Self reflections on National Awakening Day<\/p>\n
Mochtar Buchori, Legislator, Jakarta, mbuchori@indo.net.id<\/p>\n
May 20 is National Awakening Day for us Indonesians, and May 2
\nis our National Education Day. Every year, on these two dates in
\nMay, we try to renew our understanding about the significance of
\nthe two important events for our national life. Personally, I
\nalso try everytime to refurbish my respect for the noble minds
\nthat made this historic events happen.<\/p>\n
Every time I think of these two dates, one question
\npersistently comes to mind: Can our educational system bring
\nabout a second national awakening? Will our educational system be
\nable to bring about new leaders among the young generation,
\nleaders capable of taking the nation out of the present disorder
\nand the doldrums?<\/p>\n
I am not sure why this question persists in my mind. I think,
\nthough, this is because I firmly believe that as a nation we
\ncannot possibly sustain our present way of life, and that sooner
\nor later we will have to change our current system for running
\nour country and our nation. To me, the most aggravating feature
\nof our society today is that even though we have formally decried
\nthe New Order system, in our day-to-day life we are behaving in a
\nrenewed New Order way. We are still trapped in the New Order
\nmentality. We have become real hypocrites. We don't practice what
\nwe preach.<\/p>\n
Can we change this situation? I think so! Not in my lifetime
\nperhaps, but certainly in the future there will be a new
\ngenerations of Indonesians who, spurred by their knowledge of
\npast national glories, will be determined to resurrect a
\nrespectable Indonesia. This will be the second national awakening
\nof the Indonesian nation.<\/p>\n
It could be that this is just an illusion or hallucination on
\nmy part, but somehow I believe that our nation does possess the
\nwill to change and the potential to do so. And, I also believe in
\nthe power of education. I believe in its power to shape minds and
\nto influence young people in formulating their aspirations about
\ntheir personal and collective future. I believe that good
\neducation will help the young to enrich their lives, broaden
\ntheir horizons, and ennoble their ambition.<\/p>\n
I think in this respect that our educational system, in spite
\nof all its shortcomings today, has the capacity to heal itself
\nand will, at some point in the future, be able to bring about new
\ngenerations of leaders capable of motivating and guiding the
\npopulation to work hard to improve their personal and collective
\nlives. If and when such a national resolve could be attained, it
\nwould be a matter of organization to transform this national
\nresolution into an endeavor to end this present humiliating mess
\nand to build anew a nation and a country, which we all can feel
\nproud of.<\/p>\n
Thus, in my opinion, the arrival of generations that will save
\nthe country and the nation from bankruptcy will be determined by
\ncultural and educational factors. On the cultural side, the
\nquestion is whether we will be able to continuously adjust our
\nvalue systems to the changing challenges of the time, and whether
\nwe will be able to transmit effectively these value systems to
\nthe succeeding generations. To cite just a simple example, we can
\nask ourselves whether we will be able to transmit values related
\nto personal and national pride, hard work, decency, and empathy
\n-- to name just a few -- to the successive generations.<\/p>\n
On the educational side, the question is whether our schools
\nwill be capable of redesigning their educational programs. In my
\nview, our schools will have to extend their current programs
\nbeyond training students to accumulate, store, and retrieve
\nknowledge, to guiding them towards understanding and appreciating
\nthe struggles of their forefathers to create a \"just and
\nprosperous society\", and ultimately impelling them toward a
\ncommitment to continue whatever task their forefathers left
\nunfinished.<\/p>\n
Thus the arrival of Indonesian generations that will restore
\nthe honor of this nation cannot and should not be taken for
\ngranted. As I see it, it will depend very much on our ability to
\nsynchronize family education at home, formal education in our
\nschools, and the unintended educational impact provided by the
\nmass media. If we are sincere in our pledge to revive and
\nrejuvenate our country, we will find ways of synchronizing these
\nvarious educative forces. But if we merely use those lofty words
\nand ideals for partisan political gain, I am afraid that this
\ngeneration of national angels will never come.<\/p>\n
Each of these three parties -- the family, the school, and the
\nmass media -- has its own assignment to bring about a second
\nnational awakening. At the initial stage it will suffice if each
\nof these three parties formulates its own agenda. But for the
\npurpose of speeding up this national rescue agenda, I think it
\nwill become necessary for these three parties to coordinate and
\nsynchronize their agendas.<\/p>\n
In spite of my cautious tone, I still believe that my dream
\nfor a second national awakening will materialize. I think in this
\nregard of the way in which our founding fathers were educated and
\nbrought up. The majority of our founding fathers had a colonial
\neducation that was never intended to nurture national political
\nleaders.<\/p>\n
But it provided our forefathers with a solid intellectuality
\nthat made them capable of understanding the moral and cultural
\nclimate of the time, the zeitgeist, and understanding also the
\nburning aspirations alive among people at the bottom of the heap.
\nThey should also not forget that their home life can equip them
\nwith strength of character, which emphasizes willingness to
\nendure political pain, persistence in hardening one' resolve and
\nreadiness to make sacrifices.<\/p>\n
It should be stated here that in spite of the scarcity of mass
\nmedia, which sustains the idea of creating cultural identity and
\nachieving political independence, the combination of forces
\nstemming from family education and school education that
\nemphasized intellectuality succeeded in creating generations that
\nchanged the history of the country.<\/p>\n
If we may use this sketchy analysis as our guide we can say, I
\nthink, that the main assignment for Indonesian families today is
\nto contribute to the building of a noble character in their
\nchildren). The main assignment of our schools, as I see it, is to
\nstrengthen the learning capability of our children. The idea that
\naccumulation of knowledge creates smartness, wisdom, and power is
\nmisconceived and misplaced.<\/p>\n
And what is the main responsibility of the mass media? I
\ndon't know! One thing that I feel worth mentioning is that the
\ntime seems to have come for contemplating how the
\ncommercialization agenda can be balanced with the missionary
\nagenda, viz. programs that constantly remind the public that we
\nhave to save the future of the nation and the country.<\/p>\n
Are we up to this challenge?<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/self-reflections-on-national-awakening-day-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }