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.