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A Small Seed that Yielded Fruitful Results: A Successful JIP Project in Indonesia

October 8, 2008
By null

Our Joint Initiative Program (JIP) project, conducted February 2006–April 2008, started with a small question in 2005: After all that we have learned and all the discussions that we have had, what can we do to help solve the world’s problems? That simple but deeply meaningful question arose in a gathering of Sylff fellows at the University of Indonesia (UI), after a series of discussions of various topics by members of the Association of Sylff-UI.

The Waste Management Situation in Indonesia

The large amount of waste thrown into the rivers in Jakarta has been clogging the artery of city life for years. This problem, which worsens every year, has many negative consequences for Jakarta’s inhabitants, including flooding that causes much discomfort in people’s daily lives and results in millions of dollars in damage each year. The waste that is accumulating in the rivers is causing them to get shallower, and at some places people can cross a river by walking on the waste. And because the riverbanks have in effect become waste-disposal areas, people cannot leisurely walk there and enjoy nature.

Jakarta is also facing problems concerning final disposal sites. In many localities, accidents on such sites have cost the lives of scavengers working there. In addition, Jakarta is also facing a lack of such sites, and in many instances plans to create final disposal sites have been opposed by local communities.

But the real problem is deeper than that. The situation regarding the waste problem in Indonesia is analogous to dirt being swept under a carpet. One cannot see the dirt until one examines the conditions closely, a problem that is compounded by some people saying that the problem of waste in Jakarta is not very bad. This failure of people to acknowledge the problem is what drove us to plan the JIP project. Thus, part of the problem is people’s attitude towards waste.

Manggarai residents discuss their waste problems

People think that once their waste has been collected, the problem is solved. People do not want to see what happens to their waste. All that matters for them is that their waste is removed on time and that they don’t need to see it again. But those are only superficial considerations. People rarely examine their behavior or consider that they are just paying somebody to take their waste away and that the trash collector then pays poor people who agree to let the waste be dumped in their yards because they need the money. This is in effect a NIMBY (“Not in my back yard”) attitude, because Jakarta dumps its waste in neighboring cities.
To help deal with the above problems, we started by forming a team consisting of Sylff fellows from the University of Indonesia and Gadjah Mada University. Our first step was to collect preliminary data by creating a simple questionnaire that we used when interviewing and talking with people in Manggarai, South Jakarta. When we learned of the Tokyo Foundation’s call for JIP proposals, we presented the results of our research in a proposal to the Foundation.

The first part of the project was designed to raise people’s awareness of waste management through environmental education in the Manggarai community of South Jakarta. All the people there are members of one neighborhood association, RW 10 (RW stands for rukun warga, “neighborhood association”). That neighborhood association consists of 18 smaller neighborhood groups totaling 3,200 people. Our team’s preliminary research indicated that 39 percent of the people throw their waste into a nearby river. The other 61 percent dump their waste in vacant areas or pay a small amount of money to have someone pick up their waste and dispose of it somewhere else.

Together With Local Communities

Our team designed a social intervention program (hereinafter “SIP”) based on a literature review done prior to and during the program. The SIP emphasized the role of block leaders, high public participation, and frequent visits by the team. The team often met after dark following meetings with about 25 community members. The SIP provided training and workshops in waste management for the people, and this was warmly received by the community. About 40 people actively participated in the entire program we initiated and also started their own initiatives. One reason why citizen participation was very high and progress was so fast was explained by one of the community members, a 50-year-old male: “We are happy and grateful because you work with us, talk with us, and continuously visit us. We had many people come from universities before. But they just collected data and left us once they got what they were seeking. We never saw them again.

A participant in the second workshop presents her group's proposal

The program also brought the local residents into more contact with the local government. Our two-year JIP project has had several positive results. Neighborhoods in the community became cleaner and greener by people creating both home gardens and community gardens. Our JIP project also made some community members aware of income-generating opportunities, such as producing and marketing homemade biofertilizer, collecting and selling recyclable materials, making products from recycled materials, and selling decorative plants.

We realized during the first year of our JIP project (April 2006–March 2007) that raising people’s awareness of waste management is not enough. More effort is needed to have an impact not only at the community level but also at the governmental decision-making level.

Moving Forward With Stakeholders

A meeting of community residents and local-government

We also realized that without cooperation from all stakeholders, integrated waste management is not sustainable in the long run. Waste management problems cannot be solved only at the community level; they must involve a broad range of stakeholders. For this reason, our team met again and planned further steps for the second year of our JIP project: “The Institutionalization of Sustainable Waste Management: An Extension Program of Environmental Awareness in Jakarta and West Java.”
The second year of our JIP project (March 2007—April 2008) was designed to facilitate meetings involving all stakeholders in waste management in Jakarta and West Java: representatives of local and provincial governments, NGOs, and the business sector; local residents; academicians and other experts; and informal sectors and legislators. Our initial plan was to establish contact with all stakeholders, then to hold regional waste-management forums with them in Jakarta, Depok, and Bandung. The plan sounds simple, but the results were beyond what was expected.

A Focus-group Discussion in Jakarta

A working group at a regional workshop in Depok City

The change of the program proved to be very useful for us by providing a good base and data for use in preparing the forums. Later on, we decided that we should take the form of workshops, one of which was organized as a national, as opposed to just a regional, event. The workshops were attended by more than 103 representatives in Jakarta and over 84 in Depok. Waste-management stakeholders, including local governments and important national government agencies, as well as representatives from the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia were in attendance.
What the team felt was special was the trust placed in us by all the stakeholders. The team is small, and an informal group at that. We felt honored to be trusted by all the important stakeholders who responded to our invitation to work together. Some participants voiced their appreciation for our initiative, which provided a forum for all stakeholders to voice their opinions concerning the problem, saying, “Never before was there an initiative to allow us to meet decision makers and be given the opportunity to be heard. We thank you for that.”

The Waste Management Act

At the end of the program, the team was greatly pleased at witnessing the passage of the long-awaited Waste Management Act by the government of the Republic of Indonesia on May 7, 2008. Thus, one important recommendation made by many working groups in the workshops to encourage Indonesia to adopt waste management, that is, to have regulations at the national level, has been realized.

The Waste Management Act, which is applied nationwide, is divided into 18 chapters, including general prescription, the government’s authority and obligations, people’s rights and obligations, waste management implementation, cost and compensations, cooperation and partnership, restriction, monitoring, administrative sanction, dispute settlement, investigation, and transitional rules. This act is expected to make a major change in waste management in Indonesia. The regulation states that government regulation and ministerial decree should be finalized within a year after this regulation is enacted, while local government regulation (by the provincial and municipal government) should be finalized within three years. During the transition, local government should close any open dumping sites within five years and start making plans to close these sites within a year of enactment of the act.

The second year project focused on the capacity building of waste management in Indonesia. This approach is different compared to the previous efforts. This project was helping various stakeholders to work together in solving waste problems in Indonesia. The issue of waste regulation, among other things that were deemed important, was discussed widely, not only by stakeholders who previously worked exclusively on the drafting through enactment stages but also by other stakeholders who never gave any attention to the regulation. At the end of the workshop, each stakeholder committed themselves to applying their efforts anyway they can to realize the recommendations made by the working groups. Soon after that, some stakeholders—who were also the facilitators in the working groups and were cooperating with the JIP team to hold the workshop, and who have been working for years on the regulation—came to the House of Representatives with new materials. The draft of the waste management act was then agreed to be enacted without much time and difficulty. This act marked the shifting of the waste management paradigm in Indonesia from collect-transfer-disposal to one that incorporates the concept of waste management hierarchy, more popularly known as the concept of 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle).

One fruit of the project: a cleaner and greener

If we are asked how, with limited funds and time, we were able to attain high participation from local people and the cooperation of stakeholders, we might not be able to give you a definite answer. What we can say is that we gave people opportunities to act on their ideas and to contribute in anyway that they saw fit. We acted as participating facilitators, not as outsiders higher than the people. Also, the Tokyo Foundation, which funded the project, trusted us and gave us room to maneuver and to make changes to the initial JIP proposal. That trust means a lot to us. In addition, our hard work and devoting our time to the project were of course very important. We feel very much rewarded by the outcomes of the project.

Even though our JIP project has ended, our journey continues. The team is still receiving requests from local people, government bodies, and other stakeholders to become involved in further meetings and discussions, to present the results of the project in seminars and articles, and to give our “expert” support. We believe that the adage “A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step” applies well in this case, and that our project was such a first step. Indeed, it was a step whose good results will give rise to the next steps. We hope the fact that a small and simple initiative such as our JIP project can produce such a big change will inspire many similar works in the future.

Wardhani, Citra

Sylff Fellow Earned her M.A. in Environmental Studies in 2002 and her M.A. in Social Psychology in 2008 from the University of Indonesia. Is currently conducting research on urban mobility culture, poverty, and migration.

Imran, Sarojini

Sylff Fellow Earned her M.A. in Anthropology in 2002 from the University of Indonesia. Has been a lecturer at Pancasila University, Jakarta, Faculty Architecture Engineering since 1993 and is coordinating research programs for the faculty.

