That was the assessment of Indonesia’s maturing democracy during a daylong Indonesia conference and cultural event held at the East-West Center on April 24 under the banner, “1999-2009: A Decade of Reform.”

Since the 1998 fall of President Soeharto – a former general who ruled for 32 years – Indonesia has held three legislative elections and embraced a vibrant press. Greater freedom of expression among its 240 million citizens has also provided a boost to movie production and the arts.

Those developments have led President Barack Obama’s administration to view the country as a key partner in several ways, including the administration’s efforts to reach out to the Muslim world, according to Ambassador Charles Salmon Jr., a foreign policy advisor with the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

“Things are very much in an upward trajectory in U.S.-Indonesian relations,” he told an audience at the Imin International Conference Center.

Salmon noted that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent a strong message toward bolstering Indonesian ties when she visited the country in February during her first overseas trip as the top U.S. diplomat.

Meeting with Clinton, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told reporters that in Indonesia, “democracy, Islam and modernity can go hand in hand.”

Clinton also stopped by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations secretariat and said the Obama administration intended to sign a treaty of cooperation with the group, as well as work toward restarting the Peace Corps program, according to Salmon. Obama has also pledged to partner with Indonesia in education, healthcare and in efforts to combat terrorism, avian influenza and global climate change, he added.

Indonesia is among several countries participating in a UN program to curb emissions of greenhouse gases caused by deforestation. It will host the 2009 World Ocean Conference in May, said Salmon, the keynote speaker at the meeting last week, which was organized by the Hawai’i chapter of the Indonesian Student Association in the U.S.

“Definitely, the U.S. has an interest in Southeast Asia, and I think Indonesia is going to be an important partner because it has the biggest Muslim population in the world, it’s the biggest market in Southeast Asia, and it’s actually now quite ironically the best functioning democracy” in the region, said Michael Buehler, a postdoctoral fellow in Modern Southeast Asian Studies at Columbia University in New York.

“We see a rollback of democracy all over Southeast Asia, and Indonesia has suddenly become the shining example,” he said.

Buehler said Indonesia wants to mend U.S. military relations that were damaged by human rights abuses by the Indonesian military after the 1999 independence referendum in Timor-Leste (East Timor). Internationally, he said, Indonesia hopes to win American support to deal with issues such as a land dispute with China over the Spratly Islands, as well as accusations by Malaysia that Indonesia has harbored pirates who roam in the Strait of Malacca, a tight ocean corridor between the two nations.

Buehler believes Indonesia’s greatest democratic advancement has been in the area of election reform. He cited the abolishment in 2005 of a process that had local government officials elected though parliament.

“We’ve had direct election of government and the president,” Buehler said. “Now, people vote directly, and not through parties anymore, so this is an increase of accountability for the Indonesian people.”

On April 9, Indonesia held parliamentary elections through an open-ballot system that gave voters more influence, Buehler said.

“Before, in the elections in 2004 or 1999, you had closed party lists. People who were at the top of the party list would get automatically into a parliamentary seat no matter how many votes they got,” he said. “It was very nontransparent.”

However, while election changes have led to greater political competition, Buehler said it has also driven up costs to run a successful campaign. And, he added, enforcement of Indonesia’s campaign finance laws has been lax, leaving room for fraud.

“Money-politics has increased, political corruption has increased, which makes it very difficult for civil society figures that don’t have financial backing to get into these political positions, because now you simply just have to pay so much to run in these elections,” he said. “That is, I think, the biggest obstacle.”

Buehler said Indonesians have mixed feelings about the democratic shift. While Soeharto’s departure was celebrated, poverty and corruption remain widespread, and human rights violations still occur, he said.

“A lot of the people are still very frustrated because they don’t see real improvements in their daily lives,” he said, calling Indonesia “an established, low-quality democracy.”

Teguh Santosa, an East-West Center participant and a contributing journalist for Rakyat Merdeka Daily in Indonesia, said reporters no longer fear “repression by the state.” Still, he expressed disappointment over the handling of the latest election, noting that some 14 million eligible voters, out of some 171 million, may have been disenfranchised.

Women have also struggled to get into office, according to Nihayatul Wafiroh, an EWC participant from Indonesia who is advocating for gender equality in politics there. She said a law enacted prior to the 2004 elections that instructed parties to have at least 30 percent of women among their candidates has not translated into greater representation in parliament.

Meanwhile, results from the recent election are still being tallied. It appears the centrist Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will take the largest number of seats of any party in the 560-seat parliament, putting him a good position to win a second term in July, according to media reports, though at least two of his challengers have sought a fraud investigation.

Resource:

The EAST-WEST CENTER (www.eastwestcenter.org) is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S. government, with additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations and the governments of the region.

Parking:

Location Cost Description

Behind Kennedy Theatre $2 per half hour 6:30am – 4:00pm*

Along Varney Circle
$2 per half hour 6:30am – 4:00pm*
Spaces fronting Hawaiʻi Hall
limited to 30 minutes

Bio Med Parking lot
$2 per half hour 6:30am – 4:00pm*

Center for Korean Studies
Parking Lot $2 per half hour 6:30am – 4:00pm*

Kuykendall Parking Lot
$2 per half hour 6:30am – 4:00pm*

*Flat rate of $3 from 4:00pm; Monday – Friday and all day Weekends
Refunds provided during 15 minute grace period from entry.

More details, see at http://www.hawaii.edu/parking/information/visitorparking.html

On April 24th, the 2009 Indonesian Conference and Cultural Event (ICCE 2009) will be held at the Hawaii Imin International Conference Center at the East-West Center, 1777 East-West Road, Manoa from 2 PM – 9 PM. (open event agenda)

The topic for this year is ‘A Decade of Reform 1998-2009’; looking at changes after Soeharto’s regime ended in 1998. The Spirit of Reformation promising democracy, equity, and justice among Indonesian people has been the underlying force guiding these changes. However, after a decade of reformation, Indonesia’s democracy has been questioned in relation to its ability to ensure that every individual has rights and access to maximize his or her opportunities. Democratic forms of authority and politics have not showed their correspondence to the culture of democracy at the grass-root level. ‘Power’ has not been distributed equally to every citizen as democracy promises. ICCE 2009 is expected to be one way for Indonesian students and experts on Indonesia to exercise their academic intellect for the good of Indonesia while promoting Indonesia to the outside world without promoting a particular political or religious message.

There will be two seminar sessions at the conference covering contemporary politics and arts and culture in Indonesia, with speakers including professors and graduate students from UH Manoa, Arizona State University, and Columbia University. Furthermore, cultural celebrations will include cultural exhibits, traditional dance and music from Aceh to Bali, Kartinian ethnic fashion show, Dangdut music (Indonesian popular music), and Indonesian food.

ICCE 2009 is organized by the Indonesian Student Association in the US (PERMIAS) Hawaii Chapter, Nusantara Society, and Nongkrong Yuk! Indonesian Club (both at UH Manoa); and co-sponsored by the Embassy and Consulate General of Indonesia in the US and East West Center Education Program.

Further details and press kit are available at the PERMIAS website: http://www.permiashawaii.com/ or http://permias-hawaii.blogspot.com/

Contact: Erenst Anip at erenst@gmail.com or +1 808 722 6184

Parking:

Location Cost Description

Behind Kennedy Theatre $2 per half hour 6:30am – 4:00pm*

Along Varney Circle
$2 per half hour 6:30am – 4:00pm*
Spaces fronting Hawaiʻi Hall
limited to 30 minutes

Bio Med Parking lot
$2 per half hour 6:30am – 4:00pm*

Center for Korean Studies
Parking Lot $2 per half hour 6:30am – 4:00pm*

Kuykendall Parking Lot
$2 per half hour 6:30am – 4:00pm*

*Flat rate of $3 from 4:00pm; Monday – Friday and all day Weekends
Refunds provided during 15 minute grace period from entry.

More details, see at http://www.hawaii.edu/parking/information/visitorparking.html

“The Medium and the Message: Art, Politics and Identity in Contemporary Indonesia: During the twentieth century the acceptance of “modern” art helped expand the space in which Indonesian artists could express their views visually and act as effective social and political commentators. From the 1950s heated debates arose concerning the degree to which art should operate as an agent for political views, and during the Suharto years the government moved quickly to eliminate any left-wing tendencies among artists. In the atmosphere of greater freedom that has characterized the last decade, the development of popular art forms like installations and graffiti have given rise to new questions about what constitutes “art”, and about the role of artists as critics of contemporary society. In contrasting the Orde Baru time with the post-Reformasi era, this presentation will illustrate some of the ways in which Indonesian artists have relayed their views about contemporary concerns to a range of different audiences.”

Jajaran petinggi kampus dan beberapa konsuler jenderal negara-negara sahabat Amerika turut hadir.

Mahasiswa dan masyarakat Indonesia turut ambil andil dalam acara art performance yang diwakili oleh oleh Nezia [Malaysia-Indonesia] dan Desiree Seguritan [The Phillipines] dengan menampilkan sebuah tari Bali.

Di sela-sela acara, mahasiswa Indonesia juga ikut menggelar Cultural Booth untuk memperkenalkan kekayaan budaya Indonesia.

The Future of Islamic Education in Indonesia
Dr. Fadlil Munawwar Manshur
Gadjah Mada University
Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Contrary to the image that we have in America, pesantrens or madrasahs (Islamic schools) in Indonesia are not breeding grounds for terrorists. They are multi-faceted centers of learning that strive to provide high-quality, well-rounded education for children of all ages. In addition to offering a comprehensive curriculum centered on Islam, both as a way of life and as a rigorous academic endeavor, these centers of learning are also cutting edge in their exploration of other subjects such as language, mathematics, and the natural sciences.

We are pleased to announce that a leading expert on pesantren education, Dr. Fadlil Munawwar Manshur, Chief of the Arabic Literature Department, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is currently visiting the Manoa campus. He has kindly accepted our invitation to share his knowledge and experience in the dynamics of Islamic education and Arabic language learning in Indonesia at our Distinguished Speaker Forum.

Please come join us for this rare opportunity to engage in a discussion with a leading educator from Muslim Southeast Asia! Snacks provided in collaboration with PERMIAS Hawai’i and the Indonesian Club.

Muslim Societies in Asia
The Muslim Societies in Asia Program, School of Pacific and Asian Studies (SPAS), University of Hawai’i is a newly launched initiative funded by the State of Hawai’i Legislature, that seeks to serve as a national resource center for academics and the general public seeking information on Muslim societies in Asia.

PERMIAS Hawai’i
Established in Washington D.C. on December 24th, 1961, the Indonesian Students Association in the United States of America (PERMIAS) is a non-profit and independent organization whose membership consists of all Indonesian students studying in the U.S.

Indonesian Club
Indonesian Club at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa is a co-curricular club established in August 2007 open to students, staff, and faculty members interested in any and all aspects of Indonesia.

Date: Friday, March 6th, 2009
Time: 7.00 p.m. – 9.00 p.m.
Venue: Tokioka Room, Moore 319