Say cheese, please, you just made history<\/p>\n
As Americans were in the throes of their July 4th celebrations,
\n125 million Indonesian voters took a Neil Armstrong-like \"giant
\nleap for mankind\" by voting for the first time in a direct
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
It was a bit ironic that Indonesia's landmark election should
\nfall right after independence day of the world's greatest
\ndemocracy.<\/p>\n
But unlike Armstrong's initial \"small step\" on the moon,
\nelection day did not glue audiences to their television sets,
\ninvoke a sense of awe or drive people dancing in the streets in
\nvoracious relief.<\/p>\n
Election day came and went almost unobtrusively.<\/p>\n
That does not mean Indonesians did not appreciate the
\noccasion. They enjoyed it for the three-day long weekend, and
\nthey enjoyed it for allowing them to sleep in after watching the
\nEuro 2004 final until the wee hours.<\/p>\n
Voting was almost an afterthought, something to get over with
\nso they could continue the rest of the weekend. It's one of those
\ndays where the greater historical significance was lost to most,
\nbut one that shall be ceremoniously etched in the nation's
\ndevelopment. We hope.<\/p>\n
I went to the polls with my wife, our five-year-old son -- who
\ninsisted on punching my ballot paper -- and one-year-old
\ndaughter. By coincidence, my parents were registered at the same
\npolling station. So we all went together like we were going on a
\nbig family picnic.<\/p>\n
July 5th was family day. Community day if you will, a chance
\nto meet neighbors we never knew we had, and acquaintances who
\nhappen to live next door.<\/p>\n
Ironically, as we engaged ourselves in this political
\npinnacle, few discussed politics at all. The accomplishments of
\nthe Greek soccer team was the burning topic, followed by the
\ncustomary exchange of pleasantries and family related questions.
\nThen, a distant third or fourth, came politics.<\/p>\n
The seemingly mundane attitude belied the gravity of the
\nsituation. It's ironic how the simplest acts can bring to bear
\nlife's most profound consequences -- like flunking out of school
\ndue to taking geometry lightly or casual sex.<\/p>\n
The repercussions of those brief 30 seconds in the ballot
\nbooth, effortlessly puncturing a picture with a silver three-inch
\nnail, will help shape the fate of this beleaguered nation and
\nindirectly our well-being for the coming five years -- and
\nperhaps beyond.<\/p>\n
Isn't this election -- making our choices -- what we've always
\ncoveted? Shouldn't we have made a bigger deal out of the whole
\naffair?<\/p>\n
Yet most \"affairs\", by their very nature, are kept quite. It's
\nwhen too much is made out of the matter that a brouhaha breaks
\nout.<\/p>\n
In the case of the elections, rather than apathy toward the
\nsubject at hand, the blithe spirit in which people spent the day
\nmay be the earliest indication of voters' growing maturity.<\/p>\n
Democratic consolidation will only occur when its processes
\nand institutions become \"the only game in town\", when people shun
\nnonelectoral means to redress power.<\/p>\n
The fact that so many casually sauntered to ballot stations
\nonly signifies that democracy, for now, has entered our lives,
\nnot just our vocabularies.<\/p>\n
For the anonymous few who down the years relentlessly clamored
\nfor a day like July 5th -- often at the expense of their own
\npolitical freedom, economic prosperity or emotional sanity --
\nthank you.<\/p>\n
There is no longer a need to shout when whispers can be heard.<\/p>\n
After my family voted and were about to leave the polling
\nstation, my father whipped out a camera. I complained that we
\nlooked like stupid tourists as he embarrassingly made the family
\npose for one photograph after another in front of the ballot
\nboxes.<\/p>\n
His simple reply was most profound: \"Don't take it for
\ngranted. You never know (what will happen).\"<\/p>\n
How prophetic. How true.<\/p>\n
For a man nearly 70, he should know. He has lived through it
\nall: the 1955 election, Sukarno, parliamentary democracy, guided
\ndemocracy, the abortive communist coup, the rise of Soeharto, the
\nfall of Soeharto, the Malari riots of 1974, the May 1998 riots,
\netc.<\/p>\n
For my father, the election was another snapshot for his
\nhistorical album. For me, July 5 marked a grand turning point in
\nlife. For my son, a few years down the road, it will be nothing
\nbut a pesky footnote in a history book. Lest we forget. -- Zoso<\/p>",
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