Hopelessness can be dangerous<\/p>\n
As a kid of five years old I stayed with a retired district
\nchief (Asisten Wedana), because my parents lived in a remote
\nvillage where even water mains and electricity were non-existent.
\nMy father, who had put his mind to giving his children the best
\navailable education, put my brother and me at his close friend's
\nhouse in the city of East Java, so that we could enter a Dutch
\nschool. My landlord and his wife were childless so they were glad
\nto be surrounded by children and relatives, school-going
\nteenagers and grownups were among them.<\/p>\n
This friendly couple treated me as if I were their own son, so
\nI was brought up in the old-fashioned Javanese or Malay language
\n(now Bahasa Indonesia). I even learned the correct\/polite
\nJavanese language\/dialect. My landlord belonged to the Indonesian
\nnobility, so he had the title Raden in front of his name, Raden
\nMas is someone of Royal birth, I was told.<\/p>\n
At that time, the 1930s, the world depression was in full
\nswing, jobs were scarce, and in a society where able-bodied men
\nwere loafing around doing nothing, one could feel the unpleasant,
\nlistless daily atmosphere.<\/p>\n
One day, at dusk, I heard a commotion, everybody was running
\nabout and all the while the womenfolk were crying hysterically
\nand everybody was trying to soothe a young, wild-eyed man with
\ndisheveled hair coming out of one of the many rooms. He was the
\nlandlady's nephew. At that moment I could only think that some
\nterrible thing must have taken place.<\/p>\n
Only when the usual calmness of the household was restored
\ndared I ask one of the maidservants what had actually happened.
\nShe whispered to me that the young man had tried to hang himself
\nbecause he could not find a job, no matter how hard he tried.
\nApparently hopelessness was the cause of his suicide attempt.<\/p>\n
A. DJUANA<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hopelessness-can-be-dangerous-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }