Indonesia’s seventh and current president, 68-year-old Joko Widodo, was named Straits Times Asian of the Year 2019 for being a unifying figure in an age of chaos and disruption.
Times of the Strait announced the choice on Thursday, and its editors said Jokowi had a “grounded personality and skill to attach with people.” [and] “his empathy for abnormal people has won him many admirers within the country” and praised his “ability to see beyond the horizon and take care of the strategic challenges facing his country and region.”
“Thank you. It’s an honor not just for me, but additionally for Indonesia,” he wrote on social media, garnering over half one million likes on Instagram and 1000’s of congratulatory messages on Twitter and Facebook.
Thank you. It’s an honor not just for me, but additionally for Indonesia. pic.twitter.com/01rskM4KTz
— Joko Widodo (@jokowi) December 5, 2019
Presidential spokesman Fadjroel Rachman told The Straits Times that Joko was “very completely happy” and “truly grateful” for the award, which the president said was intended for Indonesians.
“I went to the palace to fulfill him and he was smiling happily. He said the award was actually an end-of-year gift to Indonesia, a present for five years of exertions,” Fadjroel said Times of the Strait.
The Straits Times editors unanimously chosen Joko, 58, for his “dexterity and shrewdness in navigating the complex currents of domestic politics and international affairs.”
They praised him for his role in placing Indonesia at the center of the 10-member regional bloc, ASEAN, recently through the “Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.”
The document maintains the group’s neutral position towards the growing competition between China and the United States for dominance within the region. It was approved and adopted by the bloc on the ASEAN summit in Bangkok in June.
The president’s spokesman added: “If we wish to develop the economy, we must also defend democracy. Mr. Jokowi said our goal is to make Indonesia an example of how democracy and economic prosperity can work together.”
