'Nations needs new development paradigm'

'Nations needs new development paradigm'

A riot reminiscent of those in Situbondo broke out in the West
Java town of Tasikmalaya Thursday. Sociologist Loekman Soetrisno
analyzes it from a wider perspective.

Question: People seem to be easily provoked nowadays. A single
issue can drive them to violence, as we saw in Tasikmalaya. What
do you think?

Answer: There are several possibilities which may cause
violence like this. First of all, members of the society may find
no other channel to vent their frustration. They see that there
is something wrong with their society but find they can do
nothing about it.

Secondly, the professionalism of government officials --
especially those in the Armed Forces and the police force -- is
declining. They talk too much about politics and forget their
role as security officers. Professionalism is not given their
full attention, and violence becomes commonplace. The riot in
Tasikmalaya occurred because police beat teachers of a pesantren
(an Islamic boarding school).

Third, there are fundamentalist movements within each
religious grouping. These movements usually take action when they
feel they are losing in competition to others. This is called "a
cultural war".

In Indonesia those who are ready for competition happen to be
ethnic Chinese, while the Indonesian majority are not. The
Chinese are then deemed a Christian society. The fact that most
churches also receive donations from abroad -- mostly from
western countries with western cultures -- makes it easier for
Christian society to win the competition, thus increasing other
groups' jealousy.

In this case, the American sociologist Samuel Huntington's
prediction on the clash of civilizations is right. If we are not
careful in handling such a problem our society will degenerate
into an East versus West competition, in which the Eastern side
represents Islam and the Western Christianity. Although many do
not like this concept it has often proven right.

Q: What about the Christian fundamentalist movements? Do they
have anything to do with the phenomenon?

A: Sure. The so-called Pentecost movements, for example, that
go door-to-door converting people or distributing brochures; they
make problems. Sometimes I just think that no one seems to give
serious thought to this country. This worries me.

Actually, what happened in Tasikmalaya is not the first
outbreak of such violence. It's understandable, however, as there
are many strong Moslem fundamentalist movements in Tasikmalaya.

Q: What should we do about that?

A: Now is the time for us to make serious reflections on the
whole issue: high professionalism, nepotism, etcetera. We have to
create an atmosphere in which competition can exist openly and
fairly.

In this case, as I've been suggesting, we need economic
pribumisasi development (turning enterprises over to indigenous
people) as well as political non-pribumisasi (turning politics
over to nonindigenous people) development. By so doing, the
indigenous society will have the chance to play a more important
economic role while the nonindigenous society will have the
chance to participate politically.

What we have to do is find a new paradigm. If not, the same
thing will reoccur in the future. The competition between
societal groups goes on despite the unevenness of the
competition. Only the Chinese in Indonesia have the capacity to
compete.

The existing paradigm no longer suits the present situation.
The Tasikmalaya case, and many others, have proven it. The
government must give more attention to the weak, as the Malaysian
government has done.

What we are experiencing at present doesn't seem to have that
quality. Projects worth billions of rupiah, for example, always
go to a particular group; this is not fair and will render the
whole nation uncompetitive globally.

Q: Apart from the three there may be another reason that
contributes to the explosive nature of our society?

A: It's probably the involvement of many kyai (Moslem
preachers) in practical politics. Their involvement undermines
their influence over their society.

Q: A great effort from all elements in the society seems to be
imperative ...

A: That's right. That's why we need to change the whole
paradigm. People are getting more and more critical. We cannot
treat them the way we did some 20 to 30 years ago. We keep
forgetting this.

Something we should never fail to include in the new paradigm
is that "the government can do wrong". The perception that it can
do no wrong is old-fashioned. By changing this perception,
everyone in the country can take part effectively in the
development process.

Actually, inequality of power and prosperity doesn't only
occur in Indonesia. It happens in other countries as well. So,
the question is: "Why does inequality have the capability of
turning people to violence here?". This is the problem.

It again proves that our development is a Pandora's box. There
are many previously invisible problems that are coming to the
surface one by one. (swa)

Loekman Soetrisno is a lecturer in sociology at Gadjah Mada
University, Yogyakarta.