Govt and people may dance to different tunes

The ruling Golkar political grouping is recruiting artists as vote-getters for next year's election to the House of Representatives, including popular singer Rhoma Irama. Arief Budiman argues that this move may not fare well for the artists themselves.

SALATIGA, Central Java (JP): In a society where people are afraid to express themselves they keep silent. But, this does not mean that they are inactive. In their silence, they remain observant and continue to assess events taking place around them.

I have personal experience of this. My younger brother, the late Soe Hok-gie, died in a climbing accident on Mount Semeru in East Java in 1969. Three years prior to his death, he was one of the leaders of the student demonstrations in the tumultuous years of the 1960s. Later, when many of his friends had joined the New Order government, he chose the lonely path of writing on issues such as human rights violations and criticizing corrupt officials. He became popular with some readers but an enemy of others.

My old mother used to tell him that he had chosen the wrong path. My brother just smiled and said gently: "Mother you don't understand."

In playing politics, we have two choices: Whether to be close to the government, or the people. By becoming a government friend, you become the government's hero. This means you become part of the state, which may bring you status, power and wealth. If you choose the people, you may become the people's hero, but the government (at least the corrupt officials) will dislike you. My brother was obviously in the second category.

However, his criticism did not have much impact. Corruption continued on an even bigger scale. At the same time, there was no sign that people appreciated what he had done. He kept on writing his criticisms but the people stayed silent. People might have read his articles and become excited, but soon forgot about them when they returned to their daily routines. I am sure that my brother sometimes wondered whether perhaps my mother had been right after all.

Only after he died, did I discover the answer. With other friends, I went to Malang to bring my brother's body down from the top of Mount Semeru. Some of these friends went to the city to buy a coffin. When they returned, one of them asked me whether I had any relatives in the city who sold coffins. I said no. Then he told me that when he went to the coffin shop, the owner, a simple old Chinese man, asked him who had died. My friend mentioned my brother's name. Suddenly, this old man started to cry and mumble: "He was an honest and courageous man... and he was still young".

I wouldn't have been surprised if students in Jakarta or other big cities in Java had known of my brother. However, I did not expect that an old man who might well have spent all his life selling coffins in a small town would have also known him. Yet, he had read my brother's articles, and had appreciated them.

Later, when the pilot who flew the airplane taking my brother's body from Malang to Jakarta learned whose body he was transporting, he told me that the Indonesian people would miss the brave young man.

Since then I have become aware that the silent majority of the Indonesian people may not utter a word about things around them. Especially when the subject is a sensitive political issue. However, they keep on watching, and evaluating. They are not as dumb, or uninterested, as some may think.

With this insight, I turn to things that are happening around us. One of the interesting pieces of news is that Rhoma Irama, the famous king of "dangdut" music, is to campaign for Golkar in the coming election as one of their candidates for the House of Representatives.

The news attracted public attention for at least two reasons. First, Rhoma is known to be a devout Moslem. His songs have always been imbued with strong Islamic color. Therefore in previous general elections he always campaigned for the United Development Party (PPP). While not an official Moslem party, PPP is identified as representing the Islamic constituents. During the previous election campaign, Rhoma attracted many votes and has since been identified as the leader, ideologist and hero of this party. His sudden switch to Golkar, a very strong party identified as being secular, even though it does have many Moslem members, has prompted people to question his motivation. However they are keeping silent.

Second, Rhoma's switch to Golkar, the backbone of the present government, will move him closer to political power and material wealth. So, it is difficult for Rhoma not to be associated with those greedy for power and wealth by deciding to serve Golkar and leave PPP. It would be very different if he had switched to the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), especially the camp of ousted leader Megawati, because it is a weak party currently in trouble with the government. People know that it needs a lot of courage to side with the weak and be ready to sacrifice one's status and wealth. One needs a strong belief in a principle to do so successfully.

Between the two paths of the government and the people, Rhoma has clearly chosen the first, shifting from the second, the path he had trodden previously. It was his adherence to the previous path that made him so popular. However this choice, which did not take him close to the government, resulted in various obstacles being placed in his way. For instance, at one point he was not allowed to appear on television. There may be some other problems that we do not know of. So Rhoma has now changed the path of his life, expecting to not only overcome all the previous obstacles but also reap other benefits. So far, as usual, people have been silent, although not necessarily unwatchful.

In my opinion, Rhoma's audience deserves a decent explanation. They may be quiet, still enjoying his concerts, and cheering and applauding as loud as ever, but they may have withdrawn their respect for him as a man of principle. If Rhoma does not handle this matter carefully, he may suffer the fate as Soerjadi, the government-picked PDI chairperson.

As reported by the Yogyakarta newspaper Bernas (on Sept. 18, 1996), Soerjadi was booed by the people when he turned up to watch a football match at the recent 14th National Games. They spontaneously cried "Long Live Megawati" to irritate him. Some even shouted "Soerjadi, the False Bull" (the bull is the PDI symbol). This prompted Soerjadi to leave the stadium. This was a small eruption of the silent majority that has been quiet so far.

Returning to the two kinds of hero, Soerjadi is certainly the government's hero, as well as Rhoma Irama now. However, the silent majority may have a different opinion.

The writer is a sociologist and researcher based in Salatiga.