Maluku traditional leaders urged to focus on the young

Ati Nurbaiti, The Jakarta Post, Ambon, Maluku

The young from the Maluku province must be the focus of plans for the future of the ravaged islands, speakers told around 110 traditional leaders here on Thursday, the first day of their three-day gathering.

The rector of Maluku's Pattimura University, Mus Huliselan, urged the raja to open their hearts to improve the futures of the young.

"This can only be possible through the ability to forgive one another and reinforcing the very tolerant local culture, which appreciates brotherhood in diversity," Huliselan said.

The urgent need to focus on human resources, particularly the young, was urgent given that the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement had come into full force, he warned.

"We have only felt safe for barely four months, how are we supposed to compete (in Southeast Asia) with our weak human resources?"

Residents had expressed relief because they were able to move among areas previously segregated by religion, and attributed the current climate to the civil emergency status and the self- dissolution of the Laskar Jihad militia, he said.

However, the main factor was "people's awareness that it is not possible that it is really our conflict" after it was sparked by a trivial dispute in 1999. Around 6,000 people were killed and many public facilities destroyed in the ensuing violence throughout the islands, he said.

"The saddest thing is that we are weak not because of the education system, the curriculum nor the educators, but because we have been dragged into this conflict.

"We have seen teachers fleeing, classrooms vanishing in flames, books destroyed and the suffering of students and educators. We are only left with foolishness while we need highly competitive skills and competence in scientific and technological innovation."

The rector said the declining quality of human resources was illustrated by the grading of secondary schools, which ranked in the top 10 in Indonesia before 2000 but were now ranked below 20.

The meeting was held in the Elementary Teachers' Training Center in the university compound in the Maluku capital of Ambon.

The university's surrounds now house various university departments as the campus was a center point of the violence.

The rector said half the campus was destroyed in the conflict and almost all the rest could not be used because building materials were stolen, despite the campus being guarded by soldiers.

Huliselan expressed fears, particularly over Maluku's sea resources which would be open to competition in a free trade environment. "Whoever becomes governor will have to focus on the sea resources," he said.

The traditional leaders, who are still highly respected among their respective village communities, ranging from dozens of people to a few thousand, are expected to become "a moral force" in preparing Maluku's future, said Theresia Maimutu, the only female raja of the Paso Christian dominated area.

She said that the present momentum, in which the situation was improving slowly and steadily, must be used by the leaders to rebuild society.

The gathering, to include workshops among the rajas on education, refugees, people's economy and law and security, is the peak of earlier efforts facilitated over the last three years by the Baku Bae peace movement and Pattimura University.

The rector said Maluku's human resources would decline further unless urgent steps were taken.

Noted psychologist Sarlito Wirawan also urged greater attention be given to Maluku's young who had become both the victims and actors in the violence.

Anthropologist Teuku Jacob said the raja could instill an awareness that education must "create better humans than in the past."

"There's no point otherwise; that has been the main aim of education throughout human history," he said.

Outside the gathering, first year students of the Fishery Department of the university said that they were still hoping for scholarships promised for victims of the violence. "Some seniors have got the scholarships, we don't know when we'll get ours," said Marlo Taniwel.