Indonesia is the worlds largest Muslim country. Certain parts of Indonesia, Central Java and Lombok, for example are centers for religious observance although the general atmosphere is one of tolerance, with a liberal form of Islam being practiced. Recently President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono addressed a congress of Indonesian Muslims at the Istiqlal mosque and stressed that terrorism has no place in Islam or any other religion.
President Susilo told the audience, I am here to ask all Muslim people in this country to show the world that Islam is a religion that promotes peace. I fully support this sentiment and think that it is high time we Muslims sort out the trouble makers and not let their Koran-bashing run over into violence. We Muslims must pull our heads out and call a terrorist a terrorist, no matter how religiously motivated that person claims to be.
The congress included high ranking Muslims including the secretary-general of the World Islamic League. President Susilo went on to say that councilors should be pioneers in cleansing the religion of terrorist factions. He said that multi-culturalism and diversity were not a challenge to modern Islam, but had always been recognized by the teachings of the Alquran that encouraged its followers to accept and respect diversity. He went on to add that the Holy book encouraged followers to be persuasive and not aggressive.
Good to see the President leading the way to a better future.
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{ 9 comments }
G’Day Nick,
SBY has a great attitude and is going in the right direction. Islam is a tolerant and peaceful religion and it’s only a minority that have misused the laws of the Koran to justify their actions.
As you know, I lived in Central Java for 10 years and 90% of my friends there are Muslim. They do not spout hatred but are acceptive and kind people. They live by the laws of the Koran and don’t choose to ‘bend’ the laws to suit their own ends or to wage hatred and violence.
The problem is these days is that people have a tendency to associate terrorism with Islam whereas this is not the case. If people took more time to understand only a little of the religion then they would understand just how beautiful it is in its way of life.
Hi Nick,Thanks for the info on fresh bread in Seminyak.I always stay in Seminyak,now l don,t have to drive to Bali Bakery.By the way,l will be back in Bali August.If you want a big jar of Vegimite bought over,just let me know.
Gina
This is a great, hopefull article. Can anyone tell me if Jews can freely, comfortably and safely travel throughout Bali. My gut instinct is that everyone’s very peaceful and accepting.
This is a great, hopefull article. Can anyone tell me if Jews can freely, comfortably and safely travel throughout Bali. My gut instinct is that everyone’s very peaceful and accepting.
Honestly, I don’t think people will care if you are Jewish, especially in Bali.
Despite all the media attentions on various Muslim group’s protests in Jakarta, people just don’t care. All of these protests that you hear or read in the news media are catered toward international news media and almost always represent the minority views of Indonesians. I don’t think a lot of people know this yet, but the Indonesian Government is currently trying to start a relationship with the Israelis Government.
So I encourage you to visit Bali and make some Indonesian friends while you’re there. The only advice I can give you is to avoid conversation on politic or religion with average Indonesians unless you’re absolutely sure that they won’t get offended. Otherwise, have a great time.
I think most Indonesians are friendly nice people who will pick up on your energy and treat you accordingly. As long as you don’t batter them over the head with your nationality, religion or world view everythings cool.
President SBY, two accountants of KPMG are being unfairly detained in Sulewasi despite the courts and the Public Prosecutor saying that the detention is unlawful and the Polis there couldn’t care less. It is time you exerted your authority and show these Policemen your power since they dont seem to respect authority. Detaining these two innocent persons who were there to do the job assigned to them is a serious violation of Justice. It looks like you got to show who is in power. For no reason the two have been incarceated and your First secretary in Malaysia said that this tit for tat. What he was talking is shocking and unacceptable for that is not how your great country operates. An injustice has been committed and now it is time to rectify the wrong.The two Malaysians were there to carry out their duty and we are sure they must have checked the various rules so that they do not violate the laws and yet this has happened.
Bapak President over to you and the world will be watching to see whether there is law and order in Indonesia. The twopersons were there to work on some due diligence assigned to them by their HQ and they were there to do work for the Canadian Company which we believe is one of the largest investors in Indonesia. Mr. President unless urgent action and restitution is undertaken can you then help it if your Nation does cause people all over the world to suspect that there is no law and order in Indonesia.
Your help Mr. President will put the whole episode into a proper perspective and restore the respect Indonesia derserves. Thak you.
Dato’ A. Nelson.
Dato,
I am sorry for what happened to those two guys. I hope they are released proper.
You did the right thing by appealing to SBY via an open letter. You can also send him an SMS message at this number: 0811109949. I got it from Kompas newspaper. Good Luck.
We have the obligation to fight against injustice whenever we see or hear about it. I am not suggesting that we should push it to the point of endagering our lives. But, at the very minimum we should voice our disapprovals.
Doesn’t Malaysia have a Detention Without Trial policy? People can be arrested and sent to jail indefinitely for whatever reasons. The POLIS (Malaysian Police) can cook up any charges and don’t have to prove a thing. > You need to protest that to your PM.
Was Mr. Anwar falsely accused by Dr. Mahatir and sent to jail for many years? He is out now, but that his good name is ruined. > You need to protest that too.
Terima Kasih and GBU.
Goliath: “Can anyone tell me if Jews can freely, comfortably and safely travel throughout Bali.”
I don’t think it is a problem.
Fyi, there are small jewish communities through out Indonesia.
Check out this link:
http://www.bh.org.il/Communities/Synagogue/indonesia.asp
You can visit that synagogue if you ever visit Surabaya.
GBU.
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