Lippo goes to high school.

• Author: Press, Eyal
• Position: Indonesia's Lippo Bank and others provide propaganda pamphlet to US public high schools: includes a related article on Massachusetts' proposed bill to bar from state contracts, firms dealing with Indonesia - Cover Story

Check your kids' curriculum. For the past two years, students in classrooms across America, grades seven through twelve, have been learning about the wonders of Indonesia, courtesy of the Lippo Bank, the U.S.-Indonesia Society, the Indonesian government, Mobil, Texaco, and a host of prominent U.S. and foreign corporations with intimate ties to the Suharto regime.

Introducing Indonesia is a bright, glossy teachers' guide produced by these interests and distributed by Scholastic Incorporated, one of the world's largest education publishers.

It has been sent to more than 77,000 social-studies teachers and their more than ten million students.

The guide is replete with multicolored charts, maps, and suggested lesson plans. It also comes with a full-size, fold-out poster, depicting Indonesia as a land of exotic animals, lush rainforests, and modern satellites and industry. Both the poster and the teachers' booklet are adorned with the corporate logos of Mobil, Texaco, Chevron, and the Lippo Bank.

The Indonesian government describes the booklet as an important "step toward international understanding."

Wayne Forrest, president of the American-Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, says the guide will "increase understanding of a country that has long been a solid friend of the United States and a nation that offers a great number of opportunities for American business."

The guide offers teachers handy advice. "Point out to students that some people fear the establishment of open trade between the U.S. and Asia, where labor is so much cheaper than it is here. But a recent Business Week editorial has said: `Already some three million Americans are employed as a result of U.S. exports to countries of Asia and the Pacific Rim.'"

Teachers are next instructed to have students "look at household and personal items (and inside their sneakers) for a MADE IN INDONESIA label. Sneakers are produced in Indonesia, the booklet explains, not because workers there are paid next to nothing, but on account of another often overlooked comparative advantage--namely, that a "crucial raw material used in manufacturing sneakers [i.e., rubber] is found in Indonesia."

Students also receive geography lessons. On page seven, a map of Indonesia is situated directly above a map of the United States, with all of Indonesia's provinces shaded one color. East Timor is shown in the same color. The map gives no indication that the territory is a separate country that has been illegally...