Justice: An Indonesian perspective

For many Indonesians justice is still a luxury. A number of widely publicized cases recently, notably the judicial review of the Kedung Ombo dam case, have put justice on public debate. Philosopher Franz Magnis-Suseno makes an attempt to look at justice from the point of view of average people.

JAKARTA (JP): Is justice just an obsession of underemployed intellectuals or is it something felt deeply in the hearts of common people?

As in other Asian and African countries, Indonesians find their identity not as atomized individuals watching for their rights, but as members of a living community. Quality of life is measured by whether the individual can live within a community where they can feel at home, know their place, and can be themselves. Thus their focus is on the well-being of the very community they live in.

This community is, of course, structured and of different intensity and claim to allegiance. With this community one shares the good and bad things of life. A Javanese proverb says: "It does not matter whether we have something to eat or not, the main thing is, we are together!" In difficulties, or when need arises, neighbors gladly help each other.

Most Indonesians are not "fighters for social justice". They have learned not to get excited over generally bad or unjust conditions. They care about their concrete community, not about a "cause". If they encounter suffering, except in the close circle of the family, they do not so much show compassion than concern and sympathy. They also help the stranger who needs help. One does not leave somebody alone who cannot help themselves.

On the village level equality is regarded as a very high value. When former villagers that have attained high government positions visit their village, they set a high value on being treated just as one of the villagers; as human beings, villagers are equal, and this is a deeply felt value.

On the other hand, feudal relationships of higher and lower positions still play an important role in Indonesian society. Thus differences in wealth, lifestyle and luxury are, by themselves, not offensive. But with these differences there has to go a certain behavior: While the lower ones show respect, the higher ones acknowledge their responsibility for the wellbeing of the lower ones by providing social services and, generally speaking, demonstrating that their higher positions are also beneficial for the community as a whole.

Thus, not wealth and luxury in themselves contradict Indonesian values, but when they exist together with blatant poverty and destitution. Differences in wealth, influence and social status are accepted, but only as long as nobody within the same region falls into subhuman conditions. Thus, for instance, the ongoing expansion of golf courses, while surrounding people are crammed into dingy plots, is felt as unjust and offensive.

Disregard by those profiting from a fortunate fate towards the rest of the community shows a loss of the fundamental sense of community unity and is therefore unjust and morally wrong. Thus the existence of an upper class of super-rich people, living very visibly in their own world, surrounded by facilities that are completely out of the reach of ordinary people, is regarded as an unjust, metaphysically unstable condition, which will come to an end at a destined time.

The strongest feelings of injustice are elicited when the procuring of facilities for the wealthy and powerful is achieved by destroying the livelihood of common people. Thus when they lose their huts, and very often also their livelihood [because they had it in their neighborhood from which they were ousted], in order to make room for big projects, or when their agricultural land is taken over, all with quite insufficient compensation.

Such experiences result in deep, ongoing feelings of being treated unjustly. Such a state of affairs should, in the opinion of common people, not go on. Maybe their deepest feelings can be expressed in this way: "We, the people, have always treated you with respect, we have not envied you for your wealth and fortunate conditions, we have acknowledged that you are important for society, and now you treat us as garbage, you have no regard for our very modest needs, you kick us out, you destroy us: this is not right, it cries to heaven!"

How long do they have to cry until somebody listens?

The writer, a Jesuit priest, is a professor of philosophy at Driyarkara School of Philosophy and University of Indonesia, Jakarta.