Wayang Narkoba: an innovative way to discuss drug, HIV related
\nissues<\/p>\n
JP\/17\/WAYANG<\/p>\n
'Wayang Narkoba': Helping people say 'no' to drugs<\/p>\n
Sri Wahyuni
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nYogyakarta<\/p>\n
In a royal plenary meeting held at the Palace of the Kingdom of
\nAmarta, Prince Ontoseno conveys to King Puntadewa the threat of
\ndrug addiction to the morals of Amarta's youth.<\/p>\n
The young people of the kingdom have become lazy and
\nunreliable; they have become a useless generation who are capable
\nof doing almost anything, including robbing and killing, just to
\nsatisfy their desperate need for heroin or other addictive drugs.
\nThey have the potential to spread chaos everywhere.<\/p>\n
\"And even more saddening, Your Majesty, is that many of these
\ndrug users are now living with HIV\/AIDS,\" Prince Ontoseno said.<\/p>\n
He said that this problem was a global phenomenon that was not
\njust limited to Amarta, but also in other kingdoms such as
\nDwarawati and Astina, and in many other parts of the world such
\nas America, Australia and Africa. At home, the phenomenon has
\nbeen found throughout the country, including Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
This is the opening dialog of a shadow puppet (wayang)
\nperformance entitled Ontran-Ontran Bawono (The Chaos of the
\nWorld), held here last Saturday night at Sasono Hinggil Dwi Abad
\nat the Yogyakarta Palace compound, with puppeteer Ki Edi
\nIndartono, or Tono Gito Gati as he is more popularly known.<\/p>\n
It was indeed an unusual opening dialog for a wayang
\nperformance; one that would never be found in conventional
\nJavanese wayang. Held to commemorate World AIDS Day on Dec. 1,
\nthe performance was specially designed to disseminate information
\nrelated to drug use and HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
The original scenario, written by Hudoyo Hupudio of the Aksi
\nStop AIDS (ASA) group, has been demonstrated to 19 puppeteers
\ngrouped under the National Secretariat of Indonesian Puppeteers
\n(Senawangi), representing some 10 percent of the total number of
\npuppeteers across the Java and Bali islands who shall receive
\ntraining.<\/p>\n
\"We plan to train a total of 200 puppeteers as part of our
\nprogram to fight the spread of HIV\/AIDS, through messages
\ndisseminated through wayang narkoba (anti-drug shadow puppet
\nperformances),\" said Hudoyo, who is also an executive of Family
\nHealth International (FHI).<\/p>\n
Narkoba is a common Indonesian abbreviation meaning narcotics
\nand forbidden drugs.<\/p>\n
The performance itself is a joint program involving Family
\nHealth International\/Aksi Stop AIDS, the United State Agency for
\nInternational Development (USAID), Land O'Lakes Inc., the
\nIndonesian Humanity Committee (KKI), Senawangi, and the
\nAssociation of Indonesian Puppetry (Pepadi), and is considered a
\nbreak through in wayang performance.<\/p>\n
Usually, when wayang performances are used to disseminate
\nparticular messages, the messages are inserted as interludes in
\nthe intermezzo parts of the story, e.g. the Limbuk Cangik and
\nGoro-Goro scenes. In last Saturday's night-long performance,
\nhowever, the messages were woven into the main story of the
\nperformance.<\/p>\n
In this case, it was a story about a wayang kingdom (Amarta)
\nthat was experiencing a degradation of the morals of its young
\ngeneration along with an HIV\/AIDS epidemic. The story examined
\nsolutions to the problems.<\/p>\n
The story tells of people dying or suffering from AIDS and of
\npeople using drugs and creating chaos. In one scene, Prince
\nOntoseno describes witnessing a family being evicted from a
\nvillage after members of the family die due to AIDS.<\/p>\n
In another scene he explains to his people the dangers of
\nusing drugs, and how sharing drug needles and having unprotected
\nsex can lead to HIV infection. He tells of how a healthy,
\ntrustful way of life can protect them from being infected by the
\nlethal disease.<\/p>\n
\"We already have medicine to treat people living with
\nHIV\/AIDS, but the medicine does not kill the virus. That's why
\nthey have to take the medicine every day for the rest of their
\nlives. But it's quite safe to live with them in the same house,
\nshare the same toilet, or even hug them. So let them live their
\nnormal life with us. Never throw them out from the community,\"
\nsays Prince Ontoseno in one scene.<\/p>\n
Wayang performance has long been known as an effective means
\nfor disseminating information to public. It has a long history of
\ndealing with even the most sensitive and controversial issues in
\nways that make sense to the ordinary, traditional audiences.<\/p>\n
During the early development of Islam in Java, for example,
\nSunan Kalijaga of the Wali Sanga (the nine pious Muslim leaders
\nwho brought Islam to the island) used wayang as a preaching
\nmedium. It also played a key role during the New Order era in
\neducating Indonesians about family planning. And more recently,
\nit has been used to communicate issues related to regional
\nautonomy in the country.<\/p>\n
\"We still find it difficult to publicly talk about issues
\nrelated to sex, condoms, or drug use in our community here. It is
\nthrough a traditional performance like this that we can talk
\nabout these issues more freely,\" Ki Edi Indartono said.<\/p>\n
Puppeteer Ki Enthus Susmono of Tegal, Central Java, who was
\nalso in the audience, and even took part in the story as a guest
\nstar, concurred. He said that people should not be overly
\nconcerned about the so-called pakem (agreed source book for
\nplaying a traditional performance), and should not be afraid of
\ninnovation.<\/p>\n
\"Instead, we should consider it (innovations) as enriching the
\nexisting pakem. If people ask you which pakem is it referring to,
\nthen simply say that it is the pakem of wayang narkoba. So,
\nlet's call it Wayang Narkoba,\" Enthus told the audience on the
\nnight.<\/p>\n
The same play was scheduled to be performed at the Surakarta
\n(Solo) Palace. However, due to objections from some local senior
\npuppeteers, the performance was replaced with a traditional one
\nwith Ki Enthus Susmono as the puppeteer.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wayang-narkoba-an-innovative-way-to-discuss-drug-hiv-related-1447899208",
"image": ""
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