Archive for April, 2008
Indra Harsaputra , The Jakarta Post , Malang
Mount Kawi, a major tourist destination near Malang city in East Java, is renowned for attracting fortune seekers.
People visit Mount Kawi to ask for blessings and wish for many different things — a successful business, to meet their life partner or for a good career. It is even common to see ambitious politicians who wish to obtain a high-ranking position hold hajatan (a prayer ritual) at Mount Kawi while offering gifts.
Chinese descendants who live in the East Java town of Kediri, for instance, believe a visit to Mount Kawi, which is located in Wonosari village, will bring good fortune to their business.
Ong Hok Liong, the late founder of the Bentoel cigarette factory in Malang, was reportedly among the frequent visitors to the location, arriving with his wife Liem Kiem Kwie Nio to meditate at the two sacred graves of Mbah Jugo and Mbah Imam Sujono on Mount Kawi’s slopes.
Mbah Jugo and Mbah Imam Sujono were two of the 75 followers of Prince Diponegoro who fled to Malang after the prince’s arrest.
When they were in Malang, which at the time still belonged to Pasuruan Residency, Mbah Jugo and Mbah Imam Sujono together with their colleagues worked to spread Islam.
But there are no clear details to explain why these two graves have become very special; many other graves of important people who worked to spread Islam can be found in East Java.
According to various sources, Ong, for instance, believed he had to carry out rituals at both graves to bring blessings to the cigarette business he pioneered.
Ong had previously failed to market his company’s cigarettes, even after using several brand names, like Boeroeng, Kelabang, Kendang, Toerki and Djeroek Manis.
One night after he had carried out the ritual at Mount Kawi, Ong dreamed of large bentoel (aroid) roots.
When he woke up, he told the caretaker of the graves; on his suggestion, Ong changed the name of his product to Bentoel. In 1947, the Bentoel cigarette factory became extremely successful.
“Ong, when his business became successful, built facilities at Mount Kawi and sponsored puppet performances,” said Munaji, a local tour guide.
Munaji, 40, who grew up in the area, said he learned the details of the rituals performed at Mount Kawi from the time he was still a child.
He said on the first Friday of the five-day week on the Javanese calendar, hotel prices and parking fees at Mount Kawi increased to ten times the price on regular days.
The high prices, however, failed to discourage visitors, he said, and the site continues to be as crowded as ever.
“The residents at Mount Kawi depend on the mountain for an income. The people live adequately and can even become rich from selling goods and providing services to visitors,” Munaji said.
He added those who didn’t have money to open a business usually became tour guides.
Rubaidah, 56, a kitchen staff member who cooks for big ceremonies to inaugurate special events, says she feels blessed on the first Friday night of the Javanese calendar and on other big days.
“The prices increase 70 percent on those Fridays compared to a standard week day,” said the woman who has worked on Mount Kawi for ten years.
Mount Kawi is also a melting pot of Chinese and Javanese cultures.
Before selling incense sticks to be used in prayer rituals, Sukirman, 50, changed into Javanese attire, then ran to serve a visitor planning to pray in an open-sided Javanese meeting hall.
“Most of the employees who work here are obliged to use Javanese dress,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Sukirman has been working at Mount Kawi for almost 20 years and said he was happy to serve visitors to the area.
He added that he not only received a salary from the site’s management, but also received many tips from visitors wanting to show their gratitude for the services he provided.
Sukirman also has the job of ensuring that the flames of ten giant candles never go out. The price of one candle can range from Rp 35 million (US$3,760) to Rp 40 million. The candles represent the businesses of those who purchased them — if the flame goes out, it is considered a sign that the business will fail.
If a candle burns for a year and the wick is almost at its end, Sukirman contacts the owner of the candle to change it. Some owners come to replace their candles, while others who can’t make the journey send money to Sukirman and ask him to change the candle for them.
The mixture of Chinese and Javanese cultures can be seen when visitors enter the ritual site on Mount Kawi; the large gate, for example, has a Chinese architecture style but contains Javanese inscriptions.
The mix of cultures can also be seen in the prayer hall; a building designed as a traditional Javanese-style open hall, but full of objects from China, such as lanterns and displays of Chinese calligraphy.
“We do not discriminate people on their race. Both Javanese and Chinese visitors are the same since they come to pray,” Sukirman said.
Source: The Jakarta Post
April 21st, 2008
Retno K. Djojo, Contributor, Mojokerto
Trowulan, located some 12 kilometers south of Mojokerto regency in East Java, has long been known as a historical site.
The Hindu and Buddhist-influenced temples that dot the area are evidence of a rich cultural heritage, which also includes ceramic pieces, bronze and silver art and stone carvings.
But the few craftsmen still engaged in creating works of art with religious themes are diminishing, and the few still holding on to their profession are finding it harder to preserve the ancient art they inherited from their ancestors.
Bejijong, a hamlet in Trowulan subdistrict, is known as a center for bronze and silverware — but looking for a craftsman’s workshop in this sleepy little hamlet is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Arif, a man hard to track down, is the owner of a workshop specializing in bronze, gold and silverware in the hamlet.
“Bronze smithing has become somewhat of a dying art in Bejijong,” said Arif, who inherited a workshop from his late father, adding he had struggled to keep the business afloat.
Arif, who is a teacher by training, said he felt obliged to continue on with the craft; a cultural inheritance that originated from way down the family line.
Leading the way to a workshop at the back of his home surrounded by a spacious yard, he explained that before the economic crises of 1998, there were some 10 silversmiths in the area.
But with a decline in the demand for bronze and silver works of art, they had all closed down business: Arif’s workshop is the last one standing.
Back in the days when his father was still running the business, the workshop employed some 20 craftsmen. But ongoing economic pressures forced the majority of craftsmen to look for work elsewhere.
For more than 25 years, Arif’s workshop has produced Buddha heads, temple bells, miniature temples and figurines of Hindu gods. Art traders sell the handicrafts produced to tourists visiting the temples in Trowulan.
Despite the misfortunes encountered, Arif said he vows to try as hard as he can to keep the business going, as he believes preserving the art will have its rewards.
In order to survive, he accepts orders placed by tourist centers in Bali and Jakarta.
Recent orders are mostly for pieces of art with classical European appeal: A smith at his workshop demonstrates his skill at shaping and welding a model of a Trojan horse.
It is astonishing to watch the smith at work producing an artwork of such refined quality, which originated from a foreign culture. A Trojan horse can fetch some Rp 170,000 (US$18) to Rp 200,000 a piece.
Aside from meeting orders from art dealers, Arif’s workshop continually produces artwork with tradition appeal. He keeps a collection of various models, like an owl paper-weight, and deer, turtle and beetle figurines.
Current economic pressure, he said, is a major threat to the existence of silver and bronze smithing, which previously offered a decent livelihood to quite a number of craftsmen in Bejijong.
Similar concerns have been expressed by a number of stone carvers in the area, who have complained of excessive levies incurred when sending consignments of statues to Bali.
It is not hard to find the workplace of those engaged in stone carving — one only needs to follow the tapping of hammer and chisel echoes along the main artery connecting Mojokerto to Jombang.
The rhythmic tapping sound guides the casual visitor to an empty plot of land where a group of craftsmen work under the shade of trees, giving shape to huge boulders using simple tools.
Their works of art, including ghost houses, Hindu and Buddhist statues as well as carvings for home decorations, lay scattered under the trees.
The craftsmen work together and seem to be able to coordinate their activities without too much conversation.
Despite a lack of formal education, the craftsmen’s skills are able to meet the demand of orders from several tourist centers.
“Craftsmen in Bali have their hands full with the huge demand from tourists there, so some of the orders are placed with stone carvers in Trowulan,” said one carver.
“We are also able to produce artwork with more modern themes, like home decorations with Hellenistic influences, statues for churches or crocodile statues like this one,” he said, pointing to a model of a crocodile some 1.5 meters in length.
Most of Trowulan’s stone carvings end up in Bali, where they are sold to buyers as far away as Australia, England and European countries.
Each of the eight craftsmen that work in Arif’s workshop earn some Rp 500,000 to Rp 800,000 a month.
Though Arif is eager to give the workers a raise, the heavy levies at the harbor in Bali drains the workshop’s income.
“It’s a pity the government does not appreciate our self-employment efforts,” he said. “Especially since economic woes still threaten our existence.”
Source: The Jakarta Post
April 21st, 2008
FOLLOWING his return from the Tour of East Java in Indonesia, Erik Hoffmann last weekend won his first race on German soil this season.
At the Tour of East Java Erik showed good form with a sixth place in the overall classification, a second place in the mountain classification and top ten finishes in the last three stages.
A third place in stage three was well deserved after a hard, hilly criterium.
The following day was characterised by a 30-kilometre climb, rising from sea level to 2000 metres, on which Hoffmann not only finished sixth, but also secured his second place in the “King of the Mountains” classification.
On the final day the Namibian proved that he can also sprint, when he was narrowly beaten in the dash for the line, finishing second.
A week later Hoffmann, again gave a good account of himself.
In Backnang, a city close to Stuttgart in Germany, the experience Hoffmann had gained, both at home and abroad, in recent years paid off.
“I race very differently these days,” he says and believes that this is improving his racing tactics considerably.
Rather than going with every attack in the early part of each race, he conserved his strength until the end.
With ten of the 34 laps remaining, he put the hammer down and only two competitors were able to hang on.
On the finishing straight he showed his sprinting ability again, leaving the other two no chance and winning comfortably.
Erik returns to Namibia next week for some altitude training and to prepare himself for more events in Asia and the Beijing Olympic Games.
Source: http://allafrica.com/
April 18th, 2008
SURABAYA - Alunan musik orkestra membius undangan di ruang Multifunction Hall Plaza Tunjungan tadi malam. Alunan musik klasik tersebut datang dari kelincahan jemari duet pianis asal Belanda, Wyneke Jordans dan Leo van Doeselaar.
Keduanya dengan kompak memainkan komposisi Tocatta en Fuga in D karya Johann Sebastian Bach dengan satu piano dalam Resital Piano Amsterdam Duo.
Komposisi karya musisi ternama dari segala zaman tersebut mengalun indah dan menakjubkan sekitar 350 undangan. Konser piano duet itu dibuka oleh komposisi milik Johann Sebastian Bach. Kemudian, nuansa rancak menyapa dalam komposisi Rondo in A, op 17 karya Franz Schubert. Berturut-berturut, duo pianis tersebut memainkan komposisi Uit Traumblatter (Robert Nasveld), 3 Legenden, op 59 (Antonin Dvorak), Uit L’Enfant et Les Sortileges (Maurice Ravel), Uit “Façade” (William Walton), hingga Rhapsody in Blue (George Gershwin).
Permainan piano dari deret komposisi tersebut merupakan gabungan nuansa zaman baroque hingga modern. Misalnya, komposisi 3 Legenden, op 59 yang dimainkan dengan tempo agak cepat, sedang, dan cepat tersebut merupakan komposisi zaman romantik. Dari masa modern, duet pianis yang sudah memiliki nama di belantika musik Eropa tersebut memainkan karya George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue, yang mengalun ringan, namun rancak.
Di antara sekian komposisi yang dimainkan, Wyneke Jordans dan Leo van Doeselaar memiliki komposisi yang spesial, yaitu karya Robert Nasveld bertajuk Uit “Traumblatter”. “Komposisi tersebut khusus diciptakan Nasveld buat kami berdua,” ujar Wyneke.
Sebelum mengadakan konser, keduanya sempat memberikan masterclass di Sekolah Musik Irama Mas. Layaknya duo pianis tersebut, yang menghadiri kelas tersebut kebanyakan adalah pianis yang bermain berpasangan dalam satu piano.
Salah satunya adalah kakak-beradik Juliana Njoviana dan Jenny Njoviana. Dua guru privat piano itu mengaku puas dengan pengajaran singkat oleh duo pianis tersebut. “Kami jadi mendapat ide-ide baru sekaligus belajar menempatkan feel yang cocok ketika memainkan sebuah komposisi,” ungkap Juliana diiringi anggukan adiknya, Jenny. (ken/nw)
Source: Jawa Pos Online
April 18th, 2008
Gaun-gaun rancangan desainer Australia ditampilkan di acara fashion show Velvet Boutique kemarin (16/4). Dalam acara yang berlangsung di Palace Room, Waterfront, itu, sebagian besar gaun yang ditampilkan adalah koleksi musim panas dan semi. Menurut Yana Handali, pemilik Velvet, selama ini tidak banyak butik yang memajang koleksi perancang Australia. Alasannya, nama sang desainer belum seterkenal perancang dari AS atau Eropa. (ken/ayi)
Source: Jawa Pos Online
April 17th, 2008
Surabaya - Surya-Semangat pembenahan bangunan bersejarah mulai digagas dengan rencana mengembalikan seluruh wajah bangunan lawas di Jl Tunjungan yang saat ini rusak. Pemkot segera meminta seluruh penghuni pertokoan di Jl Tunjungan mengembalikan wajah bangunan cukup dengan membuka seng penutup di depan bangunan.
Karena, selama ini wajah bangunan di Tunjungan yang sebenarnya eksotik itu tertutupi seng penutup yang menjadi media reklame.
Gagasan ini telah dibahas Badan Perencaan Pembangunan Kota (Bapekko), serta Dinas Tata Kota dan Permukiman. Rencangan ini masuk dalam perencanaan pengembangan segi empat emas Tunjungan dalam 10 tahap penataan.
Menurut catatan tertulis yang dikeluarkan Dinas Tata Kota dan Permukiman tentang revitalisasi Kawasan Tunjungan, kawasan legendaris ini akan dijadikan museum hidup. Caranya, membuka fasade atau penutup tampak depan semua bangunan untuk dikembalikan ke bentuk aslinya. Kemudian penataan warna bangunan juga diubah.
Sedangkan untuk bangunan kosong di sepanjang Jl Tunjungan akan dimanfaatkan untuk kegiatan yang menarik pengunjung yaitu kafe, restoran, dan pusat perbelanjaan.
Bagian depan untuk bangunan cagar budaya masing-masing diberikan informasi mengenai identitas bangunan dan riwayat peristiwa yuang menyertainya. Berupa monumen kecil tujuannya agar pejalan kaki dapat menikmati jalan-jalan.
Penataan kedua, sepanjang jalan ini akan ditata seperti semi mal, dirancang dengan etalase dagangan yang menarik di setiap gedung, sehingga memanjakan mata pejalan kaki sehingga bisa betah berlama-lama di jalan ini. Pada malam hari, koridor Jl Tunjungan bisa disulap menjadi kafe.
“Ini konsep penataan yang matang untuk mengembalikan daya tarik Tunjungan yang semakin pudar,†kata Kepala Bagian Humas dan Protokol hari Tjahjono sambil menunjukkan konsep ini.
Kepala Komisi C DPRD Surabaya Armudji meminta semua penghuni bangunan ikut mendukung langkah mengebalikan wajah Tunjungan. Apalagi, cara ini memakan biaya minim, bahkan nyaris tanpa biaya. “Karena gagasan yang bagus itu tanpa didukung komitmen, tidak akan berhasil,†katanya.
Wawali
Soal mangkraknya sejumlah bangunan cagar budaya, Wakil Wali Kota Arif Afandi angkat bicara. Dia menilai, keberadaan tim cagar budaya yang tidak kunjung terbentuk menjadi penyebab lemahnya pengawasan situs bersejarah di kota pahlawan ini.
Namun, untuk urusan tim, Arif justru menagih DPRD Surabaya. karena wakil rakyat ini telah dua tahun membahas usulan pemkot tentang komposisi nama anggota tim cagar budaya, namun tidak kunjung rampung.
Padahal, tim cagar budaya ini menurutnya adalah lembaga berupa dewan pengawas dan dewan pertimbangan untuk urusan bangunan cagar budaya. Kenyataanya, nama-nama tim yang diusulkan pemkot dua tahun silam tidak terdengar kabarnya. Sehingga tidak heran banyak bangunan mangkrak atau renovasi asal-asalan akibat tim tersebut tidak kunjung terbentuk.
“Pengawasan situs dan bangunan cagar budaya tidak akan efektif selama tim belum ditetapkan akibat belum rampung juga dibahas dewan,†katanya.
Tim, cagar budaya adalah amanat Perda 5/2005 tentang Pelestarian Bangunan dan Situs Cagar Budaya Surabaya. Di dalam perda itu antara lain disebutkan bahwa anggota tim cagar budaya wajib mendapat persetujuan DPRD Surabaya. Setelah restu dewan rampung, pemkot langsung menetapkan tim dan tim bisa langsung bekerja memelototi semua bangunan dan situs bersejarah di kota ini. Caranya, mengkaji usulan izin mendirikan bangunan di atas lahan dan kawasan cagar budaya.
Namun, dua tahun berselang tim itu tidak kunjung terbentuk. Arif tidak tahu apa kesulitannya sehingga butuh dua tahun untuk membahas usulan pemkot.
Seperti berita sebelumnya, terdapat 163 bangunan dan situs cagar budaya yang dikuatkan dalam dua SK wali kota 1996 dan 1998. Namun, SK ternyata tidak cukup ampuh. Buktinya, banyak yang mengkrak dan nyaris roboh.
