Arabs (Hijazis and Yemenis mainly) in Indonesia (Arab-Indonesians - 5 million + population)

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

Indonesia hails ‘historic’ $22.9bn mega-investment deal with UAE

Short Url
https://arab.news/cjdsf

ISMIRA LUTFIA TISNADIBRATA
January 17, 202

• Leaders agree initial $6.8bn projects plan, including initiative to build a replica of Abu Dhabi grand mosque in Java

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s business community on Thursday welcomed the UAE’s pledge to pump tens of billions of dollars into a wide range of key sector projects.

President Joko Widodo and his entourage secured an overall $22.9 billion deal during an official two-day visit to Abu Dhabi earlier this week covering the fields of energy, logistics, port construction, mining, and agriculture.

It was also revealed that the delegation brokered a UAE commitment to assist in establishing an Indonesian sovereign wealth fund.

At a bilateral meeting, the Indonesian leader and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan witnessed the signing of 11 business accords between the two countries. Indonesia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi said the UAE had committed to investing $6.8 billion out of the total agreed spending package into the initiatives.

Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia’s chief minister for maritime affairs and investment, described the UAE’s pledges as possibly being “the biggest deals in Indonesia’s history, secured with the UAE within only six months,” referring to the crown prince’s visit to Indonesia last July.

While most lauded the deal, some Indonesian business leaders remained cautious over the long-term prospects for the projects.

Fachry Thaib, head of the Middle East Committee and OIC at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, said the schemes could trigger a wide-ranging domino effect through job creation and other business ventures.

“The government needs to have a strong lobbying team that can follow up these deals and push them into investment realizations. We have had such commitments from other Gulf countries, but there was no further lobbying and the pledges were hardly realized,” he told Arab News.

Zaini Alawi, a businessman who exports and imports between Indonesia and the Middle East, said: “It would set a good precedent to attract other Gulf countries to invest here if Indonesia shows it could aptly manage these investment deals.”

Director for Middle East affairs at Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry, Achmad Rizal Purnama, told Arab News that the $6.8 billion commitment from the UAE was only the first phase of a long-term program.

Widodo and the crown prince also witnessed the signing of five government cooperation agreements in health, agriculture, Islamic affairs, and counterterrorism.

Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi said one of the main aspects of the cooperation agreement would be the promotion of religious moderation and raising awareness of the dangers of extremism.

FASTFACT
The UAE has pledged to assist in establishing an Indonesian sovereign wealth fund.

Noting that the UAE had pledged to fund the construction of a replica of the Abu Dhabi grand mosque in Solo, the president’s hometown in Java, the minister pointed out that the grant was part of a commitment by the two countries to establish a mosque that welcomed all people and served a pivotal role in promoting the middle path of Islam.

Riza Widyarsa, a Middle East expert at the University of Indonesia, told Arab News that the cooperation deal could help more Indonesians to understand that not all countries in the Middle East observed conservative Islam. “They are also very active in countering religious extremism and radicalism,” he said.

In addition to the multi-billion-dollar projects, Purnama said Indonesia had also secured the UAE’s commitment to assist in establishing an Indonesian sovereign wealth fund into which the UAE, the US International Development Finance Corporation, and Japan’s SoftBank would inject funding.

And according to Pandjaitan, the UAE had pledged to be “the biggest contributor” to the fund.

The fund would be used to finance Indonesia’s ambitious infrastructure development projects and the construction of its proposed new capital in East Kalimantan, a relocation that has been estimated to cost $33 billion and of which Indonesia could only afford 19 percent.

He said all parties involved would meet in Tokyo soon to set up the structure of the fund and to finalize the plan, which the government expected to launch by mid-2020, a year after the crown prince proposed the idea to Widodo.

“This could be the first time that big capitalists work together in a single project,” Pandjaitan added.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1614291/business-economy

Saudi Shoura Council chief holds talks with visiting counterpart from Indonesia

Short Url
https://arab.news/cqd2v


ARAB NEWS
December 23, 2019

RIYADH: Saudi Shoura Council Speaker Dr. Abdullah Al-Asheikh held talks with Bambang Soesatyo, speaker of People’s Consultative Assembly of Indonesia, in Riyadh on Sunday.

