New 'Ambonese' identity may help keep peace

Ati Nurbaiti , The Jakarta Post , Ambon | Thu, 06/26/2008 10:39 AM | Potpourri

Strains of spirited hymns and the pop songs of Ambonese national legend Broery Pesolima fill the midnight air, while listeners across the road tap their feet and fingers.

But no one is clapping -- the brass band is accompanying a Christian service of mourners on this rainy night.

A boy rows his boat to shore in the district of Leihitu outside Ambon. Christian and Muslim areas like this one are no longer at war with one another.(JP/Ati Nurbaiti)

Almost 10 years after communal bloodshed erupted here, this scene, in what was a Muslim dominated area, is one of many hopeful signs the bad times can be left behind. "This wasn't possible before here," says a resident.

After enjoying the music my host takes me to a packed diner nearby famed for coto Makassar, a hot meaty soup, only one of a wide range of culinary choices in the Spice Islands.

There was a time when locally born Christians wanted the Makassar people of South Sulawesi kicked out with all the other immigrants, while Muslims wanted the Christians eliminated -- "even if we were formerly buddies often sharing one plate," said one former "jihadi".

Ships brimming with terrified people leaving their homes plied the routes from Ambon back and forth, even when the migrants knew no one in their ancestral homes, having been born and bred in Maluku.

If this had continued, it might have been the end of the delicious coto and many other dishes that town dwellers here grew up with.

Posters and old album covers adorn the wall at a coffee shop in Ambon. The Ambonese love and talent for music is famous throughout the country. Locals are rediscovering what they share regardless of ethnic origin and religion. (JP/Ati Nurbaiti)

Shared past traumas have led people to drop the labels of "Christian" and "Muslim", or the overlapping references to natives or immigrants, leading to what many hope may be a stronger new collective identity.

Now "people will instantly look around if anyone mentions 'Acang' and 'Obet'," says a resident, Nova Senduk. She's referring to the respective nicknames for Muslim and Christian males, Hasan and Robert, which in the years of the clashes became hate-symbols in a dangerously divided society.

"We no longer say we're Christian or Muslim -- we're Ambonese," she says.

Ambon remains the barometer for peace in the province, which is why officials are wary of the upcoming direct gubernatorial election. But they also share cautious confidence with residents, as the past few years have seen comparatively smooth direct elections for the Ambon mayor and several regents, and more local elections are scheduled.

The only major problem was the North Maluku gubernatorial election in which Jakarta's intervention was far from firm, leading to squabbles among party supporters.

The absence of a firm role by the central government to protect citizens during the years of violence led activists to accuse the central government of gross violations of human rights. Locals estimate that up to 50,000 people were killed across the province between January 1999 and 2002.

Many families fled and settled in Jakarta and other towns. Of those who have not returned, people say one reason is their bad memories, another is the hostility of remaining local residents.

Sociologist Toni Pariela says local officials "gloss over the importance of sensitive issues like traditional property rights". Lack of clear property boundaries remains a source of tension, which is occasionally expressed in terms of religious friction.

Activists have tried to help revive the institution of kingship, the latupatty, so traditional leaders can help resolve local problems -- and keep them local. But their effectiveness might take time to restore. Experts say they lost authority under the New Order's monolithic bureaucratic rule.

Some people are still contesting land disputes over trees, now gone, that used to delineate property boundaries. Similar problems have arisen in land claims related to villages that were burned to the ground in clashes.

Toni shares the view that it was mainly popular support for moves toward peace that ended the violence. Others say that bringing the leaders of warring factions together, leading to the 2002 peace agreement, would not have been possible without Jusuf Kalla, who is now Vice President.

While colonial rule is blamed for the early separate zoning of Muslim and Christian areas, the nature of its continued significance is more debatable. These distinctions nevertheless helped fuel the conflict.

It’s the women who man one of the evening programs at a studio of the state-owned TVRI station in Ambon. During the conflict it was difficult for Muslim staff to access the office, located in what was a predominantly Christian area. (JP/Ati Nurbaiti)

Even without public disclosure of detailed investigations into the causes of the clashes, residents say that they belatedly realized there was "outside provocation".

Sporadic violence still erupted after the 2002 peace deal. When shooting occurred during an annual celebration of the Free Maluku Movement, peace activists were filming the event, and snipers were later spotted in the background. Trials have only managed to bring to book minor players in these events.

The documentary only repeated unanswered questions: who were these provocateurs, what was the guarantee that communal violence would never occur again and how could residents so easily forget centuries of what everyone thought was harmony?

"I've no idea (what caused the clashes)," says Namanu A. Azis, echoing others. "We were always close to each other" regardless of faith, she says. "Suddenly everyone became tigers in an orgy of terror."

Her house was among thousands reduced to ashes.

Any perception of religious segregation "is all in the mind", says Toni, who led the Christian delegation to the town of Malino in Central Sulawesi, where the peace agreement was signed. The mind is where "people must break down the differences".

The people of Maluku must realize that their identity includes both Islam and Christianity, he said.

"There cannot be one without the other," he said. Historians point to the introduction of both religions to the islands hundreds of years ago and the traditional inter-village ties of pela gandong. Locals and former residents recall how religious differences were irrelevant until 1999 -- "basically everyone just loved parties and being stylish even when they were poor", a journalist said with a laugh.

Nowadays, it's increasingly evident that what people have in common is an urgent need for improved public services and delivered promises.

Namanu, a Muslim, says her family has only received the initial part of promised funds for survivors to rebuild their razed homes, a complaint shared by many.

So out of five pairs of candidates for governor, has she made a choice?

"I'm not voting, I live in Surabaya now," she said on a flight from Ambon. Her nephews and nieces who were in elementary school in 1999 are still scared the clashes might recur, she said.

People say they can't keep pushing the government to bring those responsible to trial.

"If the government isn't serious people think we'll only have new problems with more rows about the past," said Zein Anwar, a radio and television talk show host in Ambon. With no adequate response to pressure to reveal the masterminds behind the clashes, people say it is now up to the central government to deal with, while the people just wants to move on.

But without knowing what and who disrupted the beauty of the islands, fears of recurring violence remain.

"At least leave us alone in peace" is the common attitude nowadays, says Toni. But Maluku's elite are also joining the political clamor for reformasi, with demands for new regions, which will bring either improved welfare -- or further struggles for power.

New leaders will learn the nitty-gritty of delivering pledges to voters. Current Ambon Mayor MJ Papilaya earned recognition from the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia, and is now serving his second term.

To the anger of many he doesn't care about being politically correct and weighing the need for Muslim-Christian "balance" and "proportionality" in the bureaucracy, another journalist said.

"He just picks the best people for the job."

The above report was written following an invitation to a workshop on covering Maluku, held by the Forum of Maluku Women Journalists in Ambon from June 6-8.

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