Goenawan: A pessimist with a ray of hope<\/p>\n
By Gedsiri Suhartono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): He prefers to consider himself a pessimist. His
\nwealth of knowledge as a senior journalist who has presided over
\nseveral magazines, including Tempo weekly, is perhaps a
\njustifiable reason for his pessimism. Especially since he has
\nwitnessed the fast and unpredictable progress made by his beloved
\ncountry toward an as yet unknown fate.<\/p>\n
A pessimist with a ray of hope, as some would say of Goenawan
\nSusatyo Mohamad, is often evident in thoughts expressed in his
\nnoted essays which began with Catatan Pinggir (Sidelines) in 1977
\nand continued until Tempo was banned in June 1994.<\/p>\n
Once the regime which closed Tempo down was no more, the
\nweekly relaunched itself in October, with Goenawan once again at
\nthe helm.<\/p>\n
This time around, he has promised himself only four more years
\nto guide the magazine before starting to enjoy life's rich
\ntapestry in other ways.<\/p>\n
\"As a certified pessimist, I am glad when I am proved wrong.
\nPeople are glad if a pessimist is wrong in his or her negative
\nway of looking at the world. The dire condition affecting our
\nsociety certainly makes me hope that I am wrong in some of my
\npreponderance,\" said the soft-spoken Goenawan.<\/p>\n
Goenawan was born in Karangasem, Batang, Central Java, 57
\nyears ago. After finishing his high school in 1959, he went to
\nthe University of Indonesia, to study psychology. He never
\ngraduated. Instead, he went to College of Europe in Belgium,
\naccording to Who's Who 1985-1986. Returning home, he started his
\ncareer in journalism on the KAMI daily. He was an editor at
\n'Horison' literary journal and later worked with Express
\nmagazine. In 1971, along with some friends, he founded Tempo.<\/p>\n
He has written several books, including the collections of his
\npoems, Parikesit and Interlude, and the collection of his essays,
\nSex, Sastra dan Kita (Sex, Literature and Us) and 'Catatan
\nPinggir'.<\/p>\n
His wife, Widarti Goenawan, is editor of Femina women's
\nmagazine. They have two children.<\/p>\n
Goenawan, who has won several journalistic awards, the most
\nrecent of which was an International Press Freedom Award,
\nparadoxically refused to answer questions on press freedom. \"Much
\nhas been said about this topic. Our country is facing so many
\ndifficulties right now and journalists should think more about
\nissues which do not affect them directly,\" Mas Gun, as he is
\nknown to his friends, said.<\/p>\n
It is for the same reason that he recently decided not to fly
\nto the United States to receive the press freedom award. It was
\nnot because he was ungrateful, but simply because closer ties
\nbound him to stay at home. He knows full well that he does not
\nhave the power to change the course of events, but when the
\nnation bleed he hurts badly.<\/p>\n
\"My presence would obviously not change anything, nor do I
\nhave any illusion that it would. My heart tells me to stay here
\nand experience,\" Goenawan said.<\/p>\n
Goenawan views the breakdown of the social order as being at
\nthe heart of the nation's long lasting troubles. He said the
\ncountry faces a collage of problems which have not yet got an end
\nin sight. The prolonged economic crisis will dump 20 million
\npeople to the desperation of unemployment and to compound this,
\nthere is the rule of an illegitimate government that lacks the
\nsupport and acceptance of the general public.<\/p>\n
Habibie is a floating figure installed in his position by
\nSoeharto. He therefore lacks strong ties with both the country's
\nelite and its grassroots, hence his tendency to try to please all
\nof the people all of the time.<\/p>\n
\"He's like a disengaged kite, trying to please everyone from
\nevery direction. Dependent on foreign opinion to ensure financial
\nassistance, clinging to the Armed Forces for protection and
\nsecurity, while simultaneously trying to win the hearts of
\nMoslems around the country,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Goenawan said that Habibie must announce that he is a
\ntransitional incumbent with a finite tenure in office to ease the
\ncountry's transition to democracy.<\/p>\n
\"Habibie was installed in every position he ever held, even
\nwhen he was the chairman of ICMI (Association of Indonesian
\nMoslem Intellectuals). Soeharto made Habibie his second in
\ncommand, not his successor,\" said Goenawan.<\/p>\n
All too aware of Habibie's inconsistency, Goenawan cringes at
\nthe slightest mention of the possibility of some of the
\npresident's more unusual ideas being taken seriously by policy
\nmakers.<\/p>\n
\"Habibie is not someone you can expect to go beyond his
\nambitions. Habibie is not a statesman who would sacrifice part of
\nhis own ego for the sake of the country,\" Goenawan added,
\nlamenting the country's violent recent past.<\/p>\n
On the same token, inter-faith and inter-ethnic relations are
\nat their worst point in history. The breakdown of the Indonesian
\nsocial order is a systemic problem as much as it is a crisis of
\nleadership. During development of the Indonesian identity, too
\nmuch corruption seeped into the soul and spirit of the nation and
\nit will take more than a few months to excise, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesians have lost their depth. Judgment of good and bad
\nhas lost its meaning. When people succeed in bribing others,
\nthere is obviously a crisis of the human spirit,\" Goenawan said.<\/p>\n
He observed that over three decades of depoliticization had
\nleft people unprepared for a culture of opposition.
\nUnfortunately, a mainstream consensus on an organized opposition
\nhas yet to emerge. In other words, there is not much by way of
\nalternatives to the current government.<\/p>\n
\"Students should not consider themselves the only force that
\nhas the ability to bring about change. They should shed the
\nillusion that they are the real power. I hope they don't prolong
\ntheir state of being intoxicated in the glory and myth of the
\npurity of the reform movement and refuse to cooperate with other
\nforces.<\/p>\n
\"If further prolonged, I fear the student movement will loose
\nits momentum as it becomes disoriented. Good as it is, the
\nstudent movement needs a stronger leadership and better
\ncoordination, especially to unite its energy and strategy,\"
\nGoenawan, said.<\/p>\n
\"Our nation, in my humble opinion, is heading for years,
\npossibly decades of severe illness. It will be a while. But no
\ncountry has ever crumbled absolutely. A little patience might
\nhelp us to get through this learning process,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, reformers want to change the course of the
\nnation's history overnight, he said, adding that all concerned
\ncitizens must be patient.<\/p>\n
He also suggested that nurturing the newly formed political
\nparties might help to breed democracy and thus speed up the drive
\nfor reform.<\/p>\n
Academics have generally been condescending towards the new
\npolitical parties, he contested. In this era of reform, countless
\nparties have been formed, a few with clear objectives and vision,
\nbut many undoubtedly just to jump on the bandwagon.<\/p>\n
\"This scornful attitude is dangerous because it leads people
\ntoward aversion. Without political parties, there would be no way
\nof picking a leader in an open competition,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A little patience might reward the country and help it to
\nbuild democratic political institutions. Superficial and
\nopportunistic as it may appear, the appearance of new parties is
\nnecessary to ensure the growth of democracy. The death of
\npolitics is the beginning of dictatorship.<\/p>\n
The challenge of the day, Goenawan noted, was to continue to
\npush for an election law that will enable a fair and transparent
\nelection to take place next year.<\/p>",
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