THE date of January 28 is apparently set to become one to be celebrated every five years. On that day in 2000, people met at seminars to talk about President Abdurrahman Wahid's administration that reached 100 days in power. Observers spoke, and the mass media quoted them in their major stories.

On January 28, 2005—last Friday—that ritual was repeated. On his administration's hundredth day, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke o