Strange atmosphere hovers over every corner of Indonesia

Strange atmosphere hovers over every corner of Indonesia

By Y.B. Mangunwijaya

JAKARTA (JP): Everybody knows who the culprits are in the
economic calamities and the free fall of the rupiah.

Everybody smiles bitterly at the hollow rhetoric of the
powerful elite, urging patience from victimized and deprived
people on the streets.

Everybody shrugs their shoulders at the vain grandstanding of
bureaucrats and the wealthy, who sell their dollars in
garish displays of generosity in the "Love Rupiah" campaign.

Everybody smiles sourly at the well-meaning but naive gesture
of religious leaders, offering gold to the head of state to
rescue the rupiah.

Everybody demands that everyone save the collapsed economy of
the former Asian "tiger cub" which is this archipelago.

All very strange indeed.

Everybody knows that ultimately the best way to accomplish the
common and desired goal would be the willingness of the
responsible decision-makers, or maker, of the past to step down
to make possible the abolition of corruption, collusion and
nepotism, and transform the whole economic, social and political
structure into a better one.

Everybody knows, but everybody is powerless, crippled,
incapable or too afraid to start the breakthrough.

Nobody dares because of the fear of sparking uncontrollable
anger, of angry crowds filling the streets and yelling for
revolution; starting chaos and mass-murder like in 1965/1966.

It is very strange that everybody thinks this government is as
solid as the rock of Krakatau and eruptions of all sorts could be
easily repressed.

Nobody believes anyone could be clever, daring and wise enough
to lead the nation and to rescue its economy except the legendary
five-star general with the magical name, Soeharto.

Even in his old age everybody sees him as the strongman of
more than 30 years ago.

Strange that in a liberated and modern society which naturally
wishes for the development of a democratic framework, everybody
thinks the autocratic New Order was proclaimed for eternity. And
nobody seems to want the 1945 Constitution, which gives a single
man all the power he needs, to be transformed in a more
democratic one.

Although designed for an emergency situation in the early days
as a temporary flexible constitution on behalf of a multilayered
revolution, during the history of our nation the constitution
seems to have become sacred, as sacred as wahyu or revelation
from heaven. So it never could be changed or made better.

But paradoxically strange, everybody admits, that according to
the laws of nature, everything changes and the ruins could only
be resurrected and the old New Order turned into a better and
younger one.

Everybody is convinced that a new generation of civil servants
shall be elected to govern the nation in the ever-changing world
by a new generation with a new attitude.

Everybody knows corruption, collusion and nepotism is
difficult to eradicate, but not impossible. But everybody is sure
that within the now ruling system in which corruption, collusion
and nepotism flourish, there is no way for a sound solution.

It is a strange situation in that everybody is set on an
almost magical course to continue this corrupt and fatalistic
system.

So the nation remains in waiting, mostly because of the fear
of repeating the chaos of 1965/1966, but for the greater part
because of the still deeply rooted jongos-babu (domestic servants
in Dutch colonial context) mentality.

Alas, the peasant still lives deep within us, someone who
practices absolute obedience and is willing to sink together with
the masters.

Paralyzed culturally, which was somehow caused by an innate
conviction of an almighty predestination of fate, everybody waits
in preparation of surrendering to coming events, like rice fields
surrendering to lava floods.

One can only understand the New Order if one understands the
economics of the Netherlands Indies, the politics and the social
engineering of the Japanese occupation army during the Pacific
War, and the long traditions of the sultanates of our islands,
combined into a blend of a ruling system with ultra-modern
instruments and mass media.

It is under this heap of multidimensional crises, political,
economical and cultural as well, that we now suffer.

It could be a sign of a bigger crisis which foreshadows the
birth of the coming of a new paradigm on the economical and
political scene, a crisis which could profoundly transform our
way of thinking and behavior toward society and state, benefiting
the future of our nation.

Without regeneration of rice and corn crops, new seedlings
will never grow or produce continued harvests.

But it is not impossible. We hope not for it to become
reality, for it could signal a bigger disaster to come. Such as
the extinction of a free nation whose better part dares not take
the future into its own hands, but who practices obedience in the
tradition of thousands of years, a culture of self-killing
devotion to despots, even into the swamps of a corrupt,
disintegrated nation.

The writer is a noted social worker, architect and novelist.