Tolerance essential to keep neighborhood brawls in check
Tolerance essential to keep neighborhood brawls in check
Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Various inter-residential brawls and conflicts between young
people in the city could be reduced if Jakartans exercised
tolerance toward the many differences found in this melting pot
society, one anthropologist said in a seminar.
Respecting others' rights, cultures, and views, even though
they may be different from our own, should be developed in the
minds of those residing in a metropolitan city as we live side by
side with our many differences, Yasmine Sahab, an anthropologist
from the University of Indonesia, said on Thursday.
"Sometimes we forget others' rights when we, alone or with our
social group, fight for our rights. This often becomes a source
of conflict because then there will be people who feel violated,"
she told a seminar with the theme of Finding the Root Cause of
Jakartans' Horizontal Conflict, held by the Nahdlatlul Ulama.
Intolerance, however, is not the only cause of conflict in the
city. Economic disparity, inequitable development, and obscurity
of the law and its enforcement are also prominent factors
contributing to feelings of frustration among many people, she
added.
As people become frustrated by their poverty or the
incompetence of law enforcers, they are prone to act brutally at
the slightest provocation.
"The ever-increasing population density, while resources
remain constant, can cause people to act aggressively," she said.
On youth brawls, Yasmin pointed to the lack of open space as a
consequence of the government's failure to incorporate
nonphysical development in its physical development.
"I'm concerned by the possibility that youths regard brawls as
sport or entertainment due to the lack of facilities for other
positive activities," she commented.
Adj. Comr. Runadi Ma'mun, head of the police's social guidance
department, said that exercising discipline, complying with the
law, social and religious norms, and respecting others, are
effective ways of preventing horizontal conflict within the
community.