Urban heroes work for the future<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesians commemorate Hero's Day to remember those who had
\ntaken part in the country's long struggle for independence on
\nNov. 10.<\/p>\n
However, 60 years down the line, the term hero (pahlawan) has
\nexpanded beyond the aging veterans who fought against the tyranny
\nof colonialism to a person who is admired for his or her
\nachievements and noble qualities.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post has recognized three such people whose
\ndevotion to their profession has led us to believe that there are
\nheroes among us.<\/p>\n
Suharmaji, a teacher<\/p>\n
Junior high school students at State High School No. 285 on
\nUntung Jawa Islet in Kepulauan Seribu regency, may well call
\nbiology teacher Suharmaji, 41, their hero.<\/p>\n
For about three years now, Suharmaji, has left his home in
\nBekasi at 5 a.m. in the morning on his motorcycle to travel three
\nhours to Tanjung Pasir Port in Tangerang. Another half an hour by
\nspeed boat gets him to the small island.<\/p>\n
There he uses what the students know of their surroundings --
\ntheir natural playground of the sea, sand and mangrove forest --
\nto teach about the ecosystem.<\/p>\n
\"My students are one step ahead of those studying on land,
\nthey are directly familiar with the mangrove forest,\" Suharmaji
\nlikes to say.<\/p>\n
By giving more knowledge about something familiar to the
\nstudents, he is able to create interest in the subjects he
\nteaches.<\/p>\n
Keeping interest alive is a challenge on Untung Jawa Island.
\nThe 35-hectare island has a population of about 1,600 people. To
\nthis community -- which relies on fishing and the sea for their
\nlivelihood -- obtaining an education is secondary to having a big
\nfishing boat.<\/p>\n
This is why the high school teachers regularly visit the
\nstudents' families to give them the understanding of the
\nimportance of education.<\/p>\n
Suharmaji admits that he has learned more from his experience
\nteaching anak pulau (island children) than all of his 19 years at
\na vocational high school in Plumpang, North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"There, a teacher who can stop his students fighting is
\nconsidered a success,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Chaeruddin, a conservationist<\/p>\n
Native Betawi people living along the banks of the
\nPesanggrahan River in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, can thank
\nChaeruddin, 49, for the conservation and preservation of their
\nenvironment.<\/p>\n
The area along the eight-kilometer stretch of the river is
\nlike an idyllic neighborhood from the olden days of Batavia, with
\nthe sounds of birds singing and long-tailed monkeys cackling
\namong the trees.<\/p>\n
It was not always like this however. Considered the guardian
\nof the area, Chaeruddin began his regreening effort in the 1990s
\nsimply because he found that the area had changed for the worse.<\/p>\n
\"Nothing was still the same from our childhood and nobody
\nseemed to care about it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Chaeruddin, familiarly known as Bang Udin, began by educating
\nhis neighbors -- young and old -- about the river, opening their
\neyes to the benefit of conservation.<\/p>\n
Along with fellow Betawi people he gathered data about animals
\nand plants once found in the area and tried to collect seeds to
\nbe reintroduced to the area.<\/p>\n
He was also well aware that people would be more interested in
\nconservation if it had some economic benefits for them, which was
\nwhy he also planted fruit trees, medicinal plants and secondary
\ncrops.<\/p>\n
The locals can now harvest the melinjo trees, which bear
\nedible leaves and fruit, planted along the river, as well as
\nvegetables, banana and papaya. The area is also now home to long-
\ntailed monkeys, 17 bird species, various mammals and reptiles, as
\nwell as fish.<\/p>\n
For his effort, Bang Udin has received numerous awards,
\nincluding the Kalpataru national award in 2000. But for all this
\nhe says, \"forests and rivers should be considered sacred. God
\nleaves them for us to care for\".<\/p>\n
Yunus Makasau, a civil servant<\/p>\n
Those who have come up against Yunus Makasau, 54, know that
\nhere is a man not to be trifled with. Big shots from the former
\nnational police chief and former ministers to endangered animal
\ntraders have not been spared from his efforts to reclaim
\nendangered species.<\/p>\n
Now a staff member of the Ministry of Forestry, Yunus uses
\nvarious approaches from direct raids on markets to quiet
\ndiplomacy, and has no scruples about bringing the media in on the
\naction.<\/p>\n
\"It's more effective than taking the police,\" he likes to say.<\/p>\n
The endangered species trade -- both domestic and
\ninternational -- is a lucrative one that promises fast cash, for
\nwhich many are willing to break the law.<\/p>\n
An orangutan, for example, can bring in about Rp 18 million
\n(about US$1,800) at seedy markets in Jakarta, and the price rises
\nto $9,000 on the black markets of Taiwan and Japan, and $54,000
\nin the United States.<\/p>\n
The penchant of Jakarta's rich for keeping rare animals in
\nprivate menageries as a kind of status symbol does not help the
\ntermination of this trade.<\/p>\n
Yunus's raids on animal markets where protected species are
\nsold, such as on Jl. Barito in South Jakarta and the Pramuka
\nMarket in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, and confiscation of private
\npets have not gained him many friends.<\/p>\n
\"I often have to face police and military officers who
\nthreaten me with their guns,\" Yunus said.<\/p>\n
But in the government conservation compound -- built partly
\nwith financial assistance from the Swiss-based Gibbon Foundation
\n-- in Tegalalur, West Jakarta, where he works, owls and gibbons
\nfrom Sumatra, honey bears from Kalimantan, and birds of paradise
\nand pig-nosed turtles from Papua, are waiting to be returned to
\ntheir natural habitat.<\/p>\n
In a way, Yunus is a hero for the continuing survival of
\nendangered species, and their educational potential for later
\ngenerations.<\/p>",
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