Clash at Manggarai<\/p>\n
Although Jakartans are certainly no strangers to civil unrest,
\nthe brawl that pitted two neighborhoods in the Manggarai area of
\nSouth Jakarta against each other last weekend has drawn our
\nattention once again to the growing social problems our
\novercrowded metropolis is facing.<\/p>\n
This latest violence left two people dead and scores of others
\nwounded. At least eight houses were burned or damaged. Many of
\nthe more peace-loving residents of the two neighborhoods --
\nMentengjaya and Matramanjaya -- chose to flee and abandon their
\nhomes for several days rather than live in the subsequent
\natmosphere of tension and fear hanging over the area.<\/p>\n
To date, even local residents are finding it difficult to
\nexplain precisely how this latest brawl began, or what exactly
\nsparked it. All that both locals and outsiders seem to
\nunanimously agree on is that although fights between the two
\nneighborhoods were not uncommon -- indeed, they seem to have
\nbecome more or less a tradition over past years -- this latest
\nincident is the worst to have occurred so far.<\/p>\n
Jakarta's deputy governor for administrative affairs, Abdul
\nKahfi, has ordered his office to conduct an investigation of the
\nincident in an effort to pinpoint the source of the trouble and
\nthereby help formulate effective preventive measures for the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n
But while the exact cause of last weekend's violence has yet
\nto be determined, the authorities seem to agree that though
\nManggarai's problems are much the same as those of most low-
\nincome neighborhoods in the city -- that is, overcrowding and
\npoor living standards -- the existence of organized bands of
\nyouths in this particular area may have been a contributing
\nfactor.<\/p>\n
Even so, though neighborhood brawls have become somewhat
\nroutine in the area, a clear and rather frightening change in the
\npattern of the violence appears to have taken place. Whereas in
\nprevious years fights were restricted to individuals or small
\ngroups which could be easily contained, much larger groups are at
\npresent involved. In essence, the individual fights have turned
\ninto neighborhood battles.<\/p>\n
What all this seems to signify is that what sociologists refer
\nto as the subculture of violence has contributed to the
\naggravation of the already poor and precarious conditions in the
\nManggarai area. It is fortunate that the authorities seem to be
\nwell aware of the dangers of such a situation. South Jakarta
\nMayor Pardjoko, has proposed, among other things, thinning out
\nthe area's population by building low-cost apartments and
\nresettling people elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Whatever the case, Manggarai's problems are clearly only one
\nmanifestation of Jakarta's complex social problems. To a lesser
\nor greater degree, the same problems exist in the many other poor
\nneighborhoods scattered across the city. Building better housing
\nfacilities, cleaning up neighborhoods and resettling people to
\nseek a better life elsewhere are commendable solutions -- if the
\nmoney can be found in this current crisis.<\/p>\n
For the present, it seems that the most effective short-term
\nsolution to Jakarta's community problems might be to call on
\nneighborhood associations to do their utmost to improve living
\nconditions in their area with the help, of course, of the city
\nadministration.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/clash-at-manggarai-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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