Diplomatic corps take the stage to read Raisa's poetry
Diplomatic corps take the stage to read Raisa's poetry
Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta
Scientists in Scotland recently declared that poems were
beneficial for the brain, explaining that "If literature is food
for the mind, then a poem is a banquet".
Perhaps, Tetty Latupapua, ex Indonesian ambassador to Norway,
had that in mind when she urged the members of her group called
The Professionals, to mark the launching of Dewi Asiah Rais
Abidin's book of poetry titled Hati yang Manja, or the Pampered
Heart, written under her pseudonym, Raisa.
The Professionals is a group consisting of women ambassadors
of Bangladesh, Turkey, Thailand, Russia, Serbia, Kroatia,
Montenegro, Poland and the Columbian Consul General, as well as
the wives of ambassadors -- who left their professions to follow
their spouses -- and Indonesian professionals such as Herawati
Diah, Prof. Dr. Mayling Oey , Pipiek Pamuntjak, Sukadiah
Pringgohardjoso, who was Indonesian ambassador to Denmark in the
late 1980s.
We want to be informative, educational and inspirational,
said Tetty Latupapua, one of the initiators of the group.
Besides Raisa -- and other Indonesian colleagues who will be
reading her poems in Indonesian, no less than three women
ambassadors will take the stage at Taman Ismail Marzuki at 5 p.m.
on Tuesday to read poems that were translated into English for
the occasion. Among the readers are: Mmes Nasssem Firdaus, Verial
C. Onder, Achara Scriputra who are ambassadors to Indonesia from
Bangladesh, Turkey and Thailand, besides Anne-Lise Klaussen,
Lourdes Burdie, Sharron Elder, Rashmi Zimburg -- respectively the
wives of the ambassadors of Denmark, Spain, New Zealand, and
Austria, as well as Tetty Latupapua, ex Indonesian ambassador to
Norway.
Hati yang Manja is a collection of 42 poems, written in
Indonesian. The poems are personal, thoughtful comments on life
and travel in the country, from Jakarta to Bandung, Yogya, Bali,
Makassar, Aceh, and abroad as far as Ismailia.
Lyrical, sometimes deeply intimate and yet historically
informed, the poems are together a wonderful tapestry of passion
and vision, and the body of Dewi Asiah Rais Abin's work between
1948 and the present.
Born in 1933 in Banjar, West Java, Dewi began writing poems
when she was a teenager. Her mother, Ratu Aminah Hidayat, was a
painter -- a one time student of the renowned artist, Soedjojono
-- and writer. "Our house was full of literature," said Dewi, who
became a journalist in the 1960s.
She has worked for Api Pancasila, Pedoman, was a producer and
presenter for the Indonesian Journalists Association's (PWI)
program at TVRI (1966-1973), worked part-time for Radio
Australia's Indonesian program in Melbourne (1964), the Voice of
Indonesia Jakarta, Radio Mara, Bandung, Radio Suara Irama Indah
Jakarta and Radio Delta FM, Jakarta.
When she married Rais Abin, then a soldier -- now a retired
lieutenant general, she traveled with him on his assignments to
various parts of the country. Later Abin became Indonesian
ambassador to Singapore and Malaysia, and commander of the United
Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Middle East, but all this
did not prevent Dewi from taking notes and writing poetry, as
well as short stories published under the name of Raisa.
Dewi has also published columns in newspapers Api Pancasila
and Pedoman, under the titles Asam Manis (Sour sweet) I and II,
and a novelette titled Teretsa dan Yang Tersisa (what remains).
Dewi said the time in the Middle East gave her an immense
sense of being part of history. During that time she also wrote
Catatan dari Sinai (Notes from Sinai) I and II.
She has been a member of the supervisory board of the Pusat
Dokumentasi Sastra HB Jassin since 2000.
Hati yang Manja is published by Penerbit Puisi Indonesi, with
an introduction by Sapardi Djoko Damono. It will be launched on
Tuesday May 3 at Galeri Cipta III, from 3:00 until 5:30 p.m. The
event is coordinated by Pusat Dokumentasi Sastra HB Jassin and
The Professionals.