#6. Long Term Survival Strategy for Indonesia

Walking down from one end of Sisingamangaraja XII Road to the other end in Medan, which is also the main street of the third largest city in Indonesia, gives visitors a flavour of what Medan aspires to achieve in socio-economic development. Many crumbling shophouses are being converted into air-conditioned shopping malls at a rapid rate. Diesel fumes from the zooming vehicles fill the humid tropical afternoon air. After just five minutes walking, my clothes were completely drenched in my own sweat. The afternoon heat coupled with the lack of street trees make the whole walking experience unbearable. I decided to stop for a cold Es Limau at an Indonesian warung before continue walking.

That was back in December 2012 when internet connection in Medan was still notoriously slow compared to the metropolises in Java Island like Jakarta and Surabaya. From what I observed as a visitor in Medan, the city is devoted mainly to primary (raw materials), secondary (manufacturing) and tertiary (services) sectors of economy. Not much attention is focused upon developing the quarternary (information services) and quinary (human services) sectors of economy as in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. As I was sipping the soothingly cold Es Limau, I was wondering how Indonesia manages its huge socio-economic disparities between its numerous cities scattered across the archipelago. Life in Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung is already world class for some of its citizens. However, the reality of the rapidly developing archipelagic nation is not as straightforward as is reflected by its development statistics. Indonesia has to constantly grapple with the stark socio-economic contrast between the richest and the poorest communities in every major city and across the archipelago since it ascends from the ashes of the Second World War besides having to face the deep psychological wound inflicted by the long period of Dutch colonial rule.

Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country on earth.

To be fair to Indonesia, the challenge it faces in lifting the majority of its population from abject poverty is unparalleled in terms of its geo-physical hindrances. It has 17,508 islands to manage. The task of bridging socio-economic gaps across the archipelago is both laboriously and politically difficult as it is almost impossible to construct an extensive land transportation network from one island to the next. Bear in mind that the majority of Indonesian landmasses is also located in the Pacific Ring of Fire. From an economic point of view, this hinders the economy of scale it is able to achieve as its geo-physical divide is too great. This divide essentially slices up its vast landmass and numerous population into a nation with many nations. Economy of scale can only be achieved when the vast majority of population in a country is able have access to an extensive transportation network that is also affordable. For Indonesia, this is just not the case. Domestic traveling in Indonesia can be as expensive as traveling in Europe due to its forbidding travel cost and the inconvenience of time.

For Indonesia, overcoming its geo-physical limitations for the socio-economic development of its 260 million people in its many islands is a Sisyphean task that hasn't been attempted by humanity to date. The traditional approach of connecting people to a single market using land, maritime and air transportation is just too financially expensive and environmentally unsustainable.

Indonesia must move beyond the traditional approach of connecting people with transportation network. Instead, it should focus more on the development of telecommunication, virtual reality and cyber security. Elevating telecommunication and relevant sectors to become sectors of national priority will not benefit Indonesia immediately, but in the long run, this will alleviate Indonesia off its long-standing anxiety in connecting people in a financially affordable manner. Instead of continuously imposing the Javanese-centric Transmigasi policy, connecting its culturally diverse population with world class telecommunication network will preserve the cultural essence of Indonesia, that is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, or 'unity in diversity' in Sanskrit-derived Old Javanese.

Let's face the reality, it is impossible to close the socio-economic gap between the numerous communities in Indonesia due to the immense magnitude of geo-physical hindrances it inherited as a nation from mother earth. However, this also opens up a policy window for Jakarta, Medan, Banjarmasin, Denpasar, Jayapura and Makassar to come together to work on a National Telecommunication Master Plan. Instead of being constrained by its geo-physical hindrances, Indonesia should harness this policy window to develop a telecommunication sector worthy of international attention. Southeast Asian cities close to the Indonesian archipelago such as Davao, Dili, Tawau, Kuching, Singapore, Melaka, Penang and Phuket should not be left out from this development ambition as some Indonesian cities are closer to cities from the neighbouring countries rather than Jakarta. In addition, technological transfer between various countries is able to foster socio-economic and cultural development with its Southeast Asian allies.

For Indonesia, developing its telecommunication sector is not just a matter of uniting its people at a fraction of cost on what could have been used for constructing its transportation network, but a survival strategy as a nation and for the collective well-being of ASEAN.