The magnificent ‘Candi Borobudur’ is an important heritage for Indonesia and the entire region.

Today, we felicitate our Indonesian friends and their fellow countrymen on their nation’s 71st Independence Day.  The diverse peoples of Indonesia and Malaysia share a two-thousand year history of trade, transmigration, cultural exchanges, and political unions.  Vast regions of both countries were once part of the mighty Buddhist Empire of Srivijaya (7th to 13th centuries CE.), which left rich archaeological artefacts in Sumatra, Java, and the Malay Peninsula.

We wish our close neighbour Indonesia continued prosperity and progress.  Salam mettā.

The impressive ruins of a Srivijayan Buddhist vihara in Muaro Jambi, Sumatra. Much of Sumatra, Java, Malaya, and Southern Thailand were part of the Srivijaya Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries CE.