INDONESIA - IN THE NAME OF IDENTITY

Photograph by: Bharata Handoko

"What a country, if it is not a nation?" - The sentence is a title of one chapter of the book by Clifford Geertz. Geertz discussed equating the concept of "country" and "nation" was causing a lot of problems. In fact, many countries that are not inhabited by one nation alone, but from a variety of nations. On Indonesia, Geertz said something interesting. He said Indonesia is so complex, so difficult to describe the exact anatomy. This country is not only multi-ethnic, but also an arena of multimental influence (Indian, Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, Christian, Capitalist, etc.). The complexity of Indonesia seems to also permeates within every individual. Identification of self and a sense of engagement with Indonesia to be something more complicated now.

Lets imagine someone lives in Indonesia, both parents areIndonesian. He was born in this land, and by that he got Indonesia's ID Card. In this case, based on the issues discussed by Geertz, it is not hard to tell that person is 100% of the Indonesian nation. Meanwhile, if a person born of a father from Germany (citizenship and nationality is German), her mother is an Indonesian citizen with a family history of China, physically he is more like white people. The public will think he is not Indonesian. But on every occasion he asserted himself an Indonesian, and he has chosen Indonesian citizenship. From there arises the question, what does it mean to be Indonesian? Did someone with citizenship as Indonesia necessarily make him feel a part of this nation? 

Currently, become Indonesian might be a feeling of fear. Fear for being in the midst of chaos and conflict situation. Fear of not having a leader who is not wise in the government; the dilapidated systems, which tend to be unstable economy; fear of getting hurt or even killed because of different opinions or beliefs; fear of the future that seemed to dim. Fear not only attacks people who are poor, but also the middle class, the well educated,  everyone. On television, in cafes, at the universities, we discuss all issues related to the country but we are afraid to take action to make changes. We are afraid of the dark, and because we are so afraid of the dark then we can only curse it. 

Become a part of Indonesia could also mean feeling unconfident. With a vast territory, a strategic location, rich natural resources and thousands of islands stretching from west to east, this country should be easily identifiable. However, we must be presumed inhabitants of the middle of nowhere when we talk to people from other country. In fact we are as trapped in a cliché but it is also an important fact that Bali is better known than Indonesia. Dozens of thousands of islands stretching such as shrink into only a dot on a map. At a certain point, it might be the desire to run away, changing citizenship, and go somewhere more prosperous. Indonesia is a vast and beautiful country, but it holds the potential conflict and all the horror. Popular T-shirts "Indonesia: Dangerously Beautiful", it seems pretty decent to describe its contradiction.

On the other hand, Indonesian are a hard worker and optimistic. People wake up in the early morning for a living; either to the fields, to sell at the market, or crammed on public transportation to the office. Oftentimes, we see the beautiful images of our nature, barefoot little angels' smile while playing and drown themself  in golden pady field, and those pictures are not advertisements but photographs taken significantly from each person who travels through this country. In the media we see a lot of news about the achievements of sons and daughters of Indonesia to the international level. More people aware about the dark history of this country, yet they refuse to forget it and choose to step forward and make a better future.

Being Indonesia is not as simple as put our names, date of birth place, address, religion, and sex on a small card called identity cards. There is a process of thinking, inner struggle, and decision making to choose. It is a choice. We can choice to be a frightened and shy generation, or being a energetic and optimistic. In undergoing the choices we sometimes feel scared and lost confidence, but on the other side of consciousness and spirit guiding our journey back. Amid the grim, we should not only keep silent and cursing the darkness, but we have to move and change. It's time to step in and spread all over the country to get to know the people - a deeper identity. Throw away all the preconceptions and prejudice which are obtained from stereotyping,  oversimplified or overexploitation news made by media. This is not a generation of naive and hypocritical nationalism, not a bunch of intoxicated youth fashion trends wearing t-shirt “Damn I Love Indonesia!”.

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