HM Sampoerna launches Pasuruan folklore anthology
The regency of Pasuruan, East Java, and one of the country’s major cigarette producers, HM Sampoerna, launched on Dec. 4 an anthology of Pasuruan folklore penned by local high school students.
The book launch was part of a story composition workshop and a Pasuruan folklore-writing contest sponsored by HM Sampoerna, which were held as part of its efforts to support education and the preservation of local cultures.
Ida Rochmawati, 30, a volunteer librarian at the Pasuruan Library, perused the collection of indigenous folktales, Singgasana Raja Bergoyang (Unsteady throne) by Dinillah Arifah and fellow students, during a break at the book launch.
“It’s interesting because only a few books on regional folklore have been published, let alone by student authors,” she said.
As a volunteer who has served the regental library for three years, the lecturer at Surabaya’s Sunan Ampel Institute for Islamic Studies spoke of the difficulties she encountered in maintaining a local public library. Apart from the need to inform local people of the importance of reading, operational funds for procuring books are very limited.
“I have to go to villages to show books to children while they are playing and tell them stories. Now many of them come to the library to read books,” said Ida. She added that the kids would get bored once in a while due to the absence of new titles in the stacks.
Undaunted, Ida has initiated free Internet training for children to make them stay longer at the library. Her idea is working: Instead of leaving after reading books, the youngsters surf the Net under Ida’s guidance.
Dinillah, one of the winners of the Sampoerna folklore-writing competition, is among those students who spend a lot of time browsing sources of myths for her stories, particularly legends connected with the history of Pasuruan.
In her tale, the 12th grader at Madrasah Aliyah high school in Al-Yasini of Areng-Areng Wonorejo, Pasuruan, relates the struggles of Mbah Sholeh Semendi in spreading Islamic teachings in Pasuruan — the title story. Mbah Sholeh, who had supernatural powers, strived to convert a local king who was known for his invincibility.
One day, a skin disease plagued the Pasuruan kingdom and afflicted the entire population, including the princess. The king held a contest for curing his daughter and subjects, which Mbah Sholeh won. After they were healed, most of the people converted to Islam. The king, however, rejected the faith until Mbah Sholeh defeated him in a fight. Today, the heroine’s tomb is a place of pilgrimage.
Ahmad Alfan, another contest winner, contributed Perjuangan Untung Suropati, about the struggle of Untung Suropati against the Dutch and the historical origin of the name “Pasuruan”.
Using guerrilla tactics in the forest, Untung Suropati remained undefeated. The Dutch troops in Pasuruan scattered coins in the forest in an attempt to overcome the guerrilla warfare — they hoped to provoke locals to cut down the trees in trying to find the money. The area was thus dubbed pasar uang (literally, money market), which later became shortened to Pasuruan.
Pasuruan Regent Jusbakir Aldjufri hoped that, with the launch of Singgasana Raja Bergoyang, the local people’s interest in reading and writing would grow, and their love of national culture could be fostered.
“In addition, the library collection is expected to expand. Pasuruan regency is endeavoring to develop its library by expanding its collection and facilities, as this institution is very important to nation building,” he said.
The folklore anthology, written mostly by Pasuruan high school students, has already been distributed to a number of public libraries in East Java.
Dinillah said she was happy that the book was being read by the greater public.
“Many of my friends are fond of writing, but simply don’t know how to get published,” she said, adding that she hoped that government as well as private circles would continue to support young Indonesian writers.
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Pasuruan, E. Java
Source: The Jakarta Post
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