Indonesian blogosphere received good news last weekend. Another Indonesian Minister had started blogging.

Yusuf Ansy'ari, Indonesian State Minister for Public Housing, had just started his own blog. His most recent posts were about the passing of his mother and a certain topic on housing policy.

This is the second Indonesian Minister to have started blogging, after Juwono Sudarsono, the Defence Minister.

Right after I posted the breaking news for the first time on Friday in my blog, some Indonesian influential bloggers such as Enda Nasution, A. Fatih Syuhud, and Priyadi Iman Nurcahyo also spread the word simultaneously.

Rumors were that there would be more Indonesian ministers starting to blog in the near future.

Oh, yes, I have just confirmed via a trusted source yesterday that another Minister's blog will soon launch.

Powered by WordPress and using the Hemmed theme, the personal politician's Weblog, which has a simple and neat design, has the tagline: "Social Justice for All."

Yusuf Asy'ari's blog	Juwono Sudarsono's blog

Like Juwono, Yusuf is also sending a strong signal that he is willing to discuss his views in the public domain.

He said:

Slum areas, housing for low-income families, civil servants, and military & police force are just a few important issues that the Housing Department is focusing on.

A lot of effort on providing suitable housing for these groups, which is part of the responsibility of the Government, are still not going smoothly due to some problems. Some of them are budget limitations, whether it's local or central, lack of subsidy or high additional cost in relation to various bureaucratic procedures.

Written in Bahasa Indonesia and English, many bloggers enthusiastically welcome the Minister's blog and have put congratulatory messages in his unmoderated comments forum.

Despite the fact that Indonesian bloggers have started blogging for more than five years ago, the launch of two Ministers's blogs lately are likely marked as the official kickoff for Indonesia to enter the blogosphere.

Their boss, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, actually has his own Web site. However, since this site does not use a common blogging software or program, it's not counted as a part of blogs yet.

However, the Ministers' blogs, like Juwono and Yusuf's, could help the President in communicating the Government's policies, listening to the people, and accommodating the public's needs.

Hopefully, other Indonesian Ministers will follow suit soon.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Minister!

 

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