Suyadi remains villainous to this day<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
For those who are well-versed in Javanese tradition, its
\nshadow play (wayang) in particular, then you know the character
\nnamed Buto Cakil, a villain so crooked and demented that, without
\nhim, the show would be dry and lack the adrenaline-pumping
\nsuspense.<\/p>\n
In fact, shadow play enthusiasts are willing to wait until
\nmidnight before the beast finally appears -- which also augurs
\nthe show's finale -- for a final showdown that will pit him
\nagainst the hero. And the bad person will always lose the battle.<\/p>\n
Puppeter Suyadi was more than happy to liken himself to the
\nvillain.<\/p>\n
Popularly known for lending his voice to Pak Raden, a
\nfictional character in the famous television puppet show in the
\n1980s, Si Unyil, Suyadi will forever be known by his villainous
\nrole.<\/p>\n
Long after the show was off the air, the villain remains with
\nSuyadi.<\/p>\n
In public appearances, Suyadi always wears a black Javanese
\ntraditional blouse (beskap), the same as Pak Raden's puppet in
\nthe show and he adopts a vicious look and a baritone voice every
\ntime people ask for a picture with him.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Suyadi in person is also an eerie experience, as
\nif the villain indeed existed and the one we were conversing with
\nis merely his alter ego.<\/p>\n
On the character, Suyadi said that it was created merely to
\ngive balance to the universe of Si Unyil. \"Si Unyil, the main
\ncharacter in the show was a kind-hearted, if naughty kid, who was
\nsurrounded by a bunch of good people. His parents, siblings,
\nfriends and neighbors are good and we thought the story needed an
\nantagonist role,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Suyadi landed in the role only through a fortuitous
\ncircumstance.<\/p>\n
It was later decided that a villain would help enliven the
\nstory, but the Si Unyil production team failed to arrive at a
\nconclusion about what the character would be like.<\/p>\n
Although the team members agreed that the villain would be a
\nretired civil servant, Dutch Colonial system-educated, hot-
\ntempered and suffering from a back problem, they were unable to
\nsettle on the character's ethnic background. Given the ugly
\nportrayal of the character, the team feared that affiliation with
\none ethnic group would anger many people and disrupt the
\nprevailing harmony among ethnic groups across the country.<\/p>\n
The televised puppet show was a pet project of the New Order
\nregime to disseminate information about its development program
\nand members of the team certainly did not want to see it being
\nused against them. Harmony, by any means necessary, was the order
\nof the day.<\/p>\n
Suyadi, the show's art director, then proposed that the
\ncharacter would assume Javanese as his ethnicity. \"Javanese in
\ngeneral are patient folks, they will not be angered being
\nportrayed as evil in the story,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The production team could not agree more when Suyadi proposed
\na comical name for the character, Raden Mas Singa Menggala Jalma
\nWana, which meant a kind-hearted king of lions from the jungle.<\/p>\n
Suyadi was later given the job of bringing the characters
\nalive with his baritone voice as he was deemed the most fitting
\nfor the role. Later, the production team also decided that
\nSuyadi's voice was the most suitable for the character of a
\nsenile Javanese man and the show's only person with a mental
\nproblem.<\/p>\n
When the show was first aired on state-run television station
\nTVRI in April 1981, it soon captivated viewers across the nation.
\nWhen the show hit the airwaves on Sunday mornings -- roads,
\nmarkets and public places were deserted as people were glued to
\ntheir TV sets waiting for the madness of Pak Raden.<\/p>\n
\"I once overheard an Ambonese saying `where is that crazy
\nJavanese', while waiting for Pak Raden to appear on screen,\"
\nSuyadi said while giggling.<\/p>\n
In almost all the Si Unyil series, Pak Raden was depicted
\nhaving quarrels with almost everyone who came near him,
\napparently because he thought everyone was trying to steal his
\nproperty and his fruit tree.<\/p>\n
And viewers were apparently oblivious to the show's propaganda
\nas they were fixated on the plot and its richly detailed
\ncharacters, especially its villains.<\/p>\n
Heeding to the public demand for more villains, the production
\nteam created more villains the likes of the lethargic unemployed
\nPak Ogah and his cohort Ableh, but none outshone the neurotic Pak
\nRaden.<\/p>\n
However, the fixation on villains began to worry Suyadi and
\nhis team. They became concerned that it would somehow eclipse the
\nmessages the government was trying to convey.<\/p>\n
The team later took pains to ensure that the propaganda
\nreached the viewers without being considered pedantic.<\/p>\n
\"On the family planning issue for example, we did not say
\nanything directly about the government's program because the show
\nwas originally targeted to children. We conveyed the message
\nthrough a character named Cuplis, a school kid who was always
\nasleep during class because he was busy comforting his fussy
\nsiblings the night before. He was also the poorest in his class.
\nWe indirectly told children that was what happened when a family
\ndid not join the family planning program,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that being a propaganda film was not enough reason to
\nindulge in banality. \"Not all the government-sponsored programs
\nwere bad. Campaigns on cleanliness for instance. We worked to
\nmake it as interesting as possible,\" Suyadi said.<\/p>\n
In early 1992, after more than a decade on the air the
\ngovernment decided to end the show.<\/p>\n
Eight years later, in collaboration with a Jakarta-based
\nproduction house, the series copyright holder State Film
\nProduction Center (PPFN), produced a new series of the show, but
\nwith disappointing results. \"I have nothing to do with the recent
\nincarnation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Now, with Si Unyil shelved, the 73-year-old Suyadi strives to
\nkeep the legend alive.<\/p>\n
In between his lecturing job at the Jakarta Institute of Art
\n(IKJ), he regularly holds workshops on painting and puppet-making
\nfor children. Last week, on invitation from the Jakarta Art
\nCouncil, Suyadi organized a three-day workshop and exhibition on
\nSi Unyil.<\/p>\n
\"I have dedicated my life to Si Unyil and I consider my
\ngreatest achievement with the show was that I could put the
\ncountry under my spell,\" he said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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