Internet replaces bamboo spears in fight for freedom
By Hanny Agustine
JAKARTA (JP): Remember when you were in primary school and asked "What did Indonesian heroes use to fight against the Dutch in 1945?" The answer: Many used bamboo spears.
At that time such simple weapons proved to be useful in fighting for independence.
Students and pro-democracy activists employed different tools to "overthrow" Soeharto. Instead of fighting with bamboo spears, swords, guns or tanks, they used banners, placards, the mass media and the Internet.
A few years before they rallied on the streets and on campuses yelling for total reform, intellectuals, professionals, students and activists used the Internet as a tool to distribute messages, carry out discussions and disseminate hard news and opinions.
The Internet has become a powerful tool and part of the infrastructure of the democratic system. Most importantly, it helped expose the Indonesian democracy struggle to the international community.
There are several homepages and websites which provide articles, news, other site links, pictures and features on the reform movement. The web server might be located in Germany, Australia, the United States, New Zealand or Indonesia, and the editor might be Indonesian or a foreigner.
Corruption, collusion and nepotism, as well as other hot topics in the country are widely discussed in Internet chat groups.
Several popular public figures, organizations and universities, including sociologist Arief Budiman now in Australia, the Indonesian Democratic Party and Trisakti University, also have their own homepages.
While surfing through these sites, you can read academic articles, news and analysis, opinions and letters of support. Words that were impossible to print in the national press during the Soeharto era are found here.
Some of these sites are relatively new, while others were set up and registered as many as eight years ago.
A few of them, like Indonesia Baru and Xpos, have a magazine or bulletin layout with editorials and letters from readers. Xpos provides weekly news and a review of past events for those who missed previous issues.
Gema Madani focuses on former minister Emil Salim, featuring his background, opinions and thoughts. This site also provided information on his vice presidential campaign in March.
Shocking pictures from the recent riots, more graphic than what was published in the national press, are also available on the homepages of IndoProtest -- the only one with advertisements -- LinkExchange Services and Reformasi Indonesia.
Before labor activist Muchtar Pakpahan was freed from prison last month, Reformasi Indonesia provided a special space through which you could show your support for him. You could sign a letter prepared by the Council of Churches of the Netherlands and the trade Union Confederations asking for his release, which was sent to Soeharto.
If you prefer text instead of pictures, you might want to check out Indo Chaos!!, which provides various articles, including those on Chinese-Indonesian issues. It also provides ways to contact the United Nations human rights department and the U.S. Congress for those seeking human rights protection. Articles by Arief Budiman or critic George Aditjondro can be found in this site.
Watch Indonesia, in English and German, is produced by Indonesian, German and Portuguese nationals. It emphasizes human rights issues, intercultural communication and exchange projects. East Timor is one of the issues discussed here.
Another popular site is Indonesia - L, where you can find archived news articles. During the week of May 25 through June 1 alone, there were 190 news articles, enough to keep you awake a whole night. This site has operated for almost eight years, and has thousands of articles. Its editor selects 20 articles out of more than 300 incoming news articles per day to be presented on the site.
Most sites are free of charge but some have annual subscription fees. One such site is Indonesia Publication, which produces Indonesia - L among other sites. Its one-year subscription fee ranges between US$50 and $200.
What makes all of these sites different from mainstream newspapers or magazines? Mainly the "freedom to speak". Electronic communication is fundamentally characterized by a free flow of information, feeling and thoughts. On the Internet, people can speak about anything without censorship. But, does the Internet provide the truth? That is another question. There is no guarantee that what is found on the Internet is in reality news.