Marty, the voice of RI foreign policy

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.