The Confrontation of Influences in Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesian society as it exists today is the result of many diverse influences: Hinduism and Islam have both been absorbed in a way which is uniquely Indonesian. The result, until the Dutch conquest, was a country where the basic values were those of co-operation, tolerance, and the avoidance of strife. Under the Dutch, Western culture arrived, but it arrived in the form of economic exploitation for the vast ma jority of Indonesians; education in the Western heritage was possible only to a few Indonesians in the latter part of Dutch rule. With the coming of independence Indonesia faces many problems, problems which are complicated by the cold war. As a young and growing nation, she has no desire to make any military alliance, but this does not mean that she is predominantly Communist or unsympathetic to Western ideas. In the future, the best possible thing for both Indo nesia and the United States would be an exchange of students. The future leaders of Indonesia must be given the time in this country to learn about America as a state of mind as well as about American medicine and engineering. In return, Ameri can scholars are welcomed in Indonesia in the hope that they will gain a similar understanding of the Indonesian culture. Indonesia cannot be expected to absorb all of Western culture, but she can gain much by assimilating those parts which she finds most valuable.—Ed.