World Leadership Conference 2011
What is the biggest issue the world is facing now? Probably, most will answer : environment. Yes, at this moment people are trying to make the Earth a better place to live.
On December 24th, 2009, UN General Assembly passed a resolution agreeing to hold a Rio +20 Earth Summit in 2012. Then, a group has decided to unify all youth mobilisations around the world and there comes Road to Rio +20. It is a global youth mobilization towards the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, aiming to mobilize, inspire, empower and support young people to take action on issues of sustainable development and influence the outcomes of Rio+20.
One of the Road to Rio +20 events as the Asia-Pacific contribution is World Leadership Conference which was held in Singapore, July 13th-15th, 2011. The conference theme is “Asia-Pacific: Towards Rio +20”. Experts from Singapore and other Asia-Pacific countries were invited as speakers and moderators including Stefanos Fotiou, Regional Coordinator of the UNEP’s “Resource Efficiency” programme for the Asia and the Pacific region, as the keynote speaker and Mr. Rully Prayoga from Indonesia, a Social Marketing for Social Changes practitioner who is now the East Asia Coordinator for 350.org movement, as moderator for Sustainable Development and Governance.
As I had a little chat with Dwina Lubna, one of Indonesian delegates from Bandung Institute of Technology, she told me about her experience participating in the 3-days conference. “WLC is a conference about environment that discusses green economy and sustainable development,” said Dwina who got a US$250 scholarship covering registration fee and meals during the conference. As the requirement, she was asked to write an essay about why she wanted to join WLC and why she deserved the scholarship.
“There are two tracks in the conference: knowledge track and policy track. The one I joined is knowledge track, so I only had the right to participate in the seminars and workshops while the participants who were on policy track had the right and obligation as policy-maker. Of course, they did have a different requirement (they had to write a paper to gain the right) and bigger responsibility too,” explained Dwina.
What is the further step from this conference? “The policy-maker has made a petition that will be presented in 2012 Rio+20. WLC is—I can say—only the regional conference. The one in Brazil is the main event.”
So, what do you get from the event, Dwina?
“The conference has given me more knowledges and insights about green economy and sustainability. And of course, friends from another countries: Singapore, Pakistan, Brunei Darussalam, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, and Indonesia also. I hope our country can apply green economy to eradicate poverty.”
Written for Good News From Indonesia by Raisa Nabila
image source : http://www.tomorrowsleaders.biz/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/World_Leadership_Conference1.jpg
Medals for Indonesia from Competitions Around the World
Indonesian students have won so many medals from international competition around the world including in Indonesia itself. Let’s start from the competition which was held in our beloved country, Indonesia.
Indonesia International Mathematics Competition 2011, held on 18-23 July 2011 in Bali.
1. Elementary School
Anthony William Brian, Gian Cordana Sanjaya, Alicia Maydeline (gold medals)
2. Junior High School
Agasha Kareef Ratam and Henry Wijayakusuma (gold medals)
Expo Science International Event 2011 in Bratislava, Slovakia
1. Mathematical Science Category
Project: COMBINATORICS IN HYPERCUBES
Authors: Muhammad Nicko Anggara Buwono & Muhammad Yusuf
From Sragen Bilingual Boarding School
2. Biotechnology Category
Project: THE IMPACT OF EARTH WORMS (Lumbricus terrestris) EXTRACTION OF THE INTENSIFICATION OF E. COLI BACTERIA
Authors: Kartika Dwi Baswara & Muhammad Nur Pratama
From Labschool Kebayoran Senior High
3. Chemistry Category
Project: MODIFIED GLUCOMANNAN EXTRACT FROM PORANG AS COMPOSITE EDIBLE FILM AND COLLOID BINDER
Authors: Rizky Rachmadina & Dita Shafrina
From Kharisma Bangsa Bilingual Boarding School, Tangerang Selatan
The 42nd International Physics Olympiad, Bangkok, Thailand, 11-17 July 2011
1. Gold medal
Erwin Wibowo (BPK Penabur State Senior High School Gading Serpong Banten)
2. Silver medal
Kevin Ardian Fauzie (Santa Maria State Senior High School Pekanbaru, Riau)
3. Bronze medal
Farhan Kholid (Sragen Bilingual Boarding School Central Java)
Luqman Fathurrohim (Sragen Bilingual Boarding School Central Java)
Imam Agung Raharja (Pribadi State Senior High School Depok)
The 22nd Intrnational Biology Olympiad 2011, Taiwan, 10-17 July 2011
- Marsha Christanvia Wibowo (silver medal)
- Thoriq Salafi (bronze medal)
- Afandi Charles (bronze medal)
- Husni Muarif (honorable mention)
The 43rd International Chemistry Olympiad 2011, Ankara, Turkey, 9-18 July 2011
1. Gold medal
Stephen Haniel Yunowo (SMAN 1 Purwokerto, Central Java)
Joses Gradhy Nathanael (BPK Penabur State Senior High School Gading Serpong, Banten)
2. Silver medal
Andhika Tangguh Pradana (Kharisma Bangsa Senior High School Tangerang)
Alimatun Nashira (SMAN 1 Yogyakarta)
The 53rd International Mathematics Olympiad 2011, Amsterdam, 16-24 July 2011
1. Silver medal
Ivan Wangsa Cipta Lingga (BPK Penabur State Senior High School Kelapa Gading, Jakarta)
Johan Gunardi (BPK Penabur State Senior High School Tanjung Duren, Jakarta)
2. Bronze medal
Tobi Moektijono (IPEKA International Christian School)
Stefanus Lie (BPK Penabur State Senior High School Tanjung Duren, Jakarta)
Ahmad Zaky (SMAN 8 Jakarta)
Pramudya Ananto (Taruna Nusantara Senior High School Magelang)
The 23rd International Olympiad in Informatics 2011, Pattaya City, Thailand, 22-29 July 2011
- Frederikus Hudi (bronze medal)
- William Gozali (bronze medal)
The Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011, New York City, July 13th, 2011
- Category: Windows 7 Touch Challenge
Team: _dreambender_
From: Telkom Institute of Technology
SECOND WINNER
Imagine Cup is the world’s premiere student technology competition. It provides an opportunity for students to use their creativity, passion, and knowledge of technology to help solve global challenges and make a difference in the world. While competing for cash and prizes, students gain real-life experiences, make new friends, and change the world. The Imagine Cup is one way Microsoft encourages the brightest young minds to join together and use technology to take on the toughest problems facing our world today.
The 34th International Bridge Building Contest, Chicago, April 30, 2011
Ivana Edison from SMA Kristen Petra 1 (Rank 4) with efficiency 3408
The object of this contest is to see who can design, construct and test the most efficient bridge within the specifications. Model bridges are intended to be simplified versions of real-world bridges, which are designed to accept a load in any position and permit the load to travel across the entire bridge.
The 18th International Mathematics Competition 2011, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, 28th July-3rd August 2011
- Raja Oktovin Parhasian Damanik (University of Indonesia)
- Ahmad Agung Ahkam (Telkom Institute of Technology)
- Yosafat Eka Prasetya Pangalela (Bandung Institute of Technology)
- Made Tantrawan (Gadjah Mada University)
- Rudi Adha Prihandoko (Bandung Institute of Technology)
- Satria Stanza Pramayoga (Sepuluh November Institute of Technology)
- Rizky Reza Fauzi (University of Indonesia)
ThinkQuest International Competition 2011
1. Science & Technology category (Earth Science) FIRST PLACE
Project: ALGAE’S POWER CYCLE: TRANSFORM NOTHING INTO WEALTH
Authors: Genta Indra, Ida Ayu Anom, Ika (SMAN 4 Denpasar)
Coach: Ida Bagus Astawa Udayana (SMAN 4 Denpasar)
Two of the world’s major problems, fuel shortages and pollution, can be tackled using photosynthetic organisms called algae. This team conducted research on how algae can be converted into bio-Ethanol for energy usage while significantly reducing carbon emissions.
2. Science & Technology category (Earth Science) SECOND PLACE
Project: MAKE THE PLASTICS AND PAPERS BECOME THE EARTH’S FRIEND
Author: Vilia, Ikhsan, Muhammad Labib, Tuwendy, Faisal, Ben (SMAN 48 Jakarta)
Coach: Tjandrawati (SMAN 48 Jakarta)
Can you imagine the world without trees? This project discusses paper alternatives such as bioplastic derived from potatoes, paper made from algae, everyday materials made from bamboo, and other great tree-saving ideas.
International Food Technology Competition 2011, Louisiana, June 11-14, 2011
Research: FIGHTING IRON-DEFICIENCY THROUGH IRON-ENRICHED INSTANT NOODLE PRODUCTION BY UTILIZING LOCAL INGREDIENTS
Authors: Ricki Setyawan, Meidina Nurfitriani, Maya Mukti (University of Brawijaya Malang) FIRST PLACE
Credits: Jakarta Globe, tempointeraktif.com, okezone.com, ibo2011.org.tw, ioi2011.or.th, imaginecup.com, bridgecontest.phys.iit.edu, imc-math.org, thinkquest.org
Image Source: sobatspeedy.com
Translated and rewritten for Good News From Indonesia by Cindy Frishanti
Putting Indonesia on the radar screen
In December 2010, the Indonesian Foreign Minister was asked what kind of role Indonesia would like to play globally. Mr Natalegawa replied that the idea was ‘to put Indonesia on the radar screen’ by showing a kind of intellectual leadership in the region.
More than a decade after being severely hit by an economic crisis that also damaged domestic political stability, Indonesia — described by Donald Weatherbee as ‘a wounded phoenix’ — seems to be ready to fly high again. As the biggest country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has always been seen, and has always seen itself, as being entitled to play a significant regional and global role.
To be sure, several years ago Indonesia debated whether it should free itself from ASEAN ‘strongholds’ in order to expand its national foreign policy. Recent decisions have, however, revealed a renewed multilateral impulse in Indonesian policy. Jakarta’s decision to swap its ASEAN chairmanship with Brunei (in order to take the reins in 2011 instead of 2013) and the demanding agenda it has set itself as chair indicate that Indonesia is serious about pushing ASEAN’s global role.
Indonesian policymakers seem to believe there is a symbiotic relationship between a more powerful ASEAN and a strong Indonesia. In the words of Minister Natalegawa, ‘Indonesia will continue to invest its efforts…(and) attention on the building of a strong ASEAN. Because a strong ASEAN, an ASEAN marked by all the visions that we have in terms of the community, is also in the vital national interest of my own country, Indonesia’.
After seven months of its chairmanship, we have an almost complete picture of what Indonesia is pursuing within the framework of ASEAN.
Indonesia has pushed hard to strengthen the capacities and role of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) — both to promote and, more importantly, to protect human rights. It has pursued the notion of establishing a network of peacekeeping centres in ASEAN member states, and sought to pave the way for the SEANWFZ Treaty to be signed by five nuclear-weapons states, the US, UK, Russia, France and China.
Indonesia has also attempted to mediate the ongoing conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. Indonesia put forth an initiative to establish the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, which would give recommendations to the member states when interstate conflicts arise, in order to facilitate peaceful solutions.
More importantly, on the path toward realising the vision of an ‘ASEAN Community in the Global Community of Nations’, at the 18th ASEAN Summit Indonesia pushed for the development of a common ASEAN platform on global issues, which is expected to be achieved by 2022. It is certainly not an easy problem, since each ASEAN country has its own priorities and sensitivities in looking at security challenges.
Indonesia’s intellectual leadership of ASEAN is something Jakarta would like to continue, even after its chairmanship terminates at the end of 2011. This would allow Indonesia to play a crucial role as an emerging power capable of shaping Southeast Asia’s new regional architecture.
by Lina Alexandra, a researcher at the Department of International Relations, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta. This post is part of the New Voices series.
taken from lowlyinterpreter.org
image source : portal.ristek.go.id
RI Economy Can Rival Asian Giants in Next 20 Years
Economic and social experts predict that the Indonesian economy would be able to equal those of Asian giants Japan and South Korea in the next 20 years if its current political and financial stability continued.??
Noted American political scientist George Friedman said Thursday that Indonesia had a unique place as an emerging economy with a huge market potential for international companies.
“As countries like the Philippines and others have trouble accommodating investments, Indonesia has become a stable platform for international corporations to grow,” Friedman said at an international conference on futurology at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta.
“In other words, where other countries don’t have enough space, enough workers and enough opportunities [for these corporations to grow], Indonesia is in a perfect position to take advantage of this,” he said.
Friedman added that China’s position as the current leading Asian economy would not last long as the country has an enormous percentage of people living below the poverty line.
“Of China’s population of 1.3 billion people, some 600 millions earn less than US$3 a day, while around another 440 millions earn between $3 and $6 a day,” he said, adding that these huge numbers of Chinese living in extraordinary poverty presented a huge hurdle for the country to continue its current economic success.
Another problem for China, Friedman said, was the country’s overdependence on exports to the US and Europe for its economic growth. “This condition turned China into a hostage to the appetites of Europe and the US,” he said.
He added that the relatively more expensive wages international companies would have to pay Chinese workers was also a problem for China. “It is cheaper to invest and use Mexican labor than Chinese. It is cheaper by far to use Pakistani, Filipino, or Indonesian labor,” Friedman said.
“This doesn’t mean that China’s economy will fall in the next 20 to 30 years. I’m just saying that it will no longer be a dominant economy in Asia by then,” he said adding that China’s economic position would be rivaled by emerging countries such as Indonesia.
Citigroup global head for public sector and sovereign wealth funds Zubaid Ahmad agreed with Friedman, saying, “I believe Indonesia can maintain its economic growth [at] around 6.75 percent for the next 20 years, so long as the government maintains its current policies that [have] brought economic stability to the country in the last decade”.
He added that the policies included those related to transparency and good governance.
Zubaid said the government should work on building more infrastructure to maintain economic growth.
Indonesian Ambassador to the US Dino Patti Djalal, who cohosted the conference with Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Gita Wirjawan, said Indonesians should not be complacent given the many predictions of Indonesia becoming a major economy in the near future.
He cited several such projections, including the Economist Intelligence Unit’s CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, South Africa and Turkey) and Goldman-Sachs’ MIST (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey).
News Source: The Jakarta Post
Twitter Launches in Dutch & Indonesian
Twitter launched in Dutch and Indonesian Monday, bringing the microblogging service’s total count of supported languages to 11.
Dutch and Indonesian were the first two languages to be fully translated by a team of volunteers, who worked through Twitter’s Translation Center to translate twitter.com, support pages, and the service’s desktop and mobile applications.
The addition of more languages should continue to fuel Twitter’s growth in areas where English is not the primary language. The San Francisco-based startup plans to launch in Filipino and Malay next, the company said in a blog post.
In a follow-up post, Twitter disclosed that it has raised yet another round of funding — which should do perhaps even more to fuel its international expansion.
News Source: mashable.com
Indonesian Woman Wins ‘Asia’s Nobel Prize’ for Helping Poor
Manila. Indonesian social worker Tri Mumpuni is among the winners of Asia’s prestigious Magsaysay award this year for giving green technologies to the poor, organizers said on Wednesday.
Award foundation president Carmencita Abella said Tri, along with an Indian engineer and a Philippine charity group, had helped harness the technologies to empower their countrymen and worked to create waves of progressive change across Asia.
Each year six people or organizations are named joint winners of the Magsaysay award.
This year the other winners were a man who set up an Islamic school for girls in Indonesia, a lender to India’s poorest, and a man working to restore democracy in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge murdered his father.
“Working on critical issues … they are showing how commitment, competence, and collaborative leadership can truly transform individual lives and galvanize community action,” Abella said.
The award, often described as Asia’s Nobel Prize, is named after a famous Philippine president who died in a 1957 plane crash.
It aims to honor people who address issues of human development in Asia with courage and creativity.
Tri Mumpuni, 46, was recognized after her IBEKA foundation built 60 small power plants harnessing the energy of water stored in dams to bring electricity to half a million people, the awards foundation said.
She was once kidnapped with her husband by former separatist rebels in Aceh province while pursuing her nongovernmental group’s project to bring electricity to rural Indonesia.
Another winner was US-trained Indian engineer Harish Hande, 44, for bringing solar lights to a country where half of all households have no electricity, the awards foundation said.
His Solar Electric Light Co.-India has tapped the sun’s energy to light up 120,000 households and is now one of the country’s largest solar technology providers.
In the Philippines, Dutch marine engineer Auke Idzenga’s Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation won for using an ancient, near-forgotten technology, the ram pump, to help impoverished communities on Negros island.
Re-engineered for upland farms, the pump gave the communities clean, cheap water for household use and for raising livestock, fish, and small farms, it said.
A ram pump, which does not need an external power source, harnesses the force of a large body of moving water to pump a small amount of water uphill.
The winners are to receive their awards in Manila on August 31.
News Source: Agence France-Presse
Bali’s Literary Festival Looking to Cultivate Writers and Readers Alike
Despite the loss of one of its major sponsors, the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival is set to go ahead this October, and aims to be even bigger and better than ever.
Festival organizers plan to hold a variety of events from Oct. 5-9 in more than 50 venues around Ubud, including panel sessions, workshops, readings, literary lunches, book launches and cocktail parties. Some events are free to the public, while others require visitors to purchase a ticket. Organizers hope to draw around 25,000 visitors and participants, which would be 20 percent more than last year, with an increased number of Indonesian readers and writers.
“I’m truly excited that we are using more Indonesians than ever as authors and moderators,” De Neefe said.
The annual event has always shown its commitment to promoting Ubud as the center of arts and culture. The festival was started by the Saraswati Foundation in 2004, with the hope of drawing tourists back to the island after the 2002 bombing.
This year’s theme is “Nandurin Karang Awak,” or “Cultivate the Land Within” — a line from an epic poem by Balinese poet-priest Ida Pedanda Made Sidemen. Speakers will discuss issues of land and belonging, “from alienation, exile, annexation and marginalization to identity,” according to the festival’s Web site.
“[The poem] touches on issues of identity, belonging and ownership,” De Neefe said.
Organizers have confirmed a lineup of 110 writers from more than 20 countries.
Alexander McCall Smith, author of more than 60 books, including the best-selling “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series, and Alice Sebold, author of “The Lovely Bones,” will join a host of writers sharing their ideas and writing techniques with readers.
The festival will also present Junot Diaz, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for his novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” and 2003 Booker Prize winner DBC Pierre, author of “Vernon God Little.”
Andrea Hirata, author of the popular “Laskar Pelangi” (“The Rainbow Troops”) and “Sang Pemimpi” (“The Dreamer”) — both of which have been made into movies — will lead the Indonesian contingent at the festival. Another local author likely to attract attention is best-selling travel writer Trinity, famous for her trilogy “The Naked Traveler.”
“They are all big names who have a huge following,” De Neefe said. She added that it was not difficult to attract such big names to the festival.
“We offer them a magical experience set in one of the world’s most picturesque travel destinations,” she said.
The festival has come to be regarded not only as Indonesia’s most prestigious literary event, but one of the finest in the world, in the words of Australian author Alex Miller. The event was recently listed by Harper’s Bazaar UK as one of the top six literary festivals in the world.
De Neefe said she was confident the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, now in its eighth year, would continue for many years to come. “The most successful writers festivals are set in exotic destinations.”
For more information:
www.ubudwritersfestival.com
Twitter: @ubudwritersfest
taken from The Jakarta Globe
Indonesia’s Growing Global Geopolitical Significance
Indonesia’s Growing Global Geopolitical Significance
I am writing this from Indonesia. Actually, that is not altogether a fair statement. I am at the moment in Bali and just came from Jakarta. The two together do not come close to being Indonesia. Jakarta, the capital, is a vast city that is striking to me for its traffic. It takes an enormous amount of time to get anywhere in Jakarta. Like most cities, it was not built to accommodate cars, and the mix of cars with motor scooters results in perpetual gridlock. It is also a city of extraordinary dynamism. There is something happening on almost every street. And in the traffic jams, you have time to contemplate those streets in detail.
Bali is an island of great beauty, complete with mountains, white beaches, blue waters and throngs of tourists. Since I am one of those tourists, I will not trouble you with the usual tourist nonsense of wanting to be in a place where there are no tourists. The hypocrisy of tourists decrying commercialization is tedious. I am here for the beaches, and they are expensive. The locals with whom tourists claim to want to mingle can’t come into the resort, and tourists leaving the resort will have trouble finding locals who are not making a living off the tourists. As always, the chance of meeting “locals” as tourists usually define them — people making little money in picturesque ways — is not easy.
What is clear in both Jakarta and Bali is that the locals are tired of picturesque poverty, however much that disappoints the tourists. They want to live better and, in particular, they want their children to live better. We were driven by a tour guide to places where we bought what my wife assures me is art (my own taste in art runs to things in museums and tigers made of velvet). We spent the requisite money on art at places our guide delivered us to, I assume for suitable compensation.
The guide was interesting. His father was a rice farmer who owned some land, and now he is a tour guide, which in Bali, I gather, is not a bad job by any means if you have deals with the hotel (which he undoubtedly has). But it was his children who fascinated me. He had three sons, two of whom were in universities. The movement from rice farmer to university student in three generations is not trivial. That it happened with the leaders Indonesia had during that time is particularly striking, since by all reasonable measures these leaders have been, until recently, either rigidly ideological (Sukarno) or breathtakingly self-serving (Sukarno’s daughter, Megawati).
When I looked at some of Indonesia’s economic statistics, the underlying reason for this emerged. Since 1998, when Indonesia had its meltdown, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown at roughly 5 percent per year, an amount substantial, consistent and above all sustainable, unlike the 8 and 9 percent growth rates before the collapse. Indonesia is now the 18th largest economy in the world, ranking just behind Turkey.
All of that is nice, but for this: Indonesia ranks 109th in per capita GDP. Indonesia’s population is about 237 million. Its fertility rate is only 2.15 births per woman, just above a stable population — though being just above stable still means substantial growth. Indonesia is a poor country, albeit not as poor as it was, and its GDP continues to rise. Given its stable government and serious efforts to control corruption, which systemically diverts wealth away from the general population, this growth can continue. But whether the stability and anti-corruption efforts of the past six years can continue is an open question, as is the prosperity in Jakarta, the tourism in Bali (recall the jihadist attacks there in 2002 and 2005) and whether our guide’s third son will receive a college education.
I saw three Indonesias (and I can assure you there are hundreds more). One was the Indonesia of Jakarta’s elite, Westernized and part of the global elite found in most capitals that is critical for managing any country’s rise to some degree of prosperity. Jakarta’s elite will do well from that prosperity, make no mistake, but they are also indispensable to it. Another Indonesia was the changing one that our upwardly mobile tour guide saw through his children’s eyes. The third was the one in which a little girl, perhaps four, begged in traffic on the road from the airport in Bali. I have seen these things in many countries and it is difficult to know what to make of them yet. For me, going to Indonesia is not the same as going to Eastern Europe. I know what is lurking under the current there. Indonesia is new for me, and I will be back. For now, let me describe to you not so much the country of Indonesia but how I try to learn about a place I know only from books (and even then relatively little).
Strategic Positions
Nietzsche once said that modern man eats knowledge without hunger. What he meant by that is that modern man learns without passion and without necessity. I didn’t go to Indonesia without either. What interests me most about Indonesia is not its economy or its people — although that might change as I learn more. What interests me now is Indonesia’s strategic position in the world at this point in time.
To determine that position, we must first look at China. China is building an aircraft carrier. Now, one aircraft carrier without cruisers, destroyers, submarines, anti-missile systems, satellite-targeting capabilities, mid-ocean refueling capabilities and a thousand other things is simply a ship waiting to be sunk. Nevertheless, it could be the nucleus of something more substantial in the coming decades (not years).
When I look at a map of China’s coast I am constantly struck by how contained China is. In the north, where the Yellow and East China seas provide access to Shanghai and Qingdao (the home of China’s northern naval fleet), access to the Pacific is blocked by the line of Japan-Okinawa-Taiwan and the islands between Okinawa and Japan. Bases there are not the important point. The important point is that the Chinese naval — or merchant — fleet must pass through choke points that can be controlled by the United States, hundreds of miles to the east. The situation is even worse for China in the South China Sea, which is completely boxed in by the line of Taiwan-Philippines-Indonesia-Singapore, and worse still when you consider the emerging naval cooperation between the United States and Vietnam, which has no love for the Chinese.
The Chinese are trying to solve this problem by building ports in Pakistan and Myanmar. They say these are for commercial use, and I believe them. Isolated ports at such a distance, with tenuous infrastructure connecting them to China and with sea-lane control not assured, are not very useful. They work in peacetime but not during war, and it is war, however far-fetched, that navies are built for.
China’s biggest problem is not that it lacks aircraft carriers; it is that it lacks an amphibious capability. Even if it could, for example, fight its way across the Formosa Strait to Taiwan (a dubious proposition), it is in no position to supply the multi-divisional force needed to conquer Taiwan. The Chinese could break the blockade by seizing Japan, Okinawa or Taiwan, but that isn’t going to happen.
What could happen is China working to gain an economic toehold in the Philippines or Indonesia, and using that economic leverage to support political change in those countries. A change in the political atmosphere would not by itself permit the Chinese navy to break into the Pacific or eliminate the American ability to blockade Chinese merchant ships. The United States doesn’t need land bases to control the passages through either of these countries from a distance.
Rather, what would change the game is if China, having reached an economic entente with either country, was granted basing privileges there. That would permit the Chinese to put aircraft and missiles on the islands, engage the U.S. Navy outside the barrier formed by the archipelagos and force the U.S. Navy back, allowing free passage.
Now, this becomes much more complicated when we consider U.S. countermeasures. China already has massive anti-ship missiles on its east coast. The weakness of these missiles is intelligence and reconnaissance. In order to use those missiles the Chinese have to have a general idea of where their targets are, and ships move around a lot. That reconnaissance must come from survivable aircraft (planes that won’t be destroyed when they approach the U.S. fleet) and space-based assets — along with the sophisticated information architecture needed to combine the sensor with the shooter.
The United States tends to exaggerate the strength of its enemies. This can be a positive trait because it means extra exertion. In the Cold War, U.S. estimates of Soviet capabilities outstripped Soviet realities. There are many nightmare scenarios about China’s capabilities circulating, but we suspect that most are overstated. China’s ambitions outstrip its capabilities. Still, you prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
In this case, the primary battlefield is not yet the passages through the archipelago. It is the future of our Indonesian driver’s third child. If he gets to go to college, the likelihood of Indonesia succumbing to Chinese deals is limited. The history of Chinese-Indonesian relations is not particularly good, and little short of desperation would force an alliance. American Pacific strategy should be based on making certain that neither Indonesia nor the Philippines is desperate.
A Focus of History
Indonesia has another dimension, of course. It is the largest Muslim country in the world, and one that has harbored and defeated a significant jihadist terrorist group. As al Qaeda crumbles, the jihadist movement may endure. The United States has an ongoing interest in this war and therefore has an interest in Indonesian stability and its ability to suppress radical Islam inside its borders and, above all, prevent the emergence of an Indonesian-based al Qaeda with an intercontinental capability.
Thus, Indonesia becomes a geopolitical focus of three forces — China, Islamists and the United States. This isn’t the first time Indonesia has been a focus of history. In 1941, Japan launched the attack on Pearl Harbor to paralyze the American fleet there and facilitate seizing what was then called the Netherlands East Indies for its supplies of oil and other raw materials. In the first real resource war — World War II — Indonesia was a pivot. Similarly, during the Cold War, the possibility of a Communist Indonesia was frightening enough to the United States that it ultimately supported the removal of Sukarno as president. Indonesia has mattered in the past, and it matters now.
The issue is how to assure a stable Indonesia. If the threat — however small — rests in China, so does the solution. Chinese wage rates are surging and Chinese products are becoming less competitive in the global marketplace. The Chinese have wanted to move up the economic scale from being an exporter of low-cost industrial products to being a producer of advanced technologies. As the recent crash of China’s high-speed train shows, China is a long way from achieving that goal.
There is no question that China is losing its export edge in low-grade industrial products. One of the reasons Western investors liked China was that a single country and a single set of relationships allowed them to develop production facilities that could supply them with products. All the other options aside from India, which has its own problems, can handle only a small fraction of China’s output. Indonesia, with nearly a quarter-billion people still in a low-wage state, can handle more.
The political risk has substantially declined in the last few years. If it continues to drop, Indonesia will become an attractive alternative to China at a time when Western companies are looking for alternatives. That would energize Indonesia’s economy and further stabilize the regime. A more stable Indonesian regime would remove any attraction for an alignment with China and any opportunities for Chinese or Islamist subversion — even if, in the latter case, prosperity is not enough to eliminate it.
When we look at a map, we see the importance of Indonesia. When we look at basic economic statistics, we see the strength and weakness of Indonesia. When we consider the role of China in the world economy and its current problems, we see Indonesia’s opportunities. But it comes down to this: If my guide’s third son can go to college, and little girls no longer have to dart into traffic and beg, Indonesia has a strong future, and that future depends on it becoming the low-cost factory to the world.
Life is more complex than that, of course, but it is the beginning of understanding the possibilities. In the end, few rational people looking at China in 1975 would have anticipated China in 2011. That unexpected leap is what Indonesia needs and what will determine its geopolitical role. But these are my first thoughts on Indonesia. I will need to come back here many times for any conclusions.
By George Friedman
Indonesian Proposed as Official ASEAN Language
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Indonesia-Malaysia Round Table Conference Indonesia has recommended Malaysian/Indonesian language as official language of ASEAN, like accepted by the ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Association (AIPA), an international relations expert said.
“The forum has made a recommendation, one of which for of the use Malaysian/ Indonesian language as official language in ASEAN,” Director of International Study Institute of FISIP (social and political science faculty), Syarif Hidayatullah UIN Nazaruddin Nasution SH, MA, told ANTARA in Jakarta Thursday.
He said those taking part in the forum will make the recommendation while hoping heads of state of ASEAN give their approval at the upcoming summit. The Indonesia-Malaysia Round Table Conference in Kuala Lumpur on July 25 and 26 is sponsored by Foreign Policy Study Group (FPSG)- Malaysia and Eminent Persons Group (EPG)- Indonesia, the Indonesian Council on World Affairs (ICWA) and the International Study Institute/FISIP of Syarif Hidayatullah UIN.
The forum was attended by representatives of civil community organizations like academicians, MPs, non-governmental institutions and former diplomats of the two countries, and focused more on how to develop P-to-P cooperation in their second track diplomacy to strengthen G-to-G relations and cooperation. Nazaruddin, former Indonesian ambassador to Cambodia, said a commitment from Indonesia and Malaysia was necessary now that the chair is held by Indonesia.
Giving an example in regional organizations in America (OAS) Spanish had been used for a long time besides English. And the ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Association (AIPA) has recently even accepted Malaysian/Indonesian language besides English as the official language or the organization.
The members of ASEAN are Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with a total population of close to 600 million. Indonesia gets a turn to chair ASEAN in 2011 and become host of the 18th ASEAN Summit in Jakarta in May 2011.
In relation to the formation of the the ASEAN Community 2015, the forum suggested Indonesia and Malaysia to set aside their differences and prioritize their similarities in facing bilateral, regional and international issues. Islam and democracy, territorial claim, problems of Indonesian migrant workers, culture and media reports as well as interparliamentary relations between the two countries are other serious issues in talks in the forum.
Those who spoke for Indonesia are Secretary of the Eminent Persons Group/EPG), Musni Umar Dean of FISIP UIN, Prof DR. Bahtiar Effendy member of the House commission I Muhammad Najib, former diplomat Ibrahim Yusuf from ICWA and Nazaruddin Nasution of the International Study Institute, and Jumhur Hidayat, chairman of the Indonesian TKI placement and protection agency (BNP2TKI).
Nazaruddin said further that the forum has issued a recommendation: to strengthen relations between peoples through various ways, like parliaments, NGOs, academicians, students and the masses, besides the efforts of the Indonesian and Malaysian governments.
It was also agreed to form of Parliamentary Caucus by the parliaments of the two countries, the formation of an Indonesia-Malaysia education foundation, and coordinate the handling of nontraditional issues, like human trafficking, terrorism and climate change.
News Source: Kompas
Posted on Good News From Indonesia by Muhammad Q Rusydan
Award Winning Team from Indonesia
This is another achievement from Indonesia’s young generation. Faculty of Law Universitas Padjadjaran sent five students to participate in the 12th International Maritime Law Moot Arbitratian 2011 held in Singapore, 1 to 5 July 2011, and the UNPAD participants successfully bagged home The Sarah Derrington Best Encouragement Award. This event is annually held by Murdoch University, Australia. This year, 20 universities from various countries around the world sent their delegations to participate in this competition.
International Maritime Law Arbitratian Moot 2011 is an international competition based on arbitration of sea transport law. This competition is held in different university every year. This year it’s held in University of Singapore. Queensland University is planned to be the host for next year’s event.
The members of UNPAD’s team who brought home the award are Dwi Meitiara PB (2008), Aryasena Satria Ajie (2008), Sinta Agtrianasari (2008), Mutty Ashila Nadira Reza (2009) and Sinathrya Suagama P. (2009). They were accompanied by three officials and their lecturer, Dr. An-An Chandrawulan, S.H., LL.M, from Faculty of Law UNPAD.
Dwi Meitiara, as the head of delegations, said that UNPAD has been participating in this event since 2002. She also said UNPAD’s representatives is the only team who beat Murdoch University, the winner of International Maritime Law Arbitratian Moot 2011. That is how delegations from UNPAD successfully won The Sarah Derrington Best Encouragement Award.
Congratulations for your achievement, guys!
Source: www.unpad.ac.id
Translated and rewritten for Good News From Indonesia by Elvira Silviani
Edited by Farah Fitriani
