A

rtists and cultural activists in Yogyakarta have rejected the final draft of the province'€™s blueprint for cultural development, arguing that the administration prepared it in a rush and without involving the public.

The blueprint, which would be implemented over the course of the coming years, was also considered to have some substantial weaknesses, such as failing to address the reality of the situation in Yogyakarta and not having a clear conceptual framework.

'€œWhat does it mean by Yogyakartan values? They may be values applied at the palace, but do they exist in the community?'€ senior cultural sciences lecturer Faruk HT asked a discussion forum held to discuss the matter in Yogyakarta recently.

The blueprint was drawn up by the provincial culture agency as a derivation of Law No. 13/2012 on Yogyakarta Special Status.

Under the law, which was enacted during then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s term, the capital of Javanese culture remains under the control of the monarchy. Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and Sri Paku Alam IX, twin monarchs of the Yogyakarta sultanate, had their positions as governor and deputy governor extended for a further five-year term after the government and the House of Representatives endorsed the bill in 2012.

The cultural development blueprint draft claims to draw from values existent in the Yogyakarta Palace, including tenets such as memayu hayuning buwana (the responsibility to protect, maintain and develop the world'€™s safety), sangkan paraning dumadi (the origin and return of the human being) and manunggaling kawulo gusti (people'€™s leadership).

The objective of the cultural development, according to the blueprint, is the creation of Yogyakarta as a leading cultural center in Southeast Asia by 2025.

'€œIf the objectives are the values that exist only in the Palace but not in the community, then what basis are they using?'€ Faruk asked.

After examining the 224-page draft, Faruk said, he had concluded that the concepts were very complicated and would be difficult to apply.

Artist Agung '€œLeak'€ Kurniawan, similarly, said that the blueprint seemed focussed on preserving past values, while in fact, according to him, Yogyakarta residents of today should be critical of such values.

'€œThe culture in Yogyakarta presently is threatened by capitalism, the emergence of numerous hotels and the existence of minority groups that are always forcing their will,'€ Agung said.

He also regretted the fact that no agenda for bureaucratic reform was mentioned in the blueprint.

Cultural observer Kusen Alipah Adi of the Umar Kayam Foundation said that the cultural development blueprint lacked many things. '€œWe have to say no to this blueprint,'€ Kusen said.

In response, Yogyakarta Provincial Culture Agency head Umar Priyono said that his side would listen carefully to all criticism and input from artists and cultural activists.

He insisted, however, that his agency would continue using the blueprint'€™s concepts for the long-term cultural development of the province.

'€œWe consider the criticism as supplements that will enrich the concept, so that no repetition will be made,'€ Umar said.

Land affairs expert Ahmad Nashih Luthfi of the National Land College (STPN) Yogyakarta, meanwhile, lamented that the law on the city'€™s status had transferred all lands belonging to the sultanate '€” lands that had become the state'€™s property according to the 1960 Law on Agrarian Reform '€” to the ownership of Yogyakarta Palace and Pakualaman Principality.

As a result, people residing on the lands were forced to leave. Sale of the land to property developers wishing to build hotels continues.

'€œIf this is what happens, we are developing a fragile culture full of conflict and violence; a shallow culture,'€ Luthfi warned.