Assalamu ‘Alaikum,
Banda Aceh
Mukhti said he lost 105 family members in the Tsunami. I
asked him where he were, which seemed to be the same question I asked every
Achinese I met, when the catastrophe took place. He said he was not a beca
rider at the time, he had a stall selling things. The waves were nearing him
when he packed his family of five onto his tricycle bike to rush inland. He was
missing one 6 year old son who could not be located. It was a horrific position
for a dad to be in to move on to safety minus one offspring but the decision
had to be made or the entire family would be sacrificed. Most fathers I think
can empathise with his dilemma. However this particular family had a happy ending
for the boy lodged himself in the minarets of one of the mosques. But it wasn’t
a happy ending for 105 of his relatives of which he said they could locate only
one body to be properly buried. Due to pressing circumstances the Tsunami victims
were mostly buried in huge common graves which are now under barriered but
unmarked lawns at several places you will see on the way from the Sultan
Iskandar Muda airport.
Mukhti was a persistent beca rider to whom we eventually
succumbed in view of our consideration to his obvious economic plight. The new
leaders of Aceh are trying their best with infrastructure buildings and all,
but until the economic impact trickles down to the poor they do not see the
impact of economic growth. This is one economic lesson we need to learn and
relearn. Progress is not about percentage point increases to the GDP nor profit
increases to mega corporates, it is about how the most underprivileged is taken
care of economically by the government. Just like the monetary system where the
traditional method is to enrich the rich so that some spoils will trickle to
the poor, economic systems cannot rely on this formula either. Whilst yes it is
obvious infrastructure building will eventually enrich the economy, what do you
say to the beca rider who said the big port they are building has so far has not
touched his life. He does see however it enriching the companies involved with
the project. So the object lesson in new economics is, parallel upliftment of
the plight of the poor whilst you go for your broad infrastructure development.
I will unfriend you from Facebook if you even mentioned the word BR1M!
Technically however it is a not such a bad solution provided it comes from the
profits of an expanding economic cake, but not if it comes from reputedly
dubious sources.
Now the beca that Mukhti takes you for Aceh rides in are not
the nice bicycle trishaw you see in Melaka or similar. It is a rickety trishaw
somehow attached to an old motorbike with an engine that seems about to die any
which time. I wanted to take the taxi but the hotel receptionists all insist
the trishaw is better and cheaper. We did take a taxi for the longer distance
rides but we did what I thought was economic jihad for the shorter ones. It
does take a huge dose of bravery to sit in one, while your beca rider weaves
through the pretty scary vehicles traffic. We are acutely aware that the beca
is no match in a heads on fisticuffs with a car. However beca rides gives a
street view of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh Provinsi. I will describe Banda
Aceh as having huge potential, although presently it is very much a 1960s
Malaysian city town.
The Achinese are a very proud race with a very proud
religious history, the source of entrance and the cradle of Islam for the
Nusantara. They have been fiercely independent and has hardly succumbed even to
the Dutch during the hey day of Dutch colonialism. So it is hardly surprising
they were at odds with Jakarta even after independence. The Aceh strive for
independence from Jakarta lasted 30 years and was premised on Jakarta’s failure
to honour the pre Merdeka pledge to them to uphold the rule of Islam for whole
of Indonesia. But this is now water under the bridge, GAM or Gabungan Aceh
Merdeka made peace with Jakarta after the Tsunami catastrophe of 2004 in a
historic Helsinki led peace agreement brokered by Ex President Ahtisaarri of
Finland.
Having completed our objectives in this beautifully quaint
city, we said goodbye to Mukhti and said we will take a taxi to the airport
tomorrow. Mukhti insisted we take his beca to the airport with our luggage on
the rooftop! I pacified him that we might take a last minute ride before we
leave for the airport tomorrow. I don’t know whether he believes me but there
is really a limit to my economic jihad, and after all he did enjoy the Nasi
Padang lunch we asked him to join us in earlier.
Zahid
C72
