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Picture 1. The Map of Indonesia
Source:https://www.http://grahabudayaindonesia.at.webry.info/201104/article_
7.html [last Assessed: October 25th, 2016]
Picture 2. The Map of Aceh
Source:http://www.aktual.com/pemerintah-aceh-diminta-optimalkan-dana-otsu s/ [last Assessed: October 25th, 2016]
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Aceh is a diverse province and has several ethnic and language groups. The
majority ethnic groups are the Acehnese. Besides, there are also a significant number
of Chinese populations. Usually, these Chinese people are leading in business and
financial things. In addition, some Arab, Portuguese, and Indian descent can also be
found in Aceh. It is because their ancestor landed in Aceh in the early of the 12th
century due to some missions, it was either for trading or spreading the religion
(Dahlia, 2013).
In accordance with the most recent census in 2014, the total population of Aceh
is 4,731,705 people (Depkes, 2014). The languages widely spoken in Aceh are
Indonesia, as the national language, and Acehnese dialect. According to the Central
Statistical Agency, Muslims citizens dominate Aceh province with more than 98% and
followed by Protestant, Buddhist, Hindu, and Catholic (Statistik, 2014). Religious
issues are often very sensitive in Aceh. There is very strong support for Islam across
the province and sometimes other religious groups feel that they are subject to social
or community pressure to limit their activities. For example, in 2012 nine Christian
churches and five Buddhist temples were closed in Banda Aceh on the orders of the
Aceh provincial government because they did not have the appropriate permits
(Saragih, 2012).
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1.2 Research Motivation
There are a couple of reasons that motivate the author to write this topic. The
first one is regarding the educational situation in Aceh. According to Department of
Education in Aceh, in 2005 education grade in Aceh was reported as the 3rd worst in
Indonesia. Moreover, it has also been reported that the final exam grades from
elementary through high school students dropped dramatically year by year (Statistic,
2014). The 30 years of conflict and tsunami disaster became two of the main factors
cause this poor educational situation in Aceh. This situation made the government
worried about the quality of education in Aceh.
Firstly, for nearly 30 years, the province of Aceh was embroiled in a separatist
struggle against the Indonesian government. The conflict in Aceh escalated when
there was the unequal distribution of profit between central government and Aceh
province in the 1970s, since Aceh has substantial oil and natural gas (Institute, 2014).
Hasan Ditiro led the call for Independent Aceh. Lately, this movement is called Free
Aceh Movement or in Indonesian is called Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM). In 1976,
he proclaimed Aceh independence (Ross, 2005). In the end, this movement made
Hasan Ditiro had to live in Sweden (Institute, 2014). This movement was getting
bigger and bigger through the years, even though the leader had settled abroad.
After left by its leader, this province followed Soeharto’s policy of economic
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development and industrialization. During late 80s several security incidents
prompted the Indonesian central government to take repressive measures and to send
troops to Aceh. Human rights abuse was rampant for the next decade, resulting in
many grievances on the part of the Acehnese toward the Indonesian central
government. In 1990, the Indonesian government initiated a martial law by deploying
more than 12,000 Indonesian armies in the region (Ross, 2005). It was such a special
operation against Free Aceh Movement.
In the late of 1990s, coincide with the Asian financial crisis, the chaos in Java
and an ineffective central government gave an advantage to Free Aceh Movement and
resulted in the second phase of the rebellion, this time with large support from the
Acehnese people (Ross, 2005). The war was still going on even when the Tsunami
Disaster of 2004 struck the province.
During thirty years of social and political conflict between GAM and Indonesian
military brought more harm than good, especially to the society of Aceh. History
showed that wars and armed conflicts has destroyed social institutions more than
provided constructive impact (Wiryono). It was exposed clearly in the social life, for
example, the destruction of educational institutions. It is reported that many teachers
and students were killed during the conflict, 546 schools were burned during the
conflict, and more than 514 teachers left the province for security reasons (Liputan6,
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2002). Many children displaced to the camps (numbers reaching 16,352 students at
one point) and had to quit school, at least temporarily (Bailey, 2008). Ironically, some
of the students were forced to take part in the conflict, such as became a child soldier
(Report, 2008).
This conflict, which raged most actively between 1976 and 2005, led to the
deaths of between 15,000 to 20,000 people, the dislocation of families and massive
destruction of public and private property (Miller and Bunnell, 2010 in Samuels,
2012). Also, the most tragic incident happened when Prof. Dr. Safwan Idris, a director
from a private university, was shot in September 2000 and in the following year the
same incident happened again to the Rector of Unsyiah, Dr. Dayan Dawood (Raihan,
2004). This conflict has created a worse atmosphere for a learning process. Besides
the physical damage, the other impact was the traumatic feelings and fears felt by the
people who lived in the conflict surround area.
