Indonesian scholars abroad place hope in election

Indonesian scholars abroad place hope in election

Maggie Tiojakin, Contributor/Boston, Massachusetts,
mathe_80@yahoo.com

While millions of Indonesians stood in line, waiting for their
turn at one of the 600,000 polling stations across the
archipelago during the April 5 legislative election, Jaha
Nababaan, 31, a Fulbright scholar currently studying Educational
Media and Technology at Boston University, Massachusetts, had it
easy.

Jaha, along with thousands of other overseas voters, mailed in
his vote to the Indonesian Consulate in New York for the election
-- a privilege unavailable to most Indonesians. In addition, the
ballot papers were delivered to his apartment days before the
election.

New England, home to roughly 5,000 Indonesian academics and
professionals, is notorious for its frigid climate. Jaha found it
a blessing that he wasn't required to attend the election in New
York personally -- aside from the weather, it is also a four-hour
drive from home.

With the general anxiety surrounding the 2004 general
election, Jaha, who has been staying in the U.S. since last
August, said he was very eager to participate in the event,
although regrettably, he would miss the July 5 presidential
election due to travel arrangements he has made on that date.

Jaha confided that his observations of "the relationship
between" Americans and their government had raised his own
political awareness of Indonesia.

Asked his thoughts on the 24 parties vying for legislative
seats in the election, Jaha dismissed them as "elite
personifications" in the country's political battle. "(These
parties) have no grassroots visions or missions."

He also pointed out that the government's decision to engage
the general public in a direct election did not automatically
grant it implicit trust.

"The new electoral system will create a new equilibrium of
power-sharing in which the (elected) president will get stuck in
the middle, and therefore will be prone to being made a scapegoat
when the system fails."

On whether Indonesia is ready to practice "true democracy",
Jaha argued that Indonesians should begin "a quest to find our
own democracy, instead of some given or forced values." However,
he thinks it is too soon to tell where the country is going with
the election.

Daynah Sukardi, 24, a Pelita Harapan University graduate and a
former public relations officer at Sea World Indonesia, is
currently studying Mandarin Chinese at Zhejiang University in
Hang Zhou province, China, and shared Jaha's view.

"It's too early in the process to make comments on (the
election)," said Daynah during an online interview. Regardless,
she admitted that she was less confident about the results.
"Politics is politics," she said, already becoming uninterested
in the subject.

With the Golkar Party leading in the legislative race -- 21
percent of votes at the time this article was written -- Daynah
feared that Indonesia might fall into the same pattern as that
during Soeharto's leadership.

Yet, the present government has not left a memorable
impression on her either. "I guess it's better to have a failed
government than no government at all," Daynah said.

Reading the list of potential presidential candidates, she
remarked that it did not matter who got elected, "as long as he
or she is able to make some good changes in the country's
socioeconomic condition". She declined an answer when asked
whether she was participating in the election.

On the other hand, Budiman Wiharja, 22, a graduate student at
Ohio State University, and Kennedy Muslim, 22, a finance major at
the same university, feel fairly optimistic about the election.

"I think the most important thing is not the end result, but
the process of the event itself," Budiman said. Kennedy agreed.
"There are gigantic tasks in front of us still, yet looking at
the young generation, I am very optimistic," he said via email.

In regards the 1998 student riots, Budiman and Kennedy
explained that although they were still in high school at the
time and therefore had less interest in politics, the incident
was a wake-up call to their generation.

"I followed the event on television, but I didn't understand
what was at stake through that movement to bring down the New
Order regime," Kennedy, a native of Palembang, South Sumatra,
said. Contemplating the riots' importance today, he stressed,
"the post-reformation age cannot be taken for granted."

Budiman seconded the statement. While he confessed to being
"quite naive" during the reformation movement, he said it had
somehow left a deep imprint in his mind.

With observers around the world relentlessly speculating on
Indonesia's future since Soeharto's ouster in 1998, it is
difficult to take a step -- no matter how small -- without
sparking new debate. From the country's major break-up with its
formerly beloved father figure, to its slow economic advances and
to its successive Cabinet reshuffling -- all fell under scrutiny.

One of the latest issues, however, concerns incumbent
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's ambition to run for a second
term. In spite of growing criticisms over her leadership, she is
not any less hopeful of winning majority votes -- much to some
people's dismay.

"Megawati's government failed to end corruption and instead,
it has spurred on other devious practices," Kennedy said,
pointing out corruption's evil brothers: collusion and nepotism.
"I would personally vote for Cak Nur if he had had a political
machine to back him up," Kennedy said, referring to prominent
Islamic scholar Nurcholish Madjid.

Even so, when it comes to corruption, collusion and nepotism,
known locally as KKN, Budiman believes all is not lost. "KKN
practices won't end in a utopian sense," he said, yet he was
certain changes would be made for the better.

Indonesia, with over 17,000 islands and a 220 million-strong
population comprising various ethnic groups and religions, is far
from easy to manage under a single flag. The battle for unity
continues, as does the battle to improve quality of life.

However, as Kennedy urged cautiously, "there's still hope".

"I like Indonesia best," said Jaha -- despite the experiences
of its past seven years and against the backdrop of his
observations in a foreign country.