Hated Traders
The people of Kuem often trade with Indonesians and they understand the gesture. They also responded to me in Indonesian.
Kuem Village, Papua New Guinea.
"I\'m from China. Repeat!" Papa Leo ordered firmly, before we went further into Kuem village, Papua New Guinea.
“I’m from China,” I said softly.
"In Kuem, don\'t ever say you are from Indonesia," Papa Leo said.
Papa Leo repeatedly said Kuem was dangerous for me because the population was hot-tempered, plus there were many supporters of the OPM (Free Papua Movement) who opposed Indonesian policies in the region. He also prohibited me from speaking Indonesian, only permitting English or Tok Pisin, a PNG creole.
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However, it was very difficult for me to hide my identity as an Indonesian. I did say “I\'m from China,” but every time I shook hands with locals, I couldn\'t free myself from the habit of putting my right hand on my chest. The people of Kuem often trade with Indonesians and they understand the gesture. They also responded to me in Indonesian, "Mas (brother), good morning!"
The shop in this village, in the form of a stall, or rather just a table on the roadside, sells Indonesian products, such as instant noodles, milk in cartons, cigarettes, biscuits and shirt.
Indonesian nuances are very familiar in Kuem. s. The owner even accepts rupiah as payment with a very friendly exchange rate, 1 Kina was valued at Rp 2,000 (normally Rp 5,000).
Houses in Kuem are lined up from the swamp’s edge to the back end of the village in the distance, which can be reached in half an hour of walking. The population is about three times larger than Manda’s. In Kuem, there are elementary schools, secondary schools, hospitals that provide free medical treatment, several churches and electricity. Even though it is remote, the village is quite modern.
***
Papa Leo\'s warning that the residents of Kuem were hot-tempered had deeply influenced my mind. However, so far, I had found the residents of Kuem to be all right.
"Welcome to the only Mandobo village in Papua Niugini," one of Kuem residents said when he met me.
Hospital that provides free medical treatment in Kuem, Papua New Guinea.
I initially did not consider this significant. However, it turned out, it was special thing for Mandobo to live across the border, in Indonesia.
Moses Kukinop, the principal of the secondary school in Kuem, who also acted as my host, said his grandparents were Mandobo tribal people who inhabited Boven Digoel and Tanah Merah in Netherlands New Guinea (now Papua province, Indonesia).
"In the 1950s, our grandparents descended the mountain from Digoel and found fertile banana fields around the Fly River. They wanted to occupy the land, but it turned out to have been claimed by the Buazi tribe," he said.
That was the beginning of the existence of the village of Kuem.
A tribal war broke out between the people of Mandobo and Buazi. The war ended after a peace agreement was reached and the Mandobo people were allowed to live in the land belonging to Buazi. That was the beginning of the existence of the village of Kuem.
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History is the main reason why the Buazi, including Papa Leo and all the residents of Manda, were suspicious of Kuem people.
It is common for the indigenous inhabitants of a place to blame newcomers for all their problems. Now, both Buazi and Kuem people equally blame the latest newcomers: West Papuan refugees.
The exiles from Indonesian Papua are generally labeled as "OPM" even though not all of them are activists in the organization that seeks to separate the provinces of Papua and West Papua from Indonesia. Since 1984, OPM camps have been built along the Fly River and are very feared by PNG residents themselves.
***
That afternoon, I sat on the veranda of the home of Anton Numberi, an exile from Indonesian Papua who had lived for a long time in PNG. He had obtained PNG citizenship and worked as a secondary school teacher in Kuem.
Anton hailed from Serui, near Biak, and his family lived in Manokwari. In 1984, he was part of a wave of evacuees who crossed from Irian Jaya to PNG. That year, a bloody incident occurred when a number of activists raised the Morning Star flag in Jayapura, which was followed by an exodus of around 10,000 Papuans to PNG. Anton was a student in Jayapura and was part of the OPM movement.
Anton Numberi.
No matter how bitter his experience with Indonesia was, in Anton’s heart the country remains part of his identity. He is still fluent in Indonesian and still follows political developments in Jakarta. "I don\'t hate Indonesians. Just because of political reasons and ideology, I don\'t want to stay there," he said.
Anton was moved to tears. There was a bit of excitement in his heart, as well as hope that Papuans would become the masters of their own land.
Many of Anton\'s relatives still live in Indonesia and Anton still occasionally visits Jayapura. In 2000, Anton returned to Jayapura for the first time since he fled to PNG. He witnessed major changes: development everywhere, tall buildings, luxury cars, people with better clothes and more money. Anton was moved to tears. There was a bit of excitement in his heart, as well as hope that Papuans would become the masters of their own land.
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During his last visit to Jayapura in 2012, he advised his relatives, "Don\'t follow in my footsteps. You just stay here, and don\'t ever take part in the OPM! "
(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo).
