Old comic strips enjoy a creative revival

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , SURABAYA | Thu, 03/05/2009 11:44 AM | Arts & Design

Another look: The comics at Cergambore have attracted a lot of attention, and comics lovers are seeing something of a revival. (JP/ID Nugroho)

There’s no need to seek out Japanese manga such as Naruto, Crayon Shincan, Dragon Ball, Neon Genesis Evangelion or Pokemon.

And don’t bother looking for American comics such as Superman, the Fantastic Four, Green Lantern, or even Spider Man.

Indonesia has its own comic-book heroes.

They can be found at Cergambore in the French Culture Center (CCCL) in Surabaya, East Java. Cergambore, the Festival of Comics and Surabaya Urban Art, is showing that the local comic fans’ movement is back.

At this event, 19 comics producers and urban artists from across Indonesia exhibited their works. Among them were Beng Rahardian, Azizah Noer, Tita Larasati, the Comic Gangster Group, the Suicide Group, the Sungsang Imaji Group, the National Child Work Group and the False Comic Group.

Other groups who took part were Nasi Putih, Neo Paradigm Neo Group, the Outline Reborn Group, the Syndicate Group, the Virgin is Suck Group, the Wind Ryder Group and the Wipe Group. The most interesting participants were two French comic-book artists, Silvain Moizie and Alfi Zackyelle.

Looking at the Indonesian comics on display at Cergambore is like going back in time to the 1970s and 1980s when Indonesian comics were king in this country. Just mention Ko Ping Ho, Gundala Putra Petir and Jaka Sembung to people from that era. Of course, there is a striking difference in the visual quality of the modern comics, and the print quality of modern comics is better.

Now Indonesian comics have spawned their own souvenir industry that includes pictures of their comic-book heroes. These range from bags and key rings to necklaces. Beng Rahardian, one of the Indonesian comics artists, said that in many cases, Indonesian local comics had only recently started to advance.

(JP/ID Nugroho)

This advance isn’t just in the artwork, but also in the packaging. Another positive development is the courage being shown in expressing ideals.

“It can be seen again that national comics show the most courage in increasing freedom in expressing individual style, and it’s not just the comics that are booming,” Beng Rahardian told The Jakarta Post.

Beng observed that the situation was quite different some time ago. Moreover, he pointed out, in the era before Japanese manga entered Indonesia, Indonesian local comics tended to be in a manga-like style. These came from Surabaya and two industry leaders in particular, Calista Takarai and Anzu Hazawa.

But slowly things started to change, as originality in the national comics scene began to return. Beng saw that things were starting to move in Yogyakarta, with the comic lovers’ community, called Daging Tumbuh, becoming a pioneer of originality.

More recently, when the comic strip Benny and Mice was published, receiving a great response from the market, it seemed that originality was back and getting noticed.

The presence of Benny and Mice, a leading comic strip in Kompas newspaper, provides a reminder that, as well as displaying originality, the strip must be easy to understand.

“Comics can become famous when they keep faith with the original idea,” said Beng Rahardian.

In Surabaya last year, a number of original comics were signed up to the Romance Surabaya Comic group, a group comprising members of the film community, the Indie music crowd and, of course, that community of comics aficionados.

“We were surprised by the extraordinary response to Romance Surabaya,” Broky, a Surabaya comics lover who is also a member of the comics community Outline Reborn, told The Jakarta Post.

That’s why this year they will present the second edition of Romance Surabaya to be launched on Nov. 10 to coincide with Heroes’ Day.

The comics lovers’ community in Jember, around 190 kilometers east of Surabaya, also has a history of creating original local comics. A group called Nasi Putih periodically publishes comics and a bulletin that bears the same name.

The community, which consists of young people from various educational backgrounds, actively initiates art events in the city, which is known as Suar Suir City after a local snack, made from a kind of sweet cake with slightly fermented rice.

“We want to provide space for the spirit to develop without having to consider other issues apart from work,” Gunawan, one of the Nasi Putih activists, told The Jakarta Post.

It doesn’t stop with Outline and Nasi Putih; the 19 artists and comics lovers who took part in Cergambore have almost all worked on Indie comics.

“Indie comics were the original strength of Indonesian comics, but, at the same time this has become a weakness,” said Beng Rahardian.

Comics galore: A visitor looks at some of the comics on display at Cergambore at the French Cultural Center in Surabaya, East Java. (JP/ID Nugroho)

This weakness lies in the fact that messages delivered through the Indie line can transform society in a very limited way only.

“So it’s better if comics producers don’t stop with developing their works in the Indie area only, but also move to the industry area,” said Beng Rahardian, who has initiated a comics class at the Samali Academy.

Kathleen Azali, a friendly woman known as Kat, is an observer of the Surabaya comic scene and has a different perception. The owner of a library, cinema and the Café H2O believes Indie line local comics should survive as a proper place for creative people to express their ideals.

Kathleen’s advice to comics artists is to continue with the old comic culture while maintaining Indie comics on the side. “While the comics on the side are really a breath of fresh air in the industry … the money from the industry comics that make a profit can finance Indie comics, which are idealistic,” she said.

She gave as an example the Wind Ryder Studio, which has a comic titled Wind Ryder. But Wind Ryder also publishes an Indie work called Komikugrafi, which is printed in black and white.
Work by the Neo Paradigm group, which publishes full-color comics, includes the title Aquanus, Benua ke Tujuh (The seventh continent). The same community publishes black and white comics under the title Defragment.

“Black and white comics are made with minimum cost and reprinting can be done with a photocopier,” said Kathleen.

Whatever the design, Kathleen said, Indonesian local comics had to remain original if they were going to be appreciated. Apart from needing to support many people, these types of comics needed space to survive, which might mean holding a special comics exhibition.

“It’s my belief that one day local comics known as Indie will be accepted like Indie bands,” she said. “We’ll just have to wait for that time.”

Majelis: Guardian of the singing stones

ID Nugroho , THE JAKARTA POST , BONDOWOSO, EAST JAVA | Fri, 02/27/2009 2:33 PM | People

(JP/ID Nugroho)

Night had already long fallen when Majelis, from the Trowulan Archaeological Office in Wringin, East Java, was helping guard a site near Glingseran village.

The father of four was accompanied by three of his colleagues. They wanted to foil any attempts by robbers to steal ancient artifacts in his region. At the time, there was a crime wave underway.

Suddenly, a number of people armed with clurit (sharp weapons often favored by the Madurese) appeared. The two groups confronted each other face-to-face. It seemed that a tragedy was about to unfold right in front of their eyes.

"If they'd attacked at that moment we would certainly have been defeated. But before that happened, I explained to them the punishment for stealing ancient artifacts. It was fortunate that they left straight away," Majelis told The Jakarta Post.

Majelis still clearly remembers the incident, which occurred one night in 1982, two years after he was appointed as a permanent staff member at Bondowose Archaeological Office.

"After that incident, I realized that the ancient artifacts had to be guarded because they had been seen by the thieves," said the now 47-year-old man.

Majelis and the ancient monuments in the region of Bondowoso and Situbondo are actually inseparable. This man is the most senior guard among 42 other guards who carry out their duties in the regency that is located about 200 kilometers from Surabaya.

Since 1978, the man has been delegated to guard the sites of monuments in Glingseran village, Wringin subdistrict. In Glingseran, there are 67 stone sites dating back to the megalithic period.

"In 1978, Abdussomad, a staff member of the culture and education section in Bondowoso offered me the job and I took it," he said.

The elementary school graduate has known of the stone sites since he was young.

When he was little, Majelis played in the rice fields looking for crickets, flying kites or just spending time with his friends. He often played around the sarcophagi that were located one kilometer from his house.

"The village people here knew about the stone sites, the sarcophagi and the kendang *house pillar* stones because every night, especially on legi *Friday night in the Javanese calendar* the stones emitted sounds," he said. "It was like a gamelan."

Due to the mystical factor, the local community respected the existence of the stone sites and considered them to be part of their ancestors' inheritance. During the planting season and at harvest time, the residents always presented offerings at the stone sites.

Majelis's job was, among others, to sweep away the rubbish, pull out the grass and brush off the moss from the surrounding stone sites. For that job, he was getting Rp 5,000 (45 US cent) fee per month.

"It was lucky that I wasn't married at that time," he laughed.

In 1980, Majelis was promoted to permanent staff, receiving a salary of Rp 17,500 a month.

Majelis said his salary was not much, but he also had a plantation and a rice field to support his life and family.

"I never get bored with my job in guarding the site. It seems that this is my fate. Even though I have to work at night, I do my job," Majelis said.

His professional attitude has rubbed off on his eldest child, Hariyadi Susanto, who has also become a site guard at nearby Jatisari village, Bondowoso.

Majelis said explaining to his children about his job as an archaeological site guard was difficult.

"It's been difficult to explain my jobs to my children because it's probably a job that's not done by many people," he said. "But I keep telling them that I'm the guard of ancient artifacts, our inheritance from our ancestors."

His simple explanation has helped his children understood their father's job. "They're proud. The proof is there because one has already chosen to become a stone site guard."

During the 31 years on the job, Majelis has felt the ups and downs from the attitude of different governments toward allocating funds for the maintenance and repair of the monuments.

When he was working during the presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid, the government gave Rp 7,000 per month to pay the land taxes. But that fund was closed down when a monetary crisis occurred during the presidency of Megawati Soekarnoputri.

"Up until now, I and three friends on the staff of the archaeological office have had to contribute our own private money to pay the costs," Majelis said.

However, he hopes that one day the situation will return to normal so the government will pay for the maintenance of the monuments from the megalithic period.

He has heard about plans to develop a field museum in Bondowoso.

"If that plan goes ahead maybe the fate of the stone sites will not be so uncertain."

Monumental indifference to the care of megaliths

Iman D. Nugroho , THE JAKARTA POST , SITUBONDO, EAST JAVA | Fri, 02/27/2009 2:31 PM | Java Brew

Extraordinary: A staff from archeological office shows a dolmen preserved by residents in Wringin district.

At first glance, the plantations in Bondowoso regency, East Java, do not look that special. They just seem to be farms against mountain slopes. But the existence of many big stones spread across the region makes the area unique.

"Those stones aren't just any old stones. These stones date back to the megalithic period, and they can still be seen," said Majelis from the Trowulan Archaeological Office in Glingseran village, Wringin, in Bondowoso.

Bondowoso is well known for its tape (a sweet cake made from slightly fermented rice or tubers). It is also famous as a region of megaliths.

According to records at the Trowulan Archaeological Office, there are thousands of monuments in Bondowoso, which is located 192 kilometers from Surabaya, dating back to the megalithic period.

In the Grujugan subdistrict, for example, more than 400 monuments of various types have been discovered. Meanwhile, in Maesan and Pujer subdistricts, there are 140 large stones.

There are also similar stones in Wringin, Tlogosari and Wonosari subdistricts where so far 60 more megaliths have been discovered.

The archaeological site with the biggest monument is found in Wringin subdistrict. This is in the form of a six-meter-high menhir stone. It is estimated that the real number is far bigger because not all stones have been reported to the archaeological office.

The megalithic age occurred about 4,000 years before the present (BP). Historians have divided the period into old and the young megalithic ages.

The people who lived in the old megalithic age focused their activities on farming and hunting. These people learned how to fulfill their daily needs as the number of animals being hunted slowly decreased. The young megalithic age was noted for its culture of carving stones and making metal.

Dihin Ikhtiardi, a history graduate who is also a teacher at a senior high school, said the sites in Bondowoso and Situbondo showed the characteristics of the young megalithic period.

Geographically, Dihin said, Bondowoso was exactly the right place to live during the megalithic period.

The geography of this regency is framed by several mountain ranges, including Mount Ijen, Mount Argopuro, Mount Raung, Mount Krincing, Mount Keong, Mount Saeng, Mount Gugur, Mount Rampe, Mount Suket, Mount Kalisat, Mount Lebang and Mount Malung.

"This is a fertile region with all the various necessities for supporting life," Dihin told The Jakarta Post.

His analysis has been reinforced with the discovery of various functional objects in Bondowoso and part of Situbondo. These include kenong, gravestones, dolmen, menhir and sarcophagi (stone coffins).

The kenong stones lay at the base of the poles used to build houses, while dolmen and menhir functioned as places of worship.

Sarcophagi and gravestones are all signs of a burial place.

"All the signs here *in Bondowoso and Situbondo* show that this was a region where the people from the megalithic period lived," he said.

What a pity then, that although the sites of these monuments from the megalithic period are very important many are in a rather sad condition. For example, the stones in Wringin subdistrict, Bondowoso. From the 60 or so megalithic monuments seen in this area, located just 15 kilometers from Bondowoso city, only 20 stone sites are well maintained.

This is the basic situation. The sites with kendang stones, sarcophagi and dolmen were covered in moss. They were located in the middle of a plantation and the sites were filled with leaves from the nearby surroundings.

The site located in Grujugan subdistrict, five kilometers from Bondowoso, was in a similar condition. Although in a better physical condition than the sites in Wringin subdistrict, it was not very well maintained.

Three sarcophagi located in the middle of the rice fields have been shattered. A gravestone, which stands beside a resident's house, has succumbed to an attack by moss and age. It has been broken.

Past relics: Students look at stones from Megalith period found inside Selasih Indah timber factory in Grujugan district, Bondowoso regency in East Java.

A collection of stones inside a timber factory face a similar fate. It is as though these things are not useful, so this collection of historical monuments has been left in a jumble behind the factory. Majelis said preservation of the stone sites in Bondowoso and Situbondo did not receive enough funding from the government.

The man, who has been working since 1978, said that in all this time, the government only allocated funds to pay the land tax for the location where the monuments lie. In Wringin subdistrict, for example, from the 60 stone sites there, the land tax provides only enough money for 20 stone sites at the rate of Rp 7,000 (60 US cent) per stone site.

"That funding stopped when Indonesia was hit by the monetary crisis during Megawati Soekarnoputri's presidency. All this time, we *the staff members of the Trowulan Archaeological Office* have personally paid the tax," Majelis said.

The situation has been aggravated by the activities of robbers who have been active at the monument sites. Usually it is the statue-shaped monuments that are the usual targets.

"Megalith thieves were really active in the 1980s. At that time the staff members had to keep watch and stay awake all night to prevent thieving," Majelis said.

At that time, rumors had it that the monuments contained gold. That is why the local community smashed the stones to try and extract the gold.

The number of stone sites damaged by the activity is hard to imagine.

Meanwhile, the number of archaeological office staff members based in Bondowoso and Situbondo is low. In Bondowoso, there are only 35 staff members who have to look after 1,000 or more stone sites spread across almost all of the regency.

Meanwhile in Situbondo, there are only eight staff members to guard 50 or more stone sites.

"On one night, four staff members had to fight 14 robbers. It was lucky that we were all safe," Majelis said.

Cultural observer Ayu Sutarto has seen the deterioration of monument sites in Bondowoso and Situbondo, saying it was a classical case of no funding.

"The regency government can't do much to save these stone sites because it has no funds and on top of that it is not aware that these monumental sites are something important," Ayu said.

She said the only thing that could be done was to establish Bondowoso as an open museum with the support of the government and a significant amount of money.

She said the government had to buy land surrounding the stone sites and build the appropriate infrastructure, such as being done in Mojokerto at the Majapahit kingdom site in Trowulan region.

The government should also maximize the use of the field museum by introducing classroom teachings about the sites to students.

"This is how the government can make the best of the historical remains there," she said.

- Photos by ID Nugroho

Workers demand respect for their right to associate

ID Nugroho , THE JAKARTA POST , SURABAYA | Thu, 02/26/2009 1:58 PM | The Archipelago

Hundreds of workers grouped under a number of different organizations staged a rally Wednesday to demand the East Java High Court respect their right to form workers' associations.

The demand was made over fears that the court would turn down a sentence handed down by Bangil District court in December last year to the general manager of PT King Jim Indonesia (KJI) for banning workers from establishing a workers' association at the company. The KJI case was sparked after general manager Fatoni Prawata barred KJI workers from establishing an association in the company. Fatoni, who received an 18-month sentence, appealed to the East Java High court.

"This is the first time that the workers' right to associate has been legally protected. We must therefore guard it," said Anwar Sastro Ma'ruf from the Alliance of Workers in Protest (ABM).

With university students also taking part, Wednesday's rally began at the Industrial Relations Settlement (PHI) office and proceeded to the provincial prosecutors' office and the court.

In their speeches, the workers said that although they still faced gloomy conditions, that did not mean they had no right to associate.

Jamalluddin, coordinator of ABM's East Java branch, said Fatoni's appeal was well within his rights. However, he added, the uncertainty in Indonesian law had made workers worried that the court would annul the sentence.

"That is why we need to take to the streets, stage a rally to demand the high court not play with workers' fate," he said.

In a closed-door meeting with workers' representatives, the court confirmed they had already reached a verdict for Fatoni's appeal on Monday.

But they insisted they could not give a copy to the demonstrators for fear of violating Article 10 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates only prosecutors and defendants deserve a copy of the verdict.

"It's now in the rephrasing process and will be sent to the prosecutors and the defendant," said court chief M. Arief.

He added any party not satisfied with the verdict was welcome to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Responding to the statement, Jamalluddin said he respected the high court's decision not to give out a copy of the verdict, but warned that if it was not to the workers' liking, workers across East Java would return to the streets in a much bigger rally.

"We will camp in front of the high court building if it really disappoints us," he said, adding that courts in East Java had a "bad track record" when it came to trying cases related to workers.

Stop abusing Ponari, Children’s rights activists urge

ID Nugroho and Indra Harsaputra , The Jakarta Post , SURABAYA | Sat, 02/21/2009 11:33 AM | The Archipelago

The emergence of child “healer” Ponari in Balongsari village, Megaluh, Jombang, has given rise to heated public debate.

The healing practice has claimed four lives, and is now fuelling allegations of rights abuses, with activists calling for the so-called “magical” health activity to end.

Leading child protection advocate Seto Mulyadi and National Commission for Child Protection secretary-general, Arist Merdeka Sirait, said in separate visits earlier this week to Ponari’s home village that the government should take measures to stop villagers abusing the 9-year-old boy.

They said that despite the poverty in the village, security and education authorities should prevent local villagers from exploiting Ponari for commercial gain – with thousands of would-be supplicants visiting the village daily to have their illnesses cured – and allow him his basic rights as a child.

“The law guarantees Ponari’s human rights. Like his peers, the child has the right to go to school, to get a better education; and he also has the right to play games and, unlike this, live in a healthy environment,” Seto said.

Ariest also denounced the local police’s slow moves in stopping Ponari’s “health” practice from devolving into a three-ring circus, despite the rising number of dead and injured victims flocking to see the boy.

“Ponari wants to go school, but he can’t because many sides have abused him for commercial
interests; even his father was severely assaulted when tried to prevent his own son from being abused,” he said.

Ponari, a third-grader at a state elementary school in neighboring Kedungsari village, has not been in class since mid-January. The school has repeatedly asked his father, Kasim, to bring his son to school; but each time he tried, Kasim met
with strong resistance from villagers and visitors.

Villagers are lapping up the attention and milking the hype by setting up food and beverage stalls and parking lots for visitors, with daily turnover in the neighborhood reportedly reaching Rp 1 billion (US$84,745).

Balongsari village head Nila Cahyani denied the rights abuse allegations, but said her village had profited from Ponari’s visitors, the food trade and parking fees.

Villages in Megaluh district became a local focus of attention after rumors spread rapidly from mouth to mouth in the past month that Ponari could heal all diseases with a miraculous stone he once found near his house.

The provincial chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has delivered an official letter
asking East Java Governor Soekarwo to act quickly to stop the practice in an attempt to prevent more deaths.

“The ‘health’ practice must be stopped, because it has claimed four human lives and is raising an increasing public polemic,” East Java MUI chairman Abdusomad Bukhori said Wednesday.

He added the Ponari phenomenon went against Islamic teaching because it centered on a “miraculous” stone that could cure all sorts of ailments.

Some sick visitors said they felt better after visiting Ponari several times, while others, mostly suffering from degenerative diseases, said they had seen no progress.

Sociologist Bagong Suyanto has called on the government to give low-income people wider access to healthcare services, saying the Ponari hype was the reflection of a sick, impoverished society that had been denied access to the current expensive healthcare services.

East Java’s healing French connection

ID Nugroho , THE JAKARTA POST , KEDIRI, EAST JAVA | Fri, 02/20/2009 11:32 AM | Java Brew

Times of trouble: Life-sized statues are used at each Station of the Cross in the Puhsarang Church complex. The Stations of the Cross tell the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. JP/ID Nugroho

The rain had just stopped when Yakobus lit his offertory candle in Goa Maria Lourdes.
Carefully, the Surabaya native placed the candle at the highest point, where it sat precisely below the 3.5-meter statue of Mother Mary.

“I only want to offer a prayer, which I can ask of Mother Mary,” Yakobus told The Jakarta Post. “Some nights ago I had a dream where I was called by her.”

Yakobus, who lives in Bandung, West Java, came to Goa Maria Lourdes especially to pray because of a great conflict in his life. “I hope that after praying here my way will become easier,” he said. To show his seriousness Yakobus plans to stay several nights to wait for his next “guidance”.

Goa Maria Lourdes is part of the 13.5-hectare Catholic church complex at Puhsarang in Kediri, East Java. Rather than just a place to pray, the complex, on the slopes of Mount Wilis in Kediri, has a range of functions: tourist attraction, cemetery, camping ground, columbarium, seminary and meeting hall.

The Puhsarang Church was built in 1936, at the request of Pastor H. Wolters CM, by a Dutch architect, Father Hendricus Maclaine Port, who also built the Trowulan Museum in Mojokerto, East Java.

At first glance, the main building resembles a ship stuck on a small hill – the architect wanted to provide a reminder of the story of Noah’s Ark.

The main building has a baptismal font, sacristy and confessional box, all of which are under the dome, decorated by the symbols of the writers of the Gospels.

Matthew is drawn as a winged man, Mark as a winged lion, John as an eagle and Luke as an ox. The altar has been carved in such a way that it looks like a deer drinking. On the altar is a relief made from bricks and cemented with palm sugar.

The unique character of the design extends to the exterior, which was made from the river rocks common to Puhsarang village. The arched gateway, called St. Joseph, is built like a giant bell. At the top of the church, hanging in the Hendricus Tower, is a church bell, rung every hour to sound the time.

During its history the Puhsarang Church has been renovated four times, each time to strengthen the building without changing its original design. The most substantial renovations were carried out in 1999 when Father Emilio Rossi was the priest. That project, designed by engineers Harry Widyanto, Rusly and Djoko, changed the basic building materials used from wood to steel.

Other facilities added at the time were the multipurpose hall Emaus, the Hidangan Kana Park and the camping ground. The renovations also enlarged the prayer facilities by building Goa Maria Lourdes, the Pieta Columbarium, The Way of The Cross and the Rosario Cottage.

Mother Mary comes to me: A statue of the Virgin Mary towers over Goa Maria Lourdes in the Puhsarang Church complex in Kediri, East Java. The grotto is modeled on the one at Lourdes in the south of France. JP/ID Nugroho

Of these, Goa Maria Lourdes – a replica of the cave of Maria at Lourdes in the Pyrenees in Southern France – is at the heart of the Puhsarang Church.

The original cave in the Pyrenees is where a girl named Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have had a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1858. It is still a much-visited sacred place for the Christian community.

But as Floreanus Josep (F.J.) Lasijo, one of the employees, explained, making the replica required special permission from the Pope in Vatican City.

The site of the replica has its own church, a cave, a source of holy water, the Way of the Cross, a huge parking area and a market, all close to a running river.

“Not all places have facilities like these,” Lasijo said. “In Indonesia, only Puhsarang has all these facilities, and that has been confirmed by the Vatican.”

The cave, made from cement and stone, is 18 meters high and 17 meters wide. On the right side is the towering statue of Mother Mary and in the middle is a big altar used by priests when they lead Mass.

Twelve sources of holy water flow down the left side and under the cave. Many people believe this water has special therapeutic properties, and visitors often take some away as an alternative treatment.

The Way of the Cross comprises 15 Stations of the Cross. They start with Jesus Christ being sentenced to death, and trace the events of the Christian story of his death and resurrection: carrying the cross, falling down, meeting his mother Mary, the Crucifixion, burial and the empty tomb, because Jesus Christ is believed to have ascended to heaven. There are 100 life-size statues used in the Way of the Cross.

Many events are held at Puhsarang Church, the peak of which is the ritual of the Legi Friday night prayers (Legi is the first day of the Javanese five-day week).

In this ceremony, around 3,000 Christians from various parts of Java, Bali and elsewhere in Indonesia gather to pray in the garden outside the Maria Lourdes Cave. This unique ceremony takes place during a night Mass.

“Even though Catholic prayers are used, there are many people from outside the Catholic church who follow this ceremony. They do this just to feel the silence, to get closer to God, or enjoy the East Java gamelan music that is used,” said Lasijo.

The thousands of people only have one intention: To ask for blessings from Mother Mary of the Goa Maria Lourdes.

Ponari's practice should be stopped: MUI

ID Nugroho and Indra Harsaputra , THE JAKARTA POST , SURABAYA | Fri, 02/20/2009 2:54 PM | The Archipelago

The East Java branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has urged the provincial administration to stop the practice of 9-year-old child "healer" Ponari, after four people were killed outside his home.

"The practice could claim more victims, it must be ended," East Java MUI chairman Abdusomad Bukhori said Wednesday.

He added the MUI had sent a letter to newly inaugurated Governor Soekarwo to urge him to take action to prevent more deaths.

Four people died of asphyxiation after being caught up for hours in huge crowds of thousands of people who had flocked to the child's home in Jombang to seek cures for various ailments.

Abdusomad said that based on the MUI's observations, the so-called practice of healing patients through the use of gutter water and mud, or rainwater dripping from Ponari's roof was an exaggeration. "If people believe Ponari's stone can cure diseases, then that's dangerous and could damage the principle belief of Islam," he said, urging Muslim not to believe the hype.

East Java Deputy Governor Syaifullah Yusuf said Ponari's "ability" to heal illness depended on people's personal beliefs, but stopped short of calling for the practice to be stopped.

"As I see it, the people are taking a shortcut. The only certain thing is that Ponari's emergence has claimed four human lives," Syaifullah said last week.

Ponari become a phenomenon for his alleged ability to heal various illnesses through the use of a "miraculous" stone. The child reportedly got the stone during a heavy rain marked by lightning, during which he threw the stone away three times but it returned to him each time.

More than 5,000 patients from Jombang and further afield flock to his home each day. Although police closed the practice at one point, they failed to keep it shut. Thousands of would-be patients still descend on the house, with some allegedly cured of their illnesses afterward.

The child's father, Kamsen, and his mother, Mukaromah, recently attempted to halt the practice, but were prevented from doing so by the practice's self-appointed "committee", made up of their neighbors. Kamsen was at one point assaulted by them when he tried to take his son home to put him back in school.

"I just wanted to pick up my son, but I got beaten up," said Kansen, currently being treated at a nearby hospital.

The neighborhood has devolved into a three-ring circus, with residents lapping up the attention by setting up food stalls, parking lots and even lodgings for the patients and their families. Daily turnover in the neighborhood reportedly reaches Rp 1 billion (US$84,745). For daily parking fees, car owners are charged Rp 50,000 each, and motorcyclists Rp 10,000. The price of food and beverages in the area has also increased sharply.

Sultan wins support for presidency

Agnes, ID Nugroho and Luthfiana M , THE JAKARTA POST , SURABAYA, JEMBER | Fri, 02/13/2009 3:59 PM | East Java

Up to 6,000 people from 38 regencies and municipalities in the province poured into an informal gathering in the city Wednesday to express support for Yogyakarta governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and his candidacy in the upcoming presidential election.

Besides making a declaration on the political supports, participants also expressed their determination to stand behind the Yogyakarta sultan and his promise to return power to the people.

Hamengkubuwono, who was accompanied by his wife Kanjeng Ratu Hemas, stressed that changes in the country were determined by the people.

He said the people's choice in the presidential election scheduled for July, would determine the way the development program would be carried out in the upcoming five years.

The sultan who announced his decision to contend the presidential race on Oct. 28, 2008, warned the people of the administrative requirements to have them registered as eligible voters and use their voting rights in the race.

He reiterated that his decision to contend the presidency was based on the increasing demand and request from numerous groups, from Sabang in the country's western-most tip to Merauke in the eastern most one, for his readiness to be nominated in the race.

Like other president nominees, Hamengkubuwono put on his shoulder the motto of restoration with which he was determined to revise all policies deemed not to take the people's side.

He said nation building should be based on the cultural pluralism for humanity's independence

Meanwhile, Fitrajaya Purnama, a youth activist and chairman of the gathering's organizing committee, said the province's population should become an integral part of the Indonesian people, who were apparently making repairs for the sake of the nation.

Referring to the Japanese Meiji Dynasty's restoration, he said that with the sultan's concept on restoration, Indonesia would be better in the future.

"The people in the province should make consolidation and to continue the past consolidation to make Indonesia better in the future," he shouted.

The presence of the sultan as a president nominee raised numerous questions and speculations during the gathering, because no political parties had nominated him as their presidential candidate despite his membership in Golkar Party.

The 2008 presidential and vice presidential election law states that only political parties with 20 percent of seats in the House of Representatives have their rights to nominate their candidates.

The sultan said he was still waiting to see what parties won the April 9 legislative election.

"Of course I did not go for political parties, but I am still waiting the results of the ongoing political process, " he said, adding that he would also join the Golkar's incoming convention to select presidential and vice presidential candidates if he won political support from Golkar's provincial chapters to do so.

After giving a lecture at Jember University on Thursday, Hamengkubuwono said he would step down if no political parties nominated him in the presidential race.

"Yet, I am still have large hopes, several chapters of the Golkar Party will support my nomination at the upcoming convention," he said.

Besides giving a lecture, the sultan also attended a meeting with hundreds of farmers and a prayer gathering with local Muslims at a pesantren (boarding house) in Kencong district in the regency.

Khofifah supporters protest poll violations

ID Nugroho , THE JAKARTA POST , SURABAYA | Wed, 02/11/2009 4:53 PM | East Java

Hundreds of people supporting defeated governor hopeful Khofifah Indar Parawansa, staged a rally in the city on Monday.

The rally-goers submitted their protest to the provincial police and the provincial polling body asking for an immediate investigation into alleged poll violations during the vote recount in Pamekasan and the revote in Sampang and Bangkalan, which they said contributed to Khofifah's slim loss in the gubernatorial race.

"Putting the results aside, we demand a free and fair election to build true democracy in the province. The police and the provincial elections supervisory committee must investigate the alleged massive and systemic election violations," said Taufik, the rally coordinator.

Protesters staged a free speech forum after they were denied access to the provincial polling body compound, which had been fenced with wire barriers and was guarded by riot police.

Holding posters and banners dubbing the polling body "fictitious", protesters slammed the polling body and the provincial elections supervisory committee as two toothless institutions that did not have the political will to investigate the poll violations.

Doni Adi Negara, a field coordinator of the rally and a member of the Patriotic Party, said Khofifah's campaign team had adequate evidence of irregularities, which included vote rigging and vote buying, during the vote recount and rerun, but that all sides, including the police, had turned a blind eye to them.

The rally dispersed after five protesters were allowed to file their election violations complaint to a staff member of the polling body.

On Monday, the elections supervisory committee reported a series of administrative violations during the vote recount and rerun to the provincial police for further investigation. Previously, the Constitutional Court had declined to accept them as they were deemed only administrative issues that could not annull the election's final results.

Meanwhile, the United Development Party (PPP) faction at the provincial legislative council protested at the schedule isued by the provincial legislature for the new governor's inauguration, because it was not based on an approval from the legislature's steering commitee.

Jamal Abdullah Alkatiri filed the protest at the provincial legislature's internal meeting to discuss the competence of structural positions in the provincial bureaucracy.

"Our faction agree with the inauguration of a new governor, but it should be done in accordance with the council's internal ruling," he said, adding most councillors did not know anything about the inauguration's schedule, set by the chief councillor for Feb. 12, 2009.

Rally staged to protest violations in E. Java poll

ID Nugroho , THE JAKARTA POST , SURABAYA | Wed, 02/11/2009 12:23 PM | The Archipelago

Hundreds of people supporting defeated East Java governor hopeful Khofifah Indar Parawansa staged a rally in the city on Monday ahead of the inauguration of Soekarwo as governor.

Soekarwo and running mate Saifullah Yusuf are set to be installed as governor and vice governor scheduled for Thursday.

The rally-goers submitted their protest to the provincial police and the provincial polling body asking for an immediate investigation into alleged poll violations during the vote recount in Pamekasan and the revote in Sampang and Bangkalan, which they said contributed to Khofifah's slim loss in the gubernatorial race.

"Putting the results aside, we demand a free and fair election to build true democracy in the province. The police and the provincial elections supervisory committee must investigate the alleged massive and systemic election violations," said Taufik, the rally coordinator.

Protesters staged a free speech forum after they were denied access to the provincial polling body compound, which had been fenced with wire barriers and was guarded by riot police.

Holding posters and banners dubbing the polling body "fictitious", protesters slammed the polling body and the provincial elections supervisory committee as two toothless institutions that did not have the political will to investigate the poll violations.

Doni Adi Negara, a field coordinator of the rally and a member of the Patriotic Party, said Khofifah's campaign team had adequate evidence of irregularities, which included vote rigging and vote buying, during the vote recount and rerun, but that all sides, including the police, had turned a blind eye to them.

He threatened they would stage bigger rallies in the days to come unless the violations were investigated.

The rally dispersed after five protesters were allowed to file their election violations complaint to a staff member of the polling body.

On Monday, the elections supervisory committee reported a series of administrative violations during the vote recount and rerun to the provincial police for further investigation. Previously, the Constitutional Court had declined to accept them as they were deemed only administrative issues that could not annull the election's final results.

Meanwhile, the United Development Party (PPP) faction at the provincial legislative council protested at the schedule issued by the provincial legislature for the new governor's inauguration, because it was not based on an approval from the legislature's steering commitee.

Jamal Abdullah Alkatiri filed the protest at the provincial legislature's internal meeting to discuss the competence of structural positions in the provincial bureaucracy.

"Our faction agree with the inauguration of a new governor, but it should be done in accordance with the council's internal ruling," he said, adding most councillors did not know anything about the inauguration's schedule, set by the chief councillor for Thursday.

M. Siroj, a member of the council's Commission A for administration and legal affairs, said the schedule was established by the commission with the legislature leadership before the date was proposed to the President through the Home Ministry.

Council Speaker Fathorrosyid defended the fixed date of the inauguration and said invitations had been delivered to all sides to attend the inauguration ceremony during a plenary session of the provincial legislature on Thursday.

Dozens arrested for inspection payoffs

ID Nugroho and Indra Harsaputra , The Jakarta Post , Surabaya | Fri, 02/06/2009 8:54 AM | The Archipelago

The East Java Police have detained a former Surabaya city official, six civil servants and 40 brokers who were allegedly involved in systematic payoffs at the city's vehicle roadworthiness inspection unit.

The provincial police spokesperson, Sr. Comr. Pudji Astuti, said detectives were also investigating the involvement of Surabaya Transportation Agency head Bunari Mushofa, still considered a witness in the case.

"Following a recent raid of his residence in Sidoarjo, Bunari is expected to be detained as a principal suspect," she told a conference Thursday.

Pudji, who was accompanied by the lead detective for corruption investigations Adj. Sr. Comr. Anton Sasono, said a former head of that transportation agency, Mas Bambang Supriyadi, and another employee at the roadworthy testing (PKB) unit had been declared suspects in the case Thursday.

The two were named after police had interrogated some suspects and carried out a search and seizure Wednesday at Mas' home where the police confiscated Rp 15 million (US$1,286), a TV set and a bicycle.

Police also rounded up six civil servants - identified as PP, ED, AR, MS, AZ and RR - and 40 brokers after raiding the PKB unit in Surabaya's Wiyung district sometime mid-January. The police confiscated a stash of cash and documents in that raid.

Earlier, the police had also detained four employees caught red-handed imposing illegal levies on truck drivers and expediters needing export and import documents at the seaport of Tanjung Perak.

Separately, the Surabaya City Council has asked the police not to focus only on illegal levies at public transportation services but also to crack down on illegal fees at all public service points to eradicate corruption in the city administration.

Council member Yulyani, who sits on Commission B for budgets and economic affairs, said law enforcers should process corruptors and those paying bribes in an effort to eradicate widespread corrupt practices.

"The city should at the same time revamp the transportation agency with the hope that other units might follow suit."

Yulyani said regular vehicle roadworthiness tests were no longer needed since the city has been enforcing its 2008 air pollution bylaw requiring authorities to revoke the registrations of polluting vehicles.

In contradiction, the city is still applying bylaw 6/2002 which requires all vehicles, including new ones, to undergo a roadworthiness test at the Wiyung facility. That inspection was designed to be so complicated that vehicle owners or drivers would come up with payoffs to speed vehicle certification.

Police investigations reveal that between Rp 20 million and Rp 30 million from the inflated fees were paid to the Wiyung facility head and the city transportation agency head.

In a related development, Transparency International Indonesia (TII) announced a recent survey has found Surabaya to be the most corrupt city in East Java as compared to other cities including Malang, Jember and Kediri.

The findings were based on questionnaires TII conducted with businesspeople, informal leaders and public officials to put together the NGO's Corruption Perception Index (IPK) for 2008. (sal)

Soekarwo wins in E. Java for 2nd time, Khofifah still defiant

Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Surabaya | Sat, 01/31/2009 1:17 PM | Headlines

Despite allegations of numerous violations, the results of the gubernatorial vote recount and revote on Madura Island, East Java, have given a slim victory to Soekarwo and his running mate Saifullah Yusuf to lead the province over the next five years.

Total vote tallies from the three Madura regencies of Pamekasan, Bangkalan and Sampang gave Soekarwo 50.11 percent of all votes in the province, or 7,660,861 votes, while two-time loser Khofifah Indar Parawansa and her running mate Mudjiono took 7,626,757 votes, or 49.89 percent.

The tallies were conducted Friday by the East Java General Elections Commission (KPUD) and witnessed by representatives from the two rival candidates.

Khofifah's camp raised interruptions and objections, including over the lists of eligible voters in all regencies and municipalities during the second round and the vote rerun, and the issuance of a duplicate decision on the vote recount in Pamekasan regency, and finally declined to sign off on the results of the summing up.

KPUD chairman Wahyudi Purnomo said the polling body would submit the results to the East Java Legislative Council, the President and the home minister.

Scores of Bangkalan residents staged a peaceful rally outside the recount venue, where 500 police officers had been deployed to beef up security during the tallying.

Muhammad Mirdasy, Khofifah's campaign team secretary, said his camp had prepared all the evidence to support its rejection of the results, with witnesses already briefed to testify at the Constitutional Court.

"Before and during the revote, we found numerous violations that we have compiled in support of our complaints to the General Elections Commission *KPU* and the Constitutional Court," he said.

Team lawyer Mochammad Rachmatullah said he was preparing to file a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court within the next three days.

Both candidates have been given three days, until Monday, in which to accept or reject the final outcome of the protracted election.

Let the Potehi puppets perform

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Surabaya | Fri, 01/23/2009 2:40 PM | Java Brew

His Excellency Lie Sie Bin, the king of the Tai Tong Tiauw, was worried: One of his kingdoms, the of So Pak, had decided to extend its area by building a new city.

Lie Sie Bin, feeling threatened, decided to attack the renegade kingdom, resulting in a major war led by Commander Cu Pi Lun.

An extract of this old story from the period of the Chinese kings was performed recently in the Potehi Puppet Show at the Hong Tek Hian Temple, also known as the Dukuh Temple, in East Surabaya.

Praise to the puppet masters: Members of the Dukuh Temple community make offerings and prayers to mark the ascension of Buddha and gods and goddesses into Nirvana. (JP/ID Nugroho)

The production, along with prayers, took place on the eve of Imlek 2009 (Chinese New Year 2560), performed in combination with celebrations marking the ascension of Buddha and gods and goddesses to Nirvana

The Potehi Puppets, also known as Poo Tay Hie, are a special feature of the Dukuh Temple, where puppet shows are staged three times a day. The name comes from the words poo (cloth), tay (pocket) and hie (puppet).

"The shows start at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and at 6 p.m. so all members of the temple community can enjoy the stories told by the puppets," said Edy Sutrisno, one of the Potehi puppeteers.

History leaves no certain record of the origins of the Potehi Puppets. Some say the art began 3,000 years ago during the Tiu Ong dynasty. At that time, the story goes, four prisoners were facing the death penalty played music using various secondhand instruments. On hearing the music, the emperor Tiu Ong felt consoled and set the prisoners free.

Others believe the Potehi Puppets appeared for the first time during the Jin Dynasty in the third to fifth centuries AD. They developed in the Song Dynasty in the 10th to 13th centuries.

Potehi puppets remain popular, with a history that straddles cultures and ages. (JP/ID Nugroho)

The Potehi Puppets became well known around three centuries later, when Chinese people first came to Indonesia. Since that time, performances using solid puppets such as the West Java Golek (wooden) puppets have been staged in temples across Indonesia. Productions range from the classical stories of the Chinese Dynasties, through to popular - though meaningful - stories such as the Kera Sakti (the Sacred Monkey).

The instruments used are Chinese musical instruments such as the gembreng (a flat gong), the rebab (a two-stringed instrument), the gwik gim (guitar), the suling (flute) and the simbal (cymbal). Whereas originally the Hokkian language was used, Indonesian is now used here.

The sad part of the story is that, despite popular interest in the Potehi Puppets, they were banned when the colonial Dutch administration prohibited Chinese arts in Indonesia. This happened again when the Soeharto government banned Chinese art.

These bans ended when former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid reopened opportunities for Chinese art. The Potehi Puppets returned to reclaim their popularity.

Mujiono, 48, puppeteer and narrator for the Dukuh Temple Potehi Puppets, started working with the Potehi puppets at the invitation of his uncle when he was in junior high school

"There was a woman who was originally from Hokkian and who was on the staff of the Dukuh Temple. She became my teacher," Mujiono said.

To strengthen the puppet characters, Mujiono diligently reads the temple's books about Chinese history. Now, after dozens of years with the puppets, he knows Chinese history by heart.

"But the fact remains that many Chinese leaders are difficult to play, such as Gia Ko Bin, whose character is not old, not young, not bad, but also not good," he said.

The world of the Potehi Puppets is an enjoyable one for him, especially when he and the five members of his troupe can entertain people of Chinese descent with a keen interest in the art.

"I've been to other cities to perform shows with the Potehi puppets an uncountable number of times," said Mujiono, who charges Rp 5 million (US$450) for a performance. "I feel happy seeing people enjoy my show."

Madurese services a century-old tradition

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jember, East Java, Fri, 01/02/2009 10:30 AM, Java Brew

Adhu Yesus Alla kasokan se toron, Rabu e alam dunya karsa merokon, Enggi e antarana reng-oreng se odhi, Jugan kaula neka ampon e tembeli.

(Jesus came to earth, Earth and nature received peace, This was felt by all humankind, Who have been forgiven their sins.)

The theme of this hymn is the birth of Jesus Christ. Madurese congregants sang it during Christmas Eve services this year at the East Java Christian Church (GKJW) Sumberpakem in the town of Jember.

Dozens of people who attended the service joined in the singing to express their thankfulness to God.

"Ampon kaula ngartetresna panjenengan, paneka sengatore ajunan sampiyan (I've felt love from Jesus, and all this happened because of the will of God)." Pastor Sapto Wardoyo spoke these words in Madurese during the service.

The GKJW Sumberpakem church in Sumber Jambe subdistrict, 35 kilometers from the city of Jember, is different from other churches in Indonesia because services are held in three languages: Indonesian, Javanese and Madurese.

Even the Bible they use, called Alketab, is a special Madurese edition.

"We use this Bible to be sure everyone understands its teachings," Sapto said.

Madurese has been used in the church continuously for more than 120 years.

J.D. Wollterbeek wrote in his Babad Zending Ing Tanah Djawa (Spreading the Bible in the land of Java) that the arrival of the Christian missionary Dr. Esser to Sumberpakem was what started it all.

Esser already spoke Madurese and Javanese fluently because he had studied both in Surakarta (Solo) in Central Java.

The Dutch pastor successfully joined forces with a Madurese man named Ebing who became a faithful follower. Ebing was the first Jember resident to be baptized a Christian on July 23, 1882.

Esser and Ebing conducted services in that area for more than seven years, but during that time neither had any success in Christianizing even one person.

"Esser got frustrated and moved his church to Bondowoso, about 35 kilometers from Sumberpakem," Sapto said.

Though Esser continued his missionary work, he later wrote he thought he had failed to make any headway in Bondowoso as well. Esser went back to Holland in 1889 and a second pastor, H. Van Der Spiegel, came to replace him.

The situation did not change, and several pastors arrived in rapid succession. Van Der Spiegel was replaced by P. A. Otto Lander in 1890. H. Dekker arrived in 1891, then H. Hendrik filled the post between 1897 and 1908.

"Pastor Hendrik lasted the longest and was the most successful," Sapto said.

Though he successfully converted some in the community, Handrik's presence in Sumberpakem led to unrest. One day a mob burned down his house and the church which had been erected in Slateng under his guidance.

Since then, no more Dutch missionaries have come to Jember or the surrounding area. After 1908 the mission entrusted its responsibilities to Ebing and his son Sulaiman.

Ebing continued the work and found his more familiar preaching style helped make the Christian religion more acceptable to the community. Ebing continued to preach in Madurese to be sure his messages were easy to understand by the Maduranese who had settled there.

"The efforts of Ebing and his son Sulaiman helped Christian teaching in Sumberpakem and Slateng to increase sharply," Sapto said.

The sharpest increase in followers came about from external circumstances. After the Sep. 30, 1965 coup attempt in the capital which led to Sukarno's ouster, violence erupted in other areas of the country, particularly in Central Java. In the area around Jember, Communist supporters and non-Communists traded violent attacks in the days following the coup.

At the time, Jember was a base for groups hostile to Communism. Frightened members of the Communist party (PKI) became Christians on the spot and joined the church congregation.

"Later, when the situation returned to normal, Christian adherents in Sumberpakem numbered no more than a hundred people," Sapto said.

Back to his minority status after the upheaval, the Maduranese church continued to serve its community.

Another Indonesian pastor, Alphius, took up the baton from Ebing and Sulaiman in 1972. The current pastor Sapto Wardoyo, who graduated from the Protestant Theology Institute in Malang, East Java, took over from Kukuh Supitono in 2002.

Sapto said he considered his coming to Sumberpakem to be a challenge from God to further Dr. Esser's missionary efforts that had begun in the 1880s.

Spreading Christianity in the middle of Jember, where the majority of residents are Muslims, was a daunting challenge, but working in Madurese helped Sapto.

"I had to learn the Madurese language to be able to run my mission here," Sapto recalled.

Studying Madurese culture was Sapto's first task, which was not easy for the father of two who was born in Yogyakarta.

Things changed when he moved to Situbondo, 70 km from Jember, a focal point for Maduranese culture.

"The culture in Situbondo is special because it has a very high tolerance level," he said.

That tolerance made it possible for him to get to know Muslim teachers and leaders of Islamic boarding schools in the area.

His study of the language and culture took many years; while he studied, he appointed Madurese advisers to supervise him whenever he gave sermons in that language.

He asked the two advisors, both from Sumberpakem, to correct his pronunciation and delivery.

"This was crucial. Even though a person can speak Madurese, the language used in the church has to be rendered softly," Sapto said.

His careful efforts eventually bore fruit. After six years, Sapto is fluent in Madurese.

Developing a local way to convey Christian teachings has its lighter side. Sapto relies on special local Christmas trees.

"The Christmas tree sends a message of joy and stands for the strength of the Christian faith. These ideas can be represented by any kind of tree, even these coconut palms and banana trees."

Johan Budhie Sava: Taking books across the county

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya, Fri, 01/02/2009 10:30 AM, People

After opening 17 bookstores across Java and Bali, Johan Budhie Sava was at a loss for words when asked about his next plan.

After a brief silence but with a determined look, he said he wants books to be spread out evenly throughout the country, from Aceh to Papua.

"Maybe this will not be easy, but I'll try," said the 44-year-old man.

Eighteen years ago, when Johan opened his first Togamas bookshop in Malang, East Java, he never thought his business would grow this large.

It was not his intention to open stores across the island when he opened his first in his wife's parents' house back in 1990. It was a desperate measure to continue to make a living.

Swandayani's parents also loaned him the capital of 35 million (US$3,200).

"At that time, the only thing in my mind was how to sell books for food," he remembered.

Besides looking after his own bookshop, Johan did not forget "to glance to the left and the right" at his Malang competitors.

That was simple. He only needed to check out how many vehicles were parked in front of his competitors' bookshops.

"If there were large numbers of motorcycles and cars parked there, it meant that I had to think hard to look for new and creative ways to attract customers," laughed the father of two children, Bayu Dharma Saputra Sava and Aditya Dharma Putra.

Good fortune was on his side.

Eight years later, in 1998, he won a car from a lottery at a private bank. He sold the station wagon, using the money for a down payment on a building not far from his original shop.

Unfortunately, when the buying and selling contracts were signed, the Rp 70 million from the car was not enough.

"I was confused. Fortunately I had a relative who lent me money," he said.

Soon, another bookshop opened.

As he was close to lecturers and university students, his inventory focused on books used by university students, especially those from the schools of economics, technology, politics and medicine.

He also met with the lecturers to determine what sorts of books they needed most.

The winds of luck kept blowing.

His relationship with motivator Tung Dasem Waringin and the Indonesian University lecturer Amir Abadi provided a breakthrough when he opened a Togamas branch in Yogyakarta in 1999.

Over the next few years, Johan opened more stores. These were in Semarang, Central Java, in 2001; the East Java town of Jember in 2002 and its capital city Surabaya in 2004; the West Java capital city Bandung and Bali capital city Denpasar -- both in 2007.

This year, he opened up a Togamas in Jakarta, Surabaya saw its second store, and another opened in Kediri, East Java.

Next year, he plans to set up shop in the East Java towns of Probolinggo, Mojokerto, Blitar and Banyuwangi.

This means 17 bookshops will have been come into existence in the past 18 years.

With such a busy business, is running bookshops profitable? Not really, he said.

Although he calculates that there is still a market of 93 percent of the country's population that hasn't touched books, the loss in this business is big.

In Yogyakarta alone, Johan and his colleagues recently suffered losses of up to Rp 600 million.

Meanwhile in Surabaya, the man who graduated from Surabaya Narotama University's agriculture and management faculties, lost Rp 3 billion in only eight months.

"Profit and loss come and go in the book business. The important thing is to keep running and to show positive progress."

His convictions have also driven Johan to widen his range to Timika, Papua, as he is thinking hard about opening one in Papua.

The idea came after he found out the province is still using a 1978 curriculum.

"It (the curriculum) is so different (from the one) in Java or Bali. It's difficult to get books in Papua because the book distribution system doesn't extend there. Consequently, the education system in Papua has been left far behind."

Additionally, Johan also supports the government's efforts to give free books through the Electronic School Book program, or BSE.

For some, the program can be seen as indirectly killing the book printing and publishing business. But not for Johan.

"Don't forget, books correlate to an increase in intellectual efforts. The more the intellectual ability of Indonesian citizens is improved through the program, the larger the book markets become, so the program has to be supported."

The program is a necessity. Indonesians should be forced to follow existing global developments or the country will be left far behind other countries, he said.

"At present, the development of advanced countries such as the United States can be noticed ...."

Johan is practicing this philosophy with his family. His two children who are now in junior high school and elementary school, and are well used to reading books and looking for information on the Internet.

What they discover intellectually has later on been used to broaden his children's ways of thinking.

"When one of my in-laws was sick, my children searched the Internet and discovered the disease's worst symptoms which my in-law was suffering," he said, as an example.

Johan realizes that his convictions might be too idealistic for some but he insisted that those in the book business need to be idealistic -- a big profit is hard to come by.

After being in the business for 18 years, Johan still lives in his house in Malang.

"If there are businesspeople who want to join me but ask for a big profit, it's better that I reject their offers because the book business is actually not like that," he said.

LBH slams govt, Lapindo for sloppy response

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya, Fri, 01/02/2009 10:28 AM, East Java

Surabaya Legal Aid Institute (LBH) has urged the Indonesian public to pressure the government and PT Lapindo Brantas Inc. energy company to seek an immediate resolution to unresolved Sidoarjo mudflow issues.

On Wednesday in an evaluation of the 2008 law and human rights issues, LBH Surabaya land and environment division head Faiq Assidiqi said both the government and Lapindo (owned by the Bakrie family) had failed to show strong political commitment to resolving the social aspects of the disaster, which had affected the livelihoods of thousands of Porong residents and had caused massive environmental damage.

The mudflow, caused by Lapindo's mining activities in May, 2006, had displaced dozens of families whose assets were destroyed and had also destroyed their sources of income. It had done irreparable damage to the environment and had destroyed dozens of factories where local residents were once employed.

Despite these impacts, however, the government and Lapindo had acted less than satisfactorily and had yet to provide comprehensive solutions to the issue, he said.

"It is apparently not enough for mudflow victims to stage protests at the disaster site, but the entire society should join forces to make the government and the energy company provide legal advocacy for the victims."

Faiq insisted that the mudflow victims had lost not only their assets but also their cultural environment and their ability to earn a living. Their children had been denied access to education and a healthy environment, he said.

LBH, which has provided legal advocacy for Lapindo victims since the time of the disaster, was disappointed with the government's handling of the issue and Lapindo's failure to provide compensation to victims, he said.

Faiq cited Presidential Instruction No. 14/2007 requiring Lapindo pay compensation to residents of four villages in the area, and a new instruction requiring the government pay compensation from the 2008 state budget to victims outside the disaster area, claiming both were unapplicable.

Minarak Lapindo Jaya, a subsidiary of Lapindo, has paid 20 percent of the agreed compensation amount to a large proportion of the victims, while a smaller group do not have required documentation of their damaged assets and have yet to receive anything.

"The deadline for the payment of the remaining 80 percent compensation passed last August -- it was suspended because of the global crisis," Faiq said.

Since the disaster, hundreds of victims have been living in temporary shelters in the Porong market building, stranded, and dozens of others have erected tents at the gateway to the Nirwana village housing compound (earmarked for the victims), but most had yet to receive housing as construction had been suspended because of the economic downturn, he said.

Previously, the National Human Rights Commission recommended the government relocate affected villagers by providing each with 500 square meters of land plus Rp 10 million in cash.

Faiq questioned police investigations into the mudflow disaster, saying that so far two Lapindo executives had been named suspect, but police had yet to report any progress in the case.

Faiq also questioned the resolution of the Alas Tlogo incident which claimed four human lives in Pasuruan in 2007, saying that so far only marines involved in the shooting had been brought to justice, but no compensation had been paid.