Archive for June, 2007
Mushrooms might be useless fungi to some — but not to residents of Bulukandang village, Prigen district in Pasuruan regency, East Java.
A village resident, Kaiman, 47, has been able to rebound from economic hardship through cultivating mushrooms.
The father of two has become a successful mushroom farmer and now employs 10 people.
“Mushrooms have really changed my life for the better,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Kaiman’s interest in mushrooms began when financial conditions worsened in 2005 and he could no longer support his family from his earnings as a truck driver, due to a severe drop in the number of customers.
“I had to change course after working as a truck driver for 15 years. That really confused me,” he said.
A friend from Blitar, East Java, asked him to cultivate mushrooms. He was hesitant at first, but decided to give it a go.
He approached a friend in Wonosobo, Central Java, to learn more about mushroom cultivation.
“I stayed in Blitar and Wonosobo for several weeks to learn how to grow mushrooms, but still felt I didn’t know enough.”
He failed every time he tried to grow mushrooms back home, but was determined to keep trying.
He took out a Rp 10 million (US$1,100) loan from a bank, handing over his vehicle ownership documents as collateral. He used Rp 6 million to buy equipment, including a sterilization device and plastic bags, and built a kumbung, or shed made of bamboo walls. He used the rest of the loan to buy other materials needed to grow mushrooms.
“After three months, the harvest was just enough to put food on the table and repay the loan installments.”
Luck, however, was on Kaiman’s side. After six months his harvests increased. He received an order for 10,000 bags of baklok, or growing medium, but had to turn it down because he could only produce 1,000.
His business has thrived ever since. In 2006, he was picked as a trainer to teach Bulukandang residents how to cultivate mushrooms. Now 40 families from the village are involved in growing mushrooms.
The Sampoerna Foundation helped set up a course and provided assistance in the form of 1,000 bags of baklok worth Rp 30 million, distributed to 20 families, payable on a 50:50 profit-share basis.
“Nearly all mushroom farmers in Bulukandang are working together to cultivate and market mushrooms,” said Kaiman, who now owns two 20×70 meter kumbung and enjoys a net profit of Rp 7.5 million per month.
Each kumbung is divided into two rooms; one is used to germinate spores, while a dark room is used to grow the mushrooms. The whole process — from spore to harvest — takes approximately 45 days.
Kaiman, who represents mushroom farmers in Bulukambang, hopes the government will provide soft loans to boost production in order to meet the growing demand for mushrooms.
“We have had to turn down weekly export orders of 500 kg of mushrooms to Taiwan and China due to limited capital.”
Bulukandang mushrooms are currently only being distributed to places near Pasuruan, including Surabaya, Malang and Mojokerto.
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Pasuruan
June 29th, 2007
KEDIRI, Indonesia, June 25 (Reuters) - Indonesia’s top cigarette maker, PT Gudang Garam Tbk (GGRM.JK: Quote, Profile, Research), played down concerns on Monday over government moves to cap industry output as it launched a low-tar cigarette to help lift its performance.
The mild cigarette segment has been dominated by Handaya Mandala Sampoerna (HMSP.JK: Quote, Profile, Research), a unit of Philip Morris, the tobacco arm of Altria Group (MO.N: Quote, Profile, Research), while Gudang Garam has focused on lower-margin mass market products.
Analysts have blamed Gudang Garam’s strategy for its declining performance, because the majority of its customers are more sensitive to prices. Rival Sampoerna, which targets urban smokers, enjoys a steadier revenue stream.
Widijanto, Gudang Garam’s marketing director, admitted that company had not sufficiently catered to the low-tar sector as he unveiled the “Surya Slims” brand. Surya means sun in Indonesian.
“We see an opportunity in this segment. That’s why we are following the demand from the market,” Widijanto said.
The executive, speaking at the firm’s home town in East Java, also said he was not worried by government moves to control output.
