Nancy Margried: Batik + Math = Innovation

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 07/27/2009 1:20 PM | People

A woman's advice is no great thing, according to an old proverb, but he who won't take it is a fool.

Perhaps architect Muhammad Lukman and mathematician Yun Hariyadi were aware of this when their friend Nancy Margried criticized their poor self-presentation.

Nancy met Lukman after he held an exhibition of his mathematics-based architectural works at a caf* in Bandung.

"I believe he has a brilliant mind but he presented it in such a bad way that nobody would even look at *his works*," Nancy said.

She and Lukman became friends, with Lukman later introducing her to Yun Hariyadi.

"He also has a brilliant mind but I didn't really understand what he said," Nancy said laughing.

"For me, something has to be able to be understood if we want to make it useful for people," added the public relations expert from Medan in North Sumatra. "When it comes to design, never make it too weird or people won't look at it."

Nancy became fast friends with the two men despite their different professional backgrounds, with the trio finding a common interest in visual art and hanging out in cafes.

And that was how it came about that Lukman, then doing his doctoral dissertation on architectural designs generated from fractal formulae, showed his friends pictures generated by mathematical formulae.

"The pictures looked like flowers and plants and to me they looked like batik," said Nancy, now 30. "We wondered if batik could be made from a mathematical formula."

Her idea set off a series of experiments and consultations with batik experts, with their research proving that batik does indeed have a mathematical pattern.

So excited were they by where their discovery might lead that Nancy resigned from her position as marketing communications director at a property agent in Bandung to concentrate on the project.

Then in early 2007, the research well under way, the trio submitted a proposal to show their work at the 10th Generative Art International Conference in Milan, Italy, in December 2007. To their surprise, they were invited to the conference.

Panicking at what they had got themselves into, they worked harder on their research tasks, including preparing a research abstract, developing new software to make their thesis applicable and generating batik samples using the software.

"We had to create our own software because no *existing* software in the world could do what we wanted," Nancy said, adding the team also consulted batik experts at university to help them with the philosophical, historical and artistic aspects of batik.

They also needed a banner, and came up with the name "Pixel People Project Research & Design".

Less easy to get was the money they need to attend the conference.

"I knocked on the door of every government department, educational institution and private company," said Nancy. "Some didn't even understand what we doing with math and batik. Others said it was a good effort but didn't give us a penny."

The West Java provincial government finally gave Rp 60 million, but it was enough to send only Lukman and came so late he arrived when the conference had finished. Instead, he presented their findings to the board of committee.

"We received a very good response . because we were the only group to combine something as traditional as batik and something as modern as mathematics and computer technology. Other groups relied only on their advance in computers," said Lukman.

"We also came with a research paper while other participants only talked about possibilities based on trial and error. We proved that batik is mathematical; we have the software and brought the product."

The conference boosted the trio's confidence that their project had a future and would be useful for many people and many disciplines.

The State Ministry for Research and Technology gave them a Rp 75 million grant early in 2008 for software development and to arrange a solo exhibition in Bandung and participate in international and national exhibitions.

Their software, jBatik, processes traditional batik design patterns into millions of new motifs using a fractal mathematics formula.

However, the business side of the project was still flimsy. Perhaps, Nancy said, "because we hadn't received much publicity and our batik stock was limited."

Nevertheless, they won the 2008 Indonesian ICT Award and Unesco's Award of Excellence at the 2008 Asia Pacific ICT Awards, out of a field of 70 entrants from 10 Asia-Pacific countries.

One of their products is now on permanent display at the Unesco Gallery in Bangkok.

They were again hampered by financial problems, and were helped by a US$25,000 grant from Senada-USAID. After four months of development, the advanced software was launched in Bandung in May, attended by the State Minister for Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman.

"I am impressed because the innovation could expand batik sales extensively," Kusmayanto said at the launch. "Batik, which was regarded as traditional and old-fashioned, can now become a trend among young people with its new and up-to-date designs."

Today, the software is sought after by consumers in Australia, the United States and Singapore. The batik designs generated have been applied not only to garments but also to shoes and furniture.

The Pixel People Project provides companies with software, training and design and also provides individual customers with fractal batik products through a partnership with two companies in Bandung - Rumah Batik Komar and Studio Batik Hassan.

From a friendship to a project, the Pixel People Project has ended up with something sophisticated in structure and design and applicable to many.

"Not many people will have the advantage of mathematical formulae if they are only applicable for architecture," Nancy said. "Batik is something very common in our society."

"ke mana-mana deket"

Judul posting di atas mungkin cuma kalimat biasa yang digunakan orang di mana saja. Namun rasanya kata ini telah menjadi milik orang kota di Indonesia terutama Jakarta. Coba saja ngobrol sama pembantu rumah tangga, ibu-ibu rumah tangga, pekerja mall, anak sekolah, karyawan perusahaan multi nasional atau direktur perusahaan soal tempat tinggal. Belum sampai lima menit, kalimat itu pasti keluar dari mulut mereka.

Mengapa? Asumsi saya ini ada hubungannya dengan buruknya manajemen transportasi publik di Indonesia. Kalimat itu muncul dari alam bawah sadar banyak orang karena akses terhadap fasilitas publik menjadi sangat sulit karena rumitnya manajemen transportasi yang menyebabkan jarak selalu menjadi persoalan. Seandainya orang nyaman menggunakan transportasi publik, jarang terjadi kemacetan, jauh dekat bukan persoalan besar.
Persoalan jarak ke fasilitas publik kemudian menjadi jualan bisnis properti. Lalu orang bergerombol tinggal di tempat tertentu karena kekuatiran akan jarak.

salam

Para teroris mempraktekkan apa yang kita ajarkan

Setiap kali ada ledakan bom, para pemuka agama menjadi sangat sibuk. Mulai dari menjadi narasumber di televisi sampai seminar-seminar. Mulai dari himbauan di mesjid, gereja dan vihara sampai bikin buku. Mulai dari mengutuk serangan bom sampai membela diri bahwa agama tidak mengajarkan kekerasan dalam bentuk apapun.

Apa benar agama tidak punya kontribusi terhadap segala bentuk kekerasan termasuk terorisme? mengapa para pemuka agama selalu merasa membela agama mereka walaupun tidak ada orang yang secara implisit mengatakan bahwa agama mendukung kekerasan?
Saya kira umat beragama harus berani jujur mengatakan bahwa agama memang menyumbangkan bahan bakar yang cukup besar untuk kekerasan.

Agama-agama Semit seperti Kristen, Yahudi, Islam yang punya klaim ketuhanan yang kuat punya unsur kekerasan yang kuat bahkan dalam kitab-kitab suci mereka. Dalam Perjanjian Lama agama Kristen dan Katholik misalnya bisa kita temukan unsur-unsur kekerasan yang kuat. Dan karena itu ritual korban menjadi central untuk mencegah timbulnya korban sosial yang lebih besar. Walaupun dalam Perjanjian Baru, paradigma korban ini diaminkan dalam pengorbanan Yesus Kristus (sehingga tidak perlu ada korban-korban lain lagi) semangat korban dan kekerasan ini kadang masih kental.

Dalam praktek bergama sehari-hari, banyak penganut agama sebenarnya munafik: kekerasan selalu diajarkan dari mimbar-mimbar gereja dan masjid kita secara terang-terangan. jangan heran terorisme selalu menemukan lahan subur untuk bertumbuh. Agama yang eksklusif adalah lahan yang sangat subur untuk terorisme.

Jadi tak usah munafiklah tiap kali mencounter dan membela agama (praktek agama) sebagai yang tak bersalah, karena para teroris sebenarnya telah dididik secara benar oleh kita.

salam

Jackson Browne wins Republican apology over song

Senator John McCain and his Republican Party publicly apologized to singer Jackson Browne on Tuesday for using his song "Running on Empty" without permission in a campaign advertisement last year.

The apology came as Browne and McCain's Republican camp agreed on a settlement to the lawsuit that the singer filed in August, soon after the advertisement aired.
Browne's 1977 song was used by the Ohio Republican Party in an attack on Barack Obama that was critical of the Democrat's stance on gas conservation. Obama defeated McCain in last November's presidential election.
"We apologize that a portion of the Jackson Browne song 'Running on Empty' was used without permission," McCain, the Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party said in a statement.
The Republican camp also pledged in future elections to obtain permissions and licenses from artists "where appropriate" when using their copyrighted works.
Browne, a liberal activist, told Billboard he would "absolutely" sue political candidates and groups he supports if they used his music without authorization.
"I really hope that people begin to understand what goes into making music," Browne told the music publication's website. "It's not just that one gets paid; it's that one's entire enterprise is fed, whether it's recording studios or the amount of money you can pay our band. ... It is a huge industry."
Browne had sued McCain, the Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party, accusing them of copyright infringement.
It is not the first time a popular singer has gone after the Republicans for use of a song. In the mid-1980s, Bruce Springsteen complained about then-President Ronald Reagan's
contextually inaccurate use of his song "Born In the U.S.A." during his re-election campaign. (Reuters/LOS ANGELES,July 21)

Watchdog condemns saucy sausage ads

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A saucy radio advert for sausages which encouraged listeners to reveal "where you like to stick yours" was criticized by Britain's advertising watchdog on Wednesday.

The ads for Mattesons smoked sausages elicited 21 complaints from listeners who said they were offensive because of the sexual innuendo and should not have been aired when children were likely to be listening.

"Think about all the things you can stick this tasty, extraordinarily large sausage in," one advert said.

"Mmm... Pizza, pasta, stir fry. You have any ideas? Give me a call and tell me where you like to stick it."

Kerry Foods, which makes the sausages, said its adverts were intended to be tongue-in-cheek and were not designed to be offensive.

The Advertising Standards Authority did not uphold the complaints about the innuendo because it was not sexually explicit, but said the ads could "cause harm to children".

It ruled the ads should not be aired at times when they were likely to be heard by children. (Reuters/LONDON, July 22)

Sweet chiming of local sounds

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 07/13/2009 11:28 AM | Features

The tricky part about making a set of wind chimes is deciding what to leave out. Choosing which tones to include can be even trickier if the chimes are made from bamboo, glass, shell, stone, porcelain or wood.

 
Tired with the routine of servicing his customers' pianos, Abdul Madjid Gangga decided to create a musical instrument that did not require regular fine tuning. He found his answer in wind chimes.
"When I was servicing pianos, I was thinking about a musical instrument that needed tuning only once ever," Abdul Madjid told The Jakarta Post during the creative industries exhibition at the Jakarta Convention Center last week.
"Although I made a living servicing pianos, the routine of it bored me."
As the material used to create wind chimes can have a large impact on the sound it produces, Abdul Madjid spent four years from 2000 working with all sorts of metals, including bronze, aluminum, copper, brass and steel, to get the best tones from the pipes. He finally settled on aluminum.
At first, Abdul, who graduated in music from Jakarta's Yayasan Musik Indonesia (Yasmi) in 1980, only created wind chimes with heptatonic chords (as used in Western music), but later he turned to making only chimes using ethnic tones, which he said were better understood by Indonesians.
In 2004, he created the first wind chime with tones similar to those of the traditional Javanese gamelan.
Today, he offers nine variations of wind chimes imitating the tones of the traditional musical instruments of Sunda, Bali, Manado, Melayu Deli, Madura, Papua, Betawi and Java. He also creates Arabian, Japanese and Chinese chimes.
Thanks to his skill with pianos, which he had worked with since the 1970s, Abdul was able to find his own formula to determine the tone according to the length, width and the thickness of the aluminum pipes. He also uses his fine-tuning skills to make his pieces pitch perfect.
Madjid uses the basic tone A with pitch 0.0 and frequency 440 hertz. "This tone is similar to piano tones and will never change," he said.
"Nowhere else in the world do people make chimes with tones similar to certain ethnic musical instruments that are set to 440 hertz. These tones will never change."
Abdul Madjid said a friend of his in Virginia in the United States had been conducting research to find out other wind chimes that use specific tone from ethnic music, but had turned up nothing so far.
"Mostly they only cut the pipes without (doing) the fine tuning," he explained.
Abdul Madjid's first customers were those he knew from servicing pianos, but now his wind chimes are finding homes with many people from East Java, Central Java, West Java as well as employees of foreign embassies, churches, Pondok Pesantren and Vihara.
Abdul, who employs eight workers and has patented his instrument, typically receives 25 to 40 orders a month in his workshop in Depok in West Java. His chimes are priced from Rp 350,000 to Rp 5 million per set.
"The most popular chimes are the biggest ones because they have a more complete melody and bass," he said. "Also because the bigger the pipes the more their reverberation is sustained."

Sentra Genta Nada
Jl. Raya Cinangka Gg. Madu

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Sawangan, Depok, Jawa Barat 15617
Tlp. +62 21 74709929
Mobile. +62 0813 1811 1113

Mahabharata's heroes return

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 07/01/2009 12:37 PM | Features
Blast to the past: Comic lovers enjoy nostalgic moments of their childhood readings through republished old comics.

Forget Batman, Spiderman or Superman. There is another breed of action heroes out there in the brightly hued land of comic books. Their names have a more local take, like Gatotkaca, Arjuna, Abimanyu and the twins Nakula and Sadewa.

Don't expect Captain America-versus-Superman high jinks or super-criminals threatening the world. This comic offers the real actions of heroes from the epic Mahabharata or Ramayana, which are sometimes portrayed symbolically by puppet masters.
Within the last few years, Indonesian comics have awakened from a long sleep since the invasion of Western comics in the late 1970s and 1980s. Comic-lover communities have been sprouting up here and there, sharing interest in old Indonesian comics, while also promoting the re-publishing of both old and new ones.
Earlier this month, the publishing of the comic Riwayat Pandawa (The Tale of Pandawa) has brought together the monumental works of late comic writer Teguh Santosa on Mahabharata, Bharatayudha and Pandawa Seda in one bundle.
Publisher Pluz+, a special publisher set up by comic lovers, spent two years collecting pieces from the series from collectors and bookstores around the country before reprinting them using a special technique.
These comic strips have never been published before. They were first published as a supplement in children's magazine, Ananda, in the 1980s.
"The old publishers never kept hard copies. So we had to restore old copies of published material, and then reprint them," says comic lover Andy Wijaya, who was involved in the process.
It all started when several comic buffs got together through a mailing list and Website, komikindonesia.com, back on June 20, 2004.
The online platform was able to draw together comic lovers nationwide, which later on went to mediate comic copyright holders and publishers to re-publish quality comics. As of today, the number of active members in community has reached more than 2,000 people.
"As comic lovers, we know which ones are still wanted in the market and we also help the copyright holders with legal matters so they don't feel reluctant to re-publish their comics," says Andy, who owns the comic-book shop Anjaya Books.
To date, the group has helped negotiate the publishing of no less than 15 old Indonesian comics, including selected titles of superheroes series such as Gundala Putra Petir, Si Buta dari Gua Hantu, Godam and Dina.
However, sales are not that rosy.
"We sell at most 300 copies of each title, from a target of 1,000 copies," says Andy.
Driven by the determination to rejuvenate Indonesian comics, but at the same time facing the reality of the business world, Andy joined hands with fellow comic lovers Gienardy S., Asrin Nirwan and Erwin Prima Arya, in founding Pluz+, dedicated to publishing selected Indonesian comics.
Having their own company, they re-publish only limited edition of comics upon order from other comic lovers. This helps shorten the distribution chain, as they can sell directly to readers or specialty bookshops.
The digital printing technology has also helped them realize their business ideals. In the past, more than 3,000 copies of any one title had to be printed to make it financially feasible, but now a 500-copy print is sufficient.
"The printing cost could have been much higher, but with limited editions, we spend less money and we don't have to spend money on storage," says Andy.
"We don't have to chase after sales targets, and can comfortably rely on our own links, because sales from these cover the production costs."
Andy, a fan of Kus Bramiyana's Laba-Laba Merah (Red Spider), believes that old reprinted comics still have their own market, and with better printing techniques, people will still long to browse through comics in remembrance of their long-lost childhood memories.
"We've been targeting a segmented market, where people actually buy nostalgia, and for whom money doesn't matter," says the man who gave up a career in Singapore for one in rejuvenating the local comic scene.
Comic researcher Seno Gumira Adjidarma says comics based on the Indian epics have a unique position in Indonesian history, born as they were from political repression.
Images of yesteryears: Comic community in Indonesia reprints several widely known old comics of Indian epics.
The first such comics, popularly known as "komik wayang" (shadow-puppet comics), were published in 1954-1955, when writers struggled to find a safer form of comics, as they were deemed a representation of imperialism.
During this time, the publisher Keng Po printed Johnlo's works: Lahirnya Gatot Kaca (The Birth of Gatot Kaca) and Raden Palasara. Meanwhile, Bandung-based publisher Melody issued R.A. Kosasih's series of Mahabharata. For his efforts to preserve traditional values through comics, Kosasih was later named the father of Indonesian comics.
"As a schoolboy in the 1960s, I remember the time comics were seized from students and burned, as they were seen as a representation of imperialism; so comic writers came out with something safer to produce. This is why we have comics based on wayang," Seno says.
Pluz+ co-founder Gienardy S. says the reprinting of the Indian epics was just the beginning of the effort to rejuvenate the Indonesian comic scene. The publisher will also support the production of new comics and comic merchandise.
"A new generation of Indonesian comic writers has been hired by foreign comic publishers. We just need to support them to be better in developing characters and solid plots," says Gienardy.
The decision by comic lovers to reprint the Mahabharata, Bharatayudha and Pandawa Seda, says Seno, is not just to scratch around for documentation, but a resistance to the business hegemony of the big comic industry, which offers cheap and low-quality comics in bulk.
"It doesn't matter if our kids don't understand Naruto *a popular Japanese anime*. But if they don't understand the Mahabharata, it's like losing their identity," Seno said last month during the launch of Riwayat Pandawa.
Teguh Santosa is not the first writer to draw comics absed on this Indian epic, and he has drawn parallels with his noted predecessor, R.A. Kosasih.
Although both writers rely on original Indian repertoire, which has been locally developed in certain versions, in certain parts Kosasih only wrote them in his narration, while Santosa draws them in his pictures.
"This is really an enrichment. We have different versions of visualization," says Seno.
Whereas Kosasih's works are filled with Indian-styles temples, Teguh's works are filled with Javanese character, particularly in architecture.The fact that these stories were treated only as an insertion in a children's magazine clearly shows its inferior position, despite the fact that Teguh Santosa was an important figure in the history of Indonesian comics.
If Wid N.S. was known as the creator of superheroes Godam and Aquanus, Teguh was known as the creator of many martial arts figures. He was the first Indonesian comic writer hired by the world comic publisher Marvel Comics in New York as an inkman for the serials Conan, Ali Baba and Piranha.
His style of presentation is also unique compared to the latest comic styles.
"If the strength of Japanese manga is in their movement, Teguh's works are like paintings. His surrealism gives his scenes the effect of a painting. We love staring at them. Although the costumes are weird, the imagination is strong," says Seno.

KBR 68H centers on radio journalism

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 06/30/2009 8:45 AM | Features

Pilars of democracy: A broadcaster from Radio News Agency 68H (right) speaks to the Indonesian Institute of Science’s political observer Syamsudin Haris (left) and the Regional Representatives Council’s researcher head Haryono during a radio talk on Aug. 6, 2007. Courtesy of Radio News Agency KBR 68H
Ask any radio journalist in Indonesia when they first produced their own news and they will all have the same answer: only after the post-1998 opening up of the press.

“Radio journalism was left behind all other kinds of journalism because radio suffered the most from the repression during the New Order era,” says managing director of news agency KBR 68H Santoso, a former print journalist.
“During the New Order era radios were banned from producing their own news and were obliged to relay the government version of news.
As a consequence they leaned toward entertainment only with music as their mainstay. Even after the press had relative freedom, radio stations had the least capability to produce news.”
This is why after the post-1998 opening up of the press, Santoso and his fellow journalists and activists at the Institute for the Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI) decided to created a radio news agency instead of print news agency even though none of them had any experience in radio journalism.
“I myself had never been a broadcaster until then,” he says, laughing.
Founded as a news agency on April 29, 1999, KBR 68H was created to realize radio’s potential as a force of democracy. It was the first agency outside of state radio to produce a news bulletin, and the first to offer an editorial on air.
“As a public medium, radio is the least expensive investment,” says Heru Hendratmoko, the KBR 68H production director. “We just needed to set up the broadcasting tools in the beginning and people just needed to buy a radio.”
From its humble beginnings, the radio news agency has expanded rapidly in the past 10 years, becoming a network that reaches more than 650 radio stations across the country and is available in 10 countries in Asia and Australia.
From a team of just seven reporters, the station now has more than 120 employees, with around 50 journalists based in Jakarta alone. It also has 100 correspondents across the country and 30 contributors in Asia.
The content has grown also. In its early days, the news agency could produce only 15-minute news
programs each day, each of which consisted of seven to 10 audio files sent to seven radio stations across the country.
However, when the agency started to produce a 30-minute news program in August 1999, they struggled to find an effective way to distribute the program. Internet connections were still too slow and some radio partners needed more than six hours to download the evening program. Some could only broadcast the news the next day.
In Jakarta, the news agency even used ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers as couriers to send the longer program to its radio partners.
“The Internet was slower even than bikes, unless they have an accident,” said Santoso, who became the agency’s director in 2000.
But if the new technologies of the time weren’t helping, they looked elsewhere: KBR 68H found the answer to the problem in what many radio stations had abandoned during the New Order era: Palapa satellite.
For decades the technology, which the government had launched in the 1970s, had been ignored because radio stations were obliged to broadcast only government programs 18 hours a day.
“The satellite technology suited the country’s archipelagic character but radio stations were under pressure and they never even thought about how to reach a larger audience,” says Heru Hendratmoko. “The technology is there but they never see the opportunity.”
It is ironic, he says, because radio stations in the Philippines have been subscribers to the Palapa channels since the 1970s.
In 2000, KBR 68H started to use the service of Palapa C2 Satellite to distribute its radio programs. With just a parabolic antenna and a digital receiver, the radio station partners could relay the agency’s programs.
Today, the agency has developed a range of news and non-news programs with a total of eight hours of programming a day.
Using the Internet and satellite, the radio news agency can gather and disseminate news, information and educational programming across the country, reaching an estimated 18 million listeners.
Empowering locals: Striving to keep local radio on air, 68H and the Netherlands Embassy build a micro hydro power plant for Radio Pikonane in Anyelma village in Yahukimo, Papua, while also supplying electricity to elementary school, church, goverment building and locals. Courtesy of Radio News Agency KBR 68H
Apart from journalism, the agency also helps to find donors and has set up 40 radio stations in the remote areas, such as a micro-hydro radio in Yahukimo in Papua and Radio Gogali in Central Sumba. The agency also produces and translates books on radio journalism and provides training for local journalists.
“We have a relatively independent press now but at the same time we also face huge inequality in terms of knowledge and facilities,” says Santoso, adding that activities outside journalism were included in the agency’s mission to open access to information to the whole country.
The agency’s work was critical in helping with the post-tsunami relief effort, for which it was presented with a Tsunami Award by the Aceh Art Council. It rebuilt radio stations in Banda Aceh, provided updates about relief operations, ran a missing persons bulletin and conducted a fundraising campaign.
The choice of technology has been proven to be a good decision, as the satellite could reach more than 20 Asia-Pacific countries. To expand their network to neighboring countries, KBR 68H on July 13, 2007, launched a new website for its weekly radio program called Asia Calling. The new Website provides the latest news about countries in the region.
Channeling the voice: Local people gather at Anyelma village during the launching of Radio Pikonane in September 2007. Courtesy of Radio News Agency KBR 68H
This weekly radio program is relayed by more than 140 radio stations in Indonesia and 19 foreign radio stations, including those in Cambodia, East Timor, Thailand, Nepal and Australia. In some radio stations, the program is broadcast in two languages, English and the local language. The agency has also helped start similar networks in East Timor and Nepal.
The KBR 68H also invites many foreign journalists to provide employees with journalism skills and also sends its journalists to participate in training abroad, such as to the Radio Nederland’s Training Centre, Fojo Program in Swedia, the BBC Radio Four or the Center for Investigative Journalism in the Philippines.
The agency’s services have been used by some international radio stations such as Radio Nederland, Deutsche Welle, SBS Australia and the Voice of America.
“The international expansion happened not because of the footprint of the satellite but because of the quality of our news met international requirements,” says Heru Hendratmoko.
The decade of hard work has earned the news agency a range of national and international awards and honors. Journalists and non-journalists at the agency alike can now be proud that they have received no fewer than 21 awards and prizes, including the latest King Baudouin International Development Prize.
The radio news agency received the biannual award on May 19 for its contribution to sustainable development based on the strengthening of democracy, tolerance and citizen participation.
“KBR 68H does this by producing and disseminating qualitative information through a network of local radio stations and by promoting professional ethics in the media world,” said the board of governors of Belgium’s King Baudouin Foundation in their statement.
The prize has been awarded since 1978 with a diverse list of prize winners including Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire and the Bangladesh Grameen Bank. KBR 68H is the first institution in Southeast Asia and the first media outlet in the world to receive this award, worth 150,000 euro.
“KBR 68H offers radio journalism that turns upside down all the government-owned models of journalism,” says Tasrif Siara, managing director of Palu’s Nebula FM Radio, which has partnered with KBR 68H since the agency was established. “Its reports are very investigative and its features are full of the human touch.”
Within 10 years of its establishment, KBR 68H has changed the character of radio from a very local format to a national and even regional format. It has also systematically introduced a form of radio journalism that was totally banned during the New Order era. Even some local government radios now broadcast its news programs.
“We started from something so simple, so simple that we didn’t even think about the name,” says Santoso. “A journalist later suggested we used the street address of our office and so here we are, using Kantor Berita Radio [radio news agency] 68H because our office is at Jalan Utan Kayu 68H Jakarta.”

Dedicated to puppets

Matheos Viktor Messakh , THE JAKARTA POST , JAKARTA | Fri, 06/26/2009 1:26 PM | Lifestyle

Given that he owes his life to a puppeteer, businessman Rohmad Hadiwijoyo felt it was all he could do to help support the survival of the traditional art of puppetry.

The dalang, or puppeteer, in question is Ki Joko Edan, from whom Rohmad learned the art of puppetry. He followed the dalang wherever he went for six years from the time he finished elementary school until he finished high school. It was the dalang who gave him the last name Hadiwijoyo.
Only after he enrolled at a college in Jakarta in 1985 did Rohmad part from his mentor, but still he stayed in contact from time to time.
Thanks to the value of puppet stories, which Rohmad claim are the key to his success, he has been able to build a traditional Javanese house joglo on a block of land in the sleepy area of Cirendeu in South Jakarta dedicated to those who want to become masters in the art of puppetry.
The 3,400 square meters of land in the valley of the Pesangrahan river, which he bought from another puppetry-loving businessman, cost him Rp 2 billion; he spent another Rp 600 million building the 200-meter-square house and a two-story cottage used mainly as accommodation for people who perform at the joglo.
"When it's about my hobby, everything else comes second," says Rohmad, also a professional puppeteer. "Besides, I was raised by a dalang and I want to do something for all the dalang."
He opened the complex, named Paguyuban Putro Wijoyo Parwo, in March 2006. It is equipped with a modern sound system, two sets of puppetry gamelan worth Rp 400 million and two boxes of classical Javanese puppets. The parking lot and the front yard of the joglo can hold more than 50 cars.
Now, the complex is home to 30 traditional Javanese gamelan players (wiyogo), three Javanese singers (sinden) and two puppeteers (dalang). Most of these people are simple workers: builders, carpenters, small traders. One of the puppeteers is a handyman.
Every Thursday night the 30 members of the paguyuban - a term that loosely translates as "association" or "community" - hold a regular performance, with a rehearsal every Monday night led by senior members for its can-didate puppeteers and gamelan players.
Five young puppeteers and five gamelan players are currently taking lessons at the paguyuban. Some of these young puppeteers have taken part in broader events such as at the national festival of child puppeteers held at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in July last year.
The paguyuban also provides a rehearsal space for 15 puppetry groups of various sizes in South Jakarta, which take turns to perform at the center each month.
Among the 15 puppetry groups in South Jakarta are troupes such as Inarcahya in Ciledug, Nirmala Sari in Cinere and Sanggar Sidodadi in Sawangan.
The monthly performances are part of a puppeteer exchange among the members of the South Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Puppeteers Association (Pepadi).
"Perhaps the puppeteer communities in South Jakarta are the most active puppeteer communities," said Ki Gede Kwatno, a puppeteer at the paguyuban and secretary of the South Jakarta branch of Pepadi.
"We hold a regular exchange of puppeteers and gamelan players to give both small and big groups more opportunities to perform. We offer more options for some of the communities which have a limited gamelan set and even *a limited* stock of puppets."
Kwatno, a handyman, had been part of another group since 1998 but he joined Paguyuban Putro Wijoyo Parwo in 2007 because he feels comfortable with the center's distance from residential areas.
"I used to be part of a group that practiced near a mosque but people used to complain a lot," he said.
As well as providing rehearsal space for puppeteers, the paguyuban is also involved in an array of educational enterprises aimed at fostering and promoting the art of puppetry, such as training workshops for puppeteers, exhibitions of the various kinds of wayang found in Indonesia and wayang performances.
In the past two years, the paguyuban has held five exhibitions, with its most recent a workshop and exhibition of Betawi shadow puppets at TMII in April.
The community also takes part in an annual puppetry festival held in July by the Indonesia Puppeteers Association. Last year, it hosted the festival.
Although some of the young puppeteers who study at the pagu-yuban are students from schools in Jakarta, Reinel Litana, the Pepadi treasurer in Jakarta, said the pagu-yuban would approach international schools in Jakarta to introduce puppetry either as an extracurricular course or even part of the curriculum.
"Six months is all a student needs to be able to become a puppeteer," said Litana, who has been working with Rohmad for six years.
And with the center currently in use only a few days a week, Litana encourages other groups to use the place for rehearsals.
"They just need to tell us to put their name on the list and we will arrange the schedule," he said.

