JP/4/Earth

JP/4/Earth

Mother earth

Marianne Katoppo
Contributor/Jakarta

In Scandinavia, every day of the year has a name. This custom
is probably derived from the medieval saints' calendar which has
persisted until modern times. It is imperative that a good
newspaper duly report the times of sunrise and sunset, and the
name of the day.

For example, April 30 is "Mariana", and when I lived in Sweden
friends used to call or send cards or sweets on that day.
(Unfortunately, it is also the notorious Walpurgis Eve, when
witches are supposed to come together and do all kinds of weird
and wacky things that only witches know how to do.)

On Mariana you were, of course, supposed to return the
courtesy. It lent a certain charm and warmth to an extremely
modern and well-organized society: the days had names, they were
not just months and numbers.

Our modern calendars are beginning to look like the
Scandinavian one. Globalized "Days of Whatever" are becoming more
numerous. AIDS, Human Rights, World Health, Food, No Smoking,
Flora and Fauna, Water, to name a few. And now Earth Day is
coming up.

Of course it's only fair that the Earth should get her very
own day. The week is already dedicated to the Sun, the Moon,
Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn (although in English and
the Nordic languages, the deities are Tyr, Wodan, Thor, Freya and
Loki). Where would we be if there were no Earth?

Gaia, the Blue Planet, Mother Earth are some of the names we
have given to our abode. Mother Earth (in Indonesian, Ibu
Pertiwi) is perhaps the most common.

Indeed, Earth is our mother who carries us, nurtures us and
keeps us safe. But how do we treat her? The so-called primitive
slash-and-burn cultures acted out of respect for Earth. Rather
than cut her with plows, they slashed and burned the vegetation,
moving periodically to avoid exhausting the land.

In ancient times, conquering armies used to burn the fields,
then plow the land with salt to ensure that nothing would grow
there again. There are numerous Biblical references to this.

In not so ancient times it was reported that the Garden
Festival could finally be held near Newcastle in England, a
region that had been so polluted for years that nothing would
grow on it. Instead of coals, the Brits carried tons of fertile
soil to Newcastle to spread over the desolate land.

Japan was once extolled by the poets as mizuho no kuni Yamato,
the blessed isles of Great Peace, with crystal clear waters and
rolling fields. This was 1500 years ago, in the time of the great
Kobo Daishi.

Industrial pollution turned some of those crystal clear waters
into poison from which no living creature was safe. Minamata and
the itai, itai disease became infamous all over the world.

In his great epic Desavarnanna, which became widely known
under the name Nagarakrtagama, the 14th century poet Prapanca
sang the praises of the deep forests and the fertile fields of
Java, replete with game and wild life.

I don't even know if there are any Javanese tigers left.
Twenty years ago there were only six, and there have been too
many reports of foreign tourists trying to smuggle tiger skins
out of the country.

As for the fertile fields, well, when you next drive out of
Jakarta or some other city on Java, see just how many fertile
fields you can spot.

In my home province of Northern Sulawesi, the legend tells us
that Lumimu'ut, Mother of all Minahassans, told the earth to keep
still, stop quaking, so that her children could till the land and
grow their crops. Apparently at the time there were even more
tremors than now. But the land was fertile and the waters were
clear.

Having arrived at the 21st century, Minahassa now boasts Buyat
Bay, with levels of mercury and arsenic poisoning that may set
new records. Besides Buyat Bay, there are all those unnamed and
unlisted illegal gold mines across the county that are also
poisoning the earth, and whose effects are not yet disclosed.

Natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis are also
ravaging the earth. Apart from those, every so often we hear
about landslides, which really could have been prevented but
weren't, thus resulting in more death and devastation.

Consider the garbage avalanche near Bandung, that glorious
city of Asian-African import. Perhaps we should ask the delegates
to the Summit to observe a few moments of silence for all those
unfortunate people who died in that avalanche. Or aren't they
supposed to know about it? Rather too much to sweep under the
carpet.

As long ago as 2002 the garbage heap was rated dangerous and
requests were made to have it removed. However, "there was no
funding for this, so it was indefinitely postponed."

I was somewhat puzzled by this. No funding, when a major
prestigious conference was about to be hosted in Bandung? Who
likes to receive guests in a filthy house?

Poor Mother Earth, your children do not treat you well.
Earthquakes and tremors are an almost daily occurrence in some
parts of the country these days, and 11 volcanoes (including the
Lokon on whose slopes I was born) are reported active.

Perhaps you are trying to tell us something, Mother Dear?