Discovering a great friend in a newspaper

Discovering a great friend in a newspaper

Dominique Girard, New Delhi

From 1992 to 1995, The Jakarta Post was for me much more than
a source of information, even though it was convenient to rely on
such a well written and professionally managed English-language
daily despite all my best efforts to improve my Indonesian.

Actually, the Post was a real companion in my job as the
ambassador of France. Indonesia was different then. Information
was still controlled and transparency limited. In this context,
the Post consistently strove to go as far as possible in
delivering information and attempting comment on current affairs.

It both reflected the official point of view and suggested a
sharper insight into things.

But that was not all. The Post was also a full intellectual
partner in the life of Indonesia. Talking to the journalists and
the editors was always a superb and efficient way to get
enlightenment on the state of mind and the reflections of the
Jakarta "elite".

And, for a change, they offered a perspective not only on the
political or economic elite of the New Order, but also the
thinkers, scholars and artists.

Of course, the Post would not have been was it was, as such
and in my own opinion, without its extraordinary window into the
arts, and its participation in and support of the artistic life
and the exhibition circuit of Jakarta.

My wife and I discovered marvelous works in the Bentara Budaya
exhibition hall and met a number of creators who changed our
outlook on Indonesia and the Indonesians. Most of those
encounters did not stop there as the Post's choices were so
relevant and competent that we very often followed up on them
even while we were exploring the cultural hubs of Australia, our
next assignment.

Seen from afar, Indonesia is more complex than it was in the
mid-1990s, more exposed, more insecure, but much freer too. I am
glad to know that my successors and all the lovers of this strong
and fascinating nation can still use the sharp eye of the Post to
refine and improve their sympathetic knowledge of our beloved
archipelago.

What we all know, and what is unfortunately so often
forgotten, is that nothing successful can happen in international
relations - coexistence, cooperation, friendship, even enmity and
war - without a genuine desire to understand your partner, or
your foe.

In The Jakarta Post, I found a great instrument to sustain my
own efforts, and, in the process, a great friend of a newspaper,
and great friends of flesh and blood.

That is an excellent reason to wish The Jakarta Post an even
more successful 20 years of existence, and to thank it for its
great service to the large community of Indonesia's international
friends.

(The writer is currently France's ambassador to India)