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The Overseas Chinese in Tonga

August 1, 2008
By 21136

Tonga will hail a new king in August 2008. A Sylff fellow from New Zealand, who conducted field research in the country, suggests that Tonga must improve cultural relations following November 2006 riots caused by ethnic tension between Tongans and Overseas Chinese and political rivalry between the state and opposition pro-democracy factions.

Tonga is an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean. The earliest ethnic Chinese arrived there as Anglican priests in the 1920s. It was not until 1974 that the first Taiwanese businessman settled there, and thereupon began a gradual increase in the Overseas Chinese (OC) population--mainly from Taiwan, with some from Hong Kong and some students from the People's Republic of China after the 1989 Tiananmen Incident1. Thousands of Tongan passports were sold in the 1990s to raise revenue for government coffers. The majority of these were purchased by PRC nationals who quickly established businesses and dominated Tongan commercial interests. By 2001, there were reportedly over 120 Chinese-run shops in Nuku'alofa--mostly small roadside stalls selling convenience items and snacks. Larger businesses include wholesale and retail shops. The number of standard shipping containers imported into Tonga indicates that Chinese businesspeople control a significant share of goods brought into the country. One businessman estimates that he alone imports 40 containers of foodstuffs and general use items per year. Another successful businessman imports about five containers per month.

A typical roadside stall owned by ethnic Chinese.

Today, there are approximately 600-700 ethnic Chinese residents on the main island of Tongatapu--less than 1% of the country's total population. However, the relatively sudden influx of Chinese migrants, the illegal selling of passports, and the subsequent government decision to make this legal have aggravated ethnic tensions. Resentment of OC immigrants has been manifested in various ways. Graffiti is scrawled across the outer walls of the PRC embassy; there are numerous cases of harassment and assaults against Chinese businessmen;² Tu'ivakano, chieftain of Nukunuku, banned Chinese stores in his district; and in late 2001, 600 ethnic Chinese were asked by the government to leave once their work permits expired in order to curb violence and anger against Chinese.

These tensions are tied to conflict within the royal family and its links with China. Princess Pilolevu has many business interests with the PRC and, along with her late father, was a strong supporter of Chinese immigration as a means to stimulate the economy. Further links with China are illustrated by bilateral deals involving fisheries, manufacturing and agriculture, and most importantly, the severing of diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Prince 'Ulakalala had another view, deciding that the economy should not be open to foreigners, and used ethnic Chinese as the scapegoat for the island nation's continuing economic malaise.³

Former New Zealand High Commissioner to Tonga Brian Smythe noted upon his retirement in 2003 that "public resentment at the rapid intrusion of Chinese immigrants into the retail sector seems to have diminished somewhat but could always resurface.⁴ His words would ring true. On November 16, 2006, entire blocks of Nuku'alofa's central business district were left in smoldering ruins following pro-democracy demonstrations. Out of 155 businesses damaged, 33 shops owned by Chinese nationals or naturalized Tongans of Chinese descent were systematically targeted for looting and then torched.⁵ Several OC businesses along the shoreline (about 10 minutes away on foot) were first cased by scouts, who then advised looters and arsonists by mobile telephone. It is important to note that only property was targeted, and not the people themselves. This all pointed to coordinated planning, preparation, and careful execution.⁶

art of downtown Nuku'alofa after the riots - all burnt down.

One report suggested the Chinese were attacked because of their support for the government.⁷ However, Chinese keep mostly to themselves and their businesses, with little interest in politics. Rather, it was a small minority of Tongans, such as whose in the pro-democratic Pangai Sii movement and the xenophobic Tonga National Business Association, who had focused negatively on Chinese and urged targeting of their businesses.⁸ Thugs were hired by Tongan business owners to attack rival operators.⁹¹⁰ Police intelligence confirmed these allegations. Commissioner Sinilau Kolokihakaufisi commented, "There was a struggle against the Chinese presence. They were not wanted and that's not democracy. Our investigations will include claims that there were other motives other than democracy behind the riot."¹¹

Violence in Nuku'alofa was quickly contained the same night the riots began.¹² However, hundreds of Chinese were left homeless. The PRC embassy made great efforts to provide assistance. It managed to feed, clothe, and house about 300 Chinese in its compound over five days, assisted by large donations from the OC community and sympathetic Tongans. An Air China Boeing 747 was sent to Nadi (Fiji) with food and necessities, to investigate the situation, and to rescue those requiring evacuation.¹³ The plane arrived back in Xiamen, China, on November 23, 2006.¹⁴ Jeremy Chan, an OC community member with Tongan citizenship who opted to remain, said those leaving "will probably never return."¹⁵ But this would not be the case.