The government recently revealed plans to start limiting cigarette production to 240 billion sticks by 2010 in a tentative move to curb smoking in the world’s fifth-largest tobacco market, lifting the cap to 260 billion in 2015.
“We will do business as usual. We won’t be affected,” Widijanto told reporters.
The number of smokers in western countries has fallen, but in Indonesia, where cigarettes cost as little as $1 a pack, the number has risen to a third of its 220 million people from a quarter in the previous decade.
Nonetheless, Indonesian smokers have been increasingly opting for mild and low-tar cigarettes rather than the most popular clove cigarette, know as kretek.
Indonesians smoked an estimated 220 billion cigarettes last year, the same as in 2005 but below a peak of 239 billion in 2000, according to government data.
According to the World Health Organisation, about a quarter of deaths in Indonesia in 2005 were caused by tobacco, and 80 percent of lung and respiratory cancer cases were due to smoking.
But the industry remains a powerful lobby group, particularly since it is estimated to support employment of 7 million Indonesians.
The industry expects to pay 42 trillion rupiah ($4.8 billion) in cigarette excise taxes this year, up from 11 trillion in 2001.
© Reuters 2007
June 29th, 2007
The Indonesian National Museum officially opens its new building
Last Wednesday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inaugurated the new wing of the National Museum. The old building was known to the Jakartanese as Museum Gajah (the Elephant Museum) for its elephant statue in front of the building. The statue was a gift from King Chulalongkorn from Thailand when he visited the country in 1871. The museum was also called Gedung Arca (the Statue building) for the collection of statues it exhibits inside. In the inauguration it is officially stated that the new wing will be called Gedung Arca, while the old building will be referred as Gedung Gajah.
The Age of Enlightenment in Europe during the 18th century was the supporting motif behind the founding of the Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences) on April 24, 1778. The scientific orientation behind their motto “Ten Nutte van het Algemeen” or “For the benefit of all” made this independent society widely known. One of its founders J.C.M. Rademacher donated a house in downtown Batavia and also his collection of artifacts and books to the institution which later became the seed of the National Museum.
During the British administration, Sir Stamford Raffles directed the institution. It moved to a new building as a museum and the meeting hall for the Literary Society. In 1862, due to the rapid growth of its collections, the Dutch Government decided to build a new museum in its present location (it was known as the Koningsplein West). The museum was officially opened in 1868.
The inauguration of the new wing comes after a long delay as the development of the museum was started in 1994 before the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis hit Indonesia. The new museum building also has temporary exhibitions on offer.
Presently, inside the building there is an exposition of the Majapahit Kingdom. An archeological dig in Trowulan, East Java, gave us insights into 14th century Java civilization. Under the glory of the Majapahit Kingdom, the history was written in the lontar script Negarakrtagama. The unification of small kingdoms under the patronage of the Majapahit Kingdom was also recorded in a Chinese manuscript. The need for unification was something crucial to be able to lead or be known in the region.
Artifacts found at the archeological site, together with manuscripts on the same topic, show us the development of technology, basic religion tolerance shared by the ancestors, as well as the history of trade and economic development.
The permanent exhibitions are now arranged into a theme that stresses the nation’s motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” (Unity in diversity) — the realization of Indonesia’s different cultural backgrounds that should unite us as one big multicultural country.
The museum has a number of sections. “Man and the Environment” explains the geological events that helped create the huge number of islands (more than 13,000 small islands with five big islands) in Indonesia. The “Science, Technology, and Economy” section provides information about all aspects that involve human civilization from the prehistory to more recent times. “Social Organization and Human Settlement,” “Gold and Ceramic Heritage,” “Art” and “Religion” are also sub-themes found in the museum.
In his opening speech the president reminded us of the importance of putting artistic values beside the logical and ethical values in perspective. Artistic values could be a medium to seek the implementation of understanding and mutual respect. He also commented on the era of environmental awareness and the information revolution in this fast-changing globalized world. While hot issues can spread quickly throughout the world, he said Indonesians should remember that our differences should help us to color our culture, to seek for the unifying factors that could glue our differences and prove that our national motto is true.
