis flawed public perception, now instead of three political
\nparties there are hundreds!
\nWhat about the media?<\/p>\n
It was incredible, overnight publications sprang up and then
\nwent under, owing to a process of natural selection with the
\npublic being the final judge as to who survives and who perishes.
\nOur purchasing power at the same time was getting weaker, so yes,
\nthe general public made the final decisions, as it should be in a
\ndemocracy.
\nSo the transition to democracy...<\/p>\n
You can call it a transition or not. All the problems we are
\nfacing now, I would say, is the \"tuition\" we have to pay for our
\nlessons on becoming a democracy. Thailand and South Korea have
\nfared well coming out of the economic crisis because they are not
\ndealing simultaneously with a political crisis as we are here.
\nAll of a sudden we have a democracy, everybody is celebrating and
\nas a result the economic recovery was shoved on to the back
\nburner. It's the classic chicken and egg question. Which comes
\nfirst -- democracy or the economy?
\nDo you think that Indonesians have a firm grasp of what democracy
\nreally is?<\/p>\n
Not yet. Many Indonesians when speaking of democracy tend to
\nunderline individual rights and in this respect they are only
\npartially correct. Are individual rights greater than collective
\nrights and responsibilities? Take for example honoring the right
\nof other people and groups to express their opinions, and even
\nallowing for the possibility that they may be right. Presently,
\npeople simply refuse to acknowledge when the other guy is right.
\nThis also applies to the leaders of all political parties.
\nAre there too many political parties? Do you think a two-party
\nsystem would be beneficial here?<\/p>\n
I don't think we are ready for a two-party system. Perhaps a
\nmultiparty system to start with. We are back again to rights and
\nresponsibilities in a democracy. The public needs to be educated
\nand it is the responsibility of the government to see to it.
\nThrough public service messages?<\/p>\n
It's not enough. The way I see it, we need to start in the
\nschools as well. The media is not being responsible in this area
\neither. Even they seem to forget that our government was freely
\nelected and as such we have to either support it or change it.
\nLook at the political parties themselves, at the example they
\nset. Always quarreling. It's across the board. We need more and
\nbetter education, not only in good governance and democracy, but
\nthe basics. Only then will we be able to progress. Why is this so
\ndifficult to understand and implement?
\nDo you expect public relations to evolve also?<\/p>\n
Certainly, but it must be coordinated, rather than done by
\nindividuals. In order to address the problems we are facing
\ntoday, it should be a combined government and private industry
\nstrategy. There are two audiences that should be addressed; the
\n\"internal\" and \"external\" audiences. We need to convince the
\n\"internal\" audience that Indonesia really needs global support.
\nIf they don't believe this and continue to go about business in
\nthe same manner then expatriate companies will move on to greener
\npastures -- Vietnam, China, Malaysia -- our neighboring countries
\nthat have already faced reality and are attempting to deal with
\nit.<\/p>\n
Naturally, the public has their own reasons for expressing
\ndissatisfaction toward certain investments, however in the long
\nrun this does not help Indonesia. This is a new phenomenon and is
\npart of our new democracy. Look at the Soeharto era -- there were
\nno labor strikes, no dissent. Of course no one wants to go back
\nto that, but by the same token foreign investors are now hard
\npressed to deal with the changing labor environment.<\/p>\n
And it is now the job of both the government and the private
\nsector to reassure the \"external\" audience, the foreign
\ninvestment sector, that the red tape and corruption prevalent in
\nthe Soeharto days are no longer acceptable. This falls under the
\numbrella of public relations, and it's a big one.
\nWhat about the responsibilities of the foreign corporations?<\/p>\n
Good corporate governance is essential to both the success of
\nforeign business interests here in Indonesia as well as our
\neconomy. In the old days, the corporations simply handed over
\ntheir funds budgeted for social responsibilities to certain
\n\"public executives\", and left it at that. Things have changed now
\nand I think corporate executives need to be reminded of this.
\nMany are still practicing a double standard here in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Look at environmental standards. Are they the same here as
\nthey would be in California? In the U.S. they don't pollute -- or
\nat least they are not supposed to -- but here? Why not? What
\nabout local hires? Funding for schools and hospitals? In all
\nfairness, I see some of this happening. But slowly, the loosening
\nof the purse strings is very slow.
\nBack to public relations, what kind of integrated approach would
\nyou recommend for Indonesia?<\/p>\n
We need to begin with educating and preparing everyone to
\naccept democracy as a global value. Also, we need to ask for help
\nfrom the \"friends\" of Indonesia. The NGOs, the universities and
\nthe many academics that have a special interest in Indonesia. I
\nam sure that they would be more than willing to help.<\/p>\n
We need to concentrate on the countries that have traditional
\ntourist ties to Indonesia: the Netherlands, Germany, Japan,
\nChina, Singapore and the United States. We need all six countries
\nfor both tourism and investment. These friends of Indonesia can
\nalso help us by providing assistance from their own public
\nrelations consultants. Indonesian consultants know that we cannot
\nwork in the U.S. without the help of local consultants. We must
\nmotivate them to help us in our campaign.<\/p>\n
I am certain that in any country, we can find a group that
\nconsider themselves friends of Indonesia.<\/p>",
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