Rohmad Hadiwijoyo: Life is like a puppet play

Matheos Viktor Messakh , THE JAKARTA POST , JAKARTA | Fri, 06/26/2009 1:06 PM | People

Rohmad Hadiwijoyo's success as a businessman is thanks in part to a devotion to puppetry that has helped him control his life - like a master.

Rohmad's father passed away when he was just six years old, one of six children. He still remembers how his father, a civil servant at health agency, told him that to succeed, he needed expertise or an advantage over other people.

"As a six-year-old boy, I didn't understand what it all was about. What advantage did I have when I didn't even have any money?" Rohmad recalls.

"The only thing I knew I had was my interest in wayang *shadow puppetry*. I loved wayang. Even before I finished elementary school, I knew the Mahabharata stories like the back of my hand."

So Rohmad was thrilled when his grandfather hired professional puppeteer Ki Joko Hadiwijoyo to perform in his house in Salatiga. Little Rohmad told the puppeteer that he wanted to follow him, that he wanted to become a puppeteer too.

He received no response. "Perhaps he thought I was just a schoolboy who was not serious in my request."

Rohmad did not give up. He kept going to the puppeteer's house in Semarang and kept getting ignored. "He didn't even talk to me. I was just left in his terrace."

He even followed the puppeteer to the mosque during prayers, but there too he was ignored.

When Rohmad learned of Ki Joko Hadiwijoyo's fondness for horses, he started bringing horse feed to the puppeteer's house, where he fed the horses and even washed the horses. Finally, the puppeteer noticed him.

"He said I was allowed to learn how to become a puppeteer but I had to wait until I finished elementary school."

Even then, he did not learn puppetry immediately, only being allowed to follow Hadiwijoyo's group wherever they went. His place was among the gamelan players, which he assumed was so he would understand when an instrument should be hit.

Only after entering his first year of high school was he awoken every morning at 2 o'clock to learn puppetry. By this time, he was also allowed to sit behind Ki Joko Hadiwijoyo during performances.

Sometimes he was also allowed to perform. Although he was still a beginner and disgruntled audience members occasionally called for him to be replaced with another puppeteer, he gained a lot from those years.

But sometimes the most is gained by losing: He failed at school when all his friends moved onto a higher grade, although Ki Joko Hadiwijoyo found him a place in another school.

"The headmaster was his friend who also a puppeteer," Rohmad says, laughing. "My choice could have cost me my education and it shows how important wayang is for me."

Because of his devotion to puppetry, he failed to make it into any universities in Semarang, and left for Jakarta in 1985 to attend the state electro-medical academy.

When he left for Jakarta, Ki Joko Hadiwijoyo gave him a parting gift: His last name.

"My given name was only Rohmad. Ki Joko Hadiwijoyo said that he had nothing to give me except the name Hadiwijoyo and a kris. So now he is known as Ki Joko Edan instead of Ki Joko Hadiwijoyo and I am Rohmad Hadiwijoyo."

In Javanese, hadi means "more" and wijoyo means "successful" or "prosperous". "He gave me the name hoping that my father's dream would come true. The more I think *about the name* the more I realize that it makes sense," says the man who is now also the chairman of Lontar Foundation.

As a student in Jakarta, Rohmad's puppetry skills soon became known.

"Lecturers and students and even people outside the academy got to know me as a puppeteer and this is when I understood my father's words that I needed to have something special to be recognized. My father was right and I realized I did have something special - as a puppeteer."

His first performance in Jakarta was a play titled Wahyu Purbojati, performed with a gamelan set borrowed from the Health Ministry and puppets from the Taman Ismail Marzuki. Since then, he was hired to perform at several venues across Jakarta.

While studying in Jakarta, he made a living distributing meat around the capital. After graduation, he worked until a scholarship in 1992 allowed him to study project management at George Washington University.

In Washington D.C., again wayang came his way. The Indonesian Embassy recognized his talent and asked him to perform once a week, and he was also hired by Indonesian consulates around the country. He also took wayang to universities, as the president of the Indonesian student association, quickly building name among colleagues and professors as "Rohmad the puppeteer".

Back in Indonesia, he succeeded in business. Today, Rohmad is the president director of a handful of oil and gas companies including the owner of PT Resources Jaya Teknik Management Indonesia (RMI), where he used to work as an account executive, PT Adinata Pandita, PT Daya Alam Teknik Inti and PT RMI Krakatau Karbonindo. He also runs PT Bali Hai Cruises Nusantara, which provides cruises around Bali.

Currently the chairman of the Indonesian Puppeteers Association (Pepadi), Rohmad believes that wayang is a reflection of human life. It has many characters - good and evil - from whom we can learn. The philosophy of wayang has helped him a lot in business management and diplomacy.

"Because I have expertise as a dalang, I can easily make business deals. For me, wayang diplomacy starts when business diplomacy fails," he says, laughing.

"Wayang provides guidance for my life. It tells me to live my life with ease. I don't have to work so hard if I know who I am, if I know myself. Many legislative candidates fail because they can't measure themselves; many businesses fail because they have no clear vision. Wayang philosophy is like a SWOT analysis: You have to know your strengths before starting something."

Out of gratitude to wayang, Rohmad built a traditional Javanese house in Cirendeu, South Jakarta, as a rehearsal space for puppeteers around Jakarta and to support the art of puppetry through various training workshops and education.

"I was raised by a puppeteer," he says, "and I wanted to do something for puppeteers."

Where have all the mailboxes gone?

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , JAKARTA | Tue, 06/23/2009 12:24 PM | Lifestyle
A good example: A mailbox in front of Le Meridien hotel in Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta. (JP/Matheos V. Messakh)

Post offices are not dead, but why is it getting harder and harder to find mailboxes in Jakarta? 

Blame it on vandalism, but then consider that ATMs haven’t met the same fate; blame it on the Internet and cell phones, and you’ll find not all kinds of letters and documents can be sent through these latest technologies.

Although the Internet and cell phones have become so dominant in this era of communication, people still send letters — applying for jobs through handwritten or printed letters, sending and receiving bank documents, settling problems of debts and receivables through printed letters.

The number of mailboxes in Central Jakarta has been on the decline over time, down to 52 this year from 110 in 2006.

Many mailboxes are removed because they are regarded as being ineffective, says Asep Saiful Uyun, assistant technical and equipment manager at the Central Jakarta Post Office.

“I think the existing number of mailboxes represents the post figure and public need,” says the man responsible for the procurement and maintenance of mailboxes.
“Some addresses only get two to three pieces of mail a week, so they don’t warrant the operational cost to pick up the letter and the maintenance cost.”

Uyun says vandalism is also one of the main reason mailboxes are removed.

“Vandals put anything in the mailboxes, including firecrackers or water. They even break the keys.”

He adds the post office still has to remove mailboxes considered very unproductive.

“People tend to use phones or email to sent documents. Although we still need to provide a mail delivery service, it’s not as much as before,” says Uyun.

The 52 mailboxes in Central Jakarta are located mostly along the main thoroughfares of Jl. Gajah Mada, Jl. Juanda, Jl. K.H. Hasyim Ashari, Jl. Gunung Sahari, Jl. Matraman and Jl. Diponegoro, as well as near local post offices.

“The most used mailboxes are those in the shopping centers and [traditional] markets and office areas,” says Darmawan, assistant mailbox and stamping manager at the Central Jakarta Post Office.

Working or not?: A poorly shaped mailbox at Jl. Palmerah Barat in West Jakarta. (JP/Matheos V. Messakh)
“People are also more confident about putting their letters in mailboxes near or in front of a post office because they believe the postmen will get them. A few also prefer to put their letters in the nearest mailboxes to the post office, because they might not have time to queue at the post office,” he said.

While the Central Jakarta Post Office’s delivery center has 286 employees and supervisors to serve customers, as well as 202 postmen, only six couriers are assigned to check mailboxes along the main roads once a day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., while mailboxes near local post offices are checked two to three times a day.

The six officers are also assigned to collect mail and packages in 45 local post offices around Central Jakarta, as well as from mobile post offices, post office extension counters and post office agents.

Many couriers, says Darmawan, complain about the construction of public facilities that pay no attention to their job, such as the construction of a busway lane on Jl. Pejambon, which prevents couriers from getting to the mailbox at the Foreign Ministry, or the construction of a bus stop in front of some mailboxes in Matraman.
“People don’t know there are mailboxes behind the bus stop,” he says.
Darmawan add he has no current data on the volume of mail posted through mailboxes, but data from Augustus to September 2008 shows about 200 to 300 letters were posted through mailboxes each day.
He says people no longer rely too much on mailboxes, since the post office offers various other mail delivery services, such as mobile post offices, post office extension counters and post office agents that all feature extending working hours.

The Central Jakarta Post Office has 45 local branch offices, 17 mobile post offices, eight extension counters and 10 post office agents.

Jakarta itself has 189 local post offices, with 48 in Central Jakarta, 40 in West Jakarta, 41 in South Jakarta, 40 in East Jakarta and 20 in North Jakarta.

Herri Waskita, head of the Central Jakarta Post Office’s delivery center, says although the number of personal letters passing through the post office have been tailing off over the past decade, the number of corporate correspondence such as billing statements, credit card bills, utilities bills and account statements is on the rise.

This is why the post office is still alive and kicking, and courier services continue to increase over time. The Central Jakarta Post Office has detected around 15 courier services frequently used to send or pick up letters or packages.

The lack of public attention toward mailboxes, Herri says, is because people need assurance their mail will be picked up and deliver in a timely manner.
“Mailboxes represent an ordinary service, and there is no way for people to trace their letters. They fear their letters could stay lost in the system forever or thrown away somewhere,” he says.

“That’s why for fast delivery, people need to go the post office. They need to know their letters will be arrived at the right time.”

— Photos By Matheos V. Messakh

A night at the movies ... at home

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 06/20/2009 12:12 PM | Lifestyle

Going to the movies is one of the most popular forms of entertainment around, whether for families, dating couples or young professionals seeking escape from workplace stress.

But the cinema has its limitations - the hassle getting there, the rigid schedules, the limited choice. And now, with technological leaps for home entertainment units, it also has a serious competitor: The living room.
Sandy, who runs and owns a shop in Mangga Dua Mall in Central Jakarta, has embraced the growing trend for Jakartans to dedicate a room in their house to movie watching.
About 18 months ago, the 29-year-old single guy had a home cinema installed in his apartment.
"I don't have to queue for a ticket, look for a parking spot, and I can watch my favorite movie any time I want," Sandy says.
Sandy and his friends can sit back and relax in their choice of four big seats and watch movies projected by a Blu-ray player onto a 101-inch screen.
"I know that a home theater can never really replace a real theater but at least a home theater set gives you a kind of ease. It's much better for me than going to the movies," says Sandy, who splashed out with more than Rp 50 million (US$4,800) on equipment for the room.
While not all movie lovers are taking their recreation to the same extreme, retailers and analysts agree that the home entertainment market is booming. Hollywood-style screening rooms are becoming increasingly common.
According to Electronic Marketer Club (EMC), which tracks retail electronics sales, the number of home theater packages sold in Indonesia rose from about 31,379 units in 2006 to 84,405 units in 2008; already by April this year 29,716 units had been sold.
"People want to bring the sight and sound of movie theaters to their home," says EMC chairman Iffan Suryanto.
Although there are a variety of home cinema theater systems designed to please the most demanding viewers offering many extra digital devices, the basic home theater components will include video displays, a digital surround sound system and DVD player or video source.
In the past, a home system was well out of reach for the ordinary family on a tight budget. While prices for top-of-the-range systems might still have some jaws dropping, new products coming out all the time mean movie lovers can now find something to suit their taste and budget.
In general, there are two kinds of home theater system: a high-quality home theater and home theater in a box (HTiB).
High-quality home cinemas are assembled from components purchased separately to provide the best combination of equipment for the price. An HTiB is a basic all-in-one unit that includes a DVD player, audio amplifier and surround sound speakers with a powered subwoofer to pick up the bass.
"Those who really want to bring the feel of the theater into their home usually choose their components separately and have them fitted together," says deputy editor of Audio Video magazine Budi Santoso. "This brings out more detail in terms of sound and visuals."
Those who find the task of putting together a home theater system from separate components too arduous can get HTiB - a whole package at once - and be confident that it works.
Packages include an audio/video receiver along with enough speakers so viewers can properly enjoy the surround sound that is part of most DVD and HDTV broadcasts. A home theater system can also include a DVD player, either integrated with the AV receiver or as a separate component. A few also include high-definition Blu-ray players.
Basic HTiB units are available for anywhere from Rp 1 to 3 million, and the more elaborate the system the higher the price tag. A high-quality HTiB can cost more than Rp 10 million.
Sales of HTiB units have boomed over the past four years, according to Iffan Suryanto, who is also general manager of PT. Sharp Electronic Indonesia. "The most wanted segments are the units in the price range of one to one and a half million rupiah," he said.
High-end packages - which are made up of at least a 5.1 speaker, AV receiver and DVD player or Blu-ray player - started about Rp 50 million.
As it is important for the dedicated room to be of a decent size and soundproof, some customers choose to hire an acoustic designer to ensure they get the ultimate home entertainment experience, Budi says.
According to estimates by researcher Dini Wirastri, the average Indonesian family spends nearly Rp 3 million on a television, DVD player and sound system.
But there are plenty of big spenders around too, buying front, center and surround speakers with prices heading toward the Rp 80 million mark, or rear projectors that range from Rp 8 million to Rp 40 million, or large plasma televisions, which can sell for more than Rp 15 million.
"High-end shoppers prefer LCD to plasma screen TVs," says Wirastri, adding that Blu-ray players, which are currently all the rage, can be bought for Rp 12 million.
Wirastri said the demand for home cinemas was "going crazy" and fit-outs worth Rp 1 to 2 billion were not uncommon.
Mee Kim, a company director from Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, had a Rp 500 million home theater built into her home three years ago.
"You have a limited choice of movies with the movie theaters here in Jakarta," she says. "With a home theater I can watch my favorite movie anytime, invite our close friends, or even my colleagues at my company to have karaoke."
Doharto Simatupang, a multimedia observer, says he believes the move toward home theater systems reflects a wider social trend of people wanting to spend more time in the comfort of their homes.
"People aren't running away from the outside world, but they're saying home is the nicest place to be," he said.
Some might view purchasing a home theater system as an extravagance, but others would argue that with all their hard work, they deserve something that will enhance their home and the time spent in it - especially those who love the movies.
"It's really a kind of hobby," says Sandy. "If it isn't a hobby, people won't spend millions or even billions just to get the movie theater experience at home."

