The Jakarta Post, June 06, 2006
An honest message from Yogyakarta
B. Herry-Priyono, Jakarta
I have received numerous messages in recent days from friends doing relief work in
Yogyakarta and surrounding areas. Some berate the sluggishness of the relief effort,
but most of them express disgust, and rightly so, for the many Jakarta-based cabals
who have unscrupulously turned the disaster into a stage for their publicity efforts.
These are not only officials and politicians, but also the heads of non-governmental
organizations and corporate managers.
On May 30, for instance, I received a message from a certain business manager: "Hi,
it's me. I look f! or some groups doing relief work to whom I could give donation in
cash, but it is my company that gets the publicity."
This is just one of many similar requests that heartlessly ignored the agony of victims.
Why on earth has this sort of attitude become so widespread? In the aftermath of the
Aceh tsunami, this same attitude was rampant. What kind of society is this?
For the sake of sanity, this sort of idiocy must be stopped. The message is clear:
Help the victims as generously as you can, and make sure that your donations reach
the real victims. Otherwise, and this is for the publicity hounds, shut up! This
message has been strongly expressed by friends who are working day and night to
make sure all of the victims are attended to.
They, for instance, are outraged by a high-ranking official who recently flew to
Yogyakarta, bringing with him around 40 journalists to cover a press conference he
gave. People in Yogyakarta quickly began calling him kadal, a derogatory Javanese
term for "sucker".
What is outrageous is that these cabals also underestimate the intelligence of the
Yogyakarta people. This is a blatant mistake. The rich human resources of
Yogyakarta simply cannot be underrated. And beware, they are making a list of all the
people in these cabals, and do not be surprised if this list is soon in wide circulation.
If you are one of those people they consider to be a publicity grabber, you may find
your name on it. You may have started with a thirst for publicity cloaked in
philanthropy, but could end up being an outcast.
Of course, relief operations work on consequentialist logic; that is, what really counts
is whether your donation reaches the people intended, regardless of your motives. But
consider this: Would you donate if there was no publicity? Yogyakarta is blessed with
many intelligent people, and they know how to turn your thirst for publicity against
you. Treat them with respect, and the only way to do that is to focus on the
challenges ahead.
First, stop all the publicity grabbing and stick to what can be offered to help the
victims, without any spotlight. Any support for those affected by the earthquake is
invaluable, from baby milk to medical supplies, from underwear to tents, from
motorbikes to blankets.
Unrealized pledges are useless, for an unrealized pledge is a mask that eats the
pledger's face. This, of course, happened blatantly in the aftermath of the tsunami in
Aceh. Beware, the intelligent people of Yogyakarta will turn your unrealized pledges
into weapons against you in the future.
Second, while the people's economy is temporarily in disarray, the temptation is to
envision the reconstruction operation by treating the people of Yogyakarta as ignorant
victims. The people of Yogyakarta, not outsiders, must be given leadership roles.
Those unfamiliar with the local way of thinking can better support them from behind.
This is crucial for several reasons.
Third, one of these reasons is that reconstruction involves many aspects of the
victims' lives. After their houses are physically rebuilt comes the tedious process of
revitalizing the economic, cultural, social, legal and political lives. Here lies the real
test of reconstruction, for these aspects can only be done simultaneously in a gradual
manner, and in real terms they are closely interconnected.
The best way to do this is through community development, in which economic,
cultural, social, legal and political revitalization is embedded in the real lives of the
community members. Let the rich human resources of Yogyakarta and its
surroundings take the lead in this process.
Fourth, the simultaneity of economic, cultural, social and political reconstruction led
by local personnel is crucial. Some friends now working in Aceh have learned the
mistakes. It is common to find that overseas donors have abundant financial
resources to help reconstruction in Aceh, and have nothing but good will. They
employ their own officers in the field.
But community development is a long process. Capital formation by way of credit
unions, for instance, is one step to rebuild the entrepreneurial capacity of community
members, and it involves simultaneously cultural, social and political education. There
is no economy separated from culture, as much as there is no politics separated from
social life.
Very often officers from overseas donors have no patience. It is not unusual then that
they simply give away funds to each family, in one case Rp 80 million, in another Rp
75 million, and still in another case Rp 100 million. What happens to community
development? It collapses. Cultural, political and social reconstruction fails, and the
economic-cum-entrepreneurial education fails miserably.
Of course, the need for community development in the reconstruction process in
Yogyakarta and its surroundings should not be turned into a xenophobic attitude, and
it should be done in a non-sectarian manner. Yet it is clear that reconstruction
through local community development is the key to recovery.
Let local community leaders take a leadership role. This is also a way to keep
donated money circulating for local people, rather than being sucked back by the
donors in the form of obscene salaries for their officials.
Yesterday my parents, who live in Yogyakarta, told me on the phone that looters had
attempted to take advantage of the situation in several areas hit by the disaster. But
villagers chased them away, if violently sometimes.
It is through such village-based community development that reconstruction should be
started. In the meantime, many friends from Yogyakarta ask publicity grabbers from
Jakarta to seek the spotlight in some other way.
The writer is a lecturer in the graduate program at Driyarkara School of Philosophy,
Jakarta.
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
