Many goats, few cats,
ample fish
The Indonesian government’s Ten New Balis program aims to beckon investors to create fresh
tourist lures. One obvious candidate is
an islet off East Java’s north coast.
But transition won’t be easy.
Gili Ketapang ticks
most boxes as a desirable destination: It’s less than an hour from a major port
so day trips are easy. Although ferries are grossly overcrowded the passage is
usually calm and busy with traffic.
The timid will discover an outlet for their limited adventuresome
spirits while those keen on culture, history and ecology will find puzzles to
stimulate the mind. But how to promote all
without spoiling?
“This is our development dilemma,” said village head Suparyono,
49, (right) the senior government official on the 68 hectare island eight kilometers
from Probolinggo.
“We definitely want more tourists to help our economy and
tell the world about ourselves. But we
don’t want visitors to start buying land for their businesses or damage our
traditions.”
Whether disembarking at the public jetty or beaching a
charter boat on the sandy western tip of the tear-shaped isle the newcomer is met
with a welcome and a warning.
The prohibition could have included bans on littering –
which is a serious concern – but highlights instructions on how women should
dress, particularly while snorkelling. Unsurprisingly Bali’s bikinis are taboo;
so is even modest beachwear.
While men can make a splash in shorts women struggle to keep
covered as tugging waves threaten to reveal a sliver of skin. However there are
few chances of locals suffering a moral upset because visitors, mainly from
social clubs, hang around the beach where they camp and frolic among themselves.
Unchaperoned outsiders wandering the kampong concerns
Suparyono. “Some locals want to pinch
guests’ skin, particularly if it’s white, because it’s so unusual” he said.
“They also stare a lot and ask for cigarettes as they assume everyone smokes.
“We need to provide tour guides who can explain the cultural
differences. We don’t want outside agents doing this. Our religious leaders are
not ready yet to understand tourism. But people are friendly and this is a safe
place.”
(In the interests of factual reporting your correspondent
found much curiosity and only benign harassment.)
The islanders may be sedate but the elements are less easily
controlled. With only two metres between high tide and the peak a tsunami could
sweep all away.
“Impossible,” said
Suparyono. “We’d be shielded by Madura.”
The bigger island is 60 kilometers north and tethered at its west end to
Java by the Suramadu Bridge; Madura is more than 6,000 times larger than the
islet and its population 375 times greater.
It would be a brave soul who confessed to following a faith
other than Islam on Gili Ketapang. The
majority are Madurese and speak a different language.
Few locals over 30 seem to understand the national tongue;
those who do were schooled on the mainland or married into the community from
elsewhere. The effect makes visitors
feel they should have brought passports and phrase books.
Suparyono taught elementary school before taking his present
job and is proud that most people want to remain.
“There are 9,671 residents and only six have gone overseas
(as maids or laborers),” he said with bureaucratic precision, presumably up-to-speed
on overnight births or deaths. “Unlike
Madura our population is growing. (Half
the seven million ethnic Madurese live away from their homeland.)
“There’s plenty of fish because we are
conservationists. We don’t use cantrang (trawl nets banned by Fisheries
Minister Susi Pudjiastuti but this year unbanned by President Joko Widodo)
because we want to sustain stocks.
“Anyone who isn’t lazy can get work on the boats (there are
around 800) or processing the fish. What
we don’t eat we sell in Probolinggo.” The kids look fit and there are many
oldies, suggesting a piscine diet helps folk thrive.
Some families have clearly done well judging by their modern
homes. Seen from the sea the terracotta roofs and whitewashed walls give a
Mediterranean feel. However authorities are behind on planning; grand mansions
front old shacks and narrow tracks of crushed coral.
Houseprouds’ kitchen devices don’t get overused as power is
rationed. Suparyono said new diesel generators
will be relocated away from the school where the rhythmic bang-bang disrupts
classes.
The island is dry so water is pumped from Java through an
undersea pipe. Yards have rain tanks and
there are a few wells. Some have become
mystical – see breakout.
In Gili Ketapang everyday is car-free – the ferries are too
small to carry large goods; an armada of
motorbikes has made it across the straits, though more for status as they are
poorly suited to squishy sand and tyre-ripping coral.
Only the toughest trees survive the goats which probably
outnumber humans. Some have adapted to
gnawing cardboard and tissues but so far haven’t evolved into plastic digesters
– which is a pity as there’s little shortage.
Around half the women wear bright headscarves but not the
all-covering jilbab found on the
mainland. Sarongs are unisex fashion. Babies are made up like dolls.
Another aspect of local lifestyle is practical. Properties are fenced – not because of theft
(there are no police on the island) but to repel the voracious nannies and
billies patrolling the perimeters like an occupying army, ever alert to a
breach of security.
There’s no formal tourist accommodation on Gili Ketapang so visitors need to make prior
arrangements with householders.
Otherwise there are beds aplenty in Probolinggo’s hotels and guest
houses mainly catering for trekkers heading to Mount Bromo.
(Breakout)
Catastrophes
Semeru, Java’s highest (3,676 meters) mountain, features in pre-Islam
cosmology as a transplant from India where it was called Mahameru.
Geologically it’s a perpetual puffer with 55 major eruptions
in the past two centuries. In local
mythology Gili Ketapang used to be part of Java but was blasted away during
some massive explosion of Semeru long ago.
The hard science is less romantic: Basically the island is a coral reef and
barren sandspit in a shallow sea.
A more recent oral history has Shaykh Maulana Ibrahim, one of
the 14th century Walisongo (nine saints) who brought Islam to Java,
visiting from Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan). Along with spreading the word he
also cleansed a cave occupied by hundreds of felines.
Goa Kuching (cat
cave) is now a quaint shrine with some old wells cut into the coral and donation
boxes prominent. The slightly deaf custodian
Mang, 87, (right) shouts a lot which might be why only one shy black cat was spotted
near the building which is also used as a snooze spot for pilgrims.
For those with faith and an empty bottle Mang will go down
into the hole and bring back some blessed water.
It’s said that on certain auspicious nights much
caterwauling can be heard which should make Gili Ketapang an ideal location for
a spooky sinetron (soap opera).
The story seems more fable than fact: Even if the cats were crying the calls to
prayer and the pounding power plant would smother any pussy pleading for
release.
First published in The Jakarta post 7 June 2017
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