Myth puts down young's esteem

By Sukasah Syahdan

JAKARTA (JP): Dr. Olle Tornquist's excellent article "Will the Student Movement Succeed?" (The Jakarta Post, Feb. 9, 1999) in which he prophesied, with a tinge of trepidation, a rather unhappy result for the student movement is worth responding to.

The toughest problem the students are facing, he said, is that of formulating a political program of their own and building an independent political base. The two other problems, that of being labeled "muddleheads" and accusations of being used by established forces, possibly stem from the first.

This article is not intended to spark the flames of debate on the founding of a cohesive, independent student political base. It aims to disprove some myths about the old and young alike. "The old have nothing to say to the young." When he said that, a long time ago now, Thoreau spoke the truth. And so did Wordsworth when he wrote that the child is the father of the man.

First of all, there is this noun, "student". Then the nicely collocating adjective "young" comes to mind. One readily associates either word with the state of being "naive", "immature" and "inexperienced", hence the first problem stands in our way.

Is it not true that this patriarchal world gives little room for the young to arrive at the peak? For though certain areas (sports for example) do exist where the young are expected to outshine the old, they are nevertheless too few. Thus when a young person makes it to the top, they are given the label of "exceptional" or "child prodigy", as if something precarious needs to be protected here.

All languages have words that are value-laden. In Indonesian, words like sepuh (older person), mumpuni (knowledgeable) and mengayomi (to protect) are examples. These three words remind us that the young should respect the old, which is fine. Like unquestioned axioms they carry with them from one generation to the next certain values which the old posses, which is also fine.

Perhaps we should also bear in mind that such words preserve age-related myths, like the belief that with age comes superiority. We know that most myths have a little grain of truth in them, but some not at all.

Talk about another form of harassment! Although for years this country has had a ministry assigned to deal with the young, the ministers have never been young themselves. Cohorts of the same feathers apparently flock together. The creativity, integrity, capability (and wisdom) of the young do not count.

This may lead us to two important questions: Should being young mean being underestimated? Is to be old to be superior? Oscar Wilde said that experience is the word we use for our mistakes. If to err is to be human, the old overflow with humanity.

Let us look at the Hungarian experience. Of the major Hungarian political parties, there is one that is unique in that its members are exclusively young people. The Alliance of Young Democrats, or FIDESZ as the party is locally known, was established by university students and young intellectuals in 1988 before the fall of communism in Hungary and in other Eastern European countries.

As soon as it was formed, led by Viktor Orban, it sailed on the winds of change. The year 1994 saw daring slogans used during the election campaigns. One read "Don't trust anyone over 40". Too radical? Maybe. The fact was, the same year witnessed the defeat of FIDESZ by the socialists, and Horn Gyula became prime minister. However, this did not put an end to the youth movement, for in May last year FIDESZ won, and Orban, now in his 30s, became one of the world's youngest prime ministers.

This may come as a surprise to us Indonesians, or maybe it should not. The thing is, we forget how young Sukarno, Hatta and Sjahrir were when they laid the first bricks of this country's foundation, simply because we never want to remember.

Despite our age, we are the ones currently in the process of writing our own history. Eventually we will be the subjects of our actions. Any one of us who meets certain criteria and has the will to hold the pen may join. The requirements may vary among different people, but age is never one of them.

That is why the future leaders of this country, whoever they may be, should take the young more seriously. That is also the way the young ought to see themselves.

Wisdom does not come with age; lapses of memory and wrinkles do.

The writer is an English teacher at a number of language institutes and a student of finance at Magister Manajemen in the University of Indonesia.