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Embarrassed by RI's arrogance

| Source: JP

Embarrassed by RI's arrogance

Jordan's King Hussein was one of the world's greatest leaders.
More than that, he espoused truly human values at a time when men
often act like animals. Every country showed its respect and
admiration for the king, every country except Indonesia, which
sent, as The Jakarta Post so aptly put it, "a low-level
delegation" to the funeral ceremony. Not even Ali Alatas
attended, a man who could have represented us with dignity.

What was Habibie thinking of? Or wasn't he thinking at all?
Allow me to name a few of the dignitaries who were in attendance:
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles, Syrian
President Hafez al-Assad, U.S. President Bill Clinton along with
three former American presidents, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak and Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

I followed the funeral ceremony on both CNN and BBC for hours.
When the Indonesian delegation appeared, I felt embarrassed. No
one of importance or stature attended the king's funeral. Besides
paying respects to one of the century's greatest leaders, it
would have been a good opportunity to convey condolences to King
Abdullah and to meet other dignitaries.

I feel sorry that Indonesia is so blind and arrogant.

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