Feisal says people need to develop pure patience

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)