Sumatra LONG HISTORY OF POLITICAL REVOLT

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28552, 3 April 1958, Page 12

Sumatra LONG HISTORY OF POLITICAL REVOLT

[Specially written /or “The Press” by JOHN JOHNSON, M.A.I

It is not always realised that the new republic of Indonesia extends over an area comparable with the United States. So it is not surprising that there should be difficulty in achieving a peaceful unity of its various parts. The chief area of disaffection seems now to be the big island of Sumatra. The Dutch used to like to depict their rich domain as a “garland of emeralds flung round the equator,” which passes through the middle of Sumatra. As your vessel leaves Singapore for India, you spend many hours running up the coast of this heavily forested, steaming tropical island. It looks wild and remote. Yet today no less than 11 million people live there; it is very productive, and its quite big towns are highly civilised. It is comparable with New Zealand in length but is nearly twice the size. Java, its neighbour, though only a third as big, houses a probable population of over 50 million, on 51.480 square miles, an area comparable with our South Island. This is becauA Java possesses as much agricultural land as forest land, whereas only 10 per cent, of Sumatra is arable land, a much lower figure than in New Zealand. Rich Vegetation Sumatra has a vast mountain range as a continuous backbone or barrier lying near and dropping abruptly to the west coast; and there are belts of wild marshes on the inner eastern side which have not yet been drained. Like our South Island, these mountains rise to a height of 12.000 feet, but they contain many active volcanoes; and from them flow eastward navigable rivers. The Japanese, during their occupation, introduced fishing here; it is likely to spread to tne marshes as they become stocked. Sumatra is separated from the mainland of Asia by a narrow channel. A few hundred feet below the surface of the sea it is joined to Asia, and possibly also to Australia, via the long chain of islands that are said to have made a land bridge as late as the second century. A.D. The population consists chiefly of Malayans, partly Caucasoid m composition, and they are not Indonesian or Polynesian, as elsewhere, which gives us one reason for their desiring independence.

With a hot, wet climate—there are two monsoons—and rich volcanic soil, Sumatra has a very rich flora, with great areas of tropical rain forests and thick grasses in the clearings. Tropical fruits such as mangoes, coconuts, and breadfruit are common. There is a wonderful collection of large mammals—elephants, tapirs, tigers, rhinos, and every imaginable variety of monkey and deer, beautiful birds, bats, snakes, and crocodiles. The original inhabitants are said to have resisted attempts to develop plantations, which are still comparatively few. But high-quality tobacco is grown, coffee and pepper. much rubber, and an oil palm introduced from West Africa. Rice is the basic food. Minerals are probably plentiful, as they are increasingly worked: coal, iron ore, and the valuable manganese. But petroleum takes the lead, up to 70 per cent, of Indonesia's production coming from this island.

The towns, because of European influence, are mainly trading centres. Paiembang (125,0001, on the river Moesi in the south, aspires to junior university colleges; Medan, the chief town (90.000), is inland, more to the north, with a port of Belawan. In the west is Padang (60.0001, which is aspiring to a school of law, and which has a port, Emrnahaven. The Dutch Arrive Away back in 1000 A.D. a Sumatran king ruled the seas for many miles around; and in the fourteenth century we hear of the country's people struggling for control with the Javanese, out of which they came under the latter’s sway for 200 years, till the Dutch arrived in 1595. Later on. they were, for a time, almost British, after the Dutch had suffered defeat at the hands of the British. It is doubtful if the Dutch brought much pressure to bear on their colonists, and round 1830 we find the Sumatrans in rebellion against the Dutch with sporadic outbreaks that lasted till as late as 1904 this in west Sumatra, or Meankabau, and particularly among the Achinese in the north. In 1947 they were again vigorously resisting the Dutch. So we must realise that it is nothiftg' new for Sumatrans to be in a state of rebellion, or defending their independence. The photographs of their leader and his family in a recent issue of "The Press” will show they do not lack intelligence.

Religion also plays a part in tne struggle. About 1000 A.D. they followed the Mahayanist Buddhist religion; but later Mohammedanism came down through traders, and today apparently most of the Sumatrans are Moslems of a very fanatical type. But the island has definite Christian areas, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, and it is said that these are characterised by high literacy, initiative, and concern for their country; and a number get to high positions in the public service. At one time the Cabinet of the Republic contained four Christians. The idea.l of a Moslem. State has been raised in the past: it may, indeed, come up again. Wave of Nationalism

Economically Sumatra, with its rich production for export, seems to be potentially better off than Java, and has rather resented tne central government's toll on ner resources. Some of the Sumatrans are against the trade relations with Russian Communists whicn the central government has promoted; but, on the other hand, it has been reported that the "rebels” are being supplied with arms and supplies from Communist China, though America is also reported to be in the background. The real issues are in the struggle, and how serious it is, do not yet seem apparent. Right through south-east Asia in recent years there has been a wave of nationalism. This can be expressed by minorities as well as majorities; by small countries as well as large, of which Sumatra seems to be one. Outside influences may also be at work. Whatever the case, most people in New Zealand will be happy at the course advocated and advised to S.E-A.T.O. by our own Prime Minister, Mr Nash, of non-inter-vention, as far as military action is concerned. The way then is open for negotiation when the right time comes. For some years the Indonesian Parliament has considered regional autonomy. The failure of the central government to move fast enough and far enough in this direction has resulted in these recent efforts by regional military commanders to secure autonomy. Nations of the West need to be careful in interpreting these events as dissatisfaction with freedom, or a desire to move back into the colonial past. These declarations are an almost inevitable by-pro-duct of the Independence movement itself, which stopped short of giving to the people in the outer provinces what they thought had been the object of the revolt. There is every reason to believe that the Indonesian leadership, which was clever enough to outwit the Japanese and the Dutch, will ultimately prove competent to resolve these internal conflicts, which probably sound more important in newspaper headlines than when viewed from inside Indonesia.