The Jakarta Post, July 21, 2007
Aboru villagers face separatist stigma
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon
Aboru village in Maluku has a reputation as a center for separatist leanings in the
province.
The 3,000 or so residents of Aboru, located in the south of Haruku Island, in Central
Maluku regency, have often found themselves isolated as a result of this reputation.
The residents of Aboru generally have little social interaction with residents of the nine
other villages on the island, which measures about 150 square kilometers.
Aboru village itself comprises seven hamlets, stretching along a bay that protects the
village from the high waves of the Banda Sea.
No roads connect it to the other nine villages on the island, or to the district capital
Pelauw.
If they want to travel to Pelauw, Aboru residents must go by sea, paying up to Rp
70,000 for a single trip, which is a large amount for the villagers.
Aboru has recently received a lot more attention than it is used to after a group of its
young people, disguised as Cakalele dancers, crashed a National Family Day event in
Ambon being attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and tried to unfurl a
separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS) flag.
But this was not the first time Aboru has been in the spotlight. On April 25, 2002,
some 220 RMS flags were raised in the village. The next year, 63 residents were
named as suspects over the incident.
Following this latest incident, 150 police officers were sent to Aboru on July 8 to
arrest 30 suspected RMS members. Police took along five RMS convicts to point out
the houses of the 30 RMS suspects.
"All this time the police have not been able to do much due to the Aboru villagers'
strong resistance (to the police)," a Maluku Police officer told The Jakarta Post.
A journalist recalled that during a 2003 trip to Aboru with top military and police
officers, and guarded by several members of the Army's Special Forces, or Kopassus,
they ended up walking around the village for two hours looking for the home of the
village chief, because no one would tell them where the house was.
"Everyone we always gave us an unfriendly look and said they didn't know," said
Ambon Ekspress reporter Yani Kubangun.
Director of the Maluku Inter-Faith Institute, Rev. Jacky Manuputty, said the people of
Aboru had gained a reputation, unfairly or not, as inhospitable and rebellious.
"This stigma can have two impacts. First, they become isolated or, in the opposite
direction, they become very reactive, aggressive and dare to do anything.
"They are also jealous of development project conducted by the government in
neighboring villages on Haruku Island. The key is to take a personal approach to the
people there through development and job opportunities. The most important thing is
to get rid of the negative stigma," he said.
A member of the Maluku Regional Representatives Council, Philip Latumerissa, who
recently visited Aboru, said residents were distrustful of outsiders because of past
experiences.
He said the people of Aboru used the RMS as a means to express their
disappointment over perceived inequities in development and job opportunities.
"They find it hard to become civil servants or join the police or military because of the
RMS stigma that has been attached to the people of Aboru," Philip said.
He said this stigma is something the government can help remove by improving
people's welfare and opening up job opportunities.
"The main problem there is lack of development, not some ideology," Philip said.
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
