RI's ignored heritage

RI's ignored heritage

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Staff Writer, Jakarta,
korpur@yahoo.com

While enjoying a cup of coffee on Tuesday morning, you might
have read the horrifying front page reports of Indonesian
newspapers. Kompas reported that some Indonesian mothers who were
expelled as illegal workers from Malaysia, decided to sell their
babies for prices reportedly from Rp 300,000 (US$35) to Rp 1.5
million in Nunukan, East Kalimantan, for their own survival.
Thousands of poor workers are facing starvation there.

Switching on the TV news, we can see Indonesian ministers busy
arguing that the number of workers who died when they fled from
Malaysia was lower than the number estimated by non-governmental
organizations. Their concern is the number and not the tragedy of
their deaths.

In the meantime, The Jakarta Post quoted President Megawati
Soekarnoputri as preaching to Earth Summit participants in
Johannesburg on Monday that world leaders owe it to the billions
of poor people to set aside their differences and unite to
eradicate poverty and preserve the global environment.

"We owe it to billions of people yearning to lift themselves
out of squalor and deprivation. They also have dreams about a
better standard of living," said the President, who has not found
time to console the expelled workers. For her, visiting Luxor in
Egypt and the mosque built by former dictator Soeharto in Bosnia,
is apparently much more urgent than doing something about her own
people, the refugees who are in a desperate situation.

An article in the Associated Press by Chris Brummit reported
on the situation in Timika, Papua following the murders of an
Indonesian and two Americans, as well as its implications.

"It (the massacre) will probably sway potential investors who
are on the borderline -- those who are worried by the risks and
the bad news already coming out of Indonesia," Ken Conboy of
Control Risks Group, a London-based security consultancy, was
quoted by the news wire service, as saying about the impacts of
the killings on Indonesia. But who will listen?

Meanwhile, on Tuesday night TPI TV station was scheduled to
air the prerecorded medley of the classical song Indonesia Pusaka
(Indonesia, the Heritage) by top Indonesian celebrities from
President Megawati, Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly
Amien Rais to actress Nurul Arifin -- who sings with tears in her
eyes.

The song, composed by the late legendary composer Ismail
Marzuki, is usually sung by elementary school children during
Aug. 17 Independence Day celebrations. The tune should also touch
Indonesian leaders, open their eyes to forget, at least for a
while, their greediness, and think about the people. Part of the
song goes:

Indonesia my motherland; an eternal and glorious heritage;
Indonesia from former times; was always adored by many nations...

But who still admires Indonesia, let alone respects it? The
Berlin-based anti corruption group, Transparency International,
last week listed Indonesia as one of the most corrupt countries
in the world. Singapore is listed as Asia's most freest nation
from corruption. Of course this is not a source of pride but an
addition to the nation's endless humiliation.

How about the economy? Top Asian investors, from Japan to
South Korea to Taiwan are threatening a mass exodus from
Indonesia to move to China, Vietnam or even Cambodia. The Japan
External Trade Organization (JETRO) has pointed out that
Indonesia is losing its competitiveness. The Korean Chamber of
Commerce (KOCHAM) said Korean investors would pull out of
Indonesia. Derek Hsu, director of Taipei Economic and Trade
Office in Jakarta, had also warned that Taiwanese businessmen
would relocate their factories to other countries.

Many investors, cheerfully applauded by Indonesian officials,
pointed their fingers at unproductive, strike-prone laborers as
their main cause to escape from Indonesia. Again, the little
people are the easiest target to blame. However the investors
also know that workers' behavior are the result of the
government's own deeds. In private, many of the foreigners
acknowledge that the bribes they must pay to officials, police,
military, political party leaders and hoodlums amounts to much
more than the workers' wages. But in public it is much safer to
blame the impoverished laborers.

Similarly, the low ranking soldiers of the Indonesian Military
(TNI) are often branded as the sources of many miseries. TNI
Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has announced his plan to ban his
soldiers to exercise their new constitutional rights to vote in
the 2004 general elections, arguing that the voting rights could
worsen the country's situation. Is it the soldiers who are not
ready for the reform or their commanders?

In most of human rights abuses in Aceh, East Timor, Papua and
other places, low ranking soldiers must take the blame while
senior officers walk free.

Ismail Marzuki dedicated the above song to his nation, and it
became the favorite song for co-independence proclamator Bung
Hatta. Indonesians are touched by the song, but it has rarely
inspired leaders in serving the nation.

So far still untouchable from the hands of the law regarding
alleged corruption for human rights violations, former president
Soeharto might also sing the song in tears -- especially the last
verse which may instead inspire endless protection:

Di sana tempat lahir beta (it's the place where I was born);
dibuai dibesarkan bunda (held and nurtured by my mother);
tempat berlindung di hari tua (my shelter in days of old);
sampai akhir menutup mata (until eventually I close my eyes)

It may be better, if the TPI TV station, owned by Soeharto's
eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana, also recorded
Soeharto's voice in the last verse. This would be difficult
however, as the doctors have said her father now cannot speak
properly.