indonews 2010: I believe in Indonesia

This is my opinion, therefore, it has to be considered as such..

Being the 4th world population, one of the G20 countries and the biggest Muslim country in the world, I believe Indonesia has a major role in the future.

I advise everybody that has never been to a Muslim country to go to Indonesia. Actually, I advise everyone to go there for the friendly people, outstanding landscapes, varied art, and so many other things..just discover your own Indonesia!

In Indonesia, Islam is a tolerant religion, even if the rise of extremism is unavoidable.

The perceived (by the west) fundamentalism is not an Indonesian question. It is rather what Edward Said stated in the book Orientalism: what we understand as resurging and emergence of Islam derives from Islam's own divisions (yes, Islam is not all equal), its current debate and need to make a new definition of Islam itself.

After Suharto's fall in 1998, suddenly everyone in Indonesia had the right to express an opinion. Extremists included.

Like the Buddhists say, everything has a good and a bad side!

Mimis Katoppo told me something very interesting: that in Indonesia Islam is considered a NEW religion.

In Portugal, Islam is so old that we hardly feel the traces of it's past existence, that ended around the 13th century.

It arrived in the archipelago through sea trade, in the period between the 14th-16th centuries (if I am not wrong).

Due to the fragility of the Majapahit Empire (Hindu-based), Islam entered slowly, but surely this geographical area.

Everything arrived in this archipelago through sea-trade: Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, food, words (3000 are Portuguese!), ethnicities... Like everything else, Islam also stayed.

I refer to Java (and the area between Sumatra and East-Timor) as a "sponge", that absorves everything.

Agung Kurniawan told me this is what he calls "syncretism", a concept related to the theory of Homi Bhabha in his Location of Culture. For further reading, I googled some articles and essays

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=335768

http://www.stanford.edu/group/SHR/5-1/text/viswanathan.html

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-2616284/A-celebration-of-impurity-Locating.html

But as I arrive in Jakarta, Aristides Katoppo (with whom I stayed in the last days), and who happens to be himself an intellectual and very cultivated person (he introduced me me in 2 hours about all the aspects of batik, back in 2006, not being himself a specialist!), and referred in the book South East Asian Images - Towards a Civil Society? (I read it instantly, it's very nice), as a careful optimist towards Indonesia, told me Indonesia's situation goes a bit further: its not SYNCRETISM, it's not SINTHESIS, it's rather SYNERGY. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synergy

SYNERGY is what makes THIS 17000-island-archipelago, with 300-different-languages and even more ethnicities together.

Indonesia is all the religious beliefs, colours of skin, ornamentation, textiles, languages.....TOGETHER.

Together, strong and in peace.

The contrast with the neighbouring Malaysia is very big: there is no synergy in Malaysia. They forget what was there before and change for something new. The Indonesians don't do that. They know that before Islam or Christianity, there was Budhism and Hinduism. This is why we recently saw churches in Malaysia being burnt and bombed: because Christians use the word Allah to refer to God and there is no tolerance among the different beliefs.

I believe in Indonesia.

Salam, noor

indonews 2010: Jakarta days

I am already back in Lisbon - where actually its not so cold, thank God it's only 15ºC, a luxury for Winter-Europe - but I still have to let you know about my last week in Jakarta and some other thoughts I want to share (later).

Jakarta reminds me of Hong Kong: sky-scrappers, malls, many expensive shops, beautiful people and severe contrasts: very rich and very poor people live in this city.

It needs some changes, since everybody suffers form Jakarta's huge traffic. There is no underground, justified by the fear of earthquakes (and also the possibility of homeless people making it their home).

Anyway, I had a lovely time there: stayed with the fascinating Katoppo-couple, Mimis and Tides, who provided me a very cosy stay. Mimis Katoppo is a beautiful lady related to the Kraton of Solo and Aristides Katoppo, born in Celebes, used to be a journalist. Together, they exemplify the spirit of Indonesia's tolerance, as Mimis is Muslim and Tides is Christian. Strange for a westerner, this is a very common place in Indonesia.

During these days, I went with Mimis to a concert on the National Radio of Indonesia; went around with Fx Harsono another day to visit galleries and exhibitions; passed by the Embassies of Portugal and East-Timor; went to UNESCO's office in Jakarta and actually did no shopping, because I was not in the mood for it, even if Jakarta has it all.

I had lunch in the beautiful Residency of the Portuguese Embassador, with him and his wife. It felt really good to eat Portuguese food, drink Portuguese red wine and taste Portuguese deserts! And also it was very nice to know the interest of Linda in batik!

I also met Iwan Tirta again. Iwan Tirta doesn't stop surprising me with all his wisdom about Indonesia, its culture and heritage.

His wisdom relies on the fact that he learned directly with Hardjonegoro (the creator of Batik Indonesia for President Soekarno) and in his dedication to learn beyond his master and preserve and export the heritage of Batik. Iwan is nowadays considered the "living-legend" of Indonesian Batik.

Mimis Katoppo is also doing something very important for the Batik preservation: she is revitalizing the batik industry in rural areas where it has disappeared, due to industrialization and migration movements. New forms and patterns are emerging from this.

So, Iwan is more foreign-oriented and Mimis is more community-oriented.

Both are mastering these projects with one common-belief: that if one wants to know about Java and the culture of its Kratons, should go to Solo, Cirebon or Yogyakarta and stay inside the court palaces learning Javanese language, batik and performing arts (dances,wayang and karawitan). The true heritage-keepers are nowadays the oficials of these palaces. With them, we can learn the philosophy of Javanese culture, a culture of non-confrontation that is so present in the mentality of the nation.

I am going to take the challenge one day, as discovering the culture of this archipelago doesn't stop fascinating me.

Salam, noor