She says that Indonesia is a unique and very tolerant
country.
She urges people not to be afraid of coming here. "Explore this
country!"
We recently had the chance to converse with Hee Sook Lee-Niinioja,
the wife of Finland's
Ambassador to Indonesia, Markku Niinioja. You can probably imagine,
in general terms, what she does in her role as the wife of an ambassador.
Even more interesting, however, was her explanation about her research
into the ornamentation of ancient mosques in Java, as well as her many
other professional activities as artist, designer, and journalist.
Hee Sook Lee was born in Busan, Korea, on 10 August 1950. She moved to Norway to study; there she earned a bachelor's degree in Interior Architecture, Graphic Design & Illustration. She also met her husband, Markku Niinioja, one of the staff of the Finnish Embassy in Norway, when she was holding a painting exhibition. She later earned a Master's degree from Syracuse University for her thesis on Arabic calligraphy while her husband was the Finnish Ambassador to Kuwait. And when Markku was assigned to Indonesia in 2001, she began research on mosque ornamentation in Java, and in 2006, she received a Ph.D. for this research from Oxford Brookes University in the UK.
Lee told us that she became interested in doing this research from reading books on Indonesia, particularly about the Majapahit kingdom. She was inspired by the kingdom's splendor, and she had previously done considerable research into Islam.
When they arrived in Indonesia, she discovered many fascinating things, particularly its natural beauty and culture, historical relics, the characteristics of the society, and the many problems the country faces, including the terrorist bombings in Bali and inter-religious conflict. As an outsider assigned to a country with such great diversity, Lee feels that Indonesia is actually a very peaceful country, where houses of worship of different religions stand side by side – mosques, churches, and Buddhist and Hindu temples. It's hard to imagine that Indonesia could be anything other than a peace-loving country.
"I then realized that Indonesia is actually full of peace. Indonesia
has the most syncretic culture in the world. There's Islam, Christianity,
Hinduism and Buddhism. Why don't we just communicate better?" she
asks.
During her research, she found that many old religious buildings
contain elements, particularly ornamentation, from a mixture of cultures
and religions. This is indicative of the greatness of religions in
Indonesia. Lee, who speaks over five languages, hopes that her research
will help to bring together Indonesians of different cultures and religions.
"The national motto of Indonesia is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, Unity
in Diversity. It's a beautiful and unique sentiment. Indonesia also
has the Pancasila, including belief in God. This is also unique; you
don't find this in other countries," she added.
