Distant voices of national conscience<\/p>\n
By Mochtar Buchori<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): I have heard voices for at least the last two
\nmonths. \"Voices of national conscience\". Very faintly at first,
\nbut they grow louder and louder every time.<\/p>\n
These are voices which express the public's perception and
\nfeeling of what is right and what is wrong in our society today.<\/p>\n
They are very different from the ones I have heard for many
\nyears in our formal political parlance. The most audible of these
\nvoices is, in my view, that of Minister Siswono Yudohusodo.<\/p>\n
Speaking as an individual citizen in a recent seminar in
\nBandung, he said the criteria of propriety have changed in our
\nsociety. Old criteria have been abandoned, and new criteria have
\narisen, which in effect are distortions of the old ones.<\/p>\n
\"We then cry,\" he said, \"because we have to accept these
\ndistorted values, and we have to live with them. Our homeland has
\nbeen deeply grieved having to witness so many of its sons and
\ndaughters undergo changes in their character and behavior. The
\nword 'smart' has gradually become to mean 'iniquitous', while the
\nword 'honest' has increasingly become to mean 'stupid'.\"<\/p>\n
He said further that hypocrisy, greediness, and excessive
\nmaterialistic behavior have become so ubiquitous in our society,
\nwhile \"heartfelt selflessness (ketulusan), sincere forbearance
\n(keikhlasan), and plain honesty (kepolosan) have been pushed
\naside to the remotest corners within our country.\"<\/p>\n
I find these statements so refreshing. After years of
\nobligatory listening to political speeches that are filled with
\nempty rhetoric, outdated slogans, and unkept promises, it is
\nreally very comforting to hear a high level functionary saying
\nthings that are so close to truth and reality. I wonder whether
\n-- and hope that -- we have finally come to a phase in our
\nnational life where our leaders have come to the realization that
\nthey must be honest towards the public, and that they should not
\nclose their eyes to all shortcomings that still exist in our
\nsociety.<\/p>\n
Is it realistic to speculate and hope like this? I am not
\nsure, but this hopeful speculation has been strengthened by
\nstatements made by two other ministers: State Minister of
\nNational Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita and
\nCoordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto.<\/p>\n
Minister Ginandjar in his address to participants of the fist
\ncongress of book producers suggested that books which have thus
\nfar been banned be made available to scholars working in
\nuniversities and in research institutions. \"In order to become a
\ngood economist one must read Karl Marx's Das Kapital, and in
\norder to become a good political scientist one must read Hitler's
\nMein Kampf,\" he said. It is only by reading the original works
\nthat one will be able to identify the correct and the faulty
\nideas contained in a book. Any intelligent reader will notice
\nthese two different aspects of any book he or she is reading, and
\nwill be able to decide later on which parts of the book can be
\ndisseminated to others and which parts should be kept for
\noneself, because it will be unwise to disperse them further to
\nothers. No intelligent reader would just carelessly \"propagate\"
\nideas he or she finds in a book.<\/p>\n
In addition to being refreshing, I find this statement also
\nvery encouraging. For my part, this practice of banning books has
\nlasted too long. I personally witnessed the most barbaric
\nexpression of this mentality in 1965 at a college where I taught.
\nThe books considered liberal, imperialistic and capitalistic were
\ntaken from the library shelves and burned in the schoolyard. A
\nnumber of faculty members, professors and lecturers, in addition
\nto a number of students and administrative personnel, were
\npresent. When the fire was lighted, most of the students and
\nadministrative personnel, and some of the professors, applauded
\nloudly.<\/p>\n
I felt very, very sad and sick at the time, and this feeling
\nwas made worse by the knowledge that there was nothing I could do
\nto prevent or stop this mad act. Since then I developed a trauma
\ntoward any form of book banning. I feel humiliated and insulted
\nevery time someone orders or suggests the banning of a book. I
\nfeel that such an act is not only an affront to my intellect and
\nintelligence, but also that it violates my moral integrity and
\nautonomy.<\/p>\n
Minister Hartarto joined this chorus of refreshing voices when
\nhe said on June 1 that this country should start dismantling
\nmonopolistic and oligopolistic practices. Speaking in Yogyakarta
\nto more than 200 students of economics, Minister Hartarto said
\nthat protection, monopoly and oligopoly contradict the principles
\nof fair competition. Any industry developed on the basis of
\nmonopolistic and oligopolistic practices will hamper the
\nemergence of supporting and related industries.<\/p>\n
What is so special about this statement? To me it is special,
\nbecause it represents an opinion which is currently shared widely
\nby the public, that monopolistic practices currently carried out
\nin our country have done much more harm than good to the public.
\nThis statement is also important to me, because it indicates that
\neven at the highest echelon of our society reason still prevails,
\nand that people with power still listen to their conscience.<\/p>\n
As long as our society is able to keep this kind of climate
\nalive, there is always hope that all the wrongdoings plaguing our
\nsociety today will one day be stopped and corrected. Seen within
\nthis context, hoping and working for a better future is a
\nrealistic act, and not an illusionary dream. To me this is the
\nmost important meaning of this phenomenon.<\/p>\n
The latest among these refreshing voices was that of Maj. Gen.
\nWiranto, head of the Jakarta military command. Answering a
\nquestion from the press, he said that the time has come for us to
\ncorrect a popular but wrong perception about non-governmental
\norganizations (NGOs). Thus far the dominant perception that
\nprevails in our society is that NGOs are troublemakers, and that
\nthey are constantly opposing the government. According to Gen.
\nWiranto, this is an opinion that has been nurtured by those who
\ndo not know what NGO's are, and have no first-hand knowledge of
\nhow they operate in real life. General Wiranto maintained that if
\nwe are willing to look at NGOs with a clear mind, and free
\nourselves from biases and prejudices, we will see that NGOs are
\nin general partners of the government in establishing and
\nmaintaining order in our society. In the majority of cases, he
\nsaid, NGOs' act as the middleman or link between the government
\nand the public.<\/p>\n
Based on this evaluation, he urged the public to change their
\nattitude toward NGOs. On the other hand, he also urged NGOs not
\nto be provoked by the faulty perceptions about them, and not to
\nplunge into patterns of behavior that have been set up on purpose
\nas traps for them.<\/p>\n
To me this is another refreshing voice. There is little doubt,
\nin my opinion, that in the past Indonesian NGOs have repeatedly
\nbeen suspected and accused of initiating or organizing activities
\nthat displease the government. In light of such historical
\nbackground, I think that this statement will revive and
\nstrengthen the hope that the society at large has about NGOs,
\nthat they will guide and help them in solving the problems that
\nbeset society.<\/p>\n
Rationally I believe that I am justified in fostering hope for
\na new era in our national life. But somehow doubt lingers in my
\nmind about the dawning of this new era in our real life. Among
\nthese encouraging signs I heard one small note which is really
\ndisturbing to me. It is an announcement made by the Directorate
\nGeneral of Higher Education which says in effect that students
\nmay no longer invite \"vocal personalities\" from outside the
\ncampus to give lectures within university compounds. To me this
\nis a move which forcefully counters all the encouraging currents
\nI mentioned above.<\/p>\n
So what is really happening? I am not quite sure. It might be
\nthat this is just another sign of lack of coordination among
\ngovernment offices. A phenomenon that has been long familiar to
\nus all. But it can also be that this contradiction reflects the
\nbasic tension that currently exist within our society, the
\ntension between those who want to move ahead into a new era
\nwithin our national life on the one hand and those who want to
\npreserve the present situation on the other, because they do not
\nsee any need to change anything within our present condition. To
\nuse an old cliche: it is the tension between proponents of
\nprogress on the one hand and proponents of stability on the
\nother.<\/p>\n
Whatever the real situation may be, I believe that it is the
\nsincere hope of the public at large that those who have the power
\nto influence the course of the dynamics of the nation are willing
\nto see things beyond the confines of personal and group
\ninterests. It is also our hope, I think, that these persons have
\nthe ability to perceive our country and our society within the
\ncontext of future situations, the ability to perceive
\nimaginatively how our country and our society will probably look
\nby 2003 and on up to 2020. It is again our sincere hope that our
\nleaders will be able to capture the spirit of the future, and
\nrefuse to be trapped and blinded by the situation that presently
\nexists in our environment.<\/p>\n
Is it too much to hope for all of this? I hope not!<\/p>\n
The writer is an observer of social and cultural affairs.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/distant-voices-of-national-conscience-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }