SETARA Crowns Singkawang as Most Tolerant City in Indonesia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Setara Institute named the city of Singkawang in West Kalimantan as the most tolerant city in the country in the human rights watchdog’s diversity index of 2021. 

“We classify cities with four variables and eight indicators,” said Setara Institute executive director Ismail Hasani in Central Jakarta on March 30. “We also conducted self-assessment and distributed questionnaires to people regarding their city’s performance.”

In the assessment, the institute grouped the top ten most tolerant cities in Indonesia, namely of Kediri (5.733 points), Surakarta (5.783), Bekasi (5.830), Ambon (5.900), Magelang (6.020), Tomohon (6.133), Kupang (6.337), Salatiga (6.367), Manado (6.400), and at first sport Singkawang with 6.483 points. 

The tolerance levels also consider public policies issued by local governments that do not only benefit one community. Other indicators include development plans, discriminative policies, cases of intolerance, civil society dynamics, public statements by governments, actions by city governments, religious heterogeneity, and socio-religious inclusion.

“A low score will be obtained by a city if it has a discriminative policy,” said Ismail.

Asked about the city’s achievement, Singkawang mayor Tjhai Chui Mie said the city has always been home to multiethnic groups and has 17 associations. This city is also considered a miniature of Indonesia due to its diverse ethnicities. 

“We hope it’s not just the city in the future, but [Singkawang] regency and city to help realize the dream of [late president] Soekarno,” Mie asserted. 

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH