Gus Dur, Humor and Democracy

Kompas/Priyombodo

A mural of K.H. Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid decorates a wall of a coffee shop in the Karang Tengah district of Tangerang City, Banten, as seen on 30 May 2020. Gus Dur, the 4th president of the Republic of Indonesia, will always be remembered as part of the country’s journey in diversity, tolerance, and mutual respect, especially regarding minorities.

Democracy and humor run parallel each other. Like a ludruk (folk drama) play, politics is a fragment. Sometimes intriguing words is needed to create a relaxed atmosphere.

One day in mid-2001, famous artists and cultural figures visited Merdeka Palace, Jakarta. Sujiwo Tejo, Jaya Suprana, Darmanto Jatman, Garin Nugroho, Franz Magnis Suseno, Mudji Sutrisno and Greg Barton met with Indonesia’s fourth president, Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur.

There was no serious talk. The meeting was small and intimate. Even at the get-together, Gus Dur assumed the role of a cultural guru rather than president.

Also read : Feel Free to Laugh before Laughter Is Banned

Interestingly, during the over two-hour conversation, humor was the main topic of discussion. The artists and cultural proponents inquired about the reason for the loss of the sense of humor Gus Dur had been known for. In fact, humor is one of the methods of communicating messages desirably without giving rise to tension. What was Gus Dur’s answer?

According to Jaya Suprana, Gus Dur lessened humor as his distinctive trait in order to follow the advice of various circles. However, after receiving the input from the artists and cultural personalities, Gus Dur strived to revert to his typical humor in communication (Kompas, 9 June 2001).

It’s part of the story of humor from the palace. Gus Dur spared time to meet with the well-known artists and cultural elite.

Why is this so important? Humor or jokes constitute energy and seriousness in a different form. Social, political and cultural criticism can be conveyed in laughter through humor. As tension marks the process of democracy, messages in jokes serve as a middle course to keep maintaining the nation’s sanity.

I’m just wondering, while I have to be guided even to step forward, why are you asking me to go backward.

Democracy and humor parallel each other. The nation’s history has proven so.

When political muscles get strained, joking is a mean of breaking tension. Gus Dur frequently uttered combinations of words that invited laughter.

When he was once asked by demonstrators to step down, Gus Dur responded with ease, “I’m just wondering, while I have to be guided even to step forward, why are you asking me to go backward.” So was the way Gus Dur alleviated tension (Basyaib and Hermawan, 2010).

When meeting his colleagues, Gus Dur also often cracked jokes. As he went to see the family of Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie in Brussels, Belgium, for instance, Habibie asked about the jest Gus Dur made on his visit to Cuban President Fidel Castro. At the time, Gus Dur jokingly said among others that Habibie as president was “really crazy”.

To this question, Gus Dur diplomatically replied, “While President Sukarno was a statesman, Suharto a wealthy man, then Pak Habibie was scientist president. As for me, I’m just tourist president who likes roaming.” Instantly all those present burst out laughing as they heard Gus Dur’s joke, including Ainun, Habibie’s wife, who was under medical treatment.

Sense of humor

The jokes offered by Gus Dur seem to remind the nation of the great importance of humor to preserve the spirit of democracy in Indonesia. Humor has also become the nation’s cultural character already coexisting with society since centuries ago.

In its history, humor has always earned a place in every leg of the nation’s journey. Just take a look at Karmawibhangga at Borobudur Temple. A part of the relief bears the picture of street musicians and a man presenting a unique movement. The people in front of them are laughing. This may be a reflection of humor in the past (Nastiti, 2016).

In the era of Majapahit kingdom, records on humor or joking are also found in the Nagarakertagama manuscript. Jests were inseparable part of entertainment presented at royal parties.

In the modern era of imperialism, humor developed into a means of political criticism. Ludruk, for example, in the colonial government era was utilized to arouse the spirit of nationalism. In the period of Japanese occupation, ludruk fulfilled the purpose of promoting unity in the face of colonialism.

Today in contemporary historical records, humor remains applicable as a means of social and political criticism. Humor functions as a medium of conveying criticism without creating tension.

A satirical comedy was so popular in the television sketch Sentilan Sentilun several years ago. Public complaints were apparently represented by the typical rendering of famed cultural exponent Butet Kartaredjasa. “Urip kuwi mung mampir ngguyu (life is just a sojourn for laughter),” said Butet, who frequently made critical social and political remarks in a laughing tone (Kompas, 14 June 2013).

Satirical comedies in a modern format have been further growing by the concept of stand-up comedies. This model thrives and becomes an oasis amid the uproar of political tension that often pervades the public space. Not only political criticism, social criticism of reality in daily life is also frequently voiced by this concept.

KOMPAS/JB SURATNO

B.J. Habibie (right) embraces President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid (center) as he arrives at the inauguration of The Habibie Center on 22 May 2000, held in the Cendrawasih Room of the Jakarta Convention Center.

Satire

Sadly, these days the purity of humor as a tool of criticism seems to be tarnished. One example was when comic Gusti Muhammad Abdurrohman Bintang Mahaputra or Bintang Emon criticized the handling of Novel Baswedan’s case in his Instagram account via a comedy of satire. Not long after the comedy was launched, intimidation just appeared through social media.

After some time, it was the turn of Ismail Ahmad, a civil servant in Sula regency, North Maluku, who was summoned by the Sula precinct police. The reason was none other than his uploading in social media of the joke of Gus Dur concerning honest police officers.

Gus Dur indeed once made amusing criticism of honest police personnel. According to Gus Dur, only three police officers are honest in Indonesia: a police statue, a road traffic bump, and former National Police Chief General Hoegeng Iman Santoso. This sentence should certainly be understood as a constructive criticism in order to avoid misperception.

Democracy and humor are parallels rather than opposites.

It seems this has been the first time that the circulation of i Gus Dur’s satirical humor ended in police authorities. It is of course a tragedy amid the stagnation of democracy currently experienced by Indonesia. Fortunately this action has been straightened out and has not resorted to the legal institution.

Satirical jokes that result in a warning means a warning about the application of democracy. Its breath becomes a burst. Its practice means a stumbling block. If tolerated, democracy will be retreating, halting, even perishing.

Democracy and humor are parallels rather than opposites. The nation’s history has proven it. To this end, education in democracy is mandatory for citizens as well as members of the state apparatus.

Like a puppeteer in wayang (shadow puppet) shows, when the audience is getting tired, aren’t jokes presented to make the atmosphere ease off without ignoring the messages to be conveyed? (KOMPAS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION)