The religious conflict in 1999 and 2000 drained many Maluku people’s energy. However, it seems that the universe has not left the islanders to suffer from continuous conflict. Nowadays, the people of Maluku stand united and live in harmony.
In January, Muhammad Ali, 22, stared hard at the well-worn roof trusses and main frame of the Immanuel Galala-Hatiwe Kecil protestant church in downtown Ambon. The main frame, in the form of a cluster of 12 ironwood logs, was donated by the people of Ali’s village of Hitulama in Leihitu district, Central Maluku regency, some 50 years ago.
Nowadays, the universe has called upon him and a dozen Hitulama youths and elders to return to the building and dismantle the roof, tear down the trusses and wall and rebuild a new place of worship. Their presence strengthens the relationship of Hitulama and Galala in the bond of pela. The relationship is recorded in an inscription near the church that bears the words “Monument of Everlasting Pela, Galala-Hitulama, 19 May 1959”.
The pela bond was established when the Galala government ordered a traditional boat (called arumbae in the local tongue) from the Hitulama administration for an arumbae manggurebe boat race in Ambon in early 1959. Upon the boat’s completion, the Galala king (village chief) was about to pay the Hitulama people for their service, but the Hitulama king refused to accept it.
The refusal was in effect a call for fraternity. The two kings then gathered the local leaders of their respective regions and both administrations agreed to establish a pela relationship. “Our parents often tell us not to forget the agreement,” Ali said.
The people in Maluku recognize pela and gandong relationships between villages. Pela relationships are based on incidental events while gandong relationships are based on familial relationships. Pela gandong means a bond of unity by officially naming each other as brothers.
The pela gandong bond encouraged a swift peace process among Maluku people following the bitter conflict that began on January 19, 1999. Pela gandong raised people’s awareness about the importance of fraternity. The bond of brotherhood that had been torn apart by the conflict was reestablished through their distinct Maluku identity as being brothers and sisters of one another. “Many people have been highlighting their differences through identity politics lately. This does not happen here. We have had a terrible experience and we don’t want it to recur. We wish to provide a good example to other regions and even the world that this is our real identity. This is Maluku,” said Galala king John Van Capelle, as Hitulama king Salhana Pellu nodded in agreement. Both were present at the church as Ali’s team tore down the building.
Provocateurs of peace
After the conflict died down, efforts to strengthen the values of brotherhood among local youths were made. Students, young people and journalists were the main targets. This is because the conflict left behind a deep intergenerational wound and trauma.
Efforts to instill positive values were made in many sectors. The provincial government established the free-of-charge Siwalima High School that aimed to produce generations of future leaders who were not only intellectually able but could also serve as agents to spread the local values of brotherhood.
Peace activists were also deeply involved. Beyond academic understanding, concrete actions through various mediums were also planned. One example was the Christmas carol service in late 2016 that involved Christian, Muslim, Catholic and Buddhist youth. Participants came from North Sulawesi and Jakarta and even from abroad.
In their daily lives, youths in the Ambon Bergerak (Ambon Moves) community often hold arts events that include poetry reading, painting, singing, stage plays and social actions in villages. The youth in Maluku can now flexibly collaborate with one another, even in cross-religious activities. For instance, in the National Church Choir Festival in Ambon in October 2015, youths from the Batumerah Mosque played the tambourine to accompany a church hymn played by Protestant youths. At the eve of the Idul Fitri end-of-fasting-month celebration in 2016, Protestant youths from Soya village played traditional toto buang (a set of 14 small gongs) to accompany Islamic songs at the Batumerah Mosque.
It is impossible for this message of peace from Maluku to reach the world stage if newspapers do not report it. Peace journalism is effective in countering the incitement of hatred. Thus, the world glances at Maluku and wishes to learn from the local youth. The Myanmar government has sent a delegation to Ambon to study peaceful conflict resolution. “Such messages of peace must continue across generations. It must not be allowed to stop,” said Josep Matheus Rudolf Fofid, 53, a journalist and artist who has spent more than half his lifetime with Maluku youths. Other figures like Zairin “Embong” Salampessy and Jacky Manuputty also actively teach Maluku youth.
Maluku Governor Said Assagaff is planning a multiethnic village in Ambon to serve as an example for other villages in Maluku that still segregate their residents based on religion.
