Are we really independent?

Debbie A. Lubis, Contributor, Jakarta

"Are we really independent?" This sarcastic question is often heard these days, not only from the people in the street but also from almost all segments of society.

The country's dependence on foreign aid to cope with its economic problem, the increase in the unemployment, the degradation of the educational quality and the lack of law and order are some of the many factors that have led the people to think that we are still not fully independent.

Imam B. Prasojo, a noted sociologist at the University of Indonesia, acknowledges that Indonesia is still far from being independent, although Indonesia gained its political status as an independent country when it proclaimed its Independence 58 years ago.

"Currently, independence is too conventionally interpreted. The first phase of independence has already passed, but the second phase is still up and down," he said. "We should cry together that there are still many of us do not have access to basic needs."

Independence should not only be interpreted as being free from imperialism, but also free from the shackles of lack of access to education, health service, water, transportation and communication, etc. Lack of access to basic needs has caused Indonesia's human development index to rank at 112, much lower than Vietnam.

Currently, thousands of schoolchildren in Purwakarta, Cisarua, Poso, Maluku and Aceh, and other regions deal with problems of quality and availability of educational facilities like buildings and teachers.

"Hundreds of schools have collapsed or burnt down, while some children cannot go to school due to geographical constraints," Imam said.

He emphasized the need for the country to focus on public services instead of merely on economic growth. "We are successful in recognizing individual goals, but fail in identifying collective goals because there is no communal leadership that can provide focus and inspire people to build a wide road to basic needs.

"What is the meaning of independence if there are still so many people unemployed, a high poverty rate and ongoing war in Aceh," said Binny Buchori, executive secretary of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (Infid).

She said that most of the country's policies were still dictated by foreign institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The policy on water privatization, for example, only caused unequal access to water among citizens she said. "Does selling state-owned companies guarantee the absence of corruption? What about our responsibility of giving the public access to quality services?"

The policy of zero percent tax on imported agricultural products like sugar has also flooded the country with foreign products.

"It does not mean I'm not in favor of the open market, but we should take a different role in our relationship with the IMF. Just like Thailand, we can revise policies that do not promote social and economic justice," she said.

Furthermore, policies on debt and budget allocation were required to be in line with the spirit of the Uinted Nation's Millennium Development Goal to reduce poverty by half by 2015.

"How can we achieve that if our budget is allocated toward paying foreign and domestic creditors? We have to stop this if we want to be independent.

"In the Consultative Group on Indonesia, we should be the leader, not the World Bank," Binny said, adding that Indonesia should be confident as a sovereign country to join others in strengthening the G-24 and UNCTAD, and challenging international monetary policies at the World Trade Organization, World Bank and the IMF.

Being an independent country also means that it should be able to provide security guarantee to its citizens. Denny J.A., political analyst and researcher at the Indonesian Survey Institute, said that independence would be meaningless if the citizens did not get their primary right: feeling safe.

"People prefer being poor but secure, rather than being wealthy and living under life-threatening conditions," he said.

To ensure that the people really feel that they are truly independent, improving security and order should be the government's first priority, he said.

The first thing the government can do is to revise its Antiterrorism Law, and give more leeway for security authorities to get rid of terror threats and hand down firmer punishments to culprits, Denny said.

"Compared to our neighboring country Singapore, our law in handling terrorism is too lenient," he said.