INDONESIA'S CELEBRATION OF FAITH

The Passion of Easter                                               

This coming weekend expect church pews to be packed.

Congregations will spill into carparks, sometimes even the street. Laggards will have to make do with closed circuit telecasts, bottom-pinching metal chairs and maybe a slither of shade under blue plastic

For many Westerners, especially from Australasia, Easter in Indonesia is an extraordinary experience.  We know the population is overwhelmingly Islamic so are astonished to find the principal event in the Christian calendar treated with respect and celebrated with passion almost everywhere.

It’s not like that Down Under.

Population differences aren’t the only factor. Religion is on the way out according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.  In 1911 only one person in every 250 put ‘no religion’ on their census forms; now the ratio is one in five. The non-religious tend to be under 30 and better educated.

More than eight per cent even refused to answer the question about religion, as they’re entitled to do though all other questions are compulsory. That’s because the State is legally prohibited from getting involved in religion, although Parliaments still start with prayers.  No Ministry of Religious Affairs, no ID cards stamped with a faith approved by politicians.

It’s the same next door in New Zealand, a country settled in the 19^th century by the fervent faithful from the United Kingdom. The mainly Protestant migrants held beach services on arrival before seeking food and shelter – then set about building churches.

Last year’s census shows that less than half the NZ population claims to be Christian, while 40 per cent say they don’t follow any faith. Catholics have now overtaken Protestants for the first time.

This makes the South Pacific nation one of the most secular countries in the world – but all this discarding of religion doesn’t seem to correlate to wrongdoing:  NZ is the least corrupt nation in the world. (Indonesia ranks 114 on the international corruption perception index.)

It doesn’t need spreadsheets of statistics to prove the social shifts. Just a peep inside most churches on a Sunday (don’t linger lest you get kidnapped by an eager pastor) shows a flock of few, mainly elderly women. Multiple services have shrunk to just one, and many parishes have to share ministers.

In Indonesia churches are being built.  In the country next door they’re being closed. 

The upside is that poor attendances and limited funds have encouraged ecumenism. Smaller towns often share a worship center – as the Catholics enter the Presbyterians depart.

Bucking this trend are the charismatic evangelical denominations that attract young people with rock music, and churches catering for Maori and Pacific Islanders.  Other faiths are faring better; there are now more Buddhists than Baptists in both countries.

Islam is also rising, mainly through immigration. Numbers are small – Australia has about half a million Muslims and NZ 50,000.  The faith isn’t monocultural as in Indonesia because adherents come from multiple traditions, liberal Europeans through to conservative Arabs.

As in Indonesia, some are only nominally religious, agreeing to worship occasionally to satisfy their families.

Living in the Southern Hemisphere may also be a factor in the decline because so many references are irrelevant.  Easter pre-dates Christianity, a festival to herald spring as snows melt, soils defrost and dormant seeds sprout.  But in Australasia it’s autumn and a time of death and decay, a hunkering down – not an opening out.

Eostre was a pagan German goddess, usually portrayed as a virginal nymph frolicking in a cornucopia.  An appropriate symbol for the carnival of commerce that Easter has become with eggs and chocolate rabbits (representing fertility) hopping onto shop shelves soon after the Christmas baubles are packed away, and nary a sight of a crucifix.

In southern Australia Easter offers the last chance to get away before winter hits and head for the coast with rod and line. Even on Good Friday the fish keep biting.

Easter Monday isn’t a religious day but it’s still a holiday.  The kids are on their two-week term break, and the weather is usually mild enough for camping. At this time the Great Northern Highway leading out of Perth is like the Puncak Pass on a long weekend.

Yet here in the sweltering archipelago straddling the Equator millions will don their best clothes and head for church where they will freely and joyously worship, even if that means enduring prolix sermons and hard pews.

There are worrying pockets of intolerance and rejections of plurality in Indonesia, but what nation doesn’t have its bigots? You seldom hear of Australia’s Abu Bakar Bashirs because they’re usually ignored by the mainstream media or treated with derision, often by their own congregations.

The standout reality is that so many Indonesians will openly and abundantly celebrate their Christianity in a sea of Islam during a national holiday enjoyed by all. This has to be a fact worthy of national pride and international applause.

(First published in The Jakarta Post, 17 April 2014)

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PROVING SEAWEED'S POTENTIAL

 Medicines, makeup, and more to discover       

Imagine a natural resource with proven health benefits, inside and outside the body, growing in abundance in the wild, easily cultivated - though little understood.

Consider a commonplace raw material with enormous untapped potential where Indonesia leads the world in exports - yet lags in knowledge.

Turning around this situation is the goal of Dr Noer Kasanah (right) and her colleagues in the Fisheries Department at Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University.  With the help of a New Zealand aid program they’re working to reveal the hidden curative powers and other qualities of seaweeds.

“About 780 varieties have been identified, though there could be more,” said Dr Noer, who originally trained as a pharmacist. “However only 56 are currently known to be commercially viable.

“The red variety (at least 450 types), which grows furthest from the shore is the most economically important, but until our research is complete we won’t know if there are others that could yield valuable compounds.

“Indonesia is a mega-diversity country with huge potential.  Who knows what we can find and the applications waiting to be uncovered?

“Most discoveries into the properties of seaweeds have come from overseas.  I’m not happy about that, particularly as we are such a major producer.”

Seaweeds are already used in slimming pills (they work by tricking the body into thinking the stomach is full) and wound dressings.  They’re the source of iodine, which is found in a wide range of medicines and is vital for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. 

The applications don’t stop with drugs. Seaweeds are part of the diet in many cultures.  They are also used in cosmetics and fertilizers.

However the major commercial uses are in medicines – including anti-bacterial compounds, make-up and food additives. Agar, which is extracted from seaweed, is widely used in foods.  If you ate a jelly, sampled sushi or drank a soup today, chances are that your snack included elements of seaweed.

Seaweeds are already a useful earner.  Four years ago just three million tonnes were exported; this year the prediction is ten million, making Indonesia the world’s top producer. Most of the weed goes to Europe.

If the quality is improved and further processing undertaken then incomes could be even higher and jobs kept in the Republic. Seaweed, particularly the red variety (the others are brown and green), has long been harvested in villages on Java’s south coast and islands in Nusa Tenggara. (See sidebar)

Requirements include an accessible beach, few hazards like rocky outcrops and low wave movements – the opposite to a surfer’s dream. 

British naturalist Alfred Wallace was among the first to research the archipelago’s seaweeds – a misnomer because they’re really marine algae. That was in the 19^th century. A few Dutch biologists added to the knowledge, but little has been done till now.

 “We’re concentrating on East Nusa Tenggara because it’s a poor and undeveloped area,” said the US trained Dr Noer.  “It’s also part of the weed-rich Coral Triangle. (The base is Indonesia, the apex the Philippines and the sides Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.)

Working in her laboratory with staff and students, and using a three-year NZ government grant paying Rp 600 million (US$53,000) a year, Dr Noer’s team has started mapping the biodiversity, collecting seaweeds from the south coast near Yogyakarta for laboratory analysis.

At this stage Dr Noer thinks the greatest promise lies in antioxidants for human health, and antibacterial agents in aquaculture.

In her submission for funds Dr Noer stressed the importance of the research having practical commercial outcomes that can be applied in remote areas where low-tech rules.

Inventing a splendid process that relies on stable power, sterile workrooms and white-coated technicians may not be the way to go on rugged islands overlooked by Jakarta resource allocators.

Although some species are toxic (“the deeper the weed, the more potent the poison,” commented Dr Noer), seaweeds have featured in the foods of Japanese and Koreans for centuries.

