stories from work

Asia » Indonesia » Java » Yogyakarta
June 19th 2008

Published: June 19th 2008

I had my first run in with the famous Indonesian Police a few nights ago. We were driving Jalan Marliboro and jeje didn’t stop at a red light (no one takes any notice of through traffic lights here!) and we got pulled over. They were very scary - told me to stay where I was with the bike while they ushered jj away for a few minutes. He returned laughing, saying he wanted to show me as much of Indonesian life as possible. He’d payed the policeman Rp 30,000, which is the average amount here. Corruption here is just accepted as a part of life here, even though stickers everywhere say HENTI KORRUPSI (stop corruption) jj explained the police academy costs like Rp 5 Million to attend, so in paying the police your ensuring that more police will be taught in the future. So it sort of makes sense.. kind of...

We went to Pramanan Temple the next day, about 30 mins drive past the city. The temples were amazing - however I didn’t realize how much of it had been destroyed in the 2006 earthquake. All the smaller temples were now just piles of ruble and the big Shiva ones were badly damaged and still being reconstructed so we weren’t allowed to go inside… I’ll put some photos up. We went on this funny train and teased Didik because he gets headaches when if doesn’t eat rice at least once a day. We then went to see Mt. Merapi again, since we didn’t get to see it properly the weekend before. It was much better this time, smoke bellowed from it and I saw the devastation of the 2005 eruption. A once bustling tourist destination was desecrated by lava and many people died. As you may have noticed, Indonesia is full of natural disasters - floods, fires tsunamis, earthquakes…

On Monday, at work we visited this military/gov institution to do some boring story about tax. I became really flustered and irritable because all the men were sleazy, especially this really fat guy who insists on sliming his sweaty hands all over mine whenever he speaks to me. They also just kept speaking Javanese after I reiterated that I only can speak Bahasa. They jammed all this Javanese food down my throat and wanted me to say it was nice but it was just gluggy rice which made me feel sick. My mood lifted when we visited a village ceremony in the afternoon. It was a traditional cleansing ceremony- to rid the community of bad spirits. We jumped out of the car and followed the procession down the road. It was like a fanfare; very militaristic. There was a red marching band and old men in traditional dress. There was so much colour, music, culture, life. The ordinary civilians were made to crowd in behind a huge barbed wire fence. I would’ve been happy to stand with them or the media scrum but was instead ushered to sit with the generals from the government. I think I’m getting a bit too used to being the special guest at every event! We ate amazing food and I got good photos, while the generals attempted to persuade me to marry their sons. I nearly obliged but joked that I was waiting for a prince. They said they knew some princes if I wanted to meet them! I got a bit freaked out and we left…

Tuesday was interesting; we went to this tiny little village where the houses teetered on the mountainside, overlooking rice fields on different levels and forests of palm trees. At first I didn’t really understand what was happening, I thought we were just responding to a fire but could feel from the mood of the people it was more serious. The local people had become incensed with rage at a local wealthy, respected Muslim leader (like priest but I don’t know the English word) who taught and funded a very orthodox school. They accused him of sexually abusing their children, and leaving 3 teenage girls pregnant - with no chance of marriage or a normal village-included life. They burned down his rooms in the school to rid it of evil. We got an interview from the district head of police who explained they wouldn’t prosecute the townspeople - I think theres a fair amount of autonomy and customary law applied here. It was so intense - the men shouted at our cameras and the pregnant girls were hidden from our view. We then went to the beautiful house of the man who had been accused, with a lush garden and sculptures everywhere. About 30 journalists waited outside the huge walls until he let us in. He denied everything, but his wife sat next to him looking very worried and the journalists looked disinterested, chatting while he spoke. It seems hes already lost much respect as well as his job. It turns out hes a huge sponsor of Yogya TV so we had to be careful when writing the script.

On Wednesday I went to KP with the boys from the station. I like going with them because they pump the music really loud and then sing in their sweet choir boy voices. We have an insane driver who swerves all over the road, we popped two tires on the way to the parliament. While they were fixing them, I sat on the side of the road watching 4 yr olds play badminton next to a highway and 90 yr old ladies with no shoes haul twice their weight in rocks and wood, their backs doubled over. It all seems so dangerous here, but at the same time refreshingly safe.. No law suits, no ones wrapped in cotton wool, everyone is free. Here there is no welfare system, a lot of disease and suffering but Australia seems so over protected and sheltered in comparison. (just a little thought for you to all mull over, suckers) We went and saw my friend, Pak Bupati speak about lessening the distribution of alcohol into the city, but it was all pretty hard for me to follow.

Today we went to visit this little girl who lost her leg in the 2006 earthquake. A wall fell on it, it became infected and beyond repair and had to be amputated. Shes only three years old but was the life of the party - smiling and laughing at all the cameras. The story involved the Japanese Red Cross assistance who funded and installed a new bathroom for her to use in her wheelchair.

I’m so happy to be doing the internship at Yogya Tv, I think it really was the best option in seeing as much of the community and daily life as possible. If I was just at a school or something I would only be seeing the same thing everyday, but here its all different. The journalistic side is interesting, but what is even better is witnessing what makes news here - politics, ceremonies and community affairs.

Getting ready for a big weekend of beach, clubs and Polly arrival!
Ill put some photos up on facebook.
xx

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