Second, of all, another factor caused the poor educational situation in Aceh was
the effects of Indian Ocean earthquake and Tsunami in 2004. On Sunday, December
2004 the Indian Ocean was hit by the mega thrust earthquake, and then 45 minutes
later it continued to result in a tsunami. The epicenter of the quake was located
undersea. The scientists estimated the magnitude of this earthquake up to magnitude
9.0 (Times, 2014). That made this as one of the deadliest natural disaster in the world
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record (BBC, BBC News, 2005).
Aceh was the closest point of land to the center of the 2004 Indian Ocean
earthquake and tsunami, which devastated much of the western coast of this province.
The western coastal areas of Aceh were completely destroyed. It was including Banda
Aceh, the capital city of Aceh, which got hardest hit among the western coastal
regions. Furthermore, most of the rest of the western coast of Aceh was severely
damaged. Many towns completely disappeared. Meanwhile, the north and east coast
region were slightly affected or destroyed. It is estimated that 95,000 people were
killed and 133,000 went missing or presumed dead in the disaster, while about
500,000 were left homeless (BBC, BBC News, 2005). Before the tsunami, the
population of Aceh was 4,271,000 (2004) (Statistic, 2014). The population as of 15
September 2005, was 4,031,589 (Statistic, 2014).
The World Bank reported that the estimation of the total damage and losses from
the disaster was up to the US $ 4.45 billion (Tempo, 2005). Of the total, 66 percent is
damage (including 2,087 schools were destroyed), while 34 percent is in the form of
loss of economic revenue (Bank, The World Bank Indonesia, 2005). It was estimated
that over 2000 schools were destroyed, 2,500 teachers killed, and 160,000 students
were left without a school to attend as a result of this series of disasters
(Commonwealth of Australia, 2008).
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Surprisingly, the disaster triggered generosity from domestic and international
communities in those countries affected by the tsunami. It was estimated that about
US$7.7 billion was committed by a number of funders from the Government of
Indonesia, bilateral and multilateral donors, international NGOs, and communities
both within and outside Indonesia towards the reconstruction program (Masyrafah &
McKeon, 2008). Up to 34 countries and 600 agencies from overseas came into this
province bringing funding and trying to help Aceh not only in rebuilding but also
building it back better, in term of infrastructure, health, education, and others (Fertiq,
Foster, & Nicholas, 2005). Besides, the aid given did not only consist of cash but also
consist of medical supply, blankets, clothes, foodstuffs, and many expertise, such as
doctors, nurses, therapists, psychologist, engineers, architect, teachers, and many
others.
Taiwan also participated in donating a significant amount of financial support
and sending the medical personnel. Several NGOs from Taiwan have participated as
well in volunteering helping Aceh with post-disaster rehabilitation. Among of them
were two Buddhist groups, such as the Tzu Chi and Dharma Drum Mountain
foundations (Front Page, 2005). Moreover, in 2005 Taiwan helped rebuild a public
university in Aceh because education plays a major role in social development (Front
Page, 2005). It is so showing that the 2004 tsunami disaster has highlighted some
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factors regarding the coordination and delivery of international aid.
Another motive that leads the author to focus on this topic was cultural relations
between Aceh and Taiwan. It started even before 1971, when the official relations
between Indonesia – Taiwan started. Aceh has been close to Chinese Culture
beforehand. For instance, majority Chinese population in Aceh is Hakka people
(Statistic, 2016). Similarly, the Hakka population in Taiwan is about 15 to 20% of the
population in Taiwan and form the second-largest ethnic group on the island.
Moreover, history said that Admiral Cheng Ho played an important role to bridge
the Chinese Muslim culture into Aceh community a long time ago. According to a
book written by Slamet Muljana, a historian from Indonesia, (Jakarta: 1968), during
his voyages from 1405 to 1433 Cheng Ho had stopped in Indonesia several times;
such as in Samodra Pasai (Aceh), Palembang, Jakarta, Cirebon, Semarang, and
Surabaya. Gan Kok Hwie, the observers of China's history and the author of Chinese
martial arts stories who comes from Semarang, explained throughout his time in
Indonesia Cheng Ho was not only stopped by to do the cultural exchange but also
taught the locals about farming.
It is also mentioned that Cheng Ho visited Indonesia seven times. There is at
least one of the evidence legacies from Cheng Ho in each of his stops in any city in
Indonesia. For instance, during his voyage towards Samodra Pasai (Aceh), he brought
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a gift of a giant bell as the offerings of the Chinese Empire to the kingdom of
Samudra Pasai. The people of Aceh named it the Chakra Donya Bell and until today
the historic bell can still be seen in the Museum downtown Banda Aceh (Foundation,
2014). Below is the picture of Chakra Donya bell gave by Cheng Ho.