I’m not sure what David Han’s diatribe is about, but whatever it is, he certainly does proves the author’s point in this article’s third paragraph:
“Unsurprisingly, such anti-racist endeavours have prompted vitriolic retorts from their detractors, who often indulge in confusing intellectual gymnastics.”
Donald Trump talks like a third world dictator and wants to act like one. Hopefully, the institutions in the US is stronger than those of the third world. A third world dictator is dangerous only to his / her own country, The potus is dangerous to the whole world.
I am spending money faster than I should in a rational world. If Trump gets to act like a third world dictator, then apocalypse is just round the corner – don’t need savings then…
Unlike Sangeetha Thanapal the author Hydar Saharudin is not an opportunist. Whiteness studies and postcolonial theory already did great harm to subordinated minorities, because they encourage them to adopt the racial identities and discursive practices of so-called People Of Color. I support the author interpretation that local history matters most for ethnic relations.
Singapore is a postcolonial state and it should be compared with Fiji where we know that Indo Fijians are a strong political force. Why are ethnic violence between Indo Fijians and native Fijians political disrupting and how do Singaporean “Chinese” could avoid it with social enginering ?
We should also not forget that Singapore is the Swiss of the world region that is sometimes called Asian Meditaranean to emphasize the similarity between the maritime relationships between the Mediteranean Sea and the South China Sea, Philipine Sea and Celebes Sea.
We folk in the humanities must resist the the lure of mimicry. We could gain more citations from US humanities with flattering their narcistic mindset that all marginal people are just like People of Color in the USA and whiteness is an universal signifier for dominance, rationality and modernity. The USA has no solutions for the problems of the world at large and it is certainly a much more ridiculous model nation than the British Empire was in their heyday.
If the video of Trumps’ alleged compromised position with Russian hookers is released, then he’s a dead duck. Did it even happen, does the video exist ? Do Donald Ducks’ many establishment enemies, have a copy ?
Malaysia is also moving toward more conservative…is it from the same reason as happening in Indonesia?! From what I see it is almost the whole Muslim world are more and more being conservative..wonder if they got influences from the Middle East and the conflicts from that region! I heard on the radio yesterday that Christians in Egypt are in danger.
You’re right, in Indonesia hardline islamist rise is grassroots movement, not just elite power play. And difference between hardline islam and moderate islam is equivalent to difference between christian catholic and protestant which sparks civil war in the holy roman empire in the 16th century.
In part, we’ve seen this ideological war between moderate and hardline with ISIS vs the rest of islam world. ISIS is as hardline as it can get, and most of islam denounce them and fought them or flee from them.
It won’t come to that in Indonesia. Remember that when you try to brainwash someone from a position of equality
(which is the case for teacher to student, since the student can leave and get new teacher, and student still have input from parents), you’ll get counter arguments that will tamper the most extreme ideas. This has been scientifically proven.
In the end, there will be middle ground consensus among general populace about what is acceptable and 2 differing ideology at the extreme moderate and hardline. It is exactly the same with what’s happening in America between liberals and conservative. And everything will be fine as long as all side still tolerates each other.
I urge you all who understand Indonesian to read this: http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2017/02/24/15563371/islam.dan.kesalehan . From my experience, the position of majority of muslim in Indonesia still chooses “Akhlak” (etiquette) rather than “hifzh al-din” (to guard the religion). Which is the main difference between moderate and hardline islam.
And if anyone insist that there is a sharp increase of follower of hardline islam, please have some empirical evidence. When compiling this evidence, please remember that even moderate islam in Indonesia still considers premarital sex as a sin, same sex marriage as forbidden, and a host of stuff that western intellectuals considers extremely conservative, backwards, and out of date. So believes in those central tenant of islamic faith can’t be consider hardline. Only how muslim acted on those believes can be consider hardline (for example: willing to do stoning for adulterers).
Re this comment in the review: “It brings to mind that surely the British alone had such a facility for popular song as an act of community and resilience and defiance.”
Surely not the Irish. Or the Vietnamese, for that matter. What could they write about?
Not an Indonesia expert, but I have qualms about the following statement — “To count bissu and waria as traditional Indonesian expressions of LGBT identities does not in itself seem to be problematic. LGBTQ+ is a big enough category. The problem is the discrimination, not whether these traditional Identities are seen as LGBT or not.”
I think this misses a key point. Yes, LGBTQIA+ is capacious and can add on more categories. But in one sense, this is a kind of imperialism — indigenous categories (like bissu) have to be slotted into an imported template, and understood *in relation to outside (and secular) categories,* rather than in terms of pre-existing categories of understanding. Now, one can argue that we are in the twenty-first century, this is the way the world is, and so on. But yes, such incorporation is “problematic,” in the sense that almost certainly, in the process of incorporation, cultural knowledge is lost.
If you talk to Indonesians who belong to minorities, that for more than one hundred years, often centuries, have lived in Indonesia without problems yet now feel scarred and are persecuted: If you talk to Shia, Ahmadiyya, now even Christian Indonesians. If you talk to trans Indonesians, gay and lesbian Indonesians, there is no doubt, that there is a rise of conservative and radical Islam in Indonesia: Members of minorities of all kinds feel its devastating effect on their lives, they are scarred, and all too many of them are already traumatized by it. Of course if you are an expat, if you are upper middle or upper class, if you live in the capital, and if you are not interested in the life of people less well protected than yourself the new Islamism might seem like no big deal. Yet I ask myself why so many people complain about a “fascist atmosphere” in Trump’s America when even in traditionally „moderate“ Muslim majority countries like Indonesia events like these are more and more commonplace: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/02/25/indonesian-hard-liners-again-turn-up-heat-on-ahmadis.html
This is a very interesting article, a counter-balance to the more pessimistic viewpoints that have been expressed in the earlier NM pieces that previous commentators (myself included) have written.
The author is correct to point out that unlike SBY admin, Jokowi doesn’t seem to tolerate conservative Islamist groups and have taken some steps to try to curtail their political influence (e.g., by threatening to ban ‘anti-Pancasila’ groups- which would’ve included FPI and HTI). And Lukman Hakim is a far more progressive religious affairs ministers compared to his predecessor Suryadarma, although it should be pointed out that his legislative initiatives, like the Religious Harmony Bill (RUU Kerukunan Beragama) is facing internal resistance within his own ministry, likely as conservative Islamist groups are lobbying against it.
However, I see several misintrepretrations in the article that I think needs to be clarified. The first one is that FPI and HTI does not yield much power and influence in Indonesian society today. While they might not receive red carpet welcome at the Istana, these groups are certainly influential among some circles within the Indonesian political elites and security forces. FPI links with high-level security officials and TNI officers have been subject of several studies (including by Ian Wilson: https://www.routledge.com/The-Politics-of-Protection-Rackets-in-Post-New-Order-Indonesia-Coercive/Wilson/p/book/9780415569125#description). Its influence within members of the elites and the security forces certainly help explain the lackluster and lukewarm responses by Polri and TNI against the Anti-Ahok rallies.
Unlike FPI, HTI has kept much of its influence hidden and its very secretive nature makes it a challenge for outside scholars and observers to research on. However, there is no doubt that it has gained influence in certain segments of Indonesian society. It has effectively penetrates teacher-training universities (IKIP) throughout Indonesia and recruits young, newly minted teachers into its ranks. These young teachers in turn have exerted influence among public junior and high school pupils in Indonesia, brainwashing them with its ideology of caliphate state. Thanks to these youth ‘infiltration’ campaigns, unpub;ished surveys done by pluralist NGOs such as Maarif Institute have shown that the majority of high school students in West Java are supporting the establishment of a caliphate state in Indonesia, corporal punishment (hudud) law, etc. And HTI has exerted influence in certain localities in Indonesia. A number of its officials have claimed (though it needs verification) that they are responsible for the enactment of a number of shari’a regulations enacted by a number of districts in East Java province. So I’m afraid calling HTI to have little influence among Indonesian policymakers is a mistaken assertion.
Second, the ‘conservative turn’ within NU and Muhammadiyah is really happening and while it does not yet affect the leadership boards of both organizations (which explains why both groups issue statement discouraging their followers to join in the rallues), are clearly dividing the ranks of both organizations, especially at local/grassroots level. Many senior NU kyai in the regions endorsed the rallies and send in their followers, even their family members, to go to Jakarta and participate in the rallies. The same trends can be seen within Muhammadiyah, and as I pointed out in my piece, its youth wing IMM was an active supporters of the first two rallies last November and December and has vowed to send up to one million activists to join in the rallies. The cross-affiliation of some young Muhammadiyah activists with more conservative groups like PKS, HTI, and DDII – have clearly contributed to this – although patronage rationales – Amien Rais is one of IMM’s chief patrons – also played a role as well.
And I would not called the ministers the author named in his article to be true “progressive” either. Despite her support for Jokowi, Ibu Khofifah came from NU’s conservative wing, although as a seasoned politician with higher aspirations – she is likely going to run a candidate for East Java Governor next year (for the third time), she has a reputation for making pragmatic positions. Pak Muhadjir has been widely criticized for some missteps as Education Minister – for instance his plan for an “all day” school that is widely criticizes even within Muhammadiyah circles. While Lukman Hakim has shown progressive tendencies, as I pointed above his reforms within Depag have run into opposition by the conservative circles. Plus, given that he is from PPP Party instead of NU-sponsored PKB, he is not considered by NU elites to be part of their group. In fact, there seems to be a bad blood between Lukman and NU Chairman Said Aqil as the former is thought to have supported the latter’s main opponent during Said’s re-election campaign in the 2015 NU National Congress (Muktamar).
Lastly, while infighting between party oligarchs (SBY, Prabowo, and Megawati) partly explains the dynamics of the Jakarta Governor’s race and help promote the rise of Anti Ahok sentiment, reducing everything into political oligarchy explanation does not explain the rise of Islamism in Indonesia, which happened independently outside of these oligarchs’ influences. Instead, Islamism rises in Indonesia thanks to the effort of highly motivated activists such as Habib Rizieg (FPI), Ismail Yusanto (HTI), Imaduddin Abdulrahim (DDII/PKS), and others, whom have worked tirelessly over the past two to three decades to promote their brands of Islam among the youth, the emerging middle class, and sympathetic members of the civil service and security forces. While these activists’ connections with elements of the elite also help to explain their political successes, it is a mistake to attribute the rise of Indonesian Islamists to elite power play alone.
I really do hope you are right but I have my doubts. To me, most Thais are feckless and absorbed by self-interest. The former is an educational thing and I’ve said enough about that over time. The second is understandable, perhaps even inevitable given the historic levels of poverty in Isaan, though the grinding poverty I saw early in my sojourn in Thailand has improved somewhat – at least in cash terms if not so much in psychological terms.
Measured against all that fairly broad perspective is a widely-held perception that Isaan Thais, (who have more in common with Laos people than Bangkok people, or so it is said) are considered ‘kwai’ by BKK folk (ironically, many of whom are Isaan folk themselves), by which they mean Isaan folk are lazy, dirty and stupid.
It always fascinates me how generally-held perceptions come to be generally-held, and in many cases, perhaps even most cases, it’s because they are broadly true, or sincerely believed to be so.
So. I was very surprised that the Isaan folk, mostly red-shirts, were prepared to watch (without meaningful comment) a few army officers who were set up like dummies at a coconut shy, commit what was obviously treason against an elected government, only to claim a retrospective pardon, allegedly by the former King but in fact by the great schemer and meddler Prem (doubtless acting in loco or believing himself to be entitled to do so). It’s a long-held principle in civilised societies that actions are judged against the law prevailing at the time, so retrospective prosecutions, impeachments or pardons have no weight in the international community and no legal weight whatever in Thailand, not that this triviality seems to prevent it at all.
The incompetent Prayuth has presided over a huge reduction in treasury reserves, and all the ‘Oh it’s all OK because… nonsense can be safely disregarded. If I were a senior redshirt I would make sure all of his assets are confiscated when this miserable period in Thai history finally shudders to a close. Much as he is doing without recourse to the courts, to Yingluck. He is an oaf, nothing more, and has, I believe, generated some pretty weighty karma for himself in his quest to reinvent Thailand in his own image and claim some additional wealth and fame somewhere along the way. One hopes that he is not allowed to die or quietly slink off into exile, though Thais, being feckless by nature, will probably see both of those eventualities as easy ways out.
Congratulations thiri and It is worth reading.
In our Myanmar culture, the men who favor and give preference to women is not being well-respected among them.
Your suggestion to include educational curriculum to teach the young boys to respect their female counterparts is so good and necessary.
Isaarn is starting to move. It will be slow – like Vietnam’s revolution. But that is the point : the slow tortoise wins the race. Isaarn’s tortoise is moving into position.
It is not political system we are talking about, it is the mind-set. All efforts in innovations is being spent on more innovative schemes to ‘rent-seek” How does that drive digital innovations?
China is a different kettle of fish altogether – it does not have the Malaysian syndrome – “tyranny by majority”
For an example of ‘digital innovation” in Malaysia, check out the Mara “Low Yat II” mall!
What makes a successful abbot? The answer seems always to have been the ability to raise enough money for his temple to prosper. Phra Dhammachayo has stood out so far from his brother abbots in this respect that he has evidently incurred the envy of a great number of them. We can see now, how wise it was of all those American Christian preachers never to persecute any of their brother preachers who were similarly successful. Instead we are to be entertained with the spectacle of the Thai Buddhist Sangha being marshaled under the banner of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, by a King better known for most of the others!
I think it’s great that New Mandala continues to publish articles about the discrimination of LGBTQ+ people in Indonesia, and also that Hendri Yulius keeps writing them but I am not sure what point he wants to make in this text.
To count bissu and waria as traditional Indonesian expressions of LGBT identities does not in itself seem to be problematic. LGBTQ+ is a big enough category. The problem is the discrimination, not whether these traditional Identities are seen as LGBT or not.
What I find really surprising in this article as well as in the others by Hendri Yulius is that he almost completely fails to mention the main reason for the new homo – and transphobia in Indonesia: the rise of conservative and fundamentalist Islam in that country.
Yes, there where some non-religious homophobic voices in last year’s horrible anti-LGBT-debate, but the whole debate was kickstarted by the right-wing Muslim medium Republika and the vast majority of the hateful voices came from prominent conservative Muslims and Muslim parties and organizations. (That doesn’t mean that evangelical Christians are not just as bad ideologically but they don’t have this influence on a national level.) If you don’t want to criticize conservative and fundamentalist Islam, it doesn’t make sense to criticize the increasing discrimination of LGBT people in Indonesia. As well as the increasing discrimination of religious minorities. As well as of women that don’t wear the jilbab. The “blasphemy” process against Ahok. Etc. It is also mainly radical Muslim organizations and parties that are behind the AILA “Family Alliance” that wants the Supreme Court to outlaw extra-marital and same-sex relationships. The movement to outlaw alcohol in all of Indonesia also comes overwhelmingly from Muslim organizationsetc. etc. I guess, what I want to say is: If you don’t dare to mention religion / Islam in a negative context, don’t write about the recent developments in Indonesia.
Which brings me to my next point: The government’s reaction to last year’s anti-LGBT-“debate” was far from uniform. Beside the homophobic statements there were some moderate and “liberal” voices inside the government as well. Vice-president JK said stupid things but he also said that it would not be Indonesian to care for what people are doing in their bedroom. Another minister, I think it was Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said that people don’t choose their sexual orientation and that he wants to live in a civilized country that does not discriminate. A PDI-P member of parliament issued a call to arms against right-wing homophobic bullies.
I know it’s a taboo in Indonesia to criticize religion, but researchers in Cultural or Social studies should not distort reality in order to not to offend religious sensibilities. And activists in Indonesia, for LGBT or whatever, should know their friends and their enemies.
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Confronting ‘Chinese privilege’ in Singapore
I’m not sure what David Han’s diatribe is about, but whatever it is, he certainly does proves the author’s point in this article’s third paragraph:
“Unsurprisingly, such anti-racist endeavours have prompted vitriolic retorts from their detractors, who often indulge in confusing intellectual gymnastics.”
In Trump and family we trust
Donald Trump talks like a third world dictator and wants to act like one. Hopefully, the institutions in the US is stronger than those of the third world. A third world dictator is dangerous only to his / her own country, The potus is dangerous to the whole world.
I am spending money faster than I should in a rational world. If Trump gets to act like a third world dictator, then apocalypse is just round the corner – don’t need savings then…
Is hardline Islam really rising in Indonesia?
Very good points. You should have an anrticle of your own here.
Confronting ‘Chinese privilege’ in Singapore
Unlike Sangeetha Thanapal the author Hydar Saharudin is not an opportunist. Whiteness studies and postcolonial theory already did great harm to subordinated minorities, because they encourage them to adopt the racial identities and discursive practices of so-called People Of Color. I support the author interpretation that local history matters most for ethnic relations.
Singapore is a postcolonial state and it should be compared with Fiji where we know that Indo Fijians are a strong political force. Why are ethnic violence between Indo Fijians and native Fijians political disrupting and how do Singaporean “Chinese” could avoid it with social enginering ?
We should also not forget that Singapore is the Swiss of the world region that is sometimes called Asian Meditaranean to emphasize the similarity between the maritime relationships between the Mediteranean Sea and the South China Sea, Philipine Sea and Celebes Sea.
We folk in the humanities must resist the the lure of mimicry. We could gain more citations from US humanities with flattering their narcistic mindset that all marginal people are just like People of Color in the USA and whiteness is an universal signifier for dominance, rationality and modernity. The USA has no solutions for the problems of the world at large and it is certainly a much more ridiculous model nation than the British Empire was in their heyday.
In Trump and family we trust
If the video of Trumps’ alleged compromised position with Russian hookers is released, then he’s a dead duck. Did it even happen, does the video exist ? Do Donald Ducks’ many establishment enemies, have a copy ?
Is hardline Islam really rising in Indonesia?
Malaysia is also moving toward more conservative…is it from the same reason as happening in Indonesia?! From what I see it is almost the whole Muslim world are more and more being conservative..wonder if they got influences from the Middle East and the conflicts from that region! I heard on the radio yesterday that Christians in Egypt are in danger.
In Trump and family we trust
Truck could and he would; but he will be repudiated by his party because of it, then impeached.
Is hardline Islam really rising in Indonesia?
You’re right, in Indonesia hardline islamist rise is grassroots movement, not just elite power play. And difference between hardline islam and moderate islam is equivalent to difference between christian catholic and protestant which sparks civil war in the holy roman empire in the 16th century.
In part, we’ve seen this ideological war between moderate and hardline with ISIS vs the rest of islam world. ISIS is as hardline as it can get, and most of islam denounce them and fought them or flee from them.
It won’t come to that in Indonesia. Remember that when you try to brainwash someone from a position of equality
(which is the case for teacher to student, since the student can leave and get new teacher, and student still have input from parents), you’ll get counter arguments that will tamper the most extreme ideas. This has been scientifically proven.
In the end, there will be middle ground consensus among general populace about what is acceptable and 2 differing ideology at the extreme moderate and hardline. It is exactly the same with what’s happening in America between liberals and conservative. And everything will be fine as long as all side still tolerates each other.
I urge you all who understand Indonesian to read this: http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2017/02/24/15563371/islam.dan.kesalehan . From my experience, the position of majority of muslim in Indonesia still chooses “Akhlak” (etiquette) rather than “hifzh al-din” (to guard the religion). Which is the main difference between moderate and hardline islam.
And if anyone insist that there is a sharp increase of follower of hardline islam, please have some empirical evidence. When compiling this evidence, please remember that even moderate islam in Indonesia still considers premarital sex as a sin, same sex marriage as forbidden, and a host of stuff that western intellectuals considers extremely conservative, backwards, and out of date. So believes in those central tenant of islamic faith can’t be consider hardline. Only how muslim acted on those believes can be consider hardline (for example: willing to do stoning for adulterers).
A poem and the politics of high imperialism
Re this comment in the review: “It brings to mind that surely the British alone had such a facility for popular song as an act of community and resilience and defiance.”
Surely not the Irish. Or the Vietnamese, for that matter. What could they write about?
Over the rainbow
Not an Indonesia expert, but I have qualms about the following statement — “To count bissu and waria as traditional Indonesian expressions of LGBT identities does not in itself seem to be problematic. LGBTQ+ is a big enough category. The problem is the discrimination, not whether these traditional Identities are seen as LGBT or not.”
I think this misses a key point. Yes, LGBTQIA+ is capacious and can add on more categories. But in one sense, this is a kind of imperialism — indigenous categories (like bissu) have to be slotted into an imported template, and understood *in relation to outside (and secular) categories,* rather than in terms of pre-existing categories of understanding. Now, one can argue that we are in the twenty-first century, this is the way the world is, and so on. But yes, such incorporation is “problematic,” in the sense that almost certainly, in the process of incorporation, cultural knowledge is lost.
Is hardline Islam really rising in Indonesia?
If you talk to Indonesians who belong to minorities, that for more than one hundred years, often centuries, have lived in Indonesia without problems yet now feel scarred and are persecuted: If you talk to Shia, Ahmadiyya, now even Christian Indonesians. If you talk to trans Indonesians, gay and lesbian Indonesians, there is no doubt, that there is a rise of conservative and radical Islam in Indonesia: Members of minorities of all kinds feel its devastating effect on their lives, they are scarred, and all too many of them are already traumatized by it. Of course if you are an expat, if you are upper middle or upper class, if you live in the capital, and if you are not interested in the life of people less well protected than yourself the new Islamism might seem like no big deal. Yet I ask myself why so many people complain about a “fascist atmosphere” in Trump’s America when even in traditionally „moderate“ Muslim majority countries like Indonesia events like these are more and more commonplace: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/02/25/indonesian-hard-liners-again-turn-up-heat-on-ahmadis.html
Weapons and wealth in the Gulf
insightful article. articulated nicely.
Is hardline Islam really rising in Indonesia?
This is a very interesting article, a counter-balance to the more pessimistic viewpoints that have been expressed in the earlier NM pieces that previous commentators (myself included) have written.
The author is correct to point out that unlike SBY admin, Jokowi doesn’t seem to tolerate conservative Islamist groups and have taken some steps to try to curtail their political influence (e.g., by threatening to ban ‘anti-Pancasila’ groups- which would’ve included FPI and HTI). And Lukman Hakim is a far more progressive religious affairs ministers compared to his predecessor Suryadarma, although it should be pointed out that his legislative initiatives, like the Religious Harmony Bill (RUU Kerukunan Beragama) is facing internal resistance within his own ministry, likely as conservative Islamist groups are lobbying against it.
However, I see several misintrepretrations in the article that I think needs to be clarified. The first one is that FPI and HTI does not yield much power and influence in Indonesian society today. While they might not receive red carpet welcome at the Istana, these groups are certainly influential among some circles within the Indonesian political elites and security forces. FPI links with high-level security officials and TNI officers have been subject of several studies (including by Ian Wilson: https://www.routledge.com/The-Politics-of-Protection-Rackets-in-Post-New-Order-Indonesia-Coercive/Wilson/p/book/9780415569125#description). Its influence within members of the elites and the security forces certainly help explain the lackluster and lukewarm responses by Polri and TNI against the Anti-Ahok rallies.
Unlike FPI, HTI has kept much of its influence hidden and its very secretive nature makes it a challenge for outside scholars and observers to research on. However, there is no doubt that it has gained influence in certain segments of Indonesian society. It has effectively penetrates teacher-training universities (IKIP) throughout Indonesia and recruits young, newly minted teachers into its ranks. These young teachers in turn have exerted influence among public junior and high school pupils in Indonesia, brainwashing them with its ideology of caliphate state. Thanks to these youth ‘infiltration’ campaigns, unpub;ished surveys done by pluralist NGOs such as Maarif Institute have shown that the majority of high school students in West Java are supporting the establishment of a caliphate state in Indonesia, corporal punishment (hudud) law, etc. And HTI has exerted influence in certain localities in Indonesia. A number of its officials have claimed (though it needs verification) that they are responsible for the enactment of a number of shari’a regulations enacted by a number of districts in East Java province. So I’m afraid calling HTI to have little influence among Indonesian policymakers is a mistaken assertion.
Second, the ‘conservative turn’ within NU and Muhammadiyah is really happening and while it does not yet affect the leadership boards of both organizations (which explains why both groups issue statement discouraging their followers to join in the rallues), are clearly dividing the ranks of both organizations, especially at local/grassroots level. Many senior NU kyai in the regions endorsed the rallies and send in their followers, even their family members, to go to Jakarta and participate in the rallies. The same trends can be seen within Muhammadiyah, and as I pointed out in my piece, its youth wing IMM was an active supporters of the first two rallies last November and December and has vowed to send up to one million activists to join in the rallies. The cross-affiliation of some young Muhammadiyah activists with more conservative groups like PKS, HTI, and DDII – have clearly contributed to this – although patronage rationales – Amien Rais is one of IMM’s chief patrons – also played a role as well.
And I would not called the ministers the author named in his article to be true “progressive” either. Despite her support for Jokowi, Ibu Khofifah came from NU’s conservative wing, although as a seasoned politician with higher aspirations – she is likely going to run a candidate for East Java Governor next year (for the third time), she has a reputation for making pragmatic positions. Pak Muhadjir has been widely criticized for some missteps as Education Minister – for instance his plan for an “all day” school that is widely criticizes even within Muhammadiyah circles. While Lukman Hakim has shown progressive tendencies, as I pointed above his reforms within Depag have run into opposition by the conservative circles. Plus, given that he is from PPP Party instead of NU-sponsored PKB, he is not considered by NU elites to be part of their group. In fact, there seems to be a bad blood between Lukman and NU Chairman Said Aqil as the former is thought to have supported the latter’s main opponent during Said’s re-election campaign in the 2015 NU National Congress (Muktamar).
Lastly, while infighting between party oligarchs (SBY, Prabowo, and Megawati) partly explains the dynamics of the Jakarta Governor’s race and help promote the rise of Anti Ahok sentiment, reducing everything into political oligarchy explanation does not explain the rise of Islamism in Indonesia, which happened independently outside of these oligarchs’ influences. Instead, Islamism rises in Indonesia thanks to the effort of highly motivated activists such as Habib Rizieg (FPI), Ismail Yusanto (HTI), Imaduddin Abdulrahim (DDII/PKS), and others, whom have worked tirelessly over the past two to three decades to promote their brands of Islam among the youth, the emerging middle class, and sympathetic members of the civil service and security forces. While these activists’ connections with elements of the elite also help to explain their political successes, it is a mistake to attribute the rise of Indonesian Islamists to elite power play alone.
Restoring Thailand’s spiritual realm
I really do hope you are right but I have my doubts. To me, most Thais are feckless and absorbed by self-interest. The former is an educational thing and I’ve said enough about that over time. The second is understandable, perhaps even inevitable given the historic levels of poverty in Isaan, though the grinding poverty I saw early in my sojourn in Thailand has improved somewhat – at least in cash terms if not so much in psychological terms.
Measured against all that fairly broad perspective is a widely-held perception that Isaan Thais, (who have more in common with Laos people than Bangkok people, or so it is said) are considered ‘kwai’ by BKK folk (ironically, many of whom are Isaan folk themselves), by which they mean Isaan folk are lazy, dirty and stupid.
It always fascinates me how generally-held perceptions come to be generally-held, and in many cases, perhaps even most cases, it’s because they are broadly true, or sincerely believed to be so.
So. I was very surprised that the Isaan folk, mostly red-shirts, were prepared to watch (without meaningful comment) a few army officers who were set up like dummies at a coconut shy, commit what was obviously treason against an elected government, only to claim a retrospective pardon, allegedly by the former King but in fact by the great schemer and meddler Prem (doubtless acting in loco or believing himself to be entitled to do so). It’s a long-held principle in civilised societies that actions are judged against the law prevailing at the time, so retrospective prosecutions, impeachments or pardons have no weight in the international community and no legal weight whatever in Thailand, not that this triviality seems to prevent it at all.
The incompetent Prayuth has presided over a huge reduction in treasury reserves, and all the ‘Oh it’s all OK because… nonsense can be safely disregarded. If I were a senior redshirt I would make sure all of his assets are confiscated when this miserable period in Thai history finally shudders to a close. Much as he is doing without recourse to the courts, to Yingluck. He is an oaf, nothing more, and has, I believe, generated some pretty weighty karma for himself in his quest to reinvent Thailand in his own image and claim some additional wealth and fame somewhere along the way. One hopes that he is not allowed to die or quietly slink off into exile, though Thais, being feckless by nature, will probably see both of those eventualities as easy ways out.
