Wise leader has emerged

Wise leader has emerged

Twenty-five years ago, unofficially exiled Indonesian students
started gathering in capital cities all over Asia. They talked
and dreamed of a democratic, free and fair homeland, one where
leaders were elected and income fairly distributed. Obviously,
one without Soeharto and his gluttonous clan. Well, he's almost
gone, but the fight is far from over.

To succeed, you may all need the patience of those students,
who, no doubt, are in the thick of reform today. Great damage has
been done by a very few individuals. Regrettably, the damage has
embittered many, if not most, of you. Those students knew, though
they didn't know his name, that a leader of great tact and wisdom
would be needed to lead your extraordinary, diverse nation out of
the "wilderness". That man has come, Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid,
and he can realize the dreams of every one of you, if you all
support his mandate and believe in his loving wisdom.

Gus Dur's tireless efforts have greatly restored the financial
world's confidence, an essential in today's realities, if you are
to regain sustainable prosperity. Though your righteous anger is
justified, it is only by turning your backs on revenge, and
converting that energy into positive productivity that you can
rebuild your communities and heal the wounds inflicted by the
greed and lust for power of a few evil men.

There seems to be many who no longer see Sukarno's vision of a
great Indonesian nation, though, in truth, it's the belief that
such a vision can be equitably achieved that has waned rather
than the desire for nationhood. Broadly speaking, the two vastly
different groups, who, for totally different reasons, may think
to question the wisdom and leadership of Gus Dur are the
Indonesian Military and the independence movements.

Despite being, quite literally, in opposition to each other,
both groups are wrong in their methodology; violence always
begets violence. Now, it is fair to say that the initial use of
force was by the Army, and look what that's achieved so far: A
major province utterly destroyed and amputated, armed resistance
groups in nearly every province, violence on almost every front.

To imagine that anyone will profit from setting the nation on
fire is foolish to the extreme. Without removing every satellite
dish, confiscating every radio and disconnecting every telephone
line, a complete impossibility, as the Yugoslavic and Chehnyan
conflicts have demonstrated, the truth can no longer be
contained. The only guaranteed outcome of defiance and disloyalty
to the duly elected President of your nation is more violence and
international condemnation. A pariah-state, devalued, unaided
and, soon, a nation undone.

Before all you separatists start cheering, give some thought
to the old and very wise saying, "In unity there is strength,"
and not just in security matters either. Competitiveness, access
to markets and a stable currency are essentials to 21st century
societies, without them, membership of the world community is all
but impossible. All are greatly facilitated by nationhood and
very marginalized in small, independent countries. That may not
seem to matter in an oil-rich province, however, without a
credible defense force, (there goes all the profits folks), there
is no way of protecting your God-given assets from greedy
neighbors. That's why the national concept was conceived, but,
sadly, the grand vision was sacrificed to greed. Gus Dur's
emergence can change all that, if he is listened to and given
loyalty, but it will take time to accomplish.

A whole new and equitable mind-set must be developed, not
simply new laws, given the traditional "above the law" attitudes
of central and provincial administrators, for the past half
century.

ROBERT JAMES-HERBERT

Eumundi, Queensland

Australia