Another sad year

As Indonesians bid the old year farewell and stand ready to greet the new, it is more than distressing to note that the first year of the new millennium has proved little better, if any at all, than those preceding it.

Indeed, the spate of bombings which rocked a number of cities on the islands of Java and Sumatra close to the year's end and violated the sanctity of this past Christmas Eve has made the year 2000 one of the worst in the nation's history since the upheavals of May 1998 which brought about the downfall of the New Order regime.

Yet, there is one thing for which Indonesians have reason to be thankful. The bombings, clearly, were meant to disrupt the nation by sowing seeds of hatred among Christians and non- Christians, of whom Muslims are by far the biggest majority. What they achieved instead, was to strengthen the bond of brotherhood and understanding among believers of all faiths -- which must be admitted has seemed shaky in recent years -- by making them see how close the nation has come to total disintegration.

Their resolve, expressed jointly on the night of the bombings by some of the nation's most influential community leaders and by leaders from all of the country's major religions, to keep the nation peaceful and intact, and the prompt action they have taken to work towards that goal, may be considered among the most encouraging developments witnessed in recent years.

But while encouraging, at the same time this development puts the spotlight on the daunting amount of work that must yet be done to put the Indonesian national house in order. A thorough cleanup in the state's security and intelligence apparatus is clearly required.

Judging by the extent of the bombings and their timing, the Christmas Eve bombers must have planned their actions and made preparations well in advance. Whoever they are, they must belong to a reasonably large and well-organized group with access to enough money to enable them to execute their plan in several cities simultaneously. To the average Indonesian, it must seem odd that their activities could have remained unknown to our police and state intelligence officers.

But then, not a single incident -- from the kidnapping of dissident political activists during the past Soeharto regime, to the May 1998 riots, to the fatal shootings of student protesters in the years that followed -- has been resolved satisfactorily.

Under the circumstances, Indonesians can put some hope in Vice President Megawati's assurance, made to the press during the week, that preserving the nation's territorial integrity and economic recovery would remain at the top of the government's agenda for the coming year.

People in several of the country's regions such as Maluku, Irian Jaya, Aceh and in parts of Kalimantan have suffered for too long already, and many of them may even have lost the hope that an end to their suffering is in sight. Aside from the continuing violence and the killings, thousands of refugees continue to live in appalling conditions in camps across the country.

All in all, it is high time for the government to act with firmness and resolution to improve the nation's conditions while President Abdurrahman Wahid can still count on enough support in and outside the national legislatures, the House of Representatives and the People's Consultative Assembly. Let us therefore make it our year-end resolution to stop the violence and end the bickering among political factions, and concentrate our efforts on improving the whole of the nation. Indonesians everywhere are asking for no more than that, and deserve no less.