Lessons Learned

An essay by Ade Widyati Prastyani, APF Visiting Fellow

I remember the days of my primary school years. There I was, a tiny shape of a dark girl in uniform, sitting in the front row, listening closely to the long lectures of Civics and Moral Education, mind wandering about the diversity of cultures in Indonesia. For a girl whose eyes would glow with excitement at the prospect of discovering the insides of a frog and to the wonders of multiplications and fractions, CME was not my fort+AOg-, but something about the stories on the grand nation that is my country sparked my attention.

Stories of how Indonesia has more than seventeen thousand islands, so many that scores of them still remain nameless; tales about each island occupied by diverse tribes, each with its distinct set of habits and lifestyle; accounts on the countless languages spoken on the different lands that even in the land of Papua, for every tens of miles there would be another tribe with a whole unique mother-tongue; and the insurmountable number of the different religions and beliefs on the archipelago, five of which - Islam, Christianity, Catholic, Hinduism and Buddhism - have been recognised by the law since the beginning of the republic.

The topic of that day's lesson was "Tenggang Rasa", translated as "Tolerance", or in its Javanese term, "Tepa Selira". My humble yet noble teacher, Miss Kartika, taught us the importance of accepting other people's different ideas, beliefs and habits; gently she whispered the hopes of peace for the nation through simple acts of patience and open-mindedness. Over the years I've come to realise how Indonesia has learned so much about tolerance despite the complexity of the population. We have succeeded in accomplishing our first direct presidential election, as well as the legislative election with a staggering forty eight participating political parties, without the much-feared riots across the country. The lesson, I noted, was learned the hard way, through sweat, tears and blood.

Nonetheless, Indonesia still faces many challenges. One of the biggest challenges that Indonesia - the largest Muslim nation on the planet - faces today can be seen in an event that happened this past June. An attack that targeted members of Ahmadiyah, a rapidly-growing stream of Islam with different values from "mainstream Islam", ironically, occurred on the same day we celebrated the anniversary of Sukarno's famous 1945 speech. In the speech, he formulated Indonesia's national philosophy of Pancasila - one of living in a plural society. The attack, which shocked the Indonesian public, really spoke volumes on the need for the practice of tolerance.

Learning about the pluralism in my country and the need for tolerance for her peace is nothing like living it everyday. That is one reason I strive to better comprehend the nature of conflicting ideas around me. One thing I have learnt, the basis of most conflicts and clashes, not only amongst my peers but also in a larger proportions, such as racial or religious quarrels, is simply the absence of understanding between the two disagreeing parties, resulting in the failure to compromise.

The catchphrase of "Ignorance is Bliss" may be popular with idle minds. In my opinion, however, ignorance is the biggest enemy that a community must fight, as it is the source of every potential major collision. Ignorance can only be fought through knowledge, and knowledge must be spread through proper education. A fine education is not merely about learning the formulas for permutation or differentials one must deal with in Advanced Mathematics, but about learning the glorious nature of variance amongst humankind throughout the planet; of how every unique custom and tradition always has strong reasons and rationale. The degree of exposure to various rituals and different practices of life correlates strongly to a person's suppleness towards a foreign value. The decision to assimilate that foreign value into a person's pre-existing conventions or to integrate it entirely into his or her everyday life, on the other hand, relies on personal goals and preferences.

We can see examples of smooth assimilation of cultures that create a whole different custom, a new colour in the scenes of life. Check out the range of culture section in every stateof- the-art book stores across the world and you would find books on the Harajuku fashion, with striking images of Japanese youngsters wearing Western-inspired clothing along with thick make-up trademark of famous Japanese theatrical art of Kabuki. Flip through the television channels and you would encounter Bollywood movies, the exploding parades of traditional sounds and dances of India, married to Hollywood-like plots and technique but with a distinct feature of modesty on sensuality.

After appreciating the differences amongst tribes, religions and nations, and understanding the reason behind each distinct practice, the next step is to act according to the values that may differ and/or contradict with one's own set of values. Rather than oppose these different values, we need to compromise, to find the comfortable middle ground for both parties in order to attain the idyllic "win-win solution".

Never would I imagine, sitting there as a nine year old, that the topic on tolerance, that only took ninety minutes of classroom time, has an impact so great that it merits years of teaching and learning. The next step of my lifelong lesson on tolerance is to learn whatever small measure each one of us can contribute in order to evoke tolerance, understanding and compromise in everyday life.

I think we can all start with the smallest things, which have been put into practice by some of my exemplary close friends in my life as a medical student. When we go out with I Putu Gde, a Balinese and a religion-abiding Hindi friend, we consider what places would be appropriate for dinner - which restaurants serve mostly seafood and poultry so he can avoid eating beef, or, as he puts it, the flashy ride of the God Vishnu. My ever-so-responsible class president, Septian Nindita, always tries to accommodate the Christians and Catholics during Christmas break by setting the impeccable on-call shift schedules in a way that our friends could celebrate their holiday.

All these years, I still live to dream of a "Unity in Diversity", or as told by the great Sanskrit literary legend Mpu Tantular in the manuscript of Negara Kertagama, the phrase held dearly in Indonesia, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika". I hope I will never outgrow that girl, who now waits eagerly for her turn to put Miss Kartika's lessons into actions. After all, history has shown us, that enthusiasm on learning how to tolerate, understand and compromise with others must be carried out endlessly.