Jakarta — May 1998. Students from throughout the
country spilled into the hall and occupied the
national parliament building. The State Palace also
was not spared the invasion of large numbers of
uninvited guests.
"One-one, Bring down Suharto. Two-two, Bring down
Suharto. Three-three, Bring down Suharto. One, Two,
Three, Bring down Suharto!" they sang. The lyrics
used in the children’s song reflected the fact that
they wanted one thing only: to bring down Suharto.
May 21, 1998. Suharto finally resigns from his post
as president of the Republic of Indonesia. His
power, which was embedded so strongly for 33 years,
had finally disintegrated. Then the call that was
taken up was reformasi total! But what did we do
after that?
Max Lane, in his new book titled "An Unfinished
Nation", attempts to answer these questions. During
the launch of his book at the Grand Melia Hotel in
Kuningan, South Jakarta on Tuesday May 22, he said
that almost all nations in the world were born out
of revolution. "Suharto was brought down using the
weapon of mass action. This is one of the rich
lessons of the Indonesian national revolution", said
the man from Australia.
The analysis that is laid out in the book concludes
that Suharto did not just fall from power, but was
overthrown. The movement that forcibly removed him
from power was a result of a tortuous process that
was propelled forward by mass based political
consciousness, that was indeed aimed at bringing
down the dictator. This analysis is different from
the majority of Western works on the subject that
emphasis the role of foreign powers or the elite as
the principle cause of his down fall.
Nevertheless, the fall of the dictator did not meant
that our work as a nation was complete. "The
Indonesian people must re-win the memories of the
revolution. It must re-win its revolutionary history
and the populist ideological wealth that represents
the weapon of national liberation that also [most]
effective", said the man who has been coming to
Indonesia since he was 17.
Lane said he regretted that major works written by
revolutionaries in Indonesia are not being read at
school. "How can a nation be able to learn if it
does not read about its own national revolution?",
he asked.
This month it is exactly nine years after latest in
numerous revolutions in Indonesia (sic). It seems
however that this revolution is also not over. "As
long as the revolution remains incomplete Indonesian
will not fully become nation", said Lane accompanied
by applause from those present.
Perhaps indeed we haven’t completed it yet because
we do not really want to become a complete nation.
But if it is already complete, then the question
that follows is what else are we to do? Because the
job of building the nation will indeed never been
completed. (Tussie Ayu Riekasapti)