Is Indonesia Built to Last?

A lot of politicians in Indonesia sing the same old songs. Singing is one of the informal prerequisites for an Indonesian public official, the way that, say, owning a dog is in the U.S. Old songs, though, do not suit Indonesia’s current President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. “SBY” writes his own material, and last fall he released his fourth album of original tunes, called Harmoni, a musical plea for the environment. The burly 63-year-old President, who stands nearly six feet tall, hardly fits the boy-band archetype popular in Indonesia, but he plays guitar and has a voice that recalls John Denver. He makes music videos, as do his fans (and satirists) on YouTube. SBY’s songs often entreat Indonesians to lift up their country and the world, and they reveal the President’s sentimental side. A devout Muslim, he often beseeches God for peace and guidance. During last year’s nationally televised Independence Day Celebration, a schoolboy and a 128-person choir belted out an SBY composition called From Jakarta to Oslo for Our World. It begins:

Far away from the edge of the world
I come to bring hope
Together, allied, the servants of God
We must unite to save
The purity of our world.