Sociocultural conflicts and xenophobia<\/p>\n
By I Wayan Juniartha<\/p>\n
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): The ubiquitous "No Scavengers Allowed"
\nsigns along most roads in Bali's capital of Denpasar and other
\nregencies, and the so-called "population control" operations,
\nwhich have been regularly held in the past several months, have
\none thing in common; they both reflect the fast growing
\nxenophobia among the great majority of the Balinese people.<\/p>\n
The "No Scavengers Allowed" signs, written in Bahasa
\nIndonesia, were a rare sight two years ago. Then only several
\nvillages in the northern outskirts of Denpasar, such as
\nAngantaka, Jagapati and Sedang, displayed the signs along their
\ndirt roads.<\/p>\n
Organized and financed by their respective Desa Adat
\n(traditional village), the signs are a manifestation of the
\nprevailing prejudice that the scavengers are actually thieves in
\ndisguise.<\/p>\n
"They do not only collect the rubbish, because if the house is
\nempty, they will steal the television set, sewing machine, water
\npump or other valuables, put them into their gunnysacks, and
\ncalmly walk away," a local villager once said.<\/p>\n
Today, the signs can be found almost everywhere in Denpasar,
\nBadung, Tabanan, and several parts of Gianyar. Scavengers who
\ndare to defy the signs, receive the retribution, from mild verbal
\nabuses to physical assaults, immediately<\/p>\n
The fact that most of the burglars caught by the police turn
\nout to be a "full-time career burglars", has not helped diminish
\nthis firmly-held prejudice.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the fact that most of the scavengers are
\nJavanese, has strengthened another prejudice on Javanese people
\nin Bali. For a long time, many Balinese, whether they openly
\nadmitted it, harbored the view that the Javanese were a source of
\ntrouble.<\/p>\n
The Javanese have been made the scapegoat for many of the
\nproblems afflicting Bali. They are blamed for the growing number
\nof slum areas, increasing crime rate, prostitution and other
\nsocial problems.<\/p>\n
The prejudice against the Javanese by the common people of
\nBali and its elite stems from different reasons. The common
\npeople mostly disliked the uncleanliness of the Javanese migrant
\nworkers. For instance, the Balinese, who have for centuries
\nadopted the concept of ulu-teben (that each thing had its own
\nspace and position), were shocked to see their Javanese neighbors
\ndrying their undergarments on the roof of the house. A Balinese
\nwill never place his undergarments anywhere above his head, let
\nalone above his family shrine. This action is believed to be not
\nonly rude, but also desecrates the house.<\/p>\n
So the xenophobia and prejudice of the common people stems
\nmore from cultural misunderstanding and ignorance.<\/p>\n
On the contrary, the Balinese elite dislike the Javanese
\nbecause they fear the mainly Muslim Javanese will eventually
\ndominate the Balinese Hindus -- socially, economically, and
\nreligiously. The Balinese have often complained of the increasing
\nnumber of mosques and have vigorously opposed plans by the Muslim
\ncommunity to build their own Muslim cemetery.<\/p>\n
In various closed meetings, the elite have warned of the
\nimpending danger of "Islamization" and "Javanization" of Bali.<\/p>\n
They say the Muslims have a hidden agenda of reorganizing
\nBali's demography.<\/p>\n
"They want to change the balance from 90 percent Balinese
\nHindu and 10 percent non-Balinese Hindu to 70 percent and 30
\npercent respectively. That's the reason why several wealthy non-
\nBalinese businessmen financially support efforts to bring in as
\nmany Javanese migrant workers as possible into Bali," one of them
\naccused.<\/p>\n
Three recent developments, namely the economic crisis,
\npolitical instability and the emergence of Hindu fundamentalism,
\nhave worsened the xenophobia among the Balinese people.<\/p>\n
In the past few years, the economic crisis has forced many
\npoor Javanese to leave their hometowns in Java to look for a new
\nlife in Bali. They filled the nonformal sectors, which were
\neither vacant or never touched by the Balinese people.<\/p>\n
Collecting garbage, working at construction sites and peddling
\non the streets were three of the most popular occupations for the
\nmigrants.<\/p>\n
The migrant street vendors occupied any vacant space they
\ncould find like public squares, sidewalks, parking lots and even
\nthe front yard private houses. This provoked a public outcry,
\ndemanding the government take stern measures to control and
\nmanage these vendors.<\/p>\n
In some cases the Desa Adat took matters into their own hands
\nby ransacking and burning the vendors's kiosks -- the years of
\nanger and frustration manifesting itself as acts of violence.<\/p>\n
At the same time, thousands of Indonesians of Chinese descent
\nwho fled several riot-torn cities in Java and Sumatra, also chose
\nBali as their new home.<\/p>\n
Some came with big capital, buying land and houses, and
\nstarting their own business. Some only came with their superior
\nskills, which entitled them to comfortable positions in the
\nflourishing companies across Bali.<\/p>\n
Inevitably, they brushed aside Balinese candidates for these
\npositions.<\/p>\n
It is no wonder that many Balinese view these outsiders'
\nsuperior capital power and skills with a mix of envy and rage.<\/p>\n
The fall of the New Order regime weakened the grip of the
\nsecurity forces and the government's authority. This vacuum was
\nfilled by the ever-growing traditional Balinese social
\ninstitutions such as the Desa Adat and Banjar.<\/p>\n
These traditional institutions later transformed themselves
\ninto both a law-making body and a law enforcer. Yet, being a
\ntraditional agricultural Balinese Hindu organization in nature,
\nthese organizations continued to treat non-Balinese as outsiders,
\nand considered the Balinese Hindus as the true natives, thus the
\nsole rightful "owners" of the island.<\/p>\n
These organizations were also strengthened by growing Hindu
\nfundamentalism among many Balinese scholars and social activists.
\nThe most recent victims of this sentiment were two Denpasar-based
\nschools belonging to a Catholic and a Protestant foundation
\nrespectively. The foundations were forced to rename
\nthe school, since their names -- Swastiastu and Widya Pura --
\nwere in sanskrit, thus an exclusive property of the Balinese
\nHindus.<\/p>\n
There are rumors that next to be targeted will be churches and
\nmosques that are decorated in Balinese traditional carvings and
\nsymbols.<\/p>\n
This combination of prejudice, social and economic envy, and
\ngrowing fundamentalist sentiments, finally manifested into a
\npopulation control policy, which is spearheaded by the Denpasar
\nadministration .<\/p>\n
Although being justified as an effort to curb the fast-growing
\npopulation of Denpasar, the policy is undoubtedly an effort to
\nsecure the Balinese Hindus' interests. This time the Javanese
\nwere not the only target.<\/p>\n
All non-Balinese Hindus, the "outsiders", were the focus of
\nthe policy.<\/p>\n
Population control operations -- a door-to-door night
\noperations -- are held by each Desa Adat in Denpasar. Any non-
\nBalinese found without a Denpasar-issued identity card or a
\nsteady job, are rounded up and sent back to their respective
\nhometowns in Java, Lombok or Sumatera.<\/p>\n
Other regencies soon followed Denpasar's initiative, and Bali
\nhas become a more difficult place to live in for non-Balinese
\nHindu people.<\/p>\n
The non-Balinese Hindus who have a proper ID and hold a steady
\njob are required to deposit a certain amount of money as security
\nso that if in the future they lose their job, the government will
\nhave enough money to send them back to their hometowns.<\/p>\n
Some Balinese scholars have praised this policy as a
\nbreakthrough, but have failed to see the simple truth; prejudice
\nand intolerance would bring nothing but violent conflict. In the
\nlong term, prejudice and intolerance, as history has taught us,
\nare self-destructive for any society.<\/p>\n
Violent conflicts and self-destruction are two things Bali and
\nits people cannot afford at this moment or at any moment.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sociocultural-conflicts-and-xenophobia-1447893297",
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