To preserve ancient cultures, one of the observers of the arts and culture community Saptagama, conducts cultural shows "Full Hamengku Boko", which feature classical performances and dance from Keraton Yogyakarta.
The event is scheduled to be held regularly every full moon and will feature performances from the palaces of the archipelago. It will be held at Ratu Boko Temple, now known as an archaeological site. Ratu Boko is an archaeological site known to modern Javanese as Kraton Ratu Boko or Ratu Boko's Palace. Ratu Boko is located on a plateau, about three kilometres south of Lara Jonggrang Prambanan temple complex in Yogyakarta Indonesia. The original name of this site is still unclear, however the local inhabitants named this site after King Boko, the legendary king mentioned in Loro Jonggrang folklore. The site covers 16 hectares in two hamlets (Dawung and Sambireja) of the village of Bokoharjo and Prambanan, Sleman Regency. In striking contrast to other Classic-period sites in Central Java and Yogyakarta, which are remains of temples, Ratu Boko displays attributes of an occupation or settlement site, although its precise functions is unknown.
Last week, I was assigned to cover the prison ambush in Sleman District, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A severe attack to humanity and law. The attack itself has caused 4 deaths, prisoners, not yet trialed. This attack was condemned by many, but parts of the community don't care of what happened, some people even campaigning that "those four people deserve to die, they are nothing useful for us. Don't come to Yogyakarta if you want to start riots"..etc etc etc... These stamps: criminal, thug, mafia, raper, robber, thief, murderer, lawbreaker, offender, villain, delinquent, felon, convict, malefactor, wrongdoer, culprit, miscreant, burglar, armed robber, gunman, gangster, terrorist; informal crook, con, jailbird, hood, yardbird, perp, malfeasant were given to them. by who? by us who ever use these terminologies. But when I enter one of the prison cells, I saw artworks. Done by those, while waiting for their interogration and trials. These artworks, of course nothing new for us, but I was awed the moment I saw these. Some were made of cut magazine papers (don't ask me how they get a knife or scissors behind the bars), pencils (I don't know how they sharpen their pencils), or ballpoint (which is a sharp object can be used to attack others). Well, I don't care how they get their materials. But I do believe, artists in repression, in jails, in hungers, in restrictions, they make genuine artworks. Three days before the Nyepi Day or the Day of Silence, the balinese Hindus participate in the Melasti Ceremony. During this ceremony, balinese Hindus purificate their pratima or god symbols and themself as a creature of god.
Washing themself with the water of the ocean, the hindu believes that they would become clean again before it's coming to Nyepi Day, where all evils should be banished and left out from life. Yes. the war has begun!
It's true that revolutions are started by young people. In our youth we lay our future. Hundreds of cyclists come to Kewek Bridge, one of the main bridges in the city of Yogyakarta to paint it with white color. They fight to regain the sold public spaces such as the Kewek Bridge. To earn more money, the city has decided to renting for rent. and it means commercials. Meanwhile, the spaces for creativity and the maintenance of old and historical buildings are less than what the income for that commercials. The youth were disappointed seeing the simple but historical bridge for the city is painted in purple color, displaying the symbol of a cellular provider. And the moment of March 1st is the choice to start attacking the commercials which destroyed the city facade. As March 1st is the commemoration of the attack against Dutch soldiers who occupied Yogyakarta in 1949. For a couple of hours, Indonesian guerilla has regained the city and it was a set back for the Dutch. Now. It's the turn for the youth to regain the space they own. Public space. Every citizen has the right to rest their eyes from commercials, posters, billboards, banner,...you name it... let's occupy Jogja! I found it shocking when I read the press release from yesterday. Yogyakarta has, estimated based on the health research from 2007, more than 30 thousand mentally ill citizen. Meanwhile, the chief of local health office said that the number of patients who can be reached by the health services should be around 7700 people. Well, if the estimation is really the number in reality, than what is the result of 5 years works from the governmental offices?
And I found it shocking to see an elderly like Ngajuni, whose feet are infected with bacteria and in a very bad shape of health, still left untreated. Ngajuni and 53 others inhabitants of the Panti Karya Shelter got twice a day meals. But what are meals without medical and psychological treatments? The officers in the shelter told me that they just have 15 thousand rupiah (1,5 USD) budget for a patient each day. That budget should be not only for meals, but as well for health treatment and maintenance. "All the best we can do is doing what we must do." Seeing an elderly eating while a cat disturbed her or another elderly sleeps on the ground nearby an other cat hurts my feeling. I feel insane seeing a human being treated or can't be treated limited by financial support (or maybe negligence) like that. It hurts me today. As a human. A member of search and rescue team find his way midst heavy rain to search for survivor of a lava flooding in Gendol River, Yogyakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday, February 12th. One dead and 3 injured miner were reported after the lava flood caused by heavy rain on the top of Merapi volcano.
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