Religion fills vacuum as traditions break down<\/p>\n
By Endy M. Bayuni<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Religion is reviving in many parts of Southeast
\nAsia as local traditions break down under the strong pressure of
\nmodernization.<\/p>\n
The breaking down of customs and tradition has left a vacuum
\nin many societies in Indonesia, as in many parts of Southeast
\nAsia for that matter, Bernhard Dahm of the Southeast Asia Studies
\nat the University of Passau, West Germany, said at a discussion
\nat The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
In the case of the community in South Tapanuli, a regency in
\nNorth Sumatra where Dahm has been conducting lengthy and
\nextensive research, this vacuum is being filled by Islam, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
This trend toward religious revival is found in other parts of
\nIndonesia, and in Thailand and Vietnam, albeit in different
\nforms, he said.<\/p>\n
While Indonesia, particularly South Tapanuli, has been Dahm's
\nmain field of survey, his university is also involved in various
\nresearch projects in Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
The onslaught of modernization in Southeast Asian communities
\nhas been further strengthened by the penetration of television,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
It is now common to find an entire family in rural areas
\nsitting together all day watching television, each of them
\nabsorbing modern values, he said. In the past the older
\ngeneration used such occasions together to orally hand down
\ntraditional values to their offspring.<\/p>\n
\"Local customs cannot be defended against the onslaught of
\nmodernization ... because the pillars of tradition are now weak
\nand shaky,\" he said, pointing out that this is true for all
\ncustoms in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"This is an extreme challenge never faced before,\" said Dahm,
\nwho is considered as one of the first \"Indonesianists\" in the
\nWest. He also has written a book about Indonesia's first
\npresident, Sukarno.<\/p>\n
He added with a little prophecy that: \"Tradition may be doomed
\nfor Indonesia in the future.\"<\/p>\n
In the past, Southeast Asian societies managed to incorporate
\nincoming foreign values -- from Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and
\nlater European Christianity -- into their traditions through the
\nprocess of integration.<\/p>\n
The tribal leaders then played a prominent role in selecting
\nwhich values they found appropriate to incorporate, he said.
\n\"They could still handle it.\"<\/p>\n
But now modern values are not being brought in by people from
\nforeign land but rather by sophisticated means of
\ntelecommunication, he said. \"These are forces which the tribal
\nleaders do not have any control over.\"<\/p>\n
The onslaught of modernization also is creating its own
\nresistance in many societies. So while traditional values may be
\nweakening, religious values are increasingly filling in the
\nvacuum, he said.<\/p>\n
Pointing out his extensive study in South Tapanuli, he said
\nIslam is making a strong revival there as can be seen in the
\nincreasing enrollment of people at pesantren (Moslem boarding
\nschools). One particular pesantren now boasts 7,300 students,
\nwhile it only had between 3,000 and 4,000 in 1979, when he first
\nlaunched his study, and around 6,000 in 1989. Other pesantren in
\nthe area also are growing by leaps, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The upsurge of Islam in South Tapanuli is a reaction against
\nmodernization ... People are turning to religious tradition to
\nprevent them from losing their identity.\"<\/p>\n
Dahm recalled that he had chosen to study the changing values
\nin South Tapanuli in 1978 because of a remark Sukarno made in an
\ninterview in October, 1966.<\/p>\n
He posed a question on whether or not there could be a
\nradicalization of Islam in Indonesia. Sukarno then answered that
\n\"as long as local customs and traditions remain strong, there is
\nno danger of radicalization of Islam in Indonesia.\"<\/p>\n
In 1978, when there were signs of increasing radicalization of
\nIslam worldwide led by the revival of the religion in Iran, Dahm
\ndecided to return to Indonesia to find whether local customs
\ncould withstand the challenges of modernization without resorting
\nto radicalization as has happened in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n
Dahm concluded that there is no indication of radicalization
\nof Islam in Sumatra despite the revival of the religion.<\/p>\n
\"The Islam we find in Indonesia is different from the Islam in
\nother parts of the world,\" he said, underlining the high level of
\ntolerance of Indonesian Moslems to the presence of other
\nreligions.<\/p>\n
\"In South Tapanuli, it is normal to see a church and a mosque
\nside by side, there is intermarriage between clans, and there is
\nalso continuous conversion from Christianity to Islam and from
\nIslam to Christianity,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that radicalization of Islam is more likely to
\noccur among urban intellectuals rather than in rural areas, but
\npointed out that the Al Arqam movement, which is based in
\nMalaysia and now banned in Malaysia and Indonesia because of its
\nradical thoughts, has its origins among peasants and not
\nintellectuals.<\/p>\n
South Tapanuli was chosen for his study in part because it was
\nsandwiched between the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra and
\nAceh, two strong Moslem societies. And in part for personal
\nreasons because Dahm's father spent a great deal of time in
\nnearby Tarutung as a missionary at the end of last century.<\/p>",
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