Multicultural program for children launched
Multicultural program for children launched
JAKARTA (JP): Bartol and Sam, both 12 years old, are children
of Kanum ethnic group living around Rawa Biru (Blue Swamp) in
Merauke, Irian Jaya.
One day, while fishing at the swamp, they accidentally crossed
an area known as Sasi.
Sasi is a Kanum tribal mourning tradition signified by
plunging a marker in the swamp around which people are forbidden
to fish for two to three years.
The boys got frightened as local lore has it that those who
break Sasi law will be punished, or worse, be haunted by the
monster Meriyam.
The dispute was resolved after Sam's family apologized to
the mourning family.
That was the script of one of the shows for a new children's
television series titled Pustaka Anak Nusantara (Indonesian
Children's Book) which will be aired on private TV station SCTV
and state-owned TVRI starting on Sunday.
The show, produced by the Visi Anak Bangsa working group
(KKVAB), is meant to be a peek into the daily lives of children
from different ethnic groups across the country.
"It's part of our multicultural campaign program. It's aimed
at showing our children how rich our country is," noted film
director Garin Nugroho who also a member of KKVAB told
journalists at the official launch of the program at Taman Mini
Indonesia Indah (TMII) on Monday.
Beside the television series, Garin said, they would also
publish a cultural encyclopedia and video compact disc.
"Many children don't know what their peers are doing in
different provinces. So through this program, children will
hopefully understand different cultures, respect them and finally
be proud of their country," he said.
This is especially relevant at this juncture when this country
is threatened by disintegration, he added.
The program was officially launched by Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri who was accompanied by Minister of National
Education Yahya Muhaimin and Minister of Culture and Tourism I
Gde Ardika.
Some 200 school children also came to the launching to watch
the preview of the television series.
According to Garin, there will be 32 episodes in line with the
number of provinces in Indonesia.
"We've been doing this for seven months. So far, there are
only 15 episodes that have been finished," he said, adding that
there are some 150 people involved in the project.
According to Garin the project is being funded by food
producer Indofood, with a production cost of around Rp 175
million (US$18,420) per episode.
KKVAB has been active in a campaign of civic education. They
have produced non-commercial public service advertisements
including for the 1999 election.
They also have produced a similar television series Anak
Seribu Pulau (Children of Thousand Islands) in 1996 which was
simultaneously aired on all television channels.
"Now, we only chose two stations because I think people have a
right to decide what show they wish to see," Garin said.
He added that foreign countries have shown a strong interest
in Indonesian children's shows.
"Singapore and Australian TV stations have bought the Anak
Seribu Pulau series. Therefore, we want to be more active in
distributing this program including asking the Minister of
National Education to distribute the VCD and encyclopedia to
schools all over the country," Garin said.
Children who saw the preview of the new series seemed ecstatic
about the show.
Kiki, 9, looked very sad when Sam was ostracized by Bartol and
one of the members of the mourning family.
"Poor him, but I like the show," he said.
Meanwhile, Alif, 5, seemed so happy with the adventures of
Bartol and Sam that he laughed, shouted and clapped during the
preview.
"Mama, how come we've never been to Irian?" he asked his
mother who sat beside him.
"It's very far, honey," she said.
"But we've been abroad!," said the Al Azhar kindergarten
student.
There was no reply from his mother.(hdn)