Redefining nationalism

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 05/21/2007 8:07 AM  |  Opinion

Before we continue talking about preparing for the 100th anniversary of the National Awakening Day, we must form a consensus as to what it is exactly we are awakening ourselves to.

Another May 20 has just passed, but now there are discussions among government and political circles about marking the centenary of Boedi Oetomo in a big way next year.

The message intended by the young medicine students who set up the Boedi Oetomo organization on May 20, 1908 in Jakarta served to awaken the nationalist spirit.

Their original intention snowballed in following years and became an independence movement across most the then-Dutch East Indies.

The nationalist movement had as its basis the desire to free the people of the archipelago from the shackles of colonialism.

They wanted to uphold justice for all, irrespective of race, and to instill in the public a sense of control over their destiny.

Nationalism motivated people to help themselves and helped to change the fate of a collection of diverse racial and ethnic groups who inhabit the archipelago.

Fast forward 99 years to an independent Indonesia and inevitably the term nationalism must adapt to a new environment and new challenges facing the nation.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a diverse collection of views today about what it is that constitutes nationalism.

We must pinpoint what national interests Indonesians should be fighting for.

The trouble is more and more people are now claiming to be fighting for the national interest, when really they are fighting for their individual or group's self-interests.

The political parties that wave nationalist banners are preeminently those who have abused or corrupted the terms nationalist and nationalism for their own political objectives.

Other self-proclaimed nationalists continue to live in the past and see nationalism through an anti-colonialism prism.

They may argue there is now a new form of colonialism or imperialism for Indonesia and its people.

This argument sees the need for Indonesia to be economically dependent of foreign interests -- but this will not take Indonesia very far in today's globalized and highly inter-dependent world.

Nobody in their right mind would seriously suggest Indonesia follow the footsteps of Myanmar and North Korea.

Isolation is not the answer but there is no shortage of politicians who would cloak their version of nationalism with xenophobic sentiments to advance their own political interests.

The question today is, if we are going to celebrate the centenary of national awakening day in a big way next year, then how will we clear up the confusion around our definition of nationalism and national interests.

The way things stand today, the word ""nationalism"" has been corrupted and monopolized to such an extent, if the proponents of the original nationalist movement were still alive today, they would want nothing to do with it.

Any discussion about nationalism today must begin with a definition of what exactly constitutes the current national interests of Indonesia.

We must place these interests within the context of a world that, thanks to advances in transportation and communication technology, has become inter-connected as well inter-dependent.

The last three decades has seen a much greater mobilization of people across the globe. And this means nations are increasingly becoming more pluralist and multicultural.

Nationalism does not have to be the dirty word it has become today.

But to restore it to its true meaning and spirit as envisioned by the leaders of Indonesia's nationalist movement last century, we must first win it back from the self-proclaimed nationalists who have corrupted the word for their own self interests.

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