@citizen:

Indonesia's government is elected directly by the people for the people. It has worked well, cutting back poverty from 30% at the height of financial crisis in 1999 to 12% today. Income rates are now much higher than pre-crisis rates. Our economy is now the world's 15th largest economy, larger than Australia, we are growing at respectable 5% p.a. higher than other SE Asian countries.

I think you should not listen to the late Pramoedya Ananta Toer too much. He is a good writer alright, but he was a communist whose feelings will be satisfied only when Indonesia becomes a communist country, hence his talk of "revolution".

Remember, back in Sukarno years, Pram was in leadership of Lekra (People's Culture Organisation), the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) cultural arm that promoted interesting activities like the burning of Western books, outlawing of rock n roll, the banning of the Beatles, and jailing of many artists that refused to toe the communist line. We can imagine what kind of cultural desert Indonesia would have been had Pram had his way.

Is this person, Proud To Be Indonesian, under the impression that all Australians are Anglo-Saxons? His ignorance just proves that education in Indonesia is rubbish. Australians come from all over the world - 40% of people have at least one parent born overseas and 25% speak a language other than English at home. I showed his comments to a friend who is half-Aboriginal and half Japanese but 100% Aussie, and we just rolled our eyes at his laughable ignorance.

As for Indonesia's development record...sorry, but I'm just not impressed. South Korea was as poor as Sudan in 1945 and now look where it is. In the same time, Indonesia has been going in circles. As for Malaysia, another loathsome country with an attitude problem, it is only because of its industrious Chinese that it has any kind of economy at all. Indonesia's per capita income at purchasing power parity (the only measure that matters) still languishes way below China's and even the Philippines!

I will give Indonesia no respect whatever until the public water supply is drinkable in all parts of the country. In my book this simple test shows the level of commitment to people. Not how many nuclear bombs a country has, not the strength of its army and not the diplomatic grandstanding and swaggering of Indonesia's ruling clique and its cronies.

Indonesia has some real hard work to do before the world gives it any respect. I don't think many Australians care about this Javanese imperialist project that masquerades as a country any more and are just fed up with its petty outbursts, immaturity and posturing. Our two countries need a total divorce on every level, the sooner the better. I'm sure this is one point that PTBI will agree with me on. I'm sorry Duncan Graham, there is no common ground that can ever be found.

@Kvasir:

LOL, Indonesia is currently being wooed by all countries in the world, from USA to Britain to China to Russia. Recently, US Sec-of-State Rice and Defence Secy Rumsfeld came to Jakarta to beg for re-establishment of military relationship with Indonesia. In terms of human rights, Indonesia was elected by 165 countries to become member of new UN Human Rights Council. Indonesia's programs of people's improvement constantly received praise from World Bank, FAO, and other UN organisations. Indonesia also constantly send troops for UN missions to keep world peace from Suez Crisis 1956 to DR of Congo today.

It is clear, Indonesia is located at the pinnacle of international respectability.

On the other hand, Australians are well-known as bunch of lazy beer-gulping, pot-smoking bums who possess a hilariously exaggerated sense of self-importance while in reality they're just a bunch of minor stooges of USA. Additionally, white Australians have committed genocide against Aborigines and have stolen their land, Australia is an illegally-established "country" in which whites have no right to be there. No wonder, everybody value respect from Australians as much as handful of dust, including Indonesia. You are delusional if you think anybody value respect from Australia more than a handful of dust. Australia has done nothing to earn it respect from other countries.

The illegitimate Javanese Imperialist Entity is circling the plughole, and I for one can't wait for it to slide down. The islands that the arrogant, lazy, rent-seeking, corrupt Javanese have stolen from their rightful owners are becoming restless and PTBI knows it - that's why he's so paranoid about his glorious unitary state. The long-suffering Hindu Balinese, the Christian Moluccans and the animist Papuans are becoming fed up with being forced to stay in this cesspool of a country.

The only reason that Rice et al. even bother with Indonesia is that as bothersome as it is as one country, can you imagine if it broke into pieces, each one as much trouble as the other? What a drain on the world it would become. The world prays out of its own self-interest that this vile entity hangs together. In a strange way, I do too. I don't want us to waste any more of our money on helping these worthless, thankless Third World people.

As for being voted by other corrupt Third World countries onto a human rights council in the UN...well, that just proves to me that the UN has become more useless and meaningless than I had even thought.

PTBI just hates Australia because he is jealous of our living standards, public order, lack of corruption (according to Transparency International - BTW where does Indonesia rank, ha ha), our infrastructure, our per capita incomes, our public health standards, but most of all he cannot stand the fact that Australian researchers largely determine what is published and read about Indonesia all over the Anglosphere, mainly because nobody else can be bothered to research this basketcase - we have to only because unfortuntely it lies next to our land, like a government Housing Commission slum next to Double Bay. Like it or not, Australia is the image-maker and PR manager of Indonesia to the rest of the English-speaking world. Australia has the microscope on Indonesia and all its Third World outrages, ready to report to the world. Get over it, and don't forget to behave - we're watching!

@Kvasir:

LOL, indeed Indonesia is seen as such an important country we've been visited by every US president since Nixon. Being an extremely fruitful member of world community, we have good relationship with almost every country in the world, we have excellent relationship with Western countries like USA and UK, with Russia, China, and India. We are well-known as leader of developing world, with over 52 heads-of-state visiting Indonesia during recent Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung. We maintain excellent relationship with Arab countries who donate billions of dollars for victims of recent tsunami and earthquake, while still maintaining secret relationship with Israel.

As for Australia, as I said nobody really cares about these unimportant stooges of USA. Nobody is impressed with lazy people who gain benefit only by stealing other people's land and committed genocide against the indigenous population like Australia. What despicable descendent of criminals!

"Australian researchers largely determine what is published and read about Indonesia all over the Anglosphere, mainly because nobody else can be bothered to research this basketcase "

LOL, what a hilarious display of exagerrated sense of self-importance. The best Indonesian studies centre is in Leiden University in Netherlands, followed by the excellent Indonesia centre in Cornell University in New York. The Indonesian studies centres in Moscow and Prague are also excellent. Australian universities straggle far behind the above places in terms of Indonesian studies. Maybe Australians lack the brain capacity to understand the complexities of Indonesia, perhaps caused by too much beer-gulping and head-banging during their weekly "footy" games.

LOL - PTBI, the ultimate question that I and and many others are wondering...what is there possibly to be proud of in being Indonesian? Are you trying to compensate for the unending shame of allowing yourself to be taken over and ruled for 400 years by a handful of VOC officers from tiny Holland? What spineless weaklings you lot are. What pathetic excuse can you come up for this shameful, humiliating walkover? Of course I understand that Indonesians are lazy and disorganised, but still why did it take 400 YEARS to mount an effective resistance against this handful of Dutch people from one of Europe's smallest nations? Your feeble weakness will stain the image of your country for generations to come. I would love to hear your "creative" response to this question...I'm sure you can make up one. Excuses, excuses...But ultimately: ha, ha, ha - you cannot undo this fact of history.