Dunia Berputar - The World Turns

MS DUNIA 2 00001

This essay was written for  Energi Positif:  Opini 100 Tokoh mengenai Indonesia di Era SBY  [Positive Energy:  100 Leaders’ Opinions of Indonesia in the SBY Era],  ed. Dino Patti Djalal (Jakarta: Red & White Publishing, June 2009),  a collection occasioned by the naming of Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) as one the “100 Most Influential People in 2009”  by TIME Magazine in its 14 May 2009 issue.

Excerpt: I [Don Emmerson] was happy to write this essay upon being invited by Dr. Djalal to do so. The symmetry between Time’s title and the title of this book should not be taken too seriously, however, at least not as far as my implied status as a “leader” is concerned. I hope I am a “scholar,” but anyone who says I am a “leader” has a good sense of humor. As for “positive energy,” I will acknowledge having that in a broad sense: wanting Indonesians to have a better life and being heartened by their country’s present status as a relatively stable and democratic country, whomever they may elect to be their president for the coming five years.