Feisal says people need to develop pure patience

JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung says people need "perfect patience" so they can accept the downside of 30 years of national development, including social and economic disparities.

Speaking before some 1,000 students at the Ummushabri pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, yesterday, Feisal said people were becoming more and more impatient and easily provoked.

"Some people become easily upset, violent, lose control and are easily provoked," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

"What Indonesia needs now is pure patience, not passivity or powerlessness, but patience (that leads people) to work and pray hard, learn from their many experiences, be thankful for the good they have received and be strong in the face of hardship," he said.

He also said Indonesia needs to be patient in its pursuit of development, in enduring critical times brought about by globalization, and in witnessing the downside of development.

The speech was attended by a number of military officials including Wirabuana Military Command Chief Maj. Gen. Agum Gumelar, and Southeast Sulawesi Governor La Ode Kaimoeddin.

In his explanation, Feisal described how some people became impatient after 30 years of development had not improved their lot.

"People ask how come so-and-so is still poor while others have become established," he said. "This narrow outlook is often a factor that causes a biased opinion about the development."

He further asked people not to fall prey to people who make "statements which sound exclusive".

"For instance, there are people from certain groups that exploit (issues of) poverty and dramatize (social and economic) disparities.

"This is despite the fact that the (disparities) may not have been brought about by the system or the changing situation, but by people's inability to adjust to a situation," he said.

The country has repeatedly been rocked by various incidents of unrest in the past two years. Some of the more recent incidents were the rioting in Situbondo, East Java, on Oct. 10 which left five people dead, and the violence late December in Tasikmalaya, West Java, which also claimed five lives.

Analysts have blamed the rioting on public discontent over economic disparity and the behavior of corrupt officials and community figures.

Yesterday, Feisal called on students and managers of the pesantren to help "control people's negative behavior", so that they can grow to be helpful and loving toward each other.

In his visit, Feisal also presented the school with three computers, 500 sacks of cement, 500 sheets of aluminum and Rp 25 million (US$10,584) for renovations. (swe)