Second awakening needed<\/p>\n
For Indonesia, the turn of the past century was a time of
\nmomentous importance. It was a time when the first stone was laid
\nof an organized movement that would eventually lead the nation
\ntowards national independence.<\/p>\n
However, when a group of Javanese medical students founded the
\ncountry's first modern-based organization, Boedi Oetomo, on May
\n20, 1908, they could not have imagined that decades later that
\nparticular day would be recorded in Indonesian history books as
\nNational Awakening Day.<\/p>\n
Boedi Oetomo was originally designed to help improve the lot
\nof the Javanese people through education. Mas Ngabehi Wahidin
\nSoedirohoesodo, a Javanese medical doctor and a prolific writer,
\nhad by that date already been campaigning for a couple of years
\nto raise funds from the more privileged members of the Javanese
\ncommunity to help finance the education of the less-privileged
\nJavanese youths. He strongly believed that under the hardships of
\ncolonialist rule in what was then called the Dutch East Indies,
\nthe life and welfare of the common Javanese could be improved
\nonly through education.<\/p>\n
The idea was expanded after he met and discussed the idea with
\nR. Soetomo, a student of STOVIA, a medical school for indigenous
\npeople. Together with other STOVIA students, they founded Boedi
\nOetomo, a student organization aiming to promote progress among
\nthe indigenous population in the East Indies without, however,
\nantagonizing the Dutch colonial rulers. But their leaders quickly
\nrealized that the fate of the Javanese was closely intertwined
\nwith those of all the other oppressed peoples throughout the East
\nIndies.<\/p>\n
Boedi Oetomo, with branches in several cities in Java, soon
\nbecame a meeting place for students from different ethnic,
\ncultural, political, as well as religious backgrounds. In a way,
\nthey represented a miniature collection of the exceedingly
\ndiverse indigenous population of the East Indies, which contained
\nsome 17,000 islands and had more than 250 distinct languages and
\ndialects. Nevertheless they realized they had something in
\ncommon: they were being oppressed by colonial rule.<\/p>\n
Boedi Oetomo never grew into a political organization. It did,
\nhowever, generate the beginnings of a nation-building process.
\nOther organizations later emerged from this process, culminating
\nin the gathering of youths from all corners of the archipelago in
\nJakarta on October 28, 1928. In that meeting, they made the
\nhistoric Youth Pledge: One Country, One Nation, One Language:
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's founding fathers thus envisioned the importance of
\nnation building at a very early stage. They saw the need for
\nconsciously developing a common attitude, a common will,
\nviewpoint, value orientation, character and behavior that would
\ncontribute to the goal of living together as one nation, of
\nbeing, in fact, Indonesia. For the nascent Indonesia, that goal
\nwas formulated in the will to promote and realize the ideal of
\nIndonesian unity.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, after national independence was achieved in
\n1945, the interpretation of that lofty concept and the execution
\nof strategies towards the attainment of that goal has differed
\nfrom one president to the next. And none has so far brought
\nIndonesia any closer to the ideal.<\/p>\n
Each time the efforts have failed because every successive
\ngovernment has emphasized the superiority of the state above the
\nsovereignty of the people. Each time the government has fumbled
\nbecause it is disregarding the importance of culture as a means
\nof coordinating, regulating, and directing human endeavor towards
\nachieving the common goal that the Indonesian nation, and indeed
\nmankind, has set itself to achieve -- which is to secure a better
\nexistence.<\/p>\n
It is indeed ironic that while the nation today celebrates its
\nNational Awakening Day, war is returning to Aceh, the people of
\nPapua province are being torn apart, and the nation is being
\npushed towards disintegration by a legislative body that is
\nsupposed to represent the people in promoting and realizing the
\nideal of Indonesian unity. The education bill is one good
\nexample, but there are many more.<\/p>\n
As the nation commemorates this auspicious day, it is indeed
\nsad to have to note that many of our leaders have, and still are,
\nbetraying that vision of a nation as envisioned by our founding
\nfathers. It could be that this nation needs a second awakening.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/second-awakening-needed-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}