Blogger Indonesia of the Week (51): Agusti Anwar
I’ve been a regular reader of Agusti Anwar’s Bahasa Indonesia Blog. His reflections are insightful and his opinions are clear and unambigious and elegantly written. So, I’ve a slight hope that someone like him should be blogging more actively in English as well. As a civil servant in foreign ministry he must’ve been in command in that language. My little hope turns out to be true. He starts blogging in English more regularly now.
As a person who is very passionate in writing, he naturally has insightful ideas in responding to certain issues. Anyone who gets obsessed and honest concern with his/her surrounding will be a good commentator. That’s one basic lesson as a launching pad to be a good writer or commentator. You cannot write an insightful writing if you think none beyond yourself.His posts covered many socio-political issues, on Indonesia-Australia relation he wrote:
[…] Australia has its own prejudice and qualm that is true. But both countries have just to come to terms with their own particularity. There are always more to gain from cooperation instead of tension.
Considering the complexity of global problems nowadays, be they traditional or more non-traditional, joint endeavors are always of the best. Indonesia is a democratic country now, the same with Australia. We both fight terrorism; we both want peace and development. These are a range of commonality assets that could bring both hand in hand.[…]
And representing the voice of majority, he unequivocally condemns the atrocities carried out by Israel against Lebanese civilians:
Children are killed or wounded. Aggression for domination, the strategy taken by Israel now, does not only complicate the chance for peace, but also ensure wider spread of conflict in the Middle East.
Israel has to back off. The US needs to play the honest-broker role.
The UN needs to work hard, not just the toothless exercises.
The World needs to join hand to save humanity.
The Muslim world has to fight closer; joint rank, combine strength; champion the peace. The Muslim needs to work diplomacy to its very limit.[…]
I hope, and we all Indonesians should hope, that he would be more courageous to blog in English. Indonesia needs many more English-speaking blogger, to be Indonesian ambassador to the world. I fully support his choice to blog his English blog in blogspot as it’s the only most reliable free blog provider that could last long, as long as Google alive, despite its many technological shortcomings compared to that of wordpress based free blog providers like blogsome.com or wordpress.com.
Blogging is about recording history. It should survive beyond our lifetime. Ideally it should be and could be read and some lessons might be learnt by our children, grand-children and beyond. Could you tell me, is there any free blog providers that could give or guarantee that long-lasting (hopeful) records other than blogger.com?