Speech by Pramoedya Ananta Toer on the occasion of his swearing in as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD)
Jakarta, March 21, 1999
source and trans.(?) Max Lane
Salam Demokrasi!
At this moment, in the midst of this spirited and enthusiastic Young Generation, I truly feel happy. This is the most important event in my life, what I have dreamed of since I was young: to witness for myself the birth of a Young Generation not burdened by bombasticism, and which is rational, corrective, critical, and all of this bound by firmness of commitment. There are PRD members lost in who knows what jungle, those kidnapped, and those whose jungle we know, those in gaol. They are all victims of the staged trials that are the fashion today. Now I am in the midst of the PRD, among whom are some who escaped from kidnapping. In fact I was one of the first victims of kidnapping, in 1959, although then it was not news.
I assess the Young Generation, I mean the PRD, as being of higher quality than the generations that have gone before. Lets go straight to the core: since you were children you have been educated with the political lies of the New Order, painting the New Order as angels and depicting all those layers of society who refuse to defend it as devils. From primary school to university. And you all have seen through those lies.
You are of the Left, that is you side with people, the lower levels of society. Exactly, because for so long the people have just been the playthings of the elite, except during the Old Order, because in that period there were political forces that stood beside the people. The fall of the Old Order meant that the people and the country became loot for multinational capitalism working together with the national elite as their guard dogs.
Let us make a comparison with the Young Generation of the years before 1920. They, university students who received scholarships from the colonial government in the Netherlands as well as the exiles of the Indische Party, discovered a homeland and nation and they called it Indonesia. This was a glorious and great discovery. Its a pity, but the flaws of this discovery were as great as its glory. There was no socio- political concept and it was imbued with antipathy to history. For example, the name Indonesia means Indian islands. The name itself was invented by an Englishman and then popularised by the German ethnologist, Adolf Bastian (1826-1905). The name "India" for Indonesia originates from the Western nation's hunt for spices in the Moluccas starting in the early 15 century, a hunt that led to the whole of the non-Western world being dominated by the West. These spices came from what is known today as Indonesia, but always traded as "made in India". While under Portuguese domination, it was known as Portuguese India. Under Dutch colonialism it was called Dutch India. And to disguise this association with India from the native people, this name was written Hindia.
The politics of manipulating words. Some people speculate that the young generation of that period adopted this ethnologist's name to avoid the domination of Java. History had given birth to two names for what is Indonesia now, namely "Nusantara" during the period of the kingdom of Majapahit, which means "islands in between (two continents)", and even older is "Dipantara" from the time of the Singasari kingdom, which means "fortress between (two continents)". This older name is pregnant with political meaning because the King of Singasari, Kertanegara, built military alliances with other Southeast Asian coastal kingdoms against the expansion of Kublai Khan from the north. And even till today, there are still no voices, not a single voice, calling for correction of all this.
If we make a comparison with the Young Generation with their Youth Pledge, also a genuinely glorious event, the PRD exhibits more ideas with greater depth. We can understand this when we remember than in the 20s only 3.5% of the population could read and write. The increase in the number of literate people began only with national independence. Taking into account this statistic we can understand the deficiencies of the Young Generation of this period.
The 45 Generation was also glorious. With no self- interest, without reserve, they devoted all their body and soul, ready to die, in order to defend national independence on every inch of the homeland. Because the main problem they faced were the armed attacks of the colonialists, most of their activities were made up of shooting, the rifle ruled. They did not yet get to developing socio-political and economic concepts, like you are developing now, such as people's democracy, popular democracy. And you must never forget that no matter how glorious was the 45 revolution that succeeded in seizing and defending national independence, it was begun by the gangsters of the Senen Markets in Jakarta.
The 66 Generation? Wow! there is nothing more to evaluate on them. And then came the Malari Generation who wanted reform under the slogan "military back to the barracks", in line with the reform outlook of General Sumitro. Both of them, [the students and General Sumitro], were defeated by the New Order, with tactics which are becoming classic features of our history.
This is why I am proud to be among you all today, you who have prepared your ideas, have started to put them into practice in the field, and smile maturely ready to accept the consequences, never mind how bitter. There is no cry more appropriate for all this than: Long live the PRD!
I am convinced that you are better prepared than those who have gone before you and will succeed more than those who have gone before you. I know that you will not denigrate the value of the Indonesian human being through the use of massacre, and the theft of their fundamental rights. Because as was taught by Multatuli: the duty of all humans is to become human.
I believe that tomorrow or the next day, you will not speak in the name of the nation in defence of your own interests, or of your group's interests or for the sake of power. It is only ever valid to speak in the name of the nation if there is democracy. Its almost like people have been struck with senility so that they can't remember that the nation comprises three elements: its inhabitants or citizens, the homeland itself or the inhabited territory, and the government. To speak on behalf of the nation requires the representation of all three elements. To denigrate any one element is corruption. And corruption in thinking inevitably spreads into actions.
I say all this not in order to praise you who have not yet had the chance to succeed, but only to locate you in these comparisons. You have what it takes to succeed better in lifting up our homeland and nation to the level of which we all dream.
In our modern history, the Young Generation has always been, except the 66 Generation, the motor driving things forward. Even though, yes, even though with all its flaws and limitations. And the limitation which sticks out most of all: the lack or absence of courage for correction.
Courage! Again: courage! For the youth in particular courage is the greatest of all capital. Without courage, as I have often said, you will be treated like cattle: deceived, herded from here to there and back again or even herded ready for massacre. It is only courage that can make a firm character.
Before ending I would like to appeal to everybody here today at this meeting, here inside or outside this room, wherever you are, to donate money to the PRD for routine as well as non-routine expenses.
Once again: Long live the PRD!
Jakarta, March 21, 1999.