Yayasan Bhakti Luhur

Jln Raya Dieng 40

Malang 65115

Jawa Timur

Indonesia

Dear Singapore,

Hallo! Apa kabar? Semuanya baik baik saja? How are you? Everything is fine? It has been a while since I last saw you: your beautiful streets aligned with trees, small breezes blowing through as your people tuck in a meal of hokkien mee and chao kway teow at chomp chomp; others sipping designer coffee and tea at fanciful coffee outlets, mingling and laughing… all these and more that I have left behind as I embarked on a new life in a new environment, new friends, new work and new taste for food in ever changing, ever charming Indonesia.

Introduction:

I am now in my humble little room, on the third storey of a building in a compound, which is actually a panti asuhan, orphanage for normal children and disabled children. There are some 250 children staying in this compound, with 100 perawat or nurses and 60 suster or nuns. The name of this place is Malang, (which means unfortunate or unlucky, not sure why it is so called); it is in East Java, 2 hours’ ride from Surabaya, or 18 hours’ ride from Jakarta or 12 hours’ ride from Bali. Get it? Malang is quite cooling all year round because it is about 300 metres above the sea level; average temperature ranges from 18 degrees Celsius to 29 degree C. there are many mountains around Malang and wherever you go, you are sure to be greeted by a looming mountain in front of you, behind you or beside you. It is a trekker’s dream comes true…There are about 700 000 people officially living in this hillside town but the economic crisis might have brought more people from the nearby towns and villages to seek fortune and food here. Majority of the people speaks Javanese kasar , unrefined javanese (East Javanese speak unrefined Java language whereas people from west and central java speaks the refined version). But most will understand Bahasa Indonesia, the Indonesian language without difficulty or fuss although one might be looked down upon for being unable to speak Javanese…

Once you have got the geographical position right, we can then proceed to the more interesting topics like politics (!!!) and food (!!!!!). Well, let’s get the heavy going politics rolling off first. In Indonesia, there are as many acronyms in politics as there are mrt train stations in Singapore. Besides having to content to the likes of PKB, PDI-P, Golkar, PKI, PPP, etc etc we have to know others like IBRA, IPF, BICC, (I am not going into details what they stand for….). The press, especially, has a liking for acronyms and as one probe through their Koran or newspapers; it is not difficult to come up with a top 20 list of acronyms. But names aside, between 2000 to 2002, there have been a change of 4 presidents and as many vice presidents, aides and officials holding top posts. The guys doing the posters for schools and posters (where they have a picture of both the P and the VP) had a field day changing the photographs. Even the school children became confused as they have to remember the different cabinet that formed each time the president changed. Indonesia is in her preliminary state of total democracy but the system is being plagued with much corruptions and collusions and nepotism (or fondly known as KKN). Everyone bribes his or her way through and sorry to say, I was forced to be a briber several times during my stay here. It is fine to talk about integrity and honesty but things don’t get done (quickly or at all) (they have all the time in the world to wait indefinitely). Interestingly, my first personal encounter was during the time when I returned from a visit to Singapore. I was at the airport, 6 metres from the exit when suddenly a man, presumably an airport official stopped me and asked politely what I had in my luggage. I told him politely that they contained my clothes and books and some souvenirs and toys. He ushered me to a tiny little dark room (my heart sank), which is barely big enough for both of us; he wanted to inspect the boxes where my beloved chocolates were. Well, after looking through the contents, he seemed happy with it but still did not make any signal for me to go off. Then he said the magic word "ada uang sedikit buat saya" (any money for me); I told him in my not so perfect Indonesian language that I have but 6000 rupiahs (S $1.20) left because I have not change my sing-dollar to rupiah yet. He made a choked laughter but accepted the money anyway then sent me off before stopping another unfortunate customer. I was lucky, getting away with a bribe of 6000rp. But I have no choice. God’s know how long I would be stuck there if I stood my ground and refused him any money. It was this incident and other small incidents that made one rindu (longed for) the efficient-clean cut officers of Singapore. The university undergraduates here are very into politics and they will hold a demonstration on everything ranging from deforestation to the increase of oil prices to the remarks made by Senior Minister SM Lee. There was a famous saying that goes:

(this ‘poem’ was written after the toppling of ex-president Mr. Suharto)

Well, politics aside, lets move on to something more appetising: food..glorious food!

The staple food of Indonesia is rice and 101 things can be made from beras. Nasi goreng, nasi campur, kuey nasi, nasi pecel, nasi rawon, nasi-mee goreng, etc etc….cakes and snacks can be made from nasi too. The other staple food is tempe (fermented soya beans). It is best eaten fried with salt and/or chili. Or deep-fried to become kripik Tempe. Then to go with the nasi, we have the lautan (dishes). Anything goes: plants of all kind can be eaten, from the leaves of papaya to its flowers, from lele (catfish) to gurami, from belut (eel) to kulit sapi (skin of cow); that’s if you are adventurous. Then we have the drinks: STMJ (susu,telor,madu,jahe or : milk+raw egg+honey+ginger or you can have your own combination of STM, SMJ, STJ , etc). Soda Gembira (happy soda, very filling: condensed milk, rose syrup with cream soda), es campur (like our ice kacang); es degan (ice coconut water and some jellies) etc. STMJ always go with Roti bakar or jagung bakar (toasted bread and bbq corn of the cop), for jagung bakar, one must try the sinful jagung bakar campur (spicy, sweet, sour and salty), wash down with es tea or juices like avocadoes, apples, pineapples, mangoes, durians, etc etc etc…. Enough to make one drools huh? What’s more, you can try eating in style in fancy restaurants (5 pple = S$20) or in warungs (roadside stalls) at (2 pple = S$1.50). Take your pick!

Oh yes, before I forget, maybe some of you might be interested to know what I was doing in Malang beside food tasting and politics watching. Let’s go back a little, before coming to Malang, I was teaching in a special school for intellectually disabled youths for about 6 years. Then I felt that it was time to move on to a greater challenge (?) To live in another country , to work or to study had always been high on my wish list. To help people who are at a disadvantage because of situations which they cannot help themselves (economically, or geographically speaking) is also high on my list. I had heard of SIF’s SVO programme for a long while, having met some SVOs while backpacking. But I wasn’t sure I was ready; then somewhat I got hold of the application forms and I just wrote in; the next thing I know, I was being interviewed, approved, medically fit and on my way to la-la land. Well, back to reality, I helped to teach in a course (2 years course) that train specialists in orthopedegogy or things to do with disabled children, especially mentally disabled children and adults. My class consists of 14 students but we work like partners together with my translator Pak Lianta. We have many sharing sessions where we shared ideas,planned,dreams, hopes and programmes in a bid to enhance the quality of the disabled children in our midst. These 14 students graduated in July 2002 and right now they are in the midst of far-fetched jungles and islands,practising their skills learnt from the theories taught earlier. I also assisted in teaching those who take short courses in special education. This group of students formed what we call the CBR Unit. CBR being community based rehabilitation. They pay home visits to the children in the villages where there is no special school for the children to go to. Besides teaching, I dabbled with my camera and computer and video camera, acting as a freelance photographer and videocam woman when there are special events to be recorded in the orphanage. Other free time was also spent on teaching English to some children in another orphanage and children-at-risk/from slums and villages. To improve my Indonesian language and to know more about Indonesia, I took opportunities to chat with anyone who care enough to chat and to know more about my work, my life and my country. Most are fascinated with Singapore though some have very stereotype images about Singapore being a clean, strict and rich country. Of course, I set to eradicate such thoughts and paint a more balanced view of tiny little Singapore, supplementing with postcards of nice and clean Singapore that I have brought over from Singapore on hindsight. They are a hot item (together with the merlion key chains); I have to decide who is more deserving of receiving these souvenirs with my limited collection… I have made many friends, the likes of undergraduates, salesman, becak drivers (trishaw), nasi goreng sellers, musicians, artists, writers, waiters, street children etc etc. it is interesting to talk to them because everyone of them have something to offer. Nothing concrete but something from their hearts. Their sincerity in forming friendship and kinship, eagerness to help, pride for their country, (despite bitter criticisms of their governing body) showed clearly in their national motto "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" an old Javanese phrase which means "they are many, they are one." (Or rather unity in diversity). But what I really see is sheer determination and hardwork; the majority of the people here are hardworking and uncomplaining. They do not pin their hopes on the government to help them; they will think of ingenious ways to make money, be it selling food, drinks, fruits, newspapers on the trains, buses, sidewalks, making handicrafts from wood, shells, grass and plants; everything is worth trying, worth rebuilding and worth mending. Your average Indonesian is miskin (poor) but kuat (strong), perdiam (quiet) and rajin (hardworking).

This is an extraordinary journey coupled with much life experiences and lessons to be learned and cherished, in just one year and a half. Of course, all is not a bed of roses, sometimes if you tend to forget that you are all alone in another country, you have to take extra precaution and in words and deeds so that people will not misunderstood you. But then, always remember that " whoever is always comparing what he sees to his intellectual background keeps censoring himself" ( Felicitas Hoppe,German writer). I would always think about all these after an evening jog around the roads, cooling off with an iced tea at Pak Supriyato’s stall, which sits right outside the orphanage, perching precautiously on bamboos, above the canal. It is a great place to melamun,daydreaming of what is to come and has gone; a place to people watch and like last evening, a place to give a brief lesson on Singapore for three undergraduates at a nearby university. It beats sitting at Coffee XXXX café drinking designer coffee and chatting about the latest movie…..definitely,hands down. Okay, I have got to go, got to catch the latest world cup live on TV. Yes, it is possible for us to have live telecast of the world cup here in ulu Indonesia also (grin), after all, the national sport is sepak bola and Malangans or Aremania happens to house the Best Supporters for year 2000 for superb supporting for their home team Arema.

Eyb (Malangans likes to reverse their words)

With love and nasi goreng from Malang

Joanne chua (or singosari-jo)

SVO (Indonesia Feb 2001-july 2002)

Reference and acknowledgment:

1. Lonely Planet – Indonesia 6^th Edition 2000

2. Jakarta Post

3. Poem and conception with help from Sulton Yohana

4. Sr Betty for cooking all those delicious homecooked food

5. All inspirations and ideas from Arek2 Malang (children of malang) and Thanks to Pak Supriyato for his free flow of kopi and tea.