In the spate of studies about Indonesia since Independence, the phenomenon of Djakarta has been much noted but little in vestigated. The political drama enacted there is avidly stud ied, yet the people of the city remain less familiar than the Chinese of Semarang or the Javanese of Modjokuto. Djakarta, it is realized, is a mosaic, reproducing in microcosm the rival ries of the wider society.* 1 But, like New York City, it is also a region in itself, with interests of its own over against the rest of the country.Its immigrants are not a random selection and they do not remain unaffected by the intense life of the metropolis. Djakarta is the point at which the fashions, ideas and artifacts of the outside world are most available, yet it is paradoxically the most-even the only--Indonesian city.2 Israel Zangwillfs well-worn metaphor of the melting-pot comes to mind--into the Crucible, Sundanese, Javanese, Chinese and Batak: God is making the Indonesian! The events of 1965-66 throw a new light on Djakarta's position. If in the late 'fifties there was tension between the Outer Islands and Java (actually often Djakarta), recently there has been tension between Djakarta and Java. The conspir ators of September 1965, wherever actually domiciled, were not men of Djakarta but of the provincial interior of Java. The Kesatuan Aksi, on the other hand, are very much a thing of the new Djakarta, and only slowly and with modifications have they spread to other areas. The evaluation of such phenomena as these would be facilitated if we knew what proportions were formed by the various ethnic groups and categories in the popu lation of the capital. As the 1961 census did not contain any question on ethnic grouping, the most recent figures available on that subject are * While taking full responsibility for inaccuracies, I would like to thank Professor Karl Pelzer and Miss Heather Sutherland for criticizing earlier drafts of this paper, and Mr. R. L. Williams for his help in making the maps.
In 1926, three brothers from an old family of Kjai in the Ponorogo district, urged by a sense of "responsibility to continue and improve the work of their predecessors in spreading Islamic science and culture"(2), reorganized a decaying pesantren at GdntorO) and made of it a new type of Islamic school in Java. Though they called the place "Daarussalaam" (Abode of Peace), it was soon popularly labeled "Pondok-Moderen." Of the three founders, K. H. Imam Zarkasji is still the intellectual director of the school, while K. H. Ahmad Sahal is called pengasuh (guardian) and apparently devotes himself mainly to the moral education of the boys. The other brother, K. H. Zainuddin Fanani, now works in the Department of Social Affairs in Djakarta. The village head (lurah) is another relative. At present Gontor is a secondary school providing a 6-year course to about 1,000 boys (1,100 in 1958). Some come there directly from primary school, some from S.M.P.-junior secondary school-provision being made for the latter to complete the course in a shorter period. The condition for admission is an examination set by the pondok itself in Indonesian, arithmetic and the ability to read the Qur'an in Arabic.(*0 There is no attempt to conform closely to the government school system or to prepare the boys for the government examinations. Gontor sets its own examinations (2 per year). A university, called Universitas Daarussalaam, is being set up and a first-year class is already operating, with 40 students, most of whom are teachers in the secondary school. Later years will be added as students and teaching staff become available.
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