Guess What? Koos Arumdanie

Collector of traditional Indonesian textiles Koos Arumdanie couldn't hide her disappointment upon seeing that the Borobudur Inter-Continental Hotel's Flores room -- where a one-day seminar on Indonesian traditional woven cloths was held on Thursday -- was almost empty. Not more than 50 people occupied the room which has a seating capacity of 500.

Koos, who is also general manager of the Rumah Indonesia traditional handicraft center in South Jakarta, complained that many Indonesians currently do not appreciate their own culture. "Now, the traditional woven cloth industry is dying. Other countries' traditional cloths like Thai silk are starting to enter our market. And if we want to study our own traditional textiles, we have to go abroad."

She said the seminar could have offered a good occasion where government officials could speak directly with traditional weavers.

However, neither the minister of industry nor the minister of cooperatives, who were scheduled to give talks, showed up at the seminar.(als)