See, you, Indonesia

Now, has Malaysia 'got it'?

Our neighbour Indonesia certainly has more respect and recognition for bloggers as a catalyst for democracy. They have made a bold statement. This year's Pesta Blogger is being supported by three Indonesian ministries -- the ministries of Culture and Tourism, Communication and Informatics, and Research and Technology. All three ministers are expected to attend the event, which will take place in Jakarta on November 22.

The theme for Pesta Blogger 2008 is "Blogging for Society".

According to Penangite Ong 'Maverick' Hock Chuan, whose Indonesia-based company is coordinating the event for the second straight year, the support to Pesta Blogger 2008 comes in many forms, including the easing of bureaucracy, and making available the BPPT auditiorium as a venue for Pesta Blogger.

And in the case of the Communications and Informatics Minister Pak Muhammad Nuh, who continues to offer his support as the patron of Pesta Blogger, he has made "a pledge to donate 10 laptops to encourage participation from as many bloggers or would-be bloggers as possible".

The event is also sponsored by the US Embassy -- this is probably the first time a US Embassy is sponsoring a major blogger’s event anywhere in the world outside USA -- and big names like Microsoft and Toyota.

Even the mainstream media have committed themselves as official partners of the event. They include Kompas, Koran Tempo and Tempo Interaktif, the Jakarta Post and Detik.com among others.

To lend credence to Pesta Blogger, Pak Nuh and the US Ambassador to Indonesia, Cameron Hume, both made an appearance and spoke at the official launch of the event on October 22.

Impressions of Indonesia

Another new initiative included in this year’s Pesta Blogger is the invitation to one foreign blogger each from five neighboring countries and the US and Australia. They are to visit three Indonesian cities of diverse culture -- Bali, Yogjakarta and Jakarta -- and then to conclude their trip by sharing their impressions about Indonesia, its culture and blogging community with the participants of Pesta Blogger 2008. This project is being held in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

In conjunction with the field trip and the theme 'Blogging for Society', a photography contest is being organised to provide the impact of visual arts that say, through blogs as a new media, seeing is believing the diversified universe of humanity and mankind.

I am glad and honoured to be an invited blogger to participate in the event, and I thank the Indonesian Ministry of Culture of Tourism for sponsoring my trip.

I hope, through my presence as a parliamentarian/blogger and my contribution as a photographer, I will be able to play the role of a Malaysian cultural ambassador in strengthening the titian muhibbah between our two countries of myriad similarities, and to fellowship with cross-border bloggers who share our common language in blogging, that's to continue promoting blogs as a catalyst for change.

(My travelogue pictures of Indonesia over the years are available here.)