The Tragedy of Modern Indonesian History

Abstract

Why has Indonesia's modern history been the site of so much ideological and philosophical stalemate, and why has the determined refusal to address these questions in a humane way caused so much emotional and physical turmoil and destruction, over so many years? Why have the mass of Indonesians, wholly undeservedly, had to suffer and endure so much? Why has Indonesia's modern history been a tragedy? This paper explores this problem by suggesting that the Indonesian project has been a failure - indeed, a deeply tragic failure. In making this suggestion, I do not wish to deny or denigrate the extraordinary achievements of so many Indonesians at all levels of society over many years - the successful struggle to oust the Dutch colonisers after 1945, the creation of a single administrative infrastructure out of the ramshackle arrangements left by the Dutch, the great advances made in a common education system and in the development of technology, the securing of political unity against the odds, the development and elaboration of the Indonesian language, the amazing industry of Indonesians in achieving food security, the extraordinary tolerance, generosity, and forbearance of so many Indonesians. I do, however, want to suggest that Indonesia as a project has no soul and no spirit, and thus no deep sense of identity, purpose and trajectory. And I want to explore the reasons behind this tragic failure.