ONE WOULD RATHER HE KNEW LESS:

Dr Yudhoyono poised to remedy Indonesian ills (Tomi Soetjipto, October 4, 2004, The Age)

You cannot call him "Mr President" yet, but you could try Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

While waiting to become Indonesia's next leader, the former general entered the classroom over the weekend to defend a doctoral thesis on poverty and unemployment, subjects that could not be more important for when he takes office on October 20.

Dr Yudhoyono will soon rule the world's fourth most populous nation, but that counted for little in front of six examiners at the prestigious Bogor Institute of Agriculture, where he was grilled for three hours.

The encounter displayed the differences with outgoing President Megawati Soekarnoputri, whom Dr Yudhoyono crushed in Indonesia's first direct presidential poll last month.

A student who twice failed university courses, Mrs Megawati had little interest in the details of governing her messy country, nor explaining the finer points to her 220 million people.

Dr Yudhoyono, known as a "thinking" general when he wore uniform, has at least shown he has the intellectual capacity to grasp the problems that bedevil Indonesia.