Bringing out the beauties, not the beasts Ati Nurbaiti  ;   A staff writer at The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA POST, 21 September 2014

                                                                                                                       

                                                      

An ongoing film competition and the continuous reports of school bullying makes one hope that more and more efforts can bring about the beauties in us, rather than the beasts. Several such “beauties” emerged from this week’s finalists in the annual Eagle Awards for documentaries by amateurs, which this year has turned a decade old. Early next month, three winners will be announced, including a favorite selected by the audience (you can vote on eagleawards-doc.com). Today is the last day of the public screening of the five documentaries in Jakarta and other cities. Unfortunately we have also been reminded of the beasts, following reports of this week’s strike of students “in solidarity” with 13 schoolmates expelled for bullying at the prestigious SMA 70 senior high school in South Jakarta — infamous for its chronic neglect of bullying reports.  The incident once again shows that efforts to end bullying and head off our notorious culture of thuggish behavior must come from local to national leaders, even though new ones like president-elect Joko “Jokowi” Widodo seem to think tip-toeing around powerful groups might be the more strategic thing to do. Already his team has signaled that the settlements of past human rights violations are not a priority, unwittingly giving breathing space to past and present abusers, at levels high and low. At the above school, even if the decision to expel the students may have been driven by the influence of the victim’s father, reportedly a high-ranking official, the strike still brings to mind the ugly protests of thugs each time the authorities attempt to merely wag a finger at them. Whether students, soldiers, street thugs or high-ranking masterminds of violence and murder, their resistance against efforts to rectify what has become a widespread habit — and even sense of entitlement once one is in a position of relative power — has been shown to be worse than resistance against efforts to tackle graft. While we harbor faint hopes for the new government to clearly signal zero tolerance on thuggish behavior, violence and prolonged impunity, it is a relief to look at all this talent scouting via programs like the Eagles documentary training and competition. As Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari E. Pangestu says, creativity is in our genes. In one of the five finalists’ films, a day laborer who hauls stones in a Central Java village says he is of “low status”, hanging his head. Ibin lives alone and gets extra money selling coconuts though only at Rp 1,000 (8 US cents) a piece, meaning he needs to sell a lot to cover a vital need — phone and Internet connections. For in the evenings Ibin and his friends  study and work on graphic designs, occasionally winning international competitions and getting paid a lot of cash. The shy young man finally grins at the camera, proclaiming he’s now more confident with the girls. The awards, pioneered by MetroTV and now managed by the Eagle Institute, have produced 99 filmmakers, the proud organizers and coaches say. This year’s finalists, including a midwife and a vendor, are amazing as most claim to have never held a camera before.  The feats of the characters and their storytellers from diverse parts of the country makes one walk away encouraged about the talents around us (which makes it even more regretful that MetroTV does not try hard to distance itself from the NasDem Party and its boss Surya Paloh). Another encouraging example is choreographer Yola Yulfianti, who performed her creation at the Ismail Marzuki Arts Center in Jakarta on Tuesday. She is one of four winners of this year’s fellowship for women artists from an institute dedicated to the development of performing arts, the Kelola Foundation founded by former ballerina Linda Hoemar. Yola’s performance (titled “I think...tonk”) was based on her experience working with youth in one of the capital’s most problematic areas. For the past few years Yola and a few other groups have facilitated arts classes in Johar Baru, Central Jakarta, to help youngsters express themselves in a fun way. This is one of the top-ranking subdistricts for population density, fires and frequency of kampung fights. A regular month can see days of brawls in the morning, afternoon and evening, resident Bambang Suryono said, as quoted in a report, “and even more during the fasting month”. Often fights are triggered by petty, unclear reasons, true to tradition, just like the school battles. Sociologist Paulus Wirutomo identified over 50 “hanging out” groups in the subdistrict, joined by youngsters far less privileged than most students of SMA 70.  As there is not enough space at home, residents can even take turns sleeping, he said. Johar Baru is part of the Kampung Deret slum rehabilitation program begun under Jakarta Governor Jokowi, and together with all the do-gooders facilitating education and the arts, hopefully the young generation will really see alternatives for them other than the customary tawuran (brawls). Along with the facilitation of creativity and recent visible intolerance against bullying, as displayed by Jokowi and his controversial deputy Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, hopefully students and the young generation in general will not grow up thinking seniority and power equals having the right to abuse those who are weaker than them. But when he becomes president next month, Jokowi will see that it takes much more resolve to face up to abusers who draw their sources of power from much more than mere school seniority. ●