INDONESIA

TEST ADS

2008-12-19T20:03:00.000+07:00

coba ah.....
BDV-106372-BDV

INDONESIAN ARCHITECTURE

2008-12-16T21:33:00.007+07:00

Indonesian architecture reflects the diversity of cultural, historical and geographic influences that have shaped Indonesia as a whole. Invaders, colonisers, missionaries, merchants and traders brought cultural changes that had a profound effect on building styles and techniques. Traditionally, the most significant foreign influence has been Indian. However, Chinese, Arab—and since the 18th and 19th centuries—European influences have been important.

Religious architecture

Although religious architecture has been widespread in Indonesia, the most significant was developed in Java. The island's long tradition of religious syncretism extended to architecture, which fostered uniquely Javanese styles of Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, and to a lesser extent, Christian architecture.

A number of often large and sophisticated religious structures (known as candi in Indonesian) were built in Java during the peak of Indonesia's great Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms between the 8th and 14th centuries. The earliest surviving Hindu temples in Java are at the Dieng Plateau. Thought to have originally numbered as many as 400, only 8 remain today. The Dieng structures were small and relatively plain, but architecture developed substantially and just 100 years later the second Kingdom of Mataram built the Prambanan complex near Yogyakarta; considered the largest and finest example of Hindu architecture in Java. The World Heritage-listed Buddhist monument Borobudur was built by the Sailendra Dynasty between 750 and 850 AD, but it was abandoned shortly after its completion as a result of the decline of Buddhism and a shift of power to eastern Java. The monument contains a vast number of intricate carvings that tell a story as one moves through to the upper levels, metaphorically reaching enlightenment. With the decline of the Mataram Kingdom, eastern Java became the focus of religious architecture with an exuberant style reflecting Shaivist, Buddhist and Javanese influences; a fusion that was characteristic of religion throughout Java.

Traditional vernacular architecture

Rumah adat are the distinctive style of traditional housing unique to each ethnic group in Indonesia. Despite this the diversity of styles, built by peoples with a common Austronesian ancestry, traditional homes of Indonesia share a number of characteristics such as timber construction, varied and elaborate roof structures, and pile and beam construction that take the load straight to the ground. These houses are at the centre of a web of customs, social relations, traditional laws, taboos, myths and religions that bind the villagers together. The house provides the main focus for the family and its community, and is the point of departure for many activities of its residents. Traditional Indonesian homes are not architect designed, rather villagers build their own homes, or a community will pool their resources for a structure built under the direction of a master builder and/or a carpenter.

The norm is for a post, beam and lintel structural system with either wooden or bamboo walls that are non-load bearing. Traditionally, rather than nails, mortis and tenon joints and wooden pegs are used. Natural materials - timber, bamboo, thatch and fibre - make up rumah adat. Hardwood is generally used for piles and a combination of soft and hard wood is used for the house's upper non-load bearing walls, and are often made of lighter wood or thatch. The thatch material can be coconut and sugar palm leaves, alang alang grass and rice straw.

Traditional dwellings have developed to respond to natural environmental conditions, particularly Indonesia's hot and wet monsoonal climate. As is common throughout South East Asia and the South West Pacific, Indonesian traditional vernacular homes are built on stilts (with the notable exceptions of Java and Bali). A raised floor serves a number of purposes: it allows breeze to moderate the hot tropical temperatures; it elevates the dwelling above stormwater runoff and mud; allows houses to be built on rivers and wetland margins; keeps people, goods and food from dampness and moisture; lifts living quarters above malaria-carrying mosquitos; and the house is much less affected by dry rot and termites.

Many forms of rumah adat have walls that are dwarfed in size by large roof—often of saddle shape—which are supported independently by sturdy piles. Over all traditional styles, sharply inclined allowing tropical rain downpours to quickly sheet off, and large overhanging eaves keep water out of the house and provide shade in the heat. The houses of the Batak people in Sumatra and the Toraja people in Sulawesi (tongkonan houses) are noted for their stilted boat-shapes with great upsweeping ridge ends. In hot and humid low-lying coastal regions, homes can have many windows providing good cross-ventilation, whereas in cooler mountainous interior areas, homes often have a vast roof and few windows.

Colonial architecture

The 16th and 17th centuries saw the arrival of European powers in Indonesia who used masonry for much of their construction. Previously timber and its by-products had been almost exclusively used in Indonesia, with the exception of some major religious and palace architecture. One of the first major Dutch settlements was Batavia (later Jakarta) which in the 17th and 18th centuries was a fortified brick and masonry city.

For almost two centuries, the colonialists did little to adapt their European architectural habits to the tropical climate. In Batavia, for example, they constructed canals through its low-lying terrain, which were fronted by small-windowed and poorly ventilated row houses, mostly in a Chinese-Dutch hybrid style. The canals became dumping grounds for noxious waste and sewage and an ideal breeding ground for the anopheles mosquitos, with malaria and dysentery becoming rife throughout the Dutch East Indies colonial capital.

Although row houses, canals and enclosed solid walls were first thought as protection against tropical diseases coming from tropical air, years later the Dutch learnt to adapt their architectural style with local building features (long eaves, verandahs, porticos, large windows and ventilation openings). The Indo-European hybrid villas of the 19th century would be among the first colonial buildings to incorporate Indonesian architectural elements and attempt adapting to the climate. The basic form, such as the longitudinal organisation of spaces and use of joglo and limasan roof structures, was Javanese, but it incorporated European decorative elements such as neo-classical columns around deep verandahs. Whereas the Indo-European homes were essentially Indonesian houses with European trim, by the early 20th century, the trend was for modernist influences—such as art-deco—being expressed in essentially European buildings with Indonesian trim (such as the pictured home's high-pitched roofs with Javan ridge details). Practical measures carried over from the earlier Indo-European hybrids, which responded to the Indonesian climate, included overhanging eaves, larger windows and ventilation in the walls.

PRESIDENT SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO

2008-12-07T19:49:00.003+07:00

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born September 9, 1949), is an Indonesian retired military general and the sixth President of Indonesia. Yudhoyono won the presidency in September 2004 in the second round of the Indonesian presidential election, in which he defeated incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri. He was sworn into office on October 20, 2004, together with Jusuf Kalla as Vice President.

Javanese do not have surnames in the Western sense. The name Yudhoyono was not inherited either from his father or his mother. While Susilo Bambang uses Yudhoyono in naming his children, it is not an inherited family surname. In Indonesia, he is referred to in some media as Susilo and is widely known by the initial SBY. Abroad, he is referred to as Yudhoyono, a name that he chose for his military name-tag, while in formal meetings and functions he is addressed as Dr. Yudhoyono. Susilo is apparently derived from Susila in Sanskrit which in means 'well-behaved' or perhaps Sushil, which means 'one with good character'.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was born in Pacitan, East Java, on September 9, 1949, to a lower-middle class family and is the son of Raden Soekotjo and Siti Habibah. Since he was a child, he always wanted to be in the army. His first school was Sekolah Rakyat Gadjahmada (now is SDN Baleharjo I). Yudhoyono developed a reputation as an extremely talented student in addition to being an academic achiever, excelling in writing poems, short stories, and play-acting. Yudhoyono was also talented in music and sport, reflected when he and his friends established a volleyball club called "Klub Rajawali" and a band called "Gaya Teruna". Music became a hobby for Yudhoyono and he often sang one of his favorite songs, "Pelangi di Matamu" during his presidential campaign.

When he was in 5th grade, Yudhoyono visited the National Military Academy (AMN) at Magelang. After seeing the soldiers training there and perhaps inspired by his own father's career, Yudhoyono became determined to join ABRI and become a soldier. Yudhoyono had originally wanted to get into the ABRI Academy (Akabri) after graduating from high school in 1968, however, he missed out because he did not register in time.

Yudhoyono then became a lecturer at the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology (ITS) before entering the Teachers Education School in Malang, East Java. There, he was able to prepare everything for the next phase of his education at Akabri. Yudhoyono officially entered Akabri in 1970 after passing the test which took place in Bandung, West Java.

Yudhoyono spent three years at Akabri (Academy of Indonesian Armed Forces) and became the Commander of the Cadet Corps Division there. He graduated from Akabri in 1973, and as the best graduate of the year, received the prestigious Adhi Makayasa Medal from President Suharto.

After graduating, Yudhoyono joined Kostrad and became a platoon Commander in the 330 Airborne Battalion. Aside from leading his troops, Yudhoyono also received the task of giving the Battalion soldiers lessons on general knowledge and English. Yudhoyono's proficiency in English was one of the reasons why he was sent to the United States to undertake the Airborne and Ranger Course at Fort Benning in 1975.

Yudhoyono returned to Indonesia in 1976 where he became a platoon Commander in the 305 Battalion and assigned to East Timor. Yudhoyono had several tours of duty there since and, like many other Indonesian officers involved in the occupation of East Timor, was accused of committing war crimes. However, Yudhoyono has never been charged with any specific act. From East Timor, Yudhoyono became a Mortar platoon commander (1977), an Operations Officer for an Airborne Brigade (1977-1978), and Battalion Commander (1979-1981) at Kostrad. Yudhoyono then spent 1981 and 1982 working at the Army Headquarters.

Whilst working at the Army Headquarters, Yudhoyono was sent to the United States again, this time to participate in the Infantry Officer Advanced Course at Fort Benning and in the On The Job Training with the 82nd Airborne Division. Yudhoyono also spent time at Panama and went through the jungle warfare school. When Yudhoyono returned in 1983, he was made Commander of the Infantry Trainers' School. It was not long before he was abroad again this time to Belgium and West Germany to undertake the Antitank weapons Course. In 1985, Yudhoyono also took a Battalion Commando Course in Malaysia.

From 1986-1988, Yudhoyono served at KODAM IX/Udayana which looked after the security of Bali and the smaller Sunda Islands. Yudhoyono was Battalion Commander from 1986-1988 and was part of the Operational Staff in 1988. In 1989, Yudhoyono became a lecturer at the Army Staff College (Seskoad) and delivered a presentation entitled "ABRI's Professionalism at the Present and in the Future". Together with Agus Wirahadikusumah, Yudhoyono published a book entitled "The Challenges of Development". As a lecturer, Yudhoyono also began to experiment with the concept of democracy.

Whilst at Seskoad, Yudhoyono also took the opportunity to further his own military education. He went to the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. While at the United States, he also took the opportunity to get an MA in business management from Webster University in 1991.

In 1992, Yudhoyono was transferred to the Army Information Department and worked as a speech writer for General Edi Sudrajat, the Army Chief of Staff. In 1993, when Edi became ABRI Commander, Yudhoyono became the Coordinator Edi's personal staff. Edi did not last long as ABRI Commander and Yudhoyono was then transferred back to Kostrad where he became a Brigade Commander. A year later, Yudhoyono was the Operations Assistant at KODAM Jaya before becoming a Military Resort Commander (KOREM) at KODAM IV/Diponegoro in Central Java.

Yudhoyono had one more stint overseas when he became Indonesia's Chief Military Observer of United Nation Peacekeeping Force in Bosnia in 1995-96.

When Yudhoyono returned to Indonesia, he was made KODAM Jaya Chief of Staff before being appointed as KODAM II/Sriwijaya Commander. In this position, Yudhoyono was responsible for the security of the southern provinces of Sumatra. He served in this position until 1997, when he was appointed Chief of Staff for Social Political Affairs. At the same time, he was also appointed Chairman of the ABRI Faction at the 1998 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) General Session and participated in Suharto's election to a 7th term as President.

During the days which would lead to Suharto's fall in May, Yudhoyono and pro-reform ABRI officers conducted meetings and discussions with Nurcholish Madjid, a secular pro-reform Muslim leader. From his discussions, Yudhoyono accepted to the fact that Suharto should resign but like the ABRI officers who went to the meeting with him, was reluctant to withdraw their support of Suharto publicly much less ask for Suharto's resignation. Nevertheless the pressure would eventually become too much for Suharto, who resigned on 21 May 1998.

As Indonesia entered the reform period, ABRI's popularity, because of its association with Suharto, was at an all time low. Nevertheless, ABRI undertook reform much like all the other aspects of Indonesian society. To de-emphasize ABRI's political role, Yudhoyono's Chief of Staff for Social Political Affairs was renamed Chief of Staff for Territorial Affairs and in 1999, ABRI would be separated into TNI and the Republic of Indonesia Police (Polri). At this time, Yudhoyono's popularity began to increase as he offered ideas and concepts to reform the military and nation. He did this by combining the strong reformist sentiment of the time with TNI's concern for security and stability. Yudhoyono then became known in the media as "The Thinking General".

Although he had overwhelmingly won the Presidency, Yudhoyono was still weak in the People's Representative Council (DPR). PD combined with all of its coalition partners were still too weak to contend with the Legislative muscles of Golkar and PDI-P who now intended to play the role of opposition.

With a National Congress to be held in December 2004, Yudhoyono and Kalla had originally backed Head of DPR Agung Laksono to become Golkar Chairman. When Agung was perceived to be too weak to run against Akbar, Yudhoyono and Kalla threw their weight behind Surya Paloh. Finally, when Paloh was perceived to be to weak to run against Akbar, Yudhoyono gave the green light for Kalla to run for the Golkar Chairmanship. On 19 December 2004, Kalla was elected as the new Chairman of Golkar.

Kalla's victory posed a dilemma for Yudhoyono. Although it now enabled Yudhoyono to pass legislation, Kalla's new position meant that in one sense, he was now more powerful than Yudhoyono.

The first sign that points to the existence of a rivalry was during the Indian Ocean Tsunami when Kalla, apparently on his own initiative assembled the Ministers and signed a Vice Presidential decree ordering work to begin on rehabilitating Aceh. The legality of his Vice Presidential decree was questioned although Yudhoyono maintained that it was he who gave the orders for Kalla to proceed.

The second sign was in September 2005 when Yudhoyono went to New York to attend the annual United Nations Summit. Although Yudhoyono had left Kalla to take charge of proceedings at Jakarta, he seemed to be bent on maintaining a watch on matters at home. Yudhoyono would hold a video conference from New York to receive reports from Ministers. Critics suggest that this was an expression of distrust by Yudhoyono The suggestion seemed to gain momentum when Kalla only showed up for one video conference and then spent the rest of the time taking care of Golkar matters.

Although things calmed down, especially with Golkar gaining another Cabinet position in the reshuffle, the alleged rivalry resurfaced again in October 2006 when Yudhoyono established the Presidential Work Unit for the Organization of Reform Program (UKP3R). There was accusation that this was an attempt by Yudhoyono to exclude Kalla from Government. Yudhoyono was quick to clarify that in supervising UKP3R, he will be assisted by Kalla.

Family

Yudhoyono lives both in the Presidential Merdeka Palace in Jakarta and his family residence in Cikeas, Bogor with his wife, Ani Bambang Yudhoyono. First Lady Ani Yudhoyono (pronounced ah-nee bumb-bung, maiden name: Kristiani Herawati) is a holder of political science degree from local Merdeka University, and was the first vice chairman of her husband's political vehicle Democratic Party. She is also the eldest child of General (Ret.) Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, one of Indonesia's high-profile generals.

The family's elder son, Captain (Inf) Agus Harimurti (born 1978), graduated from the reputable Taruna Nusantara High School in 1997 and Indonesian Military Academy in 2000 and is a holder of the Adhi Makayasa Medal like his father. He is currently assigned to an infantry battalion in Bandung, West Java and is married to Annisa Larasati Pohan, a model and also the daughter of an ex-Bank Indonesia vice-president, since July 8th, 2005. In July 2006, Agus was graduated from Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, Singapore in master degree of Strategic Studies. He is currently posted in Lebanon, being a member of Indonesian contingent for United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

The family's younger son, Edhie Baskoro (born 1982), received a degree with double major, Financial Commerce and eCommerce in 2005 from the Curtin University of Technology, in Perth, Western Australia and currently following his brother's footsteps in pursuing his Master Degree in the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, Singapore.

PRESIDENT MEGAWATI SUKARNO PUTRI

2008-12-07T19:40:00.002+07:00

Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Soekarnoputri (born January 23, 1947), was President of Indonesia from July 2001 to October 20, 2004. She was the country's first female President, and the first Indonesian leader born after independence. She is the daughter of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno.

After serving as Vice-President under Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati became President when Wahid was removed from office in 2001. She ran for re-election in the 2004 presidential election, but was defeated by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the second round.

In 2004, she was ranked number 8 on Forbes Magazine's list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women.

Megawati was born in Yogyakarta on 23 January 1947 to President Sukarno, who had declared Indonesia's independence from the Netherlands in 1945 and Fatmawati, one of Sukarno's nine wives. Megawati was Sukarno's second child and first daughter. As a child, Megawati grew up in luxury in her father's Merdeka Palace. She would dance in front of her father's guests and developed a hobby for gardening.

Megawati went to Padjadjaran University in Bandung to study agriculture, but dropped out in 1967 to be with her father following his fall from power. Megawati was 19 when her father was overthrown and succeeded by a military government led by Suharto. Sukarno's family was ignored by the new government provided they stayed out of politics.

In 1970, the year her father died, Megawati went to the University of Indonesia to study psychology but dropped out after two years. Advisors and people who know her have described her as incurious and inward looking, and critics have questioned her intellect. She is a practicing Muslim but also follows traditional Javanese beliefs and has great faith in astrology.

Megawati's first husband, First Lieutenant Surindo Supjarso, was killed in a plane crash in Irian Jaya in 1970. In 1972, she married Hassan Gamal Ahmad Hasan, an Egyptian diplomat. The marriage was annulled shortly after. She married Taufiq Kiemas, her present husband, in 1973. They have three children, M. Rizki Pramata, M. Pranada Prabowo and Puan Maharani, now in their 30s.

Megawati was not re-elected to the DPR or the MPR but would continue as a PDI member. In December 1993, PDI held a National Congress and as was always the case when New Order opposition parties hold their congresses, the Government would actively interfere in the Congress to ensure that the opposition parties would be tame towards them. As the Congress approached, three contenders for the Chairpersonship of PDI became evident. The first candidate was incumbent Suryadi who had started to become overly critical of the Government, the second candidate was Budi Harjono a Government-friendly figure who the Government want to win the Chairpersonship, and finally, there was Megawati. Megawati's candidacy received such an overwhelming support that her victory at the Congress would only be a formality.

Sensing this, the Government began to maneuver to ensure that Megawati was not elected. When the Congress assembled, the Government began to stall and all attempts to hold the Chairperson election was delayed. A situation then developed whereby if PDI did not elect a Chairperson by the end of the Congress, the Congress would not be allowed to continue because their permit to assemble would run out. As the hours ticked down to the end of the Congress, troops began gathering at the site of the Congress. Finally with two hours before the permit to assemble ran out, Megawati called a press conference. Megawati stated at the press conference, that because she enjoyed the support of a majority of PDI members, she was now the de facto Chairperson of PDI. Despite her relative lack of political experience, she was popular in part for her status as the daughter of Sukarno, but also because she was seen as free of corruption and having admirable personal qualities. Under her leadership, PDI gained a large following among the urban poor and both urban and rural middle classes.

On the other hand the Government was outraged that they failed in their attempt to prevent Megawati from winning the Chairpersonship of PDI. They never acknowledged Megawati although Megawati's self-appointment to the Chairpersonship had been ratified in 1994 by PDI. Finally in 1996, the Government managed to convene a Special National Congress in Medan. This Congress, attended by anti-Megawati figures re-elected Suryadi to the Chairpersonship of PDI. Megawati and her camp refused to acknowledge the results of the Government-backed congress and a stituation of dualism developed whereby PDI was divided into a pro-Megawati and anti-Megawati camp.

Suryadi began threatening to take back PDI's Headquarters in Jakarta. This threat came true during the morning of 27th July 1996. That morning, Suryadi's supporters (reportedly with the Government's backing) attacked the PDI Headquarters and faced resistance from Megawati supporters who had been stationed there ever since the National Congress in Medan. In the ensuing fight, Megawati's supporters managed to hold on to the headquarters. A riot then ensued, followed by a crackdown by the Government. The Government would later blame the riots on the People's Democracy Party (PRD), they would recognize Suryadi's PDI as the official PDI and would also ban Megawati from competing in the 1997 Legislative Election.

Despite what seemed to be a political defeat, Megawati scored a moral victory and her popularity grew. When the time came for the 1997 Legislative Elections, Megawati and her supporters threw their support behind the United Development Party (PPP), the other political party that the Government had allowed to exist.

Megawati had an ambivalent relationship with Wahid. During the Cabinet reshuffle of August 2000 for example, Megawati was not present for the announcement of the new Cabinet line-up. At another occasion, when the political tide began to rise up against Wahid, Megawati defended her President and lashed out against critics of the Government. In 2001 however, Megawati began to distance herself from Wahid as a Special Session of the MPR approached and the prospects of her becoming President began to get better. Although she refused to make any specific comments, she showed the signs of preparing herself to be President such as holding a meeting with party leaders a day before the Special Session was due to start.

On 23 July 2001, the MPR assembled. They unanimously removed Wahid from office before appointing Megawati as President.

She ran for re-election in the 2004 presidential election, but was defeated by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the second round, held on September 20, 2004.

Etymology of "Megawati Sukarnoputri"

Sukarnoputri means "daughter of Sukarno" and it is not a family name: Javanese often do not have family names. She is simply referred to as 'Megawati' (or 'Mega') which is derived from Sanskrit meghavatī = "she who has a cloud", i.e. a raincloud, as it was raining when she was born. Biju Patnaik, an eminent Indian leader named her on the request of Sukarno.

PRESIDENT ABDURRAHMAN WAHID

2008-12-07T19:32:00.003+07:00

Abdurrahman Wahid (also known as Gus Dur) (born September 7, 1940) is an Indonesian Muslim religious and political leader who served as the President of Indonesia from 1999 to 2001. The long-time president of the Nahdlatul Ulama and the founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Wahid was the first elected president of Indonesia after the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998.

Abdurrahman Wahid was born on the fourth day of the eight month of the Islamic calendar in 1940 in Jombang, East Java to Wahid Hasyim and Solichah. This led to a belief that he was born on August 4, instead the calendar used to mark his birth date was the Islamic calendar meaning that he was actually born on 4 Sya'ban, equivalent to September 7, 1940.

He was the firstborn out of his five siblings, and Wahid was born into a very prestigious family in the East Java Muslim community. His paternal Grandfather, Hasyim Asyari was the founder of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) while his maternal Grandfather, Bisri Syansuri was the first Muslim educator to introduce classes for women. Wahid's father, Wahid Hasyim, was involved in the Nationalist Movement and would go on to be Indonesia's first Minister of Religious Affairs.

