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COPYRIGHT 2001 Society for the Advancement of Education
INDONESIA has already had its 15 minutes of 21st-century fame. That has come in the form of notoriety, rather than recognition of its rich diversity; in stories of beheadings and cannibalism, instead of technological advancement; and in expressions of racism and human savagery, in place of conciliation and faith. The world's fourth-largest country encompasses all of these facets, making it a gem that is half diamond, half coal.
In March, 2001, Dayaks, one of the groups of native people on the island of Kalimantan (Borneo), again erupted in violence directed at immigrants from the nearby island of Madura. The Madurese had been pushed to the less-populated island in a government effort to disperse its population from crowded Java and Madura. This "transmigration" policy has barely dented the demographic or economic problems of central Indonesia and has created, instead, hemorrhaging sores in the intricate quilt that comprises Indonesian society. In this latest eruption,...
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