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Sayidiman's collected writings on the wall
One rarely finds a prolific writer in Indonesia these days who keeps on producing as many interesting articles in English and Indonesian as Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo does
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One rarely finds a prolific writer in Indonesia these days who keeps on producing as many interesting articles in English and Indonesian as Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo does. His age (87 years) has not diminished his intellectual curiosity or the sharpness of his commentary.
His solid military education and impressive combat experience have supported his analysis of a range of social and political issues, especially concerning Indonesia.
The wide reach of his roaming intellectual mind is displayed in his latest book, Sayidiman's Collected Writings in English, Dutch and German (edited by Dana L. Simanjuntak).
The book is a collection of his articles written over a period from 2001 until 2014 in various publications. As the writer says in the introduction the collection is the result of careful selection according to the weight of the topic, and given the timeframe the Iraq war and its consequences are the topic of a number of articles. Just a small observation, however, regarding the book's layout, I wonder why it was felt necessary to present each page within a black border, a reader might get irritated since black borders evoke the impression of an obituary.
Quite apart from this minor issue, I felt that perhaps a number of articles should have been published in a separate book or booklet.
The writer and his wife some time in 2003 apparently made a very enjoyable tour of the Western Mediterranean. The result is a cluster of delightful articles describing the exquisite experiences of the writer and his wife (see chapter 21 A Well Organized Mediterranean Cruise and chapter 22 To Cannes and Livorno).
I enjoyed reading these travelogues. The question is whether they should be included in a book that is a collection of serious articles dealing with Indonesia's socio-political problems, the geopolitical shifts in the Middle East, the Indonesia-US relationship, etc.
I think the best approach to reviewing Sayidiman's book is to accept the book as a family album. The main bulk of the articles are on the whole first-class intellectual products but the writer wants to share with us some of the delightful experiences that the writer and his wife have enjoyed.
A little background on Lt. Gen. (ret) Sayidiman is helpful in order to appreciate his more serious writing. He was a member of the first graduating class of the famous National Military Academy in Yogyakarta, which for years was the 'war capital' of the Republic of Indonesia.
Sayidiman steadily progressed in his military career. He was commander of a battalion of the elite Siliwangi division when the 'regional conflict' broke out in the late 1950s. Some parts of Sulawesi and Sumatra declared their intention to secede from the unitary Republic of Indonesia.
Sayidiman's battalion was assigned 'to pacify' North Tapanuli in North Sumatra. They indeed pacified North Tapanuli by befriending the local Batak people and not acting as if they were Jakarta's occupation troops.
Sayidiman's military career reached its peak as Army deputy chief of staff in the early 1970s. This was a strategic posting as he could apply his ideas and plans to modernize the Army. He held that job for only a few years and was transferred to become governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) ' the country's top think tank with short-term courses that senior civil servants, corporate executives and military officers attend. He topped off his impressive career as ambassador to Japan
With that introductory background, it is indeed enlightening to read chapter 1 The Role of the Military in National Politics written on Sept. 9, 2001 and chapter 70 A Struggle for a Better Place under the Sun written on July 7, 2014 in sequence. The two articles sum up Sayidiman's concern and hope to see Indonesia develop as a strong country that will be a stabilizing force in Southeast Asia.
The opening sentence in chapter 70 is a strong expression of self identity. He says: 'As a freedom fighter in Indonesia's war of independence against the Dutch ['¦]'. This should not be viewed as a statement of excessive pride but most probably as an act of establishing his standpoint in viewing the country's fluid situation.
The continuation of the opening sentence of chapter 70, the longest in the book, shows his frustration and disappointment: '['¦] I am asking myself why Indonesia after 69 years of independence still ranks very low among the nations'.
Objectively speaking without the intention of merely blaming other parties, the following causes are listed to partially explain why Indonesia's development lags behind.
The nasty decolonization process which saddled Indonesia with a huge debt and a burdensome 'West New Guinea' (Papua) problem. The Netherlands kept dragging out this problem for 12 years. The West New Guinea problem radicalized Indonesian politics, put the military in a prominent position and transformed then president Sukarno into a demagogue with almost dictatorial powers.
When that problem was solved thanks to the intervention of the UN and US president John Kennedy, Sukarno declared 'Konfrontasi' against the UK as he was suspicious that the creation of Malaysia in 1964 was a plot to encircle Indonesia. This virtual war was certainly not conducive to developing Indonesia's economy.
Sukarno's sense of realism was certainly fading when he thought he could control the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and exploited them to neutralize the Army's general staff. Presumably, the PKI had other ideas and intended to use Sukarno for their own purpose. The result was a political short circuit that caused a tremendous calamity.
The emergence of Gen. Soeharto and the establishment of the New Order meant the gradual recovery of Indonesia from a very low baseline. Here, I differ with Sayidiman's rather harsh judgment regarding Prof. Widjojo Nitisastro (page 364) and his 'neo-liberal school of economists'.
When Soeharto gained power in March 1966, his first priority was to restore the economy by providing basic goods for the common people. I think Widjojo's circle (dubbed 'the Berkeley Mafia' by Ramparts magazine, a leftist publication in the US) did an excellent job in restoring the basic economy in such a short time. Most probably, Sayidiman should look into the record of Soeharto who overruled his economic advisors and gave a green light to big projects not necessarily in the interest of the common people, thereby, favoring the interests of the conglomerates (page 365).
Sayidiman hits the right spot when he speaks of Soeharto talking about his children 'the President although a strong ruler could not control his own family' (page 366).
Sayidiman does not hide his criticism regarding the character defects of both president Sukarno ('a vain man') and president Soeharto. Herein lies a serious factor that has hampered Indonesia's progress: the failure to set up a functioning succession process that was constitutionally correct. If Soeharto had had the wisdom (and the courage) to resign in 1993 and become chairman of Golkar and the Supreme Advisory Council he would have saved Indonesia from what Harvard's Sam Huntington referred to as 'political decay'.
I wish to demonstrate to readers that there are still among us dedicated and committed citizens, like Sayidiman, who have served the Republic since its birth and who are very keen that the noble ideals underpinning the Republic formulated in Pancasila will not be squandered.
Sayidiman's Collected Writings is worth reading to acquire a better understanding of the fact that behind Indonesia's seemingly complex social political dynamics there lies the simple quest for social justice and self pride.
_________
The writer is senior editor at The Jakarta Post.
