Who’s ‘Moderate?’ Ask Jakarta Foreign Correspondents!
I had an email last week, from the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club, advertising one of their frequent meetings at which prominent Indonesians are invited to speak.
Unfortunately, they often chop and change their times and dates, which makes one rather reluctant to attend.
This time, today, it’s Muhammad Zainul Majdi, Governor of West Nusa Tenggara Province, and I was fascinated by the JFCC’s laudatory description of His Excellency.
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- The Governor
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Also known as Tuan Guru Bajang, or TGB, he not only has a strong economic track record and reputation as a progressive governor of West Nusa Tenggara, but is also a highly respected Muslim scholar and proponent of moderate Islam.
Interesting.
I can’t comment on his ‘economic track record,’ but TGB’s ‘moderate Islam?’ Are the senders of that JFCC email unaware of his views on the persecuted Ahmadiyah?
Those Muslim dissenters have suffered monstrous maltreatment in recent years, in various provinces, like Banten, which is only a few miles from where I live in Jakarta…
Victim of Islamist Murder Mob Gets Six Months in the Slammer …
…but also in Zainul’s own territory.
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And while the scandalous bigotry pictured above was indeed years ago, only this month, moronic savages again ran amok in Lombok…
Ahmadi community comes under attack in East Lombok, as homes and properties destroyed
“The attacks were based on similar reasons: hatred and intolerance,” said a spokesperson for the Ahmadiyah Indonesia Congregation.
“It’s not the first and definitely won’t be the last attack. It’s been years and the Ahmadi community continues to live under threats…”
So what do we know of TGB’s thoughts on this dire situation? Have they become less intolerant than when he indulged in the following outburst?
Zainul Majdi says that he did not see why the Ahmadiyah should be part of the island’s plans to follow in the footsteps of neighboring Bali, a noted tourist hotspot.
Ahmadis, Zainul said, would be better off moving out of the province entirely or agreeing to a proposal to relocate to a remote island in West Nusa Tenggara. The governor said the sect…did not fit into his drive to ramp up Lombok’s tourist appeal.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/archive/governor-wants-lombok-tolerant-but-ahmadiyah-free/
Instead of blaming the foul bigots harassing the peaceful and inoffensive Ahmadis, Zainul went on to claim it was the victims’ own fault –
‘It was only after they formed their own community, maintaining their exclusivity and proselytizing their faith did friction with surrounding areas occur.”
Why on earth should they not proselytise?
Do not Zainul and many other Muslims believe they have a duty to spread their faith?
Does Zainul not think others should enjoy the same right?
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It’s true the man has criticised the vigilante gangs, and he does not endorse violence, but he is surely, on the evidence of his own words, no ‘moderate’ on matters of religious liberty UNLESS he has had a dramatic change of heart!
But perhaps the ‘foreign correspondents’ who sent out that email did not know of his blatant victim-blaming.
Or, who knows, they have evidence that he has repented…
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….and apologised for his erstwhile intolerance.
Nobody would be happier than me to hear their proof that he’s a reformed character!
If that’s not the case, if he still sticks by his previous appalling assertions, and the JFCC are ignorant of those assertions, then they’re doing a shockingly sloppy job and should be replaced by journalists who know what they’re talking about.
STOP PRESS
My initial remarks about how JFCC chops and changes their meeting schedule?
YUP, they’ve done it again.
When I got home last night, another email was waiting for me, to say today’s meeting has been changed to tomorrow.
Sammy Y., 
Desi M, and 6 others are discussing. 
rossrightangle 
Jim in Jakarta 13:49 on July 31, 2018 Permalink |
He is not moderate.
What are these journalists talking about?
What newspapers do they represent?
Who Are they feeding this junk news to?
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JazPen 15:32 on July 31, 2018 Permalink |
If those quotes you give us about that governor are true then the JFCC should be thinking hard about what stories their ‘foreign correspondents’ are sending out.
The media has got itself a bad enough reputation around the world already with all the fake news.
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Subiyanto 18:22 on July 31, 2018 Permalink |
Very bad.
Who are these foreigner media people ?
Better they go home and study before they talk ignorantly about our Indonesia.
Why can any person call this TGB moderate when he would force peaceful people from their homes because they worship in a different way.
Maybe JFCC like it if Ahmadiya people are forced to become refugee people?
Very very bad.
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Desi M 17:16 on August 1, 2018 Permalink |
Yes, Pak Subiyanto. We agree.
It is so wrong what is done to the Ahmadis and this Governor should be shamed of himself.
JFCC also should be shamed for calling this Governor moderate.
So many people here know the Ahmadi people never hurt anybody but JFCC sing praise for the man who want to be mean to them.
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Vanessa Reilly 22:48 on July 31, 2018 Permalink |
If that kind of bigotry, not much different from ethnic cleansing, is what the ‘mainstream media’ representatives in Jakarta interpret as the views of a ‘moderate Muslim,’ I hate to think how their newspapers and tv channels must be misleading us about what is happening there and in other countries.
Talk about fake news!
I know you always stick up for the Muslims you socialise with.
Your loyalty to them is all well and good but don’t you ever feel uneasy as you go out and about in that country?
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Buddy Logan 01:39 on August 1, 2018 Permalink |
I remember the last time I read about a foreign correspondent in Jakarta, it was that ABC mongrel who spread the lies about the Royal Australian Navy ‘torturing’ illegal immigrants.
So this lot, that you wrote about this week, not much different?
Fake news pushers?
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Uncle Oz 16:01 on August 1, 2018 Permalink |
Well said, Buddy.
Whose going to forget that little sh-t, that ABC never did fire like they should have.
Your story about the Muslim moderate has a lot of people talking, Ross, and they are not saying anything nice about foreign correspondents.
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ross1948 08:29 on August 2, 2018 Permalink
Thanks, Uncle Oz. I know you are not in Jakarta but I am replying to you, this morning, to let all readers know that this event has been postponed again. I had another email today to say it will now be held on Friday, tomorrow,at 9am in the Mandarin Oriental.
The reasons for the change is that the Governor is naturally prioritising the earthquake in Lombok over lesser matters.
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Sammy Y. 17:45 on August 1, 2018 Permalink |
It intrigues me, Ross, why they sent you this plug for the anti-Ahmadiyah governor. You have for years been banging on in defence of that religious minority. I dont mean that harshly, they are shockingly ill-treated but you are very outspoken in defending them.
Also, I am honestly asking, are these JFCC people real foreign correspondents?
Uninformed comments like they made to show off their guest as more ’moderate’ than he really is makes me wonder if its just a group of Walter Mitty types.
I can imagine some expats like to pretend they are 21st century versions of the journalist Mel Gibson played in Year of Living Dangerously. I lived in Jakarta for years and I know it has an effect on expats.
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ross1948 18:26 on August 1, 2018 Permalink
I was at a function a couple of years ago where they had a stall and I think that’s when I got on their mailing list, Sammy.
Some of their advertised speakers have sounded interesting but as said already, they too often change their dates or times and I enjoy a hectic social life which does not allow for such a carry-on.
I have no idea who or how many are their members.
So far there has been no excuse offered on why they portrayed this man as a moderate.
We can only speculate. .
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