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Editorial: An ideology or a way of life?
Here is a question worth pondering as we observe today’s anniversary of Pancasila: Is it an ideology a way of life?For decades we have been taught that Pancasila — the fi ve principles that our founding fathers said should guide the new independent and sovereign nation — is the ideology underpinning the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia
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ere is a question worth pondering as we observe today’s anniversary of Pancasila: Is it an ideology a way of life?
For decades we have been taught that Pancasila — the fi ve principles that our founding fathers said should guide the new independent and sovereign nation — is the ideology underpinning the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.
The principles — belief in one God, humanitarianism, national unity, deliberative democracy and social justice for all – govern the nation’s conduct. The five principles reflect the shared aspirations of the disparate people who live in the archipelago.
More than guiding principles, Pancasila is also a value system that dictates how people should conduct their lives.
Our founding fathers took the values from our many diverse cultures and from people who lived in peaceful coexistence long before Indonesia became a nation.
This is why we have debated for years the origins of Pancasila.
One side believes that Sukarno fi rst established the five principles in a speech on June 1, 1945.
Others say he merely promulgated values that had long existed in society. The debate will continue.
The speech that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will deliver today to commemorate the birth of Pancasila is not likely to end discussion.
Pancasila has stood the test of time — for 65 years, to be exact— precisely because it is a way of life. Pancasila could not have survived onslaughts from competing value systems if it was only an ideology. Both Sukarno and Soeharto tried to monopolize the position of Pancasila’s rightful interpreter; the ideology soon became a tool for indoctrination by the state to support its political objectives.
Inevitably, Pancasila became a symbol of repression during this period.
Twelve years after Soeharto’s demise, Pancasila has regained its position as the glue that binds our people. Indonesia is a collection of people of diverse races, ethnicities, religions, cultures and languages. There is no such thing as a “national culture”. Instead, we have a rich collection of thousands of cultures. Pancasila is the set of shared values found in these cultures that bring people together under one roof. The 1945 Constitution and Pancasila are the basis of the social contract
signed by our founding fathers, who believed that our fates and our fortunes were bound together.
Indonesia had a bitter experience with Pancasila under Soeharto, who virtually forced the principles down our throats. The last thing we want today is for another leader to take up the baton as Pancasila’s only rightful defender.
The best way to celebrate Pancasila’s birthday is to live by its principles every single day of the year.
Pancasila is, after all, our way of life.
