Emulate Jokowi for a better Malaysian future

[superadmin]

Somebody from Singapore recently wrote a very flattering piece on President Jokowi of Indonesia.

Perhaps unknown to many Malaysians who still look at Indonesia as an exporter of maids and factory workers, the country has made huge strides in its economic and social development.

Jokowi is clearly a key reason for their success.

We always thrash leaders when things go badly, and it’s only fair we credit them when things go well. Jokowi certainly deserves much credit.

Indonesia started its life as a modern nation the hard way. They fought a war of independence against the Dutch that lasted for years, and they paid heavily for it with their blood.

When somebody in Indonesia claims to be a freedom fighter, it means more than him having gone to Amsterdam to have some independence discussions over herring and cheese. It means he was in a shooting war.

After independence Indonesians had a strongman president – Sukarno – who actually carried out an armed confrontation, called Konfrontasi (possibly from confrontatie in Dutch) to stop the formation of Malaysia in 1963.

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