Emmy Hafild feels at home at Walhi<\/p>\n
By P. Prasetyohadi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): "I come from a family which loves nature. We all
\nlove to travel and enjoy nature. I love adventure too," says Emmy
\nHafild, the activist elected recently to lead the Indonesian
\nForum for the Environment (Walhi).<\/p>\n
Emmy seems to be an ideal person to lead Indonesia's most
\ninfluential and vocal environmental group.<\/p>\n
Given the challenges Walhi faces, its tasks include venturing
\ninto a political minefield, tackling not only powerful big
\nbusinesses, but often also the mighty government.<\/p>\n
She has proven herself capable and courageous, handling all
\nkinds of tricky tasks in the seven years she has been with Walhi.<\/p>\n
In 1994, she was entrusted with the lawsuit Walhi filed
\nagainst President Soeharto at the Jakarta State Administrative
\nCourt. Walhi sued the head of state, claiming that his action to
\nuse forestry funds collected from concessionaire holders to
\nfinance the development of the N-250 aircraft by the PT IPTN was
\nillegal. As expected, Walhi lost the suit, but it was the first
\never lawsuit brought against the president.<\/p>\n
Another litigation that Emmy handled was the suit against the
\nMinistry of Mines and Energy and the American mining giant PT
\nFreeport Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Thirty-eight years old, Emmy became Walhi's fourth chairperson
\nalmost uncontested when the organization held its congress in
\nJakarta in June. She follows in the footsteps of Erna Witoelar,
\nAgus Purnomo and M.S. Zulkarnaen, previous Walhi chairpersons.<\/p>\n
With a bachelor degree from the state-run Bogor Agriculture
\nInstitute, West Java, and a masters degree from the University of
\nWisconsin in Madison, the United States, Emmy could have chosen
\nany career she wanted.<\/p>\n
She opted for environmental advocacy, a field she was already
\nfamiliar with because of her involvement in the Lawalata flora
\nand fauna study group in her student days in Bogor between 1978
\nand 1982. The group studied ecosystems, vegetation, birds, and
\nsoil conditions.<\/p>\n
"I had several choices when I graduated. I wasn't too keen to
\nbecome a civil servant because that would have been too
\nrestricting for someone as vocal and liberal as I am," Emmy says.
\n"I didn't choose a job in a private company because that would
\nhave been too profit-oriented."<\/p>\n
"I guess I still had the romanticism of my student days when I
\ngraduated. My father gave me the liberty to chose whatever career
\nI wanted, so when an offer came from the Indonesian Green
\nFoundation, I accepted it."<\/p>\n
She has never looked back, and has pursued her career in
\nenvironmental movement with great vigor.<\/p>\n
Between 1982 and 1984, she was field education program
\ncoordinator at the Indonesian Green Foundation. She then moved to
\nthe SKEPHI (Secretariat for Indonesian Forest Conservation),
\nholding the title of coordinator between 1984-88. It was while
\nshe was with SKEPHI that she formed her political convictions,
\nshe says.<\/p>\n
She was absent for a few years due to a pregnancy and family
\nreasons, and in 1989 she joined Walhi.<\/p>\n
At Walhi, she began as a campaigner for forestry issues and in
\n1991 was asked to coordinate a human resource development program
\nfor environmental groups in Indonesia. She was in charge of a
\ngroup of 20 activists, who published a book about economic rent
\nin the field of forestry.<\/p>\n
At Walhi, she obtained a Fulbright scholarship to do
\nenvironmental studies at Wisconsin. She also wrote the book
\nBreaking the Logjam with two other activists, which was published
\nby the World Resource Institute in 1994.<\/p>\n
She obtained her master in 1994 and returned to work for Walhi
\nas project coordinator for special issues before her promotion in
\nJune.<\/p>\n
Her new position as the number one at Walhi probably suits her
\ncharacter.<\/p>\n
"I have been rebellious since childhood," Emmy recalls. She
\nspent her childhood in Sungai Karang, North Sumatra, where her
\nfather worked.<\/p>\n
"I guess it is because I was the youngest child in the house,"
\nshe adds. Emmy is the only daughter of Datuk Hafild, a senior
\nofficial at a state plantation company in her home village. She
\nhas two older brothers.<\/p>\n
She says her late father had the most influence on her career,
\nrecalling that during her childhood, he frequently took his
\nchildren on cross-country runs.<\/p>\n
She also picked up some rebellious traits from her father.<\/p>\n
"Father liked to go against the current, even when he was a
\ncivil servant," says Emmy, now a mother of an eight-year old
\ngirl.<\/p>\n
Another influential figure in her life was her father-in-law,
\nthe late Lt. Gen. (ret.) H.R. Dharsono, a leading dissident who
\ndied in Bandung, West Java, last month.<\/p>\n
"Pak Dharsono was a role model for me," she says.<\/p>\n
"He was certainly a positive influence for me in Walhi. There
\nwere times when I became confused, didn't know whether to move
\non, or retreat, or even hide. Pak Dharsono's courage and
\nwillingness to take risks always gave me inspiration and
\nstrength," she adds.<\/p>\n
While vocal in public, she is very protective of her family
\nlife. She specifically asked that her husband's name not be
\nmentioned in this article.<\/p>\n
Emmy says the biggest change in her attitude came when she
\nwent to study in the United States.<\/p>\n
"I had ample time for contemplation and to think about my
\ninvolvement in the environmental movement. It was there that I
\nbegan to understand the concept of a civil society movement.<\/p>\n
"Before, in Indonesia, I was always too preoccupied with my
\njob, I had no time for contemplation. In the U.S, I had friends
\nwho helped me, and I had free access to information at the
\nlibrary. I also witnessed at close hand the democratic system
\nthere, the presidential election, the campaigning, and I got
\ninvolved in the environmental movement there.<\/p>\n
"I made friends with people from Latin America and Africa.
\nWhat I experienced in the U.S. got me thinking," Emmy says.<\/p>\n
Emmy acknowledges that Walhi is political, unlike the
\nIndonesian Green Foundation, which is a forum for nature lovers
\nand therefore apolitical.<\/p>\n
She points out, however, that Walhi does not advocate the use
\nof violence and always encourages people to use peaceful means.<\/p>\n
Sometimes people get carried away, like the villagers opposed
\nto PT Inti Indorayon in North Sumatra a few years ago.<\/p>\n
"But that was not our intention," she says.<\/p>\n
Emmy stresses that results are important for Walhi. "If we
\nfail to protect the environment, we'd lose our integrity and
\nrespect."<\/p>\n
"The protests we organize are intended to be peaceful.
\nUnfortunately, some people here lose control and turn protests
\ninto angry demonstrations which may lead to chaos," she says.<\/p>\n
"I think the non-violence movement must also involve the
\nsecurity people. They should be aware that ours is a peaceful
\nprotest," Emmy says.<\/p>",
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