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.