Community brawls

Community brawls

From Forum Keadilan

I refer to an article in Forum on April 16, 2000. I was sad to learn of the community brawls that took place in two areas of Matraman recently.

We often witness students brawls in Jakarta and society has not found an effective way to stop them. Not to mention conflicts between ethnic groups and between different religious communities.

As an Indonesian migrant worker who has worked in Taiwan since 1998, I am very concerned about the situation prevailing in our country. It seems that the brutal acts are the best way to settle any conflict. In fact, it is like the rule of the jungle.

In Taiwan, whose inhabitants are predominantly non-Muslim, the community is far from brutal. The same is true in South Korea. People are highly disciplined. They shun away from criminal acts, not because of the fear of sinning but rather because they are ashamed to do negative deeds. It seems to me that virtue has been implanted in their hearts.

Why shouldn't we do the same? We should be ashamed to do things that may inconvenience other people.

FATHUR RAHMAN

Miao Li, Taiwan