Arguably, Indonesians might feel a little better when realizing that the worst colonizer is neither the Dutch nor the Japanese. It seems that teachers in schools barely teach the history of other colonies. According to the argument of Professor Tim Lankester from the University of Oxford, whom I met a few years ago, it was Belgium that was arguably among the worst colonizers when King Leopold made Congo his personal property, exploited its resources and overworked all its inhabitants between 1908 to 1960. In fact, the Belgian colonizer inflicted much irreversible damage. Hitherto, the prolonged strife still looming between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes is attributable to the ethnic separation policy. Undoubtedly, there are more stories of ill-fated colonies from all over the world, as vividly illustrated in Asian Drama (Myrdal, 1968).

Compared to other colonies’ experiences, we might be slightly fortunate that by the early 20^th century, the Dutch administration eventually relented to the pressure of liberal politicians to promulgate Ethical Policy. At that time, the decision to accept moral responsibility for the welfare of colonial subjects ran counter to the formal official doctrine that the Netherlands’ East Indies was solely a profit-making region. That moment later became a milestone and marked the beginning of modern development policy as well as the start of nationalist struggles toward independence. Of the three aims of Ethical Policy, education seemed to carry sizable benefits particularly toward a middle class that progressively thought about the larger extent of natives’ equal rights.

Despite a limited number of positive outcomes ostensibly a result of contacts with colonists, we can view a wide range of concomitant adverse impact. Discrimination, segregation and unequal rights are usually the main pretexts for liberation from subjugation.  

In the first decade after the end of World War II, at least 14 nation-states in Asia and Africa gained sovereignty. However, only three countries successfully managed to advance into thriving economies today. Six countries, including Indonesia, are actually on the right track of becoming middle-income countries, though they might still encounter enormous challenges ahead. The remaining five countries, mostly in Africa, are still lagging behind and have yet to find their development pathways. Apparently, there is a wide body of literature explaining different outcomes of former colonies’ development, but the results seem rather inconclusive.

There are not too many similar cases of a remarkable economic turnaround in Third World countries. What is revealing is not only the variety of statistics about the trajectory of economic development, but also the diversity of reforms on governance, democratization, decentralization and other intangible indicators.

Not only can lessons be drawn, but comparisons with other countries might also be of relevance especially because in the late 1940s, most of the newly-born nations were in the best possible position to take advantage of self rule. Nonetheless, they might have various sets of endowments and capacities when starting the administration. Within this context, gaining independence entails vast support from citizens. Consequently, the importance of working-class politics will engender the needs for extensive social programs to harness popular backing.

In a similar vein, newly independent states typically aspire to undertake “warfare to welfare” transformation of mindset underpinned by the fact that countries shifted their attention to the increase of production factors once granted independence. Hence, countries will enhance public provision such as health or entitlements for the sake of effective labor productivity. This strategy also echoes the notion of attaining theminimum $4,000-6,000 per capita income to sustain resilient democratic governance (Zakaria, 2007).

Correspondingly, it is not uncommon that left-wing ideologies played a pivotal role in the advent of new countries. Unfortunately, often this political spectrum was hijacked by demagogues to galvanize mass support yet offering false hope.

For the most part, “middle-income trapped” countries or failed states are examples of not getting the politics right, and related to this, of state weakness. However, the Indonesian case illustrates what is possible even when the state is relatively weak and domestic politics not seemingly promising. In Indonesia, the progress of development is demonstrated by substantial revamp in many aspects, which almost invariably took place in every regime change.

In the past, stabilization meant societies in which political leaderships have historically been content with cultivating support from a comparatively narrow base involving middle classes and wealthy groups. Nevertheless, widening inequality, a fragile economic base and weakened institutions were found to be the Achilles’ heel. Inexorably, push for reform and democratization became a necessity and eventually turned into a game-changer. It is not unthinkable that along with the increasing awareness of citizens, there will be stronger pressure for extended welfare provision in the midst of tighter budget constraints.

What is desperately needed is a redistribution of economic power that encompasses not only incomes but also any necessary means to empower society in improving livelihoods. The question of how much to redistribute is also inextricably linked to politico-economic considerations, which pose a new challenge on striking the delicate equilibrium between the two ideological stances, i.e. capitalism vis a vissocialism. Unfortunately however, maintaining an appropriate balance in its relation with both strands is always tricky anywhere.

Ultimately, the essence of gaining independence is to seek for greater prosperity and to remove barriers to equal opportunities for the citizens. The objectives can be made achievable through two important key elements. First, the freedom to earn a better livelihood through wider access to resources, which previously was highly restricted only for colonists and its collaborators. Second, the extension of social responsibility, particularly for the vulnerable indigenous groups.

***

The writer is currently on study leave from Ministry of Planning (Bappenas) and is now completing his PhD on Development Studies with reference to Emerging Economies at the Department of International Development, King’s College London, UK.

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