Erik Prabowo: Bringing green idea to surgery

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 11/19/2008 10:58 AM | People

Erik Prabowo truly epitomizes the Confucius saying "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". While working the graveyard shift at Dr. Kariadi Hospital in Semarang one night in September 2007, the resident doctor read a poster on the wall to pass the time.

It advertised an international competition, run by German-based healthcare supplier B. Braun Melsungen, which sought out new and innovative ways to seal surgical wounds. He made some notes and launched an Internet search the next day.

This initial curiosity eventually saw him become the national winner and receive prize money of 5,000 euro last Tuesday from the B. Braun group. Erik is now headed for the international stage, and on Dec. 5 he will join researchers, medical professionals and designers from around the globe in Berlin for the announcement of the international winner.

"It feels like I have won the lottery. I thought it was a great competition, dealing with a problem many doctors face with stitches, and I was curious about innovations in these technologies," he said.

Born in Pekanbaru, Riau province in 1978, Erik applied to study medicine in 1996 to follow in the footsteps of his father, an army surgeon. He received his medical degree from Semarang's Diponegoro University in 2000.

An interest in computers almost saw him study electrical engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), but somewhat in a twist of fate, he failed the entrance test. Despite ending up highly successful, Erik had some personal fears that weren't really suited to a career in medicine. While performing his first ever surgical procedure in 2002, he fainted at the sight of all the blood.

"If I had to choose, I'd rather putter around with computers than read books," he said.

Following four months' of research, Erik submitted an abstract of his paper titled "Go Green Circle Sutures" to the competition.

The competition had invited surgeons, scientists from various disciplines and designers to submit ideas in the categories "natural science and technology", "medicine and handling" and "design and function". Erik had chosen the category which related to his daily routine; "design and function".

"This category suited my role as a doctor and a student."

Between his residency at Dr. Kariadi Hospital and studies at Diponegoro University, he managed to squeeze in time to submit the full paper two hours before the deadline on July 15.

Erik's paper was among the 20 submissions from Indonesia, but the jury panel selected Erik's paper as the national winner based on it's clarity, applicability and efficiency.

"He has a clear concept, and it is applicable. Many papers also had good concepts, but they lacked application," said Djoni Darmajaya, one of the jurors.

"He offered a solution for the 'memory effect', which is a stiffness condition of sutures. This idea deserved a reward.

"Another interesting aspect of his design was that he investigated the use of biodegradable materials. I think he has the potential to win on the international stage," Djoni added.

Erik decided to "go green" by adopting environmentally-friendly materials for his design, and by shaping and reducing the size of conventional stitches to emit less energy in production.

By changing the form of the exterior foil in conventional packaging from rectangular to circular, Erik was able to reduce the size by up to 40 percent.

Furthermore, he replaced the petroleum-based plastic packaging with a bioplastic that can be reused and easily recycled.

For the first time, his design made it possible to place a used needle back into the suture holder. This achievement means hospitals can now send steel needles back to their manufacturing companies to be recycled.

"Used needles and other contaminated materials are usually burned in an incinerator. In fact, they can be recycled and this will save energy."

Erik said he had examined other suture samples with environmental considerations -- reduce, reuse and recycle -- in mind before he made the decision to use polylactic acid made from maize and soybeans as the materials for his design.

"Many manufacturers are only paying the environmental-friendly issue lip service ... Medical products are usually recommended by doctors, and many people do not care about the environmental impact."

B. Braun Medical Indonesia's president director A. Manogaran hailed Erik's ability to promote the environment in his design.

"A century ago, physicians still stitched wounds with sutures made from mutton's intestines. Today, a broad range of materials are available enabling not only the best care for the body, but also the environment," said A Manogaran.

The 30-year-old doctor will join 27 other international contestants at the award ceremony supported by the German and British national surgeons' associations.

The competition itself was held by the company to commemorate the introduction of industrially produced, sterile sutures by B. Braun exactly 100 years ago.

First prize takes home 100,000 euros, with 50,000 and 25,000 euro prizes for second and third-place winners respectively.

"I was interested in the competition because I wanted to know about the future of wound closure. It is great to know there are others who share my passion."

Hadar Navis Gumay: Calling for public scrutiny in elections

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 11/17/2008 10:47 AM | People

For Hadar Navis Gumay, elections are all about details. No election should be considered democratic if it fails to meet democratic values and standards.

The man who has observed elections in more than five Asian and European countries believes an election should not be judged by its surface appearance.

"There are too many details in any election that need to be checked to make sure that they together form a democratic process," Hadar told The Jakarta Post recently.

As a process to form a government, elections, said the 48-year-old man, had always tempted governments and political parties to "meddle in or twist the election process, especially in the formulation of laws and regulations".

This is the reason why global election watchdogs are crucial, said Hadar, who has been executive director of the Center for Electoral Reform since 2005.

For the former urban sociology lecturer, if it wasn't for the influence of election watchdogs in the 1999 and 2004 elections, no one could ever have guessed the outcome of the elections that have helped put Indonesia on the path to democracy.

"We can't measure the contributions of election watchdogs quantitatively, but the presence and the massive activities of the election groups have made people think twice about being deceitful," said Hadar, who helped monitor the 1999 election, which was dubbed by many scholars as the country's first democratic election in its 44 years.

Shifting his career from lecturer at the University of Indonesia to an electoral reform activist, Hadar, who co-founded the University Network for Free and Fair Election in 1999, said a good election required good regulations guaranteeing justice and legal certainty, providing clear procedures and law enforcement.

"If we want a democratic election, we need to eliminate false regulations and articles that can be interpreted in different ways from our laws on elections.

"We also need an inclusive space for wider public participation, including for minority groups, such as women, religious groups, as well as freedom for the media and these requirements should appear in regulations," he said.

Some flaws in the country's regulations on legislative, regional and presidential elections, he added, were part of the efforts of political parties to retain power.

The newly enacted presidential election law, which requires a party or coalition of parties to win a minimum 20 percent of House seats or 25 percent of popular votes to be eligible to nominate a candidate, is also a breach of the Constitution, he said.

"This number is too high. The higher the nomination threshold, the more reclusive the system. Only a hand full of candidates who are strongly supported by their parties will gain the advantage.

"How can we hope for changes if it so difficult to be nominated?"

The argument used by legislators that a higher nomination threshold increases efficiency is baseless and threatens candidate legitimacy, Hadar said.

"Having two rounds in the election will definitely help produce a more legitimate president. Trying to push it to one round is a big mistake. Besides, not being democratic, it also breaches the Constitution."

The mechanism to decide elected candidates in the legislative elections based on a ranking system, Hadar said, was inconsistent with the open list system mandated by the law on legislative elections, which stipulates that a candidate will be more likely to win a House seat if he gains more popular votes.

"The open list system implies that people should have a greater chance of deciding their representatives while political parties can only decide candidates."

However, the law also stipulates that if no candidate nominated by a party attains 30 percent of popular votes, the party's highest ranked nominee will win the seat.

"This is not fair because the candidate at the bottom of the list might win more votes than the ones at the top. This means that parties still have the power to decide rather than the people."

Hadar said this flaw would spark conflicts between the candidates and in turn affect how the elected lawmakers are promulgated.

Although laws and regulations on elections have their specific flaws, Hadar said, the biggest challenge facing the integrity of the elections process was the public's lack of civic knowledge.

"We need to educate people so that they are knowledgeable and aware, to nurture democratic values and to empower them with the skills required to solve problems with society."

He added the many violent conflicts that have taken place during previous elections in many regions was evidence of a lack of democratic values among the public.

"They didn't know how to deal with problem in a non-violent way," he said, adding that although the success of the elections depended on many factors, none was more important than the role of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

"If KPU can do its job well, in line with the existing regulations, and be independent and professional, they will crush all opportunities for violations."

Hadar said the KPU was restricted by its dependence on its budget allocation from the government, which had resulted in many delays in electoral procedures.

"It's like one of their hands has been tied behind their back so they have to work with one hand."

He lamented the KPU for not publishing its rules and regulations with the public.

With the April 9 legislative elections drawing nearer, Hadar said the KPU would not make any progress in the next three months.

"I have a feeling the legislative elections will be a total mess if the KPU doesn't change the way they operate from now on."

Baswedan laments election law

Mon, 11/10/2008 11:09 AM | People

JP/Matheos V. Messakh

JAKARTA: Academic Anies R. Baswedan is not happy. He claims that the newly enacted law on presidential elections, which makes it tougher to nominate a candidate, shows that major political parties are still trying to maintain their grip on the country.

"It's wouldn't be a big problem if the country's political parties had served as good vehicles for political recruitment. But we know from many regional elections that they're not," he said.

Anies was included on the U.S. based Foreign Policy magazine's prestigious list of 100 top world public intellectuals, published in its May-June edition. He shares the company of global pundits including Samuel Huntington, Francis Fukuyama and Nobel laureates Al Gore and Muhammad Yunus.

The new law on presidential elections requires a party or a coalition of parties to win at least 20 percent of seats in the House of Representatives or 25 percent of the popular vote to be eligible to nominate a candidate.

The Paramadina University rector, who is the country's youngest university rector, said the country should allow greater opportunities for the emergence of new candidates. "The country needs new reformers," he said. -- JP/Matheos V. Messakh

Suhartono: Taking pencak silat overseas

Matheos Viktor Messakh , for The Jakarta Post , Nusa Dua, Bali | Wed, 11/05/2008 10:31 AM | People

Indonesia suffered a setback when pencak silat champion Diyan Kristianto was injured while fighting Brunei Darussalam's Amirul Ahati during the recent Bali Asian Beach Games.

Ironically, the man who brought the Bruneian competitor to the point where he could vanquish a master of Indonesia's home grown sport is himself Indonesian.

Suhartono, a former Indonesian pencak silat champion himself, began his journey to international prominence in 1995, when Vietnam asked the Indonesian Pencak Silat Federation (IPSI) to help them find a coach for their pencak silat team.

Suhartono, who at the time was helping Jakarta's team prepare for the 1996 National Games as head coach, said he initially refused the offer.

"I asked them to look for another coach, because I was preparing the team for the national games. I said I would only go if they didn't find anyone else. It turned out they couldn't, so I had to go, because I had promised," Suhartono said.

The father of two took coaching the Vietnamese athletes very seriously.

"The Vietnamese are a spirited people. They took learning silat maneuvers seriously. Their country's dedication to the sport helps silat's development," he said.

Suhartono helped Vietnam reach the top of international competition. Vietnam first demonstrated their new-found abilities at the 1999 Southeast Asian Games in Bandar Seri Begawan, where they earned three gold medals, three silver and two bronze. Indonesia, however, dominated the games with five gold medals.

At the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, the Vietnamese got revenge, defeating Indonesia. Suhartono's athletes brought home seven gold medals, three silver and two bronze. Indonesia won five golds, followed by Malaysia with three.

The achievement was repeated when Vietnam hosted the 2003 SEA Games. The hosts swept the games with seven golds, while Indonesia only brought home five.

In 1999 Suhartono's success in coaching the Vietnamese athletes bought him the prestigious honorable star medallion class III, an award bestowed on him by Vietnam's then president Tran Duc Luong.

Suhartono also received the Huan Chuong VI Su Nghiep The Duc The Thao award from Vietnam's National Olympics Committee.

After his success in coaching Vietnam's silat team, the Philippines' government asked him to train its athletes -- he accepted the challenge.

When coaching the Philippines team, Suhartono had an uncomfortable experience, caught between his team members and Philippines' intelligence agents. Three months before the 2005 SEA Games, at the French Open, the Philippines team won six gold medals and became the general champion, but six out of the 10 athletes refused to return to their home country.

Suhartono had to ask for help from the president of the International Pencak Silat Association (Persilat), Edi Nalapraya, to stop his interrogation.

Suhartono persevered, and prepared the four remaining team members for the 2005 SEA Games; they won one gold and two silver medals. But, his former team, Vietnam emerged as general champion, with seven gold medals. Indonesia followed with five gold medals.

After handling the Filipino athletes, Suhartono returned to Vietnam for a year to train the country's junior athletes before being asked by Thailand's Olympics Committee to train their team.

Seven months of training with Suhartono led the Thais to victory in the 2007 SEA Games with four gold, one silver and five bronze medals. Indonesia won five gold medals, while Vietnam won three.

In April 2007, Brunei's Olympics committee asked the master to handle their athletes until 2010. Suhartono said he might stay in Brunei for the next five years.

"It's a process. Within the first two years of my time in Vietnam for example, we could only win two gold medals in a world championship," Suhartono said.

In all his time coaching overseas teams, he faced a dilemma, knowing that he was sharing the knowledge and skill of his home land with its rivals.

But, standing on a base of professionalism, his strong will to develop the sport kept him focused.

"Many questions were raised concerning my nationalism, but I have to say that my goal is to develop silat around the world, so that Indonesian's traditional sport can be known everywhere.

"My calling is to prove my professionalism. It's not a question of nationalism. I will be ready at any time if Indonesia needs me," said the man, who returned to Indonesia to train the Bali team for the July National Games.

Suhartono says the key to his coaching success is research.

"A coach is not merely responsible for coaching but should become a researcher too. He should be up to date on the various techniques and know what to expect from a rival team," he said.

"Through this method a coach can combine techniques or even develop new ones," said Suhartono.

Suhartono is currently preparing a book on the development of pencak silat techniques throughout history, as well as a video on the fighting techniques.

The man, who began learning pencak silat when he was just 10 years-old, said he explored other martial arts, such as boxing and karate, to combine their techniques with traditional Malay martial art techniques.

To explore pencak silat techniques further he had to learn how to use computer visualization programs.

Before leaving for Vietnam, Suhartono modeled for an illustrated book on fighting techniques, prepared by IPSI's research and development division, in collaboration with the ministry of education. However, the book was never published.

"After the head of IPSI's research and development division died, nobody paid the project any attention and I was already abroad. What I taught abroad is actually the content of the book," said Suhartono.

English may also be one of the 51-year-old coach's keys to success.

Before forging his path as a professional pencak silat coach, Suhartono worked as a salesman of nuclear laboratory equipment, which gave him the opportunity to learn English.

"One of my advantages as a coach is my language skills, many coaches have problems communicating with foreign athletes," he said.

Suhartono said that the many perguruan (schools of pencak silat), each with its own stances, hampers the sports development.

With more than 800 perguruans, he said it would be hard to combine techniques and tricks -- especially if each perguruan was unwilling to cooperate.

"The problem with Indonesia is we have many systems but no willingness to sit together and evaluate the techniques and tricks or come up with new techniques to win fights".

He also cited the bad relationship between IPSI's leaders as an impediment to pencak silats development in the country.

"There is an unharmonious relationship among the leaders. Everybody should be at peace with each other to make good decisions for the development of pencak silat".

He urged them to come up with up to date techniques and work hard on research and development in order to win.

"A coach is not only a physical trainer but a technical and tricks trainer. Someone may be big and have great power, but without the right techniques and tricks he will lose easily".

Baru Sadarun: Fighting to preserve coral reefs

Matheos Viktor Messakh for The Jakarta Post , Natuna, Riau Islands Tue, 09/23/2008 10:07 AM People

Some might think that growing market demand might worsens coral reef exploitation, but diving instructor Baru Sadarun has his own rationale.

For the 40-year-old man, as long as people realize the economic value of coral reefs, they will be more than happy to help preserve them.

