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.