Source: Surya Online
April 16th, 2008
SURABAYA - Alunan musik karya Haydn dan Mozart terdengar di Ballroom Hotel Sheraton tadi malam. Denting piano berpadu dengan gesekan biola dan tiupan klarinet terdengar di telinga 1.000 pengunjung yang memadati ruangan.
Sang konduktor, Solomon Tong, tampak serius memimpin orkestra. Sejak berdiri 12 tahun lalu, itu adalah konser ke-55 yang diadakan Surabaya Symphony Orchestra (SSO).
Tak kurang dari 200 orang terlibat dalam konser tersebut. Mulai pemain alat musik hingga paduan suara. Ada empat golongan alat musik yang dimainkan dalam konser itu. “Tiupan kayu, tiupan metal, alat musik tabuh, dan gesek,” jelas Solomon sebelum acara.
Musisi senior bercampur dengan junior untuk konser itu. Ada delapan anak-anak yang terlibat dalam pertunjukan bertema Spring Concert 2008 tersebut. Orkestra pimpinan Solomon itu membawakan 22 lagu. “Semua beraliran klasik,” kata pria kelahiran Xiamen, Tiongkok, 20 Oktober 1939 tersebut.
Karya begawan musik Beethoven menjadi masterpiece dalam konser itu. Sejumlah penyanyi lokal Surabaya, seperti Melissa Setyawan, Yohanna Christine Ongwijaya, dan Dewi Endrawati, ikut menyumbangkan suara. Ada pula permainan biola solo oleh Grace Rozella Soetedja. (dee/ayi)
Source: Jawa Pos Online
April 16th, 2008
Soeryo Winoto, Jakarta
The move by the administration of Batu regency in Malang, East Java, to have all masseuses lock their pants with padlocks is frankly controversial.
The policy is said to maintain the image of Batu as a tourist destination and minimize prostitution practices among massage parlors mushrooming in the area.
Batu is reputable for its beauty and is home to two resorts, Selekta and Tretes, located within the regions’s hills. Like other tourists resorts, a lot of hotels and night establishments, which are typically inseparable components in the tourism industry, have been mushrooming of late.
If the masseuse policy is a genuine move to maintain Batu as a tourist destination, common people, especially experts in the tourism business, may ask, “Has the administration, including Malang’s mayoralty, made significant and professional moves to develop the tourism industry in Batu?”
Thank God the beauty of Batu is a constant. Efforts to polish the resorts have mostly been aimed at the development of hotels, restaurants and nightspots.
If this is the case, the controversial move could well frustrate the administration and show them up for failing to make innovative steps to boost the industry.
Perhaps the decision has been made for moral reasons. From a moral point of view, no one in Indonesia openly supports, condones or agrees with any kind of prostitution. The administration is showing its hypocrisy because, legally, if Batu officials confirmed all parlors as prostitution businesses it would imply the officials had too experienced those services. How can the officials be so sure the masseuses are prostitutes? Legally, there must be evidence.
Batu has been developing as a tourist destination for decades, meaning that permits for investors to build hotels, restaurants as well as entertainment centers have been issued for a long time. According to the procedures, permits for establishing such infrastructure start with recommendations from the lowest echelons of bureaucracy, including neighborhood chiefs, village heads, regencies and mayoralties.
That is why, if massage parlors are found to function as illicit prostitution houses, all levels of bureaucracy in Malang actually contribute to the transgression. The Criminal Code rules local administrations have the right to ban any activity it considers unlawful. So why have they kept issuing such permits? Isn’t it apparent that any form of prostitution is illegal?
The padlock policy has apparently ‘disturbed’ State Minister for Women’s Empowerment Meutia Hatta Swasono, who dubbed it unfair, adding that women must not be held soley accountable.
The minister is also of the opinion that not all massage parlors are used as brothels, and that some operate purely to provide health services.
In spite of the controversy, the Batu administration’s move has likely inspired Jakarta’s administration. If true, Jakarta, which is a metropolis and a modern city, is truly preparing itself for a set-back. Minister Meutia said in a press briefing using CCTV technology to prevent promiscuity in massage parlors room would be more humane and acceptable.
If Jakarta is really interested in taking over the idea, such a decision would merely reflect its frustration and difficulty in upholding the law. Although massage parlors are believed to be used as brothels, the capital’s administration has been half-hearted in punishing them.