He believes that coral reef conservation had been opposed in many places because the conservation effort was usually separated from people's daily lives and activities.

"There is a growing misconception that conservation is similar only to protection," Sadarun told The Jakarta Post.

"In fact, conservation should also be related to how people use natural resources...any conservation efforts will be opposed if people are only prohibited from the conservation area and cannot gain anything from it."

For Sadarun, coral reefs can be preserved if people in the designated conservation areas are able to use them as a fishing resource or as ecotourism sites, or for coral reef farming and trading (of fish and coral), or for other functions that will not harm the environment.

"It's time to introduce people to sustainable management, so they won't be allergic to conservation, but love it because they will gain far more benefit from doing it."

Sadarun might have learned from his experience on local resistance to coral management.

When he was conducting coral reef registration for the Southeast Sulawesi government in the Padamara islands in 1997, he was attacked by local fishermen with a fish bomb while diving.

"The fishermen might have thought that we wanted to disrupt their source of income...I was just lucky. I was found unconscious by my team, which came after they heard an explosion."

Born to a fisherman's family in Raha, Muna regency in Southeast Sulawesi on July 23, 1968, Sadarun has been an avid observer of coral reefs since he was a young man.

After completing high school in Raha in 1991, Sadarun left his village to study marine technology at Sam Ratulangi University in Manado, where he graduated in 1995.

"I am the son of a fishermen and I wanted to know the science of the coral reef. People in my home village have been making a living from coral for centuries and I wanted to know whether what they had been doing was right or wrong."

After graduating, he dived into the marine world through his work as a coral researcher for the Southeast Sulawesi government and also as a lecturer at Haluoleo University in Kendari.

Provoked by reports of coral reef destruction in the country, he completed his master's degree in marine technology focusing on coral reef transplantation, at the Bogor Institute of Technology in 1998.

"I have read many reports on coral destruction since my undergraduate studies, with many people shouting out loud about destruction, but no-one offering any solutions," said the man who received Man of the Biosphere Award from Unesco in 2001 for his research on coral reef transplantation.

Sadarun's interest in coral research was not an easy path at the start. Many of his colleagues said he was crazy during his early research years and his parents objected to his work.

"My people regarded the sea as teki which means sacred. They argued that we can only make a living from the sea, but are not allowed to play around with it.

"Initially they opposed my work but they became more favorable when they realized that I was actually repairing it and not harming it," said the man who is expecting to defend his doctoral thesis in Bogor Institute of Technology in November.

Sadarun said coral trading was one the prospective sustainable livelihoods for fishermen and people who lived along coastal regions, provided they knew how make a living from the sea, without creating a threat to it.

For Sadarun, who is now a section head for marine ecosystem rehabilitation at the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, many people who opposed coral reef trading, including academicians, activists or even government officials, did not really understand the nature of coral, especially its ability to grow.

"There will be no lost resources if trading is carried out with a replication strategy. Moreover, many people are becoming familiar with transplantation techniques. The problem arises only when we allow exploitation without any efforts towards the replacement of the resources."

Sadarun criticized many scholars who relied too much on James W. Nybakken book on Marine Biology which he said "did not convey enough information about coral reefs in the country."

"Nybakken claims that coral reefs can only grow about one centimeter a year, but in my experiments in several coastal areas such as in Mataram in West Nusa Tenggara, I found out that massive corals grow by between three to seven centimeters a year," said the man who has been diving in Australian, Japanese and Indonesian waters.

To assist his interest on coral reef research he also attempted to reach the highest rank in diving. He holds master dive and diving instructor certificates from the International Association for Diving Schools in Japan, gained in 2004 and 2008 respectively.

The father of four year old Steven Muhammad argued that knowledge about coral reefs in Indonesia is restricted by the lack of diving skills among scientists.

"How come they can be so sure about coral, if they cannot dive or have no interest in under water swimming," said the man who introduced diving as part of local content for marine and fisheries studies at Haluoleo University in 1996.

Although he agreed that coral reef destruction is faster than natural restoration, he believes there are still a huge quantity of coral resources in the country which have not yet been explored.

"On average, most of the sites that have been destroyed are no deeper than 10 meters below sea level. Between 15 and 20 meters depth, we still have a huge amount of coral resources," said the man who has organized several surveys on coral reefs in the country.

He is optimistic that Indonesia -- as one of the six Asian Pacific countries with rich marine diversity and probably the largest coral resources in the world -- should be able to boost its coral conservation through law enforcement and man-made conservation, using techniques such as coral transplantation, with which he has been working.

"As the country with the largest number of coral species and the largest coral coverage, there is no reason why we should oppose coral trading. What we need is regulation."

Natuna fishermen work to preserve coral reef

Matheos Viktor Messakh for The Jakarta Post

Eight years ago, fisherman Mohamad Delan used potassium cyanide and dynamite bombs for fishing. The 38-year-old knew it was illegal and was caught twice by the marine authorities, but he was never worried.

The man, one of 1,456 fishermen in Sepempang village in Bunguran Timur subdistrict of Natuna regency, Riau Islands, could always bribe his way out of trouble.

"We used to pay the navy base commander Rp 1 million a month. If we caught only one napoleon fish (cheilinus undulatus) a day, we could pay off all of our debts," he told The Jakarta Post during a visit to the island recently.

"In fact, by using potassium or bombs we could catch up to three napoleon fish a day."

But Mohamad has a different perspective these days. He and the other fishermen have joined the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program (Coremap), since the program was launched in the regency, back in 2004.

By joining the program, he said his income had dropped, from about Rp 4 million (US$430) a month to about Rp 2 million. But he said he did not have any regrets, adding that he cared more about his family and the environment.

"If I'm jailed, who is going to feed my family? A big income doesn't make any difference ... Besides, what will happen to our children if we continue using potassium and bombs?

"In 1999, before Coremap came here, it was even difficult to find a small octopus, but now we can easily find them," he said.

Of the 25,531 households in this outer island regency, 6,440 households or 25 percent depend on fishing.

With the support of Coremap, Sepempang village, together with nine other coastal villages in the regency, has established their own coral reef conservation institution (LPSTK). The other eight villages are Sabang Mawang, Pulau Tiga, Sededap, Tanjung, Sepempang, Kelanga, Pengadah, Kelarik Utara and Cemaga.

The 264,778-kilometer-square regency has 16 districts, 69 villages and six subdistricts.

Each village that has established it own LPSTK decided on its protected sea area through village consensus. Until now, Natuna has a total 142,977 hectares of protected sea.

These protected areas, which have been ratifed by a 2007 bylaw, are divided into core zones where fishing activities are not permitted and buffer zones where people are allowed to fish using environmentally friendly means.

Each LPSTK comprises several groups of people that are responsible for surveillance and monitoring of their protected area. They conduct public awareness activities to preserve the coral reefs.

Like other villages in the regency, Sepempang also introduced a new village regulation in 2006 to prevent the use of destructive fishing techniques such as cyanide and bombs. Punishments for using these methods vary from oral warnings to prosecution.

"We try to educate people in various ways, but we only bring them to court if they refuse to stop bad habits," Coremap's monitoring, controlling and surveillance coordinator for Natuna, Buyung Priyadi said.

But legal efforts and public awareness might not be enough on their own to preserve the coral reefs, which have co-existed with local island communities making their living from the sea for centuries.

Coremap also provides training for local groups in job skills for alternative livelihoods and has provided access to a revolving fund to help local fishermen start small businesses.

Of the 100 groups that have been established since 2005, 20 percent have received training, tools, materials and funding to start their own businesses, community-based management coordinator for Natuna regency, Eldi Saputra said.

A total of Rp. 9.78 billion has been disbursed to these groups within the last two years.

"We will likely approve any proposal on activities that will have a positive direct impact on people's lives," Eldi said.

"Our main goal is to change habits, not to change people's livelihoods. As fishermen, they have the right to make their living from the sea, but using different methods."

The approved, alternative livelihood projects since 2004 include seaweed farming, fish-breeding in keramba (net cages in water) and home industries such as fish crackers krupuk, wickerwork and crude palm oil production.

Keramba and seaweed farming have received the best responses, said Eldi, because the two sectors have established and prospective markets.

"People prefer to raise napoleon fish and groupers (serranidae), especially the tiger species (epinephelus fuscogatus) and the rat species (cromileptis altivelis), because they fetch higher prices on the market," said Eldi.

"Breeders can directly sell them to Hong Kong ships that come to the islands or to brokers."

Coremap's official, Zuriati, said in general there have been significant changes in people's livelihoods since revolving loan funds were disbursed starting in 2004.

"There is no doubt that keramba and seaweed farming has brought better living standards for the people, but for home industries we need to expand into larger markets. And in order to do that, we need better packaging as well as more consistent production," she said.

The Natuna Islands are a 272-island archipelago, located in the Natuna Sea between east and west Malaysia and Kalimantan. The Natuna Sea itself is a section of the South China Sea.

Of the regency territorial area, 97.3 percent or (262.156 square kilometers) is covered by sea, so its coral reefs have a huge potential for natural and economic resources.

Coral reef distribution in Natuna covers around 828,34 square kilometers or about 0.32 percent of the regency's sea area.

The type of coral reefs frequently found in Natuna include Acropora, Fungia, Merulina, Montipora, Pachiseris, Pectinia, Pavona, Pocillopora, Potites and Styllopora.

For the last two years, Natuna has received about Rp. 9.78 billion for the Coremap program.

Coremap executive secretary Jamaluddin Jompa said that according to a Coremap assessment, coral reef degradation in Indonesia was mostly caused by human intervention, so consquently the program emphasizes public awareness and the introduction of alternative livelihoods.

"The core problem is the human aspect, not on the coral reef itself, so it's more strategic to focus on the core of the problem." Jompa told The Post recently.

"As an expert in coral reefs I have to say that man-made rehabilitation is not a solution for coral reef degradation in Indonesia. It's lot easier to change people's bad habits than to spend hundreds of millions of rupiah on man-made rehabilitation programs with little possibility for success," said Jompa.

Meanwhile, Coremap's assistant director, Sadarun, said for long-term preservation, people needed to be able to see direct benefits from coral reef preservation to prevent program failure.

"It's dangerous if programes are only designed to preserve reefs without any benefits for the efforts of those involved," said Sadarun.

Dutch cemetery rich with Jakarta history

Just inside the gates, visitors are greeted by romantic angels, Gothic turrets, sleeping children, marble crosses and heavy tombstones with baroque coats-of-arms, bringing to mind ancient cemeteries in Europe.

But don't expect to find lines of votive candles to remind us the dead still have living relatives who care.

This is an old Dutch cemetery located on Jl. Tanah Abang I in Central Jakarta.

The cemetery was officially opened Sept. 28, 1797, but people were first buried here as early as 1795.

On entering the cemetery, through a Parthenon-like portico (built in 1844), visitors get a rare glimpse of a bygone section of Jakarta's historic populace -- albeit in a neglected state.

Inside the portico is a bronze death knell with an atmosphere of mourning in times gone by.

Bodies of prominent figures were once buried here, including Maj. Gen. J.H.R. Kohler, the Dutch general who tried to conquer Aceh; archeologist W.F. Stutterheim, who wrote a famous book on the Hindu hero Rama; the founder of the famous STOVIA medical school, F.H. Roll; and J.L.A. Brandes, a famous archeologist who actively collected Hindu statues (a collection now in possession of the National Museum of Indonesia).

The tombstone of Olivia Marrianne Raffles (1814), the first wife of British Gov. Gen. Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, stands in the grounds of Museum Taman Prastasi. The tombstone of Olivia Marrianne Raffles (1814), the first wife of British Gov. Gen. Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, stands in the grounds of Museum Taman Prastasi.

The headstones of several non-Dutch people can also be found here, such as Olivia Marrianne Raffles (the first wife of British Governor General Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles), activist Soe Hok Gie and the famous 1930s artist Miss Riboet.

People from various corners of the globe, including Southeast Asia, Saudi Arabia, India and China have been laid to rest here.

Many stones in the cemetery date from long before it was officially built. These stones were brought to the cemetery when several churches in Batavia were demolished at the beginning of the 19th century. Some of these were inserted into the cemetery wall, while others were placed within the yard.

After Indonesia's declaration of independence, the park was used as a Christian cemetery. Within the first two years it was managed by the Verberg Foundation and for the next twenty years it was handled by the Palang Hitam Foundation.

From 1967 to 1975 the cemetery was managed by the Jakarta burials agency, and then it was closed for burials to make way for the construction of the Central Jakarta mayoralty office.

At a request from the local government, some corpses were removed by relatives while others were taken to Tanah Kusir cemetery in South Jakarta.

Many tombstones, sculptures and statutes were removed and damaged during the construction of the office and now only 32 tombstones remain in their original positions.

The size of the cemetery, originally on a 5.9 hectare plot was also reduced to 1.3 hectares.

Jakarta History Museum head M.R. Manik said only about 1,200 of 4,200 stones were selected to be kept in the cemetery, which was officially opened as the open-air Museum Taman Prasasti or Museum Park of Memorial Stones.

"The tombstones were selected due to their unique designs that represent a period in history, the role of the deceased in history, or because they were too heavy to be removed," said Manik, who became head of the inscription museum from 1988 to 1998.

In July 1994, three landscape architecture students from Trisakti University won a design contest for the development of the open-air museum.

However, the execution of the design, undertaken by a private contractor, was only loosely based on the design, which won the Merit Award at the Congress of the International Federation of Landscape Architects in Bangkok in October 1995.

"If the stones were grouped into specific periods, one could see the history of Jakarta just by wandering through the park," said Nirwono Joga, one of the students who is now a landscape architect.

Many tombstones in the park have rich stories, such as the story of the mysterious tomb of Captain Jass; or the story of Pieter Erberveld, a German native and captain of the Batavian cavalry who was tortured to death with his followers on April 22, 1722, on an accusation of treason.

The material and style of tombstones, with unique characters and stories behind each, Nirwono said, could become resources for cultural and architecture studies and even had potential to become one of the best centers for cemetery studies in Asia.

"Much work could be done if people were only aware of how valuable this cemetery is as a historical asset. We could market the historical importance of this site," said Nirwono, who has identified 1,323 artifacts at the site.

"It's dangerous if a museum is not managed as part of people's lives. Nobody would care if they get demolished for new modern projects," he said.

Nirwono conducted a 10-year research project on the cemetery, which resulted in a book titled 'Museum Taman Prasati: Metamorfosis Kerkhof Laan Menjadi Museum' (Museum Park of Memorial Stones: The Metamorphosis from Kerkhof Laan to Museum).

The cemetery may be the oldest modern cemetery in the world, he said.

Nirwono has compared the Tanah Abang museum to Fort Canning Park (1926) in Singapore; Gore Hill Cemetery (1868) in Sydney; La Chaise Cemetery (1803) in Paris; and Mount Auburn Cemetery (1831) in Cambridge; Massachusetts.

"Based on data on the official opening dates of those cemeteries, the Tanah Abang cemetery is the oldest.

"But it is unlikely to nominate this historic area to UNESCO as a World Heritage site because only 32 of its 1,000 tombstones are standing in their original positions, and also the park doesn't function as public cemetery anymore," Nirwono said.

The museum is also home to the coffins of Indonesia's founding president, Soekarno, and vice, Mohammad Hatta, and a replica of a 17th-century hearse.

Why this cemetery has become so neglected remains a sad mystery, reflected in an inscription on Soe Hok Gie's tombstone: "Nobody knows the trouble I see, nobody knows my sorrow".

Hirata happy with 'Laskar Pelangi'

Mon, 09/01/2008 11:02 AM

JAKARTA: Writer Andrea Hirata said he had chosen the right duo to produce and direct the wide-screen adaptation of his debut and best-selling novel, Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Warriors).

"Thank God I chose the right people to produce and direct the movie. I already cried just from seeing the trailer," Andrea told The Jakarta Post.

Three weeks after his book was launched, he said, numerous directors and producers had come knocking on his door, offering him billions of rupiah for the rights to turn the book into a film.

Andrea had turned them down because they did not really understand the book, he says.

Instead he chose the country's best filmmakers, Riri Riza and Mira Lesmana, to be director and producer respectively.

"I feel a connection with these two because they understand the book as a literary work, not just a historical biography (as many readers have misunderstood it).

"Because they understand the it, they have seen the book with an imaginative perspective from the very beginning."

Andrea said Riri and Mira had "caught the book's substance".

"This is not a children's book, but a book about children. It's an irony about a lack of access to education for children in one of the world's wealthiest islands."

The movie is expected to hit the screens Sept. 28 and will be shown not only at cinemas but also in outdoor theaters. --JP/Matheos Messakh

Mahardi Paramita: Cleaning up the gemstones trade

Some may regard the precious gemstones trade a dark industry that requires secret knowledge only made available to a limited circle of people -- but Mahardi Paramita has a different view.


For the 64-year-old gemologist, knowledge about any kind of business, including the gemstones trade, must be disseminated to the public in order to educate people and in turn encourage trade growth.

Born from a Chinese family on March 7, 1944, Mahardi learned about precious stones from his mother, Kema Gunawati, who was a ceng kui (diamond broker).

"As a kid, I liked the sparkling of stones. My mother was just a housewife, but many people knew her as a ceng kui," Mahardi said of his now 99-year-old mother.

Mahardi did not start his diamond business until after earning his bachelor's degree in business administration at the University of Hawaii in 1969, majoring in management, international trade and marketing.

"I was working as an insurance salesman in Hawaii and had no intentions of returning home until my parents visited me and asked me to return."

The first thing Mahardi did after returning to Indonesia in 1970 was set up his diamond shop, Adamas, in the Duta Merlin area of Central Jakarta.

Over time, Mahardi learned that the gem business indeed had its share of dodgy salespeople.

"This business is based on trust but people involved in the business sometimes misuse that trust," Mahardi said

"There are many things I don't like about it. The way they (dodgy salespeople) treat people, the way they provide wrong information about the gemstones they sell. People have the right to know what they are buying."

Upset by such salespeople in the business, Mahardi decided to pay serious attention to gemology by attending the Gemological Institute of America in Santa Monica, California in 1981 and graduated as a gemologist a year later.

After returning to Jakarta, Mahardi set up the Adamas Gemological Laboratory in 1983 to help clients ascertain the quality and authenticity of diamonds and colored stones.

The main aim of the laboratory was to improve public trust in the jewelry industry in Indonesia through certification and consultation.

"Buying a diamond is not like buying a (sports car). In this business, you could pay a sports car's price for a mikrolet (public minivan)," said the man who recently launched his book Kemilau Batu Permata: Pengenalan Asal-usul, Sifat dan Keasliannya (The Sparkle of Diamonds: An Introduction to their Origins, Characteristics and Authenticity).

Mahardi continued to run his diamond shop after establishing the laboratory -- but after being overwhelmed by a conflict of interests, he closed the shop in 1984.

"I thought it wasn't fair. A laboratory service should be professional and independent," he said.

"If you want to be a trader then be a trader, but if you want to provide people with real information, then don't sell diamonds at the same time."

With the opening of the laboratory, Mahardi revealed more cases of fraud, especially during the property industry boom of the 80s.

"Many people from Jakarta's vicinity suddenly became rich because they sold their land. Most of them invested their money in jewelry but many of them were swindled."

Mahardi set up Institute Gemology Paramita in 1989, the first and only independent educational organization sepcializing in diamonds, gemstones and pearls.

The institute provides professional gemological training ranging from basic gemology to diamond grading and treatment, pearl grading and treatment, gem identification, counter sketching, jewelry design and more.

"When I established the institute, I was kind of against the mainstream. People said I was stupid because I was providing rare knowledge about diamonds to the public.

"Without knowledge, business can't grow. It might grow a bit but it won't get bigger. Product knowledge is important for long-term sales.

"In the past, businesspeople only cared about short-term profits. They would hit and run and never pay attention to educating the public.

"Nowadays, the most important thing is to provide consumers with confidence in the products they buy," he said.

Mahardi said running the laboratory and the institution had produced a better diamond industry climate.

Today, Mahardi's US$500,000 laboratory is the most complete gemstones laboratory in the country and the institution has even attracted diamond and gemstone lovers from overseas.

Even state-owned enterprises, such as mortgaging firm Perum Pegadaian, as well as private enterprises, send their appraisers to be trained at the institution or use the laboratory service.

Mahardi's passion for gemstones seems to run in the family: Three of his four daughters are accredited gemologists who now work at the laboratory and as professional trainers at the institution.

Mahardi is one of only a few of gemologists in the country on a mission to build public trust in the gemstones business.

"Once consumers are educated, they will know who to trust. The dishonest (sellers) will be left behind."

Face

Sometimes I feel that I have undervalued my own talent...this is one of my drawing used by printed edition of The Jakarta Post. A colleague of mine asked me to do illustration on the JP's short stories after she saw one of my sketch.

With God on our side (Dylan)

(Joan Baez and Bob Dylan)

Oh my name it is nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.

Oh the Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I's made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side.

Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side.

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.

I've learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.

But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side.

In a many dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.

So now as I'm leavin'
I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feelin'
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God's on our side
He'll stop the next war.

They Killed Him (Bob Dylan)

There was a man named Hatma Gandi
He would not bow down he would not fight
He knew the deal was down and dirty
And nothing wrong could make it right away
But he knew his duty and the prize he had to pay
Just another holy man who tried to be a friend
My God, they killed him.

Another man from Atlanta, Georgia
By name of Martin Luther King
He shook the land like the rolling thunder
And made the bells of freedom ring today
With a dream of beauty that they could not burn away
Just another holy man who dared to make a stand
My God, they killed him.

The only Son of God Almighty
The holy one called Jesus Christ
He healed the lame and fed the hungry
And for his love they took his life away
On the road to glory where the story never ends
Just the holy Son of Man we'll never understand
My God, they killed him.

There was a man named Mahatma Gandi
A man named Martin Luther King
The only Son of God Almighty
The only one called Jesus Christ
On the road to glory where the story never ends
Just the holy Son of Man we'll never understand
My God, they killed him.

There was a man named Mahatma Gandi
A man named Martin Luther King
The only Son of God Almighty
The only one called Jesus Christ
On the road to glory where the story never ends
Just the holy Son of Man we'll never understand
My God, they killed him.

Jesus Christ (Bono)

(Written by Woodie Guthrie)

One, two, three, four

Well Jesus was a man
Who traveled through the land
A hard working man and brave
Well he said to the rich 'Give your money to the poor'
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ is his grave

Well he went to the preacher
He went to the law
And told them all the same
He said sell all your jewelery and give it to the poor
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave

When Jesus came to town all the working folks around
Believed what he did say
Well the bankers and the preachers
They nailed him on a cross
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave

And [hard] working people
They followed him around
They sung and shouted gay
Well the cops and the soldiers
They nailed him in the head
And they layed Jesus Christ in his grave
Oh, hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave

Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave

Well this song was written in New York City
A rich man, preacher and slave
Well if Jesus was to preach while he preached in Galilee
They would lay Jesus Christ in his grave
One, two, three, four!

Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave

Someday I'll be Saturday night (Bon Jovi)

(This is an old song but it might keep your spirit alive, if young sing it out loud!!!...)

Hey, man Im alive Im takin each day and night at a time
Im feelin like a monday but someday Ill be saturday night

Hey, my name is jim, where did I go wrong
My lifes a bargain basement, all the good shits gone
I just cant hold a job, where do I belong
Im sleeping in my car, my dreams move on

My name is billy jean, my love was bought and sold
Im only sixteen, I feel a hundred years old
My foster daddy went, took my innocence away
The street life aint much better, but at least I get paid

And tuesday just might go my way
It cant get worse than yesterday
Thursdays, fridays aint been kind
But somehow Ill survive

Hey man Im alive Im takin each day and night at a time
Yeah Im down, but I know Ill get by
Hey hey hey hey, man gotta live my life
Like I aint got nothin but this roll of the dice
Im feelin like a monday, but someday Ill be saturday night

Now I cant say my name, and tell you where I am
I want to roll myself away, dont know if I can

I wish that I could be in some other time and place
With someone elses soul, someone elses face

Oh, tuesday just might go my way
It cant get worse than yesterday
Thursdays, fridays aint been kind
But somehow Ill survive

Hey, man Im alive Im takin each day and night at a time
Yeah Im down, but I know Ill get by
Hey hey hey hey, man gotta live my life
Im gonna pick up all the pieces and whats left of my pride
Im feelin like a monday, but someday Ill be saturday night

Saturday night here we go
Some day Ill be saturday night
Ill be back on my feet, Ill be doin alright
It may not be tomorrow baby, thats ok
I aint goin down, gonna find a way, hey hey hey

Hey man Im alive Im takin each day and night at a time
Yeah, Im down, but I know Ill get by
Hey hey hey hey, man, gotta live my life
Like I aint got nothin but this roll of the dice
Im feelin like a monday, but someday Ill be saturday night
Im feelin like a monday, but someday Ill be saturday night
Saturday night __________,all right, all right
Saturday night

Negara apa ini?

Jika kebodohan dipertontonkan tanpa malu
kejahatan dijadikan panutan
keadilan dipertawarkan
penindasan dilegalkan atas nama hukum
Kekerasan dibanggakan sebagai keharusan
kejahatan diabaikan...
agama diperalat
kemiskinan diperkuda
kebersahajaan dipandang rendah

Inilah negara ku
negara yang rakyatnya menunggu saat kehancurannya...
selamat tinggal Indonesia

Palmerah, 15 Juni 2008