Indonesia

Indonesia is a complex nation, being the world’s most populous Muslim country and the fastest growing economy in South-East Asia. But before we can explore the culture and society of Indonesia, one must understand the ideology of their government first.

That Ideology is called “Pancasila” which translates to “Five Principles”[1]. These five ideas can be summarized to as:

 

v  Belief in the one and only God

o   Or rather simply belief in a God as they accept Hinduism.

v  Just and civilized humanity.

o   Simplified as humanism/internationalism.

v  The unity of Indonesia.

o   Nationalism.

v  Democracy guided by the inner wisdom of the unanimity arising

o   out of deliberations amongst representations.

o   Meaning consent/democracy.

v  Social Justice for all the people of Indonesia.

o   Meaning social prosperity.

 

These ideas were crafted by Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, and he used these ideals to create his own nation. However, during the Cold War, one of Sukarno’s generals, Suharto, gained power. After purging political enemies and communists from the government, Suharto fully integrated Pancasila into Indonesia’s government and society and during his 30-year long reign, Suharto used Pancasila to declare people as enemies of the state and to further gain power.

However, it must also be stated that people of Chinese descent and culture were often discriminated upon and even killed as well. The effect of this lingers in Indonesian society as a stigma towards the Chinese remains.

Suharto’s government, while oppressive and violent, was quite secular as he had purged Islamists from military and prominent political positions. This helped to subdue extremism which would appear in places such as the Philippines. Suharto was also able to limit the effects of the Asian Economic Crisis in 1997. This economic maneuvering helped to set Indonesia up as one of the dominant economies in South East Asia.

Indonesia’s current president, Joko Widodo who was inaugurated in 2014, has been pushing for economic reform, as well as political reform to try and clamp down on corruption. Jokowi, as he is referred to by the press and citizens alike, became quite popular with the average citizen through his more community oriented approach to governing. The most notable developments of Jokowi’s progress would be his elimination of the bulk of fuel subsidies and an increase in the infrastructure budget. [2]

Putting the economy to the side, we can now focus on religion. As stated previously in the paragraph about Pancasila, Indonesia enforces monotheistic belief in its citizens. However, there is a large Hindu minority in Indonesia, and as you may know, Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. However, the government classifies it as monotheistic to comply with the standards of Pancasila as well as to maintain acceptance of the Hindu minority. This business of religion continues to get stranger, as the Indonesian government only officially recognizes six religions: Islam, Protestantism (Christianity), Catholicism (Christianity), Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism. Citizens are required to choose one of these six religions.

A citizen’s religion is very important in Indonesia; it is treated as information akin to one’s birthdate or eye color. It appears in official documents and identification materials.[3] However, Indonesia has a very high population of Indigenous tribes which observe their own animistic religions. These religions are not recognized by the government, and when marking out their religions they are simply classified as Hindu. Recently, there has also been a campaign to encourage animist tribes to convert to Islam. [4]

Often when people think of a Muslim country, they believe that there is a strict social structure with a much more conservative attitude. That does tend to be the case for the nations which appear often in the news, such as Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. However, when it comes to Indonesia there are aspects of both strict Islamism, and Western secularism.

 

For example, in the majority of Indonesia a defendant can choose to go to a secular court or a Sharia court for personal status issues. However, the province of Aceh is an exception.

Aceh is a very interesting province of Indonesia as it has a great deal of autonomy and fully implements Sharia Law (Islamic Law). Someone may choose to go to a Sharia court for religious reasons, or the punishments may be less severe than in the secular court, and vice versa. However, because Sharia is fully implemented in Aceh, it has been the center of many controversies.

 

Here are some news stories from “The Jakarta Post” involving Aceh:

·         Buddhists Caned for Violating Sharia Law [March 2017]

·         Muhammadiyah Mosque Burned in Aceh [October 2017]

·         Thousands Leave Aceh After Church Burning [October 2015]

·         Christians Keep a Low Profile in Aceh [December 2016]

·         Activists Condemn Sentence of Caning for Gay Couple in Aceh [May 2017]

·         Aceh’s Long Way to Truth and Reconciliation [November 2015]

Another thing of note would be Indonesia’s acceptance of alcoholic beverages, which often tend to be prohibited by other Muslim nations. Naturally though, alcohol is prohibited in the province of Aceh, due to Sharia Law.

Christians, though occasionally the target of discrimination, do have the same opportunities and rights as the Muslim citizens. This can be seen in the case for Busuki T Purnama or Ahok as he is more commonly referred to. Ahok was the former governor of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital. He is a Christian of protestant decent which places two forms of bias against him. Despite this, Ahok was able to become the governor of Indonesia’s capital city and had quite a promising re-election campaign. It was during his re-election campaign, however, where he encountered his downfall. During a speech in the Thousand-Islands Regency, Ahok made a comment where he quoted a passage in the Quran regarding Muslims being governed by non-Muslims.

 

This comment sparked a controversy, where opponents accused him of Defaming Islam. This lead to an investigation into Ahok since in Indonesia, blasphemy is a serious crime one can be convicted of. This comes as a sharp contrast to the more liberal movements seen in Indonesia. Blasphemy is a charge that can be used to defend any one of the six recognized religions. Atheists are often accused and convicted of blasphemy under Indonesian law.

The accusation and trial of Ahok caused social division and a resurgence of conservative Islamist groups in Indonesia, and ultimately lost Ahok the re-election campaign. Ahok was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to two years’ probation. [5]

 

This is simply a surface level look at Indonesia, there is an immense amount of information and perspectives which have not been covered, but this provides at least an intriguing look into Indonesia.

 

 

All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons