Enclosure 1

GROUP OBSERVATION REPORT

Introduction

For a social theology project, our group (Group V) conducted a live-in in a fishing village in Central Java from September 5 to 12, 1992. The village was chosen for the following reasons:

(1) We anticipated that the area as a fishing area would have many social problems, which might help our social theology reflection.

(2) We had known a local person, who was willing to help us in conducting the observation in the area.

(3) We were interested in a fishing area because a fisher’s life was not familiar to us.

(4) Our lecturer suggested that the option would offer more help to our social theology reflection than a farming village, which we were earlier interested in.

Observation method

To obtain data useful for social theology reflection, the following were conducted:

(1) Live-in: We lived among the fishers for a week. Male group members stayed with local men and the female member stayed with local women.

(2) Co-Working: We helped them going fishing in the sea, processing the dried-fish, and cleaning and selecting shrimps.

(3) Interview: We interviewed some fishers and boat owners to gather information about a fisher’s life. We also interviewed to the local government officers, fishery service officers, the parish priest, social affairs department officers, a former manager of the local fish auction market, the head of a credit union, local women and local children.

(4) Visit: Together with local Catholics we visited shrimp and milkfish coastal ponds and fish nesting grounds in the sea.

(5) Direct Observation: We observed the fish auction market, the fish-landing ground, the night entertainment center in the local square, daily life of children and women and the activities of a debt collector who worked for a local money lender.

(6) Data gathering: We gathered data about the situation and the population of the village in the village office.

Issues around poverty

Group Sharing Before Live-in

From the group sharing about the notion of poverty, it is understood that the poor are those who

- cannot earn a permanent income and have no certainty for their future;

- are dependent on others and nature;

- do not have capital and adequate education, which make it difficult for them to develop their lives;

- are so strangled by social, economic, and political structures that they cannot improve their living standard.

Poverty: The Measures and the Indications

From our one-week observation in that area we found out that the poor in that area were the fishers who worked for boat owners and those who worked in shrimp and bandeng ponds, as well as small fish vendors in markets. We observed that the poverty was caused by:

- nature: they were dependent on nature, weather, and boat owners - culture/mentality: poverty was caused by their inadequate education which narrowed their thinking horizon; and they became fishers due to inherited tradition;

- economic and political structures: as laborers they were controlled by those who had capital and power; and in the political community, they did not have any power.

They accepted their living condition and situation and they assumed that their poverty was due to their fate, which should be accepted. Physically, they looked dirty, and they could not maintain a healthy environmental hygiene. This was influenced by:

- Political factors: Fishers were not involved and did not participate in any decision-making process and they did not have any power in determining the price of fish. The price was determined by the brokers and the local auction market officers, who received commission from the fish brokers.

- Economic factors: Fishers did not have any capital to increase their productivity and were more dependent on nature, weather and simple fishing tools.

- Socio-cultural factors: They ignored education for their children and thought that fishing in the sea could bring money more easily. In that area, young marriages were so rampant that divorces were not rare.

Social Injustice

The indications of social injustice we observed in the area were, among others:

(a) Unfair fish pricing by the local fish auction market officers and the fish brokers, which disadvantaged the fishers. Besides, the fishers were obliged to sell the fish in the fish auction market and had to pay a 3% sale tax.

(b) The earning distribution between the boat owners and the fishers was not fair. The boat owners received 50% while the fishers received the rest, which should be divided among 30-35 crew members according to their workers: a boat driver (juru mudi) got 2.5 parts and the others got only a smaller part until the lowest got hardly anything.

(d) The fishery service officers did not provide any guidance and counseling to the fishers. They just came to obtain retribution from the fishers.

(e) They had for a long time reported to the local administration about the shallowing of the river estuary, which caused trouble for boats and pond irrigation, but there was no response.

(f) The poor were often an easy target for moneylenders who charged 25 to 30% for the money they lent out through a door to door operation.

Poverty According to Those Who Are Not Poor

Our interview with those who were not poor revealed that people were thought to become poor because of their own indolence, lack of efforts, and limited socialization. Some were sympathetic to the fishers and their hard life. In general, these people used to be fishers. They appreciated the fishers’ hard work and did not demand too much from the fishing distribution.

The Role of the Local Catholics

According to the village statistics, there were only 25 Catholics among 10,620 inhabitants in the village. Most of them were from poor families. This small number did not prohibit the Catholics from participating in community life. For example, two men gathered their neighbors to start a 30-member credit union, of which only two members were Catholics. This work was quite prominent because the credit union also cultivated the value of honesty and responsibility, and thus it was different from that of the moneylenders.

A Catholic housewife, who sent laborers, both male and female, to Jakarta reduced local unemployment. A Catholic man also did a lot of good work for the local people in his job as an army health officer. He voluntarily helped the local people take care of their health.

The Role of the Local Church

Our data supported our conclusion that the church had quite an active role in the community. This was shown in the following:

- women educated by a nun

- youth education in Karang Taruna (Local Youth Work Group) by a local Catholic, who was also trying to set up a multi-purpose building, equipped with a set of Javanese orchestra instruments, to develop local arts and culture

- the parish priest’s participation in sending dried fish to Jakarta, getting land for a public cemetery, and trying to build a chapel though the latter had not got government approval

- use of the Development Lent Action Fund to set up a credit union to keep people from going to moneylenders.

Though the Catholics were a minority there, we appreciated their efforts to be the salt in a community with a Moslem majority, particularly by paying attention to the poor. In a difficult and complex situation, the Church tried to fight for the rights of the poor. Some problems, however, had not been touched by the work of the church. These include formal education for the children, environmental health and sanitation, home economics, rampant divorces, prostitution and gambling.

Our experience in living with the poor

The live-in experience among the poor fishers in that area was very valuable for us. It was difficult for us, who are accustomed to an orderly and established life to adapt ourselves to their life and to their dirty, unhealthy, and fishy environment where there was a lot of garbage but no adequate bathroom facilities.

We were sad to see the children’s inadequate formal education. Most only went to elementary school and many did not finish. There was also wide spread prostitution in the village. We thought that the strict religious life of the local people (mostly Moslems) was not in line with their promiscuous living: prostitution and gambling.

The earning from fishing in the sea was wasted on pleasures and there was no attempt to save money. Children who took fish to be sold to the local sellers spent all their money in the entertainment square, watching movies or gambling.

What impressed us was the fishers’ solidarity in cooperating to catch fish. In a boat with 30-35 crew members, the earning distribution did not cause any problem or jealousy. If a crew member did not go to the sea, they did not mind if he asked for a little when the fish was unloaded. Children who took some fish during the unloading did not receive any scolding either.

Closing Note

Our one-week experience in that area widened our horizons about poverty and its complex problems and made us realize that poverty is not limited to material poverty. We also realize that to overcome poverty issues many participants should be involved.

One touching experience was that in their poverty the fishers in the area had accepted us openly, given us their best and helped us sincerely.

Yogyakarta, September 16, 1992

Group V: V. Sri Herimanto, P. Dass, Darius Lemak Hayon, Lidwina M.M. Suwitera, A. Joko Purwanto, M. Walidi.

Enclosure 2:

FRAMEWORK AND SUMMARY OF THE GROUP SOCIAL ANALYSIS

The following are analysis items produced in group observation and are to be used in conducting further analysis about the Indonesian society. In addition to political, economic, and socio-cultural fields, also presented here are observations and analysis results about the Church in accordance with the participants’ special attention while conducting social theology.

Political:

1. Bureaucracy (complicated, strict and confusing).

2. Centralized government (handling any affairs).

3. Too much emphasis on national stability (difficulty of “suspected persons”, security, issues of ethnicity, religion, race and groups).

4. Unjust distribution of development.

5. Emphasis on national integration (ideologization, unwelcome plurality).

6. Unstable relation between religions and politics (Islamic revival, the Church and the state, majority-minority issues, tolerance).

7. Vested personal/group interests underlying political decisions (corruption, legal/parliamentary disfunction)

8. Limitation of freedom of speech.

9. Weak law enforcement (uncertainty, inequality, use of force, deregulation, privatization).

10. Emphasis on military force (many posts are in the hands of the armed forces).

11. Neo-feudalism as a governing style (the notion of power, formalism).

12. Strong influence of technocrats (economists, engineers, technological centers).

13. Political lassitude (public ignorance to politics, boredom and fear of taking initiatives)

14. Grass root political subcultures (controversy about the roles of NGO’s).

15. Strategy of long-term national development (after the Second Five- Year Development Plan).

16. Personal politics and property (discussion about the disclosure of high officials’ properties)

17. Problems of violence (hoodlums, mysterious shooting, inter-student brawls, crimes, taking laws into one’s own hand)

18. Murky rumors (such as of the contaminated canned biscuits).

Economic:

1. Unemployment (official/hidden, youth) and lack of job opportunities (need for side jobs).

2. Child labor.

3. Discrimination against women.

4. Poverty (basic needs, clothing, food, home, education).

5. Lack of health facilities (running water, sanitation) causes diseases.

6. Growing gap between the rich and the poor (luxury, waste, income, service).

7. National economic system (centralization, production control, use of force, deregulation, privatization).

8. Strong structural competition (the strong take over the weak) causes the economically weak to be more dependent on other people.

9. The increasing state/foreign debts (crash of oil price, world recession, inflation, increase of non-oil products, tourism promotion.

10. Concentration of economic power (the elite, monopoly, capitalism, new landlords, issues of conglomerates).

11. Informal and subsistent economy does not receive proper attention (pedicab-free zones, sidewalks, home industries).

12. The gap between urban areas and rural areas, between Java and outer islands, between prosperous areas and remote areas.

13. Industrialization (capital intensive, sophisticated technology).

14. Transfer/development of technology (foreign dependence, defeat of traditional technology).

15. Threatened ecology/nature (lack of energy conservation, forest preservation, climatological change).

16. “Projectism” (luxurious, expensive, skyways).

17. Disadvantageous international economy (protectionism of industrialized countries, global market, burden of debts, high rates of debt interest, unstable price of raw materials).

18. Disrespect for consumers’ interest (the case of contaminated canned biscuits).

19. Threatened rights of the powerless (small farmers, farm labor, relocation).

20. Money market development (stock exchange, many new banks).

Socio-cultural issues:

1. Feudalistic mentality (priyayi = lower traditional nobility), uncritical loyalty).

2. Urbanization, migration, transmigration.

3. Short-cut mentality for comfortable life (reluctance to work hard, prestige, consumerism.

4. Traditionalism (the golden past, absoluteness, hierarchical structure, hypocrisy).

5. Social/moral decadence (gambling, prostitution, crime, alcoholism).

6. Value change and clash due to the influence of foreign culture, technology and media (individualism, materialism, money orientation, egoism).

7. Population issues (growth, family planning, density, uneven distribution).

8. Inter-religious competition (fanatism, prejudice, fear).

9. Paternalism (submissiveness, waiting for instruction, advice, obedience, pleasing the boss, patron-client relation).

10. Corruption and nepotism mentality, connections.

11. Education system (curriculum, methodology) is outdated (lack of skills, of work ethics, authoritarian, mechanized learning, certificate, state-final-exam grades, the decline of teachers’ quality).

12. The gap between education and the society (more oriented to higher education than to competence and job opportunity).

13. Variety of ethnicity/culture/religion/race is not free from discrimination (against minority ethnic groups and non-”native” Indonesians).

14. Influence of secularization, threatened spiritual values.

15. Crises of traditional institutions (family, marriage, communal cooperation, religious service).

16. Alternative cultures (literature, artists, NGO’s, new Quran boarding schools).

The Church:

A. The prophetic mission of the Church is obscure and neglected (justice, option for the poor, Church social teachings, the roles of lay people).

B. Establishment of the Church and narrow-minded life of faith (liturgy, spiritualistic, charity, narrow roles of priests).

C. The gap between the rich Church and the poor communities, the gap between faith and daily life in the society.

D. Inculturation is not yet manifested in widespread creative praxis of various functions and life of the Church.

SEVERAL THESES ABOUT THE INDONESIAN SOCIETY

The following tentative theses about the Indonesian society are presented. They should help further group observation and analysis about local communities as well as the national level.

General

1. Historical events exerting great influence on the present political situation, other than the independence struggle against Dutch imperialism, are those before the communist coup d’Žtat G30S (acronym of “Gerakan 30 September”: against the movement of the Communist Party the military took over the power), the economic decline, international isolation) and those that follow (the roles of the Armed Forces and the Golkar (Functional Group, government’s party).

2. The political system controls and determines the economic system (in contrast with what happens in industrial countries where the economic system controls and determines politics). However, the political elite (the Government, the Armed Forces, political parties, and the bureaucracy) realizes that their power very much depends on their economic powers. Therefore, there is a close coalition or cooperation between the political elite and the economic elite (conglomerates, business circles, and technocrats). For the sake of economic success, there have been great efforts to develop cooperation with foreign economies (capital, loan, and technology). This cooperation also benefits the foreign parties because of the natural wealth and the potential market of Indonesia as well as the high profit and the high interest rates.

3. The Indonesian socio-cultural tradition is a solid foundation for stabilizing the political system. On the one hand, many traditional values and their manifestations in the social structures, mentality and institutions (such as the principle of cooperation, the patron-client relation, and feudalism) are still deeply rooted and are very influential among the common people. On the other hand, the traditions and all their aspects are instrumentalized by the elite groups for their own interests (ideologization). These are seen in the Indonesian culture and in the neo-feudalistic political system which relies on the top-down engineering approach.

Politics

4. Other than a just and prosperous society, the goals of the coalition between the political and the economic powers, are profit and wealth. To arrive at the goals, appropriate and effective economic policies (such as growth, modernization, and five-year development plans) have been implemented. Economic success certainly benefits business groups. But, the wealth of the political elite also depends on the economic success, in addition to their power (concession, monopoly). For this objective, the political elite really wants to maintain its power as the source of their wealth.

5. However, the political elite in Indonesia also realizes that the maintenance of its power depends on the people’s welfare and support. Therefore, there have been always concrete and successful efforts to meet the people’s basic needs (food self-sufficiency, health, and education) - without harming their own interests. This is in line with the traditional concept of power. Special attention is directed to the middle groups (students, religious leaders, bureaucracy, the intellectuals) who can no longer be critical due to various rewards (donations, projects, positions) they have received. They are satisfied because they enjoy the results of development.

6. In addition to the subtle methods, the political elite have used more direct power and tools to maintain their power. This is seen in the emphasis of national stability and integration, military forces and bureaucratic centralization. If a persuasive approach is not successful, then an authoritarian one (limit of freedom of speech, press banning) is used. One effect is the danger of legal abuse and the decline of respect for laws.

7. The politics of national stability is justified under the disguise of socio-cultural heterogeneity in ethnic groups, religions, races, and groups, which have enriched Indonesia. However, they contain various dangers such as unfair competition among groups, discrimination against minorities, and an unstable relation between the state and religions. The argumentation contains some truth in the Indonesian pluralistic society, but it can be easily abused and manipulated for personal interests if social control towards the power is too weak.

