Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
SINGAPORE: Last week saw the most populous democracy in Southeast Asia in action, as Indonesia held its general elections, choosing both its president and its legislature for the next five years. It was only slightly more than a quarter century ago, when Indonesia was still essentially a dictatorship, and a very corrupt one. Many visitors experienced this firsthand upon arrival in Indonesia when they had to "grease" their way through immigration formalities. The practice frankly did not leave a good impression on foreigners but was considered business as usual by many Indonesians then.
But despite these imperfections, Indonesia was decidedly not a banana republic like many in some other continents, where national development took a decided backseat to what could only be characterized as pillage and plunder by wave after wave of coup leaders. Instead, Indonesia was even then one of the famed four Tigers of Asia, together with Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, and saw high economic growth that did, albeit slightly, improve the lives of its very large population sprawled across many islands. Incidentally, I fondly recall having argued in good spirits with my elementary school geography teacher as to whether Indonesia or the Philippines had more islands. We finally compromised on a rough estimation of "many thousands," which perhaps testifies to the complexity of governance for such island nations.
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