Goenawan: A pessimist with a ray of hope

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.