The speech seemed to resonate with another temporary exhibition that is taking place in a semi-open air courtyard between the old and new buildings. This is a solo exhibition of Iriantine Karnaya, a well-known Indonesian artist who is presenting her works in contemporary installation art.
She expressed her sadness over the situation of her country in her installed work titled “Menu Hari Ini” (”Today’s Menu”), which describes how mushrooms exist in every region of the world. How these mushrooms are displayed on the table shows how varied different cultures are. She is also worried to see the speed of how news spreads, irregardless of borders. She is afraid that people are losing their capability to retreat, think and mull over whether the news is “real” or the “truth,” as reality and truth can be different depending on one’s perspective.
The curator of the exhibition, Wicaksono Adi, quoted the opinion of Marshall McLuhan that stated more than 40 years ago that “the medium is the message” and that an image portrayed in media sometimes is taken as “reality.”
An artist sometimes seems to be an individual working independently. Freedom of expression is something that is usually related to artists. Yet, artistic works could show us the history of the era through the eyes of the artist or through the eyes of its collectors. A personal message could also be conveyed through artistic work, while a personal opinion could also serve the spectator’s perspective.
Two different eyes with the same tears dropping (as seen in her exhibits titled Vision 1 and Vision 2) are present through the installation. They show Iriantine Karnaya’s tears; she weeps over the world’s wars, she weeps over the dominance of glittering images which are not certainly genuine (as seen in “Today’s Menu”), and she weeps over the system that contaminates pure minds in (Mencari Peluang or “Looking for opportunity”).
She notes that contemporary art gives the spectator the chance to have their own perspective, so I wrote a piece for wikimu.com titled “Menu Hari Ini, Makan Apa atau Makan Siapa?” (”Today’s Menu, What’s to Eat or Who’s to Eat?). I came to the realization that aiming only to be on top could make you push others to fall and that the poor and those whose struggle to be able to stand would never reach the opportunity to make it to the top. When those in the lower social strata are thinking of what they can eat, the big players are thinking about how to take somebody else’s dish.
©2007 OhmyNews - Maria Margaretta Vivijanti
June 29th, 2007
The difference between men and boys is the size of their toys. The old proverb holds good most Sundays at a recreation park in Malang, East Java, when a crew of alleged adults get together to realize their fantasies as award winning journalist Duncan Graham found out.
They’re bankers, businessmen (the women, emulating air stewardesses, tend to supply food and drink), oil industry executives and just about anyone who had their childhood dreams of freedom in the skies grounded.
“At primary school I always wanted to fly planes — of the commercial variety,” said Budi Santoso, organizer of the Malang Raya Aeromodeling Club (scaled down to MR AC). “But I didn’t choose that path; instead I became an engineer.
“There are four kids in my family, though we only have three children. Am I a frustrated pilot? Yes, I think so!”
They may never get to wrap their palms round the throttles of an Airbus but they’ll handle most things short of wearing a peaked cap and calming a cabin full of nervous souls by articulating with authority the sentence of assurance: “This is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard.”
In fact the wannabe aviators can do more; how many Airbus A320 jockeys have designed and built the aircraft they fly?
Australian aid administrator Barry Clark has been playing (woops! — carrying out aerodynamic experiments) with model aircraft for more than 40 years. He’s made his own in the past but the pride of his current fleet is a big yellow craft he bought ARTF (almost ready to fly) in Jakarta. This means it took him only four hours to assemble.
There are few local suppliers outside the capital so members have to rely on friends who travel regularly, particularly to Singapore and Australia where the hobby is big business. Vietnam is now producing some excellent models for those without either the patience to build or tolerant partners.
(”Wait a moment, darling; I’ll come to bed just as soon as I’ve fiddled this flap. I’ve got a drag and yaw problem.”)
An expensive pastime? Not if you go for tethered round-the-pole planes controlled by two hand-held cables, according to Budi who makes many of his own parts.
For the free radio-controlled craft the cost depends on what you want, how digitally smart you are (fingers and electronics), and your knowledge of flight science.
Set aside Rp 1 million (US $112) for a basic body, double that for the engine and controls, triple it for the transmitter and toss in another million or so for other gizmos you’re bound to want — even if you don’t need.
Although there are off-the-peg designs available the real challenge comes from applying the laws of physics, understanding meteorology and being inventive. This can be a really educative and creative sport.
And a damaging one.
Anarg, who works for the military where he controls pilotless drones for gunners to practice their aim, found his hobby plane going way off course with a stiff wind up its flimsy backside.
It zipped out of the park, crashed into trees alongside a busy road then tumbled into the traffic. Just as toast always falls with the marmalade-side down, so model aircraft hit hard things nose-first where the expensive bits are located.
Beyond mere toys
In other countries governments and clubs exercise rigid controls on radio frequencies and flight paths, but this country is free of such tiresome rules. That makes for greater hazards and more fun.
Wags say there are old pilots and bold pilots — but no old, bold pilots. Except among Indonesian aeromodelers.
“Malang is made up of real enthusiasts,” Clark said. “These planes are beyond toys. They can reach speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour.
“The club in Jakarta meets out at Halim where there’s some serious money. They even fly jets and employ boys to run out on the field to pick up the crashes.”
But Malang is mainly do-it-yourself, though there’s no shortage of revved-up little lads who sit in wonder to watch their elders, and supposed betters, stretch elastic bands, twist bits of wire and rip packaging tape with their molars.
The earth-bound airmen swap ideas, trade tips and tell of fruit shops that will let you filch high-density Styrofoam. Although used to stop apples bruising in transit, the lightweight sheets make ideal wings.
Readers who misspent their youth trimming balsawood and getting their mum’s best tablecloth sticky with Tarzan’s Grip will be happy to know their ancient skills won’t be wasted.
Tiny two-stroke diesel and glow engines are still used, though giving way to electric motors.
Wrinklies who reckon they haven’t had a good day’s flying unless they come home sprayed with fuel mixed to a secret formula — ears ringing from the high pitched buzz, fingers bleeding from propeller mishaps — sneer at the innovations.
But this is also about gadgets and progress. If the Wright brothers had been happy with their prototype we wouldn’t now be Boeing our way around the globe.
“About five years ago there was a significant shift in the technology,” said Clark. “More powerful lightweight batteries came on the market, along with miniaturized electronic equipment.
“In the past the transmitter would allow only one or two on-off functions. Now you can refine controls of the rudder, elevators, engine speed and ailerons. Some models also let you raise the undercarriage after take-off.”
Though not at MR AC. Although one fellow has a big flash helicopter, the 30 odd members — some have up to 10 planes — aren’t too fussed about appearances. The most spectacular flier, a gaudy biplane with a two-dimensional fuselage, looks like something kicked aside by rubbish bin scavengers.
But in the air, piloted by its designer Sang Ajim, the ugly swan transformed into a swallow. It could turn, roll, hover (if the headwind speed is right), flip, fly vertically and upside-down, duck and dive — giving spectacular displays that would rival any air-force show.
The kids loved it all.
Even the little ones.
Duncan Graham
Website: Indonesia Now
June 28th, 2007
Batik: Creating an Identity
National Museum of Singapore (2007)
pp. 142
Bilingual: English and Mandarin
For the Javanese, batik is more than just long pieces of cloth, sarongs or shirts.
It is magic cloth. Like many other textiles produced in Southeast Asia, batik patterns are more than a form of decoration. They are significant symbols that express various local identities for the people in the region.
The name of the fabric came to be identified with the people of Java although batik was also produced in other places like Southern Sumatra, Central Sulawesi, Malaysia and even Singapore.
The existence and use of batik was already recorded in the 12th Century and the textile has since become a strong source of identity for Indonesians.
Malaysians who have similar cultural roots with their neighbors in Indonesia began to explore batik and to claim it as their own.
Singapore, Indonesia’s closest neighbor, has its own batik history. However, it is very difficult for Singaporeans, especially the young, to view batik as part of their cultural identity.
Developing into one of the most advanced and high-tech nations in Asia, multi-ethnic Singapore has been losing its cultural roots.
This precious book, compiled by Lee Chor Lin and published by the National Museum of Singapore, is aimed at encouraging the young to recognize their social and cultural ties with Southeast Asia.
Batik seems to be one such avenue. The book, therefore, is written in English and Mandarin to enable young Singaporeans to understand its content.
*****
The book starts with the history of batik making in Southeast Asian countries, especially in the Pesisir or coastal areas.
It reveals that batik was not a widely practiced technique in Southeast Asia. In the mainland, batik was used by the Tai-speaking and hill peoples who began to migrate in large numbers from southwestern China to Indochina and Thailand around the 17th Century.
Practiced only in limited areas — Java, southern Sumatra and central Sulawesi — batik of the island world offers a wider variety of patterns and colors, and its usage was more widespread than in the mainland.
However, it is the Javanese tradition of batik, which was also introduced to southern Sumatra, that has created the most dynamic and prolific range of fabrics.
Batik in Java Despite its importance in Javanese culture and economy, the early history of batik in Java is not well-recorded; Batik was first mentioned in 12th-Century Javanese literature. It was referred to as color fabric through terms such as tulis warna or randi tinulis.
Batik had already been recorded by Chinese merchants in the 9th and 10th centuries. Wang Dayuan, a Yuan-dynasty merchant, made two trips to maritime Southeast Asia during the early-14th Century and wrote in Daoyi Zhilue that the people in East Java produced a printed fabric that was fine and extremely color-fast.
According to KRT Hardjonagoro, Indonesia’s best-known expert on batik, the art of batik took its formal shape during the reign of Sultan Agung Hanyokrokusumo in the early 17th-Century Mataram Islamic kingdom in Central Java.
Javanese batik styles — classical batik patterns and motifs — dyed in a brown and blue color scheme were formalized in the Mataram kingdom.
The kingdom should be seen as the blueprint for modern Javanese culture, Classical-style batik providing a continuity of aesthetics from the Mataram kingdom to the present day.
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles was the first to record in detail descriptions of the technique and fabric as seen through the Western eye, in his famous book The History of Java.
By the mid 19th Century, the cities of the Pesisir (coastal areas) of Java emerged as important batik centers, where many workshops were started and managed by non-Javanese: Arabs, Chinese, Europeans and Indo-Dutch Eurasians.
The imported machine-woven cotton from England and the Netherlands became an important contributing factor in the visual definition and appeal of batik.
The fine weave of European machine-woven cotton provided a smooth and tight surface on which complex patterns could be drawn.
The early 20th Century saw the invention of metal blocks for waxing batik motifs. This initiated a revolutionary change in Java’s batik industry, increasing its volume of production.
The golden age of batik probably started at this point and continued up to World War II. Batik from that period had the greatest significance for Javanese society. The scale of batik production and its usage both inside and outside Java made batik a very cosmopolitan fashion statement.
After World War II, Java no longer claimed a monopoly on the export of batik. As early as the first decade of the 20th Century, weavers and dyers in Trengganu and Kelantan, states on the east coast of Malaysia, were encouraged by the British colonial administrators to experiment with batik cap (printed batik).
In response to the rise of other fabric production in the region, the development of Javanese batik went through an interesting time during which Indonesian nationalism brought back batik into the realms of statecraft and identity formation.
The designing of batik patterns, packaging of batik under brand names, and tailoring batik into Western-style garments and household products were developments that led the batik industry towards the internationalization of this traditional fabric.
Reproductions of designs copied from old batik seem to be a popular, though costly trend that has developed in segments of the contemporary batik industry.
Contemporary batik seems to be enjoying a renaissance, working its way into the mainstream vocabulary of the international fashion world.
