Traveler ambassador is going home

Traveler ambassador is going home

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

After a three-and-a-half year posting in Jakarta Ambassador
Karl Walter Lewalter finally bids his friends farewell tomorrow.
Calling his experience here the "most interesting period" in his
life, the well-traveled envoy will become Sub-Director General at
Asia and Pacific Affairs at the German Foreign Ministry.

JAKARTA (JP): Despite the vigorous campaign conducted by the
Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications, not many
Indonesians can boast that they truly know the wonders of their
archipelago. And even fewer foreigners can claim they have
witnessed the many sights scattered around the country.

Recently The Jakarta Post had the pleasure of talking with a
person whose list of visitations even surpasses some Indonesian
airlines.

Outgoing German Ambassador Karl Walter Lewalter admitted that
he is a traveler. "We invested a lot of time in traveling," he
said of his three-and-a-half-year stay here.

North and South Sulawesi, the islands of Maluku, Banda Neira,
the islands of East and West Nusa Tenggara -- Sumbawa, Sabu, Roti
-- Kupang in western Timor, Irian Jaya, North and South Sumatera
and Java are just some of the places he and his wife, Regina,
ventured to.

Lewalter's has traveled so extensively that he was at a loss
to think of a place he had missed.

The Post then posed another challenging question to the
ambassador, asking about his favorite place. Lewalter had to
pause, saying "It is very difficult to say, I've seen so many
places."

Nevertheless, after further contemplation, he said that if he
ever came back on a week long vacation his destination would
probably be, where else, Bali.

"Bali is still the most outstanding experience," he remarked.

"How many times have you been there?" asked the Post.

"Half a dozen times," he replied while quickly defending that
they were all "short trips."

Lewalter began his tenure here in April 1991 after serving as
ambassador to Sofia, Bulgaria.

"It has been one of the most interesting periods of my life,"
said Lewalter of his post in Jakarta, adding that both he and his
wife would have liked to stay for one more year.

"I know that she regrets a little bit more than I do that we
have to leave right now."

Scheduled to leave tomorrow, Lewalter will take up a new
position as Sub-Director General for Asia and Pacific Affairs at
the German foreign ministry in Bonn.

Lewalter said he had collected quite a number of souvenirs
during his stay and extensive travels which he will take back to
Germany.

"Yes, we bought a lot of textiles...and that's what we are
carrying home," he quipped.

The 56-year old German ambassador began his diplomatic career
in 1964 after studying law at Freiburg i.Br., Lausanne and Bonn.

According to Lewalter the diplomatic life is extremely
interesting because he is not simply a diplomat, not just talking
to high officials and to the government but also caring about
human problems.

"I was happy to find this diplomatic profession really
corresponds to my nature," he said.

Reflecting back on his arrival in Jakarta, Lewalter said
living here was not a tough adjustment despite it being his first
posting in Asia.

Lewalter admitted that he did not know much about the country
before coming to Jakarta. During the first few months of his stay
here two things really struck his wife and him: traffic and the
shops.

"We were amazed to see the shops so full," he said.

The traffic in Jakarta of course needs no explanation since
the situation bewilders even the local people, but the shops?

Lewalter explained that having just served in an Eastern
European country still crawling from the effects of a Soviet
dominated and controlled economy, the richness and stock at the
stores here was quite a contrast.

"It's not only a country where we as diplomats can live but
also where people can live. Of course not everybody has the money
to pay for everything but even at the lower level it was obvious
there were no shortages," he said recalling his early assessment
of Indonesia.

Lewalter claimed that he and his wife felt very assured,
especially since they had not known Indonesia's true state of
development.

Queried whether he had any distasteful experiences while
living here or during his travels, Lewalter remarked that he had
none, saying he would be leaving the country with a lot of
positive impressions.

"I'm not just saying that because I'm a diplomat and because
its an interview," he assured.

Speaking on the development of Indonesian-German ties,
Lewalter modestly says the state of relations were already very
good when he arrived and thus the last three years have been more
of an intensification of those strong bonds.

Trade relations have significantly improved in the last three
years with two-way trade rising from US$2.96 billion in 1991 to
the current rate of over $3.1 billion.

Indonesia imports mainly German machinery, chemicals and cars,
while primarily exporting textiles and garments to Germany.

Germany is one of Indonesia's most important aid donators.
German and Indonesian officials recently signed an economic
cooperation deal which will appropriate a total of DM 149.5
million ($93.4 million) here.

"We think that Indonesia is developing at an impressive rate
and the development is broad. If we can contribute to that, we
will," Lewalter said.

When asked whether he will leave many friends as he embarks on
his new assignment tomorrow, Lewalter unhesitatingly said "yes"
pointing to former Ambassador Hasyim Djalal, past Indonesian
ambassador to Germany, as someone he has known since 1967.

How would Lewalter liked to be remembered by the people he
leaves behind?

"Well, just as a friend. That's what I tried to be and that's
what I learned to be in Indonesia," he said.