NTT village subdued on Aug. 17 gala
Jemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kabuka
Preparations are being made nationwide as Indonesia's 60th Independence Day on August 17 draws near, with many people beginning to erect flags and banners in front of their homes. However, the annual festivities have little resonance in Kabuka hamlet, Kupang regency, a remote area on the border between Indonesia and East Timor.
In this area, some 200 kilometers north of Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara province, there is no sign that the celebration will be celebrated. No flags or banners are to be seen on the streets, and no sports competitions will be staged ahead of Independence Day.
The subdued mood is attributed to the remoteness of the area, which is located far away from Kupang, while the roads leading to it are so badly damaged that it can only be reached by motorcycle, and not by car.
The hamlet borders on Oecusi district in the neighboring country of East Timor. It has a population of some 200 people, whose homes are round in shape. The houses are made of wood, and it is common for the people to house their cattle inside their homes, leading to an unhealthy lifestyle. Each house is some 10 square meters in length. Electricity has not reached the area so the people use oil lamps.
The population rarely have contact with people from other areas. When The Jakarta Post came the area, both adults and children stared in curiosity.
Most of them do not wear shoes or sandals, and their clothes are dirty. Mucus was hanging from the noses of many of the children.
There are no radios or TVs in the hamlet so that the people there are completely cut off from what is happening in the world around them. They spend their days tending their cattle or tilling the land in their bare feet.
Some people cannot count. Sem Tanesib, 36, a resident, said that he was 21. However, when the Post asked him when was he born, he said "I was born in 1969."
Sem, a farmer, did not know who was the Kupang Regent, East Nusa Tenggara governor or even the president of this country. When asked who the Indonesian president is, some residents answered that Soeharto was the Indonesian president.
Others, like Philipus Naif, 69, even answered that the Indonesian president was Piet Tallo, who is in fact the current governor of East Nusa Tenggara province.
The hamlet is truly isolated. For those who wish to visit the area, they have to cross 156 unbridged dry rivers and pass through the mountains.
Given the remoteness of the area, it seems to have been forgotten by the government. Development never reaches the hamlet, leading to rampant poverty in the area.
This sad situation is one of many ironies in this country, which will celebrate its 60th independence anniversary next week. It should send a signal to the country's leaders that although independence has been formally established and celebrated for 60 years, many people are still weighed down by the chains of poverty.