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eading up to May 20, I’m tempted to try and reignite the spirit of our national awakening. The rising awareness of the elite at that time, personified by Wahidin Soedirohoesodo and Soetomo, that education is a powerful weapon against colonization.

By funding the education of the less fortunate, our elite chose a moral and ethical life, placing the dignity of the nation ahead of their own interests.

The Indonesia envisioned then was to be free from all forms of colonialism, with full sovereignty residing with the people, a just and civilized humanity characterized by social justice for all.

But what has surfaced this year is a gnawing doubt: Does the beloved Indonesia imagined and fought for by the founders still exist? It has been over a century since the awakening, but ignorance is still pervasive. It’s been seven decades since Sukarno and Hatta declared independence, but sovereignty and social justice are still out of reach.

Equality, which was expected to be a strong driving force toward this vision of Indonesia, is being displaced by growing tribal, ethnic, class, religious and primordial sentiment. Foreign ideologies, including those driven by petro-dollars, are corrosive elements.

Strong hedonistic social trends unleashed by “free-market” ideology have swept away the moral basis of our beloved Indonesia.

Presidents have come and gone, one after the other, the fate of the poor has remained unchanged. It is feared that despite all material advances, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo might not be able to solidify the foundations of our nation, which are being continuously eroded by entrenched interests.

The resolve to launch a “mental revolution” embodying the emancipatory spirit of President Jokowi, appears to be facing resistance within his own circle.

The pervasive mindset of the corrupt has led to the incarceration of hundreds of members of the regional legislative councils, 200 regents/mayors, 46 lawmakers, 19 governors and nine ministers in a little over a decade.

Meanwhile, economists enamored with developed country ideology still idolize the rate of growth through highly-financed markets. In actual fact, over the last decade, globalization, technological progress, and pro-market reforms have increased inequality.

Since social justice is its main aspect, the development process must ignore growth versus equity or growth with equity, which subordinates justice, and move to growth through equity, Development employing a people-first philosophy demands the presence of policies, institutions and technologies that encourage capital formation, both material and science in farming, fishing and laborer households and SMEs.

All these paradigms, strategies and programs will not mean anything if the corruption that has attacked the very heart of the nation is not dealt with properly. Without examples set by officials, teachers and religious leaders, we’ve lost our Indonesian identity.

Brotherhood and mutual assistance has been replaced by self-interest, greed has pushed us into raping Mother Earth, while shouting the name of God The Merciful, we kill our brethren with impunity.

Therefore, there is no option but to provide support to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to move forward with “cleaning the cleaners” to decontaminate all political and law enforcement institutions.

A series of trade and investment liberalization packages has been launched to stimulate economic growth. But, perhaps this downturn is not just cyclical; many believe that China’s high growth rate will not continue.

The main threat now is climate change and inequality; global economic uncertainty, extreme weather and social resentment as a result of inequality will push people toward the pseudo-certainty touted by sectarianism and radicalism. Therefore, liberalization should not just attract investment for a return to the “old normal”, but should aim to realize the “new normal” through empowering our own people.

Climate change demands that we go back-to-basics, back to food sources that are indigenous, namely tubers, trees, as well as catch from the sea and inland waters. Gradually imports of food that we cannot produce, should be substituted by indigenous food.

Following the late research and technology minister M. Zuhal’s advice, a triple-revolution encompassing seeding, cultivation and post-harvest phases need to be launched, with small farmers and fishermen as the main actors.

To benefit from the flow of investment and trade liberalization, the government needs to safeguard the process of increasing the value-added of commodities produced by farmers, fishermen and SMEs through intelligent, fair, accurate and effective policy interventions, building upon the Chinese, Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese experiences.

These nations have been able to maintain their cultural identity despite mastering advanced technology because from the very beginning they placed agriculture and rural values of mutual cooperation as the bedrock of their national development.

The distribution of village funds needs to be properly supervised so that the fostering of social institutions is not co-opted by extractive elites/entrepreneurs.

The development of infrastructure should be completely in line with the needs and capacities of rural communities, especially education and health infrastructure, which is affordable and reaches out to the wider community.

In this connection, 4G broadband Internet connections can help citizens access knowledge freely to improve the quality of our education.

Faced with such daunting challenges, the real President Jokowi has to emerge as a “moral compass” reviving the institutional memory of the moral and ethical foundation laid down by Soetomo and his peers, and reject the demands of the politicians, authorities, businessmen and volunteers who have been unwilling to transcend their self-interest.

Armed with our all-embracing “unity in diversity” national motto, which captures the essence of the diversity of life and the moral and ethical spirit of the national awakening, President Jokowi should march forward with all like-minded segments of society.

Thus, he will not only be able to achieve growth through equity, but we could be transformed into a nation gaining the respect of others.

Only by firmly dealing with the western, eastern and Middle Eastern ideologies as well as feudal-colonial interests that seek to plunder and divide Indonesia, will we be able to re-discover our beloved Indonesia.
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The writer was chairman of the board of trustees, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), 2004-2006 and a former member of the National Economic Committee.