Entering upon Troublesome Years

by: Sunaryo Adhiatmoko

Jared Diamond, an evolutionary biologist, in his book entitled ‘’Collapse’’ (2005), includes Indonesia as one country with potential to be among the failure state. That is, as stated by Stoddard (2000), a state which is not able to fulfil their people’s basic needs adequately.

According to Diamond, indications of the failure state among other are: damaged ecological order directly causing impacts for flood and drought, global heating due to greenhouse effect, inharmonious bilateral or multilateral relation with neighboring countries, fragile social design, bad problem solving through legal, political, economical frameworks, and the weak trust and support for the legitimate government, mainly from the economical actors.

Hundreds million of the weak and weakened people (mustadh’afin), entered the year 2006 with increasingly bent back. Burdened with rocketing increase of oil prices twice, during the year 2005 (March and October) with its domino effects’.

The nature showed its anger through disaster by disaster as if she wished to cry the sorrow of mustadh’afin. Among those disaster the biggest one are : January 2nd : Flood struck Panti, Jember, East Java; January, 4rd: Lanslide flushed Sijeruk, Banjarmangu, Banjarnegara, Middle Java ; January 21st: Flood immersed Sambelia, East Lombok; January 24rd: Flood raged in Galengdowo (Jombang), Medowo (Kediri), and Wonoagung (Malang); 27 January: Flood sank Semarang City; 14 February: Flood hit Tanawangko, Minahasa; 21 February: Landslide buried Ranomuut, Manado; 25 February: Flood crushed Kudus, Middle Java ; 6 April: Flood beat Bima District, NTB; 20 April: Flood and landslide encircled Trenggalek, East Java; 14 May: Merapi Volcano exploded; 27 May: Earthquakes shaked Yogyakarta and Middle Java; 29 May: Hot mud began flooding Sidorajo Jatim that is still out of control till now; 20 June: Flood and landslide buried Sinjai, Bulukumba, Bantaeng, Jeneponto, South Sulawesi ; 17 July: Earthquake and tsunami struck the sourthern parts of Java Island; 20-25 June: Flood and landslide appeared in Tanah Laut, Kotabaru, Tanah Bumbu, South Kalimantan .

The year of 2006 closed, and the year of 2007 opened, with simultaneous accidents in lands, seas and air. Flood in Aceh Tamiang took the lifes of 81 people; Earthquake and landslide in Muara Sipongi, North Sumatera, killed 33 people; Landslide in Koto Baru, Solok caused 18 people died; The sink of Nusantara Ship in Jepara Sea made its 400 passengers lost; The lost of Boeing 737-400 aircraft owned by Adam Air caused 102 of its passengers and crews got lost; More than 100 thousand our pilgrimage to Mecca went hungry in Arafah due to mismanagement in catering services.

Observing disasters in Indonesia, Andre Vitchek, a novelist and senior fellow in Oakland Institute, United States, wrote a long essay appeared in two international newspapers, The International Herald Tribune and The Financial Times 12 February 2007. The title of the article was terrifying : "Indonesia: Natural Disasters or Mass Murder".

The crucial point, according to Vitchek, was that the various disasters occured in Indonesia, could surely be prevented. Or at least, the impacts could be minimized. But in his eyes such preventive efforts were not undertaken. Even, he says, there was negligent attitude towards dangerous potentials.

Oh Lord, all this reminds us to the message of your Prophet in one tradition related by Abdullah bin Umar ra: ‘’Oh people belong to flight from Mecca to Medina, there are five five from which I take refugee from Allah in order that you would not see them: not widespread adulteration among a group of people untill they do it openly, so that they would inevetably suffer from epidemy of varius diseases and starvation that never afflicts people before them; not a group of people reduce measurement, certainly they would be struck by famine, food shortage, and cruel authority; not a group of people reluctantly pay zakat – religious tax – out of their wealth, there must be no rain from the sky, if not olny because of animal, the rain would never be poured; not a group of people break their promises, Allah in certainty would make them under control of their enemies, who would rob their wealth grasped in their hands. And, as long as their leader do not enforce Allah’s laws and partially choose what Allah sent in His Book, Allah certainly would bring about violence among them." (HR. Ibnu Majah dan Hakim).