8. Such political situations create political lassitude because most people are happy with the existing condition (at least temporarily), and those who want alternatives and changes feel powerless. This is fertile ground for various rumors, mostly unfounded, which are widely influential and dangerous. Formalism or hypocrisy which stresses fine forms and appearances but does not try to make changes for public benefits will prosper too.

9. However, if the system of top-down wealth distribution does not work any longer for many reasons (economic recession, the limitation of resources, the population increase), tension, frustration, and social restlessness can explode in the form of mass violence (students’ rebellion, labor strikes). In addition, there will be also bottom-up alternative cultures (such as NGOs).

Economy

10. The economic system in many ways is a combination of pure capitalism (tight competition) and etatism (“projectism”, monopoly). On one hand it is successful but on the other hand it has taken more victims (informal sectors, small-scale businesses). It has been more obvious that the issue of poverty cannot be solved in that manner as seen in the following indications: high unemployment rates, discrimination against female workers, child labor, the people’s threatened rights over land, high inflation, and disregard for workers’ rights. This system is contrary to the cooperative economic system in the real sense.

11. The strategy for national development should be in line with international development and domestic potentials. In this case, the Indonesian government has shown flexibility and competence. Until the midst of 1980’s high cost economy (protectionism) was implemented, and the economy relied on the Indonesian wealth of oil and gas and other natural resources. In addition, foreign loans played an important role, which to a certain extent has resulted in the present debt burden.

When it was seen that such policy would arrive at a dead end, there were attempts of major-scale deregulation and privatization in many economic fields (stock exchange, tourism, industrialization, transfer of technology). Therefore, there has been a sort of economic compulsion to make Indonesia more open to the international economy.

12. Lately there have been more sonorous opinions that the gap between the rich and the poor, between the urban and the rural areas, and between the centers of development and the isolated areas are widening. Development is not only unevenly distributed but has also widened the gap. This fact, if nothing changes, can and will create social tension and restlessness dangerous to the national stability (cf. thesis 9 above).

13. The economic approach has also threatened the environment in the sense that it has consumed natural resources too fast, particularly in the forms of the damage of the tropical rain forest as well as air, land and water pollution. If the environment is destroyed, the common people will be the first victims although the destruction of the ecology will eventually threaten the life of all people.

Socio-culture

14. The traditional socio-cultural patterns, particularly in Java, such as priyayi mentality or paternalism, still exert great influence in the society in the political life in particular but also in all other social aspects.

15. However, there has been a profound socio-cultural change due to economic progress and political systems. The change is rather ambivalent and clashes between traditional and new values or cultural shocks have been observed. These are seen in secularization, consumerism and the crises of traditional institutions. Many indications can be mentioned such as corruption, nepotism, discrimination against women, and moral and ethical decadence. A pseudo-synthesis between the old and the new socio-cultural systems is also observed.

There are three main reactions towards the above situation, namely traditionalism or fundamentalism, which aims at restoring the past, practical atheism (life shallowness which ignores religious norms), and attempts to discover new alternatives and systems which enable one to face the future.

16. The Indonesian education system is a mirror of the social situation in general. It is traditional but it has been permeated by the socio-cultural crisis mentioned above.

17. The unavoidable problem is the rate of population increase, which is relatively high despite the quite successful family planning. The most important effect in the future will be high urbanization (as what has happened in the megapolis of Jabotabek = Jakarta-Bogor-Tangerang-Bekasi), which will aggravate the poverty issue and social tensions. In addition, it will also pose a serious ecological threat.

The Church

18. The Church as community of faith is a reality in the society. It is not free from the political, economic, socio-cultural elements of the Indonesian society. What is found in the society is also found in the Church. Similarly, the mentality of waiting for top-down instructions, forms of Church services, the role of the middle class, which constitutes the majority of the Church members, are also observed in the Church. The Church is at the crossroads to decide between the choices to act as a critical and creative alternative group or to sink in drowsiness and not to attempt changes towards a more human and just society.