Strengthening Civic Culture

KOMPAS/DANU KUSWORO

Chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Said Aqil Sirojd (center), professor of the State Islamic University of Jakarta Azumardi Azra (left) and sociologist of the State University of Jakarta Robertus Robert speak at the Kompas discussion "20 Years of Reform, an Uncompleted Task" at Kompas Tower in Jakarta on Monday (7/5/2018).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Aside from racking up a number of achievements, the 20-year journey of the Reform Era has also generated many follow-up tasks, such as developing civic culture. Civic culture is not merely about democracy, but also an awareness of national identity and recognizing human rights.

"The consolidation of democracy requires knowledge and skills on democratic life, which can only be gained through civic education. It cannot be said that all understand it," said professor Azyumardi Azra of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University during the "20 Years of Reform: Incomplete Lessons" discussion, which was held Monday (5/7/2018) at the Kompas editorial offices in Jakarta.

Also participating as discussion speakers were of Nahdlatul Ulama executive board (PBNU) chairman KH Said Aqil Siroj, PBNU secretary-general Helmy Faishal Zaini, Atma Jaya Catholic University rector A Prasetyantoko and Jakarta State University sociology lecturer Robertus Robet.

Azyumardi said that amid its various weaknesses, Indonesian reformation had a special place in democratization. Indonesia was the only country today with a majority Muslim population that can stand as an example that Islam was compatible with democracy.

Indonesian democracy has prevailed in part because of the civil society movement. NU and Muhammadiyah, said Azyumardi, were examples of civil society movements that played a major role in Indonesia’s democratization.

However, Azyumardi added, civic education had never been undertaken in the past 10-15 years. In fact, at the beginning of the Reform Era, many universities tried by explaining the specific elements of Indonesian democracy.

Robert said that strengthening civic culture should be an integral part of the work of political parties, as political parties also had a function to promote political education and awareness.

Robet also said that reform as an "event" had ended the New Order. However, the current political culture still tended to follow the old culture. As a result, problems such as social violence and racial hatred reemerged easily, because they existed in Indonesian society since the colonial era.

"Reformation could unite various parties under one goal, namely to overthrow the New Order. However, the reform effort was not equipped with systematic power after the New Order ended. In the end, the people who joined in that effort scattered individually to pursue their own interests," he said.

Disparities

The 20-year reform journey also left behind questions on social inequality. Said Aqil pointed out that today, there were entrepreneurs who managed 5.5 million hectares of land. On the other hand, many smallholder farmers could not even own their own land. Resolving this inequality was a task that belonged to all parties.

Social diversity was also facing challenges today. Intolerance had even spread to educational institutions. At the same time, several incidents had shown a refusal to honor the Red-and-White national flag or to sing the "Indonesia Raya" national anthem. "We have failed to instill nationalism," Said Aqil said.

The government’s strong will was needed to make changes on the economic front, especially to address inequality. In that context, according to Prasetyantoko, the economy also had a social “color” that could be developed for reducing social inequalities.

"This can be done by developing its ecosystem. It should be ingrained that job opportunities should not be found in large companies, but can be achieved by growing their own businesses that are not merely oriented toward making profits," said Prasetyantoko.

(REK/GAL)