Javanese need pioneering spirit lest island sinks

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs to instill a greater pioneering spirit among its ethnic Javanese population because the island, already one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and its resources are now burdened by population difficulties.

The low degree of mobility among the Javanese people, or the lack thereof, will be the subject of a two-day conference here next week as part of the government's effort to invigorate its program to resettle people from Java to the other islands.

About 60 percent of Indonesia's 180 million population now live on Java. The population density on the island is 814 people for every square kilometer, compared to an average of 93 nationwide, according to a 1992 population survey.

The island has already shown some signs of being unable to cope with the ever growing population, most notably flooding during the rainy season and severe water shortages during the dry season.

A recent study showed that 87 percent of the Javanese people were born, raised and died in a similar regency. This is in contrast to the pioneering spirit possessed by the Bugis in Sulawesi and Minang and Bataks of Sumatra who dared to migrate to other regions to try their luck.

Alwi Dahlan, an executive of the agency which advises President Soeharto on ideological matters, said on Monday that this low mobility among Javanese people needs correcting.

"What is needed now are efforts to encourage people to migrate through their own initiative. We need more pioneers," Alwi said.

Alwi was speaking at a press conference to announce the seminar on the "Pioneering Culture in People's Mobility" on April 19-20.

Also present at the conference were sociologists Dr. Selo Soemardjan and Mely G. Tan, Dr. Yulfita Rahardjo, anthropologist, and Dr. Kartomo Wirosoeharjo, a demographer.

The two-day conference will feature speakers such as Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, (King of the Yogyakarta Sultanate), writer Mochtar Lubis, senior journalist Jacob Oetama, and anthropologist Riga Adiwoso.

Selo said the Javanese possessed "magical-religious" relations with their land which they tilled and used as a dwelling place.

Mely said that pioneering spirit would be applied by people who sought to take chances and face risks. She said that education had played a role in encouraging the people to migrate to other regions. (par)