White, red, yellow, purple, whatever band you fancy
White, red, yellow, purple, whatever band you fancy
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Everybody is wearing one, or more, these days.
John Kerry opts for yellow, Bono and Nelson Mandela wear
white, David Beckham picks blue while Thierry Henry and
Ronaldinho wear black and white ones.
Rubber wristbands are the latest way to show your allegiance
to a cause, from raising cancer awareness to poverty eradication.
Friday marked the first global white band day drive launched
by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty initiated by Mandela
and Bono.
The first person to introduce a wristband that stood for a
cause was probably American cyclist and six-time winner of the
Tour de France Lance Armstrong.
Recovered from testicular cancer, Armstrong then launched the
Wear Yellow campaign to raise awareness about cancer. So far, 40
million yellow bands have been sold in the campaign.
In Indonesia, where people have always been quick to copy the
latest global trends, colorful wristbands are worn by
celebrities, activists, economists and Cabinet ministers.
Yudhistira Juwono of the Tunas Cendekia Foundation for poor
children, who first initiated the wear-a-band movement here, said
that over 39,000 red bands have been sold since the campaign
began in February.
With Solidaritas Kebersamaan (Togetherness Solidarity) written
on it, the band aims to raise funds for the children of tsunami-
stricken Aceh and victims of the Nias quake.
The donations have been used in part to buy vans for mobile
libraries and to buy school equipment for children in the
disaster areas.
"More and more people, including Indonesians living abroad,
are buying the bands, which is great. We are calling for more
people to wear them to spread awareness," Yudhistira said, adding
that the band can be purchased through the website
www.tunascendekia.org for Rp 10,000 (about $1) each.
Tri, 31, from the East Java city of Malang, said he bought a
band after he saw people from Jakarta wearing it.
The Jantung Indonesia Foundation for Cardiology, meanwhile,
uses a blue band with I My Heart. Let It Beat. written on it.
Author and fashion editor Syahmedi Dean said that one of his
friends has started to sell bands with an Islamic prayer on it,
such as Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God) and
Astaghfirullahaladzim (God Have Mercy).
"But she forgot to scrape off the 'Made In China' writing on
the back of the band," he said, laughing.
Sports companies are following the trend by producing bands
with Nike, Adidas and Giordano logos. These won't save anything,
not even -- as some may argue -- your fashion sense.
Standard Chartered Bank, meanwhile, gives out green band to
all of its employees and street vendors now are selling bands of
all colors for profit.
Whether the bands will last or merely a trend remains to be
seen. "It's been over a year since Lance Armstrong started it. I
guess it has some time left yet," Yudhistira said.