Thoughts from Tempo emerge in book

The Lontar Foundation, in cooperation with Alumni Majalah Tempo, will host tomorrow the launching of Sidelines: Thought Pieces from Tempo Magazine, collection of articles by Goenawan Mohamad from the column Catatan Pinggir. The launching will be held in Ruang Pameran Utama of Taman Ismail Marzuki starting at 7 p.m.

Sidelines: Thought Pieces from Tempo Magazine By Goenawan Mohamad, translated by Jennifer Lindsay Hyland House - Monash Asia Institute Melbourne 1994 Paperback 240 pp A$24.95

MELBOURNE (JP): My experience of reading the Catatan Pinggir (Sidelines) column in TEMPO, as the then Australian correspondent for TEMPO, though uplifting and pleasant, had been mainly contextual. The column was always topical, reflecting moods and events in Indonesia, and the world, at the times of publication.

The idea of collecting these writings into one single volume titles SIDELINES, Thought Pieces from TEMPO Magazine, filled me with mixed feelings. Would they appear irrelevant to the present time? Would they sound patchy and discrete, "forced". These thoughts made me pick up the book with a sense of trepidation, mingled with cautious curiosity.

However, I lost my misgivings as soon as I began reading.

For outsiders it has effectively opened the door to Indonesia, politically, culturally and ideologically, and simultaneously placed the country in the global context. This has never been done by any other single volume before.

To fellow Indonesians and those who know Indonesia intimately, it is a sentimental and intellectual journey, sometimes sobering, often nostalgic, but not soppy. At times it takes us deep into ourselves and probes our conscience.

In Kartini for instance, it tells the story of a woman of humble birth, Kartini, whose namesake, a member of Javanese royal family, championed women's emancipation. At school, year after year on April 21, the day commemorating the birthday of Kartini the princess, the young girl's name appeared to elude the school authorities. Despite her name, she was never chosen to play the role of the princess. It was Sumitrah, daughter of the police chief and granddaughter of the village head, who year after year, was chosen for the role. So it was that the family cycle, it seemed continued. Kartini left for Jakarta to become a servant, like her mother and grandmother.

In Drupadi, Bhisma and After the battle, our hearts and minds are stretched from the nether world of the Mahabarata to the present reality, linking the morality and values of the epic to those of our own lives.

Pathos often adds the color white and we see our mistaken expectations reflected back to us. In Politics, we follow the story of a high ranking official cut down to size in a political campaign. Having been accustomed to obedience from his subordinates in the civil service situation, this official found himself completely powerless in the campaign field, where the crowd preferred the dangdut music to his speech, and crudely told him so.

At times the boat of our journey sails out into the open sea and the world around us momentarily shrinks. We are then able to see ourselves vis-a-vis the rest of the world.

The recent trend to adulate business people, a class looked upon with suspicion and mistrust just a hundred years ago, we confirm in Heroes is not a uniquely Indonesian phenomenon. It is part of the global phenomena that even have names: Reaganism and Thatcherism. And no less than the 18th century French philosopher Montesquieu believed that the trading spirit would actually bring about refinement of manners.

In Lord and Faith, it is evident that Indonesia is not the only country where the people are still suspicious of liberal thinking in relation to religion and faith.

The pieces in the book are varied in content and style, which the translation picks up extremely well. Sometimes they read like a short stories with quirky endings, at the other times it is a polemical discourse, questioning the authorities or current and prevailing values in the most subtle way.

Features like contrasts are used effectively without hystrionics. Read Cocktails parties. In this ever-narrowing world the poor countries meet each other at cocktails parties. It could be in a city in Europe, or perhaps a large city in the Third World. But it is always in an air-conditioned building, with soft carpets and a sparkling swimming pool, writes Goenawan. He goes on to say the leaders of the Third World appear to be confronting the oligarchy of the wealthy nations, but at the same time they are desperately envious of that position.

He questions all ideologies he comes across, always in a down- to-earth manner. In Human rights he argues with the Karl Marx thesis on civil rights, using as an example the ruthless exploitation of the farmers by the pharaohs in Egypt.

While he defends the country against unfair criticism and unrealistic expectations of others, Goenawan does not hesitate to concede to its shortcomings and failings.

It is a volume of extraordinarily self-perceptive, personal and erudite writings on Indonesia and its relation to the world.

-- Dewi Anggraeni