Conceicao examines turmoil of modern Indonesia

Conceicao examines turmoil of modern Indonesia

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Jakarta

Indonesia's Six Years of Living Dangerously: From Habibie through

Gus Dur to Megawati, Will Yudhoyono Succeed?

J.F. Conceicao

Horizon Books, Singapore, 2005

111 pp

While foreign observers of social and political issues in
Indonesia usually hail from Western countries, Indonesia's Six
Years of Living Dangerously: From Habibie through Gus Dur to
Megawati, Will Yudhoyono Succeed? is distinct, as it is written
by a former ambassador of one of the country's closest and most
important neighbors, Singapore.

Joe Conceicao served in Indonesia for six years and witnessed
the social and political upheaval throughout successive
presidencies, from Habibie to Megawati, and meticulously
documents his personal observations in Indonesia's Six Years of
Living Dangerously.

Conceicao gives detailed stories of how events unfolded in the
succinct, 26 chapters of the book. The first chapter focuses on
Habibie, whom he describes as a failed president with "too much
IQ ... and not enough EQ", for failing to control the powerful
military.

In the ensuing chapters, the writer praises Abdurrahman "Gus
Dur" Wahid for his liberalizing policy toward minority groups,
while regretting his erratic style.

Megawati's uneasy relations with her vice president, Hamzah
Haz, who was so preoccupied with canvassing his Islamic
credentials, is also examined. And for current president Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, Conceicao borrows the Javanese maxim menang
tanpa ngasorake -- winning without celebrating -- to depict
Susilo's gentle attitude towards the obviously disgruntled,
outgoing Megawati.

As for terrorism, Conceicao thoroughly examines the dilemma
faced by the government in tackling this issue, such as a
possible backlash from its large Islamic constituent. What is
more intriguing is his assessment of the allegation made by some
military generals who initially threw their support behind
militia groups like Laskar Jihad and Front Pembela Islam (FPI),
but soon distanced themselves from such groups as terrorism
steadily fell under the international spotlight. Likewise, he
attempts to connect the past role of former New Order information
minister Ali Moertopo in breeding similar groups to counter
communism to the present military's ugly habit of supporting
militias.

Conceicao seems, if at all, to have little appreciation of the
democratization process and instead, seems keen to parallel the
Indonesian situation to that of the former Soviet Union, which
collapsed due to its rapid march toward democracy. On the one
hand, the writer is no doubt correct in warning that we might
have become disillusioned with democratization, and that many are
now longing for the New Order's style of stability.

This reviewer, nevertheless, cannot help but note Conceicao's
pragmatic anxiety regarding the propensity of instability in a
democratic Indonesia and sense an expectation that the country
would once again become an effective stabilizer in the region,
with or without democracy. Conceicao recalls that Indonesia was
relatively more prosperous with a centralized system under the
command of a single military figure; and this guarded expectation
seems to be placed upon Susilo's presidency.

While something thought-provoking was expected in the chapter
dealing with Indonesia-Singapore relations, virtually nothing new
was presented.

Conceicao discusses thorny but important issues such as the
extradition treaty, sand mining and the differences in
Singapore's representation trade with Indonesia. Unfortunately,
no concrete solutions are proposed, nor is bilateral trade
analyzed comprehensively, with only two paragraphs devoted to the
subject -- the remainder focuses on antiterrorism cooperation and
Singapore's economic assistance.

Overall, the book effectively sums up the complexity of
Indonesian politics: The "cultural shock" of key players in
behaving painfully in a new but abrupt political freedom; the
disturbed national cohesion exacerbated by ethnic and religious
conflicts; and certainly, the acute and pervasive corrupt
mentality within the ranks of the political elite.

Conceicao's vast knowledge of players in the military,
religious, political and human rights sectors -- even prominent
figures of the past -- is amazing, but is still not free from
error. For example, Conceicao mistakenly writes that Hamzah Haz
was formerly the head of Muhammadiyah, although Hamzah actually
hails from Nahdlatul Ulama. To give the author credit, he admits
that the book "comes not from any expert pen or that of
scholarship."

In writing Indonesia's Six Years of Living Dangerously,
Conceicao appears to have benefited greatly from the new trend
toward openness and the free press that were thriving during the
reformasi era, some things that are still a rare luxury in most
ASEAN countries.

While the book consists of stories that are not so new for
many informed members of select circles, it still speaks volumes
of the importance of relations between the tiny yet prosperous
Singapore and its giant but troubled and impoverished neighbor.

Indonesia's Six Years of Living Dangerously, in its
perceptiveness, somehow reflects hope and expectation through the
Singaporean lens for the path of change that Indonesia has
chosen.

The reviewer is a researcher at The Public Sphere Institute.