Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2010
Tasa Nugraza Barley -- Like any Indonesian, Endah Puspita, 27, was taught
growing up that she lived in a nation of friendly and polite people.
Recent events, however, have made her question if this reputation still
held true. "I'm extremely sad to see all these violent conflicts happening
in this country," said Endah, who works as a project administrator for a
multinational company in Jakarta.
She is not alone. More and more Indonesians are starting to become
apprehensive about the prevalence of violent events in the news every day.
Gracia Cassandra, a public relations practitioner in Jakarta, feels the
situation has gotten much worse. "I'm so angry with the current condition,"
she said, adding that many contentious issues need to be solved.
The numerous conflicts -- seen as mostly stemming from religious and ethnic
intolerance and a lack of respect for law enforcement -- have led many to
question whether the national motto, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in
Diversity"), is still something that Indonesians can be proud of.
Recent incidents have not supported the famous motto. In August, hard-line
Islamic groups were suspected to be behind a series of attacks on the Batak
Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) in Bekasi.
In late September, clashes erupted in Tarakan, East Kalimantan, between the
ethnic groups Dayak Tidung and Bugis. At least five people died as a
result. And in Hamparan Perak subdistrict outside Medan, an attack on a
police outpost left three officers dead.
There were more conflicts last week. First was a brawl involving two gangs
armed with firearms and machetes outside a South Jakarta court. Three
people died and dozens more were injured, with property ending up
vandalized along Jalan Ampera Raya.
In addition, the Ahmadiyah -- a minority Islamic sect deemed deviant by
many mainstream Muslims -- also fell victim when their mosque in Bogor and
some of their houses in the area were burned down.
Some experts have weighed in on the recent spate of events. Mohammad Kemal
Dermawan, a sociologist and criminologist from the University of Indonesia,
said the significant increase in violent acts can turn into an alarming
social problem.
He said things started to change after the Reform Era. "Under Suharto's
regime, people couldn't mess around," he said.
People have started to express their dissatisfaction in more harmful ways,
however, mostly because they don't trust law enforcers. Fostering peace
means giving the public "a fast and just method of dispute settlement,"
which they are not able to currently get.
Rather than endlessly wait, they choose to settle their disputes through
violent means instead. Kemal said the government must do more by finding
the root causes of problems and fixing them.
For Andi Ardillah Pratiwi, a psychologist from the University of Indonesia,
these recent incidents are pure acts of aggression.
And Andi said the seeming readiness to use violence as a tool presents a
real cause for concern. She said she finds the current atmosphere
frustrating because "there are actually many win-win solutions that people
can always use."
Andi said none of these incidents would have occurred if people were more
tolerant of each other's differences and set aside their prejudices. She
added that many of these prejudices were often proven to be based in
ignorance, but they were all too capable of stirring violence.
There may be many reasons for the current spike in violent disorder, and
these reasons vary from chronic poverty to inaction from the government,
depending on who one asks.
Gracia said poverty and lack of education may be why many people have
become intolerant of others. "When people are uneducated and poor, they are
easily provoked and manipulated," she said.
She said the government is blinded by the spirit of democracy and that it
must be able to differentiate between the expression of opinion and the act
of oppressing other people's rights and freedom. "Now we see radical groups
violating other groups' freedom while the government just remains silent.
This is very wrong," she said.
Though she confesses to not know much about politics, Endah said she still
can't understand why the government doesn't strictly punish troublemakers.
"The government should do better than this."
Oky Marzuki, a government employee, said the current education system
doesn't provide the early moral, mental and cultural development needed to
foster a sense of tolerance.
He believes violent TV programming is to blame for the current mood of
unrest. "The government must do something about this, otherwise our young
generation will be more violent," he said.
Andi agreed that poverty could easily trigger conflict. "Poverty can make
someone or some groups very frustrated," she said.
Based on the 2010 census, about 31.2 million of the 230 million Indonesians
still live below the poverty line. They earn less than Rp 167,000 ($19)
each month.
According to Andi, this wide gap between the reality that Indonesians are
currently experiencing and what they are hoping for can easily ignite anger
in stressful situations.
But Kemal does not agree that poverty is a key condition. "It might be a
contributing factor, I think, but it's not the only one," he said, adding
that poverty does not necessarily result in violence.
According to Kemal, the government must make sure that "the country's
ideology, such as Pancasila," must be thoroughly disseminated in society.
At the same time, officials have to rebuild their reputations and regain
the public's trust.
Andi thinks education is key to helping shape how people think. She said
Indonesian children should be taught that tolerance is a virtue. "They
should not only be taught theories, but also actual implementation," she
said.
Parents should teach their children about tolerance at home in creative
ways, she said, and children should learn about conflict resolution early
on.
The rash of conflicts are a bad reflection on government officials, she
said. "Instead of giving good examples to our young generation, our
officials have consistently shown bad examples."
Andi pointed out how lawmakers regularly fall into furious conflict with
each other. "If our officials keep fighting with each other, how can they
expect the people not to fight?"
Obviously, the issue runs deep and solutions to the matter are complex.
However, there is an Indonesian saying that goes, "Guru kencing berdiri,
murid kencing berlari" ("Students will look up to whatever their teachers
do").
The government, if they lead by example, will be able to effect a good
start, but ultimately, the burden for creating a tolerant and peaceful
society rests on the shoulders of all Indonesians.
Tasa Nugraza Barley -- Like any Indonesian, Endah Puspita, 27, was taught
growing up that she lived in a nation of friendly and polite people.
Recent events, however, have made her question if this reputation still
held true. "I'm extremely sad to see all these violent conflicts happening
in this country," said Endah, who works as a project administrator for a
multinational company in Jakarta.
She is not alone. More and more Indonesians are starting to become
apprehensive about the prevalence of violent events in the news every day.
Gracia Cassandra, a public relations practitioner in Jakarta, feels the
situation has gotten much worse. "I'm so angry with the current condition,"
she said, adding that many contentious issues need to be solved.
The numerous conflicts -- seen as mostly stemming from religious and ethnic
intolerance and a lack of respect for law enforcement -- have led many to
question whether the national motto, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in
Diversity"), is still something that Indonesians can be proud of.
Recent incidents have not supported the famous motto. In August, hard-line
Islamic groups were suspected to be behind a series of attacks on the Batak
Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) in Bekasi.
In late September, clashes erupted in Tarakan, East Kalimantan, between the
ethnic groups Dayak Tidung and Bugis. At least five people died as a
result. And in Hamparan Perak subdistrict outside Medan, an attack on a
police outpost left three officers dead.
There were more conflicts last week. First was a brawl involving two gangs
armed with firearms and machetes outside a South Jakarta court. Three
people died and dozens more were injured, with property ending up
vandalized along Jalan Ampera Raya.
In addition, the Ahmadiyah -- a minority Islamic sect deemed deviant by
many mainstream Muslims -- also fell victim when their mosque in Bogor and
some of their houses in the area were burned down.
Some experts have weighed in on the recent spate of events. Mohammad Kemal
Dermawan, a sociologist and criminologist from the University of Indonesia,
said the significant increase in violent acts can turn into an alarming
social problem.
He said things started to change after the Reform Era. "Under Suharto's
regime, people couldn't mess around," he said.
People have started to express their dissatisfaction in more harmful ways,
however, mostly because they don't trust law enforcers. Fostering peace
means giving the public "a fast and just method of dispute settlement,"
which they are not able to currently get.
Rather than endlessly wait, they choose to settle their disputes through
violent means instead. Kemal said the government must do more by finding
the root causes of problems and fixing them.
For Andi Ardillah Pratiwi, a psychologist from the University of Indonesia,
these recent incidents are pure acts of aggression.
And Andi said the seeming readiness to use violence as a tool presents a
real cause for concern. She said she finds the current atmosphere
frustrating because "there are actually many win-win solutions that people
can always use."
Andi said none of these incidents would have occurred if people were more
tolerant of each other's differences and set aside their prejudices. She
added that many of these prejudices were often proven to be based in
ignorance, but they were all too capable of stirring violence.
There may be many reasons for the current spike in violent disorder, and
these reasons vary from chronic poverty to inaction from the government,
depending on who one asks.
Gracia said poverty and lack of education may be why many people have
become intolerant of others. "When people are uneducated and poor, they are
easily provoked and manipulated," she said.
She said the government is blinded by the spirit of democracy and that it
must be able to differentiate between the expression of opinion and the act
of oppressing other people's rights and freedom. "Now we see radical groups
violating other groups' freedom while the government just remains silent.
This is very wrong," she said.
Though she confesses to not know much about politics, Endah said she still
can't understand why the government doesn't strictly punish troublemakers.
"The government should do better than this."
Oky Marzuki, a government employee, said the current education system
doesn't provide the early moral, mental and cultural development needed to
foster a sense of tolerance.
He believes violent TV programming is to blame for the current mood of
unrest. "The government must do something about this, otherwise our young
generation will be more violent," he said.
Andi agreed that poverty could easily trigger conflict. "Poverty can make
someone or some groups very frustrated," she said.
Based on the 2010 census, about 31.2 million of the 230 million Indonesians
still live below the poverty line. They earn less than Rp 167,000 ($19)
each month.
According to Andi, this wide gap between the reality that Indonesians are
currently experiencing and what they are hoping for can easily ignite anger
in stressful situations.
But Kemal does not agree that poverty is a key condition. "It might be a
contributing factor, I think, but it's not the only one," he said, adding
that poverty does not necessarily result in violence.
According to Kemal, the government must make sure that "the country's
ideology, such as Pancasila," must be thoroughly disseminated in society.
At the same time, officials have to rebuild their reputations and regain
the public's trust.
Andi thinks education is key to helping shape how people think. She said
Indonesian children should be taught that tolerance is a virtue. "They
should not only be taught theories, but also actual implementation," she
said.
Parents should teach their children about tolerance at home in creative
ways, she said, and children should learn about conflict resolution early
on.
The rash of conflicts are a bad reflection on government officials, she
said. "Instead of giving good examples to our young generation, our
officials have consistently shown bad examples."
Andi pointed out how lawmakers regularly fall into furious conflict with
each other. "If our officials keep fighting with each other, how can they
expect the people not to fight?"
Obviously, the issue runs deep and solutions to the matter are complex.
However, there is an Indonesian saying that goes, "Guru kencing berdiri,
murid kencing berlari" ("Students will look up to whatever their teachers
do").
The government, if they lead by example, will be able to effect a good
start, but ultimately, the burden for creating a tolerant and peaceful
society rests on the shoulders of all Indonesians.
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