Fighting on behalf of the poor

Fighting on behalf of the poor

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Architect Johan Silas received a steady stream of congratulatory
messages over his cell phone and by e-mail from relatives and
colleagues at home and abroad, after he was conferred the Habitat
Scroll of Honor 2005 by United Nations Habitat, an international
institution involved in human settlement programs.

Johan, a professor at the school of civil and design
engineering at the 10 November Technological Institute in
Surabaya, was honored for his activities in providing the poor
with decent housing.

Since 1989 only three individual Indonesians and one
Indonesian institution have received this citation. In addition
to Johan, former minister for public works Radinal Mochtar
received the citation in 1997, the late Sumatra governor Tengku
Rizal Nurdin in 2005 and state Bank Tabungan Negara in 1994.

The institute's rector, Mohammad Nuh, called Johan to
congratulate him, saying his achievement would also raise the
profile of the institute in the international arena. He said the
citation was the first of its kind received by a researcher or
lecturer at the institute, the largest university in East Java.

"It came as a surprise to me to learn that I had been awarded
this prestigious citation. Thousands of electronic letters
crowded my e-mail in-box," Johan, who was born in Samarinda on
May 24, 1936, told The Jakarta Post last week.

Johan was also the recipient of the 1991 Japan Housing
Association IYSH Matsushita Prize.

Among his e-mails were several from research institutions
dealing with issues of human settlement and housing in Indonesia,
asking him to take part in their studies.

All this e-mail clutter has been a bit of a problem for Johan,
who relies on e-mail to answer his students' questions and to
send them needed material.

"I have a lot of students and they need speedy responses. When
I am abroad I often have to rush to a post office or a
telecommunications stall just to respond to my students'
letters," said Johan, a 1963 architecture graduate of the Bandung
Institute of Technology and a frequent speaker and guest lecturer
at universities in Asia and Europe.

Before e-mail became widespread in Indonesia, Silas
corresponded with his students by post.

Since 1998, however, Johan has relied almost exclusively on e-
mail to communicate with his students.

That same year, while a speaker at Japan's Kyoto University,
he had to deliver his speech while at the same time sending
material to his students who were engaged in their final
assignment.

"So while I was talking, I kept my laptop computer on. Every
time I could find a few minutes to write, I would write and then
send the message to my students. I do not want any of my students
to be put at a disadvantage because of my busy schedule," said
Johan, a recipient of the Development Medal of Merit from the
president of Indonesia.

For his students, Johan is a teacher who will always give them
his best. There are not many lecturers like him. However busy he
is, he always finds time for his students.

'People's architect'

Johan is an architect who has always fought for the poor's
right to decent housing. There have probably been only two other
architects in Indonesia who could be compared to Johan: the late
Romo YB Mangunwijaya and Hasan Poerbo. All three were advocates
of community-based development.

While the late Romo YB Mangunwijaya fought for decent housing
for the poor in Yogyakarta, Johan has been fighting for decent
homes for the poor in Surabaya.

Surabaya, he said, was experiencing very rapid development.
Imposing shopping centers, tall office buildings and luxury
housing compounds have sprung up across the city. These
facilities, however, are enjoyed only by the upper class. The
poor are usually denied access to all of these facilities.

The poor, he noted, are unable to secure decent homes that
meets environmental and health standards because land and houses
in Surabaya are too expensive. So the poor end up in slum areas,
their houses causing many urban problems, one of which is
flooding.

"I like antiques and I often walk in and out of small villages
to look for them. Every time I come to a small village, I am
stunned by what I see. The houses there are far from meeting the
standards of decent homes," said Johan, who is also a member of
the advisory board of Environment & Urbanization, a magazine
published in London.

He said the international community, including Indonesia, had
accepted the results of the 2nd Habitat Summit held in Istanbul
on June 6, 1996, which came up with two main points in its
Habitat Agenda, namely adequate housing for all and sustainable
human settlement development in an urbanizing world.

A recipient of 1993 ASEAN Institute Achievement Award, Johan
often lashes out at the municipal administration for its lack of
a clear urban planning concept in its policies.

While on the one hand the government is trying to establish a
beautiful and comfortable urban area for its residents, it fails
on the other to implement the principles of sustainable
settlement development.

Johan has offered several concepts of decent human settlements
to the Surabaya municipal administration. On May 10, 1993, the
administration asked him to draw up plans for the construction of
the Sewa Sombo apartments in Surabaya. He has been involved in
many other apartment projects, and in designing relocation houses
for residents moved from their settlements along riverbanks in
the city.

"Apartments are low-cost houses for the poor. When an
apartment compound is designed using environmentally friendly
principles, those living there can enjoy urban facilities," he
noted.

Aside from being involved in resettlement programs in
Surabaya, Johan is also involved in a number of other projects
such as redesigning rural areas in Paiton, Kraksaan and Dringu
districts in Probolinggo regency, managing coastal areas in
Probolinggo, developing a tourism resort in Blitar, drawing up
models for urban housing in Jakarta, and participating in the
planning of eco-houses and eco-settlements at Japan's Kyoto
University.

At present, he is engaged in a housing construction project
for the victims of the tsunami in Aceh. Under this project, using
funds from the Asian Development Bank, some 14,000 houses will be
built in Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar and Sabang.

"Being awarded a citation is a great responsibility. I still
have a lot of things to do in Surabaya. What I have longed for
throughout my life is the construction of decent homes for the
poor," said Johan, who was awarded The Aga Khan Award for
Architecture in 1986 and the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et
Lettres in 1989 by the French government.