Indonesia: Myth and Reality in the Land of the Shadow Puppet
Journal article by Lorna Wright; International Studies of Management & Organization, Vol. 24, 1994
Journal Article Excerpt
Indonesia: myth and reality in the land of the shadow puppet by Lorna Wright Indonesia, a major Southeast Asian archipelago nation of over 13,000 islands, is a member of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), together with Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Brunei. The main islands am Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya, with about 60 percent of the population living on Java. Jakarta, in West Java, is the capital of the country, the largest city (population of over 7 million), and the primary business center. Regional business centers are Surabaya in East Java, Medan in North Sumatra, and Ujung Padang in South Sulawesi. Indonesia has a population of 186 million, making it the fifth largest nation in the world. This population consists of 366 different ethnic groups, the largest being the Javanese (about half of the population), who also constitute the major group in government. The Chinese are a minority immigrant group who hold much of the economic power and have traditionally been resented by the indigenous Indonesians or "pribumi." Historically, Indonesia was made up of a patchwork of kingdoms, influenced strongly by India and Hinduism, followed by Buddhism; then Persia and Islam; and finally by the Dutch and Christianity around the end of the sixteenth century - all through successive waves of traders. The Dutch trading activity led to over 300 years of colonization. By the early twentieth century, several popular nationalist independence movements had started and came to maturation with the Japanese occupation during World War II. On August 17, 1945, two days after the surrender of the Japanese, Indonesia declared independence, although the Dutch did not concede sovereignty until 1949. Indonesia's first leader was a charismatic nationalist, Sukarno, who held power until an unsuccessful coup against his government in 1965 started a process that ended with his ousting in favor of General Suharto, who was named president in 1968. Suharto has held power ever since. The development of the country and its economy has always been a top priority with the present government. Indonesia is resource-rich, but it has one of the lowest wage rates in Asia. The government prepares a development plan, Repelita, every five years, indicating where it will be channeling its resources. (The present plan, Repelita V, runs from 1989 to 1993.) The government has made great strides in weaning the economy from its dependency on oil exports, and boasted a growth rate of 6.7 percent in 1993. The business sector is dominated by state-owned enterprises and conglomerates owned by the ethnic Chinese minority. To counteract the influence of the Chinese, the government has recently been encouraging "pribumi," or indigenous Indonesians, to become more active in business by requiring local equity participation in foreign investment and by stimulating the Jakarta stock exchange to allow small investors (generally pribumi) access to shares in company ownership. In addition to being ethnically diverse, as indicated above, Indonesia is also religiously diverse, encompassing Islam, Hinduism (mostly on the island of Bali), Christianity, and Buddhism (primarily among the ethnic Chinese population). Although the country is predominantly Moslem (88 percent), it is not an Islamic state. The government has paid great attention to separating state from religion. With such a diverse population, culturally, religiously, linguistically, and geographically, the government of Indonesia is understandably careful about anything, including research, that may have a potentially divisive effect on the nation. Anything that is viewed as having the potential to generate controversy is scrutinized closely and subject to constraints and restrictions. Background research information Language The official language of Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia. This is the language of the education system, and all who are literate (75 percent of the population) speak it, even if their mother tongue is different. Many upper-class Javanese of the older generation also speak fluent Dutch.English is not in wide use in daily life, although most top-level government officials and senior businesspeople are comfortable speaking it. (This may not hold true for all senior Chinese businesspeople.) In addition, a growing number of young people have been educated in the United States and have a good command of English. Even with the people who speak English, however, it is good policy to avoid slang and jargon; to phrase questions in a simple, straightforward manner; and to check constantly that both sides have the same understanding of both the questions and the answers. A question should never be phrased using a negative, because the answer will be ambiguous. For example, if a businessperson does not ... |
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