BEGINNING TO REMEMBER

By: Fransiskus Borgias M.

Since my study last year in ICRS-Yogya, I found an interesting book, edited by Mary S.Zuerbuchen. Its main title is: Beginning to Remember. Its subtitle is also interesting: The past in the Indonesian present. Since last week I have coied the book. Now I am reading the whole book, although since last semester I have read some chapters of it because they are included in our obligatory reading for one of our lectures on history of religions in Indonesia (since its pre-history until into its modern period and phenomenon). For the time being I want to write one or two things about this interesting book.

First, this book is a product of an international conference back in 2001, in UCLA; the theme held in that mondial conference was History and Memory in Contemporary Indonesia. It is in this particular connection that there were at least thirtien articles deal with Indonesian issues. Second, this book was published as one of the serial of Critical Dialogues in SEA studies. That is why there was one article related to this broader context of Indonesia, which was Malay. But still this article also was about the history in its close connection to the mistery of Memories. Third, so far I have read four articles (article of Mary Zuerbuchen herself, Ki Tristuti Rachmadi, Goenawan Muhamad, Andi F.Bachtiar, Anthony Reid).

From those four articles I want to make some short notes on the article of Anthony Reid. In the observation of Reid the year of 1995 was very important and it was celebrated almost everywhere in world as the commemoration of the end of Second World War. For that particular purpose, there are a lot of conferences, seminars, symposiums, held to celebrate it; there are some books, and articles published to sign this historical event of the world. But in Indonesia, almost there was nothing done related to this historical event. Reid believed that there was a certain Soeharto factor in this forgetfulness of history (p.174).

But why? According to Reid, it is because Soeharto make a great shift from the wish to memorize the past events to the appreciation achieved within those thirty years of his presidency. So the celebration was not to praise those past heroes, such as Sukarno, Hatta, Syahrir, Tan Malaka, Nasution, but to “bringing out what has been achieved throughout this half-century” (p.174. Taken from Soeharto’s speech to DPR, in 5 January 1995). So Soeharto makes a shift from the past to the present to the stake of the momory of the past itself.

One of the possible explanation for this historical shift to present is that Soeharto at that time has already in the end of his power. 1995 is only three years before his dramatic fall in May 1998. At those five years before his fall, Soeharto felt that there was a historical power from the past that comes into the present, among others through the figure of Megawati Soekarno Putri, the daughter of Indonesian first President, Sukarno, the proclamator of Indonesian’s Independence. The popularity of Megawati was so clear that the man in power try to do everything possible to get her out of the national political arena. The party of Megawati was divided into two. Only Megawati’s party (PDIP) which can stand up the historical turmoil. We know the tragedy of July 1996 in which the man in power try to interfere into the internal affairs of PDIP. I still remember that there is also a suggestion made by the authority not to call Megawati with her original name, Soekarnoputri (meaning the daughter of Soekarno), and change it Megawati Taufik Kiemas, after the name of her husband. But the flow and the power of history cannot be stopped at all.

At the end of his power, Soeharto tried very hard to abolish the memory of the past from Indonesian’s present, but the past cannot be abolished at all. The past always haunts in our present history. Even some historians said that we cannot be in peace with our presence unless we reconcile with our past. This is the significance of the existence and the presence of the Commission for Truth and Reconcillition. But alas, such commission still cannot be established here in Indonesia.

Yogya, 23 May 2011
Rewritten and reedited, 19 July 2011