Bush can learn from Susilo on disasters handling

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

U.S. President George W. Bush should not feel embarrassed to seek the advice of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on how to handle natural disasters and how to persuade his mother Barbara to stop making statements that could spark anger among people when they meet during the United Nations summit in New York next week.

Susilo, who will celebrate his 56th birthday on Friday, deserves credit for the way in which he handled the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster, which struck out of the blue. In fact, he did much better than President Bush in handling the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, even though Bush had been informed about the hurricane long before.

Barbara Bush's statement -- perhaps she thought the criticism of her beloved son was getting out of hand -- that the people of New Orleans had been very poor even before the hurricane has angered black people. Susilo's mother, Sitti Habibah, never comes out in public to defend her only son, who is now the subject of strong criticism by many for his perceived indecisiveness. In fact, not a day goes by without negative reports about her son in the media.

One of the pieces of advice that Susilo could give to Bush would be to act decisively when facing an emergency. Many Americans have criticized Bush's lack of attention and seriousness in helping New Orleans. It is very difficult to suggest the same as regards Susilo's seriousness in helping the Acehnese people. Most people would agree that he has worked very hard and determinedly on behalf of the nation, although many also expect better results from his hard work.

Of course, Bush could argue that Susilo was able to do better in Aceh as the U.S. sent its best military personnel and equipment to help the tsunami victims. Susilo should refrain, however, from sending his officials to help the Katrina victims as the temptation might be too great and they might end up stealing aid meant for the victims.

As a token of appreciation of the U.S.'s great help to the tsunami victims, Susilo should make a dollar donation to help the Katrina victims. The American people would appreciate a show of solidarity from Indonesia.

Giving advice to Bush could turn out to be one of his most important missions during a 15-day overseas trip he will take until Sept. 24, which will also bring him to Saudi Arabia, Jordan. Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Palestine.

Although many politicians, media people and scholars who think they have a natural right to criticize other people are not happy with his leadership, the leaders of other countries are impatient to get their change to met with our President. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are among the foreign dignitaries who want to meet him during his five-day trip to New York, which ends on Sept. 17.

He has even been invited to open the New York Stock Exchange. Isn't that a sign of the great esteem in which our President is held?

"The meetings are at the request of the other leaders, not us," a senior Indonesian diplomat said on Wednesday.

While Arab leaders seem reluctant to listen to Bush's speeches on democratic values, knowing full well that oil is of much more interest to Bush than democracy, it is a different matter with the President. Arabs are more willing to listen to Indonesia.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, can share her experiences with other predominantly Muslim nations about how democracy can be implemented.

Susilo's sharing of experiences is not politically or economically motivated. Of course, when the Arab leaders then decide to send more oil to oil-thirsty Indonesia after enlightening discussions with the President, the President is quite likely to say a sincere Alhamdulillah (thank God), as this might serve to let him off the hook as regards increasing oil prices.

However, his two-week overseas trip means there will be no Cabinet reshuffle at least until the President returns home on Sept. 24.

After returning from his trip, we all hope that the President will exhibit renewed decisiveness.

Bapak President, if the public continues to criticize your leadership, you can counter the critics by saying, "Even President Bush listens to my advice. Are you all smarter than him?"

The writer can be reached at purba@thejakartapost.com