INDONESIA DIGEST
Indonesia’s complex Issues in a Nutshell
Published by: TBSC-Strategic Communication
No.: 23.07 - Dated: 23 August 2007
In this issue:
MAIN FEATURE:
FINAL: THE UNITARY STATE OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA, PANCASILA,
THE PREAMBLE OF THE 1945 CONSTITUTION,
AND THE NATIONAL MOTTO,“UNITY IN DIVERSITY”
NEWS AND BACKGROUND:
- Health and the Environment:
- Strict Trade and Import of Poultry to Bali to prevent Bird Flu outbreak
- Tsunami Early Warning System ‘Stable'
- The Economy, Trade and Industry:
- 2008 Budget to Spur Growth
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MAIN FEATURE:
By Tuti Sunario
For Indonesia Digest
FINAL: THE UNITARY STATE OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA, PANCASILA,
THE PREAMBLE OF THE 1945 CONSTITUTION,
AND THE NATIONAL MOTTO, “UNITY IN DIVERSITY”
On 17 August 2007Indonesia celebrated her 62nd Proclamation of Independence. The day earlier, on 16 August, President Yudhoyono delivered his State of the Nation Address before Parliament, including the Government’s Financial Note on the Proposed 2008 Budget.
In his Address, the President emphasized that during the past 62 years Indonesia had undergone many painful challenges to the Constitution as well as to the State Ideology. Nonetheless, having passed through these trials and errors, we hadeach time returned to the cornerstones laid down by our Nation’s founding fathers.
“I want to refresh our memory on the basic framework of our nationhood,” said President Yudhoyono. There are four pillars of basic consensus and value that have sustained our beloved Country: (these are)Pancasila, The 1945 Constitution, The Unitary State of The Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. Throughout the long history of our nation, there have continued to be challenges to those pillars. Even in thepresent era of globalisation and transformation, we are still encountering turbulences to these State Pillars.”
“We should, therefore, firmly state that Pancasilais the embodiment of the Five Principlesof State of our nation, and the foundation of the Republic of Indonesia. Pancasila is our nation’s philosophy; our Weltanschauung, way of life, and the identity of our nation, that binds and unifies our nation.”
“We are reminded that in 1998 in the earlier reform era, The People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) issued The People’s Consultative Assembly’s Decree No. XVIII/MPR/1998 that, not only revoked The People’s Assembly’s Decree No. II/MPR/1978 on The Pancasila Implementation Guidelines, but also clearly stipulates that Pancasila remains the nation’s ideology. Therefore, at this moment of national celebration, I urge all of us to firmly hold fast and embrace Pancasila as the sole identity of our nation”, said the President to applause from Members of Parliament.
“The Preamble of the 1945 Constitution in which are stated our ideals, national goals and ideology,must, therefore, be well guarded”.
“As to the Unitary State of The Republic of Indonesia (NKRI)”, continued the President,“this is also final”.”We will not tolerate anyone,initiated in whatever form, to agitate the territorial unity and sovereignty of our country. Furthermore, in the diversity of our nation, the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika motto must be underlined as an inevitability of nationhood which comprises diverse ethnic groups, religions, languages, and cultures. We must, therefore, remain unified and resolved, and strengthen our unity and cohesion as a nation”, stressed President Yudhoyono, to more ovation from Parliamentarians.
For this reason the President further stressed that his government will not tolerate any form of separatism. "The State will remain firm,” he declared. “There is no space for anybody to engage in separatism that can threaten the sovereignty and integrity of the State.”
However, the President continued, recent minor incidents in Aceh must be expected. "It is only normal if some tension and misunderstanding continue between sides who have been in conflict for over 30 years, because trust-building takes time and is still in progress," President Yudhoyono said.
Historic Background on the above Principles of State:
Unlike British colonies whose freedom was “transferred” to them by their colonizers, not so Indonesia. Indonesia’s Independence was a long and hard fight against the Dutch who had gradually colonized the entire archipelago for 3 centuries, naming this the Dutch East Indies.
But in 1942 Japanese forces took over the Indonesian islands, occupying these for three years.
On 17 August 1945, days after the atom bomb was dropped over Hiroshima, and Japanfinally surrendered to the Allied Forces, Soekarno and Hatta, on behalf of the Indonesian people proclaimed “the Independence of the people of Indonesia” throughout the former Dutch colony then known as the Dutch East Indies.
The next day, Indonesia’s Constitution was signed and Soekarno was declared President with Muhammad Hatta as Vice President. The Preamble of the Constitution contains the essence for the establishment of the IndependentIndonesianState, known as the Pancasila.
Pancasila or the Five Principles of State comprise:the Belief in the One True God; A Just and Civilized Humanity; the Unity of Indonesia; Democracy guided by the wisdom of unanimity arising from deliberations among representatives; and Social Justice for all the people of Indonesia.
However, soon Dutch military returned to these islands together with the Allied Forces to reclaim the Archipelago,and the war for Indonesia’s Independence began. Indonesia’s capital was moved to Yogyakarta. In this war, many young Indonesians from all islands regardless of ethnicity or religion have fought side and by side, many having lost their lives for the Independence of the country and the nation, while others fought the war diplomatically in the halls of the United Nations.
It was only inDecember 1949, and under strong pressure especially from the United States, that the Netherlands government relented and signed the Independence of the East Indies, however, not without reservations, at the time withholding Papua New Guinea to the Dutch, until such time that Indonesia was thought “fit to take over”. After long battles, the United Nations handed over the area to Indonesian control in 1963, and finally through UN supervised representational elections, the former Dutch New Guinea officially rejoined the Republic of Indonesia in 1969, when its name was changed to Irian Jaya.
The Proclamation of Independence by the people of Indonesiaon 17 August 1945did not just appear out of the blue. It was not a whim or a figment of imagination created by a few young idealists.
The battle for freedom of the indigenous people to rid themselves from the shackles of colonialism throughout the Indonesian islands was started as early as the beginning of the century in 1908, when Indonesians, led by Budi Utomo and personalities like Kartini demanded better education for the people. Then on 28 October 1928, the Youth Congress, that was attended by youth groups from all over the country declared their historic youth pledge, known as Sumpah Pemuda, stating : “ We are one nation, one country, Indonesia, we speak one language, the Indonesian language(Bahasa Indonesia).”
One must remember that at this time Indonesia was still a Dutch colony, and the archipelago comprised more than 300 ethnic groups speaking over 200 different languages, having diverse economic and social conditions. While Malay was the lingua franca for commerce, there was as yet no national language. Yet even in these early days, the Indonesian youths were adamant to reclaim and fight for that one single undivided territory – the former Dutch East Indies - to become one nation, and togetherspeak one national language: Bahasa Indonesia (Nota Bene:not the language of the ethnic group that was in majority, which is the Javanese language).
In the following decades, however, this common resolve faced many challenges, coming from within as well as from outside, both from the communists as well as from religious fundamentalists, both Islamic as well as Christian. For, although according to the Constitution, Indonesia is not an Islamic State, the majority of its population embrace the Muslim faith. However, there are provinces were there is a majority Christian population, such as in East Nusatenggara, North Sulawesi, Ambon, Timor and Papua and parts of Kalimantan. While,the island of Bali has a majority Hindu population. Yet all had fought and many had died for the ideal of that one country for all, regardless of ethnicity, religion or language. This philosophy is embodied in the national slogan: Bhinneka Tunggal Ika – Unity in Diversity, which is based on pluralism and tolerance in religion, culture and tradition.
Indonesia Free from Terrorist Attacks in two years, but root causes must be resolved
On the fight against terrorism, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his Addressfurther claimed victory against terrorism after two years in which the country had remained relatively free from terrorists’ attacks.
Dr. Yudhoyono said in his State of the Nation address that "the acts of terrorism that have caused unrest in our society in the past years have been handled. We have succeeded in preventing and tackling the acts of terrorism in the country.”
But sounding a note of caution, he told parliamentarians: "We should not only tackle the surface, but we need to delve deeper to the roots of the problem which areunderdevelopment, poverty and injustice, extremism, radicalism and a culture of violence.
"We must remain serious in the prevention and fight against terrorism, because we want to save our people and our nation," he continued. “"This is our responsibility, also vis-à-vis the global community."
Nearly 400 militants have been convicted and imprisoned as part of government efforts to weaken the regional Jemaah Islamiyah network, which intends to create an Islamic state across much of Southeast Asia.
President Yudhoyono also assessed that security has improved on the islands of Sulawesi and Maluku, where Muslim-Christian conflicts and violence had left some 10,000 dead between 1999 to 2002.
(Sources: President’s Address, Indonesia’s Trade and Investment News).
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NEWS AND BACKGROUND:
- Health and the Environment:
- Strict Trade and Importof Poultry to Bali to prevent bird flu outbreak
AP on 19 August reported that Indonesian authorities in Bali have culled more than 5,400 chicken in an effort to prevent the spread of the H5N1 virus that claimed the first human life on the resort island some 10 days ago, a local official said Saturday.
A 29-year-old woman died last Sunday after coming in contact with infected chickens. Authorities started culling chickens Monday in the woman's village of Banyar Dangin Tukar Aya in Jembrana district, said I Gusti Sanjaya, head of the local agricultural, forestry and fishery office.
The 29-year-old Balinese woman, Ni Putu Sri Windiani, from Jembrana has been formally confirmed as Indonesia's 82nd fatality attributed to the H5NI virus, or Bali’s first human fatality from avian flu, adds balidiscovery.com. The woman, who died on August 12, 2007, was preceded in death by her 5-year-old daughter on August 5, 2007, who suffered flu-like symptoms for two weeks prior to her death.
