For me, it’s about integrity. According to American author Zig Ziglar (1926-2012), “integrity gives you real freedom because you have nothing to fear since you have nothing to hide”.

Freedom is important for most people, but for writers, researchers, intellectuals, academics and scholars, it is essential. So, it is in the interest of a nation that these people have the freedom and a stimulating atmosphere where they can perform their best. The government should ensure it, but do they? Hmm, depends on the government.

Recently I came across an article in the daily Kompas, "BRIN tanpa brain" (BRIN without brain) by Carunia Mulya Firdausy, a professor of economics at Tarumanegara University, Jakarta. BRIN stands for Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (National Research and Innovation Agency), a Cabinet level agency the government formed in 2019.

Carunia mentioned how the world of researchers in Indonesia was shocked at the firing of about a hundred scientists working for the Eijkman Institute of Molecular Biology, without severance pay as they were not civil servants. The reason? As of Sept. 22, 2021, the institute was integrated into the BRIN.

The letting go of these researchers who had dedicated their lives to research at Eijkman was bad enough, but even worse, it was part of a bigger change: the integration of 38 institutions, including the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) into the BRIN. Founded in 1967, LIPI itself has 47 research centers, covering everything from politics to biology.

Talk about institutionalization!

And to be a researcher at LIPI, you have to be a civil servant. With the job security, privileges and prestige of being a civil servant, come many rules and regulations. At times, the researchers’ commitment to truth and justice clash with the political and ideological dictates of the state, especially in the authoritarian New Order regime (1966-1998). If they refuse to compromise, they paid the price – as Mely Tan (sociologist), Taufik Abdullah (historian) and Thee Kian Wie (economist, 1935-2014) did when in the late 1970s they questioned the use of the state ideology Pancasila against the regime’s political opponents.

Is history going to repeat itself under the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration, which is becoming more and more authoritarian, developmentalist, oligarchic and New Order-like?

The BRIN was originally attached to the Research and Technology Ministry, but as of Aug. 24, 2021, through the enactment of Presidential Decree No. 78/2021 it stands on its own as a new non-ministerial agency directly under the President. Thus, it becomes the sole national research agency of Indonesia.

Oh boy! It smacks so much of the New Order’s corporatist approach of forcibly squeezing different organizations or even political parties into single vehicle bodies which can be more easily controlled by the state! History really does repeat itself!

In the case of the BRIN, the implications of this “integration” are crystal clear when you look at who oversees the BRIN. It is the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP), whose task is to assist “the President in formulating policy directions for the development of the Pancasila ideology, coordinating, synchronizing and controlling the development of the Pancasila ideology in a comprehensive and sustainable manner, and carrying out the preparation of educational standardization and training, organize education and training, and provide recommendations based on the results of studies on policies or regulations that are contrary to Pancasila to state higher institutions, ministries/agencies, regional governments, sociopolitical organizations and other components of society”.

Straight out of the New Order tragicomic playbook!

Megawati Soekarnoputri was appointed by Jokowi as the head of the Steering Committee of the BRIN as she is also the head of the Steering Committee of the BPIP. Get the picture?

But there are a few problems. First of all, research institutes should not be guided by politicians if they want to maintain their integrity. Secondly, Megawati is not even an academic.

Hey hang on! Megawati has a professorship and not one, but five honorary doctoral titles! She didn’t even complete her university studies and she has been awarded five PhDs by five different universities! If that’s not political, I don’t know what is. Helps to have been Indonesia’s fifth president (2001-2004) and the daughter of our first president (1945-1967).

What about her professorship from the Indonesian Defense University (Unhan), which teaches defense studies? The paper for her professorship was about her own presidency, which drew a lot of criticism and some amusement as well, as it was praising her own achievements.

One wonders whether she used a proof-reader or even a spellchecker, as in the space of just short two lines, there are three spelling errors, including Makassar (misspelled as Makasar), McDonald's (Mc Donald) and JW Marriott (JW Marriot). Since when do careless spelling errors and self-aggrandizing warrant academic recognition? 

A friend of mine commented sarcastically that Mega’s professorship is “a gross insult to anyone who has gone through the long and difficult process of becoming a professor by doing all the necessary research and writing.”

Incidentally, Unhan is under the auspices of the Defense Ministry, and the defense minister is Prabowo Subianto, presidential contender for 2024. He couldn’t be currying favor ahead of 2024 to Megawati, could he?

Looking at the bigger picture, the creation of the BRIN is shocking and alarming, but not surprising. Since colonial times, we have never had a healthy academic tradition. During the 32 years of the New Order, critical thinking was actively discouraged, in fact, a culture of “stupidization” and ABS (Asal Bapak Senang – as long as it pleases the boss) was instilled.

But it’s been 23 years since the New Order! Yes, but old habits die hard. Corruption is still rife, democracy is declining worldwide, not just in Indonesia, and the nation is in the grip of oligarchic powers who are keen to use research institutes for their own (market) purposes.

So, relax, as the French say, it’s a case of plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same). Sigh!

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The writer is the director of the Gender and Democracy Center, LP3ES.