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TMII to present Lampung arts
The Lampung Province pavilion at the Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature Park (TMII) in East Jakarta will present in June a live demonstration of a traditional elopement, the project leader of Lampung's art office, Sanusi Asyma, announced on Saturday.
Every year TMII presents a series of special packages featuring traditional ceremonies from the country's 27 provinces. This year, it is the turn of Lampung province to perform, Sanusi said.
The tradition, called sebambangan, involves eloping couples and some close relatives.
Upon abducting the bride, the groom is required by tradition to leave tenepik, a sum of money, and a letter of apology to her parents for taking away their daughter without consent.
The family of the bride is then reconciled with the family of the groom, during a ritual in which the tribal head of the man's family is required to submit the clan's apologies to the tribal head of the girl's family and to present him a kris, or spear and a sum of money as a bride price and a sign of remorse.
The couple then goes to the bride's parents to pay homage and the wedding banquet is finally held at the house of the bridegroom. (06)
Crystal exhibition at Enteos Club
The Enteos Bankers and Industrialists Social Club will hold an exhibition of crystal artworks from April 27 to May 11 at the Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) Tower on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, the club's director, Ghafur Fadyl, announced over the weekend.
The exhibition, entitled The Fantasy of Italian Masters' Creation, will display more than 150 pieces of gold-blended and colored crystal works of two noted Italian masters, A. Zanelli and Mario Badioli.
The pieces include 12 animal sculptures, featuring the images of the Chinese zodiac.
According to Ghafur, prices for objects in the show range from Rp 500,000 (US$232) to Rp 40 million (US$18,600).
Coordinating Minister of Security and Political Affairs Soesilo Soedarman, who is a member of the club's board of governors, will act as the host of the exhibition. (06)
New tabloid for Teenagers
A new tabloid for teenagers, Karina, will enter the market at the beginning of next month, the tabloid's adviser, Lukman Umar announced over the weekend.
The 32-page tabloid, which used to be a supplement of the Kartini women's magazine, will cost Rp 1,000 (48 US cents) each.
The first edition will total 150,000 papers.
Lukman said that for the first three months, the publication will still be in its trial period, while its real launching is scheduled to take place on Aug. 17.
"I hope it will reach a break-even point in a year," Lukman, who is also publisher of Kartini magazine, said, adding that he had bought a special printing machine for this tabloid.
Lukman said the publisher will also set up a youth creativity foundation to assist potential elementary school graduates whose parents cannot afford their schooling.
The publisher will put aside Rp 50 of the price of every tabloid sold, to be donated to the foundation.
The tabloid's editor-in-chief Syarifuddin, its general manager Fachruddin Yahya and managing editor Herna Soe were present during the announcement of its publication. (06)
11-year-old servant beaten by employer
While the case of Sugirah, a house maid allegedly disabled by her boss, is still dangling, another servant, Sumiyati, is reported to have received similar treatment from her boss, a Mrs. Aing, in Wijaya Kusuma district, West Jakarta.
"Since I worked there in August 1993, I have been continually beaten by Mrs. Aing. I wanted to scream because of the pain, but she threatened me not to. She said she was fed up with me and if I dare to cry out, she would beat me even more," Sumiyati was quoted by the Bisnis Indonesia daily newspaper as saying on Saturday.
Because of the physical abuse, the 11-year old girl from Cianjur, West Java, bears bruises on several parts of her body and some scars on her face.
Her employer's neighbors said they did not realize the servant was being mistreated because she was never allowed to leave the house.
When Sumiyati was finally sent out, to buy flowers, the flower seller noticed that her face was swollen and asked her what had happened.
Sumyiati began to weep and told the florist everything that her boss had done to her.
The flower seller then took Sumiyati to officials at the Wijaya Kusuma district office. From here Sumiyati was sent to Tanjung Duren police office for further questioning.
The police then went to the employer's house with Sumiyati only to find that Mrs. Aing was not at home.
The police took the broken handle of broom and a broken glass which the maid said were used by Mrs. Aing to punish her. (06)