By: Arifin *)
Located in one of the five largest islands in Indonesia, there in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago, with island shaped like the letter “K”, called the island of Sulawesi. On this island, there is a philosophy of life of a knight. This was adopted by the people in Southern Sulawesi, they are ethnic Bugis-Makassar. Tracing values in the society which is in the south of the island of Sulawesi, will be found in the basic way of life called Siri ‘ na Pacce.
Siri ‘ na Pacce, is a concept of culture in South Sulawesi, it has high noble values, jargon that reflects the character and identity of the ethnic Bugis-Makassar wherever they are. Philosophy of life which embedded as a teachings of ancestors hereditary for generations who regarded as foundation of moral ethics. Honesty, commitment, intelligence, policy, and uphold the dignity of humanity, achievement, prioritize obligations rather than rights, shame, have a high solidarity and future oriented.
In lafdzhiyah Siri’ means shyness (self-esteem), while Pacce or in Bugis language referred Pesse which means pain (hard , firm stance). So Pacce means a kind of emotional intelligence to feel pain or distress other individuals in the community (solidarity and empathy).
In Bugis and Makassar Culture, structure of Siri’ has four categories, namely Sir ‘ Ripakasiri ‘, is Siri ‘ which relates to personal dignity and self-esteem or dignity of the family.This Siri’ is taboo to do and can not be broken because at stake is a life. Second, Siri’ Mappakasiri’siri’ , associated with the ethic of work. In the philosophy of Bugis said , ” If you have no shame then borrow it from people who still have a sense of shame (Siri’). Likewise , ” If you have a sense of shame, so don’t do anything embarrassing”.
Third, Siri’ Tappela’ Siri’ (in Makassar) or Siri’ Teddeng Siri’ (in Bugis) means sense shame of someone disappearance because disturbed something else, for example someone who owe but can’t keep his promise when entering grace period.The last is Siri’ Mate Siri’ who has related by faith. In a view of the ethnic Bugis or Makassar , person who has this Siri’ is means that in their self there is no sense of shame anymore (faith) or in other words referred to as a walking corpse.
This philosophy has a close relationship with the attitude of a knight. Quoted from Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), said the knight is defined as the person, soldiers, officers who has courage, intrepid. Referring of these things, so spirited of knight means courageous, be brave to admit his own mistakes.Chivalry can be measured by how far he is willing to sacrifice self-interest, family and his group in the interests of the wider community.
Chivalry also can be measured by the extent to which he is thinking and place the interests of society above self-interest. In the true sense mean spirited of knight is ” caving in ” because more accentuate interests of others rather than self-interest. And, when errors and failures happen, he would be the one most responsible for the failure.
Peep our neighboring countries, moral lesson of Siri’ na Pacce from ethnic Bugis-Makassar it turned out has similarities with the Japanese Samurai Bushido spirit that emphasizes loyalty, justice, shame, manners, purity, simplicity, fighting spirit, and honor.
The spirit of shame , seems to have been shown by several world leaders who dare to admit his guilt. Not to be lost from our memory, in 2011, Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan finally chose to resign after failing to deal with the Fukushima nuclear disaster that exploded as a result of the earthquake and tsunami in his country. Not long after that, Reconstruction Minister of Japan, Ryu Matsumoto also step down on 12 September 2011, because his words that is considered to offend the tsunami victims.
Recently, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong -won resigned because of the tragedy of the sinking of the Sewol that makes hundreds of lives lost in april 2014. Another with Latvian Prime Minister, Valdis Dombrovskis resigned in November 2013 , after the supermarket roof collapse incident that killed 54 people. In fact, German President Christian Wulff on Friday, February 17th, 2011, also resigned, due to public pressure. The President entwined scandal who stating that he receives financial support from a businessman, despite the assistance he had received long before serving as president.
*) The Author Is Jakarta Regional Contributors