The beginning of nationalism

Hartoyo Pratiknyo, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As Indonesia marks the 57th year of its existence as a nation tomorrow with poverty, crises and turmoil still plaguing parts of this vast archipelago, it is a good time for Indonesians to seriously take stock of what independence has brought for the nation, what achievements have been made, what opportunities have been missed. It must be admitted that those who have been keenly observing events in this country lately are correct in getting the impression that a good many opportunities have been missed in recent years.

Yet, in all fairness it must be said that the accomplishments that have been made in the past 57 years are numerous. Most important of all, although poverty is still widespread, Indonesians are no longer social outcasts in their own country, whatever their position on the social ladder may be. Education, once a luxury that only children of the country's local aristocracy -- the social elite and the colonial masters -- could afford, is now, at least in principle, available to all, and with it, opportunities for employment and promotion too have become more egalitarian.

Certainly making life more egalitarian by improving the intellectual base of Indonesians of all walks of life is not an easy achievement. That, however, was the vision in 1908, that a small group of well-educated Javanese had when they arranged to set up the first popular organization along modern organizational lines, appropriately named Budi Utomo, or noble endeavor.

After the harsh colonial policies that had prevailed in earlier centuries, the turn of the 20th century, indeed, was a time of important changes for the better in what was then the Netherlands East Indies. At that time, the archipelago's population, especially on the island of Java, had suffered immensely under the burden of a forced commercial crop cultivation system, known as the Cultuur Stelsel, imposed by the Dutch Governor General J. van den Bosh to make up for the huge shortage of funds the Dutch homeland was suffering.

To make a long story short, the swelling opposition that arose in the Netherlands against this policy caused the administration in The Hague to gradually initiate a more "ethical" policy toward its East Indian colonies. For the first time, Holland was obliged to consider the well-being of the indigenous population of the Indies as much as the economic bottom line.

Budi Utomo, then, could be said to be one of the first direct benefits, as far as Indonesians are concerned, of this new policy. Even so, the organization limited its endeavors to promoting the cultural and educational interests of the Javanese only, staying away from engaging in day-to-day politics. By and large it remained a conservative organization compliant to colonial rule.

Budi Utomo's establishment, however, opened the gate for the birth of several other, more revolutionary, organizations.

Around the same time, history witnessed the birth in Holland of Indische Vereeniging, or Perhimpunan Hindia, an organization of Indonesian students who were either studying there or living in exile by the Dutch government. The organization entered a new phase with the arrival of leaders of Indische Partij, Dr. Tjipto Mangunkusumo, Douwes Dekker and Suwardi Surianingrat (later known as Ki Hadjar Dewantoro) in 1913. Their arrival introduced a new concept into the organization and the students began talking about establishing a "Hindi" state that was governed by its own people.

However, it was not until 1922 that the name Indonesia as a political entity rather than merely a geographic and ethnological term, was used, when Indische Vereeninging changed its name into Indonesische Vereeninging (Indonesia Association).

In 1923, chairman Iwa Kusumasumantri said in a speech at the opening of a general meeting, that the newly-revamped organization was now based on three main principles: First, for Indonesia to determine its own fate. Second, in order for Indonesians to be able to determine their own fate, they must rely on their own strength. Third, in order to fight the Dutch, Indonesians must unite.

Three years after Budi Utomo's founding, the Sarekat Islam (Islamic Union) saw its birth. Initially set up for the purpose of assisting Muslim batik traders against their Chinese competitors, Sarekat Islam under the leadership of the charismatic H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto soon expanded to include branches in Sumatra and Kalimantan as it adopted a more political character.

A year after the birth of Sarekat Islam, another major Islamic organization, Muhammadiyah, was born, followed in 1920 by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Modern politics was on its way to taking shape in Indonesia, although several more years were needed for the Indonesian national identity to be born. That happened only in 1927 with the founding by Sukarno of the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI).

Modern history, though, must have a beginning somewhere. The answer to the question whether Indonesian contemporary history would have taken the course it did without the presence of Budi Utomo must of course remain hypothetical. As far as Indonesian historians are concerned, however, Budi Utomo's birth in 1908 marks a major milestone in Indonesia's modern history.