Pak Kasur's love remembered on Childrens' Day<\/p>\n
By Yenni Kwok<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): On National Children's Day which falls on July
\n23, the RCTI private television station will broadcast a program
\non Pak Kasur, a figure always associated with children.<\/p>\n
Those who were taught by Pak Kasur (1912-1992) as toddlers
\nagree he deserves to be remembered because he was a splendid
\nkindergarten teacher.<\/p>\n
One of his students at TK Mini (the Mini Kindergarten) during
\n1977-1979, Yvonne Maretta, said Pak Kasur's distinctive
\ncharacteristic was his constant eagerness to play with children.<\/p>\n
\"He sometimes even carried the children on his back,\" said
\nAdiwinanto Komandiwirya, Yvonne's father. \"He pretended to be a
\nhorse, and two children started to sit on his back. But, later,
\nmore children climbed onto him, until he collapsed. But Pak Kasur
\nnever got angry with them.\"<\/p>\n
Wahyuni Murtiani, his student from 1975-1977, voiced the same
\nopinion. \"He always smiled. He never got angry as far as I can
\nremember. Other teachers may yell, but not Pak Kasur. He always
\nsmiled and sang with us.\"<\/p>\n
\"A child even spat on him once,\" Komandiwirya added, \"but not
\neven that made him angry.\"<\/p>\n
He always cherished everything from the children. Even his
\npopular name, Kasur, was given to him by children, said Ibu
\n(mother) Kasur, his wife. His real name was Suryono. When he was
\na young Boy Scout leader, the children called him Kak Sur,
\nmeaning Big Brother Sur. \"When he got older, the children added
\nPak (father), but the Kak never disappeared.\"<\/p>\n
From then on, everyone knew Suryono as Pak Kasur (Kasur
\nliterally means mattress).<\/p>\n
His way of teaching is not forgotten by his school alumni.<\/p>\n
Philosophy<\/p>\n
He taught them to play with traditional Indonesian toys, such
\nas the kuda lumping (bamboo horse) and the angklung (bamboo
\npercussion instrument), said Yvonne.<\/p>\n
\"Children would compete to get the angklung which played the
\nmost notes,\" said Ismiatun, Wahyuni's daughter and Pak Kasur's
\nex-student.<\/p>\n
Wahyuni said she missed the carefree atmosphere, especially
\nthe singing sessions, when she moved to Bandung and left TK Mini.<\/p>\n
Pak Kasur's ability to win children's hearts came from his
\nphilosophy, \"If you want to enter the children's world, you need
\nto wear their shoes,\" Ibu Kasur said.<\/p>\n
Pak Kasur understood not only children's desire to enjoy life,
\nbut also their need to be educated.<\/p>\n
For example, most of his 60 songs contained educational
\nmessages. In Keranjang Sampah (The Waste Basket), he taught
\nchildren not to litter. He also wrote songs to promote respect
\nfor elders.<\/p>\n
His song, Sayang Kakek (To Love Grandpa), was his reaction to
\nthe lyrics of Burung Kakatua (The Cockatoo Bird) which stated
\n\"Grandpa is old, his teeth are only two,\" said Ibu Kasur, who
\ncould not hold her tears back when she heard the children sing
\nthis song.<\/p>\n
\"I remember when Pak Kasur composed this song. He was unhappy
\nwith the Burung Kakatua's lyrics. So, he sat on his rocking chair
\nand composed the song, Sayang Kakek,\" said Ibu Kasur.<\/p>\n
Sayang Kakek tells about a child's love of grandpa, who likes
\nto tell stories to his grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Indeed, parents can see the fruit of Pak Kasur's education
\nthrough their children's behavior.<\/p>\n
The children tended to be independent and did not miss home
\nwhen they were left at their schools, said Komandiwirya.<\/p>\n
\"Our neighbors used to say that our children liked to smile,
\nthat they were friendly and brave. They were doing things just
\nlike Pak Kasur taught them to,\" said Ismiatun.<\/p>\n
Ismiatun will also appear in the program on Pak Kasur, which
\nis entitled Mengenang Pak Kasur (Remembering Father Kasur). She
\nwill sing Pak Kasur's song Keranjang Sampah, which was
\npopularized by her duo, Is Bersaudara (the Is sisters), during
\nthe 1970s.<\/p>\n
Award<\/p>\n
The program will also feature comments by Seto Mulyadi, a
\npsychologist who specializes in early childhood development and
\nlearned a lot from Pak Kasur. Other scholars will include Prof.
\nUtami Munandar, a psychology professor at the University of
\nIndonesia, Prof. Fuad Hassan, former minister of education and
\nculture who gave the Bintang Budaya Parama Darma award to Pak
\nKasur, and of course Ibu Kasur, his wife and a kindergarten
\nteacher.<\/p>\n
Children from Pak Kasur's TK Mini and Sanggar Alif (Alif
\nWorkshop), which specialized in providing singing lessons to
\nchildren, will sing 13 songs written by him.<\/p>\n
There will be 50 children, ranging in age from three to 12
\nyears old. ni luh dewi candrawati (she prefers to have her name
\nin lower case), the producer, describe coordinating them as
\n\"difficult, but easy.\"<\/p>\n
\"The children had a limited amount of stamina. After certain
\nhours, they were tired. A TV shot needed to be taken several
\ntimes and we needed to explain to their parents why we had to do
\nit, so that they could explain it to their children,\" said the
\nproducer.<\/p>\n
The theme of the program, Pak Kasur's biography, is told
\nthrough photos, film clips, interviews and narrations.<\/p>\n
The 24-minute running time is too short to remember the huge
\neffort of this great educator, said the producer. \"But at least
\nwe will give it a try.\"<\/p>\n
This is the second program made specially for National
\nChildren's Day, she said, and also produced a program on Ibu Sud,
\na children's song writer.<\/p>\n
Pak Kasur's family and students gave a lot of help to the
\nproduction, said the producer. For example, Ibu Kasur sang and
\ncoordinated the children in the studio. Sursantio Suryono, his
\neldest son, was the audio director.<\/p>\n
The Rp 25 million (US$11,550) program took five days to
\ncomplete and was produced in cooperation with RCTI, Yayasan Setia
\nBalita and Alif Production House. It will be aired at 5 p.m. on
\nSaturday.<\/p>",
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