Independence and memory of the nation

Thomas Hidya Tjaya Jakarta

Fifty-nine years ago on Aug. 17, 1945, Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Indonesia. They did so on behalf of the people of the country, who had the same deep desire for freedom.

Even though poorly attended, the event itself marked the beginning of this country, paving the way for the making of a nation that would be free from any form of slavery, which is invariably dehumanizing. Convinced that freedom was a natural right of every nation and human being, the founders of this country urged the people to continue fighting against the return of colonization in all its forms, lest they forgot the price of the freedom to stand on their own.

That was almost six decades ago. How people today embrace and maintain these ideals is worth reflecting on, particularly on the occasion of Independence Day. Just as any anniversary always brings us back to the original event, so the ideals of freedom expressed decades ago need some focused attention on this special day.

The danger for humans living in history is that with the passing of time, we tend to forget where we come from, who we are and where we are going. Engrossed in daily routines, we readily accept what comes to us and begin to forget the ideals we should bear in mind for the making of our future.

The tendency toward forgetfulness is particularly dangerous when it comes to living together as a nation. When we forget what we are actually striving for, we tend to do things to meet our own short-term needs. Government officials may keep their attention focused on what brings them benefit and not on what people desperately need.

When the general election comes along, they will do their best to secure the status quo against the efforts of other politicians who try to jump on the wagon of power. In the meantime the needs of ordinary people become neglected. As a result, people of this country practically remain shackled under a different form of colonization.

The freedom fought for and paid with the sweat and blood of our ancestors is at stake. The heroic struggle for the whole nation has turned into a disgraceful fight for personal and limited interests. No wonder the celebration of the great event has increasingly become lackluster, for precisely the spirit that once formed and animated this nation has virtually disappeared.

It is very important, therefore, to keep our memory intact, a memory that continues to remind us of our common bond and ideals as a nation. Such recollection will tell us about our journey in history and about how we have come together and realized our dreams. Johann Baptist Metz, a theologian, loves to talk about memory, which he sees as intrinsically linked to our nature as historical beings.

Living in history makes full sense only when we make the best use of our memory for the shaping of our future. Metz specifically emphasizes the kind of memory that remembers not only the successful but also the destroyed, not only what has been actualized, but also what has been lost. In our personal lives we tend to recall only good things that have happened to us and push away bad experiences.

Likewise in political life the government tends to constantly remind us of its wonderful achievements, ignoring the many failures that have affected the lives of many people: justice undelivered, abuses uncorrected, laws ignored and many others. Such a tendency is the work of a bad memory.

A good and healthy memory will retain both the positive and negative sides of life. Ignoring and denying negative experiences will surely result in an unbalanced personality as well as a distorted image of oneself. To avoid this, one has to come to terms with the experience of negativity and eventually embrace it wholeheartedly.

The recognition of both achievements and failures in our own personal history is necessary if we want to live a healthy life. Likewise, a healthy nation can be measured by its ability and audacity to embrace its past, both the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. This way we can resist the triumphalism of merely the positive elements, that is, our successes and achievements. For we continue to carry within us not only what still remains intact or even flourishes, but also what has been destroyed and lost.

Such memories are definitely dangerous, and Metz acknowledges this. When one recalls what has gone -- lives lost, properties stolen or destroyed -- one's imagination doesn't simply stay there but rather roams around trying to find an appropriate response to it. All this may lead one to particular actions. In such memories earlier experiences break through to the center point of one's life and reveal new and dangerous insights for the present. Such memories are dangerous because they come, as it were, with future content.

Nevertheless, there is no way to deal with the past other than to confront it face-to-face. In fact, the ugly face of our past as a nation should serve as a reminder to all of us not to repeat the same mistakes. Never again! That's how those who have learned from the past would express it.

Thus, we should not let a kind of Darwinism prevail in our understanding of history, including the history of our nation. That is to say, we must avoid selecting only certain aspects of our history and treat the selection as if it were the whole (hi)story.

Rather, we should look into the history of our nation in a more comprehensive way. That is where we can avail ourselves of our freedom, to free ourselves from the shackles of the past. Just as a free and healthy person won't be haunted by his or her past, likewise this nation should not be crippled by its own history.

Having the courage to humbly examine its own history and truthfully correct its own wrongdoings is a sign of a great nation. The celebration of Independence Day is definitely a wonderful opportunity to look back to the origins of this nation and reclaim the spirit of the founders, as well as the ideals they set for future generations. In so doing we may begin to realize how much we have failed and how daunting the nation- building tasks that lie before us.

The writer is a lecturer at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta and a graduate of Fordham University.