It was not pleasing to hear prof. Jeffrey Winters of Northwestern University, U.S., criticizing us on local television here that we, Indonesians, lacked a sense of urgency.
Many considered his observation unfriendly. One of our high officials remarked cynically, "What do bule (slang term for white people) know about us?"
Well, my dear Tuan Pejabat (Mr. Official), the so-called bule do know about us. And for that matter, so do Chinese, Japanese, Indians, even Africans and Middle Eastern people.
What better evidence can there be of their knowledge about us than the volume of literature written by them about our culture and heritage -- and the success stories of their entrepreneurs in this country?
Compare their success stories in our country with the success stories of our (non-white skinned) people in their countries.
Sorry, Tuan Pejabat, but they are more knowledgeable about us than we are about them.
Some time back, I was in the neighboring country of Singapore to attend an important conference. And, there was this man dressed very simply, who sat through my entire presentation, taking up his seat with the rest of the audience.
At the end of my presentation, when he rose to congratulate me, one of the organizers introduced us.
"He is our Minister for ...."
Wow! Our ministers here, when invited to a conference, would normally stay only to hear themselves speak. After the opening or closing ceremony, they would immediately disappear. No wonder most of them have no idea whatsoever of what is happening in real life. They live in castles of their own imagination. Blame not our scholars who do the same, for they just follow suit.
Instead of listening to other speakers at the conference, we would rather play golf, socialize with friends or even accompany our wives to go shopping. Of course, at taxpayers' expense!
Recently, a lady told me she was being offered a "sure" seat in parliament, of course at some cost. The middleman who made the offer said, "It is not much, you can afford it. You can make much more than that in four years."
So, then the lady asked, "Why four years, I thought the seat was for five years?"
The middleman explained, "Look my dear lady, you actually need no more than one year for the return of the investment. The second year is to save something for your rainy days. The third year is to help your kids and kin. The Fourth year is to show your appreciation to your would-be supporters in the next election. But, the fifth year must be kept dry. No hanky-panky. You must work for your constituency to ensure their votes again."
I feel our present parliamentarians did not have such a fine middleman to advise them. That is why even during their last years in office, they still pay no attention to what is going on outside.
Back to our sense of urgency: On Aug. 28, 2008, a young maiden in her twenties, Istiqomah, was beaten up by a group of radicals in the courtroom, witnessed by police personnel, attorneys, et cetera.
Surprisingly, these radicals are being defended by some of our best lawyers, in the name of professionalism.
I shall try to "connect" myself with one of them and initiate an imaginary dialogue ....
"Why Sir?" I ask.
"I am a professional. They are my clients," he replies.
I try to convince him they were not on the right side. What is his priority, what is his urgency? Defending a client for the sake of professionalism, or saving the country from disintegration. Clearly, those radicals have crossed all limits.
To this, he says, "Well, my client says the same thing about you guys -- that you have crossed the limit. They are trying to save the country too."
So the famous lawyer had no sense of urgency to ask his own conscience as to how they were trying to save the country?
Was it by yelling "Kafir!" (infidel) in the court room?
Was it by intimidating people sitting beside them, yelling "Keluar! Bonyok! ..." (Get Out! We Will Smash You!)?
Was it by asking others in the courtroom to show their ID cards, maintaining that non-Muslims were not supposed to attend the hearing of their supremo?
My dear Mr. Attorney-at-Law, where is your sense of urgency? What is your priority? What if your child, your daughter or your sister was maltreated in the way Istiqomah was maltreated that day?
You are right Prof Winters. We do lack a sense of urgency. Our religious leaders are busy organizing interfaith dialogues in the five stars, but are not bothered about what radicals are doing on the streets, supported by our corrupt officials and politicians without a conscience.
The other day, they again displayed a show of force by circling around Jakarta on motorbikes without helmets. They challenged the authorities in the name of their human/religious rights, saying "Our cap is our religious identity".
I was so relieved to hear the newly elected Constitutional Court chief Prof. Mahfud MD say he did not agree with religious based bylaws that have now become popular in several districts.
He has some sense of urgency, for he knows the religious-based bylaws may disintegrate this nation. But aside from him, who else has a similar sense of urgency?
Our ministers? No, they are too busy partying and spending lavishly on the weddings of their children, nephews and nieces.
Our representatives? No, they are too busy jalan-jalan (out and about) to make full use of their remaining time in office.
The supremos of our political parties? They are busy contesting for seats.
But, do not despair. We still have our "selves" to respond to Prof Winters' challenge.
Let us develop the necessary sense of urgency to deal with the problems faced by our nation.
