‘Bakso, nasi goreng ... semuanya enak!’

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/10/2010 9:22 AM

To your health: US President Barack Obama toasts with Indonesia’s First Lady Kristiani Herawati and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with US First Lady Michelle Obama during a state dinner at the State Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday. Courtesy of Presidential Office/Cahyo Bruri Sasmito

“Terima kasih untuk bakso, nasi goreng, emping, krupuk. Semuanya enak!” Those were the words of a US president in Indonesian, thanking his host after being served with delicacies he used to love as a young boy living here in the city.

In what many Indonesians saw as a homecoming visit on Tuesday, Barack Obama was generally welcomed with warmth and a sense of kinship by those who met him and those watching him on TV, or even just listening to his voice on the radio.

Reflecting on the four years he spent here as a child back in the 1960s, Obama said Jakarta had changed so much.

“I barely recognize the city… Sarinah used to be the tallest building and now it is one of the shorter buildings on the road,” he said.

Visiting the city as the US president was disorienting, Obama added.

“The landscape has changed completely since I was here in 1967. I remember people on becak — bicycle rickshaw things — or bemo, which were sort of like taxis… Now, as president, I can’t see the traffic. The streets are blocked,” he said, followed by laughter from a crowd of officials and reporters.

Obama said it was “wonderful” to be back in Indonesia with first lady Michelle Obama and that he pondered returning to Indonesia with his two daughters to visit the country’s cultural sites.

Nostalgia aside, Obama’s visit is a realization of his promise to repair the US’ tarnished image through a foreign policy that relies more on the country’s soft power in engaging with the Muslim world.

In a press conference held after a bilateral meeting with Indonesian counterpart President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Obama said that focusing solely on security issues would not help the US achieve the aim of ending mistrust with Muslim countries.

“We don’t expect to completely eliminate misunderstanding and mistrust that we’ve developed over a long period of time, but we do think that we’re on the right path.”

He also took the time to criticize Israel’s plans to build new apartments in disputed East Jerusalem. “This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations,” Obama said.

Obama in Istiqlal: US President Barack Obama and First Lady
Michelle Obama tour around Istiqlal Grand Mosque in
Central Jakarta, accompanied by mosque imam Ali Mustafa
Yaqub (left) on Wednesday.

Today, Obama is scheduled to visit the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, where he will meet clerics to exchange views on the peaceful teaching of Islam.

“I think broadening the relationship strengthens it, to build trust, build more people-to-people contact, that will be good for our security,” he added.

Obama cited the US’ recent organizing of an entrepreneur summit in Washington involving young business leaders from a number of Muslim countries, as well as the US’ relationship with Indonesia, which has just entered a new stage with the launch of the Comprehensive Partnership between the US and Indonesia that touches on more than just economic and security issues.

Obama said he was not happy that the US was Indonesia’s third-largest trading and investment partner.

“I’ve informed [Yudhoyono] that we don’t like to be No. 3. We want to be No. 1,” he said.

Another area in the partnership, he said, was to improve the people-to-people partnership, particularly the cooperation and exchanges between US and Indonesian students and universities. For this purpose, Obama is scheduled to visit the University of Indonesia today to deliver a lecture.

“The third element in our Comprehensive Partnership is to deepen our political and security cooperation.”

He said this included the “already strong cooperation” between Indonesia and the US in terrorism and piracy prevention and the US’ partnering with Indonesia in East Asia, in which he look forward to Indonesia’s leadership as chair of ASEAN and to returning to Jakarta next year for the East Asia Summit.

At a dinner banquet hosted by Yudhoyono at the State Palace, Obama said that, although different, Indonesia and the US shared many similarities that served as common grounds for stronger bonds, including the struggle for independence and democratic movements.

“Like bamboo on the riverbank, we have to rely on each other. No country is an island, even those made of thousands of islands,” Obama said. (gzl)

Nov. 9: Obama speaks in a news conference accompanied by his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Merdeka palace in Jakarta, Indonesia. Obama is leaving Indonesia two hours earlier than scheduled. (AP)

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30,000 to attend Istiqlal Mosque mass prayer

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 09/09/2010

About 30,000 people will pack Istiqlal Mosque in Central Jakarta on Thursday evening for a mass prayer to mark the end of the Ramadan fasting month, including poor families and 5,000 orphans.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, Vice President Boediono, his wife Herawati Boediono and a number of Cabinet members are slated to join the prayer, secretary of the event’s organizing committee Akbar Suwito told kompas.com.

The orphans and the needy will receive Idul Fitri gifts provided by state enterprises during the event.

As of 6 p.m. Muslims were seen streaming into the mosque despite the rain. Dozens of police and military troops guarded the area around the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia.

Hundreds of Muslim perform Idul Fitri prayer at a square in Denpasar on the predominantly Hindu island of Bali on Friday. Muslims across the archipelago and the globe celebrate the holiday, which mark the end of the Ramadan fasting month, this week. Antara/Nyoman Budhiana

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Sleep-Deprived American Takes on Indonesian Mosque, Loses

Jakarta Globe, Fitri R | August 30, 2010

Mataram, Lombok. It was never going to end well when a middle-aged American residing on the resort island of Lombok allegedly barged into a small mosque wearing his shoes, unplugged a speaker system used to broadcast sermons that he complained were disturbing his sleep and assaulted a worshiper.

Enraged locals immediately began chasing the man, identified as Luke Gregory Lloyd, 64, who was saved from almost certain serious injury — or worse — by police in Kuta village, Pujut subdistrict.

Nasruddin, a local, said angry residents then turned their attention to Lloyd’s house, trashing it.

“He should consider himself lucky because at that time we decided not to beat him; we didn’t want to do anything stupid, but some people could not control their anger and decided to damage Lloyd’s house,” he said.

The incident occurred on the evening of Aug. 22.

Central Lombok deputy police chief Lalu Mahsun said Lloyd had been arrested on immigration charges because his residency permit had expired in April 2006, and taken into protective custody.

He is being held at a local hotel were he is guarded by two police officers.

Mahsun said that police in cooperation with local religious officials had also launched an investigation “to determine whether Lloyd’s actions can be classified as blasphemy.”

If that was the case, he said, then, “We will arrest him immediately.”

The charge carries a maximum jail term of five years.

Mushan said it was not the first time Lloyd had objected to the activities conducted within the mushollah, or small mosque or prayer room, but this was by far the most extreme incident.

Muslims worldwide are currently marking the holy month of Ramadan.

Nasruddin said locals had put up with Lloyd for 15 years, even though he often lost his temper.

He said he hoped police would ensure that justice was done for insulting Islam and not let him escape “just because he is a foreigner.”

The Immigration Department could not be reached for comment.

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"Build the mosque a bit further away"

RNW, 2 August 2010 - 3:48pm | By Reinout van Wagtendonk

(photo: flickr/mirandas)

Plans for a new mosque near Ground Zero have raised a storm of protest in the United States. The mosque is controversial because the site is very close to the place where Islamic terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers on 11 September 2001. An increasing number of prominent Republicans are using the mosque as a weapon against President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party.

"On September 11th they declared war against us and to celebrate that murder of three thousand Americans they want to build a monstrous, thirteen story mosque on Ground Zero".

There have been sharp attacks against plans for a 100-million dollar Islamic community centre and mosque just a stone's throw from Ground Zero. Republicans are using the issue to score points against their rivals and it has given them a lift in the latest opinion polls.

"The political class says nothing, the politicians are doing nothing to stop it. But we Americans will be heard," says the voiceover in a television advert for a Republican pressure group; in between images of Osama bin Laden, the burning World Trade Center and terrorists spraying bullets from a machine gun, a photograph of President Barack Obama slides by.

The major US TV networks have refused to air the advert; the portrayal of all Muslims as the enemy has been deemed offensive. However, prominent Republicans such as Sarah Palin continued to hammer away at the controversy in similar terms.

Provocation

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives and a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2012, called it "a calculated provocation. They know exactly what they're doing".

"This is a political act for the purpose of saying worldwide: 'we're winning, the Americans are losing and they are too dumb to even know they're in a war".

Opinion polls say that a significant majority of the US public is opposed to the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero. There are very few Democrats that support the community centre and mosque. Republicans are exploiting the issue in the election battle for the governorship of New York. Republicans have demanded that the Democratic candidate - currently the favourite to win in November - make his standpoint on the issue known. But Andrew Cuomo, along with Democrats fighting marginal seats, has refused to say a word.

Mayor Bloomberg

One of the very few prominent politicians brave enough to come out in favour of the mosque is New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Last year, New Yorkers celebrated tolerance and freedom of religion in the city founded by the Dutch 400 years ago.

"Everything the United States stands for and New York stands for is tolerance and openness".

Why build it here, at Ground Zero, asked a leading Jewish organisation, which specialises in religious tolerance. The Anti-Defamation League finally announced its opposition to the mosque at Ground Zero: Director Abraham Foxman said, "Build it five blocks up the road".

Profit

New York City already has about 100 mosques; it is more than likely that the protests stem from the location, not the mosque itself. However, the hue and cry is music to Republican ears; they hope to profit from the controversy and win a majority in Congress in November's mid-term elections.

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Indonesia: The Mahanaim Church and Al-Muqarrabien Mosque share more than just a wall. (Photo courtesy of Asia Calling)