A Party for Spirits

A Party for Spirits

Maria Magdalena Bhoernomo

Tan Pamalu was finally back in Indonesia after 35 years exiled
in mainland China. A youth leader during the Old Order, he had
been placed on the list of communist cohorts when the New Order
swept into power.

He fled his homeland because he did not want to die in vain or
be banished to Buru Island like the others.

Now Tan Pamalu wished to declare the founding of a political
party with his fellow freedom fighters.

It was to be called the Tuyul (spirit) Party.

"The Tuyul Party will definitely win the majority of votes in
the forthcoming elections," Tan Pamalu told his friends gathering
in his house for the party's inauguration. Also on hand were
several journalists.

It was 10 a.m. as Tan Pamalu read out the party declaration
before his supporters and the media. Now he was ready for all the
attention.

"Why did you call it the Tuyul Party?" asked a TV reporter.

"After all, why use the name of the spirit in the form of a
bald dwarf, reputed to steal money from drawers or safes?"
another queried.

Tan Pamalu promptly answered the questions in a firm voice.

"We chose the name because our nation's mentality tends to be
increasingly comparable to tuyul. Many people, from the elite to
the lay public behave like tuyul, stealing money or valuable
resources.

"Just take a look at the vast forests being denuded, the
bridges and schools falling into disrepair due to
misappropriation. And remember, all the officials acting like
tuyul come from ordinary people, don't they? It means everybody
in the country is a potential imitator of tuyul."

He continued in the same vein.

"So, we've decided to set up the Tuyul Party in the hope of
fulfilling the aspirations of the majority. Only myth has it that
tuyul are bald spirits. We maintain that in this reform period,
it's everybody's right to be tuyul."

"How can you finance the Tuyul Party?" wondered the TV
journalist.

"Is it true that many tuyul imitators who are joining your
party are prepared to steal money from other countries?"
questioned the other.

Tan Pamalu laughed heartily before answering.

"Money for party activities poses no problem to us, as we have
the support of former officials and leading entrepreneurs who
share the same political interests with us.

"They are convinced that the Tuyul Party will gain majority
votes in the next elections, and the country would be a safer
place for them to live and do business. It's because collusion,
corruption and nepotism known as KKN would be legitimate.

"We should realize that KKN is a product of our culture making
us famous in the world. And we should also be aware that through
the dominant KKN this country will remain unified."

"Are you going to sell several of our country's islands to
repay debts if your party wins the elections and you are elected
president?" asked a radio reporter.

"Is the Tuyul Party the resurrection of the banned Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI)?" was the following question of a weekly
journalist.

Tan Pamalu shook his head.

"If the Tuyul Party is triumphant in the elections and I
become president, the country will affluent because all the
wealth taken abroad by ex-officials and businessmen will be given
up to the state and nation for debt settlement. They will also
return home as there will be no more fear of legal action.

"The Tuyul Party is not the PKI reborn, because communists
have met with bankruptcy. Communism is not our ideology. Tuyulism
is our philosophy."

* * *

The Tuyul Party's declaration and the interview with party
leader Tan Pamalu were immediately carried in the media.

Within a month, a hundred million people enrolled as party
members. They were generally interested to support the party
because they wanted to learn how to act like tuyul, with a
penchant for stealing money.

"Only by behaving like tuyul will we get rich instantly
without any hard work. By imitating tuyul, we can go abroad as
expatriate workers while we actually aim at plundering rich
people's belongings in other countries," said a non-governmental
organization activist who was enrolling with his associates.

"As party members, we don't need to sell our bodies in other
countries as illegal workers. We can indeed retain this illegal
status but we will only be stealing money from the drawers or
saves of wealthy men!" remarked commercial sex workers who had
just returned home.

"Only by acting like tuyul, we can seize a lot of money now
under the corruptors' control. In theory, corruption must be
fought by confiscating embezzled money from corruptors!" said a
student activist, now a Tuyul Party member.

Tan Pamalu was proud because his party, based on an opinion
poll and psychic predictions, was the largest and was bound to
win the most votes.

TV stations and newspapers reported the event with Tan
Pamalu's picture as some kind of political promotion to support
the Tuyul Party, with the catchphrase, "This is the president of
Indonesia."

And as a would-be president, Tan Pamalu was increasingly busy
as a seminar speaker and TV talk show guest.

Teenagers proudly wore T-shirts and caps carrying the
portraits of Tan Pamalu with the words, "Tuyul Party Cadre
Front".

Neighborhood association chiefs and local citizens worked
together to build booths to keep guard, all of them adorned with
banners with Tan Pamalu's image.

On urban and rural roadsides, party members from business
circles put up colorful banners of the same type, besides large
posters everywhere, even in front of places of worship, reading:
"Tuyul Party -- elite group backed by masses."

Tan Pamalu smiled as he looked on, amused by the political
behavior of the citizens behind him, who saw him as the divinely
appointed king of justice.

"Lots of people in this country turn out to have a great
interest and potential to lose their mind," Tan Pamalu murmured
with a smile.

By the time of the campaign, papers were publishing the views
of political experts, who praised the Tuyul Party as the most
popular political force.

A political analyst from the University of Indonesia declared
that he was convinced that the Tuyul Party would emerge as the
victor in the next elections, so that Tan Pamalu would
automatically become president.

Another analyst, this time from prestigious Gajahmada
University, also felt sure Tan Pamalu would be the sole
presidential candidate gaining military and civilian support.

And when the elections took place, the Tuyul Party earned 65
percent of the vote, depriving the other parties of seats in the
House of Representatives.

So the People's Consultative Assembly inaugurated Tan Pamalu
as president, while the masses rejoiced and welcomed him as their
leader.

Tan Pamalu suddenly wakened from his sleep, in an old people's
home on the outskirts of Beijing.

"It seems I've just had a beautiful dream," he murmured with a
satisfied smile.

(Translated by Aris Prawira)