While the 1999 election was regarded the first democratic election
in the history of the nation during the post Old Order era, the 2004
general election will be a decisive momentum whether democracy can
live and grow in Indonesia or not. Although a democratic and
relatively peaceful process may occur during the pre and the post
election, given the current social and political developments, there
is a strong tendency that violence may arise.
The essence of democracy is the right to be different and the test
for the future of democracy is a fair, honest and a qualitatively
good election. These two fundamental tenets of democracy are still
relatively new to most Indonesians. And the current political
development has done little to help the mass to grasp and comprehend
the two tenets. No better, political parties have yet to show
constructive ways in educating the mass – by promoting objective,
peaceful and stimulating debates for instance. Instead, political
parties seem to resort to unproductive ways, such as exploiting
symbols and people’s emotion to gain votes. Rather than uniting
people, such practices tend to segregate people. Rather than
promoting security, they tend to instigate violence. Rather than
addressing and exploring solutions to the problems, the practices
tend to divert the real issues faced by the nation (see one of the
issues that must be addressed:
The 2004 General
Election: Where the kids are untouched)
We do
not want the Indonesian people, in particular the young generations,
to become the pawns of the irresponsible (political) leaders that
could push the youngsters to commit violence for political purposes.
It is then imperative to educate people about the nation’s current
and future challenges constantly and objectively so that they will
stick to substances, not group symbols – such as race, ethnicity and
religion - and think about solutions not creating more problems.
We do
that by
-
Providing online analysis and information about the nation’s
current and future challenges. (Program #1)
-
Organizing live debates and discussions. (Program #2)
-
Printing offline two-to-four-page bulletin about the above issues
and distributing them to high schools, colleges, universities,
public libraries, youth groups and communities around the
country. (Program #3)
-
Publishing and distributing our book entitled Indonesia’s
Agenda: Unity, Security and Democracy. (Program #4)
Program #1: Providing
online analysis and information about the nation’s current and
future challenges.
The goal is to become an online center of Indonesian source for
balanced and objective analyses as well as for mindset-enhancing
writings.
This program is done continuously. Besides providing
analysis
and information about the nation’s current and future challenges,
this program simultaneously
facilitate Indonesians in expressing their ideas about the nation’s
future. Thus far, the program has successfully produced many concise
analyses that have grasped Indonesians’ attention from around the
world. For instance, analyses such as Terrorism and Our Future,
Searching for Good Politicians, Improving Our Nation’s
Image from Within, Educational Bill and the Real Mess in Our
Education System have widely been commented by Indonesians. In
addition, the program also has attracted some Indonesians to
contribute their ideas and experiences in promoting their nation.
As we
grow, we are expecting that by the end of 2003, there will be about
10 Indonesians who will contribute their ideas actively and more
than 10 individuals who will participate irregularly. By the end of
July 2004, the numbers are expected to grow to 15 and 20 and the
numbers of readers are expected to reach thousands daily. In
addition, the numbers of analyses – examined from many aspects – are
expected to reach about 360 a year, enabling TII – with external
financial support – to compile, publish and distribute the analyses
to Indonesian society at a low cost.
Program #2:
Organizing live debates and discussions.
The goal
is to promote and foster critical thinking and mutually respectful
debates among Indonesians
Peaceful,
productive and mutually respectful debates are the cornerstone of
democracy. This cornerstone must be developed through out the
country. The essence of debate is the right to have different
opinion on a certain topic. We therefore view the promotion of
debates as a fundamental step of our mission in promoting a
democratic Indonesia.
We will
begin the program by organizing a debate in Jakarta in the fourth
week of October 2003. The contestants are restricted to the young
Indonesian people with the age of 17-40. Through out the program
year, we plan to organize 4 debates as follow:
|
October 2003 |
A debate primarily
intended for the people in Jakarta, the West
Java and its surroundings |
| |
|
|
January 2003 |
A debate primarily
intended for the people in the East Java and its
surroundings |
| |
|
|
April 2004 |
A national debate:
pre-election |
| |
|
|
June/July2003 |
A national debate
: post-election |
Simultaneously, we will organize monthly routine discussions on
actual topics faced by the nation. Besides developing the awareness
of the Indonesians of their nation’ challenges and stimulating their
critical thinking to examine and explore solutions to the
challenges, the routine discussions also will foster close
connection among people from different backgrounds.
Program #3: Printing offline
two-to-four-page bulletin and distributing them to various
organizations and communities around the country.
The goal is to get our united, democratic and mindset-enhancing
messages across the nation.
This is a step-by-step work. First, TII will focus around Jakarta
and then expand to other regions. The basic message of the bulletin
is democracy, unity and study. It is intended to fill the gap that
is being created by our mass media which do not effectively perform
their function as a medium for social and political education to the
Indonesian people.
The program starts at the fourth week of September 2003 and
continues on a monthly basis.
Program
#4:
Publishing and
distributing a book entitled Indonesia’s Agenda: Unity, Security and
Democracy.
The
book is being completed and expected to be published in October 2003
around the commemoration day of “Sumpah Pemuda” (Youth
Pledge Day). As the
title indicates, the book explores new paradigms and approaches in
building unity, security and democracy in Indonesia.
Please support us.
If you
are interested in supporting us, please contact us at:
The Prospect
is published by The Indonesian Institute. Our messages are
study, democracy and unity.
