Total reform can't come in half measures<\/p>\n
By Rahayu Ratnaningsih<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The nation has just witnessed a critical turning
\npoint with the downfall of Soeharto. While the throne has yet to
\ncool, the arena he left behind has turned full circle.<\/p>\n
People are almost possessed with the power to express
\neverything they could only say in a whisper or to the closest
\nconfidants just two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Less than a week after Soeharto resigned, the press dug its
\nclaws in and printed sensational stories under bold headlines of
\n\"Soeharto and his family's wealth\", forbidden territory a week
\nbefore.<\/p>\n
We are now almost as democratic as the United States, or so it
\nappears. Our people are free to defame their (new) president.
\nThey are free to probe and speculate about his alleged wealth and
\nhistory of nepotism. We are no longer sweet, polite, submissive
\ncitizens.<\/p>\n
Soeharto's biggest mistake, typical of the leader of an
\nauthoritarian regime, was his vehement intransigence against the
\nlaw of nature: change.<\/p>\n
He failed to take notice of how equally oppressive ideologies,
\nsuch as communism, have collapsed and been consigned to the trash
\nheap of history for their inflexibility and inability to respond
\nto change. He refused to learn from other dictators, such as
\nMarcos, Mobutu Sese Seko, or \"Baby Doc\" Duvalier who were
\nbanished from their ivory towers through people power. He was
\ncomplacent amid his bootlicking subordinates and cronies, in the
\ncertain knowledge that he was invincible.<\/p>\n
He willfully chose to cultivate the hypocrisy of a patronage
\nculture well known as the ABS (Asal Bapak Senang, meaning \"as
\nlong as sir is happy\") mentality among his people. He demanded
\ntotal loyalty and rewarded it accordingly, while opposition was
\nunpalatable and punished under the obtuse and dictatorial
\nnational security laws. He astutely, if vulgarly, invented a
\ntwisted, selective and self-serving interpretation of the
\nConstitution and the state's ideology, Pancasila, in such a way
\nthat any challenge to his rule and \"divinity\" would be a threat
\nto the fundamental principles of the nation.<\/p>\n
His penchant for Javanese philosophy was instilled in his life
\nprinciples, but his selective interpretation led Sri Sultan
\nHamengkubuwono X to overtly criticize his perverted rendition of
\nthe highly revered ancient wisdom.<\/p>\n
So the loyalty he earned from his people was skin-deep. It was
\nmotivated by materialism and, thus, frail. In his final moments,
\nmany of his most \"faithful\" entourage, the very ones who
\nregularly extended adulation toward him, turned their backs on
\nhim knowing his days were numbered. His predecessor Sukarno, on
\nthe other hand, decades after his death still inspires loyalty
\nand respect in millions of Indonesians.<\/p>\n
His legacy is a failing, feudal and tyrannical system which is
\nwoefully plagued by corruption, collusion, cronyism and nepotism.
\nHis 32-year rule has given birth to and raised the most backward
\nand inefficient bureaucratic patriarchy one can possibly imagine
\nin a so-called civilized society.<\/p>\n
For about 30 years this system was so highly geared to work to
\nhis advantage that up to a few weeks before he stepped down, no
\none in the country ever expected that he could be displaced so
\nquickly. He was widely acknowledged as one of the most powerful
\nleaders in the world. Though people could sense that his end was
\nimminent, nobody was quite sure that it would happen anytime
\nsoon. They thought it would take at least another five years,
\nwhen his leadership term ended and that even then he would live
\non through the hands of others.<\/p>\n
Things began deteriorating quickly and reached a point of no
\nreturn after May 11 when four Trisakti students were brutally
\nkilled. The ball was rolling, the people ran with it and played
\nit well. And even \"invincible\" Soeharto could not stop it because
\nthe momentum was just too great.<\/p>\n
It was collective ignorance systematically cultivated by the
\nregime that prompted average Indonesians to misdirect their angst
\ntoward the wrong targets. Our conscience was too long
\nanesthetized by opting to go with the flow and taking for granted
\nall the anomalies around us every single day for 32 years.<\/p>\n
We quietly complained about it but were not aware that we had
\nbeen a willing part of the rotten system we defamed. The
\nHolocaust did not happen because of one person's evil but because
\nof millions of Germans' silence and indifference.<\/p>\n
Our people have been fast asleep until recently when students,
\nfree from any vested interests, pioneered for the second time
\nsince May 20, 1908, what will be known as the re-resurrection of
\nthe people.<\/p>\n
We have truly been led into a treacherous abyss; the economic
\ncrisis does not look like ending anytime soon and, if anything,
\nit seems to be getting worse. This is the abyss, the state of
\nbeing in which we live at this very moment and for weeks to come.<\/p>\n
Time and again, in the course of less than two weeks, we have
\nwitnessed how intellectually shallow and morally defective many
\nof our leaders are. Those who were well known as the staunchest
\npropagators of the status quo collectively changed their
\norientation and, as could be expected from such people, followed
\nwherever the current might bring them.<\/p>\n
Yesterday it was the New Order Haven, today it is the Reform
\nBeach. Tomorrow it will surely be a different paradise. These
\npolitical chameleons are, without the slightest embarrassment,
\nbusy repositioning themselves so they can be a part of reform
\neuphoria. They expect to share a portion of the reform cake.<\/p>\n
Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid has only recently talked about his
\nconscience when pressed to resign from his position as minister
\nof home affairs due to his active and direct involvement in the
\nengineered dismantling of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
\nunder Megawati's leadership when he was the chief of
\nsociopolitical affairs of the Armed Forces.<\/p>\n
He claimed that his conscience led him to support the
\nstudents' request that Soeharto step down, risking a recall from
\nhis faction. He did not explain though why his conscience came
\ninto play only in the last moments of Soeharto's rule, when the
\nstrong current for reform could no longer be contained.<\/p>\n
Where was his conscience when he vigorously defamed Megawati's
\nsupporters and accused the Democratic People's Party (PRD) of the
\nJuly 27, 1996 riot, while perhaps knowing that the government was
\nactually behind this rotten scenario? Could it have been instant
\nrepentance? He was only a soldier carrying out his duty, so he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
And what is there left to say about Harmoko? There is an
\namusing anecdote about how he could be in his current position as
\nspeaker of the People's Consultative Assembly and the House of
\nRepresentatives. It was said that Soeharto was interviewing a few
\nof his potential candidates for key positions in the government.
\nHe asked what one plus one makes to Fuad Bawazier who answered
\ntwo. Thinking how accurate he was, Soeharto assigned him to the
\nfinance minister position.<\/p>\n
He asked the same question to Bob Hasan, who answered that the
\nanswer could be arranged. Thinking how flexible he was, Soeharto
\nassigned him to the trade and industry minister position. When
\nHarmoko got his turn, the answer was, \"That will be according to
\nyour guidance, Bapak\".<\/p>\n
The question remains: Will we repeat the same mistakes by
\nletting our country be ruled by political clowns lacking
\nintegrity? Will we let them steal the victory of the reform
\nmovement from the students and the people in general?<\/p>\n
We have won the initial battle but total reform requires total
\ndismantling of the old system together with its cancerous agents.
\nIt is a quest with no compromise. And our destination is still
\nfar away along the rocky road and treacherous turns.<\/p>\n
The writer is a consultant of Ernst and Young.<\/p>\n
Window: And what is there left to say about Harmoko? There is an
\namusing anecdote about how he could be in his current position as
\nspeaker of the People's Consultative Assembly and the House of
\nRepresentatives<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/total-reform-cant-come-in-half-measures-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}