By Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo
A Land of Potentials
We have just left the Year 2006 and are now entering 2007. Many things have happened in the previous year, both in Indonesia as well as in the world at large. Some have brought happiness to many people, but many have caused misery and tragedies.
However, whatever has happened humanity is moving forward with all its positive and negative consequences to the life of individuals and nations. One specific phenomena is that almost every body, individuals-communities-nations, want to have a better life for him and herself. But the pursuit for betterment has not always been going along peaceful and easy roads. The differences in mind and interests have caused problems in Men’s pursuit of more happiness and progress, some even serious. It is therefore important for every body that they are capable to tackle and solve their problems wisely and effectively. It has proved that some nations, even with their relatively advanced material capability and financial wealth, have not been very fruitful in their endeavors. The American disaster in its Iraq adventure is a clear proof.
Indonesia is one of the nations which aspires to achieve progress and more happiness. The large size of its population which is now close to 250 million people and is increasing every year is a main reason why pursuance of better life in Indonesia is a very high necessity. A lack of continuous progress will cause deterioration and might very much endanger the nation’s survival. At the same time the world and all humanity are engaged in a struggle for progress and better life. Men have made dramatic developments in science and technology and have achieved many improvements in their application for better life. Men have also been able to develop productive cooperation among each other through better understanding among them and wisely seeking win-win solutions if their interests collide. Indonesia’s own struggle for progress has to take these realities very much into consideration if important goals must be achieved.
Although the whole nation is interested in higher prosperity and better life, in every struggle the role of leadership plays an important role. Leadership at every level and part of the nation, at national as well as regional and local level, in government as well as in private organizations and business, all exercise impact on the nation’s development. Since leadership is usually in the hands of the educated part of society, it is safe to say that leadership is in the hands of the intelligentsia.
The Indonesian intelligentsia is therefore challenged to lead the nation and its 250 million people to reach a prosperous life, at least equal to the prosperity and progress of the nations in its East Asian environment.
It is a generally recognized fact that Indonesia is endowed with many potentials. First are the rich potentials of natural resources. Not only is Indonesia’s land area large with a size of about 2 million sq km, these lands are also relatively quite fertile. Also the national maritime area of about 3 million sq km is rich in all kind of sea resources. Moreover, in these lands and seas many mineral resources are increasing the potential wealth of the nation. Although the population factor is often considered a liability, but the Indonesian human being with its old culture has many intellectual potentials. If these intellectual potential is rightly developed, a huge population will not be a liability at all. In addition Indonesia located at a crossroad geographic position can use this fact to enhance its struggle for prosperity. In addition, its location along the equator is a positive factor in Man’s exploration of Outer Space. The biggest challenge Indonesia is facing is how to develop all these potentials to become real wealth for all the Indonesian people. This is a very urgent matter since today 49% of its population or about 108.78 million people are living with less than USD 2 a day. (World Bank figures).
Indonesia must be ashamed of this fact, because it proves that it is a poor nation that has not responded positively to God’s blessing by not doing enough to develop its many potentials. In comparison to many nations without almost no natural potentials, but has become prosperous like Japan and Korea.
It is now up to the Indonesian people itself, and in particular its intelligentsia with its leadership responsibility, to change this situation as soon as possible. And it cannot blame anybody else if that change does not take place.
The Mental Problem
The foremost and most important challenge that has to be tackled and solved is the mental problem.
It must be admitted that the majority of Indonesian educated people, in particular who are lucky enough to have gone to good schools at home or abroad, are intellectually smart and clever. Not inferior to educated people in other nations, even advanced nations, while some Indonesian are even considered superior. But unfortunately many of them cannot make real achievements in accordance with their intellectual capacities due to mental weaknesses. One significant mental weakness is the shortage of willingness to give more of their energy and life for achieving objectives they themselves have decided as significant. There is a tendency of complacency, too quick satisfied with what has been done, and there is no drive for Excellence.
There is no shame or guilt culture with low quality products as a consequence, because one does not feel ashamed or guilty if one’s product does not function right or long enough. How many bridges break down only 1-2 years after being used, causing many financial and sometimes personal losses. Other examples can easily be found.
Because they are highly intellectual and smart they are productive in formulating theories and concepts. However, they shy away when it comes to the implementation of these theories and concepts. Since they are smart they can easily make or find an argument or reason for their shortcoming. A highly educated and intellectual economist, for example, pronounces beautiful theories how to make the national economy really beneficial to the common people. However, when the man was made Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs for 5 years, no trace could be found of his beautiful theories. When asked about that, the response was that he did not get enough support from the President. The man was certainly clever enough to know, that as Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs he had the power of an “economic czar of Indonesia” who is assumed to make and implement highly strategic decisions in the economic field. But his moral and mental courage seemed to be not proportional enough to his intellectual capability. And he therefore shies away from putting more will power and giving enough energy to reach high achievements.
Some people say that Indonesians are spoiled by Nature and act like spoiled children of rich parents. Without doing much they can have an easy life, different from children of poor people who must work hard to make a living. However, if children of rich parents are willing and capable to work hard, like for the younger generation in the Krupp industrial establishment in Germany who consolidated his destroyed company after World War 2, it would be very hard for children of poor people to compete with them. Therefore if the Indonesian intelligentsia can avoid the spoil of Nature and act like hard working children of rich parents, more can be expected from their achievements.
This weakness of rejecting or avoiding hard and long work is also one of the main reasons for corruption and nepotism. Without doing much one can enrich himself, because the persons put in controlling functions also want to get rich without doing much. By fulfilling the requests of the persons in control corruption can take place as if it is something normal. The proposal to increase salaries of people with controlling functions, like law enforcement officials, is no guarantee for improvement. This is also the reason why bribery of important government officials by foreign and domestic business people can cause serious losses for the nation, some even with strategic implications. It enables other nations to benefit more from Indonesia’s potentials than the people of Indonesia themselves.
The Social Problem
Beside the mental problem, social problems have emerged since Indonesia has become more democratic in 1998. With democracy came freedom of speech and writing. However, nowadays speech has become a way of replacing concrete achievement. Many members of the intelligentsia, in particular the political elite, indulge in expressing many beautiful things and concepts, which they could not do so freely during the former regimes. If these talks and discussions were followed by real actions, it would definitely do the nation a lot of good. But that is not happening, it remains NATO or No Action Talk Only. This social problem has further aggravated when the intelligentsia could not cope effectively with the negative aspects of individualism which accompanied liberal democracy, now practiced in Indonesia. No longer is there a genuine consideration and attention for the common good and purpose, let alone for patriotic interests. The main and only interest is now to satisfy the individual interest. Let alone the traditional Gotong Royong or common behavior attitude of togetherness, even Social Trust is difficult to be found. To be sure, Gotong Royong, Social Tust, patriotism, social solidarity, are still expressed in speeches, discussions, but it is all slogan and lip service. How can important national goals and objectives, like the implementation of Pancasila as the nation’s fundamental principles, be achieved without togetherness and solidarity.
While this is happening in Indonesia, the nations in Asia are strongly becoming more and more patriotic. They realize that globalization does not only mean closer cooperation among nations, but that it also makes competition very significant and a nation’s competitiveness can decide its survival and good life for a long time to come.
When the dedicated communist leader of China, the late Deng Xiaoping, started his dramatic reforms in 1979, his aim was not so much to make communism work, but much more to create a China with high achievements in science, technology and industry, strong defense capability, a nation that must be reckoned with by any other nation. No longer is there only a Japan Incorporated; Japan must now face a China Incorporated supported by 1.3 billion patriotic Chinese. Not less patriotic are the South as well as the North Koreans. Certainly Vietnam which fought foreign domination for 30 years, encountering and defeating France as an advanced nation and the US as the strongest military superpower in the world, its people and leaders can nothing be else than very patriotic. Even Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have become patriotic, which can be observed at many occasions and by the behavior of their citizens.
On the contrary, Indonesia known in the 1950s as a highly patriotic nation who was able to get rid of Dutch colonization through an independence war, seems to have become a very individualistic nation because of its educated elite.
The important question is now whether this situation can be changed, whether the Indonesian intelligentsia can adjust its attitude to become more patriotic, more achievement oriented and aiming at excellent performance resulting in high quality work and products. And develop a way of thinking and behavior that benefits the productive use of Indonesian potentials for creating real wealth and higher prosperity for the people at large. If not, it is highly probable that Indonesia must encounter tremendous difficulties in the coming decades. It will also influence the attitude, thinking and behavior of the people at large.
The US National Intelligence Institutions, including the CIA, predicted that in 2020 Indonesia will become the fifth largest economy in the world. That prediction could well come true, but with dear consequences for the Indonesian people if there is no or not enough change in its intelligentsia’s mental and thinking conditions.
It is highly probable that in 2020 Indonesia as the fifth largest economy will have a high Gross Domestic Product, perhaps exceeding USD 1,000 billion. However, the Gross National Product remains low because the high GDP is caused by a large production of foreign companies on Indonesian territory. That fact in itself does not need harm Indonesia if it can handled positively. The example is China today. China’s GDP of about USD 2,200 billion includes a participation of foreign production of more than USD 500 billion, a figure almost twice Indonesia’s GDP today. However, this foreign production follows all China’s regulations diligently. Straying from that can cause reasons to terminate their operations and even being expelled from China. Many other foreign companies are eager and ready to take their place, ambitious for the high profits that can be made. Of course, also in China bribery happens, but officials committing such acts are punished severely.
This foreign participation provides a large amount of employment opportunities for the Chinese people. Foreign companies may only produce for export. The Chinese can learn to produce items which they could not do before and use this knowledge to build their own companies to produce similar products, with equal quality and most probably cheaper, which they can sell in the domestic market or export them. The attacked foreign company must make a choice : either leave China or stay with less profits. Most of them prefer to stay with less profit. However, it requires a strong drive for achievement and even of excellence to do that, which the Chinese can well do. It needs hard work and not being satisfied just for being a foreign company’s employee with a relatively high salary compared to Chinese standards. It also needs effective law enforcement practices to limit any kind of deviations. It also needs people who have a dynamic approach to life and not limit themselves to dogmatic thinking. There must be an urge to win and survive by achieving win-win solutions.
If Indonesia can develop similar capabilities, Indonesia of the future will definitely create more wealth and opportunities. But if these characteristics cannot grow among our educated elite, there will come a condition of neo-colonialism because foreign domination in production will be followed by domination in other fields, including domestic and foreign policy. Perhaps there will be many Indonesians earning good salaries working for foreign companies and interests, similar to the situation in former colonial Dutch East Indies before independence. The name Republic of Indonesia might still exist, but the reality is that all power is in foreign hands. Indonesia’s potentials are then much more benefiting foreign interests than the Indonesian people who own them.
The big question is whether the Indonesian intelligentsia is willing and ready to face and cope with the CHALLENGE ?
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