Middle class seen as too weak to advocate change<\/p>\n
By Ati Nurbaiti<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Views of the Indonesian middle class are both
\noptimistic and pessimistic.<\/p>\n
The optimists are investors. Credit card promoters and those
\ninvesting in property, malls and expensive resorts, for instance,
\nare confident that many Indonesians are now rich enough to buy
\ntheir products and services.<\/p>\n
At the recent launch of a new Hongkong Bank credit card, a
\nmanager said the bank was focusing on \"young executives in the
\ngold group.\" The bank's credit division manager said the \"gold
\ngroup\" has an income of at least Rp 4 million (US$1,682) a month,
\nand few of them have credit cards. Credit card promoters expect
\nthe number of new cardholders to reach an average of 1.25 million
\nper year.<\/p>\n
\"Just look at the statistics,\" he said. \"Twelve large cities
\nacross the country and at least 15 percent of the people have
\nlarge disposable incomes.\"<\/p>\n
The pessimistic view of the middle class has been aired by
\nseveral scholars in response to whether those who have gained a
\nbetter education during the New Order government were capable of,
\nor interested in, bringing about a better society and government.<\/p>\n
A 1996 study on Jakarta's middle class by the Kompas daily's
\nresearch division concurred with the pessimists.<\/p>\n
A coordinator of the study, sociologist Arief Budiman, said
\nthe middle class is too weak to advocate change. They were born
\nout of political stability, he said, and remain dependent on it.<\/p>\n
The study -- which surveyed 1,073 respondents, including 970
\ncategorized as middle class and the rest as low-income -- was the
\nfirst of its kind in the country.<\/p>\n
Of the sample, 391 respondents were categorized as \"newly
\nmiddle class,\" a group which included professionals, managers and
\nsupervisors in the banking, property, hotel and restaurant
\nsectors. Their family incomes were up to Rp 5 million a month.<\/p>\n
In the next bracket, 303 middle class respondents belonged to
\nthe \"old middle class\" of small company owners earning between Rp
\n500,000 and Rp 5 million a month per family. The 276 in the
\n\"marginal middle class\" were white collar employees at non-
\nmanagerial levels with monthly family incomes of Rp 500,000.<\/p>\n
The study concluded that Jakarta's middle class wanted
\npolitical and social change, but did not want the risks involved.
\nThe middle class respondents also placed economic growth above
\npolitical freedom in terms of priority. A sense of security was
\nimportant, but most said that economic growth should take
\nprecedence over crime issues and even freedom of speech.<\/p>\n
\"The government knows best,\" was a statement supported by more
\nthan 70 percent of the middle class respondents.<\/p>\n
Passive<\/p>\n
The middle class in Indonesia has not always been so passive.
\nAn educated few were pioneers of Indonesia's independence
\nmovement in the 1940s.<\/p>\n
But the 1990s have ushered in a different era of skepticism,
\none that was highlighted by the banning of Tempo, Detik, and
\nEditor in 1994. The magazines received thousands of facsimiles
\nand phone calls expressing disbelief and anger. More than 1,000
\npeople filed requests asking for a judicial review of the ruling
\nwhich justified the ban, while artists created works to express
\ntheir criticism.<\/p>\n
Although the magazines have been replaced on the newsstands by
\nnew publications and little is heard about the banning now, the
\nJuly 27 rioting gave rise to further criticism and questions.<\/p>\n
Did the middle class join with the lesser fortunate to express
\nanger over curbed political freedom?<\/p>\n
Political observer Juwono Sudarsono believes that the affluent
\nmiddle class, in addition to the government, must learn something
\nfrom the riots. A priority facing the country is, he said, \"the
\nurgent need to provide swifter, wider and deeper social and
\neconomic outreach to the increasing urban underclass.\"<\/p>\n
Arief Budiman adds that the middle class needs to join with
\nthe less well-off if it wants change, though he doubts the
\nalliance will ever occur.<\/p>\n
Will the future middle class cling to the attitudes found in
\nthe Kompas study?<\/p>\n
In the study, the \"newly middle class\" expressed a distrust of
\nthe current educational system, explaining why many of their
\nchildren were signed up for additional classes or sent to study
\noverseas.<\/p>\n
Laksamana Sukardi, a business consultant, believes that the
\ncoming free trade era is the only hope for change.<\/p>\n
Currently, he said, many business people try to latch on to
\n\"power franchise holders\" and the right connections. But in the
\nfree trade era, said Laksamana, those wanting to do business will
\nhave to follow international rules and be more professional and
\ncreative.<\/p>\n
Anwar Nasution, an economics professor at the University of
\nIndonesia, is optimistic that the middle class will eventually
\ntake the initiative and fight for the equality of men and women
\nas well as the rich and the poor.<\/p>\n
Consumers<\/p>\n
Spending may be the only power wielded by today's middle
\nclass.<\/p>\n
The power to buy has given birth to a consumer movement, with
\nshoppers now demanding transparency and their money's worth. In
\nlocal newspapers, more and more letters to the editors complain
\nabout being cheated at supermarkets, false advertising, impolite
\nsalespeople and lottery winners who fail to receive their prizes.<\/p>\n
The heightened consciousness has led more to turn to the
\nIndonesian Consumers Foundation, which has worked with the media
\nto survey certain products and inform consumers about their
\nrights.<\/p>\n
Consumers now realize that they can make an impact and that
\ntheir spending power can influence the development of products
\nand services . But as the study and observers suggest, it will
\nprobably take at least another generation for them to use their
\ncollective strength for broader social and political change.<\/p>",
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