ID :
152875
Thu, 12/09/2010 - 09:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/152875
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News focus: POVERTY OVERSHADOWS INDONESIA'S INITIATED DEMOCRACY FORUM
By Rahmad Nasution
Nusa Dua, Bali, Dec 8 (ANTARA) - Indonesia is for the third time hosting a Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) due to be opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bali's Nusa Dua resort on Thursday.
This annual meeting is expected to strengthen the messages and promotion of democratic values and principles to the region. However, in Indonesia's young democracy itself remains vulnerable and fragile partly due to poverty.
The picture of poverty in Indonesia can even be easily found both in rural and urban areas throughout this archipelagic nation.
Even about a kilometer away from the BDF venue inside the luxurious Nusa Dua resort, ordinary Indonesians from different economic backgrounds, where modest street food sellers live.
One of the street food vendors that ANTARA met on Wednesday or a day before the convening of the third BDF sells spicy Indonesian chicken noodle soup called "Soto Surabaya".
Through his modest food tent, this modest noodle soup seller keeps making a living for the sake of himself and his family members.
"I have to pay Rp250,000 monthly for using this location. The renting money goes to a local community organization," he told ANTARA who met him during lunch time at his modest food stall on a street shoulder about a kilometer away from a security gate of the Nusa Dua resort area.
That "Soto Surabaya" seller could be too busy with his small business so that he did not pay much attention to what was happening around him, including the third BDF in the luxurious resort.
According to the Indonesian Bureau of Statistics, the total number of Indonesians living in poor condition reached 34,96 million (2008).
Despite the flourishing democracy since the fall of the New Order regime in 1998, the fates of this Soto Surabaya seller and more than 34 millions of other Indonesians remain unchanged dramatically.
He said he and his wife were not allowed to get their citizen identity cards though they had resided in Bali, Indonesia's most popular resort island, for more than ten years.
"I cannot have the ID identity card because I don't have any piece of land with width of at least 200 meters so that I cannot have a land-ownership certificate as part of the requirements for getting an ID card," he said.
What is then the correlation of the democratic system that Indonesia has adopted over the past 12 years with the improvement of its people's welfare and national development?
The third BDF, which is held amid the world's concern about the intermittent hostilities in the Korean Peninsula, carries "Democracy and the Promotion of Peace and Stability" as its central theme.
During this two-day meeting, co-chaired by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak along with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, heads of delegates and observers from 71 countries discuss ways under the democratic system to help prevent the occurrence and escalation of violent conflict, and the significance of democracy and economic development for peace-building.
Referring to the long experiences of such maturely and well-developed democratic countries as the USA and Australia, their economic achievements have evidently played an important role in maintaining their people's trust in democracy.
In a young democratic nation like East Timor, its leaders have indeed been aware of the importance of rapid economic development with just distributions of wealth to the entire nation.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, in his speech at the first BDF (2008), had underlined the significance of maintaining his people's trust in democracy by steadily improving his people's social welfare.
"Freedom, in democracy, has a broader meaning than acing without oppression. Releasing people from poverty, hunger, sickness and ignorance is not achieved overnight, and it takes more than simply setting rules that regulate individuals collective rights and duties."
"The Timor leste people believe in democracy and now expect this to also represent good governance, economic progress and justice and this is more than merely equal political rights... We know that without peace, social and economic stability; without responding to the needs of our people and satisfying their social aspirations, it is difficult to consolidate democratic values and principles," Xanana reminded.
Nusa Dua, Bali, Dec 8 (ANTARA) - Indonesia is for the third time hosting a Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) due to be opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bali's Nusa Dua resort on Thursday.
This annual meeting is expected to strengthen the messages and promotion of democratic values and principles to the region. However, in Indonesia's young democracy itself remains vulnerable and fragile partly due to poverty.
The picture of poverty in Indonesia can even be easily found both in rural and urban areas throughout this archipelagic nation.
Even about a kilometer away from the BDF venue inside the luxurious Nusa Dua resort, ordinary Indonesians from different economic backgrounds, where modest street food sellers live.
One of the street food vendors that ANTARA met on Wednesday or a day before the convening of the third BDF sells spicy Indonesian chicken noodle soup called "Soto Surabaya".
Through his modest food tent, this modest noodle soup seller keeps making a living for the sake of himself and his family members.
"I have to pay Rp250,000 monthly for using this location. The renting money goes to a local community organization," he told ANTARA who met him during lunch time at his modest food stall on a street shoulder about a kilometer away from a security gate of the Nusa Dua resort area.
That "Soto Surabaya" seller could be too busy with his small business so that he did not pay much attention to what was happening around him, including the third BDF in the luxurious resort.
According to the Indonesian Bureau of Statistics, the total number of Indonesians living in poor condition reached 34,96 million (2008).
Despite the flourishing democracy since the fall of the New Order regime in 1998, the fates of this Soto Surabaya seller and more than 34 millions of other Indonesians remain unchanged dramatically.
He said he and his wife were not allowed to get their citizen identity cards though they had resided in Bali, Indonesia's most popular resort island, for more than ten years.
"I cannot have the ID identity card because I don't have any piece of land with width of at least 200 meters so that I cannot have a land-ownership certificate as part of the requirements for getting an ID card," he said.
What is then the correlation of the democratic system that Indonesia has adopted over the past 12 years with the improvement of its people's welfare and national development?
The third BDF, which is held amid the world's concern about the intermittent hostilities in the Korean Peninsula, carries "Democracy and the Promotion of Peace and Stability" as its central theme.
During this two-day meeting, co-chaired by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak along with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, heads of delegates and observers from 71 countries discuss ways under the democratic system to help prevent the occurrence and escalation of violent conflict, and the significance of democracy and economic development for peace-building.
Referring to the long experiences of such maturely and well-developed democratic countries as the USA and Australia, their economic achievements have evidently played an important role in maintaining their people's trust in democracy.
In a young democratic nation like East Timor, its leaders have indeed been aware of the importance of rapid economic development with just distributions of wealth to the entire nation.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, in his speech at the first BDF (2008), had underlined the significance of maintaining his people's trust in democracy by steadily improving his people's social welfare.
"Freedom, in democracy, has a broader meaning than acing without oppression. Releasing people from poverty, hunger, sickness and ignorance is not achieved overnight, and it takes more than simply setting rules that regulate individuals collective rights and duties."
"The Timor leste people believe in democracy and now expect this to also represent good governance, economic progress and justice and this is more than merely equal political rights... We know that without peace, social and economic stability; without responding to the needs of our people and satisfying their social aspirations, it is difficult to consolidate democratic values and principles," Xanana reminded.