Traditional Tongan architecture using natural materials.

The OC population controls a large proportion of businesses and services in the Pacific region. There would be significant repercussions for the local economy if this population were to be displaced or removed--investment would fall, unemployment would rise, and there would be fewer choices for and less access to supplies. The Pacific remains an economically attractive OC market and destination, and there is no indication they would voluntary leave permanently en masse. While the evacuation was necessary for those genuinely escaping the turmoil, the majority declined the offer. Some chose to stay and look after their businesses; some could not return to China because of the circumstances in which they left the country in the first place;¹⁶ and others were not even in Nuku'alofa at the time of the riots, given their transnational nature.

Of the 193 OC community members who left Tonga after the riots, most returned within a couple of months to rebuild their businesses or start new ones--mostly outside the central business district, which remains empty blocks of land. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the number of new Chinese arrivals may have even increased, with migrants believing more business opportunities have surfaced since the rioting. The only group not to return were young children, whose parents preferred to leave them behind in China for schooling.

The 2006 incident shows that dealing with OC affairs will become an important aspect of maintaining bilateral relations with Beijing. China expects and demands that countries protect its nationals (and by implication, all other members of the OC population) in trouble. How countries respond may either be praised or attacked. For example, Beijing thanked Tonga and other regional governments for their role in "active cooperation and assistance" in the return effort.¹⁷ A similar OC evacuation in April 2006 from Honiara in the Solomon Islands resulted in praise for Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and Australia for their roles. In contrast, Solomon Islands officials were criticized for their lack of effort--the Chinese ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Wei Ruixing, noted, "We are very sorry that the SI government did nothing to help Chinese nationals when they were suffering."¹⁸

A typical family residential household in Nuku'alofa, Tonga.

To improve bilateral relationships with Pacific nations, China provides generous aid packages. Following the riots, Beijing approved an estimated TG$100 million soft loan to the Tongan government for rebuilding central Nukua'lofa. This contribution places Beijing as a significant player in Tonga's future, but has so far received limited acceptance--all applications call only for Chinese-sourced labor and materials for reconstruction. Local businesses are wary to draw on this facility, due to unclear valuations, hidden long-term costs (such as interest), and concerns about low building quality.¹⁹ Furthermore, it could serve only to draw more Chinese to Tonga as construction workers and contractors.

The Chinese in Tonga all have different plans for the future--some intend to re-migrate to Australia or New Zealand, and others to return home to China. Their children's education and the genuine fear of repeated ethnic tension are both major considerations for moving on. Others cite the poverty and hard life faced in Tonga compared to the improving economic situation in China. Most, however, maintain that they can profit more there than elsewhere, and even if they migrate would still keep their Tongan businesses. In short, Chinese will remain as long as there is a safe living to be made. As for Tonga's future, there must be efforts to improve understanding and promote positive interaction between cultures. While there are friendly intentions to increase cooperation between the Tonga Chinese Business Association and the Tongan Chamber of Commerce, nothing has yet come to fruition. Time will tell if these cultural differences can be resolved.

This paper is the result of collection and analysis of media articles and meeting with diplomats, community and business leaders, journalists and various local Overseas Chinese in Tonga in August 2007.

1.Bill Willmott, "The Chinese Communities in the Smaller Countries of the South Pacific: Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, Cook Islands." Working Paper 10, MacMillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury, 2007.
2."Tonga's Prince Takes a Swipe at Racism at Home and Abroad," Matangi Tonga, June 29, 2000.
3."Chinese Shopkeepers Told: Pack Up and Leave Country," Agence France-Presse, November 27, 2001.
4.Brian Smythe, "Tonga Report Talks of Royal Instability, Fears of Conflict." Report sent to Foreign Minister Phil Goff, June 11, 2003.
5.From a survey carried out by the Tongan Ministry of Labour, Commerce, and Industries, "Assessment Report of Damages in Tonga from 16/11," Tonga Now, November 20, 2006. See also "Calm Begins to Return to Tonga," Newstalk ZB, November 17, 2006, <http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/894685>.
6.Eight Tongan rioters were killed by fire when they could not escape a building they were trapped in while looting.
7."Tonga Riots," Reuters, November 19, 2006.
8."More Time Was Needed for Reforms, Govt Says," Tonga Now, November 19, 2006.
9.According to eye-witness Mike Jones (a New Zealand businessman) rioters were paid to cause trouble. "It wasn't a riot as such. It was an organised attempt to cut out all of the Chinese, and whatever businesses were in opposition." Quoted by Pesi Fonua, "Rebuilding Tongan Capital to Take 5 Years," China Post, November 22, 2006.
10."Tongan Business Owners Blame Riots on Rivals," Taipei Times, November 22, 2006, <http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/11/22/2003337434>.
11."Chinese Specifically Targeted: Tonga Police Commissioner," Fiji Times, November 19, 2006, <http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=51924>.
12.The deployment of Tonga Defense personnel on November 16 was followed by New Zealand and Australian troops on November 18. By then, little was needed to be done in terms of containment, leaving them only to assist with investigations, maintain security, and make low-key neighborhood patrols to calm Chinese communities.
13."Chinese Evacuated from Riot-Stricken Tonga," China Daily, November 23, 2006.
14."Chartered Plane to Fetch Chinese Nationals from Tonga Islands Arrives in E. China," Xinhua, November 23, 2006, <http://english.people.com.cn/200611/23/eng20061123_324557.html>.
15."Chinese Community in Tonga Still Reeling from Riots," Radio New Zealand, November 24, 2006.
16.One witness suspects certain OC immigrants had left China with money procured under illegal means and would face retribution if they returned.
17."Chinese Government Helped Its Citizens in Tonga Return to China with a Chartered Plane," PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website, November 22, 2006, <http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/fyrth/t281398.htm>; "Hundreds of Chinese Demand Repatriation from Troubled Tonga," Xinhua, November 22, 2006.
18.Issac Nicholas, "China Condemns Inaction," Solomon Star, May 2, 2006.
19.Interview with Tapu Panuve, Tonga Chamber of Commerce, Nuku'alofa, August 28, 2007.

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New York, New York …

July 15, 2008
By 19588

(The following is an excerpt from the SYLFF Newsletter No.15, May 2006)

Anna Gutowska

This year’s SYLFF Chamber Music Seminar, the first of three such annual events planned and jointly developed by three SYLFF music schools—the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and The Juilliard School, in New York City—took place at Juilliard from January 9th through 17th, 2006, in conjunction with Juilliard’s ChamberFest; a week of chamber music seminars, coaching, and performances.

As a step leading to participation in the seminar, five of us from our university in Vienna—Bojidara Kouzmanova (violin), Philipp Schachinger (cello), Heidrun (“Heidi”) Wirth (bassoon), David Szalkay (trumpet), and I—met at Vienna Airport on Sunday, January 8th, subsequently arriving in New York City after a long flight.

The seminar started on January 9th. It involved intensive hours of practice and coaching each day. We worked with different coaches on different pieces by a variety of composers, such as Stravinsky, Ives, and Friedmann. Juilliard has some 100 practice rooms, so enough rooms were available for us to practice individually and in groups until 11 p.m.— and some days we did so, meeting only for lunches and dinners. However, our time was not all work. Among the much appreciated ‘extracurricular’ events that Juilliard arranged for us during the seminar were a pizza party and a special Chinese dinner.

I was in a chamber group that also included Helena Madoka Berg and Christian Hacker from Germany, Benedicte Royer from Paris, and Ang Li from China. Helena, Christian, and Ang were students at Juilliard, and Benedicte was a student at the conservatoire in Paris. The piece that we chose to play was Anton Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A-Major, op. 81, a very famous and wonderful piece that actually is for piano and strings and is also my favorite. We practiced in the morning and afternoon every day.

Our coach was Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky, chair of the Piano Department of The Juilliard School, from which she had received a doctorate. She has been greatly praised for her musical accomplishments in recitals, chamber music programs, and orchestral performances. Before joining Juilliard, Dr. Kaplinsky taught at the Philadelphia University of the Arts, the Peabody Conservatory, and the Manhattan School of Music. Widely known for her exceptional knowledge of piano techniques, she is in great demand as a teacher of advanced pianists, and she has lectured extensively and judged major musical competitions across the world.

Dr. Kaplinsky provided us with fantastic coaching. She is a very quiet person, but when she is playing, her performance is like fireworks, full of emotion and also very, very warm. I thought that our Dvorak Quintet needed a lot of color and joy, and a little nostalgia, and as a result of her working with us on every element of this piece, we were able to play it in the expressive way that it deserves. I absolutely adore her, and I loved and enjoyed her lessons. Dr. Kaplinsky’s family came from Poland, and I hope that some day she will come to Poland to visit our school. We, the participants in the seminar, had different personalities, were from different countries and cultures, had studied at different schools, embraced different traditions (musical and otherwise), and had different ways of playing. But I think that this “mixture” was fantastic. It gave us many pleasant surprises, as well as much joy and many smiles, and we learned a lot from each other.

