Festival tells govt to care for culture

JAKARTA (JP): The month-long Nusantara Cultural Festival closed on Tuesday with an urgent message to the new president and government to pay serious attention to social and cultural issues.

The venue for the closing of the festival -- held from Sept. 9 to Oct. 19 in the four cities of Jakarta, Karangasem in Bali, Pontianak in West Kalimantan and Tanjung Pinang in Riau -- was deliberately selected for Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center in Central Jakarta to coincide with the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly.

Organizers hoped the new members of the legislature would hear their aspirations, especially in future policy-making.

Chairwoman of the festival's organizing committee Pudentia MPSS said it was high time the public and politicians to realize that members of the political elite were tearing the country apart because of their lack of cultural perspective, narrow- mindedness and divisive aims.

"For three decades, our leaders have been playing with the diversity of our ethnic groups and adopting their artificial motto Bhineka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) for their own political purposes," she said.

Film director Garin Nugroho said President B.J. Habibie was guilty of cultural insensitivity.

He said the President was "tactless" in choosing Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto as his potential vice presidential running mate because of the latter's Javanese ethnicity and military background. Wiranto said on Monday he was not interested in the position.

"This shows the real quality of our President who is clever in disintegrating the nation. He doesn't have sensitivity about the feelings of people from other ethnic groups." (raw)