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.