Indonesian story drably detailed

Indonesia Comes of Age: 50 Years of Independence Richard I Mann, editor Gateway Books, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1995 202 pages

JAKARTA (JP): "You are interested in Indonesia but you have concerns. You don't know how things are done in Indonesia. You don't speak the language. Yet you want to know about all the opportunities and problems which may impact your business."

The opening paragraph of the synopsis gives you the basic idea of what this book is about.

Richard Mann's latest endeavor was released for Indonesia's 50th year of independence and is for foreigners interested in the country.

The book's sources, Indonesian ministers and ex-ministers, businesspeople and foreigners, have some interesting views on the development of Indonesia.

Surprisingly, senior ministers such as Soesilo Soedarman and Joop Ave are interviewed. Former leaders such as Roeslan Abdulgani, young entrepreneurs like Fadel Muhammad, and prominent women like Martha Tilaar and Herawati Diah all speak their minds. Franz Gruber and Jerry G. McLain represent the western point of view.

The opening chapter by the book's editor Richard Mann is a descriptive and fresh look at Indonesia's progress over the last 50 years. It tells of the vast difference between yesterday's and today's Indonesia with persuasive examples.

After the introduction, though, a pattern emerges and each story begins to be the same except for a few new personal anecdotes thrown in.

Mann's history lesson of the 1945 and 1966 periods doesn't illustrate the level of indignation Indonesians feel towards these periods. Instead, the book concentrates on the differences between yesterday, today and tomorrow, with examples that are sleep-provokingly similar.

Jenny Mann, one of the two editors, forgets to recount the nation's history to concentrate on her life. She gets more space than most of the prominent figures in the book and gives the unsuspecting reader a very detailed look at her early life. We learn that when she was little she was considered not as smart as her siblings. She narrates her European and American adventures with great delight. And we get a blow-by-blow account of her life after marrying Richard Mann. Unfortunately, her few facts concerning Indonesian development just echo the other more qualified figures in the book. The reader has already got the gist of Indonesia's tremendous growth from the experts interviewed, and need not be told again.

It is very strange to get this woman's life story in a book supposedly about Indonesia. Perhaps, Mann was attempting a personal explanation of Indonesian life since the revolution. Her story is nothing short of banal. Her writing is void of emotion. She could have enriched the reader's understanding of Indonesian society if she had detailed her emotional distress during the revolution or what she endured to satisfy her hunger for an education. Real life would have been more interesting than a monotonous history lesson.

Redundancy certainly dampens the book, but there are, of course, exceptions.

The women's point of view by Martha Tilaar and Herawati Diah are certainly fresh and compelling perspectives of Indonesian society. Martha's opinion concentrates on the women of the country and the obstacles they must overcome to succeed. She also delves into how modernization has affected the country. Fortunately, she doesn't bore us with figures on Indonesia's GNP to emphasize her invigorating view on Indonesian development.

Herawati Diah writes about education and national unity. Her examples are true to life and easily witnessed. At the end she tells the government her impression of its inert and confusing political openness operation.

The juxtaposition of revolution photos with those of modern Indonesia achieves what the text attempts -- illustrating what 50-year-old Indonesia really is.

Although the book can be educational, the writing is unfortunately monotone, probably since the writer's similar positions make their opinions analogous. It would have been more interesting if prominent Indonesian writers had told their story. Their style of language would have stimulated the work.

Overall, the book is worth getting if just for the collection of wonderful pictures. Monotonous redundancy could have been avoided by choosing figures from various professions to get different perspectives. Nonetheless, the attention given to Indonesia is appreciated.

-- Pandu Sjahrir