Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The future success of Indonesia hinges on the development of a pluralistic society, which will provide the groundwork and act as a vital asset for national improvement, sociologists and political experts say.
"Changing the Indonesian people's mindset to embrace pluralism is important for the nation's improvement. We can start with education, in communities and public domains," said the executive director of the Reform Institute, Yudi Latif, on Tuesday.
At a seminar titled "The Uprising of a New Indonesia", which was co-organized by the University of Indonesia, the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) and the Communication and Information Ministry, Yudi said that multiculturalism is a great national asset.
As long as Indonesians remain bound to ethnic and religious frameworks and limitations, the country is slated for decline, he said. Yudi is also deputy rector at Paramadina University.
"A synthesis of all these movements, such as ethnicity and religions, is the key. If we have that, then our success as a nation is only a matter of time," he said, adding that every successful civilization in history constituted a hybrid society.
Sociologist at the University of Indonesia, Meuthia Ganie-Rochman, said preserving multiculturalism would help keep the country's process of democratization on track.
"Ethnic- or religious-based institutions should understand the needs of the public. The functions of those institutions can be altered according to those needs," she said, adding, however, that the ways in which Indonesians should manage such changes remain to be explored.
Director for industry, science and technology and state-owned enterprise affairs at Bappenas, Mesdin Simarmata, told The Jakarta Post that in terms of the diversity of its people and broader community, Indonesia is on par with the U.S. or the former Soviet Union.
Although the creation of a truly pluralistic nation would be difficult, Mesdin said, Indonesians could expedite the process simply by respecting each other.
Political economics and public policy expert Andrinof A. Chaniago said that from an economic perspective, a crucial factor in developing Indonesia would be to negate the nation's Java-centric attitude to development.
"We are experiencing a social imbalance. For example, 90 percent of turnpike investment is on Java," he said.
Andrinof added that turnpike investment in southern Java would trigger the development of upper-class residences there, such as those already in West Java's Bogor and Puncak areas.
"Moreover, these would bring seasonal flood disasters to the area. If this persists, then by about 2025 Indonesia could have another financial crisis just like the one we had in 1998," he said.
Andrinof added that long-term planning in the country should involve striking a balance between growth both on and outside Java and in rural and urban areas. It should also provide economic opportunities to both the haves and have-nots, he said.
He said the long-term vision for Indonesia was initially formulated by the Indonesian Forum Foundation and was announced at the State Palace in March this year.
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