Training Program on 'To save the Country'

The Government of The Republic of Indonesia is conducting a special training called “To Save The Country.”  This training is conducted by The Ministry of Defense participated in by a number of young people both men and women. A number of elements in the society responded to this policy by questioning the objectives of this training. Is Indonesia facing a great war and needs a big number of reserve soldiers ? The short assessment bellow is an effort to understand what the real objectives of this Program are.
 
Many Indonesian leaders  are seriously concerned about the condition of the mental attitude of the young generation especially in term of the Indonesian nationalism. Modernization, internationalism, regionalism and the character of economic challenges have seriously degraded the nationalism of so many new generation of Indonesians. Is it a serious problem ? Definitely yes. It is a great challenge for the leaders of Indonesia who have the responsibility to save the country.

What is the so called Indonesian nationalism ?

Since  July 5, 1959  it has been declared that the Republic of Indonesia will be ruled based on the Constitution of 1945. The Constitution of 1945 has been considered as the original  law of The Republic of Indonesia, constituted in 1945 after Indonesian Independence was declared on August 17, 1945 by Sukarno and Hatta who were then promulgated as the country's first President and Vice President.

The 1945 Constitution of The Republic of Indonesia had been amended  in the year of 2002 up to 2004. The output of the amendment, popularly called The Constitution of The Republic of Indonesia of 2002, has officially been used today.

However, the Preliminary of the 1945 Constitution and the  essence of all 37 Articles of The Constitution of 1945 are totally and completely  adopted by The Constitution of The Republic of Indonesia of 2002. The 1945 Constitution consists of three important parts, namely The Preliminary, The Articles, which comprises 37 Elements and The Deliberation of the Articles.

The Preliminary has been considered as the most important part of the Constitution. In this Preliminary, it is clearly stated the objectives of  the Independent Nation of Indonesia, namely as a Nation both within the country of Indonesia and as a part of the international community.

The Preliminary  has deliberately stated  the basic philosophy which should be applied by the State and Country of The Republic of Indonesia as constituted since  the Declaration of Independence of Indonesia on August 17, 1945. In the reality,  the basic philosophy of The People of Indonesia and the basic law used to rule the  Republic of Indonesia are clearly stated in this Preliminary.

The main points of the Philosophy are Believe in One Supreme God, Humanism based on Civilized and Equality, Indonesian Unity, Democracy based on Consensus achieved in a Meeting and Cooperation among the authorized Representatives and finally the Equal Prosperity for the Whole People. In conclusion, The Preliminary of the 1945 Constitution clearly describes the character of the Indonesian Nationality or Indonesian Nationalism.

The  Second Part of the Constitution is a group of  37 Articles concerning the Sectors of Life of both Indonesia as a Country and a Nation. It is very common that one of the important sectors of Life of a Country and Nation is a Defense Matter as a mean to Save the Country. In the article on Defense Matter, it  is stated that The Armed Forces of The Republic of Indonesia consist of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. In this article, it is also stated that every citizen is compulsory to save the country.

It is important to note that the article on  Defense Matter  does not state that all citizens should join the Armed  Forces, whether as a member of the Army, Navy or the Air Force. Instead, it is clearly stated that all Indonesian Citizen are compulsory to Save the Country, but it is not compulsory to become Soldier, Sailor or Airman.

Philosophically, the statement saying that all the Indonesian  Citizens are compulsory  to join  in the Agenda of to Save the Country implies that all the Indonesian Citizens should have strong Nationalism  and to join any activity to Defense the Country if the situation needed. But, it does not necessarily mean the people have to join the Armed Forces to Defense the Country. The struggle to save the Country can be done through the Armed Forces and also through the respective job of the Citizens.

As we clearly understand since the Second World War II, the nature of War is not just the battle between two military unit of any hostile country, the War has been a total War, in which all sectors of life were committed. In the Defense Sector concurrently we need not only Soldiers, Sailor or Airmen, but we need also Medical Doctors, Technical Engineers and even Social Scientists.

These group of citizens are not necessarily to become Soldiers, Sailors or Airmen, but clearly they should have also strong Indonesian Nationalism struggling against enemies using their respective professionalism. The Doctrine of Total War is clearly a war exploiting all sectors of life of the nation.

Indonesian  Nationalism during the New Order Period was clearly  described  as Pancasila Ideology and National Development Program. To make all the Indonesian citizens understand it, the Government put the Agenda to strengthen the Nationalism through  National Program of P-4, an Indonesian abbreviation of “Program Penghayatan dan Pengamalan Pancasila”  (The Program to Absorb Strongly and consequently to apply the National Ideology of Pancasila in the whole of Life of Indonesian  People).

Unfortunately this Agenda was erased after the Collapse of the New Order Regime . There is no more P-4 today,  but certain  national leaders, such as the late mr Taufik Kiemas when he was speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), he had initiated  to compile  four  main element of the Indonesian Nationalism  and described it as the Four Important Pillars of the Country and the State of The Republic of Indonesia.

According to the Leaders of the People’s Consultative Assembly, the Four Pillars of the Indonesia Nationalism are The state ideology Pancasila, The (Preliminary) of the 1945 Constitution, The Unity of State of The Republic of Indonesia and The National Cohesiveness as described  by Bhineka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity).

The effort to socialize the Philosophy on Indonesian Nationalism compiled by the Leaders of the People’s Consultative Assembly  (MPR) under the late Mr Taufik Kiemas has been likely continued by the Leaders of the Peole’s Consultative Assembly of today. Mr Oesman Sapta, Vice Chairman of the present People’s Consultative Assembly, has repeatedly conveyed his concern about the weakness of the Nationalism of the Young Generation.

Recently, a certain uproar has erupted just because of the Program launched by the Ministry of Defense  under the leadership of Mr Ryamizard Ryacudu, who ordered to hold  a special training named The Training of “To Save The Country”. Some people have expressed their opposing views because they tend to describe the Defense Ministry  Program on “To Save The Country” as a military training to support the Armed Forces Development Program.

Conclusion

The Defense  Ministry Training Program on “To Save The Country” is likely to be clarified by The President. The Defense Ministry Training Program on “To Save The Country” should obviously be described as a Philosophical and Mental Education Program. It is not a  Defense or Military Program.

Despite the fact that this Program was initiated by the Ministry of Defense, it does not necessarily mean that it is a Military Agenda. Unfortunately, the Nationalism is stressed by the Constitution of The Republic of Indonesia in Article on Defense Matter.

The agenda of the Ministry of Defense on this Training Program should  likely be discussed again by the Cabinet, stressing that this is not military program but a Program on Paving the way of the Nationalism Education for the Young Generation.

Now, the first training Program on “To Save the Country”  has been running. It is clearly that the Ministry of Defense does not want to articulate the curriculum used in the training as the  military training similar to the basic military training for the  Reserve Military Unit. It is clear that the Ministry of Defense wishes to hold the  training  as an agenda to strengthen nationalism among the young Indonesians.

The Indonesian nationalism is clearly a big challenge for Indonesians themselves to enable them to perform amid developing world with strong ideas of modernization, international cooperation  and economic cooperation based on regionalism and last but not least the influence of liberalism and individualism. The agenda of the Ministry of Defense to hold a Training Program on “To Save The Country”  is correct in term of substance and its objectives, but maybe it just needs a clarification to neutralize any misunderstanding among members of the Indonesian society and international community.

*) The writer is a former Chief of State Intelligent Coordinating Board (BAKIN).