Student brawls must not continue

Your "Focus on Jakarta" article titled Student trampled to death (Dec. 23) seems rather euphemistic when compared with the blunt truth. When we think of the word "trample", we often associate it with a stampede of wild animals. However, Supriyadi, the 16-year-old boy who died, was not accidentally killed in a rush of students. He was brutally kicked to death by students of the rival STM. Supriyadi was murdered.

Red shoes and handbags are popular this season of the year, but expensive. Black on white tennis shoes are popular with students. But the most expensive shoes in town are those splattered with the blood of human lives. These have become very popular among Jakarta students these days.

According to the National Police Chief, Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo, this shoe style will remain popular in the coming year. In a recent headline article, he was quoted as saying: "... student brawls would continue to color the country's crime next year". His market projection is for many more blood splattered sport shoes in the coming year?

A Javanese friend and father of four with a good job here in Jakarta is taking the police chief seriously. He has moved his family back to Central Java until their education is completed. The separation is a big sacrifice, because he loves his wife and children very much. However the chances he would be taking with his children here are too great a risk. Student brawls, injuries and deaths have become a part of student culture in Jakarta, with no sign of change now or in the future.

The younger students pick up the new styles quickly. Some time ago a young boy of 10 or 11, wearing shorts and the rest of the typical elementary school uniform, was observed by several people picking up a rock and throwing it at a girl who was innocently waiting to board a bus. Maybe he was just practicing for the days when he can have that pretty red color splattered on his shoes and uniform too, like the other students.

Must these senseless student killings continue? Is there no solution? The Student Alert program is a step in the right direction. So are more policemen outside their posts and on the street with the students and teachers, which I observed recently. However, it may require a more fundamental change in Indonesian society, culture, and student practices. A spiritual renewal is needed, which would replace the hatred and desire for revenge in the hearts of these brawling students with forgiveness and love, and respect for human life.

There is a model for this. This student cycle of retaliation and vengeance killings is similar to the tribal warfare which continued for many years in Irian Jaya. The hundreds of tribes there were kept in isolation and feared leaving their valleys and being murdered by their enemies of a rival tribe. This cycle of vengeance killings was only broken after a long time and countless deaths, when they finally had a change of heart. They began to practice love instead of hatred, and forgiveness instead of revenge. Strong leadership by the tribal chiefs in each local area was necessary to bring about such a fundamental change in their thinking and long-practiced customs. It also required the help of God and the transforming message of his great love and gift, which we celebrate at this Christmas season.

It is also needed here in Jakarta. These senseless student brawls and vengeance killings need not continue. If the people of Jakarta come to believe strongly enough that it is impossible to continue a day longer as things are, if they will not tolerate another day of brawls, if they are willing and insist on change at any price, then change will come. According to Pancasila, Indonesians believe in God and His power to bring about change.

F. DANIEL ADAMS

Jakarta