Al-Asheikh stressed the importance of enhancing ties between the Saudi Shoura Council and its Indonesian counterpart. He briefed the visiting dignitaries on the mechanism of the Shoura Council.

Soesatyo lauded Saudi Arabia’s development and growth. He hailed the outcome of King Salman’s 2017 visit to Indonesia. He said the visit helped boost bilateral ties in various fields. During the meeting, the two sides reviewed several issues of common interests.

Later, Al-Asheikh hosted a luncheon in honor of the Indonesian delegation.

On Sunday, the speaker of the Pakistan’s National Assembly, Asad Qaiser, also arrived in Riyadh on an official visit to the Kingdom,

He was received by Al-Asheikh at the King Khalid International Airport. The Pakistani official is heading a delegation of parliamentarians and a number of key officials. He is scheduled to meet senior Saudi officials.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1602786/saudi-arabia

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

@Indos

What are they saying? Almost 1 million views and 1000 + comments.

 

[Indos]

@Indos

What are they saying? Almost 1 million views and 1000 + comments.

They are reviewing Arab dishes in Arab food restaurant in Jakarta. Their youtube channel seems to be quite popular and focuses on street food/restaurant review in Indonesia.

Many Indonesian become full time youtuber and specialize on their topic. Street food/restaurant review are among favorite topic among Indonesian youtuber viewer.

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

They are reviewing Arab dishes in Arab food restaurant in Jakarta. Their youtube channel seems to be quite popular and focuses on street food/restaurant review in Indonesia.

Many Indonesian become full time youtuber and specialize on their topic. Street food/restaurant review are among favorite topic among Indonesian youtuber viewer.

Very nice bro.

The big question here, did they like it?

Many Indonesian and Filipino restaurants in KSA and many popular ones as well.

Also learned that 2% of all Filipinos have Arab ancestry. This is quite a big number.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs_in_the_Philippines

Always wanted to visit Mindanao.

 

[Indos]

Very nice bro.

The big question here, did they like it?

Many Indonesian and Filipino restaurants in KSA and many popular ones as well.

Also learned that 2% of all Filipinos have Arab ancestry. This is quite a big number.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs_in_the_Philippines

Always wanted to visit Mindanao.

Yup, they do like it. The most well known Arab dishes in Indonesia is nasi (rice) kebuli. For me, I like swarma better, I still remember buying Swarma in Madinah several years ago.

Yup, I think the Arab ancestry is taken from its Islamic root in the past. I once watch Philippino Youtuber who has Arabic family name, but dont know whether she is a Muslim or not since her cloth is quite open/sexy.

Here is a video about Syrian man who sell Swarma in Samarinda, Kalimantan island.

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

Yup, they do like it. The most well known Arab dishes in Indonesia is nasi (rice) kebuli. For me, I like swarma better, I still remember buying Swarma in Madinah several years ago.

Yup, I think the Arab ancestry is taken from its Islamic root in the past. I once watch Philippino Youtuber who has Arabic family name, but dont know whether she is a Muslim or not since her cloth is quite open/sexy.

Here is a video about Syrian man who sell Swarma in Samarinda, Kalimantan island.

I could recommend 100’s of Arab dishes (each Arab country and region have their own unique tasty dishes) to try but trying dishes like kabsa, mandi, mansaf, maqluba, falafel, shawarma, kebab etc. could be a very small start.

I think murtabak is a dish that we share with each other, I mean GCC, Yemen and South East Asia region. It is a popular street food in Indonesia as well.

Yes, old migrations and settlements. Actually most of Filipino (great people, we in KSA like Filipino people a lot) people were Muslims before the Spanish colonization but the South retained their faith due to strong Sultanates, many of Arab origin, and helpful geography.

Also Muslim Southern Thailand, are they not Malay people who are closely related to the people of West and North Sumatra next door?

