Soldiers and volunteers search for victims buried by a landslide on the slope of Mt. Wilis in Kepel village, Ngetos district, Nganjuk regency, East Java, Friday (14/4). Up until the fifth day, rescuers only discovered fragments of batik clothes reportedly belonging to one of the five victims.
Whenever there is a disaster in Indonesia, whether a traffic accident, fire, flood or landslide, the location of the incident is visited by residents. The curiosity to become the first recipient of information makes them disaster tourists. Such improper behavior frequently hampers disaster handling efforts and endangers them.
Curiosity is an instinctive human nature, inherited from the evolutionary process. Initially the trait was used by humans to gather information in order to survive. Time has transformed curiosity into a desire to become the first to get information while at the same time reporting it to other people.
"In the past, danger was difficult to predict. By knowing information, it saved them. Now the potential of danger is more predictable, so the danger is underestimated," said the head of the Brain and Social Behavior Study Center at Sam Ratulangi University in Manado, Taufiq Pasiak, when he was contacted from Jakarta, Monday (10/4).
Curiosity encourages people to become “disaster tourists.” The presence of gadgets and social media further pushes them to be present at the disaster sites to take photos and selfies. They are getting increasingly desperate, traveling to dangerous and prohibited locations for the sake of satisfying the desire to be the first and most comprehensive reporters. It increases their self-confidence and self-esteem within their group.
However, the action frequently causes new disasters. In the most recent instance, a number of disaster tourists taking selfies at a disaster site in Kepel village, Nganjuk, East Java, Sunday (9/4), died in a subsequent landslide (Kompas, 11/4).
According to a researcher at the People\'s Mental Health Center of the Faculty of Psychology, University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Rahmat Hidayat, even though togetherness of the Indonesian people is high, the main objective of disaster tourists is not to express sympathy, grief, feel camaraderie, or help disaster victims. "They just want to raise their ego and indulgence of curiosity," he said.
Such a condition makes the travelers\' presence hamper the evacuation of the victims, distribution of aid and increases the workload of disaster mitigation officers. The non-emphatic behavior disturbs the disaster victims because they just become a spectacle for other people.
Control
The high level of curiosity can actually provide positive benefits, encouraging someone to learn and develop an interest in science. However, curiosity can also lead to negative habits, such as becoming fond of gossiping and uncovering the private lives of others.
Curiosity to visit and take selfies at disaster locations also takes place in the communities of advanced countries. The thing that differentiates them is the reaction of the people, or the social control over behavior that is without empathy and endangers.
In a number of advanced countries, a person’s first reaction when a disaster happens is to save themselves, not to visit the disaster location where security is not guaranteed. The most obvious case was in the terrorist attacks around Sarinah area, January 2016. Despite the crossfire between the terrorists and the police, residents watched from a close range. "The tolerance of the people of Indonesia and the West on disasters and danger is different," Rahmat said.
Taufiq said that neglect of the danger at disaster locations occurs because the self-control is weak. The desire to be the first to get information and report it to other people frequently makes them lose control of themselves so that they ignore the danger. "It will be different when people visit the former site of the eruption of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta, which has now become a new tourist attraction," he said.
Rahmat further said, the behavior to have no empathy by disaster tourists in the advanced countries usually raises criticisms in mass media and social media. It will put pressure on others not to do the same.
There has not been social control in Indonesia. The high culture of togetherness is believed to make people less sensitive to behavior lacking in empathy. The culture to be together, happy or sad, is still powerful in society.
Not infrequently, a person reporting a disaster for the first time will become an information reference. Instead of being given social sanctions, they might be praised over their behavior, which could be considered as brave when in fact it lacks in empathy. "The curiosity is natural. However, the absence of social control encourages curiosity, and so the behavior is widespread" he said.
The lack of sensitivity of the citizens on the danger and feelings of others, especially disaster victims, is exacerbated by technology and media. The exposure of improper speech and behavior in the media makes the residents less sensitive to the danger and diminishes a sense of empathy.
In order to change and develop empathy and sensitivity on the danger, disaster education is the key. Despite living in a disaster-prone country, disaster education in Indonesia is still disregarded, including in universities that have disaster study centers.
Aside from that, togetherness should not be exaggerated. During a disaster, everyone has to become an independent individual to be able to save themselves and help others. Such independence will raise recognition of the self, allowing for the development of empathy for others and for disaster victims.
