What a contrast!<\/p>\n
Last Saturday (Nov. 2) evening as I sat in my Jakarta
\napartment reading the newspaper and lamenting the current strain
\nand anger between Australia and Indonesia, I couldn't help but
\nlook up as my young son sat with his four Muslim friends playing
\ntheir guitars, and creating songs.<\/p>\n
\"What a contrast\", I thought, as whilst there is now a growing
\nperception of anger and distrust between our communities, here
\nare these young people, from totally different cultures simply
\nbeing \"best of friends\". The deep respect and trust that has
\ndeveloped through their mutual love of music and understanding is
\nsomething that perhaps we, as adults, could learn from?<\/p>\n
As I listened to the music I reflected on my colleagues from
\nWestern Australia who work so passionately with their friends in
\nEast Java in building and transforming the Karlya Mulya School
\nfor Deaf Children in Surabaya. As a result of their joint
\ncommitment, over 250 young Indonesian children now have some hope
\nof an education and a future. But we never read
\nabout this in the newspapers.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the Lion Eye Institute from Perth has worked
\ntirelessly with their colleagues from the Lions Club of Surabaya
\nand the various doctors and also the staff from Airlangga
\nUniversity to help restore the eyesight to so many people from
\nthe East Java region.<\/p>\n
These are the stories that never get told as all we read about
\nis the \"strained relations\" and the \"anger\". Certainly our two
\ncountries are experiencing difficulties, but we can work
\nthrough them as friends.<\/p>\n
In my heart I gain enormous strength from the people such as
\nthese young musicians and also the community workers who simply
\ngo about their day doing good for others and building such strong
\nties between our two nations. Naive? Yes, perhaps; but maybe it
\nis us that could learn from the these \"quiet achievers\" from our
\nrespective countries.<\/p>\n
ROSS TAYLOR, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/what-a-contrast-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }