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M.P. Tumanggor: Pioneer of spiritual tourism

Every regent in Indonesia must understand the importance of religious tolerance among followers of different faiths

Benget Besalicto Tnb. (The Jakarta Post)
JAKARTA
Fri, February 20, 2009

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M.P. Tumanggor: Pioneer of spiritual tourism

Every regent in Indonesia must understand the importance of religious tolerance among followers of different faiths.

But only Master Parulian Tumanggor, the regent of Dairi regency, has acted on this understanding by pioneering the development of a unique spiritual tourist attraction.

The site, Taman Wisata Iman (TWI) Sidikalang in Sidikalang, North Sumatra, offers visitors the chance to experience each of Indonesia's five major faiths: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism.

In some ways, it resembles the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in Jakarta, except that where TMII represents the provinces through their houses, TWI represents the religions through their places of worship.

Its setting, in a beautiful mountainous area above the western flank of Lake Toba, adds to the spiritual atmosphere.

"My main aim in developing TWI was to help people understand the real tenets of these faiths, so that religious tolerance can prevail," said Tumanggor, 58, who is also the current general chairman of the Association of Indonesian Regencies' Administration (APKASI).

"I think the source of conflicts we faced during and after the economic crisis of 1998 was because of our failure to understand the true meaning of our religions."

He said that his own experience as a victim of religious intolerance - he grew up in a Batak family with a strong tradition of spirituality in Medan - was also a main driver behind the TWI project.

"I've also heard many stories about religious intolerance from my friends and relatives. Such experiences strengthened my determination to develop the TWI project."

Since it opened six years ago, the TWI, about 140 kilometers southwest of the North Sumatra capital Medan, has become a popular spiritual site and appears to be fulfilling its original aim.

It is not uncommon to see a Christian, for example, entering the Islamic complex to watch the simulation of haj pilgrimage around a miniature Ka'abah, or a Muslim woman in a veil entering the Christian complex to observe a service. And so with the Hindu and Buddhist complexes. The park gives visitors the chance to understand the tenets of religions other than their own.

It is also a place for followers of these faiths to join together in prayer, as happened several days after a massive earthquake hit Nias island and parts of the western coastal area of North Sumatra, including Dairi, when leaders of all the religions in the regency organized a joint prayer for the disaster victims.

With visitor numbers averaging 4,000 per week, the TWI contributes significantly to the Dairi regency's income.

The number of visitors is increasing every year, with more than 300,000 last year, not only from Indonesia but also from around the world, including from Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Malaysia and Germany.

Tumanggor's efforts behind this success story are not as well known as the park itself. "Initially, my idea of the TWI was considered as destined to fail. Most people said it would be just wasting money.

Only few saw my vision that in the future it would be frequented by many people and function as an agent for promoting religious tolerance," said Tumanggor, who holds a Ph.D. in management of state-owned companies from the University of Paris XI.

Thanks to his skills in lobbying, he managed to convince businesspeople, professionals and senior government officials to help finance the building of the spiritual tourism attraction.

"My idea of the TWI project would still be only an idea if I could not manage to convince people, those in Dairi and those with money in Jakarta, to support me, " said Tumanggor.

The project has proved to him that creativity and persuasion are two important factors in success. "It is always with the help of other people that we can manage to do good things in our society."

On the same principle, last year he managed to convince 13 regents from Sumatra, Sulawesi and Maluku to establish the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters (ADKI), because of their dissatisfaction with the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters (AEKI), which they claim failed to meet its commitment to improving life for coffee farmers.

Tumanggor, the ADKI general chairman, said the association was determined to develop Indonesia's coffee farming, particularly to improve the welfare of coffee growers, with a view to arresting the declining trend of coffee production in Indonesia, which has lost its place as the world's third largest producer of coffee to Vietnam.

Under his leadership, the Dairi regency won an investment award from the Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD) in Jakarta in February 2003, and the Widyakrama Award for its achievement in developing education in May 2005.

Last August, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono presented him with the Bintang Satyalancana for his achievements in development.

Tumanggor said his principles were the result of spiritual advice from his father, who was a farmer before becoming the head of the department of industry in Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, where he served until the late 1990s.

"My father always told me that as human beings we're defective hoes with weaknesses. But a good farmer can still use a defective hoe to produce the best and the most abundant harvest of rice," he said.

"But for that we need creativity and the help of other people."

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