Inquisitive scholar Soedjati turns 70

Inquisitive scholar Soedjati turns 70

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Johannes Baptista Soedjati Djiwandono has an inquiring mind,
which probably helped him become one of the country's top
political analysts.

His mind -- trained in the British education system -- is
always questioning the why and wherefore of things and events.

"That's how a scholar works, always looking for answers,
always questioning why this or that happens. Answers may not
always come, but as a scientist, (answers) must always be thought
out," Soedjati told The Jakarta Post recently.

In fact, being inquisitive has become sort of a hobby for the
Yogyakarta native who turns 70 on Monday, the result being
analyses and criticisms that have appeared in publications and
newspapers around the world.

Soedjati -- whose views were first published in 1966 -- also
admits that his writing has become a way for him to vent his own
frustrations over Indonesian politics.

"I often get frustrated, angry (about the situation), but
writing is my outlet. When I have something on my mind, I write
about it," he said.

Soedjati said that although many people felt his writings too
forthright in criticizing government policies, it was his
principle to voice the truth no matter how harsh.

"I've been questioned by Bakin (State Intelligence
Coordinating Board) and Bais (Strategic Intelligence Agency)
about my views, but I was never afraid because what I said was
truth," he asserted. "I just told them to prove me wrong and I
would change my mind."

Some of Soedjati's harshest criticism has been aimed at the
government ban on communism, or Marxism-Leninism, which he sees
as "senseless, inconsistent, illogical, unfair, unjust and
ignorant", and the sanctification of the 1945 Constitution,
"making it some sort of false god".

The ninth of 13 children, Soedjati grew up in the surroundings
of the Yogyakarta Palace, where his father worked as a abdi dalem
(palace courtier), dedicating his skills as a dancer, composer,
musician, singer and sculptor to the palace.

Soedjati's childhood was spent learning court dances, studying
the gamelan and learning a bit of sculpting from his father,
Thomas Sastro Djiwandono. His father had wanted Soedjati to
follow in his footsteps and become a court artist, but Soedjati
had bigger things in mind.

Soedjati's first big break came when he was awarded a Colombo
Plan scholarship -- a long-running Commonwealth foreign aid
initiative that began in 1950 to assist in the development of
newly independent Asian nations -- to study to become an English
teacher at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, in
1961.

He followed this up with a degree in Russian literature and
political studies from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New
Zealand, in 1965.

There he also learned about international strategy, knowledge
which put him in the position of becoming the first adviser to
the United Nations secretary-general for disarmament from an
Asian country.

"I've always been interested in politics, and while studying
English I also read books on politics. When I finally studied
politics, it was no longer strange to me," he said, theorizing
that his political bent was probably the result of his being
active in various organizations while still young.

In 1979 Soedjati earned a master's degree from the London
School of Economics and Political Science in international
relations, and in 1981 a doctorate from the same school. His
thesis was on international communism.

Why communism? "Probably because at the time the Communist
Party in Indonesia was in its golden era, so I wanted to learn
what communism was all about. Not to become one, because the more
I studied communism, the more I didn't believe in it."

In his writings, Soedjati often cites the importance of
understanding communism, admonishing the government ban on it.
"If it were true that communism was our enemy, it would be all
the more important that we all knew what it was all about. Know
your enemy!" he wrote in the Aug. 7, 2003, edition of the Post.

Soedjati's regular opinion pieces in the Post have their own
history to tell, Soedjati said, explaining that when the Soeharto
government disbanded Tempo magazine in 1994, publisher Goenawan
Mohamad said that someone must be brave enough to write about the
truth.

"I told him, I dare write it who dares publish it? Only The
Jakarta Post," he related, adding that what was important for him
was to make public his views in order to generate change.

But he is also aware that change does not come over night.
"Changing how people think takes a lot of time, it could take
dozens of years, generations, but somebody has to start
somewhere."

Soedjati's experiences inside the Indonesian political system
also validate his authority to analyze it. He was a member of the
Golkar party and served in the House of Representatives between
1969 and 1971, and in the People's Congress between 1973 and
1982.

"I know its strengths and I know its weaknesses," he said of
the country's political system.

What he learned was that "power corrupts and absolute power
corrupts absolutely", which Soedjati said was true in the case of
all Indonesian leaders from Sukarno to Megawati Soekarnoputri.

"At the time I believed that Golkar was the right choice,
because it wasn't extreme left or right. That was the idealism;
that it swerved far from that is a different story," Soedjati,
who left Golkar soon after it officially became a political
party, said.

As a political analyst, reading is an absolute must for
Soedjati, and his favorites are biographies and autobiographies
of political figures, including former political prisoners,
because "from them I can learn much".

Ever methodical, he has his own ritual when selecting a book
to purchase.

"I look at the author, his previous writings, when the book
was published. I look at the contents and index and excerpts,"
Soedjati said.