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Oases of tolerance in multicultural Yogyakarta
A series of hard-line Muslim attacks and a campaign of intimidation directed at Christians and minority Muslims over the last few months in Yogyakarta have threatened harmony â and its reputation as a city of tolerance
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A series of hard-line Muslim attacks and a campaign of intimidation directed at Christians and minority Muslims over the last few months in Yogyakarta have threatened harmony ' and its reputation as a city of tolerance.
Nevertheless, there is a host of Buddhists, Christians and Hindus who are living next to Muslims in Yogyakarta without incident ' holding religious services and working together as neighbors.
The Siok Lim, better known as Linda, is a Christian and a Chinese-Indonesian who lives in the predominantly Javanese Muslim village of Karangtengah in Sleman regency.
The 45-year-old mother of two has few difficulties mingling with her neighbors. Every morning, she shops at the small food stall near her house. She is also a member of her residential complex's monthly housewives meeting (arisan), where she serves as co-treasurer.
'If we want to receive good things from others we also have to show goodness to others,' Linda said. 'It's our individual character that will make us acceptable or unacceptable to our neighborhood. It has nothing to do with our religions, ethnicity or race.'
The area where Linda lives is also known as the home of a host of Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) ' and to several churches.
Gamelan and Namburan villages in Panembahan subdistrict are two other examples where interfaith tolerance is upheld and practiced in people's daily lives.
'When Muslims perform their prayers, we, the Catholics, keep an eye on their houses,' said Namburan resident Desirius Soeharto. 'Differences in religion here are not a problem.'
When Christmas comes, local Catholics also invite their Muslim neighbors to their parties, Desirius added.
Meanwhile, in Beji subdistrict in Gunungkidul, an enclave of Hindus lives side by side with other residents of different faiths. In nearby Girikarto live some 500 Buddhists with their own temples.
These communities provide a more accurate portrayal of Yogyakarta than the media reports, which are dominated by the actions and rhetoric of hard-line Muslims, would indicate.
'Intolerant groups are actually in the extreme minority here,' Abdul Muhaimin of the Yogyakarta Interfaith Brotherhood Forum (FPUB) said.
Muhaimin said Muslims are supposed to bring goodness into their surroundings ' not violence. 'We end our prayers with greetings while facing to the right and then to the left. This means that we have to bring in goodness to the surrounding milieu,' Muhaimin once told a congregation.
Meanwhile, Rev. Yosep Suyatno Hadiatmojo, a Catholic priest, from Turi in Sleman, also coordinates programs where Muslims and Christians take care of things such as security for each other during their respective holy days.
Together with other residents, Suyatno also re-greened thousands of hectares on the slopes of Mount Merapi that were damaged by the volcano's recent violent eruptions.
'I often receive seedlings from a pesantren in Bantul,' Suyanto said.
Sometimes, as Suyanto shows us, the landscape can be changed by planting a single flower.
