Nobel prize laureates

East Timor's Bishop Belo came to Jakarta the other day and met with Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid and the Indonesian Democratic Party's ousted leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.

What they discussed and the statement they issued jointly after the meeting are already known to you. As I write this, what first springs to mind, on my part at least, is not the political impact that their call for national consensus might bring. I also do not feel inclined to comment on the referendum issue the three leaders almost in chorus advocated.

Belo's visit shockingly reminded me that he is, in fact, a Nobel Prize winner for peace, though shared with another East Timorese in exile. Whether we like it or not, it was a "diplomatic slap" in the face of the foreign minister when the choice was announced. For the first time, two Indonesians had been awarded a prize for peace by the prestigious Nobel Institute. To Indonesia, and to most Indonesians, the prize was given, as it were, to the wrong persons (at least to one of them in exile) at the wrong time.

It seems unlikely that in the foreseeable future, any other Indonesian, even with the geniuses among them, will receive that honor (I do sincerely hope I am incorrect!).

The great number of people calling themselves "intellectuals" is no guarantee that among these distinguished citizens a new Nobel Prize laureate will eventually emerge. It is beyond my "nonintellectual" (to which group writers, journalists and publishers apparently belong) comprehension that some are so eager to call themselves religious oriented intellectuals. True, they distinguish themselves from the general "uneducated" public. But is it not also true that they consider themselves to some extent aloof and separate from the rest of society. Is intellectualism inherent to wisdom and "better" than those only culturally imbued minds?

Indonesia has no shortage of intellectuals but what the nation needs is leaders whose minds transcends the national boundaries, who heatedly, not half-heartedly, just for the sake of political publicity, put themselves in the service of others, even if they gain nothing in return. The nation needs people with high integrity that others can always rely on.

How barren does the soil feel and look of people considering themselves to belong to the vast international community; part of one single humanity and civilization and thought. To act accordingly, humbly and unshaken when it concerns principles, more humble and less greedy, proud to sacrifice, regarding honor instead of profit and personal gain as their ultimate and main pursuit in life.

In the past, colonial bondage produced leaders with a great mind and universal spirit who heroically defied poverty. Now that this nation no longer breathes the air of colonial slavery and is blessed with freedom to think and act, greater and broader-minded -- but not necessarily materially wealthier -- Indonesians, it must not be hard to find persons who are worthy of a Nobel Prize.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta