Indonesia, Etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation

by Elizabeth Pisani

I knew that I could never hope to give a full account of this kaleidoscope nation, a nation whose multicoloured fragments seem to settle into different patterns with every shake of history and circumstance. Though I wanted to capture the essence of ‘Indonesianness’, to try to find the benang merah, the ‘red thread’ that binds these different islands and cultures into a single nation, I knew the country would change even in the time it would take me to travel it. I was trying to paint a portrait of a nation on the move, and I could only see one fragment of it at any given time.

I can count on one hand the number of times I was treated with anything but kindness. I can also count on one hand the number of days that I did not have a conversation about corruption, incompetence, injustice and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Because a shared religion greased the wheels of commerce – men could eat and pray together – the traders of the islands were among the first to adopt Islam.

Indonesia’s diversity is not just geographic and cultural; different groups are essentially living at different points in human history, all at the same time.

I was not surprised to find intelligent women in a traditional village, of course. Although it is men who do most of the chanting, posturing and even public negotiating in Sumba, women run complex family economies and are responsible for ensuring that everyone fits snugly into the local cosmos.

Perhaps this is the central dilemma of modernization in collective societies: the all-encompassing security of a shared culture gets sold off in exchange for individual fulfilment.

For all the frustrations and inefficiencies of Indonesia, it’s almost impossible to get into difficulties that one can’t get out of with a bit of humour and a lot of patience. Semua bisa di atur – everything can be arranged.