Soeharto abused 'Javanese culture to maintain power'
Soeharto abused 'Javanese culture to maintain power'
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Javanese traditions were deliberately misused by politicians
in the corrupt New Order regime to maintain their power for over
30 years, prompting a nationwide antipathy against the Javanese
culture and community, Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said on
Tuesday.
Therefore, according to the respected Javanese sultan, the
Javanese needed to introduce a counter culture similar to
renaissance to restore the tainted image of the Javanese culture.
Such a renaissance could start by restoring the original
meaning of Javanese terms or idioms that had been abused by the
New Order for their political interests.
Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who is also the Yogyakarta Governor,
said that during the New Order, the ruling politicians had
intentionally exploited Javanese symbols and idioms to create
centralistic political culture and structure in the country.
"Consequently, the Javanese community is blamed for greatly
contribution to the development of the New Order political
culture which was full of corruption, collusion and nepotism," he
said in his cultural speech here, celebrating the 34th
anniversary of the Ismail Marzuki Cultural Center.
The sultan went on to say that the dominance of the Javanese
culture was obvious under former president Soeharto's leadership
as it covered all dimensions of life in the country ranging from
politics and economy to education.
The sultan said for example that national institutions and
organizational names had generally used Javanese language such as
Dharma Wanita for the association of officials' spouses Karang
Taruna for the village youth organizations Graha Wirasabha
Permana for the name of a hall or the motto Gemah Ripah Loh
Jinawi, Tata Tentrem Kerta Raharja for a prosperous, peaceful,
orderly country.
National activities had also exploited Javanese language, but
unfortunately many of them failed to attain their goal outside
Java, he added.
"As Javanese culture dominated and controlled the country for
over 30 years, the impact was very strong to all people in the
country particularly to non-Javanese," he said.
Also attending the celebration at the center were former
Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin, artists Ratna Riantiarno, Ratna
Sarumpaet, Remy Silado and other artists.
Cultural speeches from noted figures have been the hallmark of
the center. Former vice president Adam Malik, former Minister of
Environment Emil Salim, former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mochtar Kusuma Atmaja, novelist Mochtar Lubis and artist Rendra
were among those who delivered cultural speech at the center.