Fitting the village into development<\/p>\n
Gerakan Kembali ke Desa (Back to Village Movement)
\nand Antum A'lamu Bi Umuuri Dunyaakum -- Engkau Lebih Tahu
\nTentang Duniamu (You Know Better About Your World)
\nboth by H. Moch. Basofi Soedirman
\nLembaga Kajian Masyarakat Pedesaan, Surabaya, 1997
\n232 pages and 302 pages<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It is unusual to find serving government
\nofficials writing books or articles in the mass media. Most
\nusually write after they retire from public office, when their
\nopinions no longer matter. Their main contribution is in giving
\ninsight into the bureaucracy and its way of thinking.<\/p>\n
This makes Basofi Soedirman, the current governor of East
\nJava, rare among his peers. He has been writing for newspaper and
\nmagazine columns since he was deputy governor of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Some of his views gathered from press articles have now been
\ncompiled into two volumes.<\/p>\n
Gerakan Kembali ke Desa (Back to the Village Movement)
\nand Antum A'lamu Bi Umuuri Dunyaakum -- Engkau Lebih Tahu Tentang
\nDuniamu (You Know Better About Your World) are not his first
\nforays into publishing. Three books -- also collected thoughts
\nfrom articles -- were published previously, and he also wrote
\nAgama dan Eksistensi Manusia (Religion and Human Existence).<\/p>\n
Unlike most other officials, Basofi knows full well the power
\nof ink in influencing public opinion. On his motivation to write,
\nthe governor once said that he wanted the public to know his
\npolicies. By reading his articles, the public would also have a
\ngreater sense of control over the bureaucracy, so he believed.<\/p>\n
In Gerakan, Basofi discusses the need to move people back to
\nthe villages.<\/p>\n
His is not proposing a communist type of twisting back time.
\nHe argues that there should be some development in rural areas to
\nslow down the process of urbanization.<\/p>\n
He backs his proposal with various concepts.<\/p>\n
One of them is strengthening village markets to boost the
\nlocal economy. Markets should be clean and comfortable. A
\ncomfortable and functional market place contains cash economies
\nfrom moving out.<\/p>\n
Another concept he has in mind is what he calls \"technology to
\nthe villages\".<\/p>\n
He argues that regional universities or research centers
\nshould help develop rural areas. Particularly important is the
\napplication of appropriate technology.<\/p>\n
He also believes that to boost village economies, there is no
\nway other than to inject more capital. This he terms \"capital to
\nthe villages\".<\/p>\n
Along with this, he coins the phrase \"entrepreneurs to the
\nvillages\". Both terms refer to a concept of small-scale
\ncapitalism.<\/p>\n
Basofi however is not proposing a full-blown capitalist
\nsystem. His next concept of \"one village, one product\" resembles
\nmore a socialist type of concept for rural development.<\/p>\n
To maximize their true economic potential, he suggests that
\neach village produce a single product. This, he says, would lead
\nto competition between villages, but not within villages.
\nConcentrating on a single product also means consolidating the
\nterritorial divisions of labor, he says.<\/p>\n
Basofi's ideas are not new by any means. But they are forceful
\nbecause they come from a person with authority and in a position
\nto translate them into policies.<\/p>\n
Nganjuk, a regency in East Java, has applied some of his
\nconcepts. A number of villages, with the encouragement of the
\nregency administration, have been planting shallots and are
\nalready reaping the benefits for both farmers and traders.<\/p>\n
Basofi's other book, Antum A'lamu Bi Umuuri Dunyaakum,
\nattempts to create a national model of development.<\/p>\n
Written in a populist manner, he likens his model with a
\nracing car.<\/p>\n
A new car, he argues, would not necessarily be ready for
\ncompetition in a circuit. There are a lot of other requirements
\nfor a car to compete in, let alone win, a race.<\/p>\n
These requirements must be fulfilled by society, he argues.
\nThe government, he adds, can only do so much.<\/p>\n
Both works are clearly not intended to be scholarly. Yet,
\ntheir contents and references are serious enough to merit
\nattention.<\/p>\n
But their strongest selling point remains the author and the
\ninsight they give to the governor, who will likely remain in
\nsenior government positions for some years to come.<\/p>\n
-- Hermawan Sulistyo<\/p>\n
The writer is a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of
\nSciences. He received his PhD. degree from the Scholarly
\nPublishing Program, Arizona State University, United States.<\/p>",
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