Date： October 18, 2011 14:00-16:00
Venue： Tonantei
Speaker： Joannes Wibisono, CSEAS Visiting Research Fellow
Title： "Fascination with Fascism: Japan and Germany in the Indies of the 1930s”
Abstract：
Japan’s victory over Russia in 1905 became an eye opener for many Asian nations the majority of which were still colonized by western powers. It catapulted Japan into a model Asian nation well into 1930s when it embraced fascism. Information and knowledge about Japan filtered through to the Indies mainly through publications written in Dutch, which, in turn, originated from Germany, a close ally of Tokyo. In the Indies admiration for Japan also grew into fascination for Germany.
Ki Hadjar Dewantara, leader of the educational institute Taman Siswa and father of the Indonesian national education admired Japan for its tradition of Kokuka or “to govern a nation as a family”. Dewantara emphasized the importance of family, which he considered sacred and he educated his pupils as if they were part of his family, the so-called Among System.
In 1930 Dewantara was elected dictator of Taman Siswa as part of his strategy to resist attempts by Dutch colonial authority to shut down Taman Siswa. And it worked. He also succeeded, for the first time ever, in uniting nationalist organisations in the Indies.
There are some striking parallels between Dewantara and Soeharto. First and foremost Dewantara wanted a strong leader for the nation, which Soeharto was indeed during his 32 years of Neuordnung. Soeharto also governed Indonesia as if he presided over a family. Not only did he confuse being head of a family with being head of state, he also did not abide any opposition.
In Dewantara’s fascination with pre-war Japan and Germany, we discover the origins of Soeharto’s dictatorship and also, perhaps, a history of the Indonesian Right.