Located in the center of one of the world's oldest, busiest and important trade routes; the Indian Ocean Maritime System, Indonesia has been a place of cultural diffusion for millenia. Persian, Indian, Arab, African, Chinese and European merchants have plied the waters around Indonesia mixing with the indigenous peoples creating what may be the world's first "melting pot". Today, a majority Muslim country, Indonesia has a vibrant blend of Christian, Hindu and Buddhist traditions. How do these diverse cultures get along? What lessons do they hold for the US?
E Pluribus Unum is emblazoned on all U.S. currency. It reflects our status as a nation of immigrants, a melting pot. The U.S. was founded on the principle that “All men are created equal and endowed… with unalienable rights”. Pancasila is an Indonesian equivalent to these statements of ideal. Pancasila has five principles and was first formulated in 1946 upon Indonesia’s independence from successive colonial rule of Portugal, Dutch and Japanese. Both nations have a large diverse population, both were founded after the overthrow of colonial rule and both have ideals of equality and justice. One major difference is that Indonesia has an ancient and diverse indigenous population as well as many waves of migration from successive traders seeking their fortunes on the lucrative Indian Ocean network. Groups, not looking to assimilate into a new culture, but often to dominate an older one. The U.S. indigenous population was decimated by European diseases for which they had no immunity. The waves of traders who flocked across the Atlantic circuit brought a legacy of chattel slavery of Africans. Western culture dominated the Americas, despite a large West African Muslim population that was forced to adopt European culture. Indonesia, on the other hand never has slavery and was heavily influenced by eastern culture from waves of Indians, Chinese as well as Malay migrants. As such, Indonesia has a “high context culture” similar to the Confucian China, Korea and Japan, where social status defines relationships as inherently unequal. The U.S. “low context culture” means status holds a much less prominent role in social interactions and the assumption is equality. Maybe this idea is seen most clearly in the tradition of addressing the U.S. President as “Mr. President”, instead of a loftier term. With these significant differences in mind it is worthwhile to explore how much the stated high ideals of each country are a reality. Neither the U.S. nor Indonesia have achieved the goal of their respective stated objectives. The commonality of these goals make the U.S. and Indonesia natural allies. Both countries have many positive achievements toward their goals, but in both countries economic inequality, political disagreement and religious fundamentalism have stagnated gains, or possibly nudged them slightly backward.
Pancasila, the Indonesian statement of principle, has five major goals: 1.Belief in the One and Only God (in Indonesian "Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa"), 2. A just and civilized humanity (in Indonesian "Kemanusiaan Yang Adil dan Beradab"), 3.A unified Indonesia (in Indonesian "Persatuan Indonesia"), 4. Democracy, led by the wisdom of the representatives of the People (in Indonesian "Kerakyatan Yang Dipimpin oleh Hikmat Kebijaksanaan, Dalam Permusyawaratan Perwakilan") 5. Social justice for all Indonesians (in Indonesian "Keadilan Sosial bagi seluruh Rakyat Indonesia"). One way you see educating the populous in action is through political advertising. I saw several billboards extolling the virtues of Pancasila. This type of overt propaganda is not something you see in the U.S. Another more familiar way to disseminate ideas is as part of the school curriculum. Whereas the U.S. has moved away from history instruction to serve overt nationalistic propaganda goals, Indonesia still see historiography as a means to further national goals. This may be due to the national curriculum, as opposed to one of states and local school boards.While I generally agree that history should be an honest attempt to recount the stories of different groups and the struggles they have engaged in, I think downplaying the ideals that the country was founded on and discussing their historical background and meaning is worthwhile. Terms like “just”, “Civilized”, and “Social Justice” are no more specific than “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and as such are widely open to interpretation. Therefore, it is more difficult to say when these are met than to find some examples that show both where progress has been made and where it has fallen short.
Most clearly, Indonesia is a country proud of its religious tolerance. People of different traditions worship freely and openly. While 90% Muslim, the population, on the surface, seems proud of its acceptance of other faiths. One striking moment was sitting on top of Borobudur, the thousand year old largest Buddhist temple in the world, at dawn and listening to the Islamic call to prayer echo throughout the valley. This scene was repeated at Prambanan temple, the largest Hindu temple outside India. Below the surface were a few cracks. A Hindu driver in Bali complained that when a Hindu married a Muslim, it was the Hindu that had to convert. The religion itself has accommodated Pancasila in focusing worship on the single god instead of the deity worship more common of Indian Hinduism. Another sign of issues was that my host teacher’s daughter refused to enter when we visited Buddhist and Hindu temples in Banjarmasin. This, of course, could also be typical teen disinterest in historical/ cultural traditions not her own. I think that from a Muslim perspective religious tolerance is very high. However, it may be similar to the phenomena of asking whites about racism in America, they are much less likely to see it as a major problem than people of color since they don’t experience it in the same way. So to might majority Muslims not experience any religious intolerance the same way someone from a minority religion may.
One area where was clearly some tension was between ethnic Chinese Indonesians and the greater population. While there was a lot ambiguity on ethnic background for most Indonesian there is a sizable and identifiable Chinese ethnic group, often Christian as well. This group, self-identified tension and were mentioned by several Indonesians as well as being “different”. Most of this seemed economic rather than religious. The idea that Chinese were more economically successful than others. One ethnically Chinese person told me that they, the Chinese, “work harder and are better educated” than average Indonesians. But there is also the fact that China is investing heavily in Indonesia and may give preference to Indonesians of Chinese descent. Certainly economic success allows greater investment in education and greater investment in education leads to higher economic success—self-perpetuating cycle. It was easy to see this in the better resources of a private Christian School with a large, but not exclusive, Chinese ethnic population.
This tension came to light in two events the 1998 “incident, Peristiwa 1998 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1998_riots_of_Indonesia) when a political crisis triggered an economic crisis and led to riots that targeted ethnic Chinese businesses. Scars of this were still visible in abandoned building in Banjarmasin. We visited the central bank museum that devoted several exhibits to the crisis, but did not mention the ethnic overtones at all, A second incident that led to the ouster, arrest and jailing of Jakarta’s ethnically Chinese mayor on the charge of “Blasphemy” . A truly religiously tolerant society would not ever use this as a pretext for jailing someone. When I asked a teacher said, “No, it was proven he committed Blasphemy” , without batting an eye to the “crime”.
What then to make of this? It is certainly better than not to articulate a high ideal like Pancasila or our Declaration of Independence, even when not realized. I don’t know if ideals can EVER be realized, but how close can we get? I think Indonesia is a much more diverse AND tolerant, accepting society than most. However, it, like the U.S. has strong underlying tensions that can easily emerge especially in economically challenging times. I think much of the world can benefit from looking at Indonesia’s example of promoting a peaceful diverse society especially as the world gets smaller, flatter and more crowded by globalization. However, I also think it is important for Indonesians and Americans to be critical in examining their own societies and practicing those stated ideals while holding governments and others to do the same. The key to peace in the 21st century is accepting others and living side by side with them,,,,Indonesia is on the right track for doing this.