Albert Bonasahat Sigalingging recalls the first time he tasted religious intolerance. He was just a child at the time, but says he remembers a relative visiting from Medan who recounted a story about a small Muslim community in the North Sumatra capital.

‘I was still in elementary school back then and I didn’t really understand what my relative was talking about,’ he says. ‘But I remembered my uncle shouting out at one point: “Just burn the mosque!”’

It’s Saturday, which means it’s time for Muslim scholar Ulil Abshar Abdalla to greet his nearly 10,000 followers on Twitter and discuss the religious issuesof the day.Ulil, who is affiliated with the Islamic Liberal Network, jokingly calls it ‘TweetFatwa’, a dig at the conservative Indonesian Ulema Council, which frequently issuesfatwasagainst anything from Hollywood movie2012 (for depicting Armageddon), to women using hair-straightening products (a desire to improve physical appearance can lead to immoral acts), to women riding on motorcycle taxis (close physical contact with the opposite sex).

Apart from the occasional tiny batik dress and lacy traditional blouse, there is no sign that the 50-centimeter-tall dolls with colorful wool hair, lanky limbs and intricate outfits are locally made. They look like high-quality classical European dolls.

Endah Tedjaningrum, owner and creator of the Dollea brand, said the idea for the design stemmed from seeing such dolls in Portugal a few years back. At the time she was studying for her MBA in Nuremberg, Germany.

But it was not until the end of 2007 that the Bandung native began to create her own line of dolls. When she started in the doll-making industry, she was largely driven by the desire to leave behind her boring 9-to-5 job.

“A friend back in Germany had a children’s clothing shop and she asked me to make classical dolls, which she thought would be cheaper to make in Indonesia,” Endah said.

With no background in sewing or design, Endah developed a pattern and chose materials through a process of trial and error.
“Some materials are bought here in Bandung, but other materials are sent from Germany,” the 34 year-old said. She added that the dolls were all handmade, created from cotton, silicone and wool.

Endah started the business with about Rp 20 million ($2,150) in capital to buy four sewing machines and hire employees. She began producing the dolls in her house, located in southern Bandung.

Things went surprisingly well, given her lack of experience, and within a year she had broken even.

But in 2008 the global economic crisis hit. The German store that imported the Dollea dolls asked for a contract review and wanted to change to a consignment system.

“I thought it would be too difficult to organize and monitor. It also increased the cost, so I stopped sending the dolls to Germany,” Endah said.

She then focused on finding local buyers. The upscale Alun-Alun Indonesia store in the Grand Indonesia shopping center responded, and Dollea dolls are now sold there for about Rp 250,000 each. Sogo department store in Bali came next. Then the SMESCO building in South Jakarta agreed to sell Endah’s dolls in a space provided for such businesses by the State Ministry for Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises.

At the moment Endah has four employees, all of them young female graduates from vocational high schools.

“They know different sewing techniques and are very creative. They have given me a lot of ideas to improve the dolls,” she said. For large orders, she often outsources work to artisans in Bandung.

Endah said she would like to own her own store in Bali, but has found it difficult to get a bank loan. “They always ask for collateral but I don’t have any,” she said.

The Bandung administration and the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry have provided support by including Dollea dolls in exhibitions and presentations involving foreign investors.

Endah, however, said working with government officials was sometimes uncomfortable because they could be flirtatious and condescending.

“The annoying things aside,” she said, “I hope the government can provide more support for SMEs. I have tons of ideas, like inserting short stories into the packaging. But it’s difficult to realize my ideas because I don’t have much capital. I think more support would not only benefit my business, but also related ones.”

If you take the main exit to Bandung, via the Pasteur tollgate, you will see a shabby panda statue on the left side of the road, just a few hundred meters after the gate.

The statue marks the location of kampung boneka (doll-makers district), in the Sukamulya neighborhood. But these days even locals have only a vague idea of where the once-famous doll makers are to be found, which can lead to frustrating searches and confusing phone calls.

And once kampung boneka is finally located, the experience can be, well, disappointing. Instead of rows of shops filled with dolls and craftspeople hard at work, there are just a handful of small shops scattered through the cramped alleyways. And the lack of signs makes it impossible for outsiders to navigate the area without a guide.

Despite all of this, in the middle of the neighborhood hangs a banner stating that Bandung’s mayor, Dada Rosada, had declared the area a tourism site in July 2009.

Shop-owner Andri Andriansyah implied the tourism sign came a decade too late, recalling how much livelier the area was in the late 1990s.

“Back in the heyday of 1997, there were 57 doll producers with hundreds of workers. But now there are only 17 producers left,” Andri said.

He said the shops had once provided employment for local women, allowing them to work from home while looking after their children.

Andri’s small shop, Ivy, has a display of dolls in the front room, while two rooms in the back make up the workshop. There are three employees and three sewing machines.

After establishing Ivy in 1998 with only Rp 10 million ($1,000) in capital, Andri said that he initially earned up to Rp 100 million a month selling dolls as far away as Kalimantan and Aceh. He even made it overseas on one occasion, filling an order from Singapore for 1,000 dolls.

“Now the turnover is about Rp 3 million a week, which thankfully is still enough to cover the expenses and pay my employees, although not much is left for profit,” Andri said.

But his shop has done well to survive at all. Since 2002, many doll makers have gone bankrupt and closed down. One such shop owner is Dede Suhana, who once ran one of the area’s first doll shops.

Dede established his business in 1986. The business slowly grew and at its peak he had 20 employees.

“But the materials [for the dolls], which are imported from Korea, are getting more expensive and more difficult to find. There are locally made materials, but not as good as the Korean ones. They are also expensive. Cheaper material is available, but the quality is bad, obviously,” he said.

A little less than a year ago, Dede gave up on his dolls, turning his hand to a motorcycle-washing business.

Rising expenses are not the only obstacles faced by Sukamulya’s doll makers. They are also facing growing competition and a shrinking market.

Wulan Atriani, another shop owner, said: “Vendors in Bekasi and Cikampek [in West Java] used to come here to buy our products. But now they make their own. They also have the advantage of proximity to the material producers in Bekasi.”

Wulan started her business in 1993 with 50 employees, but now only employ 10 people.

In Bandung particularly there is fierce competition, so what left are orders from other cities like Surabaya and Kediri in East Java, as well as from cities in Kalimantan and Aceh.

The Bandung administration and some state-owned companies have tried to assist struggling producers with loans and other forms of support, but their efforts have not been able to turn things around.

Wulan said she received a low-interest loan from state-owned fertilizer company Pupuk Kujang. Bank Negara Indonesia, Biofarma pharmaceutical company and Jasa Raharja insurance company — all of them run by the West Java administration — have also provided loans to producers. The local Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) also organizes occasional training programs for the doll makers.

Despite these efforts, some producers say not enough is being done to help them.

“The mayor has declared the area a tourist site, but that’s it. It seems that the administration only makes symbolic efforts,” said Endah Tedjaningrum, a producer who often uses artisans in Sukamulya to fill large orders.

Andri said there was no lack of skill in Sukamulya.

“Give me any design and we’ll make it. Our shop can produce up to 100 kinds of toys,” he said, pointing to the stuffed animals, action figures, sandals and dolls that fill his shop.

Many producers see the problem as one of marketing, and believe assistance with this would be the best way to boost the flagging industry.

“We’re having difficulties in marketing our products. Shops only want to buy on a consignment system. But if we do this, the dolls will get dirty and will go to waste if nobody buys them,” Andri said.

Andri’s wife, Asri Zulaika, said the best way for the government to help would be to provide a showroom in a busy area where doll makers could display and sell their products.

This, she said, would benefit not only the shop owners, but also their employees.

JAKARTA, Dec 31 (IPS) – The news about fourth Indonesian president and cleric Abdurrahman Wahid being admitted to the hospital last week merited only a passing mention in the national media. It was overshadowed by reports on the country’s tumultuous political situation, such as allegations that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was involved in a banking scandal and the controversies hounding the country’s corruption eradication agency.

Wahid, affectionately called Gus Dur, had survived a number of strokes and had been suffering from diabetes, near blindness and kidney problem for years. Thus, many people thought it was just a minor medical problem, from which he would soon bounce back to dispense his usual dose of wit and wisdom on the latest events.

On Wednesday news broke that Wahid had passed away after undergoing a dental operation. The 69-year-old former president is survived by wife Shinta Nuriyah and four daughters.

The entire nation received the news of his death with a mixture of shock and grief. No sooner than word spread that one of the most respected and colorful figures in Indonesia had died than legions of mourners began to flock to his residence in South Jakarta. Impromptu prayer gatherings among citizens of varied faiths, not just Muslims, were held across the country.

“He was a Muslim, but he became a blessing to all faiths,” Jakarta Archbishop Julius Darmaatmadja, S.J., was quoted by the local press as saying, referring to the man who had symbolised Indonesian’s tradition of religious tolerance and political reform.

Wahid ruled Indonesia, between October 1999 and July 2001, at a time when the Muslim-dominated country had just emerged from three decades of dictatorship.

In Surabaya, East Java, people from all walks of life lit candles and put flowers on the downtown street in a spontaneous show of grief for their beloved leader.

“He had opened up freedom of speech for us (citizens of) Chinese descent and eliminated the differences (based on) religion, ethnicity, race,” said Liem Tiong Soek, in between sobs, who described him further “as a great thinker, president and cleric. “He’s such a big loss.”

