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Tsunami: how does it affect you

02/18/2005

More than a month after the tsunami devastated Aceh—and other countries in the South and Southeast Asia regions—the death toll has reached 119,807, and the missing tally is 114,897 according to the National Disaster Relief Coordinating Board.  While hoping for the best, those still unaccounted for are feared dead, which brings the death toll to at least 230,000. Only in one day, and only by one stroke, more than a quarter millions of lives were perished. If any comparison, God forbid however, this number will only be surpassed if there is any weapon of mass destruction attack by terrorists on a big city in any country.

It is unclear yet how the tragedy will change Indonesia—and Indonesians. A few questions may be relevant to ask: How will it affect the Indonesians’ view about their nation’s future?  How will it affect their view about other nations? And, how will it affect their view about others? This article focuses on the first two questions.

As a nation, Indonesia is in the middle of an arduous struggle having been through many crisis, from economic and leadership crisis to religious tensions, which have brought about significant loss of lives and hardship to millions. Before the tragedy, it was reasonable to assume that people were more pessimistic, rather than optimistic, about the nation’s future. Much of it is due to they way the government, politicians, bureaucrats, and groups leaders, particularly religious leaders, view the nation’s real challenges, and what the solutions and commitment they offer to answer the challenges. Let’s take a look some of the problems.

Corruption is still number one problem. Transparency International ranks Indonesia in its top 10 of worst offenders, with an ungovernable reputation for kickbacks, collusion and bribery that has scared away badly needed foreign investment.[1]

Uncertainty about the nation’s real ideology is also another number one problem.  A battle is being waged whether the country will stay on the path of quasi secular and moderate Islam or whether a new breed of Islamic fundamentalism will win over the countryside. As the country continues to struggle with a poor economy, corruption and political instability, many view Islam and Islamic law as the answer.  In a recent poll, almost 71 percent of those surveyed said the Indonesian government should require all Muslims to follow Islamic law.[2]

And security is also another number one problem. One word: bombings. The impacts of the recent bombings in Bali and Jakarta should never be estimated. One businessman who organized international conferences on the Indonesian resort island of Bali said business had dropped off by 90 percent since terrorist bombings there in October 2002.[3] More bombings could surely cripple the nation’s economy.

The solutions being offered by the government and politicians so far are more or less rhetorical rather than substantial. The president established commissions to report on cases of graft or abuse of power by the police and prosecutors. Another watchdog panel on the judiciary will also be set up, with all the groups to report directly to him.[4]  But will the new commission, or whatever its name, be different from the powerless, incompetent, if not completely useless, past similar agencies? One of the country’s political leaders, Gus Solah, said that the corruption is massive because people do not put into practice their religious teachings. Wrong assumption and wrong conclusion of the problems can lead to wrong policy, and as a result we could end up building a wrong country.

Last year, when the country was about to embark on a new journey under the new leadership which was elected through the first direct election in the nation’s history, the tragedy struck. The nation’s resources—energy, attention and physical capital—must now massively be reallocated to the suffering province. No question, Aceh must be rebuilt. However, just like in the late 1990s where the economic and political crisis slowed down the nation’s development, will also this massive reallocation of resources affect the nation’s development efforts? It is too early to make any conclusion, but perhaps an injured athlete struggling to stay in the game can be a practical analogy.

So, here we are: injured and mentally less productive. Any optimism must face the hard reality. But that does not mean we have to give up. After all, triumphs are usually determined by our reactions to problems and hardships. Will this unthinkable tragedy open our eyes, mind and heart that we have real problems at our hand and must confront them cooperatively? It remains to be seen.

The second question is, how will the tragedy and its aftermath affect Indonesians’ view about other nations? Immediately after the tragedy, many nations expressed their deep sorrow and pledged their contribution to help the victims. Money, at least on the surface, seems to be flowing in. The US sent one of its carriers with its helicopters which were proven to be invaluable to the rescue and humanitarian operations. The tragedy became an international tragedy. Fund raising rallies were everywhere. I went to a barbershop, and the sticker on the door says that 10% of the charge will go to the tsunami.  And as I talked to an official of one non-governmental organization in Iowa City, he said that many people he contacted for donation have already donated their money to the tsunami’s victims. According to a survey in the second week of January, three out of 10 Americans have donated to the victims of tsunami. The actual number could likely be higher than that. People from other nations do care about us, and how should we react to that?

Much of people’s understanding about other nations, especially those who have not had a true experience of living overseas, come from mouth to mouth information or from media. Often the information is biased. Even a positive thinking individual, if continually fed with biased information and propaganda, will finally develop biased attitude, and worse, prejudicial attitude.

I was struck by the short remark of the Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab during the brief press conference when Colin Powell, the former US state secretary, visited Aceh in January. Shibab said, “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” It was a truly generous, friendly and honest admission.

It will be very disadvantageous if Indonesians view other nations, especially the US, prejudicially. Just like in daily lives, making friends is always far superior than creating enemies. Surely President Yudhoyono realizes this. As reportedly, the president asked former US state secretary Henry Kissinger to help reduce negative views of Indonesia in America.[5] The question is, how?

Our people’s attitude toward other nations has been so prejudicial and sometimes is out of proportion.  While perhaps it is not as bad as what is developing in Turkey these days, the attitude needs to change. It is one thing to criticize and strongly disagree with other nations on foreign policy issues, but it is entirely different to hate them. I remember in 2003, a few days after a car bomb exploded at JW Marriot in Jakarta, when I talked to a cab driver about the bombing. Passing the US embassy, he said, more or less, that the target of the bombing should have been the embassy, not the hotel. I was stunned, and depressed. Has it been that far?

People’s perception about our nation comes through many sources. Some of it perhaps comes out of ignorance, some from incorrect reports they read, and some through the selective bias of the media which tend to report bad news than good news. But smoke is a sign of fire, and the emotional fire in our people’s heart and mind should be channeled toward productive purposes, not destructive goal like spreading bombing threats.

It is hard to disagree that security and the country’s future direction have some correlation. So, what are the possible solutions?

Rationally, among them are to build strong law enforcement, develop transparent and fair justice system and to be resolute on the nation’s ideology, Pancasila. These are obviously not overnight tasks. It may take years to realize them. But to be certain that the process will go in the right direction, it is imperative that the two following attitudes must flourish.  First, Indonesians must develop honest, genuine and right attitude on issues they face as a nation. They must be able to distinguish facts from fiction; rumors from truth; and hatred from disagreement. Secondly, they must realize that while religion is an important part of our lives, it is however not the solutions to all our problems. Instead, the solutions are rest in our hard-work, constructive mindset and cooperative spirit.

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