 

[Indos]

I could recommend 100’s of Arab dishes (each Arab country and region have their own unique tasty dishes) to try but trying dishes like kabsa, mandi, mansaf, maqluba, falafel, shawarma, kebab etc. could be a very small start.

I think murtabak is a dish that we share with each other, I mean GCC, Yemen and South East Asia region. It is a popular street food in Indonesia as well.

Yes, old migrations and settlements. Actually most of Filipino (great people, we in KSA like Filipino people a lot) people were Muslims before the Spanish colonization but the South retained their faith due to strong Sultanates, many of Arab origin, and helpful geography.

Also Muslim Southern Thailand, are they not Malay people who are closely related to the people of West and North Sumatra next door?

Yup, we call it in Indonesia as martabak and it is quite popular in Indonesia, many street vendors are selling this food in Jakarta. Not difficult to find one.

Yes, you are correct bro, Southern Thailand are actually part of Malay ethnic/tribe. They can speak Malay language (Indonesian people use Malay language as their national language).

Arab Indonesian is well integrated in the Indonesian society. It is especially due to similar religious belief with the native.

Here is one of my Arab Indonesian friend, we become friend since we were at elementary school up until high school. There are also 2 Arab Indonesian family in my home small neighborhood and there is family with Arab Indonesian wife and 1 house who is own by Arab Indonesian but it is rent to a business people for office.

Both are my old friends, the right side is my Arab Indonesian friend

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1494501/world

@Indos

KSA-Indonesia annual trade is MUCH larger than what we both believed.

Indonesia looks to boost Saudi trade, investment

Short Url
https://arab.news/8pvhg

Updated 07 February 2020
ISMIRA LUTFIA TISNADIBRATA
February 06, 2020

JAKARTA: Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin hailed the long-running relationship of his country with Saudi Arabia during an exclusive interview with Arab News and said he hoped that trade ties could be boosted between the pair.

“Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have very good relations, not just between governments but also between the people . . . even before our independence, our scholars have studied in Saudi Arabia,” the vice president said at his office in Jakarta.

According to official data, there were 44 Saudi projects in Indonesia with an overall investment value of $5.4 million, ranking the Kingdom 42nd among the Southeast Asian nation’s foreign investors. In 2018, Saudi Arabia ranked 40th, having injected $5.36 million through 43 projects. Overall, between 2014 and 2018, there were 160 Saudi investment projects with a total value of $43 million.

The Kingdom ranks 23rd among Indonesia’s export destinations and is among its top 10 import markets, with a total trade value of $4.61 billion between January and November 2019.

Amin said he hoped Saudi Arabia could boost its trade and investment in Indonesia.

“Indonesia is the largest Muslim-majority country. If Saudi invests in Indonesia, it could (help to) develop Indonesia and empower the people, which also means empowering Muslims.,” Amin said.

The septuagenarian vice president, who completed his first 100 days in office in late January, also expressed hopes that working conditions for Indonesian migrant workers in the Middle East could improve over time.

Indonesia has imposed a moratorium on sending migrant workers to more than 20 Middle Eastern countries since 2015 because of concerns over their welfare.

Millions of Indonesians, most of whom are women, work in the region as domestic workers.

In October 2018, then-Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri and his Saudi counterpart Ahmed Sulaiman Al-Rajhi launched the One Channel System in Jakarta. The initiative is a pilot project which permits only certified workers to be employed in limited professions.

“We need to ensure that our migrant workers ... are well protected, safe and have their rights and dignity respected,” Amin said.

Another major issue is Indonesia’s Hajj quota. Indonesia has been lobbying Saudi Arabia to set last year’s quota of 231,000 as an official count for Indonesia. The official quota provided by the Saudi government is still 221,000 but in 2019 Indonesia had an additional quota of 10,000.

“We are asking for a bigger Hajj quota because we have a very long waiting list. In some regions, the waiting list for someone to get their turn to go on Hajj could stretch to more than 25 years,” Amin said.

“We are really concerned about this and we can reduce it only by having additional quota,” he added.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1624141/business-economy


COMMODITIES
JANUARY 11, 2020 / 3:44 PM / A MONTH AGO
Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power plans $10 billion of investments in 2020: CEO

FILE PHOTO: Saudi Acwa Power-generating windmills are pictured in Jbel Sendouq, on the outskirts of Tangier, Morocco, June 29, 2018. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian utility developer ACWA Power is planning to invest about $10 billion in 2020 as it eyes new projects in some 10 countries, the company’s chief executive said on Saturday.

The company, which builds power and desalinated water plants and has 50% of its portfolio in Saudi Arabia, plans to expand into new markets, Paddy Padmanthan told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy event in Abu Dhabi.


ACWA Power has assets in 12 countries and has bid for renewable energy projects in five new countries – Ethiopia, Tunisia, Cambodia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

“We have won two renewable energy projects (in Ethiopia) this year which together will produce 300 mega watts, they will run in parallel and be worth about $500 million of investments,” he said.


“A few days ago we signed a contract worth $300 million dollars to produce 200 mega watts in Azerbaijan. We are looking at another east European country, we might have something there in the course of a month to six weeks,” he added.

Padmanthan said ACWA was also developing several new renewable energy projects in Indonesia, which he expects to be worth around $500 million, and aimed to expand its portfolio to Jordan and Morocco, as well as boost its operations in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), holds a 25% stake in ACWA and is planning to increase that to 40%.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...lion-of-investments-in-2020-ceo-idUSKBN1ZA0K5

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

Sri Mulyani invites Saudi Arabia to invest in Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news...vest-in-indonesias-sovereign-wealth-fund.html

After KSA suspended Umrah due to the corona virus, all people who planned to go will have their expanses repaid.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/heal...ns-stranded-after-saudi-arabia-suspends-umrah

KSA had no choice given the situation in Iran next door and the fact that Umrah could become an enormous source of trouble potentially given the numbers, diversity of people and how easily such a viral virus can spread in gatherings this big with so many people next to each other.

People need to understand this decision and await the situation to improve. Insha'Allah those who planned to go, will get another chance soon.

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

@Indos

Bro, do you think that Baswedan (Governor of Jakarta) has a change of ever becoming the president of Indonesia?

 

[Indos]

@Indos

Bro, do you think that Baswedan (Governor of Jakarta) has a change of ever becoming the president of Indonesia?

Well we call him Anies though in here.

We have recent survey for the next President in 2024 election. The result was released on February 2020. The surveyed were conducted by three different survey companies that some are quite respected in my country.

Here is the result:

(Indobarometer)-Respected- Prabowo 22.5 %. Anies 14.3 % Sandiaga Uno 8 % Ganjar Pranowo 7,7 % Risma 6.8 % Agus Yudhoyono 5.7 %

(Politika Research)-Not Known- Prabowo 17.3 % Sandiaga Uno 9.1 % Ganjar 8.1 % Anies 7.8% Agus Yudhoyono 5.4 %

(Median) -Quite Known-Prabowo 18.8 % Anies 15.8 % Sandiaga Uno 9.6 % Agus Yudhoyono 8.3 % Ridwan Kamil 5.7 %

My Analysis

From the 3 survey being conducted, it look like Islamist and National Religious candidates who are always in coalition since first direct Presidential Election in 2004 have the highest vote. Their candidates are Prabowo, Anies Baswedan, Sandiaga Salahudin Uno, and Agus Yudhoyono.

Ridwan Kamil is independent and the rest candidates comes from PDIP party (center left)-secular nationalist party.

Islamist-Nationalist Religious coalition possible candidate

Based on the survey Prabowo is the most favorite. He is also previous candidate in latest 2 election. He is quite ambitious and has money supported by his conglomerate businesses, his younger brother big businesses, and Soeharto family businesses. He is the most possible candidate for President with this coalition. But there is also possibility he will be just backing from behind since he is quite old already and maybe doesnt have interest anymore.

Vice President for this coalition IMO will be Sandiaga Uno. He is among the richest Indonesian with his conglomerate businesses and has become the most financial supporter for previous Jakarta Governor election that was won by Anies and the main financial backer for Prabowo in previous Presidential election. Very clever, young (47 years old), rich, handsome, and understand economy well as he has big financial firm which he founded and make him rich.

