RI not strong enough to lead SE Asia: Expert
RI not strong enough to lead SE Asia: Expert
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has lost its chance to emerge as
Southeast Asia's natural leader because it has been unable to
develop a healthy economy, an observer said yesterday.
Lie Tek Tjeng said that although the Indonesian economy has
been growing rapidly, it is unstable and plagued with monopolies
and uneven income distribution.
"Indonesia's potential to become the leader in Southeast Asia
has not properly developed," Lie said at a hearing with the House
commission I for foreign affairs and security.
The hearing that focused on the latest global political
developments also featured Lt. Gen. (ret) A. Hasnan Habib, a
former Indonesian ambassador to the United States and a military
strategist.
Lie, a senior researcher at the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences (LIPI), said Indonesia could become one of the major
powers in the Asia-Pacific rim if the country's economy is
strong.
"We have a role to play, but we don't have the economic might
to support it," said the expert on Chinese affairs.
Meanwhile, China is becoming a major power in the Asia-Pacific
region because it has been able to pull all of its resources
together to develop its economy, he said.
Indonesia has taken a leading role in regional political and
economic affairs through the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, which is comprised of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
This role is natural because of Indonesia's size and
population of more than 190 million. Although it is rich in
natural resources, its economic performance trails Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei, and is just slightly ahead of the
Philippines.
Dependence
One of Indonesia's weaknesses, Lie noted, is its heavy
dependence on foreign capital and aid.
Indonesia, he said, has been keeping its western donors
wondering when it will become financially independent after
decades of reliance on their assistance.
Dutch people facetiously liken Indonesia's inability to keep
and manage the assistance to a "bottomless keg", he said.
Lie, a naturalized Chinese, lamented the common fatalistic
belief that indigenous Indonesians have no talent to do business
like the Chinese who have lived here for generations.
"In fact, many native Indonesians have tremendous talent to do
business if they were given the chance," he said.
He said the Indonesian political elite's way of thinking
follows that of the Dutch colonial administrators as far as
treatment of Indonesians of Chinese descent is concerned.
Their access to employment in the public sector remains very
much restricted and doing business is about the only choice left
for them to make a living.
"But when they are successful, they become targets of social
envy and people think they are free to throw stones at their
shops," he said.
He underlined the importance for Indonesia to improve the
quality of its human resources so that the nation can make the
best of its abundant natural resources.
Lie recounted the day when a Japanese acquaintance jokingly
told him what would happen if Japanese and Indonesians could
trade places. All the Japanese would wear nothing but trunks and
leave their wealth behind and Indonesians could leave for Japan
with everything they are able to carry.
"Then my Japanese acquaintance said 'I am sure the Japanese in
Indonesia would be richer than Indonesians in Japan after a few
years'," Lie said to the laughter of House members. (pan)