Siswono encourages creativity among bureaucrats
JAKARTA (JP): It was an unusual party. Instead of the expected festivity, the evening was filled with speeches, poems and songs about democracy, conscience, grassroots sympathy, and condemnation of the mushrooming avarice, greed and injustice found in Indonesia today.
Had the party taken place at Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center, where government critics usually protest socio-political ills, it wouldn't have been news.
Surprisingly the gathering, called Dialog Seni: Indonesia Rumah Kita (Art Dialog: Indonesia Our Home) was held at the Ministry of Transmigration and Settlement of Forest Dwellers on Jl. Kalibata in South Jakarta and was organized by the ministry's officials.
It is rare for government officials to brood over the fate of the millions of poor in Indonesia. They don't seem to care about the government's failure to help the poor or bemoan that Indonesia has lost its conscience amidst the greed and avarice.
But it happened.
The man behind the gathering, Minister Siswono Yudohusodo, made the headlines several weeks ago by stating that "Nowadays, honesty is identical with stupidity, and dishonesty with cleverness." His words were regarded as a perfect description of Indonesian society.
Accompanied by Romance d'amour on a piano, the minister, clad in a white shirt and black trousers, read his speech like a poet recites poetry. The speech included a poem entitled Balada Si Jelata (The Ballad of the Poor) by Siswono. According to Siswono, "is was colored by Sitor Situmorang" who was thrown in jail for being involved in the abortive 1965 communist coup.
Siswono said two young ministry staff members wrote him for permission to stage an arts program to celebrate Indonesia's 50th anniversary. They wanted ministry employees and related agencies to attend.
"I agreed and supported the spontaneous intention. The government needs art for their sensitivity and to beautify their creations and upgrade their works. Sensitivity is needed so that they take more care about what they may and may not do, about right and wrong, and about the people who need their service and so that their behavior is not sarcastic," Siswono explained.
The exclusive party soon ballooned into an excellent arts fiesta involving several important figures in the Indonesian arts world. Famous folk singer Leo Kristi, country singer Franky Sahilatua, dancer and choreographer Bagong Kussudiardjo, folk singer-environmentalist Ully Sigar Rusady, poet Darmanto Jatman, poet-philosopher Toety Herati Noerhadi and poet Pertiwi Hasan, wife of timber tycoon Bob Hasan all attended. Director General of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture Edy Sediawati, also an archeologist, read a poem by Rendra. Former minister of education and culture Fuad Hassan had his poem read by a young girl.
The ministry's employees presented a play and sang.
Franky said he might have rejected the offer to appear if it were not for Siswono.
"I happened to find his touching words in the papers several weeks ago. I then thought of him as a nationalist leader. I love him. I really hope there is someone like him amidst the current sectarian streams," Franky told The Jakarta Post.
Franky and friends then heartily sang a song which borrowed Siswono's much-quoted, Kejujuran jadi kebodohan/ kelicikan jadi kepintaran (Nowadays, honesty is identical with stupidity, and dishonesty with cleverness). Franky claimed that he and a friend composed the song the morning of the dialogue.
Siswono had more revelations for his adoring crowd. He asked the audience to reflect on the meaning of the 50th anniversary, "at the time when people cannot any longer differentiate right from wrong because they cannot understand their own conscience. When the thoughts, words and acts of many people go it alone in opposing directions. When cuteness, mischief and evil elegantly work hand in hand to provide people with staples. When the conscience of many people can no longer reign in on the behavior of the owners. When human stomach, which is actually small, four times the span of the fingers, but because their hearts, minds and the existing system cannot take control over it, wants to swallow the world with all its content. When thugs, who have earned the reputation as the unbeatable, are honored, feared, respected and asked for protection, and then slaughtered after a police officer fell victim to them, while in fact people had been long terrorized and extorted by them."
Siswono continued his lament, including the gap between the rich and the poor, the murder of Marsinah, the exploitation of natural resources for the sake of fast development growth.
Was he speaking from his heart? Was it just a bureaucratic step to greater popularity? Is he now feeling estranged in his bureaucratic seat? Has he discovered the long forgotten meaning of civil servant?
Whatever his motif, Siswono wasn't alone in his gloom. His staff clearly shared his soul-searching. They made it clear in a short play staged in the middle of the evening.
The play, set around the red-and-white flag, strung together surprisingly biting dialog. Even more surprising because it was uttered by government employees.
"If we commit a mistake, we should have the courage to admit it according to Indonesian conscience. And currently, only our conscience can differentiate one thing from another," announced one actor.
"We have to open the democratic doors in our hearts," preached another.
Siswono had never seen, let alone censored the play.
"I always encourage my staff to be democratic and not to be yes men. They should be critical and constructive," Siswono told the press after the party.
Admitting that there are bureaucrats who don't pay attention to public wants, Siswono said a more a democratic atmosphere will reign in the future and people will be more daring.
"Ten years ago, we would not be able to imagine that Tempo, for example, would win its case against the minister of information. But this is a process which should be anticipated by everyone, including bureaucrats," he said.
Siswono's unprecedented evening of arts has illustrated that the public's yearning for change has reached the authorities. (jsk/als)