Imagine you are playing soccer, then at half-time the game is switched to rugby. How many of the team will run back on and try to play by the same old rules? This is how the former Indonesian ambassador to Australia, Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, describes the abrupt end of authoritarian rule in Indonesia and the uneven transition since to democracy.
Dr Wiryono's point is this: Australia's expectations of an ebullient new era of friendship should be tempered by Indonesia's challenging political reality – despite the genuine goodwill of the visiting Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and his host, the Prime Minister, John Howard.
Certainly there has been meaningful political change at the top in Indonesia and the reformist Dr Yudhoyono is someone Australia is keen to work with.
But there are still powerful factions in Indonesia with vested interests in the old, dirty rules. And that means many of the irritants which have long marred the bilateral relationship are still in the background.
Indonesia is a fragile, new democracy. Endemic corruption, the abuse of government positions, human rights and legal impartiality are high on Dr Yudhoyono's sweeping reform agenda. But the campaign has barely begun.
Dr Yudhoyono's enthusiasm for upgrading relations with Australia is also overshadowed by past tensions, especially Australia's role in East Timor.
Add to this new nationalistic resentment over critical foreign scrutiny of the civil war zone in Aceh which followed the tsunami. Extremist Islamic groups are also likely to continue to stoke anti-Western sentiment which, in South-East Asia, targets Australians. Dr Yudhoyono was directly elected as President with a clear majority, but his small political party does not control the Indonesian Parliament. Taken together, it all makes a delicate political balance.
The new bilateral framework agreement signed by Dr Yudhoyono and Mr Howard augurs well for better management of inevitable future tensions, as do the tough conditions attached to Australia's $1 billion post-tsunami aid package. But there is opposition within the Indonesian Parliament to a proposed new security pact. Canberra should also be wary of pushing too quickly on co-operation between the Australian and Indonesian armed forces.
The conduct of the Indonesian military in Aceh and West Papua will continue to raise serious human rights issues. Likewise, no culture of corruption can be broken overnight.
What is most useful now are practical gestures of confidence, like new Australian trade and investment. Only substantial new foreign investment can produce the economic growth needed to soak up Indonesia's huge pool of unemployed. Dr Yudhoyono knows that unless his Government can make a real dent in poverty, democracy will remain vulnerable to the political spoilers and their old, dirty rules. Australia and Indonesia are, of course, forever linked "by geography and destiny", as Mr Howard declared. The importance of Dr Yudhoyono's visit should not be underestimated. But a stable, democratic Indonesia cannot yet be taken for granted. Nor should a new era of amity and trust.