Social scientists told to get back to basics

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Mulyanto Supardi took over the helm of the Indonesian Association for Social Sciences Development from Alwi Dahlan on Saturday, pledging to take the organization "back to basics."

Mulyanto told reporters at the conclusion of the association's four-day seminar and congress, that he would encourage social scientists to be neutral and independent from the government, despite the association's financial dependence.

"Social scientists should stay away from power holders if they want to observe society's problems objectively. This is part of the professionalism we are striving to enhance now," he said.

Mulyanto, a professor at Jakarta's State Islamic Institute, will chair the association until 2001. Unlike his predecessors, Mulyanto has not held any prominent bureaucratic posts.

Alwi chairs a special agency in charge of educating the public about the state ideology Pancasila.

Mulyanto asserted that the association, however, would maintain its cooperation with both the government and businesspeople -- for whom association members have frequently worked in scientific research.

"We are committed to upholding our scientific stance, but on the other hand we have to support the government when it comes to national interest," Mulyanto said.

The association, known by its local acronym HIPIIS, was established in March 1972 in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra. It groups some 2,000 scientists throughout the country, mostly civil servants. It has received Rp 105 million (US$46,000) in financial aid from the government for various activities over the past five years.

"We admit that this association is not self-reliant, not to mention that its members are mostly civil servants. But I have some ideas about fund raising," Mulyanto said.

He refused to elaborate, but said he would ask "big names", including the association's former chairmen, to help his fund raising program.

Earlier, Sofian Effendi of the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University's School of Social and Political Sciences said the association should be willing to offer opinions that differ from those of the government's, in order to make the social control mechanism work.

The congress yesterday also elected Sofian, an assistant to Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, the vice chairman who will automatically succeed Mulyanto to the next four-year term.

Mulyanto said he preferred to exclude government officials from the organization's executive board he will form within the coming three months.

"Scientists who are recruited by the bureaucracy usually don't have enough time to think about scientific activities," he said.

HIPIIS has just concluded a four-day seminar on how to prepare a professional society for a fully liberalized market in Southeast Asia in 2003.

The seminar's conclusions will be recommended to the People's Consultative Assembly, which will convene in March next year to draw up the Guideline of State Policies.

Mulyanto plans to encourage more seminars, social research and its publication, and strengthen the association's grassroots in campuses.

"We cannot behave like a fire brigade that takes action only after a problem occurs," he said.

Mulyanto was commenting the criticism made by President Soeharto as he opened the seminar Tuesday, that social scientists had failed to anticipate many of society's problems. Soeharto also expressed his concern that many social scientists made instant analyses of recent riots.

The next HIPIIS congress will be in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan in 2001. (amd)