Prejudice-free cultural ties needed
JAKARTA (JP): Cultural ties between countries should be built upon trust, noted cultural observer M. Boediardjo said here yesterday.
The former Indonesian ambassador to Cambodia and Spain told The Jakarta Post that people need to avoid suspicion, bias and prejudice, which in many cases are quite dominant.
"Prejudice and mistrust, which are part of human nature, can be overcome through a lot of goodwill and understanding from both sides, plus determination," Boediardjo said during a break in a seminar on culture and international relations.
He was commenting on the statement of Toshihisa Komaki, a senior staff writer of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun daily, that cultural ties between Indonesia and Japan are limited and overshadowed by efforts to build economic and diplomatic relations.
"There are very strong economic ties between Indonesia and Japan, but there is also very poor cultural ties," Komaki told some 150 participants.
Boediardjo pointed out that there might be historical reasons -- the Japanese occupied Indonesia for about three years during World War II -- behind the limited cultural ties.
"If Indonesians cannot forget history, that is fine. But try to understand and forgive," Boediardjo said.
Komaki said Indonesia is vital for Japanese economic and diplomatic interests, and vice versa. The poor cultural ties, however, may make the other form of relations between the two countries "fragile", he said.
Boediardjo seconded Komaki's opinion, saying that cultural ties can be used as a medium to promote peace and cooperation among nations. Unfortunately, however, Indonesia has yet to sufficiently develop cultural ties for such purposes, said Boediardjo, who is also former minister of education.
The one-day seminar, jointly organized by the Japanese embassy and the Directorate General of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture, was opened by Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro. Japanese ambassador to Indonesia Taizo Watanabe also addressed the seminar.
The other speakers at the seminar were Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri -- one of the founders of the Japanese Study Center at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta -- and leading playwright Putu Wijaya. From Japan were Tsuyoshi Kato of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University and Ken Shimanouchi of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Wardiman expressed his agreement that cooperation between nations should be free from stereotypes and prejudice.
In addition, Boediardjo said that people should not determine the success of cultural relations in terms of economic and business gains.
"A financial loss may give a moral victory," he said.
Indonesia ranks third in the number of cultural activities sponsored by the Japanese Cultural Center within each country, after the United States and China, according to 1994 data at the Japan Cultural Center here. In 1994, some 50,000 Indonesians studied in Japan. (31)