Fighting on behalf of the poor<\/p>\n
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
Architect Johan Silas received a steady stream of congratulatory
\nmessages over his cell phone and by e-mail from relatives and
\ncolleagues at home and abroad, after he was conferred the Habitat
\nScroll of Honor 2005 by United Nations Habitat, an international
\ninstitution involved in human settlement programs.<\/p>\n
Johan, a professor at the school of civil and design
\nengineering at the 10 November Technological Institute in
\nSurabaya, was honored for his activities in providing the poor
\nwith decent housing.<\/p>\n
Since 1989 only three individual Indonesians and one
\nIndonesian institution have received this citation. In addition
\nto Johan, former minister for public works Radinal Mochtar
\nreceived the citation in 1997, the late Sumatra governor Tengku
\nRizal Nurdin in 2005 and state Bank Tabungan Negara in 1994.<\/p>\n
The institute's rector, Mohammad Nuh, called Johan to
\ncongratulate him, saying his achievement would also raise the
\nprofile of the institute in the international arena. He said the
\ncitation was the first of its kind received by a researcher or
\nlecturer at the institute, the largest university in East Java.<\/p>\n
\"It came as a surprise to me to learn that I had been awarded
\nthis prestigious citation. Thousands of electronic letters
\ncrowded my e-mail in-box,\" Johan, who was born in Samarinda on
\nMay 24, 1936, told The Jakarta Post last week.<\/p>\n
Johan was also the recipient of the 1991 Japan Housing
\nAssociation IYSH Matsushita Prize.<\/p>\n
Among his e-mails were several from research institutions
\ndealing with issues of human settlement and housing in Indonesia,
\nasking him to take part in their studies.<\/p>\n
All this e-mail clutter has been a bit of a problem for Johan,
\nwho relies on e-mail to answer his students' questions and to
\nsend them needed material.<\/p>\n
\"I have a lot of students and they need speedy responses. When
\nI am abroad I often have to rush to a post office or a
\ntelecommunications stall just to respond to my students'
\nletters,\" said Johan, a 1963 architecture graduate of the Bandung
\nInstitute of Technology and a frequent speaker and guest lecturer
\nat universities in Asia and Europe.<\/p>\n
Before e-mail became widespread in Indonesia, Silas
\ncorresponded with his students by post.<\/p>\n
Since 1998, however, Johan has relied almost exclusively on e-
\nmail to communicate with his students.<\/p>\n
That same year, while a speaker at Japan's Kyoto University,
\nhe had to deliver his speech while at the same time sending
\nmaterial to his students who were engaged in their final
\nassignment.<\/p>\n
\"So while I was talking, I kept my laptop computer on. Every
\ntime I could find a few minutes to write, I would write and then
\nsend the message to my students. I do not want any of my students
\nto be put at a disadvantage because of my busy schedule,\" said
\nJohan, a recipient of the Development Medal of Merit from the
\npresident of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
For his students, Johan is a teacher who will always give them
\nhis best. There are not many lecturers like him. However busy he
\nis, he always finds time for his students.<\/p>\n
'People's architect'<\/p>\n
Johan is an architect who has always fought for the poor's
\nright to decent housing. There have probably been only two other
\narchitects in Indonesia who could be compared to Johan: the late
\nRomo YB Mangunwijaya and Hasan Poerbo. All three were advocates
\nof community-based development.<\/p>\n
While the late Romo YB Mangunwijaya fought for decent housing
\nfor the poor in Yogyakarta, Johan has been fighting for decent
\nhomes for the poor in Surabaya.<\/p>\n
Surabaya, he said, was experiencing very rapid development.
\nImposing shopping centers, tall office buildings and luxury
\nhousing compounds have sprung up across the city. These
\nfacilities, however, are enjoyed only by the upper class. The
\npoor are usually denied access to all of these facilities.<\/p>\n
The poor, he noted, are unable to secure decent homes that
\nmeets environmental and health standards because land and houses
\nin Surabaya are too expensive. So the poor end up in slum areas,
\ntheir houses causing many urban problems, one of which is
\nflooding.<\/p>\n
\"I like antiques and I often walk in and out of small villages
\nto look for them. Every time I come to a small village, I am
\nstunned by what I see. The houses there are far from meeting the
\nstandards of decent homes,\" said Johan, who is also a member of
\nthe advisory board of Environment & Urbanization, a magazine
\npublished in London.<\/p>\n
He said the international community, including Indonesia, had
\naccepted the results of the 2nd Habitat Summit held in Istanbul
\non June 6, 1996, which came up with two main points in its
\nHabitat Agenda, namely adequate housing for all and sustainable
\nhuman settlement development in an urbanizing world.<\/p>\n
A recipient of 1993 ASEAN Institute Achievement Award, Johan
\noften lashes out at the municipal administration for its lack of
\na clear urban planning concept in its policies.<\/p>\n
While on the one hand the government is trying to establish a
\nbeautiful and comfortable urban area for its residents, it fails
\non the other to implement the principles of sustainable
\nsettlement development.<\/p>\n
Johan has offered several concepts of decent human settlements
\nto the Surabaya municipal administration. On May 10, 1993, the
\nadministration asked him to draw up plans for the construction of
\nthe Sewa Sombo apartments in Surabaya. He has been involved in
\nmany other apartment projects, and in designing relocation houses
\nfor residents moved from their settlements along riverbanks in
\nthe city.<\/p>\n
\"Apartments are low-cost houses for the poor. When an
\napartment compound is designed using environmentally friendly
\nprinciples, those living there can enjoy urban facilities,\" he
\nnoted.<\/p>\n
Aside from being involved in resettlement programs in
\nSurabaya, Johan is also involved in a number of other projects
\nsuch as redesigning rural areas in Paiton, Kraksaan and Dringu
\ndistricts in Probolinggo regency, managing coastal areas in
\nProbolinggo, developing a tourism resort in Blitar, drawing up
\nmodels for urban housing in Jakarta, and participating in the
\nplanning of eco-houses and eco-settlements at Japan's Kyoto
\nUniversity.<\/p>\n
At present, he is engaged in a housing construction project
\nfor the victims of the tsunami in Aceh. Under this project, using
\nfunds from the Asian Development Bank, some 14,000 houses will be
\nbuilt in Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar and Sabang.<\/p>\n
\"Being awarded a citation is a great responsibility. I still
\nhave a lot of things to do in Surabaya. What I have longed for
\nthroughout my life is the construction of decent homes for the
\npoor,\" said Johan, who was awarded The Aga Khan Award for
\nArchitecture in 1986 and the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et
\nLettres in 1989 by the French government.<\/p>",
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