The concert in Paul Hall on the final day (January 17th) was held before a large audience, and perhaps it can best be described in these few words: personally satisfying and musically successful! I very much enjoyed performing with my quintet-friends, and, I’m glad to say, our performance was well-received. After the concert Dr. Kaplinsky came to us and said she was proud of us, which of course warmed our hearts and made us feel even more strongly that our hard work and intensive practice had been worthwhile. During the post-concert reception I met people from The Nippon Foundation, the Tokyo Foundation, and the Nippon Music Foundation. I was very happy to see Ms. Ellen Mashiko again after having met her for the first time in July 2005 during the SYLFF Africa/Europe Regional Forum in Coimbra, Portugal.

* * *

I am now back in Vienna.

My first visit to New York City, in addition to the very rewarding experience of collaborating with other students at Juilliard, was also enjoyable and memorable in other ways. I have many photos that I took while there: Central Park and its squirrels, Manhattan, Ground Zero, Planet Hollywood, the Metropolitan Opera, 34th Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown, Times Square, and the Rockefeller Center and its ice rink, among others. Sometimes I look at my photos from my time in New York, and I laugh . . . about David Szalkay, who always had his video camera and was singing Jennifer Lopez songs, and about Bojidara, who was worried about her heavy baggage (she bought a lot of CDs and books in New York). And I remember the wonderful spaghetti party and playing the Uno card game . . . among many, many other memories.

Some of us from Vienna went to Avery Fisher Hall to listen to an open rehearsal of a violin concerto, “The Red Violin,” staged by Joshua Bell and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and we also saw a Metropolitan Opera production of the great ballet Swan Lake.

I also fondly remember a dinner at a sushi bar with my Vienna university roommate, Heidi, and Mathieu and Magie from Paris. The weather was very cold, but we were very happy to share time together. Heidi made entries in her diary every day, and we talked whenever we had a chance. We thoroughly enjoyed the 10 days we passed in New York with the fantastic people we met, played with, and heard play there.

I worked very hard. I attended all the seminar sessions, where I learned a lot. I did my best to contribute to the success of the SYLFF Chamber Music Seminar and our quintet’s performance. I hope I will meet all the seminar participants and teachers again someday . . . perhaps even in New York, which I enjoyed a lot.

After spending such an intense, enriching, and wonderful time in New York, a time that was so meaningful to me, I wish, on behalf of all other musicians who performed at the ChamberFest from the three music schools, to express our sincere gratitude to Ellen Mashiko and the Tokyo Foundation for providing us with such a wonderful opportunity and for the trust they placed in us.

I also wish to express my deepest and very respectful thanks to Professor Wolfgang Klos and Ms. Dorothea Riedel of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, for the trust they placed in me and for making it possible for me to take part, first, in the SYLFF Africa/Europe Regional Forum in the summer of 2005, which in turn provided me with the opportunity to perform in the wonderful chamber music concert in the Biblioteca Joanina (King John Library) at the University of Coimbra during that forum, and then, second, in Juilliard’s ChamberFest this past January.

I will never forget New York. I am very, very happy to have had the experiences I did during ChamberFest, and especially to have been able to play and work with musicians and other people from different countries and cultures around the world. I believe that the SYLFF Chamber Music Seminars, by bringing together in this way such different people, with their varied languages and traditions, will help to eliminate misunderstanding and hatred from this unquiet and uneasy world, and bring goodwill and peace instead.

Anna Gutowska

A native of Poland, Ms. Anna Gutowska is a SYLFF fellow at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, majoring in violin. She participated in the Asia/Pacific Regional Forum in Coimbra, Portugal, in 2005, and in the SYLFF Chamber Music Seminar that was held in January 2006 at The Juilliard School in New York City. This seminar is the first of three annual seminars, developed under the SYLFF Fellows Mobility Program (FMP), to be held at the three music schools involved.

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SYLFF Goes to Mindanao

July 15, 2008
By 21162

An art workshop involving young adults and teens from various indigenous people’s (IP) groups from different provinces in Mindanao, the island group at the southern part of the Philippines, was held on January 26-27, 2008 in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Philippines, in partnership with the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, Inc. Lumads, or indigenous people, are native to Mindanao and are neither Christians nor Muslims. ¹　26 participants were taught basic principles and techniques in art by Errol Balcos of the Oro Art Guild CDO, which they were able to apply to their own artworks when they were later given the chance to work on them.

Aside from the art session, there were lots of other activities that allowed the participants to share their identity and aspirations to one another. There was a sharing session, wherein the participants were able to name the IP organization they belonged to, the difficulties and concerns of their tribe, and their personal dreams for themselves and their communities.

There was also a cultural/solidarity night, where each IP group performed their native dances and songs. Other groups also recited poetry. Many of these presentations reflected the participants’ hopes and dreams; some chronicled their tribe’s history whereas others described the oppression and injustice they have suffered from.

There were also icebreakers that allowed the participants to explore the open areas of the venue and at the same time cooperate with each other in a fun, physical activity.

In order to maximize exposure to the living conditions and experiences of fellow Filipinos in the southern part of the Philippines, the SYLFF fellows visited the community of farmers in Sumilao, Bukidnon who participated in a historic walk from Bukidnon to Manila to pressure the Philippine government to bestow upon them ownership of a disputed 144-hectare land in Bukidnon, appropriately called the “144.” ² This exposure trip was implemented in cooperation with Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in Mindanaw, Inc. (BALAOD Mindanaw). The fellows listened to the farmers’ stories about their experiences during the Sumilao Walk, their struggle for ownership of 144, their dreams and plans for when the land is bestowed upon them, and their steadfast determination to implement more actions consistent with their goal. The fellows also had a chance to visit a camp that the Sumilao farmers had erected outside the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Regional Office in Cagayan de Oro City, with the goal of imposing their presence and objectives upon the agency as a ubiquitous reminder that the latter has yet to fulfill their duty in relation to the said quandary. Here, the fellows witnessed and heard first-hand the difficulties that the farmers had to bear during this protest such as the foul smell emanating from the drainage on top of which they pitched their tent, the extreme heat at noon, the occasional rain, mosquitoes and other insects, the resulting diseases, separation from their families for at least one week, and the inability to till their lands.

1. The participants of the art workshop are indigenous people known in the Philippines as Lumads. The term "Lumad" is a collective term for all the indigenous people in the Mindanao island group. Therefore there are many different indigenous groups referred to using the umbrella-term "Lumad" (e.g., Manobo, T'boli, etc.). Indigenous people are those who inhabit specific geographic regions in which they have the earliest historical and cultural connection with. One of the biggest issues they face concerns their ancestral lands, which they struggle to protect from logging and mining companies, and multinational corporations.

1. The Lumad Higaonon tribe farmers of Sumilao, Bukidnon in Mindanao, walked all the way from Bukidnon to Manila (yes, all 1,700 kilometers on foot!) to petition the government to get their 144 hectares of land back. The large corporation ‘San Miguel Foods, Inc.’ had claimed the land and wanted to convert it into a hog farm.
  
  It took the farmers 2 months to walk from Bukidnon to reach Manila. Last year, in December 2007, ownership of this land was granted to them.

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About Warmth — Charity Activities Organized by SYLFF Fellows in Vienna

July 15, 2008
By 19588

(The following is an excerpt from the SYLFF Newsletter No.18, May 2007)

Adriana Paler-Nicolescu

Adriana (third from right, standing) and orphan girls with donated gifts at Floare de Colt (Noble Flower).

There is much we can learn—such as to walk, speak, read, do business, or play an instrument. There also is much we receive—such as life itself, challenges, and opportunities. And there is much more that we are able to give, almost infinitely, that we can find just near us—tangible, obvious, waiting.

I consider myself a lucky person. If I had to write down all the reasons for saying that, much time—too much time—would be necessary. Therefore in this article I will concentrate on one reason. It has to do with the Tokyo Foundation and some SYLFF fellows at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where I’m studying piano in a master’s program.

To receive a SYLFF Fellowship has been a great honor and great financial help for each one of us; but that is not all. Fellowship-related resources, such as the SYLFF Network Program, give rise to creative opportunities too; that is how our SYLFF Network for Music and Arts Vienna (SYNEMAV) came into being. That is how a handful of SYLFF fellows—my co-organizers Monika Guca and David Szalkay, and myself as the principal organizer—had the modest idea of creating something different. How could we combine an expression of our musical art, networking, and initiative to make the world around us a little bit better? The answer was . . . a charity concert.

There are many people in need, we thought, and so we decided to hold a concert for orphan children (I am, by the way, the mother of two children). I began to look for a children’s shelter in my native country, Romania.

I found the Floare de Colt—translated as Noble Flower—Children’s House in Fagaras, a small town in the Transylvanian mountains, about 20 km from the village where I spent my childhood and first touched a piano. The house director, Ms. Cerasela Dogaru, helped me with information and everything else I needed.

We announced our concert for June 24th, 2006. Because I was the vice-chairperson of the OH at our university—and with kind help from our rector—it was possible to arrange for us to use the big Haydn Hall, with a lovely Steinway piano inside, for our concert.

This was the first time for me to organize a concert; usually I “only” play at such events. To organize a concert involves much more to do, but it was pure networking and very instructive for all of us who were involved.

The performers were six SYLFF fellows and one teacher accompanist. Haiyue Yu, a composer, presented her own piano suite; Monika Guca, flutist (and co-organizer), played Toru Takemitsu; Chi Bun Jimmy Chiang, pianist and conductor, played Mozart and Debussy; Tanja Watzinger sang Alban Berg, with piano accompaniment by Eva Mark-Muhlner; David Szalkay, trumpeter (and co-organizer), played Toru Takemitsu and Perz; Adriana Paler-Nicolescu, pianist (and principal organizer), played Liszt. All of us also said a little about ourselves and our pieces before each artistic moment, so that the audience—other SYLFF members, teachers, friend, and music lovers—could be closer to us and better understand the music, some of it very modern. It was a good concert, which means that we felt at home and connected with the audience, which was very warm. We were like a big family in the inspiring atmosphere of the university.

This feeling continued naturally at the buffet afterwards, where we enjoyed delicious food and good conversation, Romanian wine, and Austrian frizzante (semi-sparkling wine). People from many nations joined in a wonderful drop of time.

As a result of the concert we were able to collect a modest sum of money for the children’s shelter; the members of SYNEMAV also made donations themselves. Our imaginations began to work out how best to use the funds to buy presents for 50 children.

We also started a campaign of collecting clothes and toys for the children during the summer; the response was incredible. In November we were ready to start our journey to Romania. My husband Dragos Nicolescu and I needed a Fiat minibus to hold everything that we would be bringing— sweets, oranges, and 15 sacks of clothes and toys—to the orphans. We had to travel almost 12 hours, from Vienna, through Hungary and Transylvania, to get to the shelter.

Haiyue Yu.

We made our first stop in Lisa, the village of my grandparents. My aunt bought and contributed 50 new, warm hats and an equal number of pairs of gloves for the children, along with delicious Romanian maize chips, and gingerbread. With the help of my 80 year-old grandmother, we packed the presents and prepared ourselves for the next, big day: the visit to the children’s house.

November 24th, 2006, was a normal day for many people, but for me it was a special day, as well as a joyful celebration for the 50 children. They were waiting for us; they welcomed us into their adoptive house and showed us their classrooms and dormitories; they got two hours off from classes to enjoy the presents. They greeted Director Cerasela Dogaru like a mother and us like family. They wanted to help carry the sacks, and they embraced us the entire time.

I had such a mix of feelings, and I had a lump in my throat that just wouldn’t go away. It was amazing to find so much love and warmth in a place that is filled with so many sad stories about children with deceased, ailing, alcoholic, abusive or neglectful parents. There were children who did not know what it was like to have their natural parents next to them; some of them came from families so poor, with such big problems, that they had to be taken care of somewhere else. Some were undergoing physical or psychological therapy. But all of them were nicely dressed, clean, and smiling. They were aged between 7 and 16. And they embraced us like they were seeing Santa Claus bringing Christmas presents.

Each one got a present and a kiss; the kiss was as wanted and as precious as the doll or toy (maybe their first personal one) that each received. To see that somebody, a total stranger, cared about them meant everything to them. That meant they were important, that they were worthy of love just as much as anyone, for no reason. They were children, like so many others, no more and no less.

I will never forget that day. Apart from the photos, newspaper article, and television reportage, there was something that touched my heart and bothered me: these children were so lonely even though it would be so easy for someone to bring a little happiness to them. It requires very little money—only showing a little interest. And it makes one little soul happy. Those orphan children didn’t need things, but human warmth. And they gave it back enormously, in a genuine and moving manner.

We are honored to thank the Tokyo Foundation and SYLFF for helping us to start such activities. And we are happy to announce our next, larger charity concert for the children of Noble Flower Children’s House in Fagaras, Romania, which will take place in the Bosendorfer Hall in Vienna in November 2007.

There is so much to do, more than just to bring little presents. The children need a kitchen and dining room in their own building; they are temporarily eating in a big dining hall that is shared with older people from other facilities in the same complex. Most important, they need someone who has a vision and can create plans for the time when they will be old enough to no longer have the right to live in a children’s shelter. They have the right to have opportunities to obtain jobs, to start their own families, and to pursue happiness, and they will need to know how to fruitfully realize those goals.

Romania has done well in the last 18 years, since the revolution that ended the half-century of Communism and fear. For my native country the year 2007 meant the big step of joining the European Union. But although there is still so much to do, I am sure that help will be found. We just have to be open and to search for it actively, to do our personal best, to follow our important path.

After all, it’s a matter of warmth—giving and manifesting eternal values like careful attention, love, and warmth. Is there anything more important?