Being clever is no longer enough in development

Being clever is no longer enough in development

By Arief Budiman

SALATIGA, Central Java (JP): Experience is a good teacher but do we really learn from experience? I think many of us don't.

Last month, we celebrated Idul Fitri, the Moslem holiday to celebrate the end of the fasting month. For the millions of Indonesian Moslems, this was a big day. In Jakarta, not only the rich celebrated it but also the poor, including the migrants that work as domestic helpers.

Many of them had saved their money to be able to go back to their villages to celebrate Idul Fitri with their relatives. They did not care that they had to struggle with tens of thousand of other people to get a space (not even a seat) on a bus or train. Many of them had to stay at terminals overnight to get tickets.

For Jakarta's middle class, Idul Fitri is always welcomed with mixed feeling. On one hand, they are happy to get together with their family. On the other hand, they can't stop their domestic helpers taking leaves of absent.

This means they have to take over all the household chores. They have to wash dishes, clean the bathroom, take care of the babies and cook the meals. Those who can afford it move into hotels to avoid these heavy and not-so-pleasant household chores.

During this time, they suddenly realize how valuable the housemaids they used to scold everyday are. They realize how dependent they are to these people. For the whole family to stay in a hotel during Idul Fitri, they may have to spend a sum of money equal to a housemaid's salary for a year. I wonder if they then realize that they underpay these domestic helpers.

Usually, after Idul Fitri, these middle class people are very anxious, wondering whether their housemaids will return home. They gave the helpers attractive presents, a sum of money and a lot of nice promises before they left home for Idul Fitri. But they are still worried whether their housemaids will come back.

However, after a time, things get back to normal. Many of them get their domestic helpers back. Some of them don't and have to find replacements. In those cases, they have to train the helpers to become familiar with the household.

And, after some more time, they forget about Idul Fitri and start to scold their servants again of their stupid mistakes. The salaries are still low, below the minimum wage level set up by the government. Until Idul Fitri comes again next year, then the cycle starts again.

Do we really learn from experience? Could we be nicer to our domestic helpers, not only during Idul Fitri but also during the year? Do we forget that they have done a great deal for us? Could we raise their salaries? Could we do more for them?

Also, in February, Jakartans witnessed a dramatic event in their beloved city; the city was flooded as it has never been before. Even the most prestigious Jalan Thamrin was not left unscathed: it was flooded to a depth of about 50 cm.

People started to talk about the need to have a good water drainage system. Too many sky scrapers without water drainage areas were brought to our attention. Jakarta has become like a cemented bathroom, almost without water outlet, they said.

We started talking about the need for city gardens, or open spaces where water can be absorbed. The land for this has been used to build more profitable supermarkets, marking Jakarta as a super-modern metropolis.

People also began to talk about the mountain resort area Puncak, where many villas have been erected. Again, cement and concrete are used, blocking water draining. The water arrives in Jakarta through the many small rivers that come from this highland area. The result: Jakarta floods.

Last month's devastating flood has made people aware that they have to do something about this. This is true not only for people living in the slums but also the rich and super-rich of Jakarta who had to get to their offices by passing through flooded streets.

The flood seemed to be "blind", failing to differentiate between the poor and powerless, and the rich and powerful. Everybody was attacked by the flood indiscriminately. So, it was no less than the President who later gave the order that development in the Puncak resort area had to be controlled.

I can still remember when some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Jakarta talked about and launched protests against the development of buildings and real estate housing without considering its impacts on the environment.

I also remember that many government officials, except maybe the minister of environment, reacted with hostile tones against this campaign. They accused these NGOs, among other things, of hampering the state development program, only following the western model of development, which was not suitable to this country. When the big flood came last February, everybody started to do something, which in my mind is good although a little too late.

But better late than never, as the proverb goes; those who learn from their experiences are clever. But those who learn from other people's experiences are wise. Well, in the case of the flood, we may not be wise, but at least we are clever.

The world has become more sophisticated now; it is not enough to only be clever, we are demanded to be wise. I am now talking about the nuclear power plant.

As we all know, Indonesia is planning to build a nuclear power plant in Jepara, Central Java, despite the many protests by some nuclear experts and NGOs. There are many good reasons for this: with the rapid pace of industrial development, we need more energy. The cheapest energy now available is nuclear energy. So, lets built that plant. Moreover, cheap energy will be utilized by millions of households in Java, if not all over Indonesia. So, why make so much fuss?

Indonesia has never experienced a nuclear accident. It is still very abstract for us. Some government nuclear experts, when they are reminded about the nuclear danger, will lightly answer that the number of deaths in traffic accidents is still higher than that of nuclear accidents. They will also add that with the growing sophistication of nuclear technology, this danger has been minimal.

So, we are going to build this plant and suddenly, like the flood, an accident happens. Like the flood, we know it will happen, however, we never think that it will be such a big disaster. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people around the nuclear power plant area lose their lives.

Maybe only then will we begin to learn that a nuclear power plant is not a toy. The President would give the order to reevaluate the policy of having a nuclear power plant. All the mistakes would be corrected. Aren't we still clever, even if we are not wise, because we still learn from our own experiences.

But then, some of us will be dead. With the powerful nuclear power plant, it is not enough to only be clever. We need to be wise; learning from other people's experiences before we experience it ourselves. Could we?

The writer is a sociologist and a researcher living in Salatiga.