Our outmoded nationalism

Our outmoded nationalism

In the case of East Timor, Australia is behaving like a pubescent child. It is raucous in its speech and tends to act with excessive drive. This country has been like close kin to us for many years.

Considering such a background, we, as a large nation currently in trouble, must not overreact. All the more so because Australia's ambition to lead the peace force (in East Timor) is endorsed by the United Nations -- an organization which we, as a member, must support whether we like it or not.

We must gradually learn to abandon our old style of nationalism -- a nationalism that does not accept rough talk from any other nation. We must unabashedly admit that we are indeed still often prone to act foolishly. In many aspects we still don't mean anything.

East Timor is one example of such foolishness. It teaches us how one fatal misguided decision -- to take East Timor -- can result in a string of other mistakes. We seldom win when we confront the outside world because we are forever occupied with fighting foolish domestic squabbles.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta