ARTiKEL ADOPTING WESTERN CULTURE OR ENHANCING INDIGENOUS CULTURE: Takdir Alisyahbana'sDiscourse on Indonesian Path toward Progress HennanHidayat Researcher Staff of LIPI It was a historical event on Indonesian history, white held a polemic ofculture on June 8-10, 1935 in Solo. The urgent topic was discussed by many participants concerning "Adopting Western Culture or Enhancing Indigenous Culture". Takdir Alisjahbana is one front who promoted that Adopting Western Culture is a good choice for Indonesian path toward progress in the future. Ki Hajar Dewantara, Sanusi Pane, Poerbatjaraka, Sutomo, etc.,.on the other fronts that they really promoted on enhancing Indigenous Culture. It seems to tne, that the debating both sides was a very hard reas~nings.·Ki Hajar Dewan­ tara and his group said that we should enhan- cing Indigenous Culture based on eastern culture which a very emphasized a spiJ;itual. They frankly al"gued that eastern that Indonesian people was not egoism as culture was not intellectualism, was done by western. It .was a very individualism, materialism, and egoism, misunderstanding said this group, that in but just it approach towards them ·was our society based on their tradition and different than was realized by western culture, they. really sincere for ··the culture. For example, in case· of egoism, sense of sacrifice that causally OO1"n JURNAl Al~AFAT. JUU 1997 33 the happiness of their healt and the responsible for his work, a man must unlimited sincerely was not hoped by develop intellectualism, manage nature, their own advantage. According to Takdir collect materialism-those efforts that the future of Indonesian Culture the ultimate target is for the must be inherent with a development of happiness of their selves. By those our society, but western culture is the dialogues in this process was born only one of our reference. materialism namely man was a very Frankly SPeaking, said Takdir, concern toward physical apPearance. On because of the lack of elements which the other hand, was born intellectualism, contributed a dynamic toward was the product of reasoning of man, Indonesian Culture, especially on intellectual discourse among each national education, therefore our others. From that point, Western national culture is in Crisis. Toward Culture develop based on materialism, understanding of Crisis term according to intellectualism, individualism, etc. Takdir was the lost of sense of Concerning economics perspective was l'esponsibility. Thus, the crisis ofcultul'e born an Industry, trade, and modern not by stopping of cl-eativity, but rather imperialism. At the same time than separation of creativity from the individualism is affected on unlimited sense of responsibility. In this sense, if competition on the economic and cultural development not enhancing of social issues. After having completed sense of l'eSponsibility, the hope and of the owning the vital elements of toward human development, so the western culture: materialism, existence of its culture was in Crisis. The intellectualism, individualism, and particular case of literatul'e aspect, that egoism, among western nations such as the priority Crisis concerning of moral Fl'ench, Dutch, British, Spain, German, deficit. For example, POet who writes a etc., they effort to develop a new novel without a clear purpose, organization which the main task to according to Takdir view was not promote social justice, Peace and consciously realized his task. On the prospelity. Unfoltunately, the ideal other hand, language is in Crisis, if in its target was not achieved, comparing development not support man in with their egoism to colonize among developing his capacity in thought, Asia, Africa, Latin America Nations, From especially as its manifested in scientific, this sides, it was a tragic of western Philosophy and technology. In order to cultul'e that was lwized among overcome that condition, our national western nations towalU developing culture must be contributed by Western countries. But, it was al'~ued by Takdir, Cultures concerning intellectual ethos, that we should study the positive aspect individualism, mateJialism and egoism. of western culture which produced The fear of those spiritual excess above, science and technology and economic according to Takdir was not in realistic. that finally dominated the greatest part of Because the backwardness of our developing countries, rather than we national culture was the lack of those imitated the negative aspect among vital elements, which caused our western nations which causally nation unable to face an International imperiliazed toward other nations. Competition among a progl'eSS nations. This paper would like to describe a Therefore, based on that dynamic figure of Sutan Takdir as one l-easoning, Takdil' suggested Indonesian ofthe most prominent Indonesian Scholar nation have to study from the West. In in the early twentieth century on the Western Culture, a man has focusing his a short intellectual JURNAL ALSAfAT. JUU 1997 34 biography, his thought on western magazine, Jong Sumatran when he was cultural paradigm which resulted a sixteen, and published his first novel progressive culture, the strategy ofTakdir when he was twenty one. In 1933 he in order to maintain it, and Takdir's became one of the founding editors of policy program oriented to establish it. Pujangga Bam, the literary magazine which is generally considered to have A SHORT INTELLECTIJAL BIOGRAPHY been a majo: forum for the development OF SlITANTAKDIR (1908-1994) of m~ern lIterature. The ensuing birth of PuJangga Baru .and its place in There is no doubt that Takdir Indonesian literary life has up to now Alisjahbana was one of the most been well documented less known is prominent philosopher and educator in !hat as an extra-cLtl1.icular enterprise the early twentieth century of Indonesian It had the SUppolt of one of the highly histor~. He was born on 11 February placed Dutch staff members of Balai 1?08 In N~tal, Tapanuli, the right bank Pustaka. r. Dahler, of mixed Dutch­ ot Natal nver which mounds in the Indonesian descent who later sided with Indian Ocean, slightly north of the the Indonesians in the revolution Equator. His father came from in.trod~ced the now ~ell known literary Bengkulu in the south, and popularly tnumvlrate of Takdlr Alisahbana Amir called Raden Ali~jahbana or gelar Harnzah and Armijn Pane to RoIff's Sutan Arbi hailed from west Sumatra. printers and publishers atJakarta. ' The father was a schoolmaster and also Thus, in both his creative writing became an Imam, Moslem religious and his literary criticism, Takdir was an officer. uncompromising modernist in the pre­ Takdir completed the Holland war years. Pujangga Baru became a School (which used Malay and the major vehicle for Indonesian medium of instruction in the Junior nationalism on the cultural front, as the years, and Dutch in the Seniod in modernist a~ed for the western Sumatra, then went to teacher's training concepts of individualism an rationalism college in Bandung, west 'ava. He to which their command of the Dutch taught high-school at PaJembang, language had exposed them. Pujangga south Sumatra, from 1928 to 1930 Baru never got plinted on luxury paper, and eventually graduated with a L1.B in plinted in 500 copies, its total of paid Jakarta in 1942. SUbSCliptions dUling its 20 years of Takdir mal"1.ied a Sumatra wife in existence flum July 1933 onward never 1929, hel' name Sumiati who died in exceeded the initial 150. On the other 1935 and has two children: Iskandar hand, Takdir became the main and Sofyan. His second wife was a spokesman for this camp in a long and Javanese, her name Raden Roro Sugiarti, frequently tense polemic. Not all whom he . Indonesians were as unequivocally manied in 1941 and who died in committed to western style development, Los Angeles, USA, in 1952 and has two Indonesian nationalists were as children: Milta and Sri Artaria. His third frequently ath'acted to a cultural wife is a German academic her name fundamentalism built on the old Mal~ret Axer, who at the time of their Indonesian values. Movements such as maniage in 1953, was literary and Taman Siswa (Ki Hajar Dewantara's cultural editor of the Rhein Zeitung in cultural-nationalist movement) and the Coblenz, Germany. Takdir married with Moslem Muhammadiyah were deeply Mal~ret has four children: Tamalia, ambivalent about the ideas of people " Malita, Mal~a and Malio. such as Takdir, they sought political According to a short biography, nationalism thought cultural nationalism Takdir began Wliting for the nationalist and hence had a stmng conservative JURNPJ. fILS"AfAT. JUU 1997 35 inclination which valued the Indonesian "Were the Dutch education I helitage more than the Western promise. received, and the experiences on the These people approached the West and death of my wife which resulted in the its values tentatively, convinced that collection of poetry Tebaran Mega. they needed to consolidated the In my education as a teacher, which Indonesian-nest of their heritage before took nine years, I strongly felt the they could safely confront the onslaught influence of Dr. G.]. Nieuwenhnis, a ofthe new values. Ki Hadjar argued that reformer of Dutch education in Indonesia "we wish to retain our identity as long as in the '20's who emphasized the possible and to became part of the importance of personality in language higher unity only when we can make and other expressions. My law education ourselves felt as equals in relation'to from 1937 to 1942 opened for me the the other parts" (Dewantara, 1967: broad array of the social sciences and 161) but elsewhere he expressed a reinforced my scientific and deeper distrust of the new values: philosophical mind. Especially the "It was by popularizing western Hegelian Professor Eggens, who taught education that King intellect emel'8ed as Civil ------------ the autocrat, the dictator of our mind.