Our man in jakarta

Wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me where Annapolis is. I would not be able to tell you. But ask me to name the islands east of Java and I will reply without a second of hesitation: Bali, Lombok, Sumba, Sumbawa, Flores, Timur. That’s all because Indonesia is still part of our collective national memory- and even is in our national historical canon.

However our time machine seems to have got stuck in 1949 (transfer of sovereignty) or maybe 1962 (West Papua). I guess nowadays most of us think of Indonesia only once every year when Transparency International shows worrying results on corruption. For the rest of us it’s just tsunami’s, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or the flooding of the capital. In the end one looses interest. But incidentally we can read, hear or see some spicy miscellaneous news , like President SBY who confirms that in his opinion the death sentence on the Bali bombers should be executed or a fighter for human rights, Munir, who mysteriously get poisoned on his flight to Amsterdam.

However, actually Indonesia is a fascinating vibrant country – the fourth largest in the world. I for one am happy when someone can give at least some professional information about what is really going on among the 240 million Indonesians. Such a man is Ben Knapen – correspondent in Jakarta for South East Asia for the main Dutch paper: NRC Handelsblad .

From his many articles we can learn that the Republik Indonesia seems to be on its way. Not only because of very decent economic annual growth rates of 6% to 7%. But for any optimistic person by nature one can find upbeat information in all but a few of his reports. Let’s take three examples.

Some time ago Knapen made it clear -in a lengthy, human interest story- that the situation of the Chinese at long last seems to be improving. This industrious minority of between 5 and 10 million people have often been persecuted. Last time this happened was in 1998. But now the Chinese are thriving again, learning Mandarin is a modest hype and they demonstrate a prudent but growing self confidence. Well, of course that may also be the by-product of the success of the People’s Republic of China.

The other day Ben Knapen reported on Indonesian art. His story is about Dr Oei Hong Djien, a mega collector, who owns the Museum of Contemporary Art in Yokjakarta. Indonesian painting has never been in the lime lights – until now. The interest in the likes of Affandi, Haji Widayat or Masradi- is booming. The collector has successfully tried to sell Indonesian artists to buyers in Singapore and Hongkong – and for considerable amounts of money I may add.

Moreover, some weeks ago our man in Jakarta published an article on public health care. I take it it’s just a coincidence that this story has a similar subject as Michael Moore’s “Sicko”. The documentary makes one sad – and afraid of what may happen in our country. Our system threatens to spiral down to American lows. In contrast in Jakarta health care shimmers a glimpse of hope. The insurance has been started up from almost scratch. The correspondent’s account of the situation proves a lot of things are still amiss. The execution of the scheme is chaotic, is not professionally organized at all, financially it’s shambles. But, main thing is there is progress.

Indonesia is a large and important country. Especially to The Netherlands. So in my opinion we need to get a clear picture of what’s happening over there. I think we owe Ben Knapen for helping us to do just that: to be kept up to date in stead being lost in total ignorance and prejudices.

Update: Last week’s breaking news: Ben Knapen as of 01.01.08 will leave Jakarta. He has been appointed professor at the Katholieke Universiteit in Nijmegen and member of the Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid (Scientific Council for Governments policies).

Update2: Today (15.01.08) I read that the “human interest”columns of Ben Knapen will be published shortly as a book: “Langs de straten van Jakarta” (On the streets of Jakarta). The publishing house is “Conserve”.