Do MPR members have weak legs?<\/p>\n
By Mochtar Buchori<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): I understand more clearly now than ever the
\nmeaning of the Dutch proverb which says Het zijn sterke benen die
\nde weelde kunnen dragen. \"It is only strong legs that can bear
\nthe weight of luxuries.\"<\/p>\n
To illustrate this point take the case of members of the
\nIndonesian House of Representatives. Becoming a member of the
\nHouse brings with it a number of benefits that for new members
\nlike myself are real luxuries.<\/p>\n
The moment you put your House sticker on your windshield, hang
\nyour badge around your neck and put your parliament insignia on
\nthe left lapel of your jacket, you are bound to enjoy special
\nprivileges.<\/p>\n
Arriving at the House complex, by the time you reach the main
\ngate the security guards in dark blue uniforms have snapped to
\nattention and saluted. When one of them hands your driver a free
\nparking ticket, he says, \"Good day, Sir.\" When you step out of
\nyour car, another guard opens the door for you, salutes, and
\nagain says, \"Good day, Sir.\"<\/p>\n
Then you go to your private office and again you will
\nexperience more luxury. The office is completely furnished and
\nthe furniture is brand new. The size of your room depends on your
\nposition within the House. I am just an ordinary member, and yet
\nmy office consists of two sections, the smaller, outer part for
\nmy secretary and the larger, inner part for myself. My secretary
\nis a government employee -- a male, mind you -- provided by the
\nHouse. I don't have to pay a single rupiah for his services.<\/p>\n
The view from the office is nice, especially if it is located
\non one of the higher floors. Mine is on the eighth floor, and the
\nview of Jakarta from my office is very pleasant. I see only high-
\nrise buildings and wealthy residential areas. I don't see any
\nsign of those crowded, filthy kampongs and other traces of
\npoverty, which in real life occupy large parts of Jakarta. Here,
\nI feel the first corrupting effect of the privileges I enjoy as a
\nmember of the House. My physical surroundings blunt my perception
\nand my conscience about poverty in Jakarta, and in the whole
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
The accumulation of all these small privileges distorts your
\nperception about the real world outside the House. The words
\n\"people's aspirations\" become increasingly less meaningful, while
\nthe criteria for democracy become less clear-cut. And when
\n\"flexibility\" has become the main principle for achieving
\npolitical victory and organizational survival, it no longer
\nmatters whether you are promoting or blocking democracy. The main
\nthing is that at the end you achieve victory and survive, and for
\nthis purpose you have to be flexible. Don't take the democracy in
\nthis building too seriously.<\/p>\n
And later, after you begin to enjoy the bigger privileges, I
\nthink that things will become more confusing. They say that these
\nbigger privileges include housing facilities, an office car, a
\nsubsidy of Rp 30 million to buy your second car and a monthly
\nallowance of somewhere around Rp 6 million. In addition you
\nreceive rice, 10 kg a month for each member of your family (up to
\na maximum of 50 kg for each member of the House.) You also got
\nfree medical services, including a yearly checkup. If the results
\nof the checkup shows that you need further medical attention,
\nthen all the medications and treatments prescribed by your
\ndoctor(s) will be provided free of charge. In case you become
\nseriously ill you will get free hospital treatment in one of the
\nfinest hospitals in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Isn't this wonderful? All these luxuries are nothing, of
\ncourse, for members of the House who have come from the business
\ncommunity or who have already accumulated wealth from their
\nprevious services with the government. But for people like me
\nwhose regular monthly income is less than Rp 800,000 (which is my
\nmonthly retirement pension), Rp 6 million is a lot of money. Life
\nbecomes much easier, and for a moment I feel like a king. Why?
\nBecause these luxuries tend to create within you the feeling
\nthat, like kings, you are living separately from the ordinary
\npeople. All these facilities create a distance between you and
\nthe people you are supposed to represent. You slowly forget that
\nyou are in this House thanks to the people who have elected you
\nand put their trust in you.<\/p>\n
There are still other, less direct, privileges that may
\nreinforce this feeling of being separated from the people. If you
\nhappen to speak English reasonably well, and are sufficiently
\nconversant about several topics, you are bound to receive
\ninvitations from foreign diplomats, foundation people, business
\npeople or journalists. All the wining and dining with these
\nforeign people takes place in pleasant surroundings. And all
\nthese conversations that take place in diplomatic, journalistic
\nor academic modes may increasingly make you forget that you are
\nstill part of this nearly bankrupt, undemocratic and unruly
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
You may also increasingly forget that your job as a member of
\nthe House of Representatives is primarily to take the nation out
\nof its miserable condition, and launch it toward a more humane
\none. The primary obligation of House members is, in my view, not
\nto help the party score a momentary political victory, but to
\nreduce and ultimately eliminate the inequalities that have made
\nthe majority of the people in Indonesia suffer. Concentrating
\nsolely on achieving victory for the party and sacrificing the
\nbasic principles of democracy is tantamount to betraying the
\nnation.<\/p>\n
How can one guard oneself against the corrupting effects of
\nall the luxuries that are granted to members of the House? How
\ncan one remain close to the feelings and aspirations of the
\npeople, in spite of the physical separation and distance?<\/p>\n
People say that the recesses between House sessions are
\nopportunities created to narrow whatever psychological gap may
\nhave come between members of the House and their constituencies.
\nDoes this system work? I don't know! Since I have never been a
\nmember of the House before, I have no experience whatsoever in
\nthis regard.<\/p>\n
In my view, though, ignoring or denying the feelings and
\naspirations of the ordinary people comes from a lack of empathy.
\nAnd I don't think that empathy can be created by mere physical
\nvisits to where ordinary people live. Empathy is a matter of
\nsharing values. If you commit yourself to values that are similar
\nto those of the people, you are bound to appreciate their
\nfeelings and share their aspirations. No amount of facilities and
\nprivileges will make you alienated from the people.<\/p>\n
Members of the Assembly, who, after the bloody demonstrations
\njust outside the House still do not know or pretend not to know
\nwhat the people want are, in my opinion, living in a world that
\nis different from the world of the ordinary people.<\/p>\n
Who do they really represent? Or, referring to the Dutch
\nproverb I cited above: Are their legs so weak?<\/p>",
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