Scholarships for 200 millionth citizen

JAKARTA (JP): Wahyu Nusantaraaji has got it made for life.

Named by President Soeharto as Indonesia's 200 millionth citizen, Wahyu, born on Lombok at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, is assured of scholarships for as long as he wants to study.

PT Pos Indonesia, the state-owned postal company, quickly adopted him as its son, and guaranteed his education.

Wahyu was selected yesterday from the 8,778 babies born in Indonesia Tuesday, the day the country's population officially reached the 200 million mark.

He is the second child of Achmad Riyadi, a 28-year-old businessman, and 26-year-old Rohana, who live in Jeru Waru village, Keruak District, East Lombok Regency, in West Nusa Tenggara province.

He was one of 81 entries submitted by the 27 provinces to the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) in Jakarta to be officially declared the 200th millionth citizen.

Other than details of his parents, he was anonymous when he was picked by the President yesterday morning.

Soeharto then name the infant.

Wahyu means revelation, Nusantara is another name for the Indonesian archipelago, and Aji means valuable.

His name means "a valuable revelation for Indonesia," BKKBN Chairman and State Minister of Population Haryono Suyono said after reporting to Soeharto at the Bina Graha presidential office.

"Be sure not to separate Nusantara and Aji," he added.

All 81 entrants fulfilled the criteria set by BKKBN. They include being a first or second-born child of a literate and legally married couple, and that the mother should have been no less than 20 years old at the time of marriage.

The choice of Wahyu was because West Nusa Tenggara was one of several provinces where the national family planning and national development programs had been particularly successful, Haryono said.

Haryono, who has been involved with the program since its launch in 1969, recalled the province had one of the highest infant mortality and post-natal mortality rates 28 years ago.

"Introducing family planning was very difficult then. Now things have changed.

"That's why the President said let's give it to West Nusa Tenggara," Haryono said.

Soeharto has also asked that every province, regency and mayoralty adopt one of the babies born in their areas Tuesday and provide them with scholarships, so "they will grow into quality children", the minister said.

The President will also award certificates to every baby born on Feb. 4, 1997.

News of the award was greeted with joy in Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara.

Sutrisno, head of the local BKKBN office, told Antara: "People have always turned a blind eye when looking at West Nusatenggara," Sutrisno said.

Now, this should change, he said.

Wahyu was born a healthy 3.9 kg baby, reflecting the prosperity of the province. Once a net importer of rice, West Nusa Tenggara now exports its rice surplus, he said.

He felt that the scholarships given to Wahyu were justifiable. "Since he was named by the President, we cannot let him become neglected and unschooled."

To mark the occasion yesterday, Haryono presented President Soeharto with a tiny computer, the size of a table clock, which monitors the Indonesian population.

"At the turn of midnight yesterday, the clock showed exactly 200,008,778, because 8,778 babies were born yesterday (Tuesday)," Haryono said. The figure has still to be adjusted to take into account the number of people who died Tuesday.

Haryono disclosed that to mark the occasion, his office planned to organize a seminar on rearing children, because the next generation would grow up in an environment completely different from that witnessed by previous children.

Today's children would live longer, to at least 70 years old, and they would become very much part of the global community, speaking not only one language, their local dialect, but also Indonesian, Malay, English and others, he said.

They would also be raised in a different social environment.

They would probably be raised in a family where both parents worked. If in the past children played with their siblings, today's children would play with their neighbors, who probably come from different ethnic groups.

Children would therefore learn about unity through diversity from childhood, he said. "That's the difference between Wahyu and Haryono when he was a child," Haryono quipped.

"Wahyu will speak the language of his neighbors, the language of tourists visiting West Nusa Tenggara. He will grow up to speak several languages, but he will also have greater tolerance toward ethnic and cultural differences," he said. (emb)

Editorial -- Page 4