Creating a major handicraft center: One man's quest

By Harry Bhaskara

MANADO, North Sulawesi (JP): Handicraftsmen from Manado and Poso, Central Sulawesi, have more than just an island in common.

One year ago they were holding a joint exhibition in Poso before sectarian clashes between Christians and Muslims broke out in the town.

"They came here, empty handed, looking for jobs," Jongky Tirtamulia said, referring to his colleagues from Poso. Jongky is a Manado-based craftsman who helped organize the handicraft exhibition.

"I set up a space for them at the back of my house and here are their products," said Jongky, pointing to an array of miniature motorbikes made of ebony. Poso is well-known for its handicrafts made from the beautiful dark brown wood.

Jongky's face turned gloomy.

"During the clashes all the ebony in Poso was burned," he said. "Now there is none left."

He is preoccupied with the loss of the ebony.

"What a lot of income that could have otherwise been used by the Central Sulawesi province," he said.

Trained as dentist, Jongky retired from the Ministry of Health five years ago and set up a handicraft workshop at his home, continuing with a childhood passion. He said he had a love for drawing since he was a child.

"Youngsters here love to drink liquor. Rather than getting drunk everyday is it not better for them to do something productive?" he said.

There are about 30 young craftsmen now working under him. He said he paid them Rp 800,000 a month on average, depending on how hard they worked.

"Some of them work longer hours and they can earn up to Rp 1.5 million a month," he said

Most of them are graduates of handicraft vocational schools.

His small shop in front of his house, the Wenang Asri, sells his work. He designed each piece by first sketching them on papers.

Jongky has just finished a template of the ancient coelacanth fish. The fish, called a fossil fish by scientists, was first discovered in Manado waters in 1997.

A glimpse in his shop shows that Jongky is obsessed with anything that bears the distinctive North Sulawesi style.

Inspiration is taken from the province's unique animals and plants as well as from daily life.

There are wooden models of the more popular fish found around Bunaken island, which is a world class diving center in Manado bay, wooden templates of Sulawesi tarsiers, the smallest primates in the world, wooden masks and an assortment of small household items like ashtrays made from coconut trees.

As a young dentist just graduated from Airlangga University in Surabaya, Jongky moved to Manado in 1970. And never looked back.

On a small rack in his shop there are batik clothes with Minahasan paintings emblazoned on them.

"I hope to put Manado on the map of Indonesia's must-see handicraft centers," he said, adding that the number of cities in Indonesia known for handicrafts could be counted on the fingers of one hand, despite the country's widespread talent.

He said the local government had tried to develop North Sulawesi as a handicraft center.

"But I think they could have done more than what they have done so far," he said.

Jongky said he believed it would do the government a service if the province emerged as a handicraft center, since it would mean extra tourism dollars, employment as well as a promotional tool for the province.