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.