Reflections on independence

Reflections on independence

Tomorrow on Saturday, Aug. 17, Indonesians will commemorate
the fact that 57 years ago two prominent leaders of the
Indonesian independence movement unilaterally proclaimed the
country's independence. Due to the vagaries of the fluid
situation that prevailed toward the end of the Japanese
occupation in 1945, the cryptic proclamation of independence was
drafted at the residence of a Japanese naval admiral located at
what is now Jl. Imam Bonjol 2.

By now, generations of Indonesians most probably can repeat
that proclamation by heart, although not many are likely to
remember the terse speech that Sukarno delivered. With Mohammad
Hatta standing next to him, Sukarno told the small audience
gathered at his residence, now Jl. Proklamasi 56, that "I have
requested you to be present here in order to witness an event of
the utmost importance in our history. For decades the Indonesian
people have fought for the independence of our country."

Those two leaders, Sukarno and Hatta, who then became the
nation's first president and vice president respectively,
differed enormously in terms of background, education, world view
and bearing.

Sukarno was born in East Java, and although he enjoyed an
education in Dutch schools, including the higher institute of
engineering in Bandung, he was steeped in the traditions of the
Javanese Hindu culture. Mohammad Hatta was born in West Sumatra
to a devoutly Muslim family. For more than 10 years he stayed in
Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to study the various aspects of
economics and of the principles of constitutional and
international law.

Both were engaged in the nationalist movement, with the
consequence that during the 1930s they were put in exile in
remote parts of the Indonesian archipelago, to be set free only
by the arrival of the Japanese expeditionary forces in 1942. Two
days after Japan's emperor, Hirohito, conveyed his country's
unconditional surrender to the Allied powers, these two leaders
proclaimed their country's independence in a simple ceremony in
Jakarta. Two weeks later, Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi read out the
Vietnamese declaration of independence. Thus only two countries
in East Asia -- Indonesia and Vietnam -- unilaterally declared
their independence from the yoke of colonialism right after the
end of World War II.

However, when Ho Chi Minh in a letter delivered by an American
correspondent, Harold Isaacs, who worked for Newsweek magazine,
suggested to the leaders of the infant republic in Jakarta that
the two nations "should coordinate their struggle against Western
imperialism and capitalism", then Indonesian prime minister Sutan
Sjahrir with great foresight ignored the message. Sjahrir
calculated that Indonesia, which was facing a small and weakened
Western European country, the Netherlands, would achieve its
independence sooner than Vietnam, which had to confront a much
bigger and stronger Western European power. Besides, he already
foresaw the coming conflict between the victors of the war, a
conflict in which ideology would play a significant role.

Since he realistically recognized that Indonesia was within
the power radius of Great Britain and the United States, it would
not serve the interest of the infant Republic of Indonesia at
that stage to be associated with Vietnam. As indeed it turned
out, the course that the two nations, Indonesia and Vietnam, took
in history after the end of World War II differed significantly.

However, 57 years after these historic events, we might well
ask ourselves how the state of affairs of the Republic of
Indonesia is at present. On the one hand, we should be grateful
that this country, which makes up the world's largest archipelago
spanning from end to end a distance equal to that from London to
Ankara, is still basically unified. And if we take into
consideration that Indonesia with its 210 million people is the
fourth most populous country in the world, it is a virtual
miracle that a total systemic breakdown has not occurred. Yet,
serious and complex problems are still haunting this nation.

The efforts at political development that have been made since
the collapse of the Soeharto regime, which for years had suffered
from political decay, has not yet shown any convincing results.
However even the recently concluded Annual Session of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which has been hailed as a
success, in reality constitutes no more than a high-level
political compromise between the status-quo preserving Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) under Megawati
Soekarnoputri, Golkar's weakened Akbar Tandjung and the National
Mandate Party (PAN) under the ambitious Amien Rais. Nevertheless,
the recent MPR Annual Session has saved the country from a worst-
case scenario, which in a narrow sense could be called a success.
It is doubtful, however, that in a real sense and in terms of
political development much has been achieved.

The most serious problem that the country will have to face
for years to come is the high level of unemployment. Due to the
different yardsticks that are used to define unemployment, total
unemployment figures tend to vary. The Central Bureau of
Statistics (BPS), applying standards adopted by the International
Monetary Fund, estimates the current level of open unemployment
to be at more than eight million people. Former minister of
manpower Bomer Pasaribu, however, is of the view that those who
suffer from disguised unemployment (employed for less than 35
hours a week) should also be included in calculating the
unemployment figure, which would drive the figure up to more than
40 million people.

Whatever the realistic figure may be, the fate of the
Indonesian workers recently forced to leave from Malaysia shows
that job creation on a huge scale is the most urgent problem
faced by the Megawati government. Unemployment and the efforts to
keep it down are not merely economic problems, but are laden with
social and political risk factors. The great number of
unemployed, the fluid political situation and the newly emerging
social elite comprising for a good part of the nouveaux riches
flaunting their wealth, they all contribute to the making of
combustible political material.

Somewhere in approaching the 2004 election year, the current
government should effectively create a climate that is conducive
for the economy in order to absorb the unemployed workforce. The
list of problems that Indonesia is facing could be expanded to
the point where we might begin to lose hope that a way out can be
found. In the course of its history as an independent nation,
however, Indonesia has gone through several bad crises and it has
proven that with its resilience and innovative capacities the
nation is able to overcome the seemingly insurmountable
difficulties.

The Aug. 17 celebrations, therefore, should provide us with a
timely opportunity to revive our confidence and strengthen our
solidarity in order for us to regain our strength in facing a
difficult future.