Batik in Singapore
It is interesting to learn how batik fabric came to Singapore.
As a trading center, Singapore was a recipient of many fabrics. The existence of batik fabrics in Singapore was recorded only by photographic portraits taken at the turn of the century or earlier; these give some hints on the types of batik used in Singapore by the different ethnic groups.
Noted photographer G.R. Lambert took very important shots recording the types of batik available during the period 1880 to l910.
The photographs collected by Singapore National Archives and the National Museum of Singapore, provide some interesting insights.
During this period, textiles worn mostly by Peranakan Nyonya, (ladies of Chinese descent), were Pesisir-style batik imported from Lasem, Gresik, Semarang and Surabaya in Indonesia.
The batik features in photographs taken in the l930s are Indo-Dutch batik made by Dutch batik enterprises in Pekalongan. After World War II, Singapore was transformed as an Asian trade hub.
The rapid social, economic and political change affected the fashion styles of its people. Batik was no longer in fashion.
The fabric was found only in several old coastal villages of Katong and Geylang where the Peranakan Chinese community had taken root. On the other hand, batik making developed quite significantly in Malaysia.
Singapore is trying hard to reinforce its identity through batik. The book says that the Museum collected a series of classical Javanese batik styles and other types of batik patterns that could be an invaluable source of inspiration for young Singaporean fashion designers.
Indonesians can also draw a valuable lesson from this book. As the custodian of batik art, Indonesians should be grateful for being the possessors of such a rich culture.
The work of figures such as Iwan Tirta, Josephine Komara, Obin and many other talented batik artists across the country is important to the preservation and development of batik.
This book adds to the catalog of volumes on batik and is an invaluable source of information for those wishing to learn more about the centuries-old batik art.
Rita Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar Bali
June 27th, 2007
We proudly invite you to visit and be part of:
CULTURE AND TOURISM WEEK
Kediri Regency 2007
East Java – INDONESIA
CULTURE PARADE (26 June 2007)
It is a parade of various cultures from many regions compiled into diverse culture performed altogether in Kediri Regency in a form of:
- Parade of glamour decorated vehicles.
- Parade of arts and cultures from all over region in East Java and Bali Island.
EXHIBITION OF TOURISM, INDUSTRY AND LOCAL MAJOR PRODUCT
(26-30 June 2007)
Here, potential product of tourism, various industry and local major product from regency and city from East Java are displayed.
ART AND CULTURE SHOWS FROM MANY REGIONS (26-30 June 2007)
Regencies/cities from all parts of East Java are participated. For 5 days and 5 nights visitors will be entertained by various traditional arts and cultures, spectacular show “human versus king cobra and crocodile, Kedirinesse debus and music performance. Guest stars from Jakarta will take a part in this fantastic event.
More info contact us:
GOLDEN RAMA TOUR AND TRAVEL (surabaya@golden-rama.com)
Telp. +62 31 566 6565
MARKETING DEPARTMENT OF KEDIRI REGENCY (marketing_kediri@yahoo.com)
Telp +62 354 683 582
TOURISM BOARD OFFICE OF KEDIRI REGENCY (parsenibud_kediri@yahoo.com)
Telp +62 354 691 776
http://www.kedirikab.com
http://tumano.com/detail.php?id=8155
June 26th, 2007
Rotterdam-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal developer and operator 4Gas and local energy company PT Petrogas plan to build an LNG terminal in East Java following the signing of an agreement by the two firms on a feasibility study for the project.
PT Petrogas is wholly owned by the East Java provincial administration.
According to a release, the memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed on Tuesday, allows the two firms to conduct the joint feasibility study, which will also determine whether they should build a terrestrial (fixed-based) or floating LNG terminal in the gas-starved province.
“Following our LNG terminal projects in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Canada and the U.S., we are now concentrating on projects in Asia.
“And Indonesia is one of the largest economies in Asia, and has a lot of promise,” 4Gas executive director and general counsel Harry Van Rietschoten said in the statement.
Abdul Muid, Petrogas president director, said, “This is a landmark agreement that will allow economic and industrial development in East Java to continue.
“Without additional gas from domestic and possibly foreign sources, scope for the expansion of our industries will be seriously curtailed.”
East Java is one of the regions in the country that is vulnerable to a gas shortage, alongside East Kalimantan, East Java and North Sumatra.
Data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry shows that the national gas balance for this year, which describes the gas supply and contractual gas demand position, will experience a deficit of 0.3 billion cubic feet (bcf).
Abdul said the planned terminal, which will also be able to be used to store natural gas supplied from overseas, would help minimize the risk of an energy crisis in East Java and other parts of Indonesia.
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
June 25th, 2007
Expressing his concern over the public’s lack of interest in visiting museums, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono encouraged people Wednesday to visit museums to learn from the wisdom of the past.
“Let us relive the past glory and pride to build Indonesia to become a developed, advanced and prosperous state. From museums we can learn to appreciate differences and become more tolerant,” Yudhoyono told the opening ceremony of the Gedung Arca (Statue Building) at the National Museum.
The president said Indonesia had to be more creative in expanding economic alternatives such as eco-tourism and heritage economics to survive in the future.
He said museums, as repositories of the nation’s cultural heritage, could be a new economic resource in the future.
The newly inaugurated building, located next to the main building of the National Museum, has four differently themed floors.
The floors deal with people and the environment; economics and science; social organization and settlement patterns; and ceramics and gold.
The building also boasts an exhibition of Majapahit artifacts from an excavation site in Trowulan, a small village in Mojokerto, East Java.
The Minister for Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik told reporters that the ministry supported Yudhoyono’s call and was sending officials to learn museology and marketing at Padjajaran University in Bandung.
Jero said museums across the country shared similar problems of how to attract visitors.
“The hardest task is to encourage people to visit museums frequently. In order to do that, we need people who are experts in both museology and marketing. Future museum experts must be able to promote museums economically,” he said.
Jero said the government had provided Rp 100 billion (US$ 11.1 million) for the Directorate General of History and Archeology.
This year’s budget for the National Museum alone is Rp 15 billion (US$ 1.6 million).
The government has 287 museums in the country, including 56 in Jakarta. Some of the museums, such as the National Museum, are managed by the central government, while the others such as the Maritime Museum and the Textile Museum are under the management of the city administration.
The National Museum occupies 76,000 square meters of land and houses 140,900 precious objects including rare money, ceramics and gold jewelry. Jero said the museum’s collection was one of the best in Southeast Asia.
The museum’s director, Retno Sulistianingsih, said she planned to increase the number of visitors by conducting popular events, such as a singing contest, in the museum.
“We’ve also held exhibitions in shopping malls to encourage people to see artifacts in places they like to hang out,” she said.
But Retno said she would need greater funding to promote more events at the museum.
She added that the museum only had Rp 6 billion for this year’s budget, with staff salaries being the biggest expense.
The culture counselor at the U.S embassy, Michael H. Anderson, who attended Wednesday’s ceremony, suggested Indonesia make museums a bridge between the past and the present by using lively and contemporary topics to bring people to their collections.
Jakarta Post - Jakarta,Indonesia
June 25th, 2007
Indonesian cities with increasing trouble finding new local sites for the disposal of their tons of garbage every day should consider adopting a method that is being successfully used in the U.S. at the present.
Garbage from large cities that have run out of space for its disposal is loaded onto railroad cars and shipped to remote areas that are considered uninhabitable and unsuitable for other economic purposes.
These remote area are usually dry and have ravines where the garbage is dumped and buried after a special plastic bottom liner is installed.
There are several areas in East Java that could be used for such purposes, e.g. the remote area between Probolinggo and Banyuwangi. The islands outside of Java all have similar areas, and garbage from Java could be transported by barge to these locations.
