Indonesia: The Most Intolerant Country in the World

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/indonesia-most-tolerant-country-in-the-world-religious-minister/519656

<< Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali (pictured below) refuted claims that the Indonesian government had poor record protecting minorities on Wednesday, calling Indonesia “the most tolerant country in the world.”

Suryadharma was responding critically to a plan by some rights groups to report the Indonesian government to the United Nations’ rights council for its failure to protect minority rights.

“We treat equally the minority and the majority,” the minister said in Jakarta. “Indonesia’s religious harmony is the best in the world.”  >>

Is this guy high or stoned, been taking too many psychedelic drugs, dropping acid or is he in absolute denial ??!!  BLASPHEMY !!  HARAAM !! He needs to be removed from public office IMMEDIATELY!

A major new study has found that when it comes to religious tolerance globally, predominantly Muslim countries rank among the least tolerant, while "Western" democracies make up the bulk of the freest places to live. Such findings may come as no surprise to millions of citizens of Westernized countries and refugees of religious persecution from Eastern and Middle Eastern nations, for example.

The new study, "Global Restrictions on Religion," charted "publicly reported incidents of religious violence, intolerance, intimidation and discrimination in 198 countries and territories from mid-2006 to mid-2008." Importantly, the study found that "more than two out of three people around the world live in countries with high or very high restrictions on religion." In this regard, almost 50 percent of all nations charted either do not allow foreign missionaries or restrict their activities, while some 90 percent require religious organizations to register with the government, mainly for tax purposes.

Surprising finds

The study did make a few surprising discoveries, including that, in tracking "violence between religious groups in 126 countries," it was found that a mere nine percent of these nations experienced "religion-related terrorism leading to injury or death." Another surprise was that the supposedly "moderate" Muslim nation of Indonesia is actually one of the most intolerant countries when it comes to religious freedom:

"Indonesia—the most populous Muslim country in the world—is often touted as an example of tolerance and democracy in the Islamic world.

"But a huge new study suggests it's actually among the most restrictive countries in the world when it comes to religion.

Interestingly, in other countries, such as China, "tight controls" on religious practice seem to keep the peace between faiths, whereas less restrictive India suffers "very high levels of social hostility," mainly between Hindus and Muslims. Indeed, India rated the highest overall in terms of "social hostilities" and, despite its moderate governmental tolerance, has been known to prosecute individuals for "hurting another religion," as exemplified in the recent arrest of a Christian pastor and his wife, who had been attacked by Muslims and who were subsequently charged with "defiling a place of worship with intent to hurt another religion and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings," per the Indian Penal Code section 295 and 294(A).

Brazil rates best overall.

As concerns the two categories of government regulation and social hostility, the study concluded that "Brazil has the lowest ratings in both categories among the 25 largest countries in the world, while Pakistan has the highest, followed closely by Indonesia." This finding means that Brazil is the least restrictive and most tolerant nation of the top more than two dozen biggest nations globally.

Regarding religious tolerance overall, "Egypt, Iran and Bangladesh also rate poorly for religious freedom, while Japan, the United States, South Africa, Italy and the United Kingdom score well." Japan, of course, is an Eastern country, but the population is essentially homogenous with 98.6 percent of the populace "pure Japanese."

The study determined that the U.S. has low government restriction but a "moderate amount of social tension" because of religious divisiveness, a determination based on law enforcement statistics. Study leader Brian Grim said the U.S. was "marked down because of the Bush administration's 'global war on terror,'" while major terrorist incidents widely ascribed to Islamic fundamentalists on U.S. soil, such as 9/11 and Fort Hood, had not been factored into the study.

In consideration of the current climate of religious strife in many places, these discoveries may be considered hopeful in that this study is being conducted in the first place and that open dialogue about religion is increasing globally, without as much of the past repression and fear. This important development has much to do with the internet and its extraordinary freedom of expression.

Indonesia, Islam & Democracy - A Perspective

Here is an excellent article I came across appearing in the Jakarta Post and dated 02/05/2010 which sheds some light and understanding about the form of Government and national identity of Indonesia.

Authors:  Blake Respini is a graduate of Stanford University, USA, and lecturer at the Department of Political Science, San Francisco State University, USA. Herdi Sahrasad is associate director at Center for Islam and State Studies, Paramadina University, Jakarta, and PhD candidate at Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yogyakarta

There are currently hundreds moderate Muslim organizations in Indonesia, many of them set up following the fall of President Soeharto in May 1998. The nurturing of these civic organizations may be as important to the future of Indonesia’s democracy as is the curtailment of extremists. 

Furthermore, simple political maturity, such as developing true parties with accountability and that stand for something beyond personality as well the development of an educated and experienced electorate should protect and stabilize Indonesia’s democracy. 

However, a critical component of Indonesia’s democratic future involves recognition of the special role of Islam in the state. 

As most Indonesian Muslims want their government to respect Islamic customs even if they do not support the creation of an Islamic state, the line between support for and opposition to sharia is often blurred. 

Many Indonesians, including those who are only nominally Muslims, hold conservative values and support strict moral laws without necessarily seeing them as purely religious or sharia-based. 

It is easy to mistake support for a conservative moral law as support for Islamism when it is more simply a reflection of basic conservative values. 

By the same token, many Muslims in Indonesia reject some social arrangements and norms that are commonly associated with democracy in the West, including our pluralism and secularism. But this too neither makes them theocrats nor anti-democratic. 

While the political debate is often framed by pitting Islamists against non-Islamists, the lines are really much more subtle than this and democratic negotiation will require all parties to recognize this so that they can find common ground. 

In this regard, Ahmad Shboul (2005) reminds us that keeping religion out of politics is not the same as keeping it out of society in general and that aside from the communists, even the most secular governments of the Western world have not attempted to do this. 

Shboul suggests that the US attempts to secularize Arab politics may have even resulted in a backlash that has contributed to the growth of political Islam. Westerners would do well to remember that there is not only one form democratic society can take.

In fact, we do well to remember that even in the West, notions over what accruements democracy must have remains in flux and have changed over time. 

As Hefner points out, whereas family was once seen as the central base of Western culture, today individual freedom is often elevated above family unity. 

Additionally, the very notion of family is being redefined as Americans consider a variety of arrangements including domestic partnerships, civil unions, and gay marriage. 

Despite our consensus on many central values there is constant stress in Western societies over the proper balance of individual right and needs of the community, equality and freedom, and even the proper role of religion and morality in politics. 

Just as various Western democratic societies define each of these somewhat differently, Muslim democracies are likely to have their own brand of pluralism.

The debate over the passage of sharia-based legislation reflects that that Indonesia continues to map out the most central questions concerning the basic shape of its democracy.

The debate is less a debate about whether sharia is good or bad, but more about the proper meaning of sharia and its relationship to the state and thus its relationship to the national ideology of Pancasila.  

Ultimately, it reflects a deep debate over the very meaning of the Indonesian nation and what it means to be Indonesian. 

All of us have multiple identities. We may define ourselves as students, scholars, husbands, wives, athletes, musicians from an array of images that form our composite selves. 

However, for a nation state to succeed it is essential that one of the imbedded images that a country’s inhabitants hold of themselves is that of their national identity. 

But it is not enough to simply be an American, German, Indonesian or Turk, for a nation to function it is necessary that one’s national identity represent some share sense of community, and thus shared values. 

Most nations form out of a long history that creates a shared past.  In most of Western Europe these shared histories have been bound together by common languages, religions and cultural norms. 

Thus, while the Italians and French were both Catholics, the growing awareness of their differences became an expression of nationalism. 

Indonesians similarly may share Islam with others across the globe, but Islam can fulfill only part of the nationalist vision. Of course this is especially true in light of the tens of millions of Indonesians who are not Muslims. 

The challenge for Indonesia is to find a place for sharia that neither subverts the uniqueness of Indonesia from rest of the Islam nor undermines non-Muslim Indonesians.

Indonesian Islamic scholarship has long and deep ties to the Middle East that form a strong bond with the rest of the Muslim world and recent decades have seen what is often called the Islamization or sometimes even the Arabization of Indonesia. 

It would thus be a mistake to dismiss Indonesia as a worthy example of what the type of democratic society that Islam has produced even if it would be a mistake to assume that what can work in Indonesia could be exported to rest of the Islamic world.

International Congress of Indonesians Worldwide - Congress of Indonesian Diaspora (CID)

The very first or inaugural International Congress of Indonesians worldwide will take place in Los Angeles, California (USA) the first week of July 20112. 

On July 6-8, 2012, Congress of Indonesian Diaspora (CID) will be held in Los Angeles Convention Center, California. This Congress will mark the history as the first grand meeting in the world ever, to be held for the Indonesian Diaspora. 

A diaspora [from Greek διασπορά, "scattering", or "dispersion"] is the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland

The Congress of Indonesian Diaspora will be the first ever forum to bring together and harness the ideas, skills and potential of the Indonesian Diaspora worldwide. CID will allow Indonesian Diaspora- Indonesians, people of Indonesian descent, Indonesianists, i.e. people of all nationalities and ethnicities who hold Indonesia close to their hearts, and investors and companies with interests in and connections to Indonesia - from around the world to meet, interact, foster and implement concrete initiatives to empower Indonesian communities worldwide so that they can play a bigger role, especially in - but not limited to- supporting Indonesia's economic, social and political progress. 

The program will include opening and closing ceremonies presenting inspirational speakers such as Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Dr. Mari Elka Pangestu; Minister of Education and Culture, Prof. Dr. Ir. KH. Mohammad Nuh(invited); Managing Director of the World Bank, Sri Mulyani Indrawati; international recording artist, Anggun Cipta Sasmi, President of Marvell Technology Group, Dr. Sehat Sutardja, and many other successful Indonesians from many different fields; discussions on various topics such as entrepreneurship, job creation, trade and investment opportunities, education, culture, art and science, consular affairs, and other Indonesia-related issues. 

CID will also present musical and cultural performances, Indonesian Batik Exhibition and Fair, a career fair as well as an Indonesian food bazaar so attendees can feel and experience Indonesia. 

 To register, please find the registration form in the Indonesian Embassy's website (www.embassyofindonesia.org) or through this link: http://embassyofindonesia.org/diaspora/pdf/Formulir_Registrasi_Kongres_Diaspora_Indonesia.pdf. 

Other information can also be found in Twitter @diasporari and Facebook: Diaspora RI. 

Indonesia in WWII - History (Japanese A6M Zero Flies Again)

The history of Indonesia in World War II will take to the air on Saturday June 9, 2012 when a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter aircraft, which was recovered from Babo Airfield in Irian Jaya Indonesia, and subsequently restored and rebuilt to flying condition by the Flying Heritage Collection will fly in an air show demonstration at their facility located at Paine Field Airport in Everett, Washington (state) in America.


A6M3 c/n 3852, recovered from Babo Island, Indonesia, restored to airworthy in Russia 1994-97 with a P&W R1830. Flown as N385HF, N3852 for Flying Heritage Collection, Chino, USA. Under conversion to two-seater at Chino.

This aircraft: This Zero was one of many Japanese combat planes destroyed by American bombing on Babo Airfield in New Guinea during World War II. In the early 1990s this Zero wreck was discovered and acquired by Bruce Fenstermaker and the Santa Monica Museum of Flying.

Around 1994, three recovered Zeros, including this one, were sent to Russian for restoration. The fighter's salvageable parts were retained, while missing or heavily-damaged components were created by Russian craftsmen in order to make the planes flyable again. By the late 1990s, the trio of aircraft was back in the United States. In order to operate dependably, each aircraft was fitted with a specially-modified Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine. The engines contained a mixture of components in order to be as compact as possible and fit in a standard A6M cowling.

(seen here on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC satellite museum, Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) in Chantilly, Virginia)

The plane’s scheme represents a Zero of the 251st Kokutai based in the Rabaul area. At the time, the fighters came from the Mitsubishi factory in overall “olive gray.” For security reasons, in the field, fighting units were ordered to camouflage the planes with darker green. The style of application was left up to the flyers and their ground crews. While some Zeroes got overall coats of green, splotches, and dots, other received a tiger stripe look, as represented here.

After receiving some final touches to make it fully flight worthy, the Flying Heritage Collection’s Mitsubishi A6M3-22 “Zero” has returned to the FHC’s Everett display hangar. The rare Japanese fighter will fly publicly for the first time on Saturday, June 9th at one of the FHC’s Free Fly Days. 

Indonesia - Happy Planet Index Ranking

According to 2009 survey results, Indonesian ranks very high at # 16 (in the top 20) index of of countries fostering human well-being and environmental impact.

The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is not a measure of which are the happiest countries in the world. Countries with relatively high levels of life satisfaction, as measured in surveys, are found from the very top (Colombia in 6th place) to the very bottom (the USA in 114th place) of the rank order. The HPI is best conceived as a measure of the environmental efficiency of supporting well-being in a given country. Such efficiency could emerge in a country with a medium environmental impact (e.g. Costa Rica) and very high well-being, but it could also emerge in a country with only mediocre well-being, but very low environmental impact (e.g. Vietnam).

Each country’s HPI value is a function of its average subjective life satisfaction, life expectancy at birth, and ecological footprint per capita. The exact function is a little more complex, but conceptually it approximates multiplying life satisfaction and life expectancy, and dividing that by the ecological footprint. Most of the life satisfaction data is taken from the World Values Survey and World Database of Happiness, but some is drawn from other surveys, and some is estimated using statistical regression techniques.

Color Key Code:

Color signifies Highest rank through to lowest rank; grey indicates Information not available .

Indonesia - Most Polite Countries in the World

Kudos, eclats and plaudits go out to Indonesia for being ranked one of the most polite (or least rudest) countries in the world to visit for foreign travelers.  Considering that there are  200 +/- countries in the world (193 members of the United Nations and 195 recognized independent countries by the U.S. Dept of State), Indonesia's ranking at number 29 down the list of least rude countries means that Indonesia is in the top 14 percentile of most polite countries in the world.

(Driving behavior was obviously not included as as indices of "politeness" as Indonesians forget all manners and courtesies when they get behind the wheel of an automobile or on a motorbike and are the rudest most self centered and non right-of-way yielding bastards I have ever known when it comes to driving behaviors. Case in point: it is common for motorbikes and even cars to drive in the wrong direction on your side of the road, and they actually expect YOU to stop or move over or get out of the way for them. Not very "polite" or considerate behavior by any stretch of the imagination) 


http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/worlds-rudest-countries-travelers-309852

Here are the 10 rudest countries on Skyscanner’s list:

1. France
2. Russia
3. United Kingdom
4. Germany
5. Others
6. China
7. United States
8. Spain
9. Italy
10. Poland

The countries voted least rude were:

25. Japan
26. Denmark
27. Canada
28. New Zealand
29. Indonesia
30. Portugal
31. Thailand
32. The Philippines
33. Caribbean region
34. Brazil

United States - Indonesia Relations (Educational Partnerships)

Distinguished former US Diplomat David Merrill, the president of the US-Indo Society in Washington, discusses how to build closer educational ties between Indonesia and the United States.  (please see video interview below with host Lin Neumann of the Jakarta Globe on his talk show, "Insight Indonesia")

Please also read a related article,  “Higher Education as an Instrument for Structural Change in Indonesia” - An Open Forum with Dr. Anies Baswedan Rector, Paramadina University.

(Part 1)

(Part 2)

 (Part 3)

South East Asia (SEA) vs. Asia as a Whole

In my previous article, I helped to identify which countries are part of South East Asia (SEA) which includes Indonesia; now let's look at the entire region of Asia as a whole as identified by the United Nations.  (click on each region name below for a list of countries associated with each region)

Blue =  North Asia  (Russia)

Fuchsia = Central Asia

Lime = Southwest Asia

Red = South Asia

Yellow = East Asia

Mustard = Southeast Asia  (Indonesia)

Population of Indonesia in SEA (South East Asia)

How does Indonesia compare to other SEA (South East Asia) countries in terms of overall population distribution?  Well, let's see ...

Orangutans

The word orangutan comes from Indonesian Bahasa (language) and means literally orang (people or man) hutan (of the forest) - thus, "person or man of the forest"

This picture is just for humorous purpose or intent and is not meant to degrade the animal.  In all seriousness, PLEASE HELP SAVE THE ORANGUTAN

http://redapes.org/

Travel VISA to the USA to Buy Real Property

Here is something very interesting to watch and track; a proposed bill in the United States Congress (S. 1746) that would give foreign investors buying real property (in cash, no mortgage or debt attached to it) a Visa to come to the USA if they purchase a home (or homes) totaling $500,000 USD or more. 

The Bill is called the Visa Improvements to Stimulate International Tourism to the United States of America Act (dubbed, the “VISIT USA Act”).

To track this Bill in the United States Congress, see link below:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s112-1746

Status: This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Explanation: Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee.

Let’s hope this one does get all the way through Congress and enacted into LAW; as it will not only benefit and stimulate the much weakened U.S. economy, but will also provide an opportunity for people from certain countries who are not automatically granted a travel Visa (i.e. Indonesians) under the Visa Waver Program (VWP). This new “VISIT USA Visa” type would be a new category to the list of Visas for Temporary Visitors.