Indonesian Diary Entry
30 September 2001

It is the last day of a month that we all would just as soon erase. Maybe October will be much better. This last day of September finds me in Jakarta, and thereby hangs a tale.

Thursday morning I got a call from AMINEF (read Fulbright Indonesia) telling me that the State Department travel advisory had been updated, and that in addition to the advisory on travel to Indonesia, and the central Java region in particular, there was now a notice of voluntary departure for State Department personnel. This is one level of departure notice for personnel. The second level is mandatory evacuation for non-emergency personnel, and the third is mandatory evacuation for all personnel. That’s when you see the pictures of the Ambassador climbing onto a helicopter. The call actually came from a fellow who is a State Dept. employee and who had decided to leave Indonesia. The essence of the call was that I had to leave Solo and come to Jakarta, and I was to do this as soon as possible. How soon? “When is the next plane?”

The rest of the day was pretty hectic. Here is how my notes read:  Call from AMINEF at 10 A.M.  Call travel agent/Garuda.  Arrange to pick up ticket.  Call host family to let them know what’s up.  Let people at Department and Fakultas know what’s up.  Pick up ticket/eat lunch/back to office.  Pack up belongings at office, interspersed with frequent (nice) interruptions to ask if there isn’t something someone can do to keep me in Solo.  Receive a gift from the Department (video taped mini-ceremony).  Home to pack and eat.  Vincent and Emi come over to say goodbye (and more gifts).  Ibu Indra rushes back with lovely batik items as going away gift.  Restless night.  Breakfast, journey to airport with Indras (where they wait for me to board), and off to Jakarta.

Most of this is uninteresting to those at home, so I won’t carry on about the travail. I will try and put it in perspective.

First, there have been demonstrations in Solo, there is a history of “sweepings,” and there is reason to believe this really could happen again. The probabilities are tied to U.S. actions in Afghanistan. The second thing that is happening is that there has been an attempt to get the Indonesian police and related security forces to take a harder line on “sweepers.” Those who engage in the demonstrations are radical Muslims. There are, of course, ties to other radical Muslim groups (and guess who). Since the police have not responded as aggressively as the U.S. would like, the position of the State Department is that this leaves Americans at risk. Since the Fulbright program is a U.S. Government funded program, they can tell me what to do, such as come to Jakarta. Some people say that a deeper way of looking at this is that it is an attempt to force the new President (Megawati) to take a stand on the issue of safety and security for Americans. They say that it isn’t just government workers and the like, but it’s the broader matter of safety, security, and dependability or certainty for American businesses. There are a number of businesses that operate here, and more that are considering doing so. The big matter for them is being able to depend on the government to deliver the promises it makes. And one of those promises is that U.S. property and U.S. citizens will be safe. (Indeed, Megawati made exactly such promises to U.S. business people in Houston just last week.)

I was asked to come to Jakarta so that I would get out of any potential danger in Solo, and so that we could discuss other possible options. I am writing this on Sunday afternoon, and on Friday, essentially right after arrival, I met with some AMINEF and embassy people about the matter. We agreed that I should remain in Jakarta for one to two weeks. That would be enough time to allow President Megawati to return to the country and reveal whether she wishes to take a tougher stand on the radical groups, and sweeping in particular. The time could also allow events in Afghanistan to percolate. Since no one really knows what is going to happen there it is very difficult to assess what the effects will be. (One concern is that it will be a long slow process, and that this could lead to a gradual increase in anti-American activity.) At the end of a week we will decide what to do next. That could be a number of things: wait another week; return to Solo; go to another Indonesian university; go to a university in another country; return to the States. I indicated that I could see any of the alternatives, but was extremely dubious about going to another country – that isn’t practical. The other things are realistic.

One interesting side note to the above, is that while we were meeting in the embassy, yet another protest was going on outside. It was the largest protest of the week, although a little smaller than some had expected. The number in the paper was something like a couple of thousand. When I walked out (with an Indonesian), we were able to leave as if there was nothing going on. That, itself, was surreal. The word “surreal” is getting a workout around here these days.

There hasn’t been sufficient time to reflect on these events but I can make a couple of comments. First, it is difficult to explain how it felt to receive the call Thursday morning. I came to the university expecting a dull day, and had no reason to expect otherwise. I certainly did not feel “in harm’s way” or even in harm’s neighborhood. The normal perils of urban living continue to be forefront in mind, and dominate the fear of being swept. To be told to “get out immediately and don’t leave your belongings there” is a bit much to absorb, and I’m not sure I have done so even now. Second, the quick departure meant that I was hardly able to say anything to the people I was leaving. Sometimes the making of friends takes a long time, and sometimes it occurs pretty quickly. I didn’t realize how quickly that process had occurred, and how difficult it was to just pack up and leave. There is a custom here of giving gifts on departure. In this case it had to be one-way. I received without being able to reciprocate. That made me feel pretty bad.

So now I’m here, living out of a suitcase again. There is a little to be done, but it’s hard to concentrate and too much time and too much space in Jakarta. And even here I am not immune to what has been happening. Last night, I had dinner in the neighborhood and I made it back to the hotel for reading and TV. I got to the point of exhaustion pretty early. By ten I was in bed, and would have been asleep but for a call from hotel security to inform me that they had some kind of information that a sweep was possible during the evening. I should rest assured that they had taken precautions so that if radicals showed up my name (and I think two other Americans staying here) would not show up on the hotel roster. This was meant to be reassuring, and I am much happier to have been told than not, but it did not make the night’s sleep all that restful. I called the front desk this morning and there was no sweep – never a dull moment in Indonesia. I hope the next entry to this diary finds me not only safe and secure, but located in a place where I can be reasonably confident of remaining for another four or five months.