MARK Baird took up his post as the World Bank's Country Director for Indonesia in 1999, at a time when the country was reeling from the impact of a financial crisis. Excesses of liberalization, after 30 years of Suharto's iron grip on the country, were evident in the social and political arenas. Baird has witnessed the first multi-party elections since the early 1950s, the violent referendum and independence of East Timor, and Indonesia's painfu