Above all seaweed fits marvellously into the current global political agenda: It’s plentiful, organic and sustainable. It doesn’t always need to be harvested from the wild. When cultivated – and it’s a rapid grower - controls can be exercised. Some areas produce year round – others only during the wet season.

Although half the population might question the need for make-up it’s hard to argue against harvesting a natural product that feeds and cures and even helps clean teeth.

Buyers usually want weed that’s been dried to below 38 per cent of its original weight. Simple processes, like washing the weed of salt and sand, keeping it free of contaminants like ropes and chicken droppings, and being more selective, can help improve products and prices.

Weeding out the problems

The difficulties facing social engineers trying to introduce new ways of working were obvious at the aptly-named village of Sauna on the coast of Penida Island south east of Bali,

In the shade of a giant sea almond tree on a coral beach 18 women and girls, some of primary school age, slowly plucked seaweed shoots off plastic rope.

Men brought them baskets of weed, harvested from an off-shore nursery where they’d been planted a month earlier.  The shoots were then carted further up the beach and sun dried on plastic sheets.  If it starts raining the weed has to be covered quickly. All the procedures are labor intensive

It takes about five kilos of wet weed to make one kilo of dried product.

The top quality weed fetches Rp 16,000 (US$ 1.40) a kilogram.  Other weeds get less than half that price.

An earlier attempt by a community agency to cut-out the middle men and deal directly with exporters was countered by a sudden surge in prices that the agency couldn’t match. When they gave up, the price tumbled.

The people see no urgency to change. “If you want me to work harder I need more money,” said Suwarto, 60. (right)

The women had only vague ideas of why the weed is wanted overseas and the end products. “We just plant, grow, harvest and dry,” they said. “After that it’s not our business.”

First published in The Jakarta Post, 16 April 2014.

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LEMPAD'S ART AND LIFE - NOW ON NET AND FREE

Finding the right path 

                                              

Minding myself                                                                                                             

 engrossed by the intricacy of a seedling’s growth:                                                                      Startled!                                                                                                                                  

By an old man’s friendly call

One bright dawn in the uphills of Bali the paths of two men merged in a green paddy. The differences between them were as mountain to valley.

One was a respected and prolific Balinese sculptor and artist, then aged 108. The other a footloose Australian from an elite background “seeking a place in which to develop my obscure talents.” He was 24.   Neither spoke the other’s language.

John Darling recalled the moment he first met Gusti Nyoman Lempad:  “He could tell that I was trying to find an unimpeded view of the mountains. He beckoned me to follow him, and so the glory of the morning was laid out before us.  We sat on the grass of a paddy bank to appreciate the short moment of beauty that precedes the day.”

The chance encounter led to one man taking the road less travelled, the other having his talent revealed to the world through television.

Eight years later Lempad died “a conscious death”. John Darling, now fluent in Balinese and a friend of the family (he lived on Lempad’s land), was asked to film the artist’s spectacular cremation in Ubud.

The result was Lempad of Bali, a film shown on TV in Australia and several other  countries.  Now it’s been redigitized and is available free on the Internet, along with John Darling’s book of the same name.

It’s all in an E-package that Jakarta publisher Mark Hanusz believes is probably the first of its kind in Indonesia.

The book is in English and Indonesian and has great pictures.  There are apps for Apple and Android.

John Darling went on to become an ethnographic film maker, poet and lecturer, but fell ill and returned to Perth.  He died in 2011.

Since she scattered her husband’s ashes in Bali, Sara Darling has been preparing John’s work for publication, supported by the Melbourne-based Herb Feith Foundation.  This is named after the famous Australian scholar of Indonesian politics who died in 2001.

“The decision to make the book and film widely available was driven by a desire to fulfil John’s last wish,” Sara said. “He had an unique experience to tell because he lived in Bali for 20 years. Now it’s out there for all to enjoy, along with John’s memoirs and poetry.

Melbourne University Professor Charles Coppel said Herb Feith and John Darling were “ideal examples of Australians committed to better relations with Indonesians.

