The village that knows
its limits
Some societies have giant boots; they stamp and
shuffle, trampling shoots, raising choking dust. Other cultures are more delicate: They tiptoe, taking care not to disturb the sacred
soil.
When academic Dr Grace Pamungkas was growing up
in Bandung last century national development under President Soeharto was being
thrust ahead with missionary zeal. GDP
rises were proof of prosperity – then a synonym for happiness and wellbeing.
Neither she nor anyone else had heard of
‘ecological footprints’ a metaphor that would have aroused mirth, not concern.
Green was for grass, not an ideology.
But the little girl did know that leaving just
one grain of rice on her plate was naughty.
Waste not, want not, scowled Mom. The daughter is less pernickety now
but the message hasn’t been deleted.
Instead it has been expanded, given academic
credibility and published for the world to consider – and maybe a plan for
others to follow.
“Throwing something away means we don’t know
our limits - which is a most difficult thing to understand,” Pamungkas said.
“We’ve become a growth-focused economy. We
buy what we’ve been told we want by advertisers, but don’t necessarily need.
“That may be good for business though not for
the environment. We can run our lives differently. The problem is defining the
question: What is enough?”
One secluded West Java village has known the
answer for decades – maybe centuries.
Kampong Naga, 30 kilometers from Tasikmalaya, is a living museum in a
hidden valley which has avoided consumerism.
It has done this partly through location – it’s
even unreachable by motorbike, which makes it rare indeed. Access is only down more than 300 steps. The
other factor is residents maintaining rituals which emphasize the sacredness of
frugal living.
The 500 Sundanese on the Ciwulan River valley
floor call themselves Sanaga, which is also the name of their religion. Though technically Muslims they follow the
teachings of Sembah Dalam Singaparna, a real of maybe mythological being who
passed down eight codes of living to his followers.
Some commandments appear joyless but overall are
egalitarian - no-one lives better than anyone else.
Pamungkas, 45, now a leading expert on
Kampong Naga, is an architect. Other scholars have focused on the cluster of
110 furniture-free thatched homes built from local materials, but the
University of Indonesia architecture graduate took a different approach.
For her doctorate at the Victoria University of
Wellington Pamungkas studied the ecology of the mysterious village and the way
spiritual beliefs can underpin sustainable development.
Through four years research she’s discovered
that the Sanaga’s light tread on the land offers a lesson on living without
plundering resources.
This is despite the villagers having limited
education and contact with the outside world.
They have a battery-powered television but use it only to watch
football. No smartphones. No trash in
the river, though the men smoke factory-made cigarettes.
Pamungkas’ road to Kampong Naga meandered. She was
recording colonial- era buildings in Jakarta when offered a scholarship to
study art history in the Netherlands.
Completion of a course in academic English was
a pre-requisite. A colleague recommended NZ. While
learning how to fill pages with italicized references she met two Kiwi
academics keen to know Kampong Naga’s use and re-use secrets.
As an Indonesian who also understood Dutch (the
few records were mainly written by the colonialists) Pamungkas was the ideal
candidate for a scholarship. She graduated just before Christmas and is now
working as a university tutor.
“My supervisor Professor Barbara Vale commented
that Western science thinks it’s smart but in some ways the Sanaga are
smarter,” said Pamungkas. “Few books, but inherited knowledge. There’s no clinic
but they are clearly healthy and fast regularly.
“Kampong Naga applies the principles of
sustainable living, something few other societies have achieved. They use
ancient beliefs to determine limits – not just through consumption of outside
goods - but also by restricting growth and marking areas with a bamboo fence. It’s
applied mythology. Taboo breakers could bring curses on all.
“No more houses will be built because they’ve
reached the sacred boundary with forest, fields and river. Families wanting to grow move out. But they always return for the six annual
pilgrimages to the Great Ancestor’s forest grave so I’m confident the culture
will survive.” The tomb has not been
seen by outsiders.
Frustrating for any scholar is the dearth of
records. Much was lost in 1956 when the
village was torched by Islamic extremists.
A 13th century engraved copper plate, which has since disappeared,
is the only known reference to Sembah Dalam Singaparna.
He is supposed to have been one of seven
brothers. Six were capable and smart,
while the village founder’s only attribute was leading a humble life.
Most of the limited information is stored not
in Indonesia or Holland but the National Library in Australia.
Pamungkas’ mother insisting on a clean plate
echoed an ancient Sanaga proverb directed at kids: ‘If you don’t finish your
rice you’ll make Dwi Sri cry’. The rice
goddess is a powerful figure in the mythology and at the center of many “heartfelt
rituals” apparently related to Hinduism which pre-dated Islam in Java.
“It’s all fascinating and I want to learn more
on how religious beliefs can have practical applications,” said Pamungkas who
is considering rewriting her 383-page thesis into a more accessible book.
“The only things I couldn’t stand in the
village were the smells of decaying bamboo and feces from toilets above fish
ponds designed to handle waste and grow food.
“The people are not closed to new ideas – I
noticed a solar panel on one visit – so they may build compost toilets or
methane gas generators in the future.
But they do consider every step most carefully, measuring changes
against the founder’s instructions.
“The message for all is this: Materialism can
be checked by traditional beliefs so all have a fair share.”
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(First published in The Jakarta Post 31 January 2017
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