"Reading Desi Anwar’s collection of essays, we not only feel the pain, agony and frustration, but also the joy, laughter and hope of a country and its people struggling to make the transition to a nascent and vibrant democracy."-- Endy M Bayuni, Editor-in-Chief, The Jakarta PostBeing Indonesian is a collection of Indonesia’s Senior Journalist and TV personality Desi Anwar’s columns published between the years 1997 and 2007. The essays trace the journey of Indonesia during that historic and tumultuous decade as the country went through a difficult economic crisis beginning in 1997 that led to chaos and violence culminating in the fall of the New Order Regime under President Soeharto in 1998.The moment also saw the birth of the Reform movement, Reformasi, paving the way for democracy and press freedom in this largest country in South East Asia. From the culture of fear, censorship and repression, to the emergence of social, economic and political dissatisfactions resulting in reforms and democracy as Indonesia embraced the millennium, Desi recorded the events through her unique perspective as a prominent TV News Anchor with a front seat to the ring of history, in articles that were both insightful and critical. Desi also observed how the country and how lives for Indonesians were transformed following the new found press and political freedom, while at the same time noting only too well how many of the problems facing this young and developing nation continue to persist until today.
