What can our leaders learn from Jimmy Carter?

JAKARTA (JP): "They should have asked Al Gore instead," I mulled to myself as I headed toward the New Orleans' Convention Center, where former U.S. president Jimmy Carter was about to deliver his keynote speech to convention-goers at CA-World recently. Al Gore was behind the development of information infrastructure in the U.S. But Jimmy Carter? What could he say that would interest the high-tech hungry audience at this event?

I was wrong. The hall was packed when I entered. I began to wonder what it was that made Mr. Carter this popular.

As he started his talk about the growing gap between the rich and the poor, I began to understand why they had so much respect for him. He was right on the mark. Today, information technology has created cumulative wealth that probably never existed before. Look at the personal worth of Bill Gates and so many other billionaires who are still in their 40s.

Now, while some parts of the world are witnessing breathtaking accumulation of fortunes, street children all over the world -- from Jakarta to Rio de Janeiro -- don't have anything to eat. Back home, as one of our TV stations reported recently, our own children in Central Java are suffering from smallpox because of poor nutrition, bad sanitation and lack of cash for immunization. No doubt the gap is widening even in our own front yard.

After his speech, Mr. Carter was invited to chat with the host, Computer Associates' chairman Charles B. Wang, on the stage. Earlier, through a website, the company had solicited questions to be asked of Mr. Carter. Charles Wang read one of them: "What was the most difficult decision you made as a president?" The answer came without hesitation, "The decision not to use force to free the American hostages held by the Iranians."

"I could have destroyed Iran. I could have destroyed their seaports, oil refineries and oil fields using our military and weapons. I decided not to. I resorted instead to patience and prayers," he added. Later, from my reading I learned that it was primarily the 444-day hostage situation that drove Mr. Carter to defeat in the presidential race against Ronald Reagan.

I was touched. Unlike my own leaders that have allowed so much blood of fellow Indonesians to wet the land of Aceh, Banyuwangi, East Timor, Irian Jaya, Ambon, Kalimantan, Batam and so many other places for so long, Mr. Carter had refused to use violence to punish the people of a hostile country. Instead of using force to satisfy the American public and perhaps winning the election by it, he chose to adhere to his principle of not causing pain to innocent people.

The most touching moment of the fireside chat, however, came as Charles Wang recounted a story: "In the 1970s, a gentleman named Dr. Greg Yuzu wrote a thesis on the health hazards of the waste water of the cooperative ranches in his homeland Rumania. Because of what he had written, he was detained and tortured. His name was added to the list of political prisoners.

"In 1977, Rumania sought to have its status of 'Favored Nation' from the U.S renewed. However, president Carter stipulated that, in order for Rumania to secure the status, all their political prisoners would first have to be released.... The Rumanian government finally set Mr. Yuzu free and let him leave his country. In April 1978, he and his family landed at JFK International Airport."

Wang then said to Mr. Carter: "This true story was written by Dr. Yuzu's son. He has asked me to read it to you and thank you for what you did. In fact, he is here in the audience this evening." The son, now a young information technology professional, was invited to come on stage to shake hands with Mr. Carter.

Folks, is there anything else in this world that could make us feel more wonderful than to find out that we once used our power to open the door of opportunity so wide to people that we had never met? Is there anything else that could make us feel better than to cross paths with somebody who thanks us for what we did years ago and have probably never thought about?

Here's Jimmy Carter, who didn't use his power to spoil his sons and daughters and grandchildren, nor to enrich his relatives, nor to distribute wealth and privileges to his clan. Here's a leader who, instead, used his power to make a difference in the life of complete strangers. Here's a leader whose people have turned around to love him because he has proven himself worthy of love -- almost two decades after he was no longer a president.

At the end of the hour, when he was leaving the stage, I understood why all of us who were there that evening, including myself, gave president Carter another standing ovation.

-- Zatni Arbi