Maluku traditional leaders urged to focus on the young

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.