“They lived for long periods in Indonesia on Indonesian terms that endeared them to their Indonesian friends. That made them stand out among Indonesian ‘experts’ and gave a special quality to their work.”

This quality comes across in film and book, though unfortunately the latter is too short.  Maybe that’s to be expected from a poet who preferred brevity, and a film director who spoke through his images. 

But it leaves great gaps. We learn much about Lempad – we also want to know more of his biographer, and how such an odd couple related and communicated. “John was always a deep thinker, and at heart an artist,” wrote Sara.  So was Lempad.

Other books are promised later this year to coincide with an exhibition in Bali of the work of the man who many consider the island’s greatest artist. These will celebrate Lempad’s work but are unlikely to reveal more about the other man whose destiny was set in a Bali ricefield in 1970.

Since then too many Australians have come to use Bali as their backyard party zone,  cheap and exotic, an inhibition-free week at the poolside bar without ever encountering the mystery and magic of the hinterland and isles beyond. 

For them the rich culture comes in roll-up canvases of saleable sameness, Kuta trinkets, so tawdry it’s clear the sellers have a cynical understanding of foreigners’ tastes and values.

Although beloved of academics, John Darling’s work was never exclusive.  It was made for general viewing and no special appreciation of art or Indonesia is necessary to enjoy the film and book. 

How come people like Herb Feith, a Jewish refugee from Austria who settled in Australia as a child, and John Darling, who left his homeland to study the British Empire in Oxford, fit so well into Indonesia and want to share their insights?

One of many answers has to be accepting the Archipelago on its terms, to get in sync with its pulse and absorb a different world view. Here’s a clue:  “Bali subverted me,” the film maker wrote. “The way of life around me soon dominated my thinking.  It became apparent that here was a story to tell and that I owed it to my friends and neighbors on the island to help them tell it.

 “Poetry and film … have much in common, images, symbols, myth, rhythm and other resonances beyond the immediate.”

Here are fresh ways for Australians to see their northern neighbor, not through commerce and defence, but respect and wonder.  This is the paddy path to build mature people-to-people relationships, the must-have phrase in every politician’s lexicon, so often said, so seldom done.

Elusive knowledge,                                                                                                                      A product of receptive seeing                                                                                            

Coming to us                                                                                                                              

In black and white                                                                                                                   

And hot and cold                                                                                                                      

And nature rhythms                                                                                                                 

Oh, what are we                                                                                                                       

But receptacles                                                                                                                     

Which occasionally overflow.

Lempad of Bali                                                                                                                           E book and embedded video                                                                                                 Published by Equinox Books, Jakarta  , 2014                                                                 Download free: http://www.lempad.net

 (First published in The Jakarta Post 14 April 2014)

LIVING ON A LAHAR FLOW ROUTE

The village that won’t die  

Rising from the rubble: Nicholas Saputra, 11, (left) and Wildan Dwi Saputra, 10.

             

Like a dragon settling after a good meal Central Java’s Mount Merapi continues to rumble and belch.  Officials urge awareness.  Most villagers understand the dangers but want to stay.  Duncan Graham reports from Gempol, Malegang Regency.

The video’s special effects are astonishing, Steven Spielberg quality. But this is reality.

A flood to challenge Noah roaring down the river at maybe 60 kilometers an hour, boulders half as big as cars rolling like soccer balls, tree limbs thrashing the filthy foam like drowning men.

Banks are gouged and breached. Houses crumple and vanish. People rush to higher ground.  Maybe Armageddon will look like this.

Cut to the present. A dozen villagers gather in the Gempol (Central Java) community hall, a four-post, high roof traditional joglo.  They’ve come to hear the latest news from Sudiyanto, the elected head of the dusun (remote village).

He clicks a laptop file and projects a video of a meeting held two days earlier in another village.  The locals have no wish to see again the shaky footage shot by a brave neighbor in January 2011, but tolerate a viewing for visitors. 

The Gempol people want to move on, and for some that means away. They think the village is too dangerous despite diversion of the Kali Putih (White River), so they plan to relocate.  That suits the government.

But others want to stay with their homes, land, history and jobs.  They prefer to believe the assurances of engineers that their town is now safe and they reject contradictory advice from bureaucrats.

The dispute in the village 20 kilometers from Yogyakarta off the road to Magelang is shaping as a classic example of the social trauma that so often follows natural disasters everywhere in the world.

During the crisis all work together.  Later the cohesion crumbles and neighbors turn against each other, often over aid distribution and land use.

This drama began after Mount Merapi exploded in late 2010.  Although Gempol is 18 kilometers from the summit, the village lies in the path of a river that rises high on the mountain’s slopes.  This became the channel for the lahar on that awful January day.

Lahar is a Javanese word that’s pushed its way into English. It’s the fast-moving mix of volcanic mud, ash, debris, water and rocks that follows volcanic eruptions.  Lahar can be enormously destructive, but early warning systems helped save the lives of all the Gempol people.

Local warden Widodo was monitoring his walkie-talkie when the alert came from higher up the valley. The little mosque’s speakers screamed ‘lari, lari, lari’ (run, run, run) and Widodo bashed a steel pipe to sound the alarm. Signs in the streets showed the evacuation route.

“I didn’t have to do much,” he said. “We’d already seen the black clouds and knew from experience that a lahar could follow heavy rain.  We can build to reduce earthquake damage, but nothing stops a lahar.”

When the flood had passed the residents found 43 of their 160 homes had vanished.  Rubble from another 23 remained.  Most of the rest sustained some damage. Sections of the nearby main road had been torn away.

Families moved to a temporary camp about a kilometer distant and stayed for two years while the men went to and fro rebuilding their homes.  The giant boulders dumped in their yards were painstakingly fractured by hammer and chisel and stockpiled for sale as roadmaking material.

A house once stood here – 

residents Sumiyati (left) and Nur Hidayati,

Some of the rebuilt houses look better than the originals, according to resident Nur Hidayati, another reason to stay. “The lahar was a tragedy but for some of us it’s been a blessing in disguise,” she said.

Authorities say they are motivated by safety in wanting Gempol empty (see sidebar). However rumors swirl that the government wants the land to build a truck depot or set up a tourist center.

“The government has offered those who leave Gempol Rp 37 million (US$ 3,220) to buy land and rebuild – but that’s clearly not enough,” said Sudiyanto.  “A minimum of Rp 50 million is required.

“But the real issue is the people who want to stay.  They’re getting nothing, yet their needs are the same.”

High school dropout Sudiyanto, 39, (left) fossicked for food in rubbish dumps during the 1997 economic crisis, He then went Riau as a laborer before returning to his village where he set about learning leadership and ways to use modern technology.

“He understands that information is power, and to fight governments communities need to be equally well informed and better prepared,” said Dr Sari Timur who runs the Yakkum Emergency Unit. She came across Gempol women when helping in the refugee camp and has since been acting as a resource person.

“We don’t interfere,” she said. “If we are asked we put them in touch with individuals and agencies that may be able to help. What Sudiyanto and his supporters have been doing is extraordinary.  This is a text book case of community self help and transparency.”

Despite his successes Sudiyanto remains Javanese-modest. He’s papered the joglo’s walls with photocopies of correspondence, financial reports and letters sent to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and regional heads. Nearby are the receipts proving postage. Just one reply – a down-the-line referral that perished on its journey.

Sudiyanto’s quest to preserve Gempol has come at a cost.  Eighteen families have already moved.  Some have abused him for challenging the government. Countering this have been invitations to explain his campaign to other communities.

Also displayed are the damage statistics and a map.  Any civil servant trying to drown community opposition with bombast should approach Gempol with great caution.  A sign reads: Perjuangan Warga Gempol Mengharap Keadilan (The Gempol people’s struggle is to hope for justice).

Processions and street demos have been organized and the local media encouraged to report. Sound and vision of meetings and visits are recorded for those unable to be present and a record of what was actually said.

After the flood the government built Sabo check-dams upstream to slow lahar and dump sediment. It has also spent Rp 64 billion (US $56 million) on a new bridge (right) and  a 2.3 kilometer concrete sloping-walled trench almost 100 meters wide to divert future lahar flows.

It’s this impressive example of civil engineering, much bigger than the original river, that gives the villagers confidence to remain.

“The difficulty is that government departments are not sticking to one clear message, and that’s confusing” said Sudiyanto. “All we want is to be treated equally and fairly.”

Still unsafe?

Despite the government diverting Kali Putih at huge expense it seems that Gempol remains a danger zone.

Sujadi, manager of the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency BPPD, referred inquiries to a letter from the Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Agency BPPTKG, which he said had been sent to Gempol.  He said this made the risk clear.

“This village is one of several that could be threatened and we are concerned about everyone’s safety,” Sujadi said.

“We are offering money to people to relocate but we don’t want to force them to move.  The grant of Rp 37 million was set two years ago and may be reviewed. It was available only to people who moved to secure locations.

“There are no plans to turn Gempol into a tourist park or anything else.  We are not sending conflicting messages.  However the people must understand that if they stay in Gempol they could be in danger if another lahar flows.”

(First published in The Jakarta Post, 11 April 2014)

THIS IS DEMOCRACY

I'm always mindful of an Australian diplomat announcing the end of terrorism just before the Marriott bomb, but nonetheless the Indonesian election has so far gone splendidly.

No-one heeded the call of the jailed loathsome preacher Abu Bakar Bashir to bomb polling stations

In our booth there was great good humour though the ballot papers were of Senate length and complexity.  Everything was conducted simply and efficiently - the AEC should come here and study the system.  Maybe Indonesia can find an aid programme.

TV coverage has also been spectacular with imaginative graphics (the best on Kompas TV being parties depicted as shhips in a race) and robust debate laced with lots of laughs.  So far former general Prabowo's Gerindra party has been trailing Golkar.  Most commentators agree that the PDI-P vote fell far short of forecasts and the party will have to form a coalition.  With whom?  That's the question. This could be the way for the old guard to maintain control.

 It's three month before the direct presidential election.

Inevitably there have been issues.  A neighbour's maid claimed she'd been offered (and accepted) Rp 50,000 to vote for PDI-P by supporters away from the polling station, an allegation impossible to prove when names aren't available.  Nor are statutory declarations.

There's still a month to go before the final figures are out and plenty can happen.  But unless a major problem is disclosed or a fanatic lights a fuse, this has to be a triumph for Indonesian democracy. 

Romo BENNY SUSETYO

Not a neutral priest

Religious leaders should educate their followers about political issues, but not recommend candidates, according to prominent Catholic priest Benny Susetyo, 45, former executive secretary of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference,

However the social activist left no doubt about his presidential choice when interviewed during a brief visit to his hometown Malang by Duncan Graham.

            It’s a priest’s calling to be concerned with souls, to teach the Gospel.  How do you justify your involvement in politics?

            A priest’s job is also to speak out on issues concerning the people’s welfare, morality and ethics, to be concerned for humanity, peace and justice. That’s the teaching of Catholicism; these are the values of all religions. I’ve studied the contestants’ statements and policies and read the polls. Indonesians are not stupid.  We know Jokowi (Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo) is strong on these important issues.

            Is your impartiality in question?  Your brother (Andreas Eddy Susetyo) is a Partai Demokrasi Indonesia – Perjuangan (PDI-P) Legislative Assembly candidate.  You say you’ve known Jokowi since his days as mayor of Solo and keep in close touch.  Perhaps you should also have spoken to other candidates.

