Marty, the voice of RI foreign policy

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kornelius Purba, Jakarta

Until 2002, most spokesmen for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs acted as officials whose main duty was to deny press reports about the ministry or to blame the media for misquoting their boss. They also sometimes accompanied reporters to the airport when the minister wanted to talk to the press after their arrival from an overseas trip. Overall, the spokesmen's official position could be described as director of information.

Foreign ministers like Mochtar Kusuma-atmadja, Ali Alatas and Alwi Shihab, for most of their time in office, opted to talk directly to the media. When journalists asked for a comment from the spokesmen, they often replied, "I will talk to my minister first, and then I will contact you."

The situation completely changed when President Megawati Soekarnoputri picked career diplomat Hassan Wirayuda as her foreign minister in July 2001. As his predecessors, Hassan has been very accessible to the media.

Realizing the country was in the middle of the reformasi era, the minister decided his office should be even more open to the public, which meant the ministry should create a mechanism to improve access for the media and the public. This also meant he needed an effective and qualified spokesman, like the spokesman for the U.S. State Department.

Hassan made a very good decision when he promoted the young diplomat Marty Natalegawa to serve as the ministry's spokesman in early 2002. Marty was the director of the International Organization, a prestigious directorate at the ministry, when he received the assignment.

"When I heard about my appointment as spokesman, I was worried because I am terrible with facts and my main weaknesses is I have a bad memory. I am not well equipped to shoulder such responsibility. But this is a duty, you can only choose whether to swim or sink," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Marty has justified the trust shown him by Hassan. He has no trouble answering questions from journalists, even the sensitive ones.

His ability to answer questions politely even when delivering harsh statements on behalf of the government, along with the ability to dodge sensitive questions, brings a new color to the country's diplomacy.

Among the foreign correspondents stationed here in Indonesia and local journalists, Marty is known as a person who is always there for a good quote.

No matter how stupid the question, he always answers in a professional manner.

Marty truly believes that one of the most important factors in ensuring successful diplomacy is good public relations.

He was ready to take telephone calls from journalists until 2 in the morning in August 2002, when the press needed to confirm the news about the arrest of Indonesian terror suspect Hambali in Thailand.

He says he is lucky to have the job as foreign ministry spokesman with Indonesia already a more transparent and democratic state.

"The country is more open and my job is not like defending the right or wrong of my country," Marty said.

His achievements as a spokesman helped him achieved another record. He became the youngest first echelon official at the ministry when he was appointed director general of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations Cooperation group earlier this year at the age of 41. He still holds his position as ministry spokesman, although he is now grooming Yuri Thamrin eventually to replace him.

Born in Bandung on March 22, 1963, Marty spent most of childhood abroad, attending school in the United Kingdom.

He earned his bachelor's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London.

In 1985, Marty got his master's degree in international relations from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1986 upon returning to Jakarta.

His first assignment as a diplomat was as an Indonesian delegation member to informal meetings on the Cambodian conflict here in Jakarta in 1988, and then to a workshop on managing potential conflict in the South China Sea in 1989.

He later earned his doctorate from the Australian National University, writing his thesis on The Southeast Asia Nuclear- Weapon Free Zone Proposal; Retrospect and Prospect.

"I just feel very lucky that the only profession that I hoped to do is actually what I am doing now," he said.

Since he was an Indonesian living abroad as an 11-year-old student, Marty swore that he would grow up and do something that would enable him not only to help his country, but also to give the international community a better understanding of Indonesia.

"I spent most of my life abroad and I was tired of being looked down on simply because I am Indonesian. Since then I decided to end these gaps between reality and foreign perception on Indonesia," Marty said.

Despite his quick rise through the ministry, however, his only assignment abroad was as the political affairs chief at the Indonesian permanent representative to the United Nations in New York from 1997 to 2001.

Despite his busy schedule, Marty always tries to spend as much time as possible with his Thai wife Sranya and their daughter Annisa, 17, son Anantha, 12, and their youngest son, Andreyka, 8.

"The most important thing is to have quality time with my family because with so many things to do, I hardly get to spend time with them," he said.

The one subject that will immediately get his attention is old cars.

He bought a 1972 BMW four years ago and the car still sits in front of his house at the foreign ministry complex in Bintaro, South Jakarta.

"It just sits there like a piece of furniture because I don't have the time to start it up, but sometimes I do sit inside it," Marty said.