Eulogies, prayers and expressions of gratitude also inundated social network sites Facebook and Twitter. Religious and ethnic minorities thanked him for being their “strongest defender.” Journalists reminisced his quirky ways, informal leadership, incredible humor and open-mindedness — which had often sparked anger among less-than-moderate Muslims.

Abdurrahman Wahid was born to a prominent and politically active cleric family. Paternal grandfather Hasyim Asy’ari was the founder of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which Wahid later chaired and reformed. His father Wahid Hasyim was the country’s first minister of religious affairs.

He studied in a Muslim school in hometown Jombang in East Java before receiving a scholarship to study at al-Azhar University in Cairo, after which he continued his study in Baghdad. Returning home, he worked as a journalist, social commentator and academic. He was widely perceived as a man of deep knowledge, not just about religion and politics, but also about culture, film, music and sports.

Wahid had his initiation into politics when he campaigned for the Islamic-based United Development Party. As a leader of the 30 million-strong NU, he consistently maintained that government should be secular and that faith was a personal matter.

Following the downfall of Indonesian dictator Soeharto and the establishment of Wahid’s National Awakening Party (PKB), Wahid announced he was running for presidency in 1999. Megawati’s Indonesian Democratic of Party emerged as the winner of the South-east Asian country’s parliamentary elections in June 1999. However, politicians, particularly conservative Muslims unwilling to have a woman president, joined together and formed ‘Central Axis’, urging the People’s Consultative Assembly to elect Wahid. He then picked Megawati Sukarnoputri as his deputy.

When he assumed office, he dissolve two ineffective ministries that had long been the vehicle of the New Order (a term that had come to be associated with the Suharto regime). He curbed military influence in the government; revoked discriminative laws against Chinese Indonesians, enabling them to practice their culture and religion; he allowed publications to flourish on previously taboo subjects such as Marxism, communism and socialism; and released political prisoners.

His controversial political maneuvers – sacking military officers and ordering investigations into their alleged involvements in human rights violations – as well as erratic and unfocused leadership, which included excessive traveling abroad and lack of emphasis on economic recovery, however, earned him widespread criticisms from his enemies, particularly in the military.

When his own coalition parties began to turn against him, and amid allegations of corruption, his presidency finally collapsed. He was impeached by the parliament in July 2001 and replaced by Megawati.

In the following years he was in political isolation, and his party PKB was marred by internal disputes. But he remained an influential figure in politics. Considered his most important legacy was his advocacy for secular politics and religious tolerance/moderate Islam in an otherwise heterogeneous society.

This is especially important at this time, when many parties worry that the country has veered too much toward religious conservatism. There are also moves to limit freedom of speech and expression as well as intellectual freedom. The banning of several books this week by the Attorney General’s Office, particularly those dealing with issues of communism and religion, has raised deep concerns among rights groups, calling it a violation of the Constitution.

This is a step backward from Wahid’s vision of a country that recognises and celebrates diversity and prides itself on religious tolerance.

Indonesia has more reasons to mourn his passing.

JAKARTA, Dec 6, 2009 (IPS) – Despite being hit by powerful earthquakes this year, Indonesia is still reeling from the lack of an effective disaster management system that could prevent extensive loss of life and damage to property.

At least this is the view of certain individuals and groups who are struggling to cope with the impacts of the earthquakes that have jolted Indonesia this year and claimed the lives of scores of people besides causing millions worth of damage to property.

Irfantoni Herlambang gets anxious at the slightest vibration in his office, located on the 17th floor of a 31-story building in central Jakarta business district. There is hardly any mitigation scheme that would secure the people should another quake hit the country, he rued. During this year’s earthquakes, for instance, many people appeared dazed and confused, not knowing what to do or where to go.

“Some said that we should hide under the table, others thought we should go downstairs while a few were running around like a headless chicken,” said a staff of an American donor agency, who declined to be named.

“In many cases, the casualties (from earthquakes) were caused not so much by earthquakes as by buildings not being sturdy enough, causing them to collapse,” said Cecep Subarya, noted earthquake expert from the National Coordination Agency for Surveys and Mapping (BAKOSURTANAL), which studies and collects geographical data, sees the need for the provincial administrations to include disaster risk into their urban planning. “In areas that are prone to earthquake, the buildings should be constructed differently to be able to withstand earthquakes.”

This yea, a series earthquakes have rattled the country—a 7.5-magnitude quake on Sept. 2 in Tasikmalaya, West Java, and a 7.9-magnitude quake in Padang capital and Padang Pariaman regency on Sept. 30. The former resulted in some 79 casualties and displaced 285,808 people; the West Sumatra quake killed more than 1,000 people and destroyed thousands of buildings. On Oct. 16 another earthquake shook the Indonesian capital.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire that is prone to frequent seismic activity. In December 2004, a 9.3-magnitude quake jolted Aceh in northern Indonesia, triggering a huge tsunami that killed about 125,000 people and affected at least ten countries, including Indonesia.

