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II. Maluku Tenggara The Southeast Moluccan islands are spread throughout the Banda Sea between Irian Jaya in the east and Timor in the west.
Situated on the periphery of the Indonesian archipelago, this chain of islands stretches over a distance of almost a thousand kilometres. Administratively, the region is part of the province of Maluku, which consists of three districts (kabupaten): from north to south: Maluku Utara (Northern Moluccas), Maluku Tengah (Central Moluccas) and Maluku Tenggara (Southeast Moluccas).[8] In 2000, the population of Maluku Tenggara was about 300,000. The region contains a number of separate groups of islands, the largest being the Aru, the Tanimbar and the Kai archipelagos, all lying in the eastern part of the district. Under Dutch administration these three groups of islands were known collectively as the Southeast Islands. To the west of them lie the Babar archipelago, Luang-Sermata, the Leti group, Damar, Roma, Kisar and Wetar, which collectively formed the Southwest Islands.
These old names refer to the position of the islands with respect to the island of Banda (Central Moluccas), which at the time was an important economic centre for the Dutch. Infrastructure Because of the lack of infrastructure large parts of the district are very difficult to reach, which means that tourists seldom visit the area. For a long time the only Westerners to visit the region were Dutch administrators, military personnel, scientists and missionaries of various persuasions. For a long time at the end of the 20th century western islands such as Leti and Kisar were even completely cut off from the outside world as a result of the Indonesian annexation of East Timor in 1975 and the state of war, which lasted until 1999, that followed. Economy The limited infrastructure is a direct consequence of the economic poverty of the region. Apart from a few Buginese and Makassaran traders on the lookout for products harvested from the reefs, the only interest in the islands was during the administration of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The monoculture in the nutmeg centre of Banda then necessitated the import of sago from Tanimbar and Kai. Damar was the only spice-producing island in the region. The power politics engaged in by the VOC, however, reduced exports to zero and since then trade has remained restricted. Only Aru, where a few Japanese firms cultivate pearls and where there is a lively trade in products of the sea, can - stretching a point - be called an economic centre. Small-scale bartering traditionally flourishes in the hot, calm period which precedes the western monsoon when for example, the island inhabitants exchange food for basketwork or sopi, a strong local drink distilled from palm wine. Island arcs The less than flourishing economic situation must be seen in the context of local soil structures. Geologically speaking, two types of island, corresponding with the same number of 'island arcs', can be distinguished. A small, northwesterly-lying series of islands forms what is known as the Inner Banda arc. This runs from Wetar through Roma, Damar, Teun and Nila to Serua, and then towards Banda. The islands in this arc are volcanic and the soil is relatively fertile. The majority of the Southeast Moluccan islands, however, are part of the Outer Banda arc, which begins at Kisar and runs via Luang, Babar, Tanimbar and Kai, towards Seram.
These islands consist of elevated coral and are not very fertile. Many smaller islands have been deforested and even partially eroded. The hills of Luang and Leti, for example, look like a barren moonscape. Living standards Of course, these geological factors influence the lives of the islanders themselves. The produce from the fields and gardens is often just barely enough to live on and, in general, the standard of living is low. The prevailing climate also plays a role in this. Frequently the monsoon rains fail to arrive and the harvest fails. Hunger is an almost annually-recurring problem on the smaller coral islands, where maize is the main food crop. Often, faced with such circumstances, people are forced to buy rice from local (often Chinese) merchants. Where possible the money necessary is earned by selling copra and products harvested from the sea. Usually, however, debts just pile up and entire villages are dependent on the benevolence of the merchants for the basic necessities of life. Migration Because of the difficult living conditions many inhabitants of the islands have left their homes in the last few decades and sought to make a new life elsewhere. The limited medical and education facilities also induced many to leave. Large numbers of people from Maluku Tenggara now live in South Seram, where they work in the timber and clove industries, and in Ambon, which also offers opportunities of employment. During recent years, however, many Christian Southeast Moluccans have returned to the islands of their birth to escape the violence resulting from religious differences with the Muslim community and follow events, temporarily they hope, from a safe distance. Religion More than three quarters of the population of Maluku Tenggara profess to the Christian faith. More than half is Protestant, and approximately a quarter Catholic. Christianity came to the region with the arrival of the Dutch in the 17th century. The first attempts at conversion were unsuccessful; it was only at the beginning of the 20th century that the missionaries had any real success. The Roman Catholic mission concentrated on the eastern islands (especially Tanimbar and Kai), while the Protestant mission claimed more or less a monopoly on the former Southwest islands. The Protestant missionaries often converted the inhabitants forcefully, and this was largely at the expense of the existing cult of ancestor worship. Many ancestor statues ended up in the sea or were ritually burned. It is ironic that today ancestor worship is still widely practised everywhere. It functions - although without the original sculptures - side by side with a belief in the Christian God Tuhan Allah, who has taken the place of the local gods. Threatened cultures Other traditional means of cultural expression are currently under pressure. Within the framework of the Panca Sila, the state philosophy emphasizing democracy and justice, the ancient caste system (which consists of a nobility, a middle caste and a slave caste) in several islands has been officially outlawed. The various local languages, which with the exception of one spoken in parts of Kisar all belong to the Austronesian group of languages, are also under threat. In elementary schools only the official state language (Bahasa Indonesia) is allowed and outside school Moluccan Malay is becoming increasingly popular as the lingua franca. Although its versatility makes it resilient, the boat symbolism found on many Southeast Moluccan islands is also under threat. This symbolism has probably been present in Maluku Tenggara since prehistoric times and although its forms of expression are becoming fewer and fewer as the islands become more and more modernized, it is still deeply embedded in many island cultures. Nautical symbolism dominated the cultural context in which, on many islands, religious art had an important function. Furthermore, the decorative motifs and designs of different types of statue also can be related to boat symbolism. | |
