Monday, June 24, 2013

Haze: A Petulant Indonesia


I wanted to just read and forget but I thought this is not that wise. I will forgive and forget the words this minister used and only remember he said things which made me and many others angry. So let me burned the words to remind me later. I believe that would be necessary. There is not going to be a good outcome between them and us at some point because of their self indulgent rulers' culture where all of us in the region are supplicants. On the other hand we insist on treating each other as equals. There will definitely be times when they have bad leaders.

Here are some of his words:

"It's called sharing, you go through good times together, don't make noise to the world when things go bad. It's just like husband and wife, don't take your quarrel outside,"


On Monday, Mr Jero also told reporters that both Malaysia and Singapore had made much profit from Indonesia all this while, news website merdeka.com reported.
But they were now trying to discredit Indonesia when they should help, he said, citing how Malaysia had benefited from bilateral cooperation with Indonesia, including electricity imports from Indonesia.
Likewise, he said, Singapore had benefited from Indonesia's gas supply as well as the large number of Indonesian tourists visiting Singapore.
Both countries should sit together to resolve the problem without making a big deal of it to the world, he added.
Moreover, there are indications Malaysian companies are involved in burning to clear land, he said.
And if this is true, both countries' image will be tarnished globally, he added.
"Neighbours shouldn't work together where things are good, but blame one another when they are bad," he said.
The Indonesian government, he said, was also doing its utmost to put out the fires.

And how some netizens responded attracting many "likes"




When I read his comments again to pick out what to copy and paste over here I found that I am not that angry any more. I think it is then my head is ruling over my emotions.

My main takeaway is that it is all about national pride. Now that they are in G20 and still had to get help from Singapore to put out the fires, that is most "malu". It's like why can't we just over look this one more time and give them enough time to bolster their capabilities. Unfortunately this sort of understanding is only workable between individuals. Relations between states cannot be conducted this way. Indonesia have joined the G20 when she was not ready. All their good reputation built slowly is quickly going down the drain.

At the end of the day they can only complain and put in their best effort to put out the fires, which is the only way not to attract even worse publicity. What more could they do? They know their TNI is no match against the SAF, so no point making threats...because we aren't a big country and will be forced to strike first and strike hard. Be wise and learn to eat humble pie in the least humiliating way possible. In this vein the smartest thing to do is to quickly and efficiently go after those companies responsible. That is the best way to rebuild your standing in the international community.



1 comment:

  1. This was what I posted in my daughter's Facebook on this so-called minister. Indonesians in general do not care for him as he was nominated by their president.

    "He is Balinese and real name is Zero, meaning empty, like brainless and utterly stupid. Zero loves eating pork and visits a well know resto near Senayan known as Kenaga when Uncle Christian and myself were there a few months ago. Had I known he is that stupid and talking rubbish when speaking at an ASEAN Energy conference, I should have just choked him with a piece of pork fat. Hee hee."

    ReplyDelete