Stronger-magnitude earthquakes are expected in the South-east Asian country of an estimated 230 million people, seismologists have warned. The worst is yet to come, they say.

Herlambang is not alone in his predicament. Many Indonesians are scared of the prospects of another earthquake. His American colleague, Bryony Jones, said she was quite appalled that the management of the building where their office was located had not given its occupants orientation on the building’s security measures. There were no earthquake drills either.

This became evident when she saw people huddled together just outside the building, seemingly unaware that falling shards of glass from broken windows could hurt them severely, it not fatally, “especially during aftershocks,” which can be more dangerous, according to Jones, who is no stranger to earthquakes, being a native of quake-prone California.

“Lots of people re-entered the building shortly after (an earthquake) to continue working, without any announcement (or precautionary warnings) regarding their safety from the building (management). Had this happened in San Francisco, most definitely people would not be allowed to enter the building immediately,” she said. “I think most Indonesians are used to this sort of natural disaster,” Jones added.

Despite Indonesia being prone to disaster, particularly earthquakes, there appear to be no systematic and carefully thought out efforts toward disaster prevention education for the people.

West Java, for example, is prone to landslides, since the area is porous and fragile, said Subarya. Yet, modest houses were built below the hills and around the landslide-prone area. “The construction of buildings should consider disaster risks. It does not have to be expensive. It just needs sturdier frame,” he said, adding that this should form part of a disaster management scheme. Criticisms are also rife over the quality of disaster response and rehabilitation as well as reconstruction programmes, given numerous reports of uneven aid distribution, lack of cooperation and coordination among responsible government agencies.

Sunaryo Adhiatmoko of Al-Azhar Foundation, a non-governmental organisation focusing on education and charity, said there seems to be confusion in relief distribution and what kind of aid should be given to disaster victims.

“The food distributed, for example, has always been instant noodles. First, there’s usually hardly any clean water to cook it. Secondly, it is not healthy. Poor people are often not reached either, and in some cases, aids pile up in rich people’s houses,” he said.

The government, he said, must identify first what the people actually need. Government data must also be verified at the grassroots level, added Adhiatmoko, whose foundation is building 300 quake-proof houses in West Sumatra.

“Dealing with earthquake is not the same as dealing with tsunami and floods. During earthquake, people lose houses, not their jobs, so the important thing is rebuilding their homes and giving them motivation and helping them find a way out (of their situation),” he said.

Two months after the West Java was hit by an earthquake, he said there were still inadequate facilities to house the affected individuals. Houses had yet to be built while some people were still living inside tents or with relatives or friends, and school children were still holding classes inside makeshift tents.

Syamsul Maarif, head of the National Agency for Disaster Management, explained that houses of affected people had yet to be built because the House of Representatives had just approved the budget to rebuild houses and infrastructure. This allocation came up to a total of 1.7 trillion rupiahs (180 million U.S. dollars) for West Java and seven trillion rupiahs (744 million U.S. dollars) for West Sumatra.

“Please be patient. It is not an easy job,” he pleaded. “We also need people’s cooperation in this (effort) instead of expecting the government to do all the job.” The government, he said, has employed teams of experts in West Java and West Sumatra to educate people on disaster risk and response as well as teach them how to build sturdier houses.

Hening Parlan, executive director of Humanitarian Forum Indonesia, which is made up of NGOs dealing with disaster management, said if the government was still struggling with a viable disaster management and recovery programme, it was only because it had never been a priority.

She pointed out that Indonesia did not have a disaster management law until 2007, three years after the Asian tsunami hit. Prior to that, the disaster management programme was being handled by the National Coordination Board for Disaster Management, whose tasks were limited to emergency response. Under its programme, there was no urgency to conduct risk reduction activities.

“Given that it was only in 2007 that we had the law, it is understandable that a good disaster management programme has yet to be in place. But organisationally and regulation-wise, there has actually been an improvement,” Parlan said.

BAKOSURTANAL’s Subarya said that since the 2004 tsunami, the government has built a sophisticated early warning system for earthquake and tsunami throughout the country. “The system can decide the depth and magnitude of an earthquake in less than three minutes, as well as observe a tidal wave in ports nationwide,” he said.

Yet some of the disaster equipment acquired after the law was passed have either been stolen or are not working, he said. He blamed this on “poverty (and) “lack of experts available to operate them,” respectively.

Lack of disaster information among the people can only be attributed to the lack of an effective disaster management programme. “When the siren wails warnings about an earthquake or tsunami, many people still do not know what to do,” he said.