Many Jakartans are aware that karaoke halls, massage parlors and other kinds of entertainment centers often take on more controversial operations, especially obvious when it comes to the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan. Special regulations are only implied during this month. The establishments, including massage parlors, are then allowed to operate again after Ramadhan. If massage parlors are believed to be committing these crimes, why are they allowed to operate again?
The answer could lie in such establishment’s alleged role as cash cows for administration officials involved in decision making, and members of certain organizations that reportedly conduct raids whenever the entertainment centers fail to provide them with a sufficient sum of money. Operation permits for entertainment centers are said to be costly and difficult to obtain. This oligarchic process starts from the lowest bureaucracy at the neighborhood level.
Therefore, it is time for all provinces, mayoralties and regencies to take the controversial move initiated by Batu administration as a reminder to reconsider whether massage parlors should be allowed to operate for purposes of contributing to local revenues and for being cash cows for certain individuals or organizations, or whether they should be closed for good for being illegal, which the administrations are entitled to do.
The writer is a journalist. He can be reached at soeryo_winoto@yahoo.com.
Source: The Jakarta Post
April 15th, 2008
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Beware if important documents like your passports are missing. Who knows, they may fall into the hands of a terrorist group to be later misused for illicit activities. This was experienced by Deddy Achmadi Machdan, an international communications executive of major cigarette producer PT HM Sampoerna.
Deddy was questioned by a member of the National Police’s Anti-terror Detachment 88 because his missing passport was utilized by a member of a terrorist group.
The story starts back in 2003 when Deddy lost his passport in London. At the time Deddy was not aware that his backpack was open. His passport and a number of other important documents went missing.
“I only realized when I got back to my boarding house. I did not think anything more of it. What I knew was that my passport and other documents were lost,” he said in Pasuruan, East Java, earlier this month.
Deddy immediately went to the Indonesian Embassy in London to inform them about the missing documents and to ask for a replacement passport.
Time passed and Deddy forgot about the missing passport.
Suddenly there was phone call from Jakarta Police Headquarters. During the conversation, police officers questioned Deddy about his missing passport.
“As I didn’t know anything else, I just told them how I lost my passport in 2003,” Deddy said.
The police officers later explained the case involving Deddy’s passport. According to them, the passport had been misused by someone believed to be a member of a major terrorist network.
The man who misused Deddy’s passport and his accomplice, who is also believed to be a member of the terrorist network, have now been detained in a Malaysian penitentiary for questioning.
Deddy was startled to find out that two Indonesians had lost their passports in London on the same day, September 19, 2003.
“I never thought about someone intentionally stealing Indonesian passports,” he said.
“The man, who misused my passport, later claiming to be Achmadi Machdan’, and confessed to hail from Malang, East Java,” Deddy said.
As the police officers did not believe Deddy’s explanation, they requested to further investigate Deddy at his house. As Deddy believed he was not guilty, he agreed to the request.
On the second-floor verandah of his house in Jakarta, the police officers showed Deddy a photocopy of his missing passport, which had since been falsified. He told the police the name was his, but the address and photo were not.
The police officers also asked Deddy to show his replacement passport. He showed his passport along with remarks about his missing passport.
According to Deddy, the police officers freed him of any further investigation. If he was unable to produce a replacement passport, the case would have become longer.
The officers later asked Deddy if he was willing to testify as a witness if needed.
Source: The Jakarta Post
April 15th, 2008
SURABAYA - Wajah Rizki Ananda terlihat ceria sore itu. Bersama ayah ibunya, bocah 3 tahun tersebut menanti kereta api yang melintasi rel kawasan Jagir. Dia dipangku di jok depan sepeda motor ayahnya. Begitu kereta api melintas, Rizki langsung berteriak sambil mengangkat kedua tangannya. Senyum terpancar dari wajah Anang, sang ayah, melihat polah anaknya yang tampak bahagia.
Anang tak sendirian. Dari pengamatan Jawa Pos, semakin banyak warga Surabaya yang menghabiskan sore hari bersama keluarga di pinggir rel. Lokasi yang sering menjadi jujugan adalah lahan pinggir rel di Jagir dan depan RSAL. “Maklum Mas, tak perlu biaya. Yang penting bisa bareng keluarga,” ucap Anang yang sehari-harinya bekerja sebagai pegawai rendahan di sebuah perusahaan swasta itu. (ano)
Source: Jawa Pos Online
April 11th, 2008
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