What do Malaysians and Singaporeans think of Jokowi?

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As a Singaporean who"s interested in Indonesia politics as of late. I have a lot of respect for Mr Joko Widodo. Here are my reasons.

1. Indonesia has been lacking in terms of infrastructure since the early 1990s. The previous presidents of Indonesia have never put infrastructure as a forefront during their tenure. Indonesia is lacking behind as compared to Singapore and Malaysia. It"s odd because Indonesia has the resources and manpower to be a mordern and successful nation. Thier GDP is 1.1 trillion, more than that of Malaysia even. Infrastructure is crucial in the development of a country. Sure there are many infrastructure projects during Sukarno"s rule, but many are centered around Java. Not much being done on the other islands. Under Jokowi, there are now roads in Papua! There are many other toll roads, airports, seaports, electric substations etc. being built all over Indonesia. Indonesia is finally going to have a MRT and LRT. Just look at Jakarta. Millions of money lost every day just because of traffic jams. What I hope Indonesians realize is that, all these infrastructure project create debts BUT they also create jobs for the people, improve thier lives, and makes Indonesia attractive for expats and foreign businesses. All the previous presidents are just talk, no action in terms of public infrastructure.
2. Jokowi is probably the cleanest Indonesian president so far. Everyone knows how corrupt Soeharto, Sukarno, SBY and Megawati is. Corruption has become a culture in Indonesia day-to-day. From the upper management, down to the beat cops. The anti-corruption cocommision (KPK) was set up by SBY (CMIIW) but remember, under SBY, Indonesia accumulated a lot of debt (just a bit lesser than Jokowi) but with Jokowi as president, you can see the reasons why. You can see that the debts were because of the many infrastructure projects etc. With SBY, you start to wonder where the money went. And he seems to care more about the legacy of his family and cronies. Look at how Jokowi reshuffled his cabinet, replacing the incompetent leaders. He doesn"t just sit in his office. He drops by the various government agencies to check on them. The military, police, and government agencies are less corrupt now (still a long way to go to achieve Singapore"s standards though).
3. He"s humble and down to earth. He didn"t hold a high position in the military or in the private sector, prior to entering politics. Dude even rode a motorbike at Papua to inspect the roads and during the Asian Games last year, he rode a motorbike to the stadium for the opening ceremony (sure, some parts are edited and it"s not him on the motorbike) but which other president would do that. And look at his lifestyle. Simple. Nothing fanciful. Just like the average Indonesian. He goes down the streets to talk to his people regularly. He truly cares about his people and you can see it in his actions.
4. The number of people living under the poverty line decrease during his tenure. It now stands at about 9.8%. It"s the first time since Indonesia"s independence that the poverty line dropped to a single digit. Unemployment has also decreased to about 5.2%
5. He is not racist or ultra-nationalistic like some of the previous presidents. He appears progressive (though SBY, Megawati were also progressive) and calls for Indonesians to be more tolerant. He doesn"t care if you"re a muslim, catholic, buddhist etc. He treats everyone the same. He tried to unite Indonesians. Unfortunately, due to this, the hardline Islamist dislikes him and some even make rumors that he is anti-Islam. He is open to learn from other countries in areas where he knows Indonesia is lacking.

These just summarises why I feel Jokowi is a great president for Indonesia. He is not perfect, but he is the president Indonesia needs at the moment and I hope he wins the 2019 elections. Would love to see a fellow ASEAN contry become more successful.

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