Not necessary. The others are all Orde Baru (New Order – the Soeharto era administration) figures. Their policies and records tell me enough. I agree Jokowi has yet to be tested, but he’s the only candidate concerned with human rights.  He will not ignore Christians if elected. I reject neutrality.

             Are you in danger of putting off Muslim voters by expecting Protestants and Catholics to vote for Jokowi?

I’m not trying to cause divisions and wish religion wasn’t part of politics.  Jesus was a politician because he advocated for the poor and weak against the rulers – but he wasn’t a member of a political party. Many religious people don’t understand politics, so need information, to have issues explained. That’s my role. A priest must also follow his conscience.

            Has that got you into strife?

With a few, though not the Vatican. Pope Francis has spoken out against inequalities caused through bad economic policies.

            Isn’t this all academic?  Non-Muslims are such a small minority with little influence.

Every non-Muslim is still part of our Republic. Everyone has influence, whoever they are, irrespective of their religion.

            You’ve just returned from London and Oxford where you spoke on ‘Pluralism in Peril” in Indonesia. What do you mean?

All the evidence shows intolerance is growing and spreading beyond the original pockets. I’m particularly worried about the conflicts that followed the Arab Spring coming to this country, brought by young radicals who have been fighting there.  

            Why not the other way around, with Indonesia exporting its successful version of democracy?

That won’t happen.  Our culture is completely different.  We lean more towards the US than Arab countries.

Are human rights an important issue in this election?

No.  But they should be.

            What do you expect from the next president?

To stamp out corruption, that’s number one. He should uphold Pancasila (the nation’s five philosophical principles) and strengthen the rule of law. He must stop the abuse of power and care for the poor.  

            Many argue Indonesia needs a strong leader so the president should be a military man.

Like Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former general, but weak?  The Indonesian people don’t need a dictator. We want honest leaders with rational policies, not populist slogans. If you interview me in five years time I hope that religious issues won’t be part of the campaign.

How do you feel about the future of democracy in Indonesia?

Optimistic if the people are rational in their approach to politics, but not if we continue following the culture of the elite.

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TECHNOLOGY BITES

Growing the lovely bones                             

It’s the size of a cigarette packet, though there are no glossy images or death and cancer  warnings.  Instead the opposite - a cheering message welcoming the buyer ‘to the next generation of regenerative therapy’.

In lay terms this means helping the body repair itself.

The pack’s contents are tiny, just a small plastic phial containing a white pellet. It looks insignificant enough but this Indonesian invention, which has taken ten years to develop, could enhance dental surgery, slash costs and earn export income.

More importantly it could help improve the lives of thousands of people with damaged jaws, usually following accidents or cancer, and those seeking cosmetic surgery.

Welcome to bioceramics, the use of synthesized natural products to help heal human hurts.

In a Yogyakarta suburb a small blue-walled factory is being prepared to make the pellets, starting mid-year when essential laboratory equipment arrives.  Up to ten staff will be trained, at first producing around 100,000 units a year.

If reality matches the hype the pellets, and other products using the same technology, could nudge Indonesia closer to joining the world’s leading pharmaceutical suppliers, the US, China and India.

It’s called Gama-CHA and it’s a material that helps fractured bones graft. At present the application is mainly in dental work, though later it could be used to repair other bones, particularly the spinal column. It can be used by dentists, though most interest is likely to come from oral surgeons.

 It’s made from carbonate apatite – a calcium-phosphate mineral – and it’s being developed by PT Swayasa Prakarsa.

This commercial business is owned by the University of Gadjah Mada through a subsidiary of its holding company PT Gama Multi.  This runs several services including finance, a consultancy and the University Club.  Gama is an acronym for Gadjah Mada. CHA stands for carbonated hydroxy apatite.

Swayasa Prakarsa has been set up using a Rp 67 billion (US $522,000) loan from UGM, whose engineering and nano biomedicine research group has been creating the technology. (See sidebar)

According to Gama-CHA  inventor, Associate Professor Ika Dewi Ana (above), the product uses materials that are  widely available and cheap.

“It’s identical to human bone in terms of physical and chemical properties,” she said. “It mimics human bones but does away with the need to graft bone from another part of the body. That’s the gold standard, but it’s intrusive and risky.

“Gama-CHA acts as a scaffold.  It supports and allows bone regeneration to occur naturally. It creates an environment where bone tissue can grow.

 “It’s a major improvement on other products which have to be bought overseas. We’ve already taken out Indonesian patents, and we’ve signed a contract for Kimia Farma (the Indonesian pharmaceutical manufacturer and retailer) to distribute Gama-CHA.

“This means it will be in pharmacists across the nation for use by dentists and surgeons.  We want to make it available first to Indonesians before we start to export.”

Like slim dieticians and clear-skinned dermatologists, Professor Ika comes across as a splendid advertisement for her profession, sporting a spectacular set of teeth. She’d set her heart on a career in medicine, so when she was offered a place in UGM’s dentistry faculty rather than her chosen course, she cried in frustration. 

“Now I also teach in the medical faculty, which shows there can be something good in every setback,” she said.

Since graduating she has studied in the Netherlands and Japan and built research contacts used to develop Gama-CHA.  However all royalties will stay here because the synthesis method and formula are Indonesian.

In 2011 Professor Ika was recognized as UGM’s most innovative researcher. She exhibits the effervescent energy required of an entrepreneur and rare in academics.  It’s likely to be hard tested in the months ahead as the invention challenges its rivals, and commercial interests start to bite.

She expects the price of the Indonesian product to be around a third of similar imported products that cost up to US$70 (Rp 800,000).  Although the little pellets will be the main seller the company has also developed a sponge using the same ingredients to soak up blood and mucous during dentistry.

The sponges that sit in the mouth and surround the wound as the tooth is drilled or pulled, currently come from Germany.

The pellets can also be used as plugs after an extraction to keep the hole clean and open for later procedures.

Till now other commercial products have been made using high temperatures which affect the crystals in the composition.  It’s claimed that Gama-CHA will be better because it’s created using low temperatures more akin to the human body

Bone fractures can repair themselves, though they need a structure or scaffold to knit the parts together and ensure no kinks.  Surgeons in some countries use bone from a bone bank stocked by donated cadavers. 

Professor Ika said there were no legal prohibitions on using donated bone in either Indonesian or Islamic law, but such procedures were rare because the materials are in short supply.

“However the use of bone raises the risk of infection,” she said. “This is not a concern with Gama-CHA, which is radiated during manufacture and totally sterile. It’s safe because it degrades naturally and is absorbed by the body. It can be stored at room temperature.

“The Ministry of Health has been evaluating the product but has found problems with classification because it’s neither a drug nor a device.  So we’re helping them define and write the regulations for what’s called bone graft.

“I do not want my country to be a technology user only.  We have to be technology producers.”

Small is beautiful

Farewell electronics: Nano technology is the new frontier for applied science, and in this case it’s being used in biomedicine, also known as medical biology.

Nano means one billionth, and is the other end of the scale from billion.  One nano can be written like this: 0.000000001. US journalist Jennifer Kahn writing in the National Geographic magazine developed a handy analogy: This comma, spans about half a million nanometers.

 Nano biomedicine is the manipulation of matter at an extremely miniscule level, deep down among the atoms.  When matter shrinks it changes. Metals can become transparent. Though the science has been in existence for less than 50 years it’s considered to have enormous potential. 

One common application is in modern sunscreens to block ultra violet rays, but its uses are far more diverse. The screen on your cellphone has been developed through nanotechnology, and if you’re wearing a stain resistant shirt and have installed easy-clean glass in your shower you’re already a consumer of this new science.

(Duncan Graham was a guest in Yogya of UGM.)

First published in The Jakarta Post 2 April 2104)

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