E-mail challenges the 'sowan' tradition of Javanese people
E-mail challenges the 'sowan' tradition of Javanese people
By Mochtar Buchori
JAKARTA (JP): Sowan is a Javanese word for a face-to-face
encounter with another person from a higher level of the social
hierarchy. It has been practiced -- in both traditional and
modern Javanese society -- that younger people, or people
occupying lower ranks within the social hierarchy to present
themselves regularly to older people or to someone higher up
within the hierarchy. Through this tradition, the existence of
younger people or people from the lower stratum become
recognized. Those who show up regularly will be recognized and
acknowledged, whereas those who never show up will never get
official recognition. Or worse, such a person may be suspected of
harboring ill feelings toward the one in the higher echelon.
E-mail and the sowan tradition become comparable when we
discuss the problem of personal communication. In a recent
seminar on cyberspace, a young man complained about a problem he
has encountered in his communication with older people in his
office. Whenever he tries to communicate with these older people
through the interoffice computer system or by telephone, he feels
that he always gets an unwelcome reaction from the other end.
"Never use a computer or a telephone to have a dialog with
older people, or with people in leadership positions. That is
impolite!" So he was told. He was further informed that a
computer or a telephone is a machine that cannot adequately
transmit nuances in personal communication. "You should never
initiate a dialog with important people by using one of these
machines. That is taboo! What you must do, if you really want to
have a dialog with these people, is to first request an
interview, and after this is granted, you appear in person. This
is the way things are done in this country."
We still live in sowan culture and we still uphold the
tradition of presenting ourselves in person whenever we have to
convey something to people from a higher strata. Discussing
important matters without sowan, without appearing in person
ourselves, is considered impolite. Such practice has been taken
to mean that you do not have enough respect for the person above
you.
The young man cannot fully comprehend this explanation. When
he was in Australia, he said, every time he wanted to communicate
with his advisor, he would type an e-mail to him any time of the
day. His message would be read immediately, and by the time he
met his advisor in person, both sides were mentally prepared for
a thorough and intensive discussion on an agreed upon topic. No
time has been wasted this way.
This young man does not seem to understand the difference in
the psychological make-up between Australian professors working
in Australian universities and elderly functionaries working in
Indonesian offices. He does not seem to notice that Australian
professors are democratically-minded people, who live and work in
democratic environments, and who have learned to appreciate and
interact with the latest products of information technology in
their life.
Nor does he seem to understand that older people in this
country are very much influenced by their daily life environments
in their attitudes towards advances in information technology.
Within the confines of their traditional working environments,
most elderly people get respect in their jobs, and in society,
primarily from their seniority and their position within the
occupational and social hierarchy. In many cases, competence in
working with modern technology does not constitute a very
important factor in determining the amount of respect that is to
be attributed to a person.
Most elderly people in Indonesian offices --both government
and private-- are reluctant to adopt computers in their daily
life because they are afraid that their ignorance about computer
technology will cause younger people to loose respect for them.
It is for this reason that elderly officials tend to view
computers and other modern devices of communication with appre
hension, fear and suspicion.
Because of this cultural tradition, computers, cyberspace and
internet seem to be embraced primarily by the young generation in
Indonesia, whereas most of the older generation do not seem to
share this enthusiasm. Most of them tend to minimize the
importance of developments of this kind. It is anticipated that,
in the long run, this will create a huge information gap between
the young and the old. In certain circles, this will create a
kind of authority crisis, in the sense that older people who
occupy leadership position have less understanding, compared to
the young generation, concerning problems that are to be solved.
This may cause certain elderly people in leadership positions to
look indecisive and rudderless in the face of unfolding events.
Is this a situation that is to be lamented?
As far as I am concerned it will be much better for this
country if the older generation is willing to learn to understand
the meaning and significance of information technology for the
social and cultural transformation of our society. As far as I
can understand it, advances in information technology have the
potential of enlightening the citizenry, and therefore also the
potential of speeding up the democratization process throughout
the world.
Allowing the older generation within our society to remain
aloof and indifferent towards these developments means that we
allow ignorance on the part of some power holders to stand in the
way of progress towards democratic communication in our society,
which, ultimately, means hampering progress towards democracy
itself.
The writer is rector of the IKIP-Muhammadiyah Teachers
Training College, Jakarta.