Handicap drives Paulus' spirit

Handicap drives Paulus' spirit

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Meteorologist Paulus Agus Winarso remembers well his unhappy
childhood. He can't forget how his friends mocked him because he
could not ride a bicycle due to his physical handicap, and told
him he would never study in a university because his parents were
poor.

The bitter childhood, however, did not make Paulus desperate
nor make him feel inferior. Instead, it made him want to prove
to them that the disability in his legs did not prevent him from
moving forward.

He does admit, however, that his friends' comments were partly
right.

Because of financial constraints, his father, a low-level
employee at state telecommunication company PT Telkom, did not
encourage him to study at university. Like his eight brothers and
sisters, Paulus was told to study at a vocational school with the
hope that he would immediately find a job upon graduation.

Paulus finally managed to study at a senior high school
because a senior agricultural school refused to accept him as a
student. He was told that his physical restrictions would not
allow him to have a career as a graduate of the vocational
school.

In his heart, the rejection made Paulus happy as he thought
that he would still have an opportunity to realize his dream to
become a doctor. He was confident that he could follow the
lectures at medical school, as he always excelled in Mathematics
and Physics.

After finishing his studies at senior high school, however, he
began accepting the reality that his father, Yosef Sidik
Sastromihardjo, now deceased, and his mother, Maria Miasih, 82,
really could not afford the university fees. Paulus thus applied
for a scholarship from PT Telkom, which provides an educational
opportunity to employee candidates to study at their
telecommunication academy for three years.

Paulus passed all the entry tests, but he was disqualified
because of his disability. Paulus himself does not know what
caused his disability, which makes him unable to walk normally.

"Maybe it was because of polio or bone tuberculosis which I
suffered when I was 10 years old," he said.

He did not lose hope. Instead, he applied for another
scholarship at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG), and
again passed the tests easily.

Once again, his disability almost cost him his chance, but
fortunately, an executive at BMG recognized Paulus's potential.

He was finally admitted to the Meteorology and Geophysics
Academy, which is now under the control of the transportation
ministry.

"I felt like I had won millions of rupiah in a lottery when I
was finally accepted by the academy, because theoretically, it
was unlikely that a disabled person would be given such an
opportunity," he said.

After finishing his studies in 1977, he was sent to work as a
weather forecaster at an airport in the South Sulawesi capital of
Makassar, called Ujung Pandang at the time. It was in Ujung
Pandang that he began to love meteorological work, which he found
challenging.

Paulus said that Ujung Pandang often had bad weather, which
could disrupt flight schedules, so his job was to make
recommendations as to when the flights could resume operations.

In 1980, he received a scholarship from the Ministry of
Transportation to study at the University of Indonesia (UI), and
in 1983, obtained a Bachelor of Science in Physics. Afterwards,
he was assigned to BMG headquarters in Jakarta as a national
weather forecaster.

In 1986, he had another opportunity to study, this time at the
University of the Philippines, and achieved his doctorate in
Meteorology and Oceanography Models from the Department of
Meteorology and Oceanography.

Paulus, one of three meteorologists in the country who holds a
Ph.D., is among the many scholars who are not happy with the
government's view on professionalism. He said the government
lacks commitment to research, with no agency to give serious
attention to research.

For example, he said that it is difficult to obtain financial
support to conduct research on meteorology and climatology,
although it is vital to several important industry sectors such
as agriculture, commercial plantations, and fishery.

When Paulus finally resigned from his position as chief of the
forecasting and service division at BMG last year, it was also
because of his disappointment over the lack of professionalism in
the agency.

"When I returned from the Philippines in 1990, I hoped that I
could develop my knowledge here, but now I realize that there are
only a few people who respect expertise," said Paulus, who is now
an adviser to the BMG chief.

He also holds several other positions aside from his advisory
role at BMG: as program officer of the Project on Stabilizing
Green House Gases in the Atmosphere under the Ministry of
Environment, and as a member of Indonesia's National Research
Council. He also teaches at several universities and institutes,
including UI, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the
Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), and Gadjah Mada University
(UGM) in Yogyakarta.

Paulus's role model is his father, whom he remembers as a
disciplined man who always expected the same from his children.
It was his father who always encouraged him to do the best, to
pursue the best for himself. His father also taught him not to
forget to pray to God, as everything depended on His will.

Paulus, who has three children, is now happy that many people
are aware about the importance of meteorology, but he still
dreams that in future, BMG will become a respected agency with a
sophisticated research center, with the capacity to provide
research data and information for developers in various sectors.

"However, I doubt that my dream will come true in the near
future, as professionalism still has no place in most government
agencies," he added.