Romo SIRIAKUS NDOLU

Contemplating change

Siriakus Ndolu knows what it’s like to be persecuted for religious beliefs.

In 2005 the Catholic priest was meditating in WestJava. Because he fears retelling the
event might spur a repeat we’ll keep the location secret.Enough to say a fundamentalist nob stoned his tiny cottage and those of four other meditating priests, claiming they were there to
‘Christianise’ villagers.

Ironically the priests were hermits in silent contemplation. They weren’t even communicating with each other; conversion was neither planned nor possible.
The police intervened and local people gave protection. Further trouble was prevented when key
Catholics in the government and military got involved.

“Yes, I was frightened,” said Father Siriakus. “That was a psychological reaction. But faith is deeper. I trust my life to God.
“The attackers didn’t understand Christianity. They came from outside the district. They were provoked, told they must kill. Of course I forgive them.”

There’s little chance the Flores-born Carmelite will have a similar experience in his present job as chaplain to the Indonesian Catholic community in Perth. He arrived last year after 15 months of services led by an Australian priest who spoke only a little Indonesian. But the 620 Catholic families in the Western Australian capital wanted a native speaker for their spiritual guide.

What they’ve also got is a man who has clear views on secular issues, nurtured in Indonesia through contemplation and sharpened by his experiences abroad.

“About 90 per cent of my parishioners are ethnic Chinese, mainly from Jakarta and Surabaya,” he said. “They don’t identify with other Chinese living in Australia. They are Indonesians.

“Many arrived after the 1998 riots during the fall of Suharto. Some have retired, others are
students or in business. I’m told they are happy here and more are coming. Many apply for permanent residence but they maintain their Indonesian culture, language and identity.

“Some work in Indonesia while their families stay in Perth. This can create problems. I urge
husbands and wives to stay together. Family unity is so important.”
The other message to his busy Westernizing flock is to slow down and consider the benefits of contemplative prayer.

It’s something he promoted for several years in East Java working out of Malang, the city where he studied theology and was ordained in 1995.

He’s a follower of the English Benedictine monk John Main who lived in Malaysia where he discovered meditation using a mantra. He learned the techniques from an ascetic, then taught them in the US and Britain.

Father Siriakus has written a small book Meditasi Kristiani (Christian Meditation)
outlining his ideas. He has used this to set up contemplative prayer groups across East Java and hopes to do the same in WA.

A mountain to climb, and not just because – as he admits - Indonesians aren’t always happy in their own company. There are demands and seductions not present in the Republic.
While many of the 8,000 Indonesians in Perth attend mosques, temples and churches, their hosts
tend to prefer beaches and barbeques to piety and prayer.

“I’m constantly asked why atheism is increasing,” said Father Siriakus
“I think one reason is that the government in Australia takes care of almost everything, welfare, education, health care. My parishioners pay high tax but they don’t complain because they get good services in return.”

It’s this first-hand experience of a multicultural Western democracy that’s now shaping Father Siriakus’ views. As a child he thought the West was immoral, but as he became better educated realised all nations harbor wrongs.

“We think Australians are secular, but their society has been built on Christian values,” he said.
He’s been impressed with the discipline of traffic, the efficiency of public transport, the quality of roads and parks, the care for the elderly and handicapped and the integrity of politicians.

Cynical Australians electors might raise their eyebrows at this last observation, but the priest is adamant. “Here the government works for the people, but in my country government people work for themselves,” he said.

“Public servants must learn to be servants of the people. I want politicians and administrators at all levels to embrace a code of ethics. This should require them to act with integrity, be rofessional, work for the poor and ensure the nation’s resources are fairly shared.

“I want to tell our leaders that the system can work. I know, because I’ve seen it function here. Like the parable of the sower I want to spread the word.”

It might sound airy-fairy, perhaps the product of excess meditation and insufficient realpolitik, but Father Siriakus, 44, is no callus-kneed philosopher. His father is a farmer and local community leader who fostered a sense of social justice among his nine children. On a recent trip to Flores to visit his sick mother Father Siriakus challenged a local politician to lift his game, and pledges to do the same nationally when he returns to Indonesia in 2014.

With other Carmelites he is establishing a hermitage outside the northern port of Maumere, safe on the slopes of Mount Kelikeo. Here lay and clergy will be able to retreat from the world to meditate, a practice he recommends because it brings the contemplative “closer to God.”

“Our power to serve the people originates from an inner spirit, otherwise known as love,” he said. “During my year as a hermit I spent time gardening and caring for animals and fish – it brought me in contact with nature.

“I’ll probably go back to a hermitage sometime in the future, but now I’m completely engaged with the world.

“Indonesia is a nation full of gossip, of talk about unworthy things, and too many worries. As Indonesians we should follow the culture of quietness that is part of Javanese tradition, to think about our people, our culture, the past and the future.

“Change must come from within. We cannot start to clean the world unless we first clean our own homes.”

(First published in The Jakarta Post 6 February 2012)

MATURE RESPONSE TO JAKARTA BOMBS

Responses to Indonesian bombing mature Duncan Graham

‘Where, after all, is the Muslim outrage at these events, as their ancient, deeply civilized culture of love, art and philosophical reflection is hijacked by paranoiacs, racists, liars, male supremacists, tyrants, fanatics and violence junkies? Why are they not screaming?’

That outburst came from British-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. It followed the 2001 World Trade Centre destruction and the 2002 Bali bombing which destroyed the lives of 202 people, including 88 Australians.
His words were appropriate then, but not in 2009 with the Jakarta hotel bombs which killed nine. That’s because the genuine fury and concern that followed the latest blasts came from within Indonesia and across the religious landscape.
The conservative Muslim organisation Muhammadiyah did not qualify its anger. The Indonesian media even reported that cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of the fundamentalist group Jemaah Islamiyah, disapproved of the bombings.
Past reaction tended to follow the ‘wayward lad’ excuse: ‘Well of course this is wrong and shouldn’t happen, but we can understand their anger and after all they are Brother Muslims …’
In 2002 the president was Megawati Soekarnoputri. She took a floppy position fearing firmness might alienate Muslim support. She also rejected US requests to interdict Bashir.
Her vice president Hamzah Haz refused to accept that radical Islam was linked to terrorism until the evidence became overwhelming. At the time Indonesia wanted no part in George Bush’s ‘war on terror’; many believed the JI was a phantom invoked by the CIA, which was why the organization was never proscribed.
But this time president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) pulled no punches, vowing to pursue and prosecute.
Sure, it’s good hairy-chested stuff, but the Indonesian security forces haven’t found the JI hardliner and master bomb-maker Noordin Mohammed Top who was probably behind the Bali and Jakarta bombings. This despite his photo being widely posted in public buildings around the country for the past five years.
He and other fundamentalists yearning for an Islamic republic may not be getting support from the public outside the extremist pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), but plenty have been prepared to turn a blind eye to their activities.
Indonesia is a country with few secrets. There’s an extensive community watch system introduced during the Japanese occupation, and which reaches right into the smallest street. Coupled with people’s natural nosiness means that no one escapes the neighbours’ scrutiny.
Unfortunately there’s little trust in the police, so unusual comings and goings may arouse comment, but are unlikely to get formally reported. Although reform continues since the police force was split from the military after Soeharto lost power, the public still believes the men in khaki are corrupt and untrustworthy, more interested in pocketing traffic fines than investigating crime.
Western culture has long included a respectable print and screen tradition of clever cops solving complex crimes. It is totally absent in Indonesia.
SBY’s instant and unequivocal response does indicate a welcome rejection of past equivocation. That included tolerating outlandish theories to brush away the idea of homegrown Islamic terrorism.
The looniest explanation had a micro nuclear weapon being fired by a US warship into the Bali nightclubs in 2002 to provoke hatred against Muslims.
The world has moved on. A new man with links to Islam and Indonesia is in the White House. The US is pulling out of Iraq. There are still plenty of reasons for disliking Western imperialism, but the easiest excuses have gone.
The JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta has been marketing itself as a safe venue following the 2003 bombing and a major upgrade in security. It has just been tested and failed dreadfully.
Security in Indonesia has always been porous and reports that this year’s bombers got into the hotel despite triggering screening alarms sounds right.
Like most Westerners I can rattle off a list of examples at many venues where security guards (known as satpam) have gone off duty leaving doors open, guards being posted on one entrance but not another, and bored officials waving through people in a hurry without making baggage checks.
Security gets tightened after every bombing so expect to see heavily armed soldiers in the streets. These will vanish as time passes, creating the opportunities for anyone with evil intent. They just need to bide their time.
Satpam are badly paid – few get more than AUD 100 a month – and many are understandably open to bribes. Some embassies reportedly replace their guards after six months in the belief that by then they’re likely to have been corrupted.
Satpam are also employed in the suburbs, closing streets between 11pm and 5 am, but if your house gets burgled, they’re the first people under suspicion.
Travel warnings may help the Australian government avoid litigation should wounded travelers who don’t read, watch or listen to the news claim they should have been told of the risks. However the alerts tend to do more harm than good. They certainly damage neighbourly relations.
Academics, students, businesspeople and others genuinely interested in Indonesia will be denied the opportunity to visit by nervous bosses and restrictive insurance polices.
Bad things and evil people exist everywhere; wise travelers will not go to the obvious targets like the up-market hotels (where you’ll never experience the real Indonesia) and maintain a low profile.
Most Indonesians are tolerant pluralists, genuinely friendly, proud of their country, and keen to meet and help visitors. Proportionally there are probably no more fanatics in Indonesia than Australia and the chance of meeting one ready to do serious harm is rare – there and here.

(First published in On Line Opinion 20 July; a similar version was also published on Scoop (NZ) the same day.)

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