Update on East and Southeast Indonesia Studies

The eastern region of Indonesia is often seen as a problematic region, from the threat of separatism, conflict-prone areas, to the issue of underdevelopment. Is there a perspective that can provide positive energy for us in viewing eastern and southeastern Indonesia? Populi Center discussed this in the second series of the Populi Forum with the theme "Update on Eastern Indonesia Studies" on July 19, 2017 in Jakarta. Present as a resource person was Dr. Cahyo Pamungkas from the Center for Regional Resources Research, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (PSDR-LIPI). The discussion was moderated by the Populi Center's Knowledge Production and Network Manager, Sudiarto.

Literature Review

A number of literatures presented by Cahyo include studies on Maluku, Papua and Nusa Tenggara, from the classic to the contemporary. For example, Muridan Widjojo's work entitled The Revolt of Prince Nuku: Cross-cultural Alliance-making in Maluku, C. 1780-1810 (2008), tells the history related to the Ternate, Tidore to the Burung Islands and their intersection with the East Indies trading company (VOC). Roy F Ellen's work On the edge of the Banda zone: Past and present in the social organization of a Moluccan trading network (2003) discusses the relationship between the nutmeg trade network and ethnicity and the struggle for capital. Initially, Arab and Chinese traders introduced nutmeg to the world, then the Portuguese and Dutch (VOC) explored Maluku.

Leonard Y Andaya in his work The world of Maluk: Eastern Indonesia in the early modern period (1993) and “Local trade networks in Maluku in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries (1991) shows that in the 14th to 16th centuries the Maluku region was much more advanced than Java. The condition is in contrast to the current situation, where Maluku is the third poorest province after Papua and West Papua. Richard Z Leirissa in his work East Halmahera and Raja Jailolo: the turmoil around the Seram sea in the early 19th century (1996) and together with ZJ Manusama, AB Lapian, and Paramitha R. Abdurachman “Central Maluku in the Past” (1982) describes the North Maluku and Central Maluku regions.

Richard Chauvel's work Nationalists, Soldiers and Separatists: the Ambonese islands from colonialism to revolt, 1880-1950 (2014) describes the upheaval of the Republic of South Maluku (RMS). Gerrit J Knaap's work in Dutch Kruidnagelen en christenen: de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie en de bevolking van Ambon 1656-1696 (2004) tells about the connection between spices and the development of Christianity during the VOC era in Ambon. The work of Christiaan Frans van Fraassen Ternate, de Molukken en de Indonesische archipel: van soa-organisatie en vierdeling; een studie van traditionele samenleving en cultuur in Indonesia (1988) about living together in Ternate.

Anthropological studies include Frank Leonard Cooley's work on Central Maluku, Altar and throne in Central Moluccan Societies: A study of the relationship between the institutions of religion and the institutions of local government in a traditional society undergoing rapid social change (1961). Paschali Maria Laksono's work on the Kei Islands, The Common Ground in the Kei Islands: Eggs from One Fish and One Bird (2002). Dieter Bartels' work Guarding the Invisible Mountain: Intervillage alliances, religious syncretism, and ethnic identity among Ambonese Christians and Moslems in the Moluccas (1977). Freerk Ch Kamma in his work Koreri Messianic Movements in the Biak-Numfor Culture Area (2013) wrote about the messianic movement in Biak-Numfor. Other works include Leontin E Visser's The Social Exchange of Land, Cloth, and Development in Irian Jaya (2012) and Roy F Ellen's Nuaulu settlement and ecology (2016). Meanwhile, a study of language was conducted by James T. Collins, The historical relationships of the languages of Central Maluku, Indonesia (1983).

Cahyo also explained a number of studies conducted by LIPI, including the theme of the border in Belu, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), population studies on the Papua border, namely in Merauke and Pegunungan Bintang, and the protection of languages that are almost extinct in Skow Papua and Alor. "There is also a study on the conflict between Maluku and Papua, which was mentioned at the beginning of the discussion as too much," said Cahyo. A more contemporary theme according to Cahyo is the economic, social and biodiversity issues in the Aru Islands related to the opening of sugarcane land for sugar factories. The theme of biodiversity and the rights of indigenous peoples is interesting to be used as a study in the eastern region of Indonesia, suggested Cahyo.

Researcher from the LIPI Political Research Center (P2P) Irine Gayatri added the theme of poverty, where almost all of Eastern Indonesia is at the bottom of the human development index (HDI). Irine also mentioned a study on Molo in Soe NTT conducted by the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM). The NTT region targeted by Australian donors did not experience significant changes after various interventions were carried out. There is a study consortium that was once conducted by Ivan Hadar, Irine continued. For the theme of good governance and poverty reduction, Irine suggested contacting the IRGSC institution based in Kupang.

Specifically for West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), it is necessary to study the role of the mass organization (ormas) Nahdlatul Wathan. Still related to the Papua conflict, Irine updated on the readiness of the parties to conduct a dialogue. In addition to the UI anthropology circles, there is also the Papua Desk led by Amiruddin, the Papua Working Group, and the Papua Center led by Iwan Pirous. For Maluku, there are studies on post-conflict extremism in Ambon.

Regarding the issue of biodiversity, Irine mentioned the existence of the LIPI office in Cibinong which studies biological resources. In addition, in Tual Maluku there is also a LIPI station that specializes in research on marine germplasm. LIPI also has a deep-sea oceanography center based in Ancol, North Jakarta. "It is also necessary to establish contact with the Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN)," suggested Irine. AMAN is present in almost all areas of former religious conflict, especially at the grassroots level. For example, a study of former migrant workers who have worked in the Middle East, who are feared to be exposed to the virus of extremism.

East and Southeast Indonesia Study Unit

Populi Center Executive Director Hikmat Budiman emphasized the idea to study the East and Southeast Indonesia (KITT) region. "Many studies have been conducted, but not too many," said Hikmat. Regarding the issue of religious conflict, most of it occurred during the end of the New Order and the beginning of the reformation. It does not mean that we want to ignore the theme of conflict, but that Populi Center wants to find a gap to contribute, continued Hikmat. The principle is how to pioneer studies that were previously conducted by Indonesianists from abroad. But Hikmat also reminded Populi not to just be a new player. "In the case of Aborigines, research is criticized because it is considered not to provide benefits to them," said Hikmat.

Populi Center wants to shift the orientation of the study to the eastern region, where it used to be a developed region but has now turned into pockets of poverty. "Anthonny Reid's study shows that there was a physical change in the body from a sailor's life to a farmer, or turning his back on the sea," said Hikmat. Colonialism wrapped in religion began with the smell of spices, making the Maluku sea area busy, before then shifting to the agrarian land of Java. It is possible that the clove and nutmeg trade network still exists today. It should be remembered that in the commodity chain there is a human element in it. With the opening of the sea toll, commodities will move even faster.

"We want to conduct research to produce evidence-based policy," said Hikmat. Don't just make a policy paper, but accompany it with evidence in the form of survey results or in-depth research. In addition, local researchers are also involved, and invited to "cross borders". For example, researchers from Maluku research Papua, and researchers from Papua research NTT. In the case of Muridan S Widjojo, for example, his research over the years has succeeded in revealing the finding that Islam came to Papua earlier than Christianity. "With strong data backup, we can convey it to any regime," said Hikmat.

Development Problems in the Eastern Region

"The Jokowi-JK government once made a political promise to develop eastern Indonesia," said Faisal from HMI-MPO. This was then translated into building facilities and infrastructure, to embrace Papua in Indonesianness. In fact, Indonesia, borrowing Ben Anderson's expression, is an imagined community. Should development in the east continue to be a mere imagination? So far, development carried out by both Soekarno and Soeharto has been very Jakarta-oriented. "It is interesting to examine the implications of studies on existing policies," concluded Faisal.

Director of Populi Center Usep S Ahyar shared his experience conducting several researches in eastern Indonesia. Among them was about family resilience as social capital in the direct cash assistance (BLT) program in North Maluku. The results were that programs such as PNPM could run more effectively. "Other research was about the Draft Law (RUU) for the Island Province," said Usep. Unfortunately, the bill was rejected from being included in the national legislation program (Prolegnas), because it was considered that the island characteristics were present in Indonesia as a whole. In practice, the development carried out was still land-based. For example, in an island province, the budget for the police was used to buy motorbikes instead of speedboats.

“The eastern part of Indonesia is all underdeveloped, in addition to the conflict situation that once occurred in Maluku and Papua,” said Populi Center researcher Dimas Ramadhan. As previously revealed, the eastern part used to be much more advanced than the western part. “The question is, what about the old aristocratic structure and intellectual circles in the east, if not, why?” asked Dimas. Another Populi Center researcher Hartanto Rosojati asked whether LIPI had any studies on education in eastern Indonesia? “The backwardness that occurred could be caused by educational culture factors,” said Hartanto.

"Specifically about education, usually there is one chapter that is spread across all research themes at LIPI," Cahyo answered. Regarding culture, the eastern and southeastern regions that will be studied are Melanesian kinship areas, characterized by the habit of holding big parties, among other things. "Does culture hinder development, later getting trapped in a positivistic perspective, as if the local people are lazy," explained Cahyo. For education, it is possible to organize custom-based education, suggested Cahyo. Regarding under-development, Cahyo revealed the abundant natural wealth in the east. In addition, in the 1930s, areas such as Maluku and Minahasa were already literate in Latin up to 50%, when in Java there were only 2%," said Cahyo. Not only because these areas are predominantly Christian, but many Muslims in Ambon also held colonial bureaucracy.

Cahyo cited Abdurrahman's dissertation which showed the bustling coconut trade between Kaimana and Ambon in 1916. Until 1945, these areas were very rich, including maritime resources. "What happened then was mismanagement, starting with the nationalization of the Dutch shipping company KPM," said Cahyo. What Jokowi did, said Cahyo, was to start over from the beginning. Cahyo also revealed a gap in studies on infrastructure during the New Order. "In America, the history of railroad construction had an impact on the displacement of Indian communities, land grabbing occurred," said Cahyo. How current infrastructure development impacts indigenous communities is interesting to study, continued Cahyo.

Regarding local aristocracy and intellectuals, Cahyo mentioned names such as Thamrin Amal Tomagola who is a descendant of the Tidore warlord, or the Laconsina family from Pelauw Island, Maluku. "The figure of Sultan Nuku, was able to play a position like Bung Karno, regulating the distribution of goods between Raja Ampat, East Seram to Fakfak, and pitting the British against the Dutch," said Cahyo. There are also quite a lot of studies on Islam in Maluku, including Najib Azca on the variants of Islamic fundamentalism, as well as other studies on the Islamic education system. Studies on pela gandong have been widely conducted, as have studies on fisheries by universities in Maluku. The discussion closed with an informal chat about plans for research programs in eastern and southeastern Indonesia.