Goenawan: A pessimist with a ray of hope

By Gedsiri Suhartono

JAKARTA (JP): He prefers to consider himself a pessimist. His wealth of knowledge as a senior journalist who has presided over several magazines, including Tempo weekly, is perhaps a justifiable reason for his pessimism. Especially since he has witnessed the fast and unpredictable progress made by his beloved country toward an as yet unknown fate.

A pessimist with a ray of hope, as some would say of Goenawan Susatyo Mohamad, is often evident in thoughts expressed in his noted essays which began with Catatan Pinggir (Sidelines) in 1977 and continued until Tempo was banned in June 1994.

Once the regime which closed Tempo down was no more, the weekly relaunched itself in October, with Goenawan once again at the helm.

This time around, he has promised himself only four more years to guide the magazine before starting to enjoy life's rich tapestry in other ways.

"As a certified pessimist, I am glad when I am proved wrong. People are glad if a pessimist is wrong in his or her negative way of looking at the world. The dire condition affecting our society certainly makes me hope that I am wrong in some of my preponderance," said the soft-spoken Goenawan.

Goenawan was born in Karangasem, Batang, Central Java, 57 years ago. After finishing his high school in 1959, he went to the University of Indonesia, to study psychology. He never graduated. Instead, he went to College of Europe in Belgium, according to Who's Who 1985-1986. Returning home, he started his career in journalism on the KAMI daily. He was an editor at 'Horison' literary journal and later worked with Express magazine. In 1971, along with some friends, he founded Tempo.

He has written several books, including the collections of his poems, Parikesit and Interlude, and the collection of his essays, Sex, Sastra dan Kita (Sex, Literature and Us) and 'Catatan Pinggir'.

His wife, Widarti Goenawan, is editor of Femina women's magazine. They have two children.

Goenawan, who has won several journalistic awards, the most recent of which was an International Press Freedom Award, paradoxically refused to answer questions on press freedom. "Much has been said about this topic. Our country is facing so many difficulties right now and journalists should think more about issues which do not affect them directly," Mas Gun, as he is known to his friends, said.

It is for the same reason that he recently decided not to fly to the United States to receive the press freedom award. It was not because he was ungrateful, but simply because closer ties bound him to stay at home. He knows full well that he does not have the power to change the course of events, but when the nation bleed he hurts badly.

"My presence would obviously not change anything, nor do I have any illusion that it would. My heart tells me to stay here and experience," Goenawan said.

Goenawan views the breakdown of the social order as being at the heart of the nation's long lasting troubles. He said the country faces a collage of problems which have not yet got an end in sight. The prolonged economic crisis will dump 20 million people to the desperation of unemployment and to compound this, there is the rule of an illegitimate government that lacks the support and acceptance of the general public.

Habibie is a floating figure installed in his position by Soeharto. He therefore lacks strong ties with both the country's elite and its grassroots, hence his tendency to try to please all of the people all of the time.

"He's like a disengaged kite, trying to please everyone from every direction. Dependent on foreign opinion to ensure financial assistance, clinging to the Armed Forces for protection and security, while simultaneously trying to win the hearts of Moslems around the country," he said.

Goenawan said that Habibie must announce that he is a transitional incumbent with a finite tenure in office to ease the country's transition to democracy.

"Habibie was installed in every position he ever held, even when he was the chairman of ICMI (Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals). Soeharto made Habibie his second in command, not his successor," said Goenawan.

All too aware of Habibie's inconsistency, Goenawan cringes at the slightest mention of the possibility of some of the president's more unusual ideas being taken seriously by policy makers.

"Habibie is not someone you can expect to go beyond his ambitions. Habibie is not a statesman who would sacrifice part of his own ego for the sake of the country," Goenawan added, lamenting the country's violent recent past.

On the same token, inter-faith and inter-ethnic relations are at their worst point in history. The breakdown of the Indonesian social order is a systemic problem as much as it is a crisis of leadership. During development of the Indonesian identity, too much corruption seeped into the soul and spirit of the nation and it will take more than a few months to excise, he said.

"Indonesians have lost their depth. Judgment of good and bad has lost its meaning. When people succeed in bribing others, there is obviously a crisis of the human spirit," Goenawan said.

He observed that over three decades of depoliticization had left people unprepared for a culture of opposition. Unfortunately, a mainstream consensus on an organized opposition has yet to emerge. In other words, there is not much by way of alternatives to the current government.

"Students should not consider themselves the only force that has the ability to bring about change. They should shed the illusion that they are the real power. I hope they don't prolong their state of being intoxicated in the glory and myth of the purity of the reform movement and refuse to cooperate with other forces.

"If further prolonged, I fear the student movement will loose its momentum as it becomes disoriented. Good as it is, the student movement needs a stronger leadership and better coordination, especially to unite its energy and strategy," Goenawan, said.

"Our nation, in my humble opinion, is heading for years, possibly decades of severe illness. It will be a while. But no country has ever crumbled absolutely. A little patience might help us to get through this learning process," he said.

Unfortunately, reformers want to change the course of the nation's history overnight, he said, adding that all concerned citizens must be patient.

He also suggested that nurturing the newly formed political parties might help to breed democracy and thus speed up the drive for reform.

Academics have generally been condescending towards the new political parties, he contested. In this era of reform, countless parties have been formed, a few with clear objectives and vision, but many undoubtedly just to jump on the bandwagon.

"This scornful attitude is dangerous because it leads people toward aversion. Without political parties, there would be no way of picking a leader in an open competition," he said.

A little patience might reward the country and help it to build democratic political institutions. Superficial and opportunistic as it may appear, the appearance of new parties is necessary to ensure the growth of democracy. The death of politics is the beginning of dictatorship.

The challenge of the day, Goenawan noted, was to continue to push for an election law that will enable a fair and transparent election to take place next year.