In 1944, Wahid moved from Jombang to Jakarta where his father was involved with the Consultative Council of Indonesian Muslims (Masyumi), an organization established by the Japanese Imperial Army which occupied Indonesia at the time. After the Indonesian Declaration of Independence on 17 August 1945, Wahid moved back to Jombang and remained there during the fight for independence from the Netherlands during the Indonesian National Revolution. At the end of the war in 1949, Wahid moved to Jakarta as his father had received appointment as Minister of Religious Affairs. Wahid went about his education in Jakarta, going to KRIS Primary School before moving to Matraman Perwari Primary School. In addition to education provided at school, Wahid was also encouraged to read non-Muslim books, magazines, and newspapers by his father to further broaden his horizons. Wahid continued to stay in Jakarta with his family even after his father's removal as Minister of Religious Affairs in 1952. In April 1953, Wahid's father died after being involved in a car crash.

Wahid's education continued and in 1954, he began Junior High School. That year, he failed to graduate to the next year and was forced to repeat. His mother then made the decision to send Wahid to Yogyakarta to continue his education. In 1957, after graduating from Junior High School, Wahid moved to Magelang to begin Muslim Education at Pesantren (Muslim School) Tegalrejo. He developed a reputation as a gifted student, completing the pesantren's course in two years instead of four. In 1959, Wahid moved back to Jombang to Pesantren Tambakberas. There, while continuing his own education, Wahid also received his first job as a teacher and later on as headmaster of a madrasah affiliated with the Pesantren. Wahid also found employment as a journalist for magazines such as Horizon and Majalah Budaya Jaya.

Wahid's Presidency was noted for his wide ranging travels, including to controversial places. In November 1999, Wahid made his first overseas trip, visiting ASEAN member countries, Japan, United States of America, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan. He followed this up in December by a visit to the People's Republic of China.

In January 2000, Wahid made another overseas trip to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum and visited Saudi Arabia on the way back to Indonesia. In February, Wahid made another trip to Europe visiting the United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. On the way back to Europe, Wahid also visited India, South Korea, Thailand, and Brunei. March saw Wahid visit East Timor. In April, Wahid visited South Africa en route to the G7 summit in Cuba before returning via Mexico City and Hong Kong. In June, Wahid once again visited America, Japan, and France with Iran, Pakistan, and Egypt as the new additions to the list of countries which he had visited.

Controversially, Wahid also visited Irian Jaya and Aceh, Indonesian provinces with much separatist sentiment. Wahid also aroused controversy by visiting Israel, a state unpopular with many Indonesians.

Gus Dur is the inspiration behind the Wahid Institute, a Jakarta-based nonprofit organization led by his daughter Yenni Wahid. He also serves as patron, member of the board of directors and senior advisor to LibForAll ("Liberty for All") Foundation, whose mission is to reduce religious extremism and discredit terrorism worldwide. Among numerous other writings, he is the author of a seminal article published in the Wall Street Journal on December 30th, 2005 ("Right Islam vs. Wrong Islam") in which he called on "people of good will of every faith and nation" to unite to defeat the ideology of religious hatred that underlies and animates terrorism. Wahid discussed his suspicions regarding the involvement of the Indonesian government and the TNI (Indonesia's armed forces) in the terrorist bombings on Bali, in an interview in the documentary Inside Indonesia's War on Terrorism which as aired by SBS Dateline on October 12, 2005.

In September 2006, Wahid said that he was ready to contest the 2009 Presidential Election He confirmed this in March 2008, at a rally of his National Awakening Party (PKB) in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. Gus Dur and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, former Justice of the US Supreme Court stated their concerns about recent developments in Malaysia that seem aimed at defaming opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and threatening him with imprisonment in a manner which is reminiscent of the campaign to defame him in 1998. They stated there are plausible motives for some to manufacture a false case against him. They also mentioned that Anwar last year brought evidence to a royal commission that enabled it to conclude that there had been improper influence exerted on judicial appointments and more recently he brought forward evidence against the current attorney-general and the current inspector-general of police for the perversion of justice in his own prosecution in 1998-99.

Religious views

Wahid said:
All religions insist on peace. From this we might think that the religious struggle for peace is simple ... but it is not. The deep problem is that people use religion wrongly in pursuit of victory and triumph. This sad fact then leads to conflict with people who have different beliefs.

PRESIDENT JUSUF HABIBIE

2008-12-07T19:23:00.002+07:00

Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (born June 25, 1936), more commonly known simply as Rudi Habibie or B J Habibie, was the third President of Indonesia, holding office from 1998 to 1999.

He was born in Pare-Pare, South Sulawesi; and studied at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

In 1950, when Habibie was fourteen, he became acquainted with Lieutenant Colonel Suharto. The future Indonesian President was then stationed in Makassar to put down a separatist rebellion and lived in a house across the road from the Habibie family's. Suharto quickly became a family friend. He was present during the death of Habibie's father and became an intermediary when one of his soldiers wanted to marry Habibie's sister.

By May 1998, the increasing poverty caused by the Financial Crisis and political discontent had reached boiling point. On 13th May, the shooting of six students at Trisakti University in Jakarta, caused extreme anger which in turn caused widespread riots and lootings. There were now explicit calls for Suharto to step down as President of Indonesia. Suharto responded by saying on 19 May 1998 that if he stepped down, the Vice President would become President and in a not too subtle jab to Habibie, said that he was not sure whether the Vice President could solve the problems facing the country.

Habibie, who learned of Suharto's comments from television, was upset with his mentor and from then on was increasingly sympathetic to those who wanted Suharto to step down. While careful not to oppose him directly or support those who did, Habibie left the president in little doubt that he saw himself as Suharto's legitimate successor. Suharto, faced with dwindling civilian and military support, even among loyalists like Wiranto and Ginandjar Kartasasmita, decided to resign late on the evening of 20 May 1998.

The next morning, on 21 May 1998, Suharto publicly announced his resignation and Habibie was immediately sworn in as President. There was mixed reaction to Habibie's assumption of the Presidency. Hardline reformists saw Habibie as an extension of Suharto's regime while moderate reformists saw him as leading a transitional Government.

With the release of his 2006 book, Detik-Detik Yang Menentukan: Jalan Panjang Indonesia Menuju Demokrasi (Decisive Moments: Indonesia's Long Road Towards Democracy), there is speculation that Suharto had wanted Habibie to resign along with him. In Javanese style, Suharto hinted at this intention subtly. Habibie, who isn't Javanese, didn't take the hint and decided to take the office of the President. Because of this inability to read his intentions, Suharto showed nothing but contempt and never talked to Habibie again.

Habibie's Cabinet, which was called the Development Reform Cabinet consisted mostly of the same faces which had served in Suharto's last Cabinet. To show his reformist bent, Habibie included United Development Party (PPP) member Hamzah Haz in the Cabinet.

Since relinquishing the presidency, Habibie has spent more time in Germany than in Indonesia.

In September 2006, Habibie released a book called Detik-Detik Yang Menentukan: Jalan Panjang Indonesia Menuju Demokrasi (Decisive Moments: Indonesia's Long Road Towards Democracy). The book recalled the events of May 1998 which led to his rise to the Presidency. In the book, he controversially accused Lieutenant General Prabowo, Suharto's son-in-law and the Kostrad Commander in May 1998, of planning a coup d'etat against him.

Habibie is married to Hasri Ainun with whom he had two sons, both of them are married and give Habibie grand children. Habibie's father was from Sulawesi (Celebes) but his mother was Javanese from Central Java. His brother, Yunus Habibie, is the current Indonesian ambassador to the Netherlands.

PRESIDENT SUHARTO

2008-12-07T19:15:00.002+07:00

Suharto, also spelled Soeharto (June 8, 1921 – January 27, 2008) was an Indonesian military leader, and the second President of Indonesia, holding the office from 1967 to 1998.

Suharto was born in a small village near Yogyakarta, during the era of Dutch colonial control. His ethnic Javanese peasant parents divorced not long after his birth, and he passed between several foster parents for much of his childhood. After a brief and unsuccessful stint as a village bank clerk, Suharto joined the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in 1940. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Suharto served in various Japanese-organized Indonesian security forces. He joined the newly formed Indonesian army, during Indonesia's independence struggle, in which he rose through the ranks to command a garrison against Dutch offensives at the Republican capital of Yogyakarta. Following Indonesian independence, Suharto rose to the rank of Major General.

An attempted coup on September 30, 1965 was countered by Suharto-led troops. The Suharto-led army blamed the attempt on the Indonesian Communist Party, which was subsequently outlawed, and led a violent anti-communist purge, which is thought to have killed over half a million people. Suharto wrested power from the weakened incumbent and founding president, Sukarno, who relied on the ICP for support, and was inaugurated President in March 1968. Popular, military and political support in Indonesia for Suharto's 32-year presidency eroded dramatically following the devastating effect of the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis on Indonesia's economy and standard of living. Suharto was forced to resign from the presidency in May 1998 following mass demonstrations and violence. Suharto lived his post-presidential years in near seclusion, and died at the age of 86 in Jakarta in 2008.

The legacy of Suharto's 32-year presidency is debated both in Indonesia and abroad. Under his "New Order" administration, Suharto constructed a strong, centralized and military-dominated government. An ability to maintain stability over a sprawling and diverse Indonesia and an avowedly anti-Communist stance won him the economic and diplomatic support of the West during the Cold War. For most of his presidency, Indonesia experienced significant economic growth and industrialization, dramatically improving health, education and living standards. The "New Order" placed restrictions on the country's ethnic Chinese. Against the backdrop of Cold War international relations, Suharto's "New Order" invasion of East Timor, and the subsequent 24-year occupation, resulted in an estimated minimum of 102,800 deaths. By the 1990s, the New Order's authoritarianism and widespread corruption—estimates of government funds missappropirated by the Suharto family range from US$1.5 billion and US$35 billion was a source of much discontent, and was referred as one of the world's most corrupt leaders. In the years since his presidency, attempts to try him on charges of corruption and genocide failed because of his poor health.

Like many Javanese, Suharto had only one name. In religious contexts, he is sometimes called “Haji” or “el-Haj Mohammed Suharto”, but this Islamic title is not part of his formal name or generally used. The spelling "Suharto" has been official in Indonesia since 1947, but the older spelling, "Soeharto", is still frequently used.

After a brief stint in a clerical job at a village bank (from which he was forced to resign after a bicycle mishap tore his only working clothes), followed by a spell of unemployment, Suharto joined the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) in 1940, and studied in a Dutch-run military school in Gombong near Yogyakarta. With the Netherlands under German occupation and the Japanese pressing for access to Indonesian oil supplies, the ranks of the KNIL had been opened to large intakes of previously excluded Javanese.

After graduation, Suharto was assigned to Battalion XIII at Rampal. His service there was unextraordinary, but for his contracting malaria requiring hospitalization while on guard duty, and then gaining promotion to sergeant.

The March 1942 invasion of Imperial Japanese forces was initially welcomed by many Indonesians as a key step towards independence and Suharto was one of thousands of Indonesians who volunteered for Japanese organised security forces. He first joined the Japanese sponsored police force at the rank of keibuho (assistant inspector), where he claimed to have gained his first experience in the intelligence work so central to his presidency[citation needed] ("Criminal matters became a secondary problem," Suharto remarked, "what was most important were matters of a political kind").

Suharto shifted from police work toward the Japanese-sponsored militia, the Peta (Defenders of the Fatherland) in which Indonesians served as officers. In his training to serve at the rank of shodancho (platoon commander) he encountered a localized version of the Japanese bushido, or "way of the warrior", used to indoctrinate troops. This training encouraged an anti-Dutch and pro-nationalist thought, although toward the aims of the Imperial Japanese militarists. The encounter with a nationalistic and militarist ideology is believed to have profoundly influenced Suharto's own way of thinking.

The Japanese turned ex-NCOs, including Suharto, into officers and gave them further military education, including lessons in the use of the samurai sword. Suharto's biographer, O.G. Roeder, records in The Smiling General (1969) that Suharto was "well known for his tough, but not brutal, methods".

On January 4, 2008, Suharto, 86, was rushed to the Pertamina hospital, Jakarta with complications arising from a weak heart, swelling of limbs and stomach, and partial renal failure. His health fluctuated for several weeks but progressively worsened with anaemia and low blood pressure due to heart and kidney complications, internal bleeding, fluid on his lungs, and blood in his feces and urine which caused a haemoglobin drop. Doctors reported his "very critical condition" after almost all his organ functions failed, and that there was only a 50-50 chance that he would survive, though some Indonesians believed Suharto would not die easily because he practiced Kejawen mysticism. On January 23, 2008 Suharto's health worsened further, as a sepsis infection spread through his body. His family consented to the removal of life support machines, and he died on January 27 at 1:10 p.m. local time.

Suharto's body was taken from Jakarta to the Giri Bangun mausoleum complex, part of the Mangkunegaran burial site in Karanganyar, near the Central Java city of Solo. He was buried alongside his late wife in a state military funeral with full honours, with the Kopassus elite forces and Kostrad commandos as the honour guard and pallbearers and Commander of Group II Kopassus Surakarta Lt.Colonel Asep Subarkah. In attendance were the incumbent president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as "Ceremony Inspector", and vice-president, government ministers, and armed forces chiefs of staff. Suharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana spoke at the funeral requesting, in accordance with Javanese custom, forgiveness for her any misdoings of her father. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to see the convoy. Condolences were offered by many regional heads of state, although certain regional leaders such as Helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, boycotted the funeral [80], and Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared a week of official mourning.

PRESIDENT SUKARNO

2008-12-07T19:07:00.003+07:00

Sukarno (June 6, 1901 – June 21, 1970) was the first President of Indonesia. He helped the country win its independence from the Netherlands and was President from 1945 to 1967, presiding with mixed success over the country's turbulent transition to independence. Sukarno was forced out of power by one of his generals, Suharto, who formally became President in March 1967.

The son of a Javanese school teacher and his Balinese wife from Buleleng regency, Sukarno was born in Blitar, East Java in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He was admitted into a Dutch-run school as a child. When his father sent him to Surabaya in 1916 to attend a secondary school, he met Tjokroaminoto, a future nationalist. In 1921 he began to study at the Technische Hogeschool (Technical Institute) in Bandung. He studied civil engineering and focused on architecture.

Atypically, even among the colony's small educated elite, Sukarno was fluent in several languages. In addition to the Javanese language of his childhood, he was a master of Sundanese and of Indonesian, and especially strong in Dutch. He was also quite comfortable in German, English, and French. Sukarno once remarked that when he was studying in Surabaya, he often sat behind the screen in movie theaters reading the Dutch subtitles in reverse because the front seats were only for elite Dutch people.

In his studies, Sukarno was "intensely modern," both in architecture and in politics. Sukarno interpreted these ideas in his dress, in his urban planning for the capital (eventually Jakarta), and in his socialist politics. For Sukarno, modernity was blind to race, neat and Western in style, and anti-imperialist.

In early 1929, during the so-called Indonesian National Revival, Sukarno and fellow Indonesian nationalist leader Mohammad Hatta (later Vice President), first foresaw a Pacific War and the opportunity that a Japanese advance on Indonesia might present for the Indonesian independence cause. In February 1942 Imperial Japan invaded the Dutch East Indies quickly over-running outmatched Dutch forces who marched, bussed and trucked Sukarno three hundred kilometres to Padang, Sumatra. They intended keeping him prisoner, but abruptly abandoned him to save themselves.

