Camelia Pasandaran – National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri is urging people to get to know their neighbors better to help fight terrorism, and said the Idul Fitri holiday provided a good opportunity to start.

Bambang said the holiday provides a good opportunity for people to reach out to – and keep an eye on – fellow members of their community.

He said the recent revelation that four alleged terrorists, including Noordin M Top, were living in a village in Solo, Central Java, should encourage people to pay more attention to those who live around them.

"In a residential area near a city, there were [terrorist] activities that could not be detected by citizens," Bambang said, adding that people should familiarize themselves with those next door and report any suspicious activities.

He said in the case of the recent raid, the head of the community admitted that he had only checked the identity card of the terrorist that rented the house, but not others who lived there.

Meanwhile, 200 kilograms of explosives had been found on the site. "Local people failed to monitor and be aware of their activities," he said.

Imam Prasojo, a sociologist at the University of Indonesia said having only loose relations with neighbors is a common characteristic of communities in a "transitional" country such as Indonesia.

"In an urbanized community, neighbors rarely interact," he said. "If we live in a communal community, people know each other in a village. New people would be easily detected," Imam said. "Meanwhile, in the modern or urbanized community, people come and go. It is hard to detect new people in such a community."

He said in most parts of the country, communities are currently shifting between traditional and modern lifestyles, and the administrations have not caught up with those changes.

"The government does not yet hold accurate data about its citizens, as it has not implemented online databases for registration. But police should be more professional in detecting terrorism activities. It is not right to blame the people."

Imam agreed that people should interact more with their neighbors to boost security during the communities' transitions.

"But it is the responsibility of the authorities, such as village head, to improve the registration of new residents. I have my doubts, because the government could not even manage to get the voters list right," he said.