Calling for a

Calling for a
Betawi manifesto

From Sinar Pagi

The involvement of some members of the Betawi community -- the
indigenous people of Jakarta -- in recent destructive action and
physical violence can serve as something that the Betawi people,
now increasingly marginalized, can reflect upon.

The Betawi people should now find uniformity of action and
share a common goal. Is the collective anger of the Betawi
people, as shown recently, a sign of how to survive? Has the
increased pace of development, the march toward globalization and
the organization of urban people triggered the anger of the
Betawi people, an ethnic group known to be tolerant to multi-
culturalism?

It is left to the Betawi people themselves whether or not this
sign will be a ball of fire that will explode into a big bang
conducive to the Betawi people being hosts in their own land or
one that will slowly offer this ethnic group to be overwhelmed by
the megapolitan culture of Jakarta.

AHMAD FAUZI

Jakarta