The Japanese had their own files on Sukarno and approached him with respect wanting to use him to organise and pacify the Indonesians. Sukarno on the other hand wanted to use the Japanese to free Indonesia: "The Lord be praised, God showed me the way; in that valley of the Ngarai I said: Yes, Independent Indonesia can only be achieved with Dai Nippon...For the first time in all my life, I saw myself in the mirror of Asia."

Subsequently, indigenous forces across both Sumatra and Java aided the Japanese against the Dutch but would not cooperate in the supply of the aviation fuel which was essential for the Japanese war effort. Desperate for local support in supplying the volatile cargo, Japan now brought Sukarno back to Jakarta. He helped the Japanese in obtaining its aviation fuel and labor conscripts, called sukarela in Indonesian and Romusha in Japanese. Sukarno was lastingly ashamed of his role with the romusha. He also was involved with Peta and Heiho (Javanese volunteer army troops) via speeches broadcast on the Japanese radio and loud speaker networks across Java. By mid-1945 these units numbered around two million, and were preparing to defeat any Allied forces sent to re-take Java.

On November 10, 1943 Sukarno was decorated by the Emperor of Japan in Tokyo. He also became head of Badan Penyelidik Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia (BPUPKI), the Japanese-organized committee through which Indonesian independence was later gained. On 7 September 1944, with the war going badly for the Japanese, Prime Minister Koiso promised independence for Indonesia, although no date was set. This announcement was seen as immense vindication for Sukarno's apparent collaboration with the Japanese.

Family

Megawati Sukarnoputri, who served as the fifth president of Indonesia, is his daughter by his wife Fatmawati. By another wife, a Japanese art student (some sources say geisha) named Naoko Nemoto (now known as Ratna Sari Dewi Sukarno), he had a daughter Kartika. Kartika Sukarno married, in 2006, Frits Seegers, the Netherlands-born chief executive officer of the Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Bank.

INDONESIAN HISTORY

2008-12-05T22:54:00.002+07:00

Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,508 islands (6,000 inhabited) stretching along the equator in South East Asia. The country's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade; trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history. The area is populated by peoples of various migrations, creating a diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and languages.

Fossilised remains of Homo erectus, popularly known as the "Java Man", suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago. Austronesian people, who form the majority of the modern population, were originally from Taiwan and arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE. From the seventh century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished bringing Hindu and Buddhist influences with it. The agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties subsequently thrived and declined in inland Java. The last significant non-Muslim kingdom, the Hindu Majapahit kingdom, flourished from the late 13th century, and its influence stretched over much of Indonesia. The earliest evidence of Islamised populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra; other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam which became the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences.

Europeans arrived in Indonesia from the 16th century seeking to monopolise the sources of valuable nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalised colony. By the early 20th century Dutch dominance extended to what was to become Indonesia's current boundaries. The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation during WWII ended Dutch rule, and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, nationalist leader, Sukarno, declared independence and was appointed president. The Netherlands tried to reestablish their rule, but a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognised Indonesian independence.

An attempted coup in 1965 led to a violent army-led anti-communist purge in which over half a million people were killed. General Suharto politically out-manoeuvred President Sukarno, and was formally appointed president in March 1968. His New Order administration garnered the favour of the West whose investment in Indonesia was a major factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth. In the late 1990s, however, Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the East Asian Financial Crisis which led to popular protests and Suharto's resignation on 21 May 1998. The Reformasi era following Suharto's resignation, has led to a strengthening of democratic processes, including a regional autonomy program, the secession of East Timor, and the first direct presidential election in 2004. Political and economic instability, social unrest, corruption, natural disasters, and terrorism have slowed progress. Although relations among different religious and ethnic groups are largely harmonious, acute sectarian discontent and violence remain problems in some areas.

Pre-colonial civilisations

Early kingdoms
References to the Dvipantara or Jawa Dwipa Hindu kingdom in Java and Sumatra appear in Sanskrit writings from 200 BC.

The earliest archeological relic discovered in Indonesia is from the Ujung Kulon National Park, West Java, where an early Hindu statue of Ganesha from the 1st century AD was found on the summit of Mount Raksa in Panaitan Island.

There is also archeological evidence of a kingdom in Tatar Sunda / Sunda Territory in West Java dating from the 2nd century, and according to Dr Tony Djubiantono, the head of Bandung Archeology Agency, Jiwa Temple in Batujaya, Karawang, West Java was also built around this time.

Three rough plinths dating from the beginning of the fourth century are found in Kutai, East Kalimantan, near Mahakam River. The plinths bear an inscription in the Pallava script of India reading "A gift to the Brahmin priests". In addition, the "Batu Tulis" monument ,a huge black boulder near Bogor, West Java, dates from around 450. On this monument, King Purnavarna inscribed his name and made an imprint of his footprints, as well as his elephant's footprints. The accompanying inscription reads, "Here are the footprints of King Purnavarna, the heroic conqueror of the world". This inscription is in Sanskrit and is still clear after 1500 years.

A number of Hindu and Buddhist states flourished and then declined across Indonesia. By the time of the European Renaissance, Java and Sumatra had already seen over a millennium of civilization and two major empires. One such early kingdom was Tarumanagara, which flourished between 358 and 669 AD. Located in Sunda in West Java close to modern-day Jakarta, its fifth-century king, Purnawarman, produced the earliest known inscriptions in Java. Purnawarman apparently built a canal that changed the course of the Cakung River, and drained a coastal area for agriculture and settlement. In his stone inscriptions, Purnawarman associated himself with Vishnu, and Brahmins ritually secured the hydraulic project.

The political history of Indonesia during the fourteenth and fifteen centuries is not well known due to scarcity of evidence. Two major states dominated this period; Majapahit in East Java, the greatest of the pre-Islamic Indonesian states, and Malacca on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, arguably the greatest of the Muslim trading empires.

Kingdom of Mataram
Mataram was an Indianized kingdom based in Central Java around modern-day Yogyakarta between the 8th and 10th centuries. The centre of the kingdom was moved from Central Java to East Java by Mpu Sindok. The move may have been caused by an eruption of the volcano Mount Merapi, or a power struggle.

The first king of Mataram was Sri Sanjaya, who drove the Sailendras from Java and left inscriptions in stone. The monumental Hindu temple of Prambanan in the vicinity of Yogyakarta was built by Daksa. Dharmawangsa ordered the translation of the Mahabharata into Old Javanese in 996.

The kingdom collapsed into chaos at the end of Dharmawangsa's reign under military pressure from Srivijaya. Airlangga, a son of Udayana of Bali and a relative of Dharmawangsa re-established the kingdom including Bali under the name of Kahuripan.

Srivijaya Empire
Srivijaya (-sri meaning glitters or radiant, -jaya meaning success or excellence) was an ancient Malay kingdom on the island of Sumatra which influenced much of the Maritime Southeast Asia. From the seventh century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism that were imported with it.

Srivijaya was centred in the coastal trading center of present day Palembang. The empire was a thalassocracy and did not extend its influence far beyond the coastal areas of the islands of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was organised in three main zones — the estuarine capital region centred on Palembang, the Musi River basin which served as hinterland, and rival estuarine zones capable of forming rival power centres. The capital zone was administered directly by the ruler. The hinterland zone remained under its own local datus or chiefs who were organized into a network of allegiance to the maharaja. Force was the dominant element in the empire's relations with rival river systems such as the Batang Hari river basin centred on Jambi. The ruling lineage intermarried with and allied with the Sailendras of Central Java.

Although historical records and archaeological evidence are scarce, it appears that by the seventh century, Srivijaya established suzerainty over large areas of Sumatra, western Java, and much of the Malay Peninsula. Dominating the Malacca and Sunda straits, Srivijaya controlled both the Spice Route traffic and local trade, charging a toll on passing ships, and remained a formidable sea power until the thirteenth century. This spread the Malay culture throughout Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, and western Borneo.

