“We should not view the church and politics or state affairs as separate,” explained Maurits Mantiri, Mayor of Bitung, North Sulawesi.&“I often hear people say that the church is holy, whilst politics is dirty. It is as though the church exists in one world, and politics in another. Yet there is no separation, because we live in the same world—a world created by God for the good of all and for His glory. Whether we are members of the church or citizens of the state, we breathe the same air every day,” he emphasised further. 

Mauritnya noted that the church in Indonesia operates within political spheres, specifically in matters of state. Its existence and growth are also influenced by the applicable laws and regulations. Therefore, if the church wishes to bring about goodness, justice and the signs of the Kingdom of God in the world, the church and its members must not be “allergic” to politics; rather, they must be involved and influence political decision-making. Maurits emphasised that politics is not dirty, as its aim is to bring about the welfare of society. What must be avoided, in his view, are politicians who behave in a ‘dirty’ manner and whose ways are ‘misguided’. 

In 2002, Maurits Mantiri left the comfort of his role as production manager at a large fish-canning company to enter the uncertain world of politics. 

“At that time, I was already financially secure. As a politician, however, there was no guarantee I would be elected to the legislature. Even if I were elected to the council, my income would not necessarily be as secure as in my previous role. In terms of salary, of course, the salary as a manager at a fishing company was higher. ‘Because my conscience would not allow me to stand by and watch injustice, I entered politics,’ he explained. His initial impetus came from witnessing the unfair treatment Megawati was receiving at the time.

“I also felt a strong desire to defend the common people, which drove me to enter the world of politics. I tried out several parties before deciding that the PDI-P was the best fit for me, so I joined them. In 2004, I stood for election as a councillor and was elected,” he continued. 

A childhood and adolescence marked by struggle, and having faced various experiences of injustice and life’s hardships, made Maurits want to help and support the underprivileged in their struggle to improve their welfare. 

A Native of Bitung

Maurits Mantiri was born on 26 March 1965 in Bitung, North Sulawesi. He completed his primary and secondary education in Bitung. He obtained his degree in fisheries engineering from Sam Ratulangi University, Manado, in 1991. Later, whilst serving as Deputy Mayor of Bitung, he completed a Master’s degree in Management in 2018 at the same alma mater, Sam Ratulangi University.

Maurits describes himself as coming from a modest family with a traditional mindset. His father is from Minahasa, whilst his mother is from Sangir. Although his extended family had long been Christian, his father—a native of Manado—still held traditional beliefs. His father and his paternal extended family still believed in the supernatural and occult practices. For example, whenever a black snake entered the house, Maurits’s family would immediately hold a ritual to ward off evil and dispel bad luck. They would have to slaughter a pig, call upon a shaman and so on. In short, the arrival of a black snake would cost his family a great deal of money. 

“In Minahasa in the 1970s, that was indeed the case,” said Maurits. “My mum, a Sangir woman, a schoolteacher and an elder, thought differently. ‘If we slaughtered a pig every time a black snake appeared, we’d run out of pigs before long.’ 

Maurits, who was one of the brighter pupils in his year, tended to side with his mother’s view. One afternoon, when little Maurits came home from playing football, a black snake was coiled round the front doorpost of his house. So Maurits immediately grabbed a bat to kill the snake and prove that his father’s view was wrong. At the time, Maurits was only about 10 years old, still in Year 4 of primary school. His father was furious and scolded Maurits. “Why did you kill that snake? You’ll die one day!” shouted his father. 

“Dad, just wait and see. If God is on my side, will I really die? Let’s just wait a week,” replied Maurits. As it turned out, nothing happened after a week; everything was fine. So from that day on, Maurits’s family stopped performing those costly rituals. It turned out that a 10-year-old child could bring about a change of heart within a family. From then on, his family became actively involved in church activities. 

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Once, when Maurits was in the first year of secondary school, his mum fell ill. Instead of taking her to see a doctor, his dad chose to call in a ‘wise man’. This wise man prepared various ingredients for a healing ritual for Maurits’s mum. Of all the family members, only Maurits refused to take part in the ritual. “I didn’t want to take part. From the kitchen, I said, ‘Mum, surely Jesus wouldn’t want to be replaced by some other, unclear power?’” commented Maurits. The ‘wise man’ summoned by the shaman claimed that Maurits’s mother was ill because someone who disliked her had caused it. The shaman was believed to possess powers beyond those of ordinary people. When the ritual was over, and as they were seeing the shaman home, they were intercepted by a crowd of people. The ‘wise man’ looked arrogant as he got out of the car, assuming people would be afraid of him because of his reputation as a ‘wise man’. It turned out, however, that those who had intercepted them were not afraid and beat the ‘wise man’ up. This only strengthened Maurits’s conviction that this ‘wise man’ was nothing more than a loudmouth with no real ability. Consequently, his family’s view of such ‘wise men’ began to change. 

