Indonesia

Indonesia is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands. It encompasses 33 provinces and 1 Special Administrative Region (for being governed by a pre-colonial monarchy) with over 238 million people, making it the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia's republic form of government comprises an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta.



Quotes

 * On April 10th, 1815, six thousand miles away from here, on an island in Indonesia, a volcano erupted. It sent a massive plume of ash into the air that eventually encircled the globe. A year later, 1816 became “the year without a summer.” Incessant rains fell here in Norway, Britain, China and the U.S. It snowed 20 inches in July in Boston. Crops failed. Livestock died. People starved. Food riots. Looting. Burning of cities. Floods of refugees. Epidemics of typhus. And it took decades to recover. Millions died in places just like this — the worst famine of the 19th Century. No one saw it coming. With famine, no one ever does, until it’s too late.
 * David Beasley, Nobel Peace Prize Lecture of the World Food Programme, 10 December 2021


 * The worst kleptocrat was Mohamed Suharto, Indonesian president from 1967 until 1998 but virtual military ruler from 1957. His brutal regime saw 2 million massacred following an attempted Communist coup in 1965, 250,000 killed in his 1975 invasion of East Timor and hundreds of thousands tortured and murdered during his dictatorship. Spectacular economic growth brought limited benefit to his people, far more to Suharto and his cronies, who fabulously enriched themselves, his wife’s lucrative commission earning her the nickname ‘Madam Ten Percent’. His klepocracy was laid bare after his forced resignation in 1998 following Asian financial meltdown: US$15-35 billion according to Transparency International. Disputed claims of ill health, however, allowed him to escape justice; he died in 2008.
 * Simon Sebag Montefiore, Monsters: History's Most Evil Men and Women (2009), p. 334


 * One of the biggest threats to biodiversity is the continued loss of virgin forests. Every year, an area of forest corresponding to the size of Hungary disappears. However, the rate of deforestation has fallen by 40 per cent since the 1990s, according to the FAO. Deforestation has ceased in rich countries. In the United States and Europe forested areas are increasing. In China and India, too, forests are now growing, suggesting that rising populations and economies do not have to cause overexploitation. Were it not for deforestation in seven countries – Brazil, Paraguay, Angola, Congo, Tanzania, Indonesia and Myanmar – the world’s forests would have grown in the 2010s. That is not much of a comfort, given the unique natural values lost with those forests. But it shows that the notion that we are experiencing a relentless global deforestation does not hold.
 * Johan Norberg, The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World (2023)


 * When I moved to Indonesia, it was 1967 and, you know, the incredible economic progress that has been made in Indonesia, the way Jakarta has changed, when I was there you'd see becak everywhere, you know, it was slow moving place...[]...But, the only Hotel was Hotel Indonesia and Sarinah was, where, you know, place to do shopping, and now my understanding is there...buildings everywhere and that represents the incredible progress has been made but...not only economically, but also Indonesia is being a model of democracy, such a populous nation and the diverse nation, that able to bring together a democratic forces and Indonesia's gonna be a powerhouse International...
 * Barack Obama, Interview with Putra Nababan in the White House (March 2010)


 * One of the things that I always valued so much about Indonesia, when I was growing up, was people were devout Muslims but they also tolerated to others, other cultures.
 * Barack Obama, Interview with Putra Nababan in the White House (March 2010)


 * I think they are hardworking, they love their families and community, and they are very calm, which I think helps me now in this very tense job. I think that living in Indonesia also reminded me how big the world is, you know, I've... Indonesia such a big country, such a diverse country and so many different people there and it reminded me that we have to have a broad view of the world and recognize the we all are connected and that's very important...
 * Barack Obama, Interview with Putra Nababan in the White House (March 2010)


 * We want to make sure that many products consumed domestically can be produced within the country. We hope the economy can be supported not only by consumption but also by production activities.
 * Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan on "New Trade Law Expected to Boost Domestic Production in Indonesia", January 28, 2014 (January 29, 2014 in Indonesia time).
 * The Australian government never comments on specific intelligence matters. I will never say or do anything that might damage the strong relationship and the close co-operation that we have with Indonesia, which is all in all, our most important relationship.
 * Tony Abbott, quoted on BBC News, "Australia 'spied on Indonesia President Yudhoyono'" (18 November 2013), BBC News, British Broadcasting Corporation..


 * Indonesia is a country for which I have a great deal of respect and personal affection based on my own time in Indonesia. I want nothing, but the best for Indonesia, and I certainly want, Leigh, I certainly want the boats stopped and that is overwhelmingly in the interests of both our countries.
 * Tony Abbott, abc.net.au

Economy of Indonesia

 * Indonesia’s ranking has improved remarkably as cited in the report. However, we recognize the need to continue improving our competitiveness and the government has prioritized overcoming these challenges, especially infrastructure bottlenecks. We also recognize the need to improve human resources by continuously improving health, education and workers’ training.
 * Mari Elka Pangestu, Minister of Trade of Indonesia, quoted in www.weforum.org, "Indonesia Shows Strongest Progress among G20 in New Competitiveness Report", June 8, 2011.


 * Indonesia is one of the least exposed economies in the region, with a vast domestic market and a relatively small share of exports to gross domestic product, so it is insulated from volatility in the global economy,
 * George Worthington of IFR, quoted on BBC News, "Indonesia's economy grows at fastest pace in 15 years", February 6, 2012.


 * As per today's data, Indonesia remains one of the fastest growing, and perhaps more importantly, one of the most stable economies in Asia,
 * Taimur Baig, an economist with Deutsche Bank, quoted on BBC News, "Indonesia's economy: Domestic demand boosts expansion", August 6, 2012.


 * Indonesia has a much younger, productive, and growing population. That is a different demographic outlook to the situation in many Western European economies, where the labor force will be either static or decline in size in the future.
 * Raoul Oberman, Chairman of McKinsey & Company, Indonesia, quoted in CNBC, "Indonesia's Economy to Surpass Germany, UK by 2030: McKinsey", September 2012.


 * Brothers and sisters! We are still holding flag ceremonies, we are still singing patriotic songs, we are still using national symbols and the pictures of our founding fathers are still here. But in other countries, they have conducted studies that say that the Republic of Indonesia will no longer exist by 2030!
 * Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia could go 'extinct' if I lose election: Prabowo The Jakarta Post (December 18, 2018)


 * We must not lose. If we lose, this country could go extinct. Because the Indonesian elites are always disappointing, always failing to carry out the mandate given by the Indonesian people. If the same system is continued, Indonesia will become weak. Indonesia will become even poorer, even more helpless and could even go extinct.
 * Indonesia could go 'extinct' if I lose election: Prabowo The Jakarta Post (December 18, 2018)


 * Despite today’s upside surprise, we maintain our view that Indonesia’s growth will slow further in the coming quarters, as the impact of Bank Indonesia’s policy tightening weighs on credit growth and, in turn, GDP growth.
 * Prakriti Sofat, an economist at Barclays in Singapore, quoted in Bloomberg, "Indonesia’s Growth Beats Estimates as Rebound Seen Faltering", February 5, 2014.


 * In 2014, Indonesian biodiesel producers may export 2.2 million kilolitres of biodiesel, up from 1.833 million kilolitres last year. Domestic biodiesel sales may jump to 3 million kilolitres this year, up from 1.006 million kilolitres last year.
 * Paulus Tjakrawan, chairman of the Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI), quoted on Reuters.com, "Indonesia's 2014 biodiesel consumption forecast to jump -industry", March 17, 2014.

Religion in Indonesia

 * "The number of Muslim‑dominated constitue­ncies in Sabah has increased from 17 in 1990 to 24 in 1994. The [Chri­stian­‑led] Parti Bersatu Sabah has accused [the ruling party] of flooding the state with Muslim immigrants from In­donesia and the Philippi­nes.  Some es­timates put the number of immigrants as high as 800,000", with Sabah's original population numbering 1.5 mil­lion.
 * The Economist, 26/2/1994. 1994 provin­cial elections in the Malay­sian provi­nce of Sabah.


 * {The} political significance of Indonesian Islam, including Javanese Islam, stems in no small measure from the fact that in Islam the borderline between religion and politics is, at best very thin. Islam is a way of life as much as a religion…. {Islam} does not recognize the existence of independent, secular realms of life…. Separation of religion and politics, in other words, was, at best a temporary phenomenon of Islam in decline. In an era of Islamic awakening, it could not survive for long, either in independent Muslim lands or in Islamic areas ruled by non-Muslims…. Like other Muslims, Indonesian Islamic leaders—reformists, hardly less than orthodox—were thus by Western standards not only lacking in political experience, but were, by the nature of their orientation and training, ill-equipped to formulate political goals as such. The santri {Javanese practitioners of a more orthodox Islam} civilization, in other words, is not a political ideal so much as the idealization of a religious community—the ummah—which would subsume within its all-embracing confines all walks of life, subordinating the state to the dictates of the Islamic ethic…. {I}f given political expression in Darul Islam—the so-called “Islamic State”—the political program of Islam is limited to postulating a state which, irrespective of its constitutional form, economic organization, and social composition, is to be ruled by Muslims in accordance with Islamic Law.13
 * Harry J. Benda, 1958. Benda. The Crescent and the Rising Sun, pp. 13, 29, 57. in Bostom, A. G. (2015). Sharia versus freedom: The legacy of Islamic totalitarianism.


 * From Mohammedanism (which for centuries she [i.e., Aceh] is reputed to have accepted) she really only learnt a large number of dogmas relating to hatred of the infidel without any of their mitigating concomitants; so the Acehnese made a regular business of piracy and man-hunting at the expense of the neighboring non-Mohammedan countries and islands, and considered that they were justified in any act of treachery or violence to European (and latterly to American) traders who came in search of pepper, the staple product of the country. Complaints of robbery and murder on board ships trading in Acehnese parts thus grew to be chronic.
 * C. Snouck Hurgronje. The Acehnese Vol. 1, 1906, Leyden, Introduction, pp. vii-viii. in Bostom, A. G. (2015). Sharia versus freedom: The legacy of Islamic totalitarianism.


 * The fact that Islam sits lightly on most Muslims in Indonesia, has not prevented a hard core to display the patented behaviour pattern of Islam. In Irian Jaya (West New Guinea), the Papua tribals are overrun by immigrant Muslims from Java. Many of them have already been converted by force or social pressure. In ex-Portuguese East Timor, which Indonesia has annexed against the United Nations' will, massacres of Christians or Animist natives by Muslim immigrants and soldiers have happened on a large scale. In Bali, the Hindus are not exactly persecuted, but Muslim immigrants from Java have acquired the positions of power. By the standards which Indian Muslims use to measure "discrimination against the minorities", the Hindus of Bali could claim that they are discriminated against. Nevertheless, the situation in most of Indonesia still seems to be much better than in Bangladesh (let alone Pakistan), and the communities live together rather peacefully. But it has taken tough rulers to uphold this relatively stable pluralism.
 * Elst, Koenraad. Negationism in India: concealing the record of Islam. 1992


 * Winds of change have blown in order to lift the injustice to which the world is subjected by America and its supporters and the Jews who are collaborating with them. Look at what is happening these days in Indonesia, where Suharto, a despot who ruled for 30 years, was overthrown. The time will come, sooner rather than later, when criminal despots who betrayed God and his Prophet, and betrayed their trust and their nation, will face the same fate.
 * Osama bin Laden, Time magazine interview (23 December 1998) In response to the interviewer stating: 'Is your Islamic message having an impact?'