A stronghold of Vajrayana Buddhism, Srivijaya attracted pilgrims and scholars from other parts of Asia. These included the Chinese monk Yijing, who made several lengthy visits to Sumatra on his way to study at Nalanda in India in 671 and 695, and the eleventh-century Buddhist scholar Atisha, who played a major role in the development of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet. Travellers to these islands mentioned that gold coinage was in use on the coasts, but not inland.

In 1068, Rajendra Chola, the Chola king of Tamil Nadu, conquered Kedah from Srivijaya. The Cholas continued a series of raids and conquests throughout what is now Indonesia and Malaysia for the next 20 years. Although the Chola invasion was ultimately unsuccessful, it gravely weakened the Srivijayan hegemony and enabled the formation of regional kingdoms based, like Kediri, on intensive agriculture rather than coastal and long distance trade.

Srivijaya influence waned by the 11th century. The island was in frequent conflict with the Javanese kingdoms, first Singhasari and then Majapahit. Islam eventually made its way to the Aceh region of Sumatra, spreading its influence through contacts with Arabs and Indian traders. By the late 13th century, the kingdom of Pasai in northern Sumatra converted to Islam. At that time Srivijaya was briefly a tributary of the Khmer empire and later the Sukhothai kingdom. The last inscription dates to 1374, where a crown prince, Ananggavarman, is mentioned.

Srivijaya ceased to exist by 1414, when Parameswara, the kingdom's last prince, converted to Islam and founded the Sultanate of Malacca on the Malay peninsula.

Singhasari and Majapahit
The Singhasari and Majapahit kingdoms both rose in eastern Java and assumed the territory of Srivijaya[citation needed]. Singhasari was a kingdom located in east Java between 1222 and 1292.

The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under Gajah Mada it experienced what is often referred to as a "Golden Age" in Indonesian history, when its influence extended to much of southern Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and Bali from about 1293 to around 1500.

The founder of the Majapahit Empire, Kertarajasa, was the son-in-law of the ruler of the Singhasari kingdom, also based in Java. After Singhasari drove Srivijaya out of Java altogether in 1290, the rising power of Singhasari came to the attention of Kublai Khan in China and he sent emissaries demanding tribute. Kertanagara, ruler of the Singhasari kingdom, refused to pay tribute and the Khan sent a punitive expedition which arrived off the coast of Java in 1293. By that time, a rebel from Kediri, Jayakatwang, had killed Kertanagara. The Majapahit founder allied himself with the Mongols against Jayakatwang and, once the Singhasari kingdom was destroyed, turned and forced his Mongol allies to withdraw in confusion.

Gajah Mada, an ambitious Majapahit prime minister and regent from 1331 to 1364, extended the empire's rule to the surrounding islands. A few years after Gajah Madah's death, the Majapahit navy captured Palembang, putting an end to the Srivijayan kingdom. Although the Majapahit rulers extended their power over other islands and destroyed neighbouring kingdoms, their focus seems to have been on controlling and gaining a larger share of the commercial trade that passed through the archipelago. About the time Majapahit was founded, Muslim traders and proselytisers began entering the area.

After peaking the 1300s, Majapahit power began to decline with a war over succession that started in 1401 and went on for four years. Majapahit found itself unable to control the rising power of the Sultanate of Malacca. Dates for the end of the Majapahit Empire range from 1478 to 1520. A large number of courtiers, artisans, priests, and members of the royal family moved east to the island of Bali at the end of Majapah power.

The spread of Islam
Although Muslim traders first traveled through South East Asia early in the Islamic era, the earliest evidence of Islamized populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra. Although it is known that the spread of Islam began in the west of the archipelago, the fragmentary evidence does not suggest a rolling wave of conversion through adjacent areas; rather, it suggests the process was complicated and slow. The spread of Islam was driven by increasing trade links outside of the archipelago; in general, traders and the royalty of major kingdoms were the first to adopt the new religion.

Other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam, making it the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java. Only Bali retained a Hindu majority. In the eastern archipelago, both Christian and Islamic missionaries were active in the 16th and 17th centuries, and, currently, there are large communities of both religions on these islands.

Sultanate of Mataram
The Sultanate of Mataram was the third Sultanate in Java, after the Sultanate of Demak Bintoro and the Sultanate of Pajang.

According to Javanese records, Kyai Gedhe Pamanahan became the ruler of the Mataram area in the 1570s with the support of the kingdom of Pajang to the east, near the current site of Surakarta (Solo). Pamanahan was often referred to as Kyai Gedhe Mataram after his ascension.

Pamanahan's son, Panembahan Senapati Ingalaga, replaced his father on the throne around 1584. Under Senapati the kingdom grew substantially through regular military campaigns against Mataram's neighbors. Shortly after his accession, for example, he conquered his father's patrons in Pajang.

The reign of Panembahan Seda ing Krapyak (c. 1601-1613), the son of Senapati, was dominated by further warfare, especially against powerful Surabaya, already a major center in East Java. The first contact between Mataram and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) occurred under Krapyak. Dutch activities at the time were limited to trading from limited coastal settlements, so their interactions with the inland Mataram kingdom were limited, although they did form an alliance against Surabaya in 1613. Krapyak died that year.

Krapyak was succeeded by his son, who is known simply as Sultan Agung ("Great Sultan") in Javanese records. Agung was responsible for the great expansion and lasting historical legacy of Mataram due to the extensive military conquests of his long reign from 1613 to 1646.

After years of war Agung finally conquered Surabaya. The city surrounded by land and sea and starved it into submission. With Surabaya brought into the empire, the Mataram kingdom encompassed all of central and eastern Java, and Madura; only in the west did Banten and the Dutch settlement in Batavia remain outside Agung's control. He tried repeatedly in the 1620s and 1630s to drive the Dutch from Batavia, but his armies had met their match, and he was forced to share control over Java.

In 1645 he began building Imogiri, his burial place, about fifteen kilometers south of Yogyakarta. Imogiri remains the resting place of most of the royalty of Yogyakarta and Surakarta to this day. Agung died in the spring of 1646, with his image of royal invincibility shattered by his losses to the Dutch, but he did leave behind an empire that covered most of Java and its neighboring islands.

Upon taking the throne, Agung's son Susuhunan Amangkurat I tried to bring long-term stability to Mataram's realm, murdering local leaders that were insufficiently deferential to him, and closing ports so he alone had control over trade with the Dutch.

By the mid-1670s dissatisfaction with the king fanned into open revolt. Raden Trunajaya, a prince from Madura, lead a revolt fortified by itinerant mercenaries from Makassar that captured the king's court at Mataram in mid-1677. The king escaped to the north coast with his eldest son, the future king Amangkurat II, leaving his younger son Pangeran Puger in Mataram. Apparently more interested in profit and revenge than in running a struggling empire, the rebel Trunajaya looted the court and withdrew to his stronghold in East Java leaving Puger in control of a weak court.

Amangkurat I died just after his expulsion, making Amangkurat II king in 1677. He too was nearly helpless, though, having fled without an army or treasury to build one. In an attempt to regain his kingdom, he made substantial concessions to the Dutch, who then went to war to reinstate him. For the Dutch, a stable Mataram empire that was deeply indebted to them would help ensure continued trade on favorable terms. They were willing to lend their military might to keep the kingdom together. Dutch forces first captured Trunajaya, then forced Puger to recognize the sovereignty of his elder brother Amangkurat II.

The Sultanate of Banten
In 1524-25, Sunan Gunung Jati from Cirebon, together with the armies of Demak Sultanate, seized the port of Banten from the Sunda kingdom, and established The Sultanate of Banten. This was accompanied by Muslim preachers and the adoption of Islam amongst the local population. At its peak in the first half of the seventeenth century, the Sultanate lasted from 1526 to 1813 AD. The Sultanate left many archaeological remains and historical records.