Ending abuse against women in Myanmar
Congratulations thiri and It is worth reading.
In our Myanmar culture, the men who favor and give preference to women is not being well-respected among them.
Your suggestion to include educational curriculum to teach the young boys to respect their female counterparts is so good and necessary.
Yadana
3MDG
Restoring Thailand’s spiritual realm
Isaarn is starting to move. It will be slow – like Vietnam’s revolution. But that is the point : the slow tortoise wins the race. Isaarn’s tortoise is moving into position.
Malaysia’s digital economy: can entrepreneurship be unleashed?
It is not political system we are talking about, it is the mind-set. All efforts in innovations is being spent on more innovative schemes to ‘rent-seek” How does that drive digital innovations?
China is a different kettle of fish altogether – it does not have the Malaysian syndrome – “tyranny by majority”
For an example of ‘digital innovation” in Malaysia, check out the Mara “Low Yat II” mall!
Restoring Thailand’s spiritual realm
What makes a successful abbot? The answer seems always to have been the ability to raise enough money for his temple to prosper. Phra Dhammachayo has stood out so far from his brother abbots in this respect that he has evidently incurred the envy of a great number of them. We can see now, how wise it was of all those American Christian preachers never to persecute any of their brother preachers who were similarly successful. Instead we are to be entertained with the spectacle of the Thai Buddhist Sangha being marshaled under the banner of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, by a King better known for most of the others!
Over the rainbow
I think it’s great that New Mandala continues to publish articles about the discrimination of LGBTQ+ people in Indonesia, and also that Hendri Yulius keeps writing them but I am not sure what point he wants to make in this text.
To count bissu and waria as traditional Indonesian expressions of LGBT identities does not in itself seem to be problematic. LGBTQ+ is a big enough category. The problem is the discrimination, not whether these traditional Identities are seen as LGBT or not.
What I find really surprising in this article as well as in the others by Hendri Yulius is that he almost completely fails to mention the main reason for the new homo – and transphobia in Indonesia: the rise of conservative and fundamentalist Islam in that country.
Yes, there where some non-religious homophobic voices in last year’s horrible anti-LGBT-debate, but the whole debate was kickstarted by the right-wing Muslim medium Republika and the vast majority of the hateful voices came from prominent conservative Muslims and Muslim parties and organizations. (That doesn’t mean that evangelical Christians are not just as bad ideologically but they don’t have this influence on a national level.) If you don’t want to criticize conservative and fundamentalist Islam, it doesn’t make sense to criticize the increasing discrimination of LGBT people in Indonesia. As well as the increasing discrimination of religious minorities. As well as of women that don’t wear the jilbab. The “blasphemy” process against Ahok. Etc. It is also mainly radical Muslim organizations and parties that are behind the AILA “Family Alliance” that wants the Supreme Court to outlaw extra-marital and same-sex relationships. The movement to outlaw alcohol in all of Indonesia also comes overwhelmingly from Muslim organizationsetc. etc. I guess, what I want to say is: If you don’t dare to mention religion / Islam in a negative context, don’t write about the recent developments in Indonesia.
Which brings me to my next point: The government’s reaction to last year’s anti-LGBT-“debate” was far from uniform. Beside the homophobic statements there were some moderate and “liberal” voices inside the government as well. Vice-president JK said stupid things but he also said that it would not be Indonesian to care for what people are doing in their bedroom. Another minister, I think it was Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said that people don’t choose their sexual orientation and that he wants to live in a civilized country that does not discriminate. A PDI-P member of parliament issued a call to arms against right-wing homophobic bullies.
I know it’s a taboo in Indonesia to criticize religion, but researchers in Cultural or Social studies should not distort reality in order to not to offend religious sensibilities. And activists in Indonesia, for LGBT or whatever, should know their friends and their enemies.
Ending abuse against women in Myanmar
Very interesting, informative article. Thank you ! I wish the women of Myanmar and their allies much success in this important fight.