Djakarta Postpones the Evil Day (The Observer, 16 Januari 1955)

=== [PDF page 1] === Djakarta Postpones the Evil Day i. - - From Rawle Knox;: The Observer (1901- 2009); Jan 16, 1955; ProQuest Djakarta Postpones From Rawle Knox ~ -:: DJAKARTA, January 15° HE faces in’ the sunlight. of: Djakarta are young ‘and: - unlined. One could believe that age had beén banished ' with imperialism; so proud are' the Indonesians of the youthfulness of their nation.” ° Death in Djakarta one feels-—and one could gather some ‘supporting | evidence—can only.be suidden death. - Somewhere there must, be old, out- | lived men, and, Heaven‘knows, Indo- | those here- are probably - the most-, emancipated and most in. the’ public eye. “In Moscow,” as Mrs. Suharti, of the Indonesian Women’s” Move-- Ment, pointedly cemarked -on her teturn from one of ‘the many Indonesian- cultural explorations of* the Communist world, “a man “1s not allowed to’ marry more than’ one: woman.” - Looe “+But there are other-orders eman-: ating from Moscow nyorc: worrying for. President Soekargo. The ‘Government: “of. his ° friend -. Ali Sastroamidjojo. now ‘has to “dependnesta has plenty af very real worries, | ‘on Communist support, and to try but the capita of the paint, but none of the gaicty, has worn off since the declaravon of independence nine years ago. “Some people must have gone back | to work in those sine years. There 1s i evidence in the painstaking] simph- | fied detail] of the great adult eduva- + tion scheme. in the pioneering of | young doctors in the. villages, and in the work of many other uncomprom- | ising patriots.. But somehow: Djakarta seems perpetually to be postponing the evil day. There can always be another mass demonstration against Western imperialism,, or a boycott of everything Dutch. “ Dp° vou still take - these things — serigusly 7?" asked a Chinese storekeeper an the eve af yet another one af these boycots, “You sce that plate glass window,” he said. “Tt cost 10,000 rupiahs and with the preseat import licence muddle it would probably take four months to replace, You wan't find my shop open tomurrow.” The man in the street may have his gay way in Djakarta, but as a pedestrian he is literally driven to the wall. The thoroughfares of the capital are hogged by gaudy limousines bought in the years of post-war boom when no one fully understood that foreign income does not come down like monsoon rain. The traffic moves past. the solid commercial buildings of the Dutch i a jungle trail of detours; it jerks like a snake with a broken back. Occasionally it halts utterly to the scream of sirens as coveys of small soldiers on huge American motorcycles whine past escarting a luxurious black sedan. The President is on the move. PRESIDENT SOEKARNO is still the heart and soul of Indanesian independence. When he speaks it is as good as a public holiday. and he speaks often. But despite his confidence and his sure knowledge of the people's support he is beginning to have his anxieties. His taking of a second wife and installing her in the low while palace surrounded by its deer park at Bogor has set the many women's associations cackling in anger. And of all Muslim women scems to'be forever -stto bolster the repulationsof- the in shabby carnival as though ‘much | - Premicr’s Nationuhst Party ~ the. President has been leaning away from his once strict ampartiality. tn: doing so,he has made an enemy, of the strong Masjumi (Muslim) Party.- And’ sull the clection;that ‘long- -promised first general ‘election; scéms vas, far away as: ever. ” fy The Elections: Commission has ‘only just been ‘called and -it: seems probable that the Masjimi will boycott ‘it., The*many: able Socialists. all out of power and office, are sulking in the wings while “the Cone munists, as ever, organise hike ants. The main obstacle to, elections is the same sorry handicap -that hobhles so many good Indonesian intentions—the stupendous lack of the ordinary, administrative man Vhe infant republic was bern in war and bred in intermittent: battic. {ps the chstant north ~ of ~ Sumatra and far to the east in the Celebes, fighting 1s cndemic This schooling in war has had 'the etlect of gaining the Indonesian Army considerable respect. and in the Army as in the police there‘ are many sound-heads,” But it has:never giver the administrative service time to get going, ‘' = + The Indonesians are anxious to learn but are human“enough to dislike being told what to They insist that the Dutch refusal to let them share in- the technicalities of overnment and. industry has rought about theiy present: confusion and this does’ prejudice them against the West.- Communists aid this prejudice with their. well-drilled insults to the United States, But the comparative tolerance of “Australia’s strong stand on New Guinea, despite the passion that the subject arouses in Djakarta, is enough to show that Indonesians will put up with much from a country they believe to be their friend. Indonesians are - confident that their’ country will go far but they are puzzled not to see it doing so quickly. The Communists promise ctlortless speed. It- remains for President Soekarno to find a Government with the drive lo turn indonesia into the modern nation she wishes to be before Com- Munist persuasiveness takes a tighter hold. For to give way to that grip would indeed be sudden death. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.