Legend leaves legacy of anti-liberalism
Legend leaves legacy of anti-liberalism
By Soetjipto Wirosardjono
JAKARTA (JP): If there is a value worth preserving in a change
from traditional to modern society it is the maintenance of
harmony with nature.
Traditional belief systems hold that everything has been
created by God to build a harmonious life among natural beings.
The goal of individual and social life is to have everything set
in order, at its proper balance and in due harmony.
A popular legend from East Java, the legend of Panji Laras
(Prince of Harmony), goes that the King of Jenggala was once
lured away from the balance of his royal wisdom.
He began to look much to emphasizing his own personal
interests, pleasure and glory above the interests of his
subjects, the Jenggala society.
This tendency led to a royal policy compromising the natural
balance of the environment with the King's sphere of influence
and personal interests.
At one point, his obsession robbed him of his capacity to make
wise decisions, and looking down at his new-born son with the
paranoia of the greedy, he feared him as a future rival.
The King submitted to the ill advise from his soothsayers,
who, reading the royal fear, suggested the prince be eliminated,
which the King duly arranged for along with orders for the
Prince's subservient mother to be liquidated for good measure.
Thank God, the baby Prince was saved by a court nurse who laid
the lad in a boat and allowed the river to carry him away.
The mother of the Prince was able to slip a chicken egg into
the baby's carriage before her execution.
The Prince eventually landed in a thick forest. Where the baby
Prince was nurtured not only physically, but socially. The Prince
was able to communicate with trees, mammals, insects and spirits.
When the Prince was grown, he crowned himself the Prince of
Harmony, because he believed that a human being is but one
creature among many in natural and non natural creation.
His companion, the formidable Cock become the symbol of his
pride, the mascot of the jungle who sings melodiously every
morning.
When the King of Jenggala heard the news of this strange
Prince of the forest and his fabulous companion his heart was
struck with the fear of old. He had not forgotten the threat his
soothsayers had predicted.
The King, being a warrior, confronted his destiny by
announcing that a grand festival culminating in a cock fight with
the Prince, with the winner to take the throne, would be held.
If the Prince lost, his head would be the price of his folly
in challenging the King.
By the grace of God, the Prince of Harmony's cock, which had
the luxury of living naturally on the food of the jungle and
moving in a free natural environment won the battle.
The prince became the new ruler of Jenggala, but he
respectfully recognized the old King as his true father.
This legend shows that the traditional belief system among the
rural Javanese considered man a part of nature that needs to live
in harmony with it.
The traditional way of life bounds to be in harmony with
nature. Everything should follow the existing order and be bound
to nature.
In rural and traditional society this way of life is often
dramatized in the form of rites and myths. Environmental elements
such as big trees, certain animals, fire and water are sometimes
treated as sacred objects.
In traditional society, the common interest is of primary
importance.
This is one of the most important reasons why in many
developing countries, the idea of selling the value of
individualism and hence liberalism does not gain currency.
Members of traditional societies tend to suspect any attempt
to emphasize individual interests. Because they believed it may
pose a threat to the preservation of common interest.
In Indonesia we uphold the gotong royong multi-help principle
which is a communal principle based on attitude that common
interests come first, and that individual interests should be
sacrificed if they go against the common good.
Indonesians constantly try to create harmony between their
individual interests and their community's.
Therefore a development paradigm that stresses individual
accumulation of wealth and de-emphasizes common interest will be
resisted.
The more traditional the society is the more emphasis will be
given to the social significance of ownership.
The crucial task of a modernization effort is always to
discover how to retain the balance between the prevailing
traditional value system and the newly acquired values of modern
society.
An agent of change whether it is a government institution, a
non-governmental organization or media, should be fully aware of
this mission.
Without comprehension of the sense of mission, popular support
will be difficult to mobilize.
The writer is rector of the Jakarta-based As-Syafi'iyah Islam
University.