Laporan Utama

Bataks On The Go

2010-02-20

Bataks On The Go

(By KARIM RASLAN/ MySinchew)

Indonesia, long seen as the ‘Sick Man of Southeast Asia’ is fast-shedding its reputation for instability. It is in fact, by far one of the most resilient economies in light of the global meltdown and credit for this has to be given the policy of decentralization that it has been pursuing.

Indonesia’s provinces are growing in confidence and determination. They are staking out bold new political, economic and social initiatives without the interference of Jakarta and this has made living and doing business there easier. Local autonomy, which empowers regional elites whilst also forcing them to seek legitimacy through local elections, has been an important means of managing aspirations and lessening potential conflict.

Of course, the new system has its own share of problems, but for the time being decentralization has done more good than harm for Indonesia. This is especially the case in the province of Northern Sumatra and its vocal Batak community.

North Sumatra is a bustling province with a population of over 12.8 million and a dynamic, natural resource-based economy. It boats new shopping malls with cafes and bars to match. A J.W. Marriot that eclipses its Jakarta counterpart has also been opened, and the ageing Medan airport still manages to service some 25 flights a day to the capital alone.

Demographically, the province has been a polyglot of sorts between various, disparate groups. The lowland dwellers tend to be Muslim and Malay while those in the highlands were once animistic but now mainly Protestant Bataks. The advent of Dutch colonialism and the plantation economy they brought reversed these as Bataks were attracted to settle
at the previously inhospitable coastal areas.

Colonialism also saw an influx of indentured labourers from China, Java and India from the mid-1800s. These massive shifts of population gave a multiracial character to the Malay Sultantes of Deli, Langkat and Serdang, and made towns like Medan melting pots. Religiously, the state is split, with the capital city of Medan being evenly divided between Muslims and non-Muslims.

While there always has been some tension between the groups, the North Sumatran ethos has always been an inclusive one. Many Muslims are Batak themselves, and the provisions in the Malay adat for tolerating others have done much to reduce tension.

Nevertheless, this has not stopped Batak activists from campaigning for the creation of a new majority Christian/Batak province called Tapanuli to the southwest. The proposal has garnered much support from the Bataks, as it would accelerate economic growth due to the host of physical and administrative infrastructure this would entail.

It would also provide an outlet for the upwardly mobile Batak elite, several who have achieved positions of prominence in public life and unsurprisingly, several of their businessmen are said to be backing the scheme. This is a highly-charged, emotive issue and led to the death of a local Golkar politician.

Bapak Abdul Aziz, head of the provincial North Sumatra legislature was said to have been opposed to the idea of a separate Batak entity. This led to a mob of angry, presumably Batak demonstrators to storm his office and beat him severely, which resulted in him expiring via a heart-attack.

Despite incendiary media coverage- which painted the incident in sectarian tones - Medan remained calm. Religious leaders from both communities went to work immediately and calmed the city’s 3 million inhabitants.

Several Malays even conceded that the killing was probably unintentional. The fact that peace was maintained where there would have been bloodshed in the past (or anywhere else) is testament to the Republic's growing maturity, the strength of local institutions and
the forbearance of Medan's racially diverse mix of inhabitants.

In the aftermath of the tragedy President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called for a review of the entire process of the re-delineation of provinces and districts. Nevertheless, this is unlikely to turn the clock back on the process of decentralization.

The Javanese elite no longer hold absolute power over virtually ever aspect of life in the provinces as they did under the New Order and this is a good thing. Indonesian politics’ new live-and-let-live arrangements prevents removed a lot of the acrimony and extreme
partisanship we have been in Malaysia post-March 8th.

As mentioned earlier, the diffusion of power in Indonesia is by no means perfect and it comes with its own set of problems. But it has also given the country a degree of stability and openness it has never had before. Having an over-bearing and over-powerful executive does not necessarily mean either.