While the Mother's death has been definitely linked to the H5N1 virus, a lack of tissue samples from the child had made it impossible to declare her a Bird Flu victim. Another hospitalization, a 3-year-old child from the same village in Bali's West has been eliminated as a suspect case of Bird Flu following laboratory tests and the gradual improvement in that child's health condition.
Since the confirmation of the Bird Flu case in the district of Jembrana, West Bali, authorities have taken a number of precautionary steps:
• Special teams have been dispatched to the scene to improve local hygiene practices, particularly in the proper disposal of the carcasses of dead poultry being culled by local authorities.
• As a precautionary measure, samples of blood from family members and their neighbor have been sent to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, to confirm that the West Bali case represents poultry-to-human infections and that the disease has not mutated into an infectious human-to-human variant.
• Over 5,200 chickens have been culled within a one-kilometer radius of the home of the dead woman's home at Banjar Dangin Tukar Aya in Jembrana.
• Sanitary spraying has been undertaken throughout the district to kill any traces of the virus.
• The entire area has been placed under an order of "temporary isolation" with an absolute ban on poultry movements in and out of the affected area, reports balidiscovery.com
So far, most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds
Second Bali bird flu casualty
In the latest development, Prodita Sabarini on 23 August reports for the Jakarta Post that another 28-year-old woman suspected of being infected with the bird flu virus died Tuesday, 21 August a day after being admitted to SanglahHospital in Denpasar.
The woman, identified only as AS, was a chicken seller in Batugaing village in Kediri, Tabanan regency, around 20 kilometers west of the capital Denpasar. Tabanan adjoins the regency of Jembrana where Bali’s first bird flu human death broke out.
The head of the hospital's bird flu control unit, Putu Andrika, said the woman displayed the same symptoms as SW, a 29-year-old woman from Negara, in western Jembrana regency, who died of bird flu the week before.
If confirmed, AS would be Bali's second human bird flu death and would add the nation's bird flu death toll, which now stands at 83 out of 104 cases. "We're still waiting for the results from Jakarta," Putu said.
According to husbandry agency officials in Tabanan, this regency has culled 6,447 birds in the eight districts over the last two months.
Avian influenza in birds has spread from the island's western-most regency, Jembrana, to the more populous southern part of the island, nearing one of Bali’s most popular tourist icons, Tanah Lot, with birds in Tabanan regency and Denpasar city reportedly dying.
After the first human victim of the virus, the Bali administration issued a bylaw to control the trade in chickens. Under the bylaw, no chickens will be allowed to be brought into the island for a month.
Regencies in Bali are also taking steps to contain the virus. In Jembrana, all birds within a one-mile radius of SW's house have been culled.
Balichicken farmers start to feel the pinch of bird flu fight
On the other hand, Ary Hermawan for the Jakarta Post informs that chicken farmers in Bali are worried about their business, following a regulation in one regency to isolate all fowl.
More than 20,000 chickens have been blocked from entering the regency and local farmers have been forced to keep their fowl in pens. Suryawan said there were currently 500,000 to 550,000 broiler chickens in the regency, with around 14,000 to 15,000 chickens prepared each day for consumption. "The local markets normally absorb around 4,000 to 5,000 chickens per day. This means farmers have to sell their stock to other regions. "But in situations where people are panicked by bird flu, the number sold will surely be far less than usual," he said.
Restaurants in Jembrana that offer chicken on their menus, Suryawan said, have been told not to sell dishes containing chicken.
He said since the farmers had been forced to keep their fowl in pens, they might become reluctant to take care of them properly. Under such conditions, he said, more chickens would die and people would assume it was from H5N1, thus creating more panic in the region. The farmers are not able to slaughter the chickens and keep the meat for a long time as the regency does not have suitable chiller or freezer facilities.
The supply of chicks from East Java to Bali has declined by 59 percent with the closure of Gilimanuk port in Jembrana to all fowl. Suryawan said the closure had also halted the supply to West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.
Meanwhile, Bali Tourism Agency head Gede Nurjaya said so far there has not been a drop in tourist visits, though he said people intending to visit the island had raised questions on the issue.
(In fact, according to balidiscovery.com, preliminary foreign tourist arrival figures for July 2007 recorded an unprecedented 164,618 visitors to Bali – a figure +34.9% ahead of the same month in 2006 and allowing July 2007 to qualify as the "best July on record" for Bali tourism.
On a year-to-date basis, January- July's 2007 arrivals are nearing the 1 million mark, totaling 910,567, an improvement of +35% as compared to the same period in 2006 (674,561) – reports balidiscovery.com).
Nurjaya stressed the importance in providing clear information on the measures taken by the Bali administration to curb the spread of the virus.
Health Minister, Siti Fadillah Supari meanwhile in Jakartaconfirms that until today all infections that have occurred are from poultry to humans. No case has yet been detected of avian flu infection from humans to humans. On special request from the WHO, Indonesia has sent virus specimens of the infected patients on Bali to WHO.