The Forum for Religious Harmony (FKUB) in Malang City has carried out many activities to help to maintain the harmony of the people of Malang City. This was revealed in the research of the Faculty of Cultural Studies (FCS) Universitas Brawijaya (UB) Lecturer Team which was chaired by Dr. Hipolitus Kristoforus Kewuel, M.Hum., from the Study Program of Anthropology. According to him, Anthropological research work is more on a description of the realities that are lived and experienced by society.
“Anthropological research like this can be a reference for further social analysis on the harmony and comfort of living together as a community,” he said.
The sympathetic works of the FKUB Malang City, according to Dr. Hipolitus, are parts of the role of society to participate in maintaining harmony and peace in living together.
The main thing that the FKUB Malang City does is carrying out its duties to guard and facilitate the construction of churches, mosques, and or temples. Many cases of such buildings are handled with persuasive approaches. There are also many conflict prevention activities in the construction of those buildings. Visits from one religious’ community to another become the rhythm of their fun and moving activities.
FKUB Malang City also plays the role of being a bridge between the community and the government. The government has a program, but how does the program fit the needs of the community? This is often a difficult problem. In cooperation with the government, FKUB plays the role of listening to the aspirations of the community and channeling them to the government.
“There are many variations of the approach being developed. They went to community leaders, youths, and religious communities to seek aspirations and share inspiration. After that, they held a discussion with the government. In many ways, this method is very effective, and the government is greatly helped by this working model,” he explained.
He added that apart from the two tasks above, there is also an important task for FKUB to socialize various laws and regulations related to FKUB.
“This role is unique and very useful because generally, people do not care about official documents,” he concluded. [DTS]
