History Of RT/RW: Starting From Japan Confirmed New Order

YOGYAKARTA Neighborhood Associations (RT) and Citizens Associations (RW) are part of community institutions at the village/kelurahan level. This RT/RW is in direct contact with the community to help local and national governments to capture aspirations to socialize programs from the government. Apart from its function, do you know the history of RT/RW is often associated with Japanese occupation relics in Indonesia?

Many sources say that the beginning of the formation of RT and RW was linked to Japanese occupation in Indonesia. On the official website of Sidokumpul Village, Gresik Regency, for example, it is explained that the forerunners of RT and RW will start from two community social grouping systems, namely Tonarigumi and Azzazyokai.

Tonarigumi is a community system that divides households into small groups containing 10 to 20 households. This system is implemented to monitor residents' behavior, seek military information, and as public control.

Meanwhile, Azzazyokai is a higher-level community system above Tonarigumi. This system is implemented to strengthen Japanese military control, compliance, and supervision of indigenous peoples. This system is also used for other purposes, such as mobilizing war, gathering forced labor, protecting environmental security, and much more.

In an article entitled QUo Vadis Local Neighborhood Association (RT/RW)? by Eko I. Survivianto (Jurnal of Administrative Sciences:2008), it was said that there was research that stated that public acceptance in Indonesia of the system brought by Japan turned out to be reasonable.

The Japanese system against the formation of Tonarigumi and Azzazyokai is considered similar to the socio-cultural and political backgrounds in Indonesia, especially Yogyakarta.

Prior to the implementation of Tonarigumi and Azzazyokai in 1943, there was already the forerunner of associations or other social associations such as sinoman, prelengan and so on. This grouping has made the community group division system from Japan well accepted by the people in Indonesia.

After Indonesia proclaimed its independence, the concepts of Tonarigumi and Azazyookai were not immediately thrown away. The Indonesian government actually adapts the concept to become Neighborhood Rukun (RT) and Village Rukun (RK) but with different functions.

In the era of Japanese colonialism, the functions of Tonarigumi and Azazyookai were related to colonial activities such as romusha mobilizators or other colonial needs. In contrast, the concept of RT and RK was changed to become public servants or provide protection for insurgents, and so on. The functions of RT and RK at that time were also still experiencing adjustments considering that the government at that time was not really strong and stable.

RT/RW began to become part of the government ahead of 1960 to 1989 in the era of guided democracy and the New Order. The inauguration of RT/RW as part of the government bureaucracy occurred after the issuance of Minister of Home Affairs Regulation Number 7 of 1983 which stipulated that the Rukun Tetangga/Rukun Warga became an extension of the government bureaucracy without changing its status as a social institution.

That's information related to the history of RT/RW. Visit VOI.id to get other interesting information.