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Ending the culture war
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Indonesian flag 'Merah Putih' waves across the blue sky. (Shutterstock/File)
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or the past decade, Indonesia has been fighting its own culture war. And just like any war, its consequences could be dire. Lives could be lost, kids separated from their parents, men and women end up languishing in jail while politicians look for the cheapest and easiest way to exploit it.
Last week, we saw another incarnation of this culture war, when thousands of people took to the streets demanding that those across the cultural divide acknowledge their values and ways of life, and failure to respect those values could result in a prison sentence. Former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja “Ahok” Purnama is now paying the price of the culture war, just as many other minority groups including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community who had to flee from persecution because their faiths and ways of life were not considered part of the mainstream culture.
What looks like a recent trend has roots in the country’s unfinished nationalist project. The current tension is a byproduct of the debate that took place among the country’s founding fathers, who had to choose between secular nationalism that champions pluralism, and religious ideas as the country’s basic principles. The nationalist camp won the debate but the idea that the country should be founded on religious principles, with Islam being the main inspiration, has continued to hold sway.
Post-New Order political liberalization allows the dormant force to be resurgent. The proliferation of the internet and social media has also accelerated the distribution of conservative ideas. As we can observe from the 212 Movement, the present cultural clash is about controlling the narrative, and with the effective use of social media, the battle could be waged on many fronts.
The timing of the 100th installment of the long-running Indonesian Cultural Congress could not have been better. In fact, the ongoing centennial congress tackles the problem of resurgent sectarianism head on. One of the objectives of the congress is how to formulate strategies to open more room for diverse cultural expressions. The congress is also expected to find more ways to allow for greater interactions between local cultures in the diverse nation.
The congress is also expected to find more ways to help preserve and develop local cultures, which have existed in the country for millennia and form the foundation of a national culture. And as with many things involving the government, it would likely entail local governments submitting a proposal to get funding for the development of local art, literary and music scenes.
And more than just preserving traditional culture, the Education and Culture Ministry’s Culture Directorate General also pledged it would help bring local cultures into the internet age. “We want to make sure that local traditions can thrive in this modern and digital age,” the ministry’s culture director general Hilmar Farid said.
Democracy can work in a society that respects diversity, if not differences, and what the Cultural Congress aims for should be good news for those who worry about the ongoing culture war.
