Indonesia’s Unfinished Revolution
Kartika Soekarno, She
founded the Kartika Soekarno Foundation for Indonesian Children, based in New
York and Jakarta, in 1998. The goal of the foundation is to reduce drop out
rate in primary schools and help improve basic healthcare for babies and
infants
Sumber
: JAKARTA POST, 23 November 2011
My
father, founding president Sukarno, inspired Indonesians throughout the
archipelago to throw off colonial subjugation and mobilize for a future
characterized by economic prosperity, social justice, religious tolerance,
social solidarity and national pride.
Having recently returned to live in Indonesia, I have had time to assess the degree to which the vision of my father and his colleagues has been realized.
I am sad. My father would be deeply disappointed. The 250 million individuals who comprise this great nation are for the most part people of integrity, honesty and are committed to helping their neighbors. This is particularly true in rural areas and among lower income groups every time I visit schools and posyandu (community health and nutrition posts) in several regencies across the country.
My last visit was to Tegalalang village in Gianyar, Bali, several weeks ago. A retired teacher had been elected chair of the local board of directors that governed and supported the posyandu, which provided essential health, nutrition and early childcare services to the people. It made my heart sing to see that he had mobilized more than Rp 8 million (US$900) from mostly low-income villagers to support the work of the posyandu.
Similarly, when I visit schools, I see that when parents, grandparents and villagers trust their teachers and see their children happy and active learners, they willingly support school improvements, even though they are poor. The spirit of gotong royong (mutual cooperation) is still alive in this country!
Indonesia’s problems do not emanate from the general public. To a large extent they are caused by poor governance at the top, which metes out light punishments for misdeeds. That is not to say that all officials are bad people. There are motivated and committed civil servants, but the system does not support them.
Today, we mostly have a system where nearly every job has to be bought and where promotion is dependent on nepotism and friendship instead of meritocracy. How can we then expect to have a government that truly serves its people?
It should be the people who rule in a democracy, not entrenched vested interests, which is the case today. Since the economic crisis of 1997 that led to a political crisis where president Soeharto was forced to resign, one can surmise that the top figure was removed but the system remained in place. We saw a very different case in regards to the recent changes in Egypt, where they decided to not just oust president Hosni Mubarak but cleanse the whole system. It remains to be seen whether that will be for better or worse.
The key factors of the successful “revolution” in Egypt were Internet access, cell phones, a high quality of education and a growing middle class. It is my strong belief that Indonesia can do better and should aim for a real democracy with transitional “guidance”. To that end, much more needs to be invested in education in order to create a generation of stronger citizens who can be active and competitive in a new global economy, as well as be world leaders.
The late US president John F. Kennedy expressed eloquently that to change the world for the better was a result made up of thousands of individual steps.
In several regencies that I have visited, the local administrations are more honest than the average administrations and I discover there is a commitment to improving health and education that goes beyond verbal promises. They suit our approach that is to promote open, transparent management and budgeting to involve the local community.
I hope that in so doing we are sowing the seeds of good governance at the community level and helping to give a voice to those who should demand that officials should be accountable to the people and not to corrupt, vested interests.
Furthermore, I am convinced that my father’s vision of a tolerant, multicultural and multi-religious country is one that is still shared strongly by the vast majority of my fellow citizens. This vision needs constant support, promotion and defense in the face of opposition from the narrow-minded forces of intolerance.
I am certain that the majority of Indonesian people share my view. I trust that their outrage in not receiving a just and equitable society will hopefully drive further change for a better Indonesia and complete the revolution that my father helped to inspire.
This year is a year of revolution, which began in Tunisia in January, followed by Egypt, rioting in London, political change Libya and most surprising of all even in the United States (with the Occupy Wall Street movement), which thrives on promoting democratic values across the world and symbolizes the success of the capitalistic economy.
In a recent article, American economist and academic Joseph E. Stiglitz said that the common denominator for this global unrest could be expressed in one sentence: “we are the 99%”.
Will these winds of change blow across Indonesia? It will be interesting to see if Indonesia’s unfinished revolution will take place at the next presidential election in 2014.●
Having recently returned to live in Indonesia, I have had time to assess the degree to which the vision of my father and his colleagues has been realized.
I am sad. My father would be deeply disappointed. The 250 million individuals who comprise this great nation are for the most part people of integrity, honesty and are committed to helping their neighbors. This is particularly true in rural areas and among lower income groups every time I visit schools and posyandu (community health and nutrition posts) in several regencies across the country.
My last visit was to Tegalalang village in Gianyar, Bali, several weeks ago. A retired teacher had been elected chair of the local board of directors that governed and supported the posyandu, which provided essential health, nutrition and early childcare services to the people. It made my heart sing to see that he had mobilized more than Rp 8 million (US$900) from mostly low-income villagers to support the work of the posyandu.
Similarly, when I visit schools, I see that when parents, grandparents and villagers trust their teachers and see their children happy and active learners, they willingly support school improvements, even though they are poor. The spirit of gotong royong (mutual cooperation) is still alive in this country!
Indonesia’s problems do not emanate from the general public. To a large extent they are caused by poor governance at the top, which metes out light punishments for misdeeds. That is not to say that all officials are bad people. There are motivated and committed civil servants, but the system does not support them.
Today, we mostly have a system where nearly every job has to be bought and where promotion is dependent on nepotism and friendship instead of meritocracy. How can we then expect to have a government that truly serves its people?
It should be the people who rule in a democracy, not entrenched vested interests, which is the case today. Since the economic crisis of 1997 that led to a political crisis where president Soeharto was forced to resign, one can surmise that the top figure was removed but the system remained in place. We saw a very different case in regards to the recent changes in Egypt, where they decided to not just oust president Hosni Mubarak but cleanse the whole system. It remains to be seen whether that will be for better or worse.
The key factors of the successful “revolution” in Egypt were Internet access, cell phones, a high quality of education and a growing middle class. It is my strong belief that Indonesia can do better and should aim for a real democracy with transitional “guidance”. To that end, much more needs to be invested in education in order to create a generation of stronger citizens who can be active and competitive in a new global economy, as well as be world leaders.
The late US president John F. Kennedy expressed eloquently that to change the world for the better was a result made up of thousands of individual steps.
In several regencies that I have visited, the local administrations are more honest than the average administrations and I discover there is a commitment to improving health and education that goes beyond verbal promises. They suit our approach that is to promote open, transparent management and budgeting to involve the local community.
I hope that in so doing we are sowing the seeds of good governance at the community level and helping to give a voice to those who should demand that officials should be accountable to the people and not to corrupt, vested interests.
Furthermore, I am convinced that my father’s vision of a tolerant, multicultural and multi-religious country is one that is still shared strongly by the vast majority of my fellow citizens. This vision needs constant support, promotion and defense in the face of opposition from the narrow-minded forces of intolerance.
I am certain that the majority of Indonesian people share my view. I trust that their outrage in not receiving a just and equitable society will hopefully drive further change for a better Indonesia and complete the revolution that my father helped to inspire.
This year is a year of revolution, which began in Tunisia in January, followed by Egypt, rioting in London, political change Libya and most surprising of all even in the United States (with the Occupy Wall Street movement), which thrives on promoting democratic values across the world and symbolizes the success of the capitalistic economy.
In a recent article, American economist and academic Joseph E. Stiglitz said that the common denominator for this global unrest could be expressed in one sentence: “we are the 99%”.
Will these winds of change blow across Indonesia? It will be interesting to see if Indonesia’s unfinished revolution will take place at the next presidential election in 2014.●
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