ECONOMY OF INDONESIA

2008-12-05T19:30:00.006+07:00

Indonesia has a market-based economy in which the government plays a significant role. It owns more than 164 state-owned enterprises and administers prices on several basic goods, including fuel, rice, and electricity. In the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis that began in mid-1997, the government took custody of a significant portion of private sector assets through acquisition of nonperforming bank loans and corporate assets through the debt restructuring process.

Since the late 1980s, Indonesia has made significant changes to its regulatory framework to encourage economic growth. This growth was financed largely from private investment, both foreign and domestic. U.S. investors dominated the oil and gas sector and undertook some of Indonesia's largest mining projects. In addition, the presence of US banks, manufacturers, and service providers expanded, especially after the industrial and financial sector reforms of the 1980s. Other major foreign investors included Japan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea.

The economic crisis made continued private financing imperative but problematic. New foreign investment approvals fell by almost two-thirds between 1997 and 1999. The crisis further highlighted areas where additional reform was needed. Frequently cited areas for improving the investment climate were establishment of a functioning legal and judicial system, adherence to competitive processes, and adoption of internationally acceptable accounting and disclosure standards. Despite improvements in the laws in recent years, Indonesia's intellectual property rights regime remains weak; lack of effective enforcement is a major concern. Under Suharto, Indonesia had moved toward private provision of public infrastructure, including electric power, tollroads, and telecommunications. The financial crisis brought to light serious weaknesses in the process of dispute resolution, however, particularly in the area of private infrastructure projects. Although Indonesia continued to have the advantages of a large labor force, abundant natural resources and modern infrastructure, private investment in new projects largely ceased during the crisis.

The stock market capitalization of listed companies in Indonesia was valued at $81,428 million in 2005 by the World Bank. Even though the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board likes to project the impression that foreign direct investment is welcome in the country, many of the country's laws and regulations are tilted against foreign investors. For example, potential foreign investors and their executive staff cannot maintain own bank accounts in Indonesia, unless they are tax-paying local residents (paying tax in Indonesia for their worldwide income).

This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Indonesia at market prices by the IMF with figures in millions of rupiah.

For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US dollar is exchanged at 3,094.57 rupiah only. Average wages in 2007 were approximately $9-10 per day.

POLITICS OF INDONESIA

2008-12-05T09:46:00.005+07:00

The politics of Indonesia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Indonesia is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two People's Representative Councils. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The 1945 constitution provided for a limited separation of executive, legislative, and judicial power. The governmental system has been described as "presidential with parliamentary characteristics." Following the Indonesian 1998 Revolution and the resignation of President Suharto, several political reforms were set in motion.

A constitutional reform process has been underway since 1999, and has already produced several important changes.

Among these are term limits of up to two five-year terms for the President and Vice President, and measures to institute checks and balances. The highest state institution is the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), whose functions included electing the president and vice president (since 2004 the president is elected directly by the people), establishing broad guidelines of state policy, and amending the constitution. The 695-member MPR includes all 550 members of the People's Representative Council (DPR) (the House of Representatives) plus 130 "regional representatives" elected by the twenty-six provincial parliaments and sixty-five appointed members from societal groups.

The DPR, which is the premier legislative institution, originally included 462 members elected through a mixed proportional/district representational system and thirty-eight appointed members of the armed forces (TNI) and police (POLRI). TNI/POLRI representation in the DPR was ended before the general election in 2004 and will end in the MPR in 2009. Societal group representation in the MPR was eliminated in 2004 through further constitutional change. Military domination of regional administration is gradually breaking down, with new regulations prohibiting active-duty officers from holding political office.

Having served as rubberstamp bodies in the past, the DPR and MPR have gained considerable power and are increasingly assertive in oversight of the executive branch. Under constitutional changes in 2004, the MPR became a bicameral legislature, with the creation of the Dewan Perwakilan Daerah (DPD), in which each province is represented by four members, although its legislative powers are more limited than those of the DPR. Through his appointed cabinet, the president retains the authority to conduct the administration of the government.

A general election in June 1999 produced the first freely elected national, provincial, and regional parliaments in over forty years. In October 1999 the MPR elected a compromise candidate, Abdurrahman Wahid, as the country's fourth president, and Megawati Sukarnoputri — a daughter of Sukarno, the country's first president — as the vice president. Megawati's PDI-P party had won the largest share of the vote (34%) in the general election, while Golkar, the dominant party during the Soeharto era, came in second (22%). Several other, mostly Islamic parties won shares large enough to be seated in the DPR.

CULTUR OF INDONESIA

2008-12-05T08:07:00.007+07:00

Indonesian culture has been shaped by long interaction between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. Indonesia is central along ancient trading routes between the Far East and the Middle East, resulting in many cultural practices being strongly influenced by a multitude of religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam, all strong in the major trading cities. The result is a complex cultural mixture very different from the original indigenous cultures.

Examples of cultural fusion include the fusion of Islam with Hindu in Javanese Abangan belief, the fusion of Hinduism, Buddhism and animism in Bodha, and the fusion of Hinduism and animism in Kaharingan; others could be cited.

Indonesian art-forms express this cultural mix. Wayang, traditional theater-performed puppet shows, were a medium in the spread of Hinduism and Islam amongst Javan villagers. Both Javanese and Balinese dances have stories about ancient Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms, while Islamic art forms and architecture are present in Sumatra, especially in the Minangkabau and Aceh regions. Traditional art, music and sport are combined in a martial art form called Pencak Silat.

Western culture has influenced Indonesia most in modern entertainment such as television shows, movies and songs. India has notably influenced Indonesian songs and movies. A popular type of song is the Indian-rhythmical dangdut, which is often mixed with Arab and Malay folk music.

Despite the influences of foreign culture, some remote Indonesian regions still preserve uniquely indigenous culture. Indigenous ethnic groups of Mentawai, Asmat, Dani, Dayak, Toraja and many others are still practising their ethnic rituals, customs and wearing traditional clothes.

ABOUT INDONESIA

2008-12-05T05:43:00.011+07:00

Republic of Indonesia or abbreviated RI Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia, is located on the equatorial line, and between Asia and Australia and between the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. Because that is located between two continents and two oceans, it is also called as the Nusantara (Between Islands). Consisting of 17,508 islands, Indonesia is the largest archipelago country in the world. With a population of 222 million in the year 2006, Indonesia is a country with the fourth largest in the world and the countries which has the world's largest Muslim, although not officially Islamic country. Indonesia is a form of republican government, with the House of Representatives and the president elected directly. Jakarta is the capital of the country. Indonesia borders with Malaysia on Borneo island, with Papua New Guinea island in Papua and East Timor in the Timor island. Other neighboring countries are Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, and the union territory Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India.

History of Indonesia is influenced by many other nations. Islands became an important trading region since at least since the 7th century, when the Kingdom of Sriwijaya formed a religious and trade relations with China and India. Kingdoms, Hindu and Buddhist have been growing in the early Christian centuries, followed by the traders who brought Islam, and the various strengths of European mutual combat to monopolize the spice trade Maluku during the era of ocean exploration. After around 350 years of colonization by the Dutch, Indonesia's state independence at the end of World War II. Furthermore, Indonesia challenges from natural disasters, corruption, separatism, the process of democratization and the period of rapid economic changes.

From Sabang to Merauke, Indonesia consist of various ethnic, language and religion that is different. Java tribe is the largest ethnic group and the most politically dominant. Indonesia's national motto, "If Bhinneka single" ( "Different carriers but one"), means that the diversity of the countries forming. In addition to having large population and territory that is, Indonesia has a natural area to support the level of biodiversity in the world's second largest.

We still have many more beauty indonesia, because it does not really disappointed you came to our country. As you already know the island Bali, Mataram, and many more others who are not less interesting!