The local area governments benefit greatly in this matter by collecting fees from the large cities for the right to dump garbage in their districts, thus improving their local economies for building better schools, improving roadways and bridges, providing housing and food for the needy, etc.
It’s a win-win situation for the large cities running out of space to dump their garbage and local governments in remote areas in need of economic help.
W. RAYMOND YELLAND
Jakarta Post - Surabaya
June 22nd, 2007
The 13 families of the Kelana Bakti Budaya ketoprak tobong traditional theater troupe from Kediri, East Java, lead a nomadic life, traveling from town to town and living in their tobong.
A tobong is a small structure, measuring no more than two-by-three meters, with woven bamboo walls erected around a stage, which also functions as the living quarters, guest room, kitchen and dressing room.
The group, founded in 2000, move from place to place, setting up the tobong, putting on shows and living on the proceeds from the ticket sales.
They are now performing in Cebongan in Sleman regency, Central Java, having arrived from Gamping, also in Sleman.
“Well, this is my home. It moves along with the performance. So, I have many homes,” said a troupe member, Kaminem, 57.
Kaminem has lived the life of a ketoprak tobong performer since she was young. She left her hometown for the road and has never been back.
“I don’t know where to return to because I have no home. The only home that I know is the tobong.”
The troupe relies on ticket sales to be able to afford even the most basic of necessities. A front-row ticket costs Rp 5,000 (about 55 U.S. cents), and for everyone else the price is Rp 4,000.
Proceeds from ticket sales are divided equally among troupe members, after deducting operational expenses.
It is not an easy life. Not many people are still interested in traditional ketoprak performances, which means few ticket sales and very little money for the troupe.
After Rp 50,000 is deducted from the ticket sales proceeds for fuel, each member is left with between Rp 2,000 and Rp 5,000 per day.
“On a slow day, only around 10 to 40 people attend the show. We can earn Rp 10,000 on Sundays, and even Rp 20,000 if we play to a full house,” said group leader and theater director, Sentot, 67.
He said the wet season was a particularly tough time for the group, with performances often having to be canceled because of the rain.
Despite the lack of money and the spartan nature of life in the tobong, the troupe members remain dedicated to the idea of preserving ketoprak theater for future generations.
“I’ve been playing in the ketoprak since 1965. Ketoprak is second nature to me and I will keep performing,” said Sentot.
For most of the group members who are over the age of 40, ketoprak is everything, and the tobong is where they live and where they will likely die.
“We will continue playing in the ketoprak because it’s our world,” said Sentot.
Earning Rp 2,000 to Rp 5,000 daily is not enough to support a family. To supplement their earnings, some group members do side jobs, working as construction laborers or as maids in whatever city they find themselves in.
However, at night, on stage, they dress up and get to at least for a few hours play the role of a nobleman or woman.
Dwi Prayitno, 34, who is younger than most of the rest of the group, often plays the role of kings and officials showered with wealth.
It is the opposite in his real life. Dwi leaves the tobong early in the morning, wearing old clothes and riding a rusty bicycle, to seek work as a construction laborer.
“As it happens Yogyakarta now needs lots of construction workers after the massive earthquake. I can buy milk for my children. We can’t rely on the ketoprak to make a living,” he said.
Because the troupe moves from place to place, most of the children of group members do not attend school.
“My children say they are tired of the nomadic life and feel lonely because they don’t have any friends and are unwilling to make new friends,” said Ningtyas.
She said none of her children completed school. Her youngest, Setiawan Jati, 13, only finished the third grade.
“I’m tired of the frequent moving because I don’t have any friends. But I’d rather learn how to play the gamelan than go to school,” said Setiawan.
Since he was born and raised in the tobong, it is the only world he knows, and he thinks that one day he will join the ketoprak.
“I’ve been living here since I was small and I’ve gotten used to it. I am learning how to play the gamelan so that I can become a gamelan player and at the same time train to be a ketoprak actor.”
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Sleman
June 22nd, 2007
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