Thought
Yogyakarta The City Of Tolerance
Since
I live in Indonesia,
migration issues become one of the social phenomenon’s that receives
considerable attention. Why do people migrate from one region to another?
People would probably say to seek opportunities for a better life, or others
would say to fulfill their educational purposes. Let us talk a closer look at Indonesia.
As human beings, being wealthy is one
of our goals, and one of the means to attain this goal is through migration.
Migration refers to habitually moving from one place to another especially in
search for seasonal work. Migration can be international (movement to different
countries) or internal (movement within a country, often from rural to urban
areas) for example: in Indonesia some people
often move from rural area such Kalimantan, Irian Jaya to Urban area including
Jakarta or Jogja because jakarta, Jogja
and some urban area implies better opportunities including economic, education,
and etc means that Migrants travel in many different ways and for many different
reasons to raise their living standards because fact tells most all of the
multinational company are stand over there, thus opening up opportunities for
their children, away from hunger, social conflict, and poverty. Being aware of
the benefits of migration, this motivates people to move to another region. One
thing left is People migrate for
political reasons. political migration refers to the movement due to political
/ religious issues or ethnic persecution within the country.
Indonesia
is the fourth most populated nation in the world almost 86 percent are muslims
and the country is separated by seas. The largest population is in Java with
130 million inhabitants. Indonesia
has 17,000 islands extending 5,150 kilometres (3,200 miles) east to west.
Ethnically, this country is highly diverse, with over 580 languages, and
dialects- but only 13 have more than one million speaker such as madura language, Sundanese (west java) language, Sumatra language, Klaimantan language,
Irian
Jaya language and many more[1].
In this stage we can see how plural Indonesia is . It is generally
assumed that the higher the diversity, the higher the risk for conflicts to
occur. This is because diffent areas contain different cultures and while many
people are moving from one to another place, different cultures are confronted
with each other and their values are placed under great tension.
From
psychological standpoint, conflicts occur because of social categorization,
which is distinguished by inter-group relationships. Studies on emotional
experience reveal this phenomenon . When participants experienced more anger
when they categorized themselves as members of the harmed group compared to
when they did not. Thus social categorization dictated the participants
emotional reaction to the situation. Conflict strongly relates to negative
emotional reactions since conflicts are fueled by outburst of anger frustration
and enmity.
Conflicts
marked with social categorization are common place in Indonesia since 1996
several cases erupted for instance in East
Timor, Irian Jaya, and Aceh which
were aggravated by separatist movements, and later on ethnic conflicts sucha as
Poso and Sampit which involved
massacres of Madura ethnic groups
living in the Kalimantan region. People were killed with brutal
massacre and it became national news at the time, Below I will show you the
ethnic conflicts record since 1970 –
2000
No
|
Parties
Involved
|
year
|
Victim
|
1
|
Colonial
Government - Ethnic China
|
1730
|
10.000
were die
|
2
|
China -
Indonesia
|
1913
-1914
|
Unidentified
victim but according to Rickfles (1991) There was involved massacres of China ethnic groups around Indonesia
|
3
|
Indonesia
Troops - China
|
1959
- 1965
|
Almost
119.ooo china ethnic groups were deported to China
|
4
|
Dayak
- Madura
|
1933
|
25
Madura ethnic groups were captured
|
5
|
Dayak
- China
|
1967
|
1 Dayak ethnic were die
|
6
|
Dayak
- Madura
|
1967
|
300
China
ethnic groups were die and 55.000 evacuated
|
7
|
Dayak
- Madura
|
1968
|
1 Dayak ethnic was die
|
8
|
Dayak
- Madura
|
1976
|
1 Dayak ethnic was die
|
9
|
Dayak
- Madura
|
1977
|
1 Dayak ethnic was die
|
10
|
Dayak
- Madura
|
1979
|
40
Dayak and Madura ethnic groups were die
|
11
|
Dayak
- Madura
|
1996-1997
|
300
people from both sides, Dayak, and Madurese were killed, 2000 missing and
1500 people displaced
|
12
|
Riots
|
1998
|
1000
ethnic Chinese victims of violence, and sexual harassment, reportedly
hundreds of them died
|
13
|
Melayu
- Madura
|
1999
|
3 people
from Madura were die and 9000 people are returned to Madura
|
14
|
Dayak
- Madura
|
2000
|
2000
Madura ethnic were die and 10.000 returned to 1000 ethnic Chinese victims of
violence, and sexual harassment, reportedly hundreds of them Madura
|
From
case to case , migrants issues drawn significant attention to the government.
However Differences are apparent from one region to another. Lets take an
example of Yogyakarta, the place I live in, Once people Indonesia hear about Yogyakarta
, the first thing that comes up in mind is “ Student City” . Why? Because since Indonesia
independence, Yogyakarta became a center of educational progress in Indonesia.
With
a variety of roles, the city of Yogyakarta, a destination for many people from
other regions, both students studying in Yogyakarta or tourist, allow
acculturation to take place since it allows the contact between the local Jogja
community with the settlers who originate from several different cultures.
Therefore, Jogja of which is indeed a small town can serve a model for
Indonesia’s national motto “Bhinekka
Tunggal Ika” (Unity in
Diversity) in addition to promote such international values of tolerance. This
is particularly considering the several cultures that are present in this small
city.
Pluralism in Yogyakarta,
especially with regard to cultural diversity, should be viewed as a positive
element to create a harmonious society. The embodiment of pluralism in the Yogyakarta
community is rooted in the philosophy that fosters a sense of divinity and
builds a sense of humanity rather than a religious sense. If such aspects are
acknowledged, this would enable a harmonious society.
Seen from the community only, Jogja
impressively retains its customary rules, as well as the visible presence of
the palace that still exists. The culture of Yogyakarta
as Javanese society in fact is still bounded by customary rules. However, even
by holding and preserving the traditional rules of Java, Yogyakarta
society can accept from outside the cultural differences brought by the
settlers. That's because the basic principles of Java which does not
necessarily behave in accordance to ethnocentrism.
The existence of the place in the
midst of globalization is a unifying symbol that can accept openly culture from
the outside. With the principles of the spirit based on the philosophy Hamemayu Hayuning Bawana (Maintaining good relations with human
beings, fellow creatures,
the universe and with the Almighty)
and Hamangku-Hamengku-hamengkoni
( throne For the
People, and Welfare). Sultan Yogyakarta as a symbol of cultural leaders to protect
both their own community as well as newcomers. So , with a variety of existing
diversity, peace and a sense of unity as a community, Jogja remains lively.
Based on my experience, Isaw so many
people from do many region come and study. It reflects my life studying in Atmajaya University
in Yogyakarta, most of my friends come from various regions in Indonesia including Madura, West Java, East
Java, Kalimantan, Sumatra, Makasar or even
Papua. Further more people from abroad visit Yogyakarta coming from Germany, France,
Australia, United States, Japan,
China,
and many more. Something that I never expect is that they visit this city and
exhibit a strong desire to know more about Yogyakarta, so here is my turning
point to contribute something to them, something that people never expect that
this is fundamental to mitigate the risk of migration issues, as aJogja person
we have a concept of “ Rukun”(Harmony). For me , as a Javanese harmony is the
core of the life balance.
Furthermore we can say that harmony
is the essence of the Javanese culture. This is confirmed further by Mulder in
his mysticism and the daily life of the Javanese that the ideals of Javanese
society is essentially a harmonious society .For the Javanese, social harmony or harmony is a big series for the
welfare of living together. Because welfare is an absolute bound on social
harmony, among others the divine, nature and fellow human beings. Thus it
becomes clear the important role of social harmony.
In Understanding the concept of
harmony we will depart from the two values which are highly respected by the Javanese
community proven by tne Japanese friends of me Ai Sigiura Internship in a Japanese NGO APEX
(Asian People Exchange) testify that Yogyakarta was enlightening. It took a
long time but I realized people were much happier here than in Paris
or Brussels or
any cities they lived in. At first, the difference of the meaning of time was
very challenging and frustrating for me, but I realized that people here are
living in the present and enjoying the present and therefore, they manage to be
happier.
Those
values are harmony and respect. Both these values are highly respected by the
people of java in the dynamics of everyday life. In addition, with the theme of
harmony, both these values are discussed with a clear concept of harmony.
According to ho hildered Geertz, the principle of harmony and respect in the
java community is the basic principle of the most decisive in the lifestyle of
the people of Java.
First,
the value of harmony. Javanese community holds that the pillars are prerequisites
to maintain the condition of a harmonious society, peace, safety, and without
conflict. Javanese community did my best to maintain harmony in their
environment. How is it possible to expand this concept of harmony to a wider
community.
Important
to note that the individual I deemed not very important in social standing.
Individuals should always seek a broader social concern and not his own
personal. Each person obliges others not to disrupt the social balance by
ambition or personal interests. So in the end we can see that the culture in
place people leaving is actually bring the change people mindset and attitude
and one of recommend and I I already prove that we as the youth is
the agent of change, we just don’t realize that with Javanese culture reflect
the universal positive message on how to be open mind and tolerance to everyone
because from here we are prepared as community, community that is ready to face
the globalization without considering who we are and we are from.
[2] Todd D. Nelson Prejudice, Stereotyping, and
Discrimination (2009) Empirical Support for Intergroup Emotion Theory. No.289,
2009
[3] M.C.
Ricklefs (1991), and Ainul Yaqin (2005)
[4] Dr. Purwadi, M. Hum. & Drs. Djoko Dwiyanto, M. Hum., Filsafat dan Ideologi ,2006
[5] (Mulder, 1983).
[6] hildered Geertz (1985, Keluaraga Jawa (Javanese Family))
Comments
Post a Comment