Active in the Church and the Scouts

From a young age, Maurits had been a regular at Sunday School and memorised Bible stories. As a teenager, Maurits was frequently involved in various church activities, such as serving on celebration committees and performing in Christmas or Easter plays (plays). Even whilst in his first year of senior secondary school, he was entrusted with teaching Sunday School. He once attended a Sunday School Teachers’ Training Course organised by the Indonesian Bible Society, around 1981. 

Seeing Maurits’s dedication and active involvement in the church, a pastor from the Pentecostal Church wanted to encourage him to continue his studies in Malang. However, his mother did not agree, so Maurits continued his secondary education in Bitung until he graduated in 1984. He chose to study fisheries, as his teacher had told him that the future of the fisheries sector looked very bright. North Sulawesi, and Bitung in particular, is renowned for its marine fisheries and fish processing industries. “This choice later proved to be quite the right one, because as soon as I graduated with my bachelor’s degree, fish canning factories began springing up around Bitung,” he said. 

Aside from his involvement in the church, Maurits was actively involved in the Scouts whilst at school. From primary school onwards, he was accustomed to taking part in Scout camps, as well as competitions and sports festivals between Scout groups. As it happened, his mother, who was a teacher, was also a very active Scout leader. So Maurits and his older siblings were encouraged to get involved in Scouting. During his final year at secondary school, Maurits took part in the National Jamboree in Cibubur. One of his older brothers attended the National Jamboree held in Sibolangit, North Sumatra. Maurits also once took part in the Asia-Pacific Jamboree in Karangkates, Surabaya. Scouting has shaped him in many beneficial ways, such as through discipline, leadership, teamwork and many other positive qualities. Just as in the church, through Scouting Maurits has received spiritual and mental guidance. 

Struggling and Learning to Be Self-Reliant

From a young age, Maurits’s parents instilled in him the values of being a fighter and a striver. There was no spoiling in the family. Moreover, his family went through some difficult times. 

His mother was merely a primary school teacher on a modest income. Meanwhile, his father struggled on several occasions to set up a business, experiencing many ups and downs. At one point, his father tried his hand at a transport business, pig farming, copra and agriculture. Difficult times arose when the government banned the direct export of copra, requiring it to go through a collecting company. His father, who had already signed an agreement with a Taiwanese company, saw the deal fall through as a result of this new government regulation. Her father had already collected and purchased large quantities of copra from farmers and built a warehouse. As a result, his business went bankrupt. Her father once consoled her, saying, “We were once on the verge of becoming rich, but it was thwarted.”

In economic terms, her family was not in want. However, her mother always taught her the importance of self-reliance and a fighting spirit. Outside of her teaching hours, her mother would readily work as a cook at weddings or community celebrations. Sometimes she was paid only in food; other times, she was given a modest fee. Yet through these experiences, his mother was setting an example for her children to never give up and to keep striving. 

“Because Mum was such a good cook, we all learnt how to make fish floss, make cooking oil, and even sell ice,” said Maurits. He recalled his primary school days, under the scorching sun, after school he would carry a thermos of ice and walk round the village shouting, "Ice… ice… ice!" Back then, people would pay for the ice either with money or with second-hand goods, which Maurits would later resell. 

“Because Dad went bankrupt and didn’t end up getting rich, we were taught to be self-reliant from a young age. We learnt to wash our own clothes, iron our own clothes, and even cook for ourselves. We did all these things as a matter of course,” he said. His father even taught all his children the habit of eating together. “We must eat together!” his father would say. The aim wasn’t merely for the sake of togetherness, but primarily to save on food. “Because if we ate on our own, the supply of rice and side dishes in the kitchen wouldn’t be enough. But if we eat together, we can share with one another and make do with what we have,” recalled Maurits. 

Getting Married Young

Whilst studying at Sam Ratulangi University (Unsrat), Maurits was not only active in his studies but also in the ecumenical fellowship of Unsrat’s Christian students. Outside the campus, he was active in the youth group at his church (GMIM) and served on the executive committee of the Indonesian Christian Student Movement (GMKI). Such a busy schedule taught Maurits to be disciplined with his time and to organise his schedule effectively. These are good habits he has continued to cultivate to this day.  

Whilst in his second year of university, around 1986, Maurits decided to marry his girlfriend since his teenage years, Rita A.L. Tangkudung. It was a decision that surprised many, as Maurits was still very young – in his early twenties. His girlfriend was two years older. However, the two had known each other for a long time, having met as fellow church activists. It was, as they say, love at first sight. 

Although they decided to marry quickly, they promised their parents that they would complete their studies as soon as possible. However, things did not always go according to plan. Maurits’s studies were slightly delayed, and he only graduated in 1991. From this marriage, Maurits was blessed with two sons. His wife is a civil engineer and works as a civil servant (ASN) within the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing. 

Starting Work

In 1991, Maurits completed his undergraduate degree. At that time, Maurits was very busy with various activities at church, particularly youth work. His parents tried to remind him, “Maurits, you’re already married. Yet here you are, busy with this and that – when are you going to get serious about finding a job?”

His pastor at the church was aware of Maurits’s struggles. He said, “Maurits, keep up your enthusiasm for looking after the youth at the church. God would never lie to you.” The pastor encouraged Maurits to remain confident and not to worry about the future. The pastor offered this advice because Maurits had been feeling uncertain and anxious about his family’s future, particularly that of his wife and child.  

In 1992, he was taken on by PT Estada Pesca, a fishing company in Bitung. At this company, Maurits built his career from the bottom up, rising from an ordinary labourer to a senior supervisor. 

“I did not become a civil servant (PNS). This was because I looked to my mum as an example; as a civil servant, she lived a hand-to-mouth existence,” he said. “My ambition was to become a company director.”

It took Maurits just one and a half years to rise from his first job to becoming a supervisor. That was quite fast for his cohort. The key, he said, was perseverance and a willingness to go the extra mile. This was something he was already accustomed to doing whilst serving in the church and in student groups. 

“Those who are considered hard-working employees usually work between 10 and 12 hours a day. At that time, I was able to put in as many as 17 hours a day. My salary back then was around 85,000 a month. It was just enough to feed our family. 

Since getting married, Maurits and his family have been living with his wife’s parents. This has presented its own challenges, as in Manado society, people who live with their in-laws are often looked down upon and teased for living in the ‘Beautiful In-Laws’ Cottage’. Maurits’s way of thinking is different. In his view, within the Christian faith, there is nothing wrong with living with one’s in-laws. Children have a responsibility to look after and care for their parents in their old age. Children must not abandon their parents. So, by living together, both parties can help and support one another. 

One afternoon, when Maurits returned home from work, his son Raldi was suffering from a high fever, which led to convulsions. Fortunately, his mother-in-law had plenty of experience dealing with children suffering from high fevers leading to convulsions. She was therefore able to administer first aid to Raldi correctly. Maurits took his son to hospital and subsequently paid 85,000 rupiah in medical fees. 

“That was my first pay cheque from work. My first pay cheque was spent entirely on a single medical bill. I’ve told my son about this experience: ‘Dad’s first pay cheque from the factory was spent just to pay for you’.” ‘We didn’t have any money for a whole month,’ he recounted with a laugh. Although they have faced difficult struggles and hardships in life on several occasions, Maurits and his wife have never complained or placed a burden on his parents. 

His parents once tried to write to the Vice-Chancellor of Sam Ratulangi University (Unsrat), asking him to accept Maurits as a lecturer at the university. This was because, as it happened, his father-in-law was also a lecturer at the university’s Faculty of Economics. When Maurits learnt of his father-in-law’s plan, he refused. He was not willing to gain entry through nepotism or special letters of recommendation. He wanted to fight his own battles and build his own dreams, relying on his own perseverance and God’s help. 

Winning the Sinar Mas Group Award

Around 1994, he moved to work at PT Sinar Pure Foods, a subsidiary of the Sinar Mas Group. Maurits’s performance at his new workplace was also quite good. In his roles, from employee to supervisor, he became actively involved in trade unions, both within his own company and at the city level in Bitung. He took part in various training courses organised by Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (Walhi). All of this broadened his horizons and nurtured his leadership qualities. 

“I also established an ecumenical fellowship within the company. I was confident enough to assure the company that the fellowship would not disrupt the company’s performance and would even boost productivity,” he said.”Through the fellowship, we motivate people to succeed by emphasising that everyone must set an example at work: don’t sleep too much, don’t be lazy, don’t take time off at the slightest excuse, don’t take what isn’t ours—for example, by cheating on the scales when weighing fish from fishermen—and it turns out the benefits have been very positive,” he continued. 

It turned out that a company which had been on the verge of bankruptcy in 1995 began to make substantial profits by 1997. The company received various awards from numerous organisations. As a further result, Maurits’s career began to take off and he was sent on training courses to various locations.  

Around 1999, the Sinar Mas Group organised a management competition called “Rising The Sky”. The competition required each participant to come up with creative ideas and outline a process that could generate profits of over 1 million for the company. Maurits plucked up the courage to enter the competition. Whilst preparing for it, he read extensively. Already accustomed to giving PowerPoint presentations, he endeavoured to present his programme effectively. His competitors in the competition came from a variety of academic backgrounds; there were even graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States and PhD graduates from the Netherlands. At one point, a participant asked, “Mr Maurits, where did you graduate from?” Maurits replied, “From Unsrat in Manado.” It seemed the participant was not very familiar with Unsrat, as his expression remained unremarkable upon hearing Maurits’s answer. After going through several stages of assessment, it turned out that Maurits had won The Best Presentation in that national competition. It was a source of great pride. 

A Shift into Politics

After some time’s deliberation, in 2002 Maurits resigned from the company that had provided him with stability and financial security for his family. At that time, he was already a Production Manager. 

“The reason I entered politics was because I felt uncomfortable whenever I saw injustice around me. Perhaps this was shaped by the experiences my family and I went through from childhood through to my teenage years. At that time, I witnessed the injustice suffered by Mrs Megawati, which prompted me to reflect and dedicate myself more to serving the community,” he said. 

“My motivation for entering politics isn’t the salary, as my salary as a manager is far higher. This isn’t just empty talk; I feel driven to care more deeply for and defend the lives of the underprivileged. I tried to examine the vision and mission of various parties and considered joining several of them, but I felt that the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was the right fit for me. Moreover, in my view, the PDI-P was born out of a response to injustice,” he continued. 

After two years as a member, in 2004 Maurits stood as a candidate for the Bitung City People’s Representative Council and was subsequently elected as a councillor. From 2006 to 2010, he served as Chair of Commission A of the Bitung City Council; from 2010 to 2015, Maurits was appointed Deputy Chair of the Bitung City Council. From 2016 to 2021, Maurits was entrusted by the public to serve as Deputy Mayor of Bitung, and finally, from 2021 until the present day, he has taken on the role of Mayor of Bitung. 

His leadership motto is simple: “Making the Community Smile”. For him, if the people can smile, then God will smile too. Consequently, the slogan he consistently promotes in Bitung to motivate all his staff is ‘Sepakat’, which stands for ‘Resolve the People’s Problems’. He never ceases to explore innovations or new approaches to improve the community’s welfare. 

In his view, helping and serving the community is the responsibility of every leader and public servant. For example, helping someone who has had an accident on the road, reaching out to those who are lonely, or chatting with ordinary people are natural duties of a leader—indeed, of every human being towards their fellow human beings. None of this should be viewed as mere image-building. Image-building stems from insincerity, whilst doing good stems from sincerity and a calling as a person of faith. 

Bitung plays a vital role for both North Sulawesi and Indonesia, as seven of the approximately 14 large fish-processing plants in Indonesia are located in Bitung. The majority of its products are skipjack and tuna. However, Maurits does not want Bitung to thrive solely in the maritime and fisheries sectors. He hopes Bitung can achieve greater prosperity through high-calibre human resources. One of his initiatives is to transform Bitung into a digital city. In his view, digital technology can assist and resolve many issues more efficiently and effectively. 

“We are promoting ‘Bitung: Digital City’, starting by improving internet quality in Bitung. We have set up around 1,000 new Wi-Fi hotspots. We have set up one Wi-Fi hotspot in almost every neighbourhood unit (RT),” he said. “If the level of openness and knowledge among the community increases, progress in other areas will follow,” he continued.

According to Maurtis, the number of school dropouts in Bitung of working age is around 30,000. Helping them obtain school qualifications through equivalency programmes is no easy task. Getting them back into school is not feasible. If these school leavers are left to their own devices, they will become drunken masters, delinquent youths, and people without hope. “If those with only primary and lower secondary education are still accepted into the workforce, they usually struggle to progress and simply become a burden on the company,” said Maurits. “With the online learning systemdesigned by the Bitung Education Department, the community has been motivated to get involved,” he said. “Many of them were overjoyed when they finally received their secondary school certificates.”

Latest news: Google Indonesia is interested in collaborating with the Bitung local government to support this online education programme through Google for Education. Maurits is also committed to providing scholarships for the young people of Bitung to pursue further studies in information technology and other fields. 

“If the city prospers, then the community will live in harmony and peace. That is what we are striving to achieve,” he explained.

Maurits’ long-term vision is the Endless Kingdom, which is to bring about the signs of the Kingdom of God—a kingdom full of grace and peace in the midst of the world (2 Tim. 4:1). As long as we are still living in this world, God continues to grant each of us an opportunity. As long as he has the strength, Maurits wishes to continue serving. For him, life is an opportunity to serve God and his fellow human beings. Until God calls him home to the Endless Kingdom, full of peace.