“Unity in Diversity” revisited
Behind the screen of an united Indonesia that is being presented to foreigners and Indonesians alike, lie the prominent regional diversity that marks the identity of Indonesians in their everyday lives. Indonesians assert their national identity when they meet outsiders. But within local society, regional identity is more important (Wilson 1992:156). This is similar to other multiethnic societies, for instance, Singapore, in which a Singaporean will present oneself as a Singaporean to foreigners but within Singapore oneself, will categorise oneself as either a Chinese, Malay or Indian. In Indonesia, however, regional diversity is maintained due to its geographic situation, that is, the different islands of Indonesia remain separated and thus contact between people of different regions is difficult. Secondly, the government’s transmigration policies also kept the people of different regions separate by developing areas specifically for migrants from a particular region settling down in the new homeland (Wilson 1992:157). Having noted the importance of regional diversity, I now seek to explore certain issues related to regional diversity since Indonesia’s independenc
Certainly, cultural conflict is only one of the reasons for regions to want to break away. One other prominent is economic exploitation. New decentralisation laws, No. 22 and 25, which seek to resolve the economic inequality between regions, had been passed in 1999 and would have already come into effect since 2001. If indeed regions become more equal in terms of economic resources, national unity should be achieved if economic exploitation is the most significant factor. Regardless of the reasons, the fact remains that Pancasila is ineffective in the formation of a national identity at the ‘local’ level. I propose that the ‘top down’ approach used by the government in perpetuating Pancasila is not appropriate. Pancasila is an ideology chosen by the state, to be implemented in society. Inherently, it does not take into consideration values of Indonesians. It is being moulded to fit Indonesian society. Thus, since these ideas may not coincide with that of Indonesia’s at the ‘local level’, Pancasila remains ‘official talk’. In its attempt to form a unique Indonesian identity, the state utilised Pancasila, an ideology that consists of five main values – nationalism, democracy, social justice, belief in god and humanitarianism (Hooker 1999:268). Pancasila is not a New Order creation; it had been in existence since independence. However, through different interpretations by the state, Pancasila had been used in different ways. The New Order government, for example, greatly increased the status of Pancasila by ensuring that all citizens learn about it and that all official organisations subscribe to it as their sole ideology (Hooker 1993:268).
Some topics in this essay:
South Sulawesi,
Bahasa Indonesia,
Indonesians Wilson,
National Unity,
East Timor,
Indian Indonesia,
Cultures Essentially,
Indonesia Language,
Regional Diversity,
Tenggara Timur,
national unity,
regional diversity,
bahasa indonesia,
regional cultures,
‘national culture’,
national identity,
national language,
regional languages,
cultural aspects,
cultural policies,
forming national identity,
development bahasa indonesia,
fit indonesian society,
definition ‘national culture’,
impact regional cultures,
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Approximate Word count = 2357
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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