article source


Over the past several years, some Balinese have turned their hands to making miniature ogoh-ogoh dolls for local children.

In the shops that line the streets of the village of Sukawati, for example, visitors can find dozens of brightly colored ogoh-ogoh for sale, some crafted from foam and sporting fake fur for their hair and moustaches, while others are dressed in traditional Balinese costume.

At the shop of wayang puppet maker Ketut Kubrata, a young woman is choosing the perfect effigy for her son.

“I think I’ll take the red one. It is my son’s eighth birthday and he will feel really proud to play with the ogoh with his friends,” says 39-year-old Ariani, who has made the drive from Bongkasa for her purchase.

Ketut, 52, says that he has sold more than 400 ogoh dolls in the past two months, and the income has helped his family enormously.

He is helped in the ogoh creation by his wife, Eno, and his 16-year-old daughter, Sri Kumalayanti.

“I’ve been helping Dad make the ogoh for the past two years,” Sri says. “I add the hair and moustaches and dress the dolls. I like this work because it is art. I can learn more about art and sculpture doing this work.” Sri also works alongside her father as a puppet maker.


“Normally I work as a barong [dancer] and puppet maker,” says Ketut. “So this ogoh doll making is a side job for a bit of extra income. It helps a great deal, and I am very proud to have my daughter also making the ogoh-ogoh. She is the only girl in Sukawati doing this and working as an artist,” says Ketut as he serves another customer, 40-year-old Bu Agung who is choosing a doll for her little son. The doll almost as large as the boy.

A few kiosks away, 24-year-old Komang Kumanadi is also busy finishing off ogoh dolls to sell on his last day of crafting the effigies before the holiday period for Nyepi begins.

“I make the ogoh to sell to local kids who like to carry them through the streets. Some are burned, but most are kept as toys. I get different design ideas for the dolls from our Hindu stories, such as Hanoman, giants and nasty old women called celuluk. This Nyepi season I will earn after costs about $700, and that is a lot for my family,” says Komang.

He points out that only rarely are the large community ogoh-ogoh ever sold, but the popularity of children’s toy ogoh was growing.

“There are no rules in our religion against making the dolls and it’s a side job that keeps my family going in the quiet times,” says Komang, who like Ketut and many others has found a way to earn an income through Bali’s traditions and religious beliefs, ensuring their survival into the future.

The tarsier, one of the world’s smallest primates, is a combination of sandy-grey and ochre in color. Equipped with long legs, it can leap up to 2 meters. The animal can be found on a number of islands in Indonesia, including Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Sumatra, as well as in the Philippines. People in Central Kalimantan call it the tangkasi.

In other regions, it is called the ghost monkey, the mini-monkey and the small monkey, while it is scientifically known as the Tarsius sp. from the Tarsiidae family.

In Central Sulawesi, especially in the Lore Lindu National Park (TNLL), the tarsier is a target of poaching and is consumed due to its relatively tasty meat. Consequently, its population is dwindling.

“Whereas in fact, the tarsier is the only primate in the world that does not eat leaves, fruit, flowers or other vegetation. It is a carnivore and eats all kinds of insects, such as grasshoppers, crickets and cockroaches, as well as lizards and small birds,” TNLL conservation and technical affairs head Ahmad Yani told reporters at his office recently.

Keeping in mind the dwindling tarsier population, Yani said the park had developed a tarsier breeding center in a protected forest in Kamarora village, Nokilalaki district, Sigi regency, Central Sulawesi.

“But the breeding program is still in the trial phase and has not yielded results,” he said.

Several tarsiers in the program had reproduced before.

In the breeding program, Yani said, the tarsiers’ behavior and mating patterns were observed.

The tarsier, which is endemic to Sulawesi, lives in banyan trees and bamboo. The banyan tree is used as a living and breeding site, while bamboo is a place to play.

“That’s why our breeding center is full of banyan trees and bamboo,” said Yani.

Asked about the tarsier population in the park, Yani said the center did not have precise data but was aware that the population was dwindling due to poaching.

“Our rangers often come across tarsier skulls in the forest,” said Yani.

He said local residents should not regard the tarsier as vermin as it did not destroy crops.

The tarsier stalks and then swiftly attacks its prey, holding it with both hands and pressing down with its feet until it completely overpowers it.

Like other primates, the tarsier is able to grab its victim securely with both hands, each of which has five fingers. It also has 10 toes.

Its middle toes stick out and curve like fangs, thus enabling it to grip its prey. Since it eats various kinds of insects, it is not regarded as a pest by farmers and owners of farms located around the forest.

“So its presence helps farmers because it eats animals that are regarded as pests by farmers,” said Yani.




Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu | Archipelago |

Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said on Friday that he was ready to run for president on the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) ticket.
Jokowi said he had been given the mandate by PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.
"I've been given the mandate by PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri to become the presidential candidate representing the PDI-P," Jokowi said during a blusukan (impromptu visit) to Rumah Pitung in Marunda, North Jakarta, on Friday.
"By saying Bismillah [in the name of God], I'm ready to carry out the instruction," Jokowi said at 2:49 p.m. as quoted by kompas.com.
Then Jokowi kissed the national flag behind him.
Reporters and local residents around him applauded in response.
"Alhamdulilah [thank God]," they said in unison. (***)

source : the jakarta post