Indonesia

"The sea was deep and bottomless, and there was no place where they could drop anchor and stop. But when the sky became clear, they could tell east and west, and (the ship) again went forward in the right direction. If she had come on any hidden rock, there would have been no way of escape. “After proceeding in this way for rather more than ninety days, they arrived at a country called Java-dvipa, where various forms of error and Brahmanism are flourishing, while Buddhism in it is not worth speaking of."

"I hope the friendship between us can be improved and maintained, because there are mutual benefits if Indonesia and Malaysia work together in all areas, including politics, economy and bilateral relations"

"One of the biggest threats to biodiversity is the continued loss of virgin forests. Every year, an area of forest corresponding to the size of Hungary disappears. However, the rate of deforestation has fallen by 40 per cent since the 1990s, according to the FAO. Deforestation has ceased in rich countries. In the United States and Europe forested areas are increasing. In China and India, too, forests are now growing, suggesting that rising populations and economies do not have to cause overexploitation. Were it not for deforestation in seven countries – Brazil, Paraguay, Angola, Congo, Tanzania, Indonesia and Myanmar – the world’s forests would have grown in the 2010s. That is not much of a comfort, given the unique natural values lost with those forests. But it shows that the notion that we are experiencing a relentless global deforestation does not hold."

"When I moved to Indonesia, it was 1967 and, you know, the incredible economic progress that has been made in Indonesia, the way Jakarta has changed, when I was there you'd see becak everywhere, you know, it was slow moving place...[]...But, the only Hotel was Hotel Indonesia and Sarinah was, where, you know, place to do shopping, and now my understanding is there...buildings everywhere and that represents the incredible progress has been made but...not only economically, but also Indonesia is being a model of democracy, such a populous nation and the diverse nation, that able to bring together a democratic forces and Indonesia's gonna be a powerhouse International..."

"I think they are hardworking, they love their families and community, and they are very calm, which I think helps me now in this very tense job. I think that living in Indonesia also reminded me how big the world is, you know, I've... Indonesia such a big country, such a diverse country and so many different people there and it reminded me that we have to have a broad view of the world and recognize the we all are connected and that's very important..."

"Bhinnêka Tunggal Ika, the national motto of Indonesia, literally means “different, yet the same” referring to the Buddha and Śiva, and it is usually rendered as “unity in diversity”. The phrase is from the Kakawin Sutosoma, a fourteenth century poem in Old Javanese, by Mpu Tantular. The stanza is as follows: Rwāneka dhātu winuwus Buddha Wiswa Bhinnêki rakwa ring apan kena parwanosen, Mangka ng Jinatwa kalawan Śiwatatwa tunggal Bhinnêka tunggal ika tan hana dharma mangrwa. The Buddha and Viśva[nātha] are known as different realms They are different, but how to know this difference For the truth of Jina (Buddha) and Śiva is one They are different, yet same, for truth knows no duality."

"Strange to say, the greatest of Buddhist temples—some students would call it the greatest of all temples anywhere—is not in India but in Java. In the eighth century the Shailendra dynasty of Sumatra conquered Java, established Buddhism as the official religion, and financed the building of the massive fane of Borobudur (i.e., “Many Buddhas”). The temple proper is of moderate size, and of peculiar design—a small domical stupa surrounded by seventy-two smaller topes arranged about it in concentric circles. If this were all, Borobudur would be nothing; what constitutes the grandeur of the structure is the pedestal, four hundred feet square, an immense mastaba in seven receding stages. At every turn there are niches for statuary; 436 times the sculptors of Borobudur thought fit to carve the figure of Buddha. Still discontent, they cut into the walls of the stages three miles of bas-reliefs, depicting the legendary birth, youth and enlightenment of the Master, and with such skill that these reliefs are among the finest in Asia. With this powerful Buddhist shrine, and the Brahmanical temples nearby at Prambanan, Javanese architecture reached its zenith, and quickly decayed. The island became for a time a maritime power, rose to wealth and luxury, and supported many poets. But in 1479 the Moslems began to people this tropical Paradise, and from that time it produced no art of consequence. The Dutch pounced upon it in 1595, and consumed it, province by province during the following century, until their control was complete."

"During his brief governorship of Java, Stamford Raffles was responsible for ordering the excavations of the spectacular Buddhist site of Borobudur: "From local Muslim records, [Raffles] established that Islam had effectively obliterated Buddhism on the island in the thirteenth century.""

"Borobudur Temple was built with an overwhelming mass of images and more than 1,400 narrative relief illustrating the life of Buddha and Buddhist texts."

"As Sidney Jones has argued, “The threat of terrorism [in Indonesia] is real, yet only a few Muslims are radicals, and even fewer advocate violence.”"

"Put simply, eradicating terrorism in Indonesia is not as straightforward as it is in many other jurisdictions. Anti-terrorism policies must recognise the peculiar Indonesian context and background."

"The details of the massacre of somewhere between 250,000 and 600,000 Indonesians in 1965 are only now beginning to emerge. After a failed coup d’état in 1965, the Indonesian army (with at least tacit approval from the United States) took its revenge on the Communists. The army encouraged nationalist and Muslim youth to settle old scores; gangs of Muslim youths massacred Chinese peasants in the most horrific manner. “ ‘No-one went out after 6 pm, recalls a Chinese whose family fled East Java. ‘They cut off women’s breasts; they threw so many bodies in the sea that people were afraid to eat fish. My brother still had to serve in the shop. In the morning young Muslims would come in swaggering, with necklaces of human ears’ ” (Guardian Weekly [23 September 1990]). In Indonesia’s 1975 invasion of East Timor, at least two hundred thousand civilians were killed."

"The good puppet-master, whatever his interpretation of the story, political, mystical, leaves the issues open. Everyone watching responds according to his character and circumstances. And the story is denser than appears in this account. Because every character trails his own ancestry and dilemmas, even the wicked Rahwana, even the beautiful Sinta. Everyone is engaged in his own search, and at his appearance in the story is in a crisis; so that, as in the profoundest drama or fiction, every encounter is charged with meaning. The epics are endless. The puppet plays bear any number of repetitions, because the more the audience knows the more it understands; and interpretations of motive, of what is right and wrong or expedient, will constantly change."

"We want to make sure that many products consumed domestically can be produced within the country. We hope the economy can be supported not only by consumption but also by production activities."

"Indonesia’s ranking has improved remarkably as cited in the report. However, we recognize the need to continue improving our competitiveness and the government has prioritized overcoming these challenges, especially infrastructure bottlenecks. We also recognize the need to improve human resources by continuously improving health, education and workers’ training."

"Indonesia is one of the least exposed economies in the region, with a vast domestic market and a relatively small share of exports to gross domestic product, so it is insulated from volatility in the global economy,"

"As per today's data, Indonesia remains one of the fastest growing, and perhaps more importantly, one of the most stable economies in Asia,"

"Indonesia has a much younger, productive, and growing population. That is a different demographic outlook to the situation in many Western European economies, where the labor force will be either static or decline in size in the future."

"Brothers and sisters! We are still holding flag ceremonies, we are still singing patriotic songs, we are still using national symbols and the pictures of our founding fathers are still here. But in other countries, they have conducted studies that say that the Republic of Indonesia will no longer exist by 2030!"

"We must not lose. If we lose, this country could go extinct. Because the Indonesian elites are always disappointing, always failing to carry out the mandate given by the Indonesian people. If the same system is continued, Indonesia will become weak. Indonesia will become even poorer, even more helpless and could even go extinct."

"Despite today’s upside surprise, we maintain our view that Indonesia’s growth will slow further in the coming quarters, as the impact of Bank Indonesia’s policy tightening weighs on credit growth and, in turn, GDP growth."

"In 2014, Indonesian biodiesel producers may export 2.2 million kilolitres of biodiesel, up from 1.833 million kilolitres last year. Domestic biodiesel sales may jump to 3 million kilolitres this year, up from 1.006 million kilolitres last year."

"The Australian government never comments on specific intelligence matters. I will never say or do anything that might damage the strong relationship and the close co-operation that we have with Indonesia, which is all in all, our most important relationship."

"Indonesia is a country for which I have a great deal of respect and personal affection based on my own time in Indonesia. I want nothing, but the best for Indonesia, and I certainly want, Leigh, I certainly want the boats stopped and that is overwhelmingly in the interests of both our countries."

"One of the things that I always valued so much about Indonesia, when I was growing up, was people were devout Muslims but they also tolerated to others, other cultures."

"The political significance of Indonesian Islam, including Javanese Islam, stems in no small measure from the fact that in Islam the borderline between religion and politics is, at best very thin. Islam is a way of life as much as a religion…. Islam does not recognize the existence of independent, secular realms of life…. Separation of religion and politics, in other words, was, at best a temporary phenomenon of Islam in decline. In an era of Islamic awakening, it could not survive for long, either in independent Muslim lands or in Islamic areas ruled by non-Muslims…."

"Like other Muslims, Indonesian Islamic leaders—reformists, hardly less than orthodox—were thus by Western standards not only lacking in political experience, but were, by the nature of their orientation and training, ill-equipped to formulate political goals as such. The santri {Javanese practitioners of a more orthodox Islam} civilization, in other words, is not a political ideal so much as the idealization of a religious community—the ummah—which would subsume within its all-embracing confines all walks of life, subordinating the state to the dictates of the Islamic ethic…. If given political expression in Darul Islam—the so-called “Islamic State”—the political program of Islam is limited to postulating a state which, irrespective of its constitutional form, economic organization, and social composition, is to be ruled by Muslims in accordance with Islamic Law."

"From Mohammedanism (which for centuries she [i.e., Aceh] is reputed to have accepted) she really only learnt a large number of dogmas relating to hatred of the infidel without any of their mitigating concomitants; so the Acehnese made a regular business of piracy and man-hunting at the expense of the neighboring non-Mohammedan countries and islands, and considered that they were justified in any act of treachery or violence to European (and latterly to American) traders who came in search of pepper, the staple product of the country. Complaints of robbery and murder on board ships trading in Acehnese parts thus grew to be chronic."

"On April 10th, 1815, six thousand miles away from here, on an island in Indonesia, a volcano erupted. It sent a massive plume of ash into the air that eventually encircled the globe. A year later, 1816 became “the year without a summer.” Incessant rains fell here in Norway, Britain, China and the U.S. It snowed 20 inches in July in Boston. Crops failed. Livestock died. People starved. Food riots. Looting. Burning of cities. Floods of refugees. Epidemics of typhus. And it took decades to recover. Millions died in places just like this — the worst famine of the 19th Century. No one saw it coming. With famine, no one ever does, until it’s too late."