Indonesia’s Singkawang – with its ethnic Chinese population – is Muslim-majority nation’s most tolerant place
- With more than 235,000 residents, Singkawang has a reputation for being inclusive in a nation which sometimes has anti-Chinese sentiment
- Singkawang in West Kalimantan, is well-known for its distinctive Chinese temples and for its Hakka communities
Singkawang in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province – which has a sizeable Chinese population – was the most tolerant place in the nation in 2021, a Jakarta-based research and advocacy non-governmental organisation found.
Singkawang is home of more than 235,000 residents and maintains its status of being among the most inclusive places in a country of more than 270 million people in recent years.
Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace late last month launched its Tolerant Cities Index 2021 – the fifth since it was first released in 2015. It listed Indonesia’s 10 cities with the highest and lowest tolerance scores each out of 94 cities surveyed nationwide.
Singkawang scored 6.483 out of seven based on eight indicators such as regional development plans, discriminative policies, intolerance incidents, civil society dynamics, public statements by city governments, concrete actions from city governments, religious heterogeneity and socio-religious inclusion.
During the index launch, Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace credited the success to Singkawang’s “breakthrough” regulations enacted last year on community tolerance. This became its guidelines to prevent and take action on every act of intolerance that “could disturb the peace and public order” in the city.
“Singkawang has also applied the principle of inclusivity to the planning of city activity programmes,” the executive summary of the index, referring to family and children-focused programmes said.
“Through those activities, preservation and dialogue of harmony is established,” it added.
