Indonesia was colonized for 350 years. We lost our mind-set for entrepreneurship. We only become workers.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I first went to Indonesia in 2001 for six months. I was to help a community of plantation workers to make a film documenting and dramatizing the struggle to organize a union in the aftermath of the Suharto dictatorship.
Indonesia is a very huge country, geographically and in number of people, and there is still a lot of growth in the income level; It is very easy to assume there is a lot of demand for travel.
Colonialism is known in its primitive form, that is to say, by the permanent settling of repressive foreign powers, with an army, services, policies. This phase has known cruel colonial occupations which have lasted 300 years in Indonesia.
We are not facing great economic difficulties. The Indonesian people are faring reasonably well - just compare us to India or some other countries.
I have my own experience in Indonesia, of course. Sometimes in these transition situations, the new governments are still clumsy and awkward in responding to this new environment in which they operate. The only thing in their DNA is the old regime.
Everyone with all those good intentions came to help Indonesia rebuild from the tsunami; but the co-ordination problem was very big, because they came with their own way of doing business; they came with the inflexibility of their own governance.
I'm willing to work with all parties to reform Indonesia.
I am still an Indonesian citizen.
In the 1990s, I was among those Indonesians who demanded and celebrated the departure of our own autocrat, Suharto, and I joined the new government when he left.
I travel to Jakarta, I see what an important country it is. I've been working with them for a year.
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