Javanese are rich in luck in the floods

Story By Godeliva D Sari
Photo Indra Harsaputra

The Javanese see themselves as always looking on the bright side of events, saying that they are lucky, even in misfortune. For example, if in a traffic accident a whole family is wiped out, a typical Javanese response would be: "Lucky they all died together, imagine if a child survived but was badly crippled!"



So, when the rain continued on Dec. 26, through the day and the night, it was inevitable that there would be floods, but being Javanese the people in the flooded areas would still be smiling.

The Bengawan Solo river burst its banks and in some places the water reached the roofs of the houses. Pak Sriyono of Widodaren Lor village is in his 40s and his house was nearly submerged but still he smiled. He was worried about his pet song bird, which was in a cage in the house -- not wet, but without food.

"I'm lucky the bird can't sing yet! If it could already sing and mimic other birds I would be losing some money!" he said.

The Bengawan Solo has been the main artery of Java since pre-history. The remains of Pithecanthropus erectus were found by the banks of this river in the village of Trinil in Ngawi regency, proving that these fertile lands have supported life since long ago.

An old keroncong song by the Solonese musician, Gesang, tells us that when the Bengawan Solo floods the waters cover large areas. The regent of Ngawi thinks this year's flood is the biggest yet in this area's memory. Every local knows why these floods are happening on this scale and expects worse in the future.

In the last decade, this region has witnessed all its forests, thousands of hectares of teak, being chopped down. The new saplings planted are still too young to hold much water. In true Javanese fashion, it is said that we are lucky to have these floods and landslides, because now we know that if it rains for 24 hours or so, we will probably have more of the same.

We all know that every monsoon we can expect several long, heavy rainstorms like that. We are lucky to have these floods and landslides now, to make us hurry and reforest and conserve.

Many small rivers run into Bengawan Solo and from the rains of Dec. 26 and afterwards there were floods in the valleys and fatal landslides in the mountain areas.

It is interesting to see how the villages on the hills and below manage their water. Traditionally villages here employed an official called the ulu-ulu or pala-uceng whose job was to look after the village's irrigation channels and make sure that water for the fields was divided acceptably in the dry season, while in the rainy season he must organize against floods.

Traveling up the north slope of Mount Lawu toward Ngrambe, then to Sine and through to Gondang in Sragen regency, there is not a single un-vandalized water gate. Every single one has been worked on by a scrap-metal thief with a hacksaw. Not one single irrigation channel is in proper working order, and there is no way anyone can control the flood of water in those channels.



Seeing the neglect and vandalism on water gates that has been so widespread, we are lucky that more agricultural crops were not damaged. Another thing about the vandalized water gates: we are lucky that in most cases the thieves only bothered to steal the top part, and the bottom parts of the metal that form the actual gates are mostly intact. We are lucky; a guy with a welding torch could go around and fix the damaged water-gates in no time.

But between the flooded valley and the landslides in the mountain slopes, some villages in the middle actually had real luck that was material and readily convertible into cash. In these lucky villages people actually rejoiced and gave thanks for the floods. The rushing waters deposited a nice little profit in the form of sand and stones in the bends of the village's rivers.

The villagers collect these valuable building materials in a celebratory atmosphere after the floods recede. The Jakarta Post happened upon a party of sand and stone collectors around the bridge that connects the villages of Kayutrejo and Sekaralas over the river called Nglodro, in Widodaren district. In the drizzle of the rain in the hazy afternoon an elderly man was neck deep in the swollen river. He seemed to be doing something underwater with his feet. Suddenly he dived and disappeared, only to appear again hoisting a bamboo basket full of wet sand over his head. He carried this high up the bank where he already had a large pile gathered.

Other people were doing the same -- both upstream and downstream. Sand and stones were being carted away. A woman and her husband were collecting stones and rapidly making a big pile up the riverbank. In the middle of the river, just past a sharp bend, there was a huge pile of stones. Children were diving in the river and building their own child-size piles further down. Everyone was enjoying the day and everyone was happy. The sand and stones were liquid assets readily converted into rupiah. For just enough sand or stones to fill a small pickup truck a collector can demand Rp 80,000.

It seemed that every 12-year-old there that afternoon had earned at least that sum and the adults had earned even more. There was over Rp 5 million worth of sand and stones piled up in a small hill in that river bend.Pak Sugeng and his wife confided they had made Rp 500,000 in a day. No wonder everyone looked so happy!