Mapping the Sovereignty:
Strengthening Nationalism through a Geospatial-based, Crowdsourced Mobile Application I Made Andi Arsana1
Introduction
Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country in the world with more than 17,000 islands and two third of its territory is water. For its geographical location, Indonesia shares ocean with at least ten neighbors namely India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Timor Leste.2 Even though Indonesia has settled, fully or partially, maritime boundaries with seven neighbors, many more have yet to be finalized. It has been evident that pending maritime boundaries can cause tension with neighbors. In addition to large geographical area, Indonesia is also diverse in nature, religion, ethnicity, and culture. While this diversity can be a blessing for Indonesia for it brings richness, the complexity can also cause problems.
This essay argues that Indonesian people need to properly understand the complexity and diversity of Indonesia to be able to the right play roles. On the other hand, it is evident that people, especially the youths, are lack of comprehensive understanding of Indonesia. They tend to be more self-centered, ignorant and pragmatic, due to, among other things, the extensive use of information and communication technology (ICT) and digital social media. Rapid development of ICT and digital social media is a two-edged sword. On one hand it enables people to easily access information; on the other hand it can easily mislead the society for inappropriate information it provides. This lack of understanding also affects the way people respond issues on sovereignty and sovereign rights, for example. It is unfair however to blame only the youths for the situation. It appears that the absence of reliable, easy-to-access and comprehensive sources of information is a key contributing factor. This essay further argues that the establishment of an information system utilizing ICT and digital social media can be a solution.
Understanding the Complex and Diverse Indonesia
Pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Indonesia is entitled to all waters around its islands and beyond within certain breadth.3 However, for Indonesia is not alone in the region, it shares maritime areas with neighbors, with which maritime boundaries need to be settled. It has also been evident that pending maritime boundaries with neighbors can spark tension. The case of Ambalat block dispute in the Sulawesi Sea,4 incident in the Strait of Malacca involving
1
PhD Student at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, Australia. Email: madeandi@ugm.ac.id.
2Oegroseno, A.H., Indonesia’s Maritime Boundaries, in Cribb, R. and Ford, M., Indonesia beyond the water’s
edge- Managing an archipelagic state (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009) p. 54. 3
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Dec. 10, 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 397 [hereinafter UNCLOS]. 4
fishermen and patrolling officers5 and seizure of fishermen around Timor Sea6 are three examples of the consequences of these yet-to-be-settled boundaries.
Not only large geographically, Indonesia is also naturally and culturally diverse. Administratively, Indonesia consists of 34 provinces, 508 regencies/cities and thousands of villages.7 Indonesia is the fourth most populous country after China, India and the USA.8 With hundreds of local languages spoken throughout the archipelago,9 Indonesia is a truly diverse country. Unlike in Europe where visiting different places is reasonably affordable, it is not easy to find Indonesians who have privilege to have visited more than ten provinces in their entire life. While a seven-minute walk from Monte Carlo, Monaco can bring one to a restaurant in Beausoleil, France,10 a two-hour flight only brings us from one province to another in Indonesia. Large territory and complex geographical configuration are challenges in themselves. Yet, despite all the differences and challenges, Indonesia is a single united country. No matter how different the culture in Papua compared to that in Banten, for instance, they are all Indonesians. No matter how different the way Balinese practice their religion compared to our fellow Muslims in Java, they all salute the same red-white flag of Indonesia’s.
Indonesia is undoubtedly a large and diverse country. It begs a question how well Indonesians understand their country. If inter-provincial travel is not affordable for many, it is likely that many Indonesians do not have first-hand experience to visit places far away from their home. With economic disparity among Indonesian people, some might have the privilege of extensive travel but others are unlikely to have the opportunity. I have to admit that by the age of 30 I visited only Bali, Java, Lombok, Timor, and Kalimantan. I believe, in this case, I represent the majority of the Indonesian people.
Regarding issues on sovereignty and sovereign rights, people also tend to be lack of understanding. When the issue of Ambalat in the Sulawesi Sea sparked in 2005, for example, people tended to be emotionally reactive. It was easy for people to shout “Ganyang Malaysia” (crush Malaysia) without
5
For a comprehensive discussion on the incident in the Strait of Malacca on 7 April 2011, see, Arsana, IMA., “Good Fences Make Good Neighbours: Challenges and Opportunities in Finalising Maritime Boundary Delimitation in the Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia”, Proceeding of The 2nd CILS Conference 2011: International Conference on ASEAN’s Role in Sustainable Development, 21-22 November (2011), Yogyakarta.
6
Kompas, Polisi Timor Leste Tangkap Enam Nelayan Indonesia[Timor Leste’s police office captured Indonesian fishermen], available at
<http://internasional.kompas.com/read/2012/02/04/14025528/Polisi.Timor.Leste.Tangkap.Enam.Nelayan.Ind onesia>, on 20 July 2013.
7
Ministry of Home Affairs Directorate General of Regional Autonomy, Daftar Jumlah Provinsi, Kabupaten/Kota Seluruh Indonesia [List of Provinces, Regencies/Cities in Indonesia], available at
<http://otda.kemendagri.go.id/images/file/new_data/daftar%20jumlah%20prov.pdf>, on 20 June 2013. 8According to the World Bank, Indonesia’s population of
2012 is 246,864,191, which is the fourth in the world after China (1,350,695,000), India (1,236,686,732) and the United States of America (313,914,040). See, The World Bank Data: Population, Total, available at <http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL> on 12 July 2013.
9
According to Ethnoloque: Language of the World (2012) there are 726 languages in Indonesia as quoted in Sugiyono, Pelindungan Bahasa Daerah dalam Kerangka Kebijakan Nasional Kebahasaan [The Protection of Local Languages in the National Policy Framework of Linguistics] (Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, 2012).
10
adequate knowledge on the issue. Many even thought that Ambalat is an island, for example, which is not the case.11 Some others provided their autograph in blood and were ready for a war since they believed that Malaysia crossed maritime boundary in the area where Ambalat is.12 They did not even understand that there is no border yet between Indonesia and Malaysia in the Sulawesi Sea.13
The aforementioned cases are only examples. There are a lot more cases indicating that lack of understanding on the diversity and complexity of Indonesia can lead to inappropriate reactions in facing issues related to sovereignty and sovereign rights. Land borders issues in Borneo, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea,14 fishermen captured around maritime borders,15 and misunderstanding on the issue of sovereignty over islands16 are just to name a few. On the other hand, mainstream media do not always succeed in providing balanced and objective information about Indonesia and cases it faces. It is not uncommon that online news portals are provocative and often cause hatred instead of empathy. Put simply, Indonesian people need a good source of information to better understand their country with complex issues on sovereignty and sovereign rights.
Trend in the Use of ICT and Digital Social Media
It has been evident that the use of ICT is developing rapidly in Indonesia. The utilization of computer and its variants (tablet, mobile phone, etc) is increasing from time to time. Networked Society City Index by Ericson, for example, ranked Indonesia 17th in the world.17 A report from The Economist confirms that the business value of mobile ICT hardware coupled with high interest in using digital social media is significantly high. An ICT company based in Singapore and operating in Indonesia recorded around USD 2.8 billion in the first trimester of 2010.18 A recent report from Forbes names Jakarta the most active Twitter city in the world, confirming the high use of
social media in Jakarta and Indonesia in general.19 The same report also reveals that Bandung is the sixth in the world, ahead of Paris and Los Angeles.
11
See, Indosiar, Profile Pulau Ambalat [Profile of Ambalat Island], available at
<http://www.indosiar.com/fokus/profile-pulau-ambalat_80506.html>, on 23 June 2013. 12
See, Antara, 2 June 2009, Membela Ambalat dengan Nasionalisme Cerdas [To Defend Ambalat with Smart Nationalism], available at <http://www.antaranews.com/view/?i=1243945492> on 2 July 2013.
13
See above note 4. 14
See, Sutisna, S. and Widodo, K., “Permasalahan Penegasan Batas Internasional Darat dan Alternative Solusinya” [Problems of Land Boundary Demarcation and their Alternative Solutions], Proceeding of Seminar and Workshop “Border Area Management” Department of International Relation, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional ”Veteran” (Yogyakarta: 2008).
15
See, Arsana, I M. A., Why fishermen are captured around the borders, The Jakarta Post, 12 March 2012, Jakarta.
16
See, Arsana, I M. A., Miangas Island? No worries!, The Jakarta Post, 3 March 2009, Jakarta 17
See, Ericson Networked Society City Index. Available at <http://www.ericsson.com/networkedsociety/city-index/> on 20 June 2013.
18
Digital economy rankings 2010: Beyond e-readiness - A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. Available at <http://graphics.eiu.com/upload/EIU_Digital_economy_rankings_2010_FINAL_WEB.pdf>, on 30 June 2013.
19
While the extensive use of mobile ICT can accelerate information dissemination, it may also build ignorance among young people.20 It is not uncommon to see young people paying more attention to their mobile phone compared to people around them. There is an understanding
that digital social media brings distant friends closer but makes close friends distant. For Indonesia with large geographical areas and variety of nature, people, and culture, this habit is certainly unhelpful. To an extent, this may worsen the situation when it comes to understanding the complex and diverse Indonesia.
Mapping the Sovereignty
The question is how to enhance people’s understanding on the complexity of Indonesia amid the fact that youths tend to be self-centered, ignorant, and pragmatic. This essay argues that Indonesia needs to make use of youth habit in extensive use of mobile technology and digital social media. Indonesia needs a mobile application system from which people can obtain information regarding sovereignty and sovereignty rights of Indonesia instantly. In short, Indonesia needs an application system accessible through mobile ICT devices from which necessary information to understand the complex and diverse Indonesia can be obtained. Not only does the system provide information, it also has to allow people to contribute information.
The system needs to be a geospatial-based application where map is the main platform. It should contain a comprehensive Indonesian map with description and relevant data, accessible for free thorough mobile gadget with different operating systems. The map may be based on free maps such as Google Maps that allows users to dive down into very detailed geographical coverage and obtain information about such geographical areas. For example, when someone needs to know the major sources of income of people in Tegaljadi Village in Tabanan, Bali, he or she can search or zoom into the map to find the village and obtain the information. For it is a geospatial-based (map) system, it will be easier for users to find information based on geography or location. Imagine, such map contains different layers of information: politics, economy, social, culture, security and defense that can be activated or deactivated.
Where does the information come from? It comes from the people. The system relies on crowdsourced information provided by users. In this case, the system will allow users from around the globe to contribute to the map. The crowd will be able to update information on particular topic for particular location/region in the map. With this approach, information gathering will be faster as a large number of people can work together simultaneously for the system. People residing in Papua can contribute information for Papua and surrounding areas while people living in Sabang will update information for greater Sabang. In a short period of time, the amount of information gathered can be enormous. More importantly, the information gathered and submitted to the system is up-to-date for it is gathered by people in the field in a real-time manner. The system should be equipped with an interactive module by which user can contribute easily, as easy as updating status on Facebook21 or broadcasting on Twitter22.
20 See, France, A., Understanding Youth in Late Modernity. McGraw-Hill International, 2007. 21 See, Facebook, available at <http://www.facebook.com>.
22
How about the quality and validity of information? The system should also allow users to evaluate existing information contributed by other users. For this purpose, users have to be registered for identification. One user can flag that particular information as inappropriate or give an endorsement/like, similar to the rules applicable to other social media. By evaluating the number of flags particular information has received, the system can decide whether to retain, delete or suspend the information. A video in YouTube, for example, is classified as inappropriate based on number of flags it has received.23 Furthermore, the system can also adopt the approach used by Wikipedia where users can edit or update existing information.24 To make it better, users can be classified into different categories with different privilege so there will be contributors, editors, and administrators. The assignment of privilege is based on number of endorsements/likes or flags a user has received through information he/she has contributed. The more endorsement a user receives the more/higher privilege he/she will receive and vice versa. Figure 1 illustrates a simulation of a geospatial-based, crowdsourced mobile application called MyIndonesia.
Figure 1 A Geospatial-based, crowdsourced mobile application of MyIndonesia25
23
See, Youtube: Flagging Content, available at <https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2802027?hl=en> 24
See, Wikipedia: Contributing to Wikipedia, available at
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contributing_to_Wikipedia>.
25 The figure is for illustrative purposes only and it does not reflect true information of associated geographical
