Prejudice-free cultural ties needed
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)