How about Anies ?

Anies is a better debater then both Prabowo and Sandiaga. He is also very clever as he had Doctor degree. It is proven when he can beat Ahok in Jakarta election. Despite so he made a blunder when he spent much money on Formula E race in Jakarta while neglecting the most important thing which is solving flooding problem in Jakarta.

IMO it is due to Indonesian climate that was having so few rain a year before Jakarta Governor election and 2 years after that that make him not aware of that problem. Later Jakarta and its surrounding cities get huge rains for months and he was strongly criticized by the mass and media.

Despite so, his handling on Covid 19 outbreak is praised by many, including his haters who mostly comes from secular Nationalist group and Jokowi who were playing down the possible outbreak is highly criticized although his fanatic supporter always support him.

His popularity IMO will increase if he doesnt make any mistake and keep making good decision during this outbreak. His candidacy though as President candidate from Islamist-Nationalist Religious coalition is possible if Prabowo doesnt want to be Presidential candidate anymore.

Sandiaga Uno IMO is not ready to challenge Ganjar Pranowo who is a good debater and has proven to win in Central Java Governor election two times with high margin. Sandiaga IMO will keep becoming Vice President candidate just like previous election and also back Anies candidacy financially.

Sandiaga Uno and Anies Baswedan

Secular Nationalist Presidential Candidate as their rival

Ganjar Pranowo

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

Well we call him Anies though in here.

We have recent survey for the next President in 2024 election. The result was released on February 2020. The surveyed were conducted by three different survey companies that some are quite respected in my country.

Here is the result:

(Indobarometer)-Respected- Prabowo 22.5 %. Anies 14.3 % Sandiaga Uno 8 % Ganjar Pranowo 7,7 % Risma 6.8 % Agus Yudhoyono 5.7 %

(Politika Research)-Not Known- Prabowo 17.3 % Sandiaga Uno 9.1 % Ganjar 8.1 % Anies 7.8% Agus Yudhoyono 5.4 %

(Median) -Quite Known-Prabowo 18.8 % Anies 15.8 % Sandiaga Uno 9.6 % Agus Yudhoyono 8.3 % Ridwan Kamil 5.7 %

My Analysis

From the 3 survey being conducted, it look like Islamist and National Religious candidates who are always in coalition since first direct Presidential Election in 2004 have the highest vote. Their candidates are Prabowo, Anies Baswedan, Sandiaga Salahudin Uno, and Agus Yudhoyono.

Ridwan Kamil is independent and the rest candidates comes from PDIP party (center left)-secular nationalist party.

Islamist-Nationalist Religious coalition possible candidate

Based on the survey Prabowo is the most favorite. He is also previous candidate in latest 2 election. He is quite ambitious and has money supported by his conglomerate businesses, his younger brother big businesses, and Soeharto family businesses. He is the most possible candidate for President with this coalition. But there is also possibility he will be just backing from behind since he is quite old already and maybe doesnt have interest anymore.

Vice President for this coalition IMO will be Sandiaga Uno. He is among the richest Indonesian with his conglomerate businesses and has become the most financial supporter for previous Jakarta Governor election that was won by Anies and the main financial backer for Prabowo in previous Presidential election. Very clever, young (47 years old), rich, handsome, and understand economy well as he has big financial firm which he founded and make him rich.

How about Anies ?

Anies is a better debater then both Prabowo and Sandiaga. He is also very clever as he had Doctor degree. It is proven when he can beat Ahok in Jakarta election. Despite so he made a blunder when he spent much money on Formula E race in Jakarta while neglecting the most important thing which is solving flooding problem in Jakarta.

IMO it is due to Indonesian climate that was having so few rain a year before Jakarta Governor election and 2 years after that that make him not aware of that problem. Later Jakarta and its surrounding cities get huge rains for months and he was strongly criticized by the mass and media.

Despite so, his handling on Covid 19 outbreak is praised by many, including his haters who mostly comes from secular Nationalist group and Jokowi who were playing down the possible outbreak is highly criticized although his fanatic supporter always support him.

His popularity IMO will increase if he doesnt make any mistake and keep making good decision during this outbreak. His candidacy though as President candidate from Islamist-Nationalist Religious coalition is possible if Prabowo doesnt want to be Presidential candidate anymore.

Sandiaga Uno IMO is not ready to challenge Ganjar Pranowo who is a good debater and has proven to win in Central Java Governor election two times with high margin. Sandiaga IMO will keep becoming Vice President candidate just like previous election and also back Anies candidacy financially.

Sandiaga Uno and Anies Baswedan

Secular Nationalist Presidential Candidate as their rival

Ganjar Pranowo

Valuable information as usual brother. I need to learn Bahasa so I can follow those political debates.

As you know, given our previous discussions, I consider the Indonesian political system, in the Muslim perspective, very much praiseworthy and the move from one-party rule after Suharto.

If you could describe what the main difference between the Islamist-Nationalists faction and the Secular Nationalist faction is on topics such as healthcare, education, crime, infrastructure and foreign policy what would it be? Even though Indonesia is currently dominated/ruled by the secular nationalist front, it has not harmed (at all) Indonesia's relationship with Muslim countries, so I believe that regardless of who rules Indonesia, Indonesia will continue reaching out to Muslim countries as well as strengthened the economic, military, people-to-people and business ties with the Arab world. At least I firmly hope so.

Lastly, I am curious about this, is there a regional/ethnic rivalry in Indonesia between for instance Sumatra and Java and the various ethnic groups in Indonesia and is that reflected in the political system and among voters?

BTW how accurate is this video?

BTW if you want I can post some videos and translate them about Saudi Arabians of Indonesian background, this is a very old migration/community in Arabia as well that I am sure that you know about bro.

 

[Indos]

Valuable information as usual brother. I need to learn Bahasa so I can follow those political debates.

As you know, given our previous discussions, I consider the Indonesian political system, in the Muslim perspective, very much praiseworthy and the move from one-party rule after Suharto.

If you could describe what the main difference between the Islamist-Nationalists faction and the Secular Nationalist faction is on topics such as healthcare, education, crime, infrastructure and foreign policy what would it be? Even though Indonesia is currently dominated/ruled by the secular nationalist front, it has not harmed (at all) Indonesia's relationship with Muslim countries, so I believe that regardless of who rules Indonesia, Indonesia will continue reaching out to Muslim countries as well as strengthened the economic, military, people-to-people and business ties with the Arab world. At least I firmly hope so.

I will try to answer your question one by one inshaAllah but let me start with this explanation first before I try to answer all your questions, because this explanation is important to really understand Indonesia political system, government, and society.

First, it should be clear that Indonesia is not a secular country, although not an Islamic country either. Indonesia is in between those category.

Here are the reasons:

1. Our State Ideology

Any respected Indonesian or Western analyst will agree that Indonesia is not a secular state. This is because our founding fathers from across the nations have created Pancasila as our state ideology. The name of Pancasila comes from sanskrit words means Five Pillar/Principle. Pancasila is put on the preamble (opening) of our constitution that was made in 1945.

It is Five Pillar (Pancasila) that you can read on Wikipedia English.

1. Belief in the Almighty God
   (in Indonesian "Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa"),
2. A just and civilized humanity
   (in Indonesian "Kemanusiaan yang Adil dan Beradab"),
3. A unified Indonesia
   (in Indonesian "Persatuan Indonesia"),
4. Citizens led by the wisdom of representatives consensus
   (in Indonesian "Kerakyatan yang dipimpin oleh Hikmat Kebijaksanaan dalam permusyawaratan/perwakilan"),
5. Social justice for all Indonesians
   (in Indonesian "Keadilan Sosial bagi seluruh Rakyat Indonesia").

The first pillar in English version is not really correct due to people who try to mislead for some reason or just try to make it simple as this words cannot be translated word per word in English. This is the real words in Indonesia "Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa" and it should be translated as The concept of God (Ketuhanan) which believe in One God. Esa in sankrit means One as Maha means (very) great. Tuhan means God but Ketuhanan means The concept of God. As we know different religion has different concept of God, some religion believe in One God, other Three Gods and more.

It show that religion in Indonesia should believe in one God. And it is actually derived from concept of Islam called Tauhid. This is one of the reason of Indonesia Hindu Today worship one God called Sang Hyang Widi. You can read more on this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acintya and check "political aspect" section.

Indonesia citizen also cannot be Atheist and must choose between 6 official religions and their religion will be put in our citizen ID card.

Other pillars are not against Islam in any possible mean and even have taken many lesson from Islam like forth pillar use the word "musyawarah" which is derived from term in Quran called syura and has the same meaning with that term. I believe you know there is surah As Syura in Quran.

2. Our Constitution Preamble (Opening)

And this is the most important part of our constitution, UUD 45, the preamble part (the opening) based on English translation that is made by UNESCO. And this version that is read by westerners (including their scholars and analyst). Pancasila is also inside the preamble but I just want to show other part that is interesting to see.

Some part on the Constitution PREAMBLE :

Whereas independence is a genuine right of all nations and any form of alien occupation should thus be erased from the earth as not in conformity with humanityand justice,Whereas the struggle of the Indonesian independence movement has reached the blissful point of leading the Indonesian people safely and well before themonumental gate of an independent Indonesian State which shall be free, united, sovereign, just and prosperous, By the grace of God Almighty and urged by the lofty aspiration to exist as a free nation,Now therefore, the people of Indonesia declare herewith their independence,

http://www.unesco.org/education/edurights/media/docs/b1ba8608010ce0c48966911957392ea8cda405d8.pdf

I have make the crucial part bold to show you how westerners mislead our constitution. The actual words is not By the grace of God but By the grace of Allah. The statement doesnt use the word "Tuhan" that is a universal term for God in Indonesian language, but it rather use Allah which is the name of God in Islam, although Allah itself also means God in English. There are two Islamic term on that crucial statement which are Allah and Rahmat.

It is the actual words in our language and I use a link from our parliament official website.

Atas berkat rakhmat Allah Yang Maha Kuasa dan dengan didorongkan oleh keinginan luhur, supaya berkehidupan kebangsaan yang bebas, maka rakyat Indonesia menyatakan dengan ini kemerdekaannya.

http://www.dpr.go.id/jdih/uu1945

That proof show Islamic root on our ideology and constitution and show Indonesia is not a secular country who separate state with religion.

3. Secularism Meaning

This is the meaning of secularism which is widely accepted

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism

Dictionary definitions

• Indifference to, or rejection or exclusion of, religion and religious considerations (Merriam-Webster)[1]
• The belief that religion should not be involved with the ordinary social and political activities of a country (Cambridge Dictionary)[3]
• The principle of separation of the state from religious institutions (Oxford Dictionaries)[12]
• A system of social organization and education where religion is not allowed to play a part in civil affairs (Collins)[4]
• A theory, belief, ideology, or political modality that demarcates the secular from other phenomena (usually religious) and prioritizes, the secular over the non-secular in some regard.[13]

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4. Our Government involvement in religious affairs and support to Muslim group

On contrary to Secularism system, Indonesian government involves deeply with religion, particularly Islam and give huge funding to religious group (Muslim) through two important ministry, Ministry of Religion and Ministry of Education. Ministry of Religion give huge funding into Pesantren (private Islamic boarding school) across Indonesia and Ministry of Education give funding to state madrasah school across Indonesia and also Islamic state university and Islamic state Institution (Islamic study). The allocated budget for that is enormous.

Religious study is also compulsory for primary schools and also university for two semesters. Muslim will get Islamic lesson and others get lesson according to their belief (6 official religion).

Minister of Religion also manage Hajj and marriage for Muslim. Minister of Religion itself is very Islamic oriented and always lead by Muslim. Almost all civil servants on that Ministry also Muslim who mostly come from Islamic study graduates. This Ministry is formed as bargain to Muslim group to let go Shariah Islam from our first constitution preamble. The constitution then is called as Jakarta Charter (Piagam Jakarta). Piagam Jakarta is the first version of our state ideology (Pancasila) who put Islamic law as positive law for Muslim.

This is Jakarta Charter

(Constitution 1945)

Preamble


By the grace of Almighty Allah and urged by the lofty aspiration to exist as a free nation,

Now therefore, the people of Indonesia declare herewith their independence,

Pursuant to which, in order to form a Government of the State of Indonesia that shall protect the whole people of Indonesia and the entire homeland of Indonesia, and in order to advance general prosperity, to develop the nation's intellectual life, and to contribute to the implementation of a world order based on freedom, lasting peace and social justice, Indonesia's National Independence shall be laid down in a Constitution of the State of Indonesia, which is to be established as the State of the Republic of Indonesia with sovereignty of the people and based on the belief in the One and Only God, with the obligation to abide by Islamic law for adherents of Islam, on just and civilized humanity, on the unity of Indonesia and on democratic rule that is guided by the strength of wisdom resulting from deliberation / representation, so as to realize social justice for all the people of Indonesia.

Jakarta, 22 June 1945

(This English translation is quite correct in translating our constitution opening)

You can learn more about Jakarta Charter on this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakarta_Charter

 

[Indos]

Valuable information as usual brother. I need to learn Bahasa so I can follow those political debates.

As you know, given our previous discussions, I consider the Indonesian political system, in the Muslim perspective, very much praiseworthy and the move from one-party rule after Suharto.

Thank you my Arab brother. Bahasa is not difficult to learn, even many Linguistic expert said it as one of the easiest language to learn. And for those who understand Latin words, it will become much easier. As an Arab who doesnt understand our language, what do you think about the sounds of Bahasa ? When I went to Masjid Nabawi I had some talking with Indonesian who become cleaning service in "wudhu" place. Some Non Indonesian people in that place look on us and look like very curious about the language we spoke

Thank you bro for your kind words. Actually it was not a one party ruling like the way CCP control China. There was 3 political parties at that time. PPP who represent Islamist politic, PDI-P who represent secular nationalist, and Golkar who was made by Soeharto to control the nation. Golkar party always won in every parliamentary election with very big margin but Indonesian know that the election is not fair.

Golkar is composed of retired Army General, HMI (Muslim Student Association), and some Nationalist group/organization who support Soeharto. HMI is instrumental in bringing Soekarno down by its anti communist demonstration across campuses in Indonesia.

And there was an Armed Force faction as well in parliament that doesnt need to go to parliamentary election but got significant free seats in Parliament. So Golkar with this Armed Force faction control our parliament for 32 years. Thailand right now is also adopting the same concept.

If you ask of why there are only 1 Islamist party (PPP) and 1 Nationalist party (PDI-P) during New Order, it is because Soeharto want to simplify our politics and he ask Islamist parties to unite and form PPP and also ask Nationalist to unite and form PDI-P. As Dictator, no ones dare to question such move.

For your information, as you have read about Pancasila and our constitution in my first post, democracy is actually a system that is believed by our founding fathers as our ideal political system. It is not explicitly stated in Pancasila but the words "musyawarah" in the fourth pillar suggest that our nation future should be decided through "syura" or discussion/consultation in English and it is a term in Islam as well (found in Quran).

It is why our founding fathers made political parties after Dutch leave from our country in 1949 and ended long independence war since 1945. The parliamentary system which is called as liberal democracy period in our history is started in 1950. We first made a fair election in 1955 with many political parties, including communist party. We were implementing parliamentary system at that time with PM as the head of government.

Soekarno as President is just a symbol and doesnt have any power during 1950-1959. He then took power and become Indonesia first dictator in 1959 and change the system into Presidential system. He seems to get public support in doing so since that period was famous with weak government who can easily fall due to non confident vote in parliament. It makes the government cannot work effectively.

I will answers your question one by one since it is a quite hard questions that make me have to spend some time to answer that, but I like this kind of question so feel free to ask something like this in the future.