PTBI
I find myself by and large in persetujuan with your first post.. but I think you could have paid more attention to the dark side of the Soeharto Regime.. mainly his 'sons' economic activies and nepotism.

Most Aussies will not comprehend though the vast gulf of difference in understanding of power between our 2 countries. The main difference though is that our 'nepotism' is directed towards not so much 'family' but 'supporting groups'.. business, consultancies, advertising groups etc....

There is a positive side to nepotism, where a strong united 'family' structure can be a stabilizing influence, and also ensure things are 'done'. But sadly, human nature being what it is, and especially 2nd generationism.. who do not appreciate the privilage, take it for granted, and the family of the Sultan of Brunei is a classic example.

I have 'inside' sources to what goes on there, with my wife being a relative by marraige of the sultan, (some generations ago) and others of her people working as tutors for his children. The younger brother tends to live as a law unto himself, and spends like there is no tomorrow.

Your points about the opportunities for extreme Muslim groups are well taken. My concern is more for the minority Christian groups who often become the victim of such groups, such as in Ambon and Sulawesi etc. 10,000 Christian homes destroyed by Muslim fanatics.. more than destroyed by Hurrican Larry in Cairns. I know there was destruction on both sides, but the odds were fully against the Christians as fanatics came from many other places in Indo.

You were less emotional in this thread.. keep it up and more people will see value in what you post, even though they may disagree.

Moga2 Tuhan memberkati, terutamanya, kiranya Saudara membuka hati dan jiwamu kpd Yesus Kristos, Isa Almasih, Juruselamat manusia. Jadilah dilahirkan baru di dalam Dia yang mahakuasa dan maha kasih, -Penyayang, pendorong, yang sudah menjadi korban kerana segala dosaku dan dosamu.

@rogindon

It is not true that authoritarian governments are not capable of peaceful transfer of power. China, a communist dictatorship, possess a highly effective mechanism for leadership change. Malaysia and Singapore which are basically single-party states with impotent opposition, changed its leadership without consulting the people peacefully for decades. Even Japan is a single-party government with the system deliberately rigged to make it impossible for any opposition party to win elections.

What Indonesia need is a supra-national, all-powerful ideological institution to ensure the core uniting ideological values of the country remain unchanged. In Turkey, this organisation is the army which defends Turkish secular nationalism. In China, it is the communist party defending communist party rule. In Thailand, it is the army defending Buddhism and monarchy. In Malaysia, it is UMNO/BN defending Malay bumiputra supremacy. In Singapore, it is PAP defending Chinese supremacy.

Indonesia should no longer allow individual-based dictatorship like Sukarno and Suharto regimes since once that one individual became discredited, the whole system collapsed with him. Instead, Indonesia should copy Turkish system. We should establish an all-powerful national institution to ensure Indonesia's core values of Pancasila secular nationalism remain unchanged. This can be in the form of an all-powerful nationalist party (eg Golkar) backed by an ideologically-unified military. Governments may be changed through ballot box, but if any president or MPs diverged from Pancasila nationalist ideology, this institution has the right to replace these individuals and force them to "retirement". It should be made illegal for citizens to promote replacement of Pancasila with other ideologies, particularly Islamism.

In current system, while Islamic fundamentalist parties calling for sharia like PKS may be using ballot box, they backed and protected terrorists like JI and violent groups like FPI or MMI which commit violence against minorities and Islamic "heretics". One MP from PKS was even arrested in Manila airport trying to smuggle explosives, and he was released due to Indonesian government pressure! Such double-faced snake attitude should never be tolerated.

@philo&coyote:

Fanatical lunatics like yous are the reason Indonesians shed few tears for those Australians killed by terrorists.

@BOAZ_David:

I do not miss the "dark side" of Suharto's regime: his family's corrupt depradations and choking monopolistic control of Indonesian economy. I also have "inside" source on Brunei's absolute monarchy system since my uncle is the palace's resident piano player and is well-acquinted with the Bolkiah royal family. I am thus familiar with Prince Jefri's depradations and sultan's second wife's affair with an Indonesian actor.

That is why I am completely opposed to absolute monarchy system like Brunei, and I disagree with individual-based dictatorship which is what Suharto's New Order was between late 1980s up to his fall in 1998 (which was basically just like an absolute monarchy). Instead of such fragile system, Indonesia should implement an ideologically-based authoritarian government like China, Malaysia, Singapore, or Turkey. In Indonesian case the uniting ideology should be Indonesia's original Pancasila secular nationalism. Had Suharto not chose to transform his regime from a nationalist-based to a family-based system in the late 1980s, by all probabilities Suharto's fall would not have happened and the New Order would still rule Indonesia today.

About Christianity, you need not worry. There are over 35 million Christian Indonesians, much more than the human population in Australia or Malaysia. Although they were outnumbered, the Christians of Poso and Ambon defeated radical Islamists' attempt to "cleanse" them (Christian population proportion after the conflict is the same as before the conflict). Now, the government is strong, unlike the weak Habibie and Gus Dur governments that allowed the conflict to become so bad. No similar religious conflicts will be allowed to happen again. In any worst-case scenario, there are far too many Christians in Indonesia, no power in the world will ever be able to get rid of us.

Proud to be Indonesian,
You have just proved what I have always thought that you are a terrorist sympathiser and animalistic thug by this comment: "Indonesians shed few tears for those Australians killed by terrorists".

PAPUA MERDEKA !

"Proud to be Indonesian", I am proud of you because in your last post you are finally saying something reasonable, balanced and based on some fact. You are absolutely true in saying that the Indonesian Christians have every right to exist and practice their religion in any and every part of Indonesia that they choose. I lived in Manado for 4 months and I also saw first hand the destruction and ethnic leansing wrought by the Muslim terrorists in Ternate and Halmahera. The Christians did bad things too, but not as bad as the Muslims and by 2003, when I visited, Muslims were being welcomed back to the Christian-controlled regions like Tobelo and Jailolo. Not so in Muslim-controlled Ternate and Tidore.

However, I don't agree that an authoritarian state structure like Singapore or China is the way forward. These kinds of structures are being dismantled in countries like Mexico, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey. Muslims have to be introduced to democracy. The alternative is for Muslims to view terrorism as the only way forward for them. Guys like Abu Bakir Basyir were nurtured by the New Order regime system in which they were forced underground, exiled and imprisoned. The Saudis oppose al-Qaeda, but it was they who nurture al-Qaeda by their dictatorship in which alternate views are punishable by death. Why do you think JI rose so incredibly fast after the fall of Soeharto? It's firstly because they were nurtured by the authoritarian regimes of the region and secondly because some New Order elements used them to create instability when Soeharto was in danger of being tried and his family stripped of their assets.