Where do we stand?
Where do we stand?
Tomorrow, Aug. 17, Indonesians will commemorate their
country's 56th anniversary of independence. As has become the
tradition, the crisis-strapped nation will be celebrating that
grand occasion with thanksgiving gatherings and festivities as
well as conditions allow.
As the nation erupts in merriment -- forgetting for a moment
the setbacks and hardships the economic crisis has brought for
countless millions of Indonesians -- it is relevant to ask how
far the past 56 years have gone toward bringing the country
closer to achieving the goals its founding fathers established
when proclaiming independence on that historic morning of August
17, 1945 -- a mere two days after the Japanese surrendered at the
close of World War II.
Those goals, as enshrined in Indonesia's 1945 Constitution,
may sound utopian against the realities of life in a world torn
apart by warfare and conflict, but are possibly quite valid as
nationalist aspirations go.
In essence, what Indonesia's founding fathers envisaged was
the creation of a just and prosperous Indonesian state in which
wealth and opportunities would be distributed fairly among its
citizens, who would all stand equal before the law. In short, the
1945 Constitution proclaims a community in which not only human
rights, but economic democracy is respected.
How far has Indonesia come toward achieving that goal? It must
be said that, although some progress has been made, the
egalitarian society that this country's founding fathers imagined
would emerge by declaring the nation independent from colonial
rule is still far from a reality.
In the course of the past 56 years, the nation has
experimented with diverse systems of government, from Western-
style liberalism to authoritarianism, both leftist and rightist,
with the result that each time a change of government occurs, a
new beginning has had to be made.
In the meantime, the world continues to move forward.
Indonesia's next-door neighbor Singapore, one of the world's
smallest states which became self-governing in only 1956 and
independent in only 1965, has grown into one of the most
prosperous and most orderly nations in Asia and the world. Good
progress has also been made in Malaysia, as well as in other
countries in this region and the world. Time is obviously
beginning to run out for Indonesia. In the new global
constellation that is emerging, Indonesia must either catch up or
be condemned to play second fiddle.
In such a situation, the emergence -- just yesterday, as it
were -- of what is promising to be a stable, strong and competent
government, inspires hope among Indonesians that it is not too
late. There is still time for the nation to make up for all the
time and opportunities that have been lost. However, no more time
can be squandered. At this stage it is high time that Indonesians
look to the future with clear heads and clear eyes, and stop
bickering over issues that are irrelevant in the context of the
nation's progress toward modernity.