Between feudalism and democracy

Between feudalism and democracy

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): At a seminar I attended in the United States recently, the questions I was asked by the audience were most often about democracy. In essence, people asked why the democratization process in Indonesia had been proceeding at such a slow pace. Inevitably, this question triggered further inquiries about other thorny issues, such as human rights, the labor movement, freedom of the press, and the like.

In my search for the wisest possible answer -- mind you, the Indonesian ambassador was there in the audience most of the time -- I used a standard excuse which I learned from a Thai colleague back in 1991. We were then on a tour of Germany, and on our agenda was a meeting with parliamentarians from the newly- reunited Germany. These German politicians asked the same questions about democratization in Southeast Asia.

My Thai colleague gave this splendid explanation: "In Southeast Asia we are courting democracy, but we are still married to feudalism. As long as we have not succeeded in divorcing feudalism, we will never be able to implement democracy in its fullest form."

In replying to my audience in the United States I said that the result of this wavering state of mind was that, at the moment, most people in Indonesia exhibited a mixture of feudal and democratic characteristics. I call a person with such a blend a "feudal democrat".

I added that, while this may sound funny, in reality it is not easy to be a good feudal democrat. You have to know when democratic behavior is called for, and when feudalistic behavior is more appropriate. A wrong decision in this regard can cause a personal disaster. I said that, as a rule, one should not be too democratic when one is dealing with government bureaucrats, while, on the other hand, one should refrain from any inclination towards feudalistic behavior when dealing with people from NGO's or feminist organizations.

To fend off further questions about democracy that I might not have been able to answer wisely, I hastily added that what was more important than the question about the present state of democracy was the question about the future of democracy in Indonesia. Does democracy really have a future in Indonesia?

I stated my absolute belief in a more democratic future for the country. What I did not elaborate on at the time was the way in which this fuller and more mature democracy was likely to evolve.

Will the fading away of the old generation and the rise of the young generation automatically bring about a fuller and more mature democracy in our society?

Viewed in the light of this kind of question, I have to admit that my remark about the prospects of democracy in Indonesia was rather weak and could easily be repudiated. There is no guarantee whatsoever that the next generations of Indonesians will become more democratic. Less feudalistic perhaps, yes. But this does not necessarily mean that they will become more democratic. It is also quite possible that the loosening of feudalistic restraints will bring about, not democracy as well as order based on new norms, but chaos and irresponsibility.

I think that the only sure path towards a more democratic future is education which is truly democratic, and not merely nominally democratic. It is only if and when each younger generation is educated in a way that is more democratic than the one provided to the preceding generation that this nation will become increasingly more democratic.

It is in this regard that I felt -- and still feel -- deeply horrified when I read in a magazine some time ago that, in response to a student demand for more democratic and less bureaucratic management in a private school in East Java, the chairman of the board responded curtly that "... in this school there is no democracy and also no bureaucracy. There are only regulations here, and anyone unwilling to observe any of the existing regulations can pack his or her belongings and get an education somewhere else."

In an environment dominated by this kind of attitude, is it possible to prepare students to become democratic citizens for the future?

The writer is rector of the IKIP-Muhammadiyah Teachers Training College, Jakarta.