Back to the drawing board

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 06/18/2009 1:22 PM | Arts & Design

Mother of Many by Ipong Purnama Sidhi (JP/P.J. Leo)

For some time now, the art of drawing has tended to be associated with preparation and incompletion, a mere stepping-stone to a "higher" form.

Rather than being treated as an art form in and of itself, drawing is often regarded as a means to an end. But with modern art stripping away any lingering hierarchy of mediums, drawing began to reclaim a position as a final and autonomous work - an end in itself.

A contemporary drawing exhibition at the National Gallery Jakarta brings together 73 first-grade drawings by 53 Indonesian artists with the simple goal of showing that drawing can be and is an "autonomous medium" for expression in the context of contemporary art.

"Drawing as an autonomous medium of art means that it is the final aim of artistic expression and not just in preparation for some other kind of art," said curator Asmudjo Jono Irianto.

"These are not sketches; these are artistic drawings which are artistic expressions using drawing techniques, mediums and approaches."

Art history shows that drawing has long been respected as a skill but has had little acclaim as an artistic end in itself. Rather, it has tended always to be relegated to the service of painting and sculpture.

The role of drawing as servant has diminished recently as artists turn to digital technologies, such as digital cameras, computer software and projectors, to do the groundwork for their paintings and sculptures. In the meantime, the contemporary fine art world has boosted the popularity of drawing in the past two decades by challenging set conventions and hierarchies.

Quoting art critic Emma Dexter, Irianto said the rising popularity of drawing in the past decade had been more or less influenced by the popularity of painting: "In painting's slipstream followed its shy sibling, drawing, arriving without any apologies or explanation," Dexter is quoted in the exhibition brochure. "Drawing had never been widely theorized in its own right, allowing the field to be open for the artists to make of it what they choose."

Construction of drawing as servant for other mediums, said Irianto, was apparent in the very structure of the nation's art schools where drawing is not included as a course of study, but where various kinds of painting and sculpture, for example, are.

"In European countries, the popularity of drawing has come back within the past two decades, thanks to the concept of no hierarchy of mediums and *anything goes'," Irianto said.

"With the concept of *anything goes', artists tend to create more egalitarian works. They know that it's easier for people to appreciate good choices than hard choices. Drawing has the potential to be easier to understand than installations, video art, or performance art."

Yet its simplicity is deceptive. "Drawing" is ultimately difficult to define but is characterized by specific techniques; thus it is reasonable that most of the works featured in the exhibition were done on canvas if only to demonstrate this character, whatever the material.

Consider, for example, Artist Ingusan (Runny-nosed Artist) by painter Agus Suwage. This work is done in acrylics on canvas but is regarded as a drawing because the artist used lines - considered a drawing technique - to create the picture rather than using painting techniques.

Agus Suwage also chose to leave part of the canvas blank, as is common in drawings, rather than covering the entire surface, as is typical of paintings.

"Drawing is about the medium but it's also about the approach - such as using lines, shadows and hatching. So as long as an art work uses lines or hatching, it will still be regarded as drawing no matter what material is used," said Irianto.

Some artists even made drawing and painting equal by combining the two techniques in one medium. One such work is Seno Andrianto's 8-08, done in pencil and pastel on canvas, which depicts a man sitting among watermelons playing a Portuguese guitar.

Another attempt to bring drawing alongside painting is Chusin Setiadikara's Two Girls on the Mountain, done in charcoal and oils on canvas.

Although more and more artists are demonstrating confidence in using drawing for their final pieces, the exhibition pulls together artists from all walks but who have drawing in common.

"Many artists are now confident with drawing as their main skill," Irianto said. "*There are those who have* drawing as their main medium or technique but there are also some painters who draw too."

The choice of canvas as the base for the drawings is also a strategy to persuade art lovers to see drawing as a serious art.

"Drawing on canvas will make people respect the works more because it doesn't deny the drawing techniques but at the same time solves the classic problem of maintenance," said Irianto. With drawings able to offer more longevity, people "will not hesitate to become collectors" of drawings, he added.

The exhibition might be a positive sign for art lovers that drawing - a mere prerequisite for good artists since the Renaissance era and dominated during the Modern era by abstract expression - is now enjoying a resurgence.

Triyadi Guntur, whose graphite drawing on canvas titled So Close portrays a photograph by Hyperrealist artist Chuck Close, said he was interested in drawing because it laid down the rules in fine art. As an artist who learned abstract painting and realism at the same time, Triyadi understands that knowing the basic rules is important.

"How can we break the rules if we don't know them?" he asked.

Indonesian Contemporary Drawing
Until June 24
National Gallery
Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur 14
Central Jakarta

June 28 - July 26
Andi's Gallery
Jl. Tanah Abang 4/14
Central Jakarta

A gift for all seasons

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , JAKARTA | Fri, 06/12/2009 1:36 PM | Lifestyle
Gift boxes from Attila Ethnique (JP/Matheos V. Messakh)
Whatever direction the world economy goes and whatever the time of year, people will keep on getting married. And in Indonesia, wherever there is a bride and a groom, there is also a seserahan – or wedding gift package.

The tradition of the seserahan – a gift from the groom to his bride before the wedding – is practiced across the country, although with some regional variations. And like most once-in-a-lifetime experiences (well, for some it happens more than once, but not on too regular a basis), it is important to get it right.
The groom’s family and neighbors are traditionally the ones who put together the gift – a box or boxes containing clothes or other items. But the fact is not everyone has the necessary artistic touch or knowledge of how to best arrange the items in a wedding gift package to bring – and not everyone has the time to do it right.
Put all these factors together and this aspect of traditional culture translates to a healthy commercial prospect. The wedding gift business is flourishing, even though those who are willing and able – or with more time than money – can buy their boxes and baskets from Cikini market in Central Jakarta for few thousand rupiah and arrange their seserahan themselves.

Attila Sawir, a single mother in Pondok Labu, South Jakarta, started her wedding gift business in a rented room in Yogyakarta in 1987, when she was just a university student. She then moved her business to Jakarta one year after she got married in 1993.
Attila started out by selling artificial flowers and scented candles under the brand name Attila Collection. But by 2000, Attila’s business was concentrating on wedding-related gifts.

“I started to shift my business when a customer asked me to decorate some pre-wedding boxes for him, and obviously he liked the decoration,” Attila said. “Over time I found that the business was good, and at the moment providing and decorating pre-wedding boxes is my main business.”

Attila now has 13 employees dedicated to helping her create and decorate boxes. She has also involved some neighborhood youth organizations in helping her make wedding souvenirs.

Among Attila’s products are various kinds of boxes and baskets made from wood, cardboard, paper or woven materials. Prices range from Rp 35,000 to Rp 375,000. The most popular products are the boxes in the Rp 35,000–Rp 65,000 range.

“We provide boxes with the size fit to the size and shape of the gifts but the customers tend to prefer boxes made from cardboard and paper because they are quite cheap and can be reused,” said Attila, adding that wooden boxes are the least popular because they are expensive, heavy and take up more space.
“Cardboard boxes are lighter to carry and lighter for the customer’s pocket,” she said, laughing.
Attila said that, with about 30 to 40 customers a month, her business generally had a monthly income of up to Rp 50 million.
“Weddings know no season during the year,” said Attila, who has also opened a shop especially to sell wedding souvenirs.

The number of boxes requested also varies, depending on the relationship between the families of the bride and the groom or depending on their financial situation.

“The better they know each other and the surer they are about the prospect of the wedding, the greater the number of boxes they get. Perhaps they have no hesitation about giving something valuable,” said Attila, who has had orders ranging from only three boxes to up to 30 boxes.

Istje Souvenir (JP/Matheos V. Messakh)
The decoration of boxes can take a few days, but with her team, Attila can sometimes take urgent orders, as long as the order does not hold up the delivery of previous orders.

Another woman who has made a business out of the tradition is Siti Aisyah. An employee of an airport cargo company, Siti started her business as a side business in her home in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, soon after she got married in 2005.

Dissatisfied with the quality of the packaging of pre-wedding gifts, which she described as “usually incompatible with the wedding dresses and party’s spirit”, she designed her own wedding packages, which have become a leader among available wedding-related gifts.

Expanding on the notion of boxes designed for pre-wedding gifts, her cottage industry, operating under the name Istje Souvenir, now offers a service providing and decorating boxes for pre-wedding gifts, dowries, wedding rings and wedding souvenirs.

Istje Souvenir adds another twist, not only selling the decorated boxes but also renting them out. It costs Rp 125,000 to rent a plywood box and Rp 200,000 to buy one. Wooden boxes are Rp 175,000 and Rp. 250,000 to buy, and brocade boxes are Rp 225,000 to rent and Rp 300,000 to buy.

With her team of five workers – her husband, her mother and brothers – Siti can finish an order in two weeks. Urgent orders are accepted only if they do not affect waiting orders.
Siti Aisyah, owner of Istje Souvenir (JP/Matheos V. Messakh)
Siti, who is open on weekends and by appointment, said most customers choose either plywood boxes covered with a traditional mat made from pandanus thorns or plywood-Styrofoam boxes covered with brocade, with price being an important deciding factor. Wooden boxes are rarely requested because of the expense.
However, unlike Attila Collection, Istje Souvenir provides boxes for pre-wedding gifts in one size only – 45 x 35 centimeters.

“What people need is actually decoration and decoration needs space. That’s why we use big boxes – to allow us to show off the beauty of the gift,” she said.

Although she says that the diversity of the shapes and designs are the selling points of her products, Siti said she usually advises her customers not to expect too much from some materials; for example, some traditional woven fabrics or silk cannot be folded in certain shapes as that would harm the fabrics.

With between five and 10 customers a month, the average number of boxes ordered ranges from 12 to 17, which gives Siti a monthly income of up to Rp 12 million a month.

Unlike Attila, Istje Collection does have a peak season – June, July and after the fasting month – and a low season in February and March.

Yet another pre-wedding gift package designer, targeting middle and upper class families, is The House of Seserahan. Like the other businesses, The House of Seserahan began out of home, started up in January 2008 by retiree Sylvia Hasan and her husband in their house in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta.

The 59-year-old woman said the business started from her hobby helping relatives and friends decorate their boxes – a hobby she began when she was young.

“For decades we did it for free, but my daughter opened up our minds and persuaded us to do it for business,” she said.

Unlike the other vendors, The House of Seserahan targets only middle- and high-income families.
Therefore, they provide only wooden boxes, which are considered be less wasteful and are more durable than cardboard boxes.

“We chose this middle segment because we can easily move up or down,” she said. “We believe that there are always people who want something special for their special day.”

Where the other vendors cover the top of their boxes with transparent mica, Sylvia uses only acrylic for the cover. “Glass materials are heavy. Mica is light but easily scratched. The acrylic is quite expensive but lighter and stylish,” she said.
Thanks to the family’s interior design business, which they have run for years, they have all the necessary skills to design elegant luxury wooden boxes. With six workers and her husband as the box designer, they produce boxes in various sizes and styles, covered with suede, leather, paper and mica.

Sylvia is responsible for putting the final decorative touches on the boxes, with beautiful fresh, dried or artificial flowers and various ornaments.

“We have for the highest standard of box, but we also want the customer to get what they really want. Which is why we have a consultation first, which is never less than one hour long,” said Sylvia.
“People might buy an expensive product but that doesn’t always mean that they get what they want.”
Prices for boxes sold by The House of Seserahan range from Rp 200,000 to Rp 600,000 depending on size and materials. They are available for hire from Rp 125,000 to Rp 200,000.

The best-sellers are the boxes priced between Rp 350,000 and Rp 400,000. Boxes priced between Rp 150,000 and Rp 200,000 are most popular for rental.

“There is a balance in the number of the people who want to buy and the people who want to hire,” Sylvia said, adding that she has at least four customers a month, which gives her an average monthly income of up to Rp 30 million.

As Sylvia has taken her business online, she said she experiences no “wedding” season. “A bad month to hold a wedding for some people and cultures is a good month for others.”

The House of Seserahan
Jl. Cempaka Putih Timur IV/17
Jakarta 10510
Tel: (021) 424 6539

Istje Souvenir
Jl. Pasar Baru Selatan 20
Jakarta 10710
Tel: (021) 6890 0054
http://istjecollection.multiply.com/

Attila Ethnique
Jl. Lebak Bulus III/21
Cilandak
Tel: (021) 7062 5250