At first, I thought it was only me. But if you were elementary schooled in Indonesia during the 80 and 90’s perhaps you are familiar with it too. I am talking about the formulaic recipe of drawing Indonesian scenery.
At one point or another we probably drew bright blue sky, two mountains and a sun, green rice field to the left and right of an asphalt road. The variations generally on the shading technique, additional hut and car, birds, and the lamp post.
I asked some of my friends in the office, and they confirmed it. We had fun joking about it afterwards. It was pretty nostalgic and brought back recollections of our childhood.
There was this program called ‘Gemar Menggambar’ on the telly hosted by the late Pak Tino Sidin. All of us have a very fond memory of him. It was so fascinating to see him brilliantly create illustrations from some simple lines and curves.
He also had this session where children all over the country send their works and given comment by the good man. He’s the one coined the ever popular phrase, ‘Yak Bagus’. Definitely The Must See TV show back then and we’d be hard pressed to name any of today’s offering as inspirational and educative as that.
Back to the scenery drawings, just like other aspects of public schooling back then, they were all too rigid. During Suharto’s three decades in power indeed there was a vast expansion of public schooling at primary and secondary levels, alongside a significant growth in private education.
The New Order however required public and private schools to teach the same nationally mandated syllabus to all school children. National history along with the Morals of Panca Sila were compulsory subjects, right to the way we dressed and cut our hair.
I’m not saying this is necessarily bad; it probably has its own merit. There’s a tie that bound us all together as a nation. But on another level it killed creativity and suppressed individualistic expression during the times when school kids need to be more expressive and imaginative.
This probably has an indirect effect on our ability to accept and embrace differences. The one official history is, without a doubt, essential in uniting the diverse Indonesians. The doctrinal curriculum on the other hand eliminated any disputes between classes or ethnic groups; social and religious conflict was focused towards the Dutch and Communism.
Critical discourse of issues and alternative interpretations were frowned upon. The social classroom functioned to curb knowledge of difference. Yet the root of conflicts and tension between differing groups were brewing silently in the background. After The New Order collapsed, this tension and conflict has reared its ugly head on plenty of occasions.
When I was little, I used to scribble a lot. I can’t see a white paper or a blank wall without the need to doodle something on it. My parents bless them, luckily allowed me to do just that at the expense of the living room. My drawing teacher though once rebuked me because I drew Superman and Batman on a class assignment. Although I was unhappy, I get back to the usual standard of scenery drawing in no time.
I certainly hope teachers nowadays are astute enough to let little children be as creative as they want to be. Many Tino Sidin, Affandi, Basuki Abdullah, or more could possibly emerge from amongst them.
At one point or another we probably drew bright blue sky, two mountains and a sun, green rice field to the left and right of an asphalt road. The variations generally on the shading technique, additional hut and car, birds, and the lamp post.
I asked some of my friends in the office, and they confirmed it. We had fun joking about it afterwards. It was pretty nostalgic and brought back recollections of our childhood.
There was this program called ‘Gemar Menggambar’ on the telly hosted by the late Pak Tino Sidin. All of us have a very fond memory of him. It was so fascinating to see him brilliantly create illustrations from some simple lines and curves.
He also had this session where children all over the country send their works and given comment by the good man. He’s the one coined the ever popular phrase, ‘Yak Bagus’. Definitely The Must See TV show back then and we’d be hard pressed to name any of today’s offering as inspirational and educative as that.
Back to the scenery drawings, just like other aspects of public schooling back then, they were all too rigid. During Suharto’s three decades in power indeed there was a vast expansion of public schooling at primary and secondary levels, alongside a significant growth in private education.
The New Order however required public and private schools to teach the same nationally mandated syllabus to all school children. National history along with the Morals of Panca Sila were compulsory subjects, right to the way we dressed and cut our hair.
I’m not saying this is necessarily bad; it probably has its own merit. There’s a tie that bound us all together as a nation. But on another level it killed creativity and suppressed individualistic expression during the times when school kids need to be more expressive and imaginative.
This probably has an indirect effect on our ability to accept and embrace differences. The one official history is, without a doubt, essential in uniting the diverse Indonesians. The doctrinal curriculum on the other hand eliminated any disputes between classes or ethnic groups; social and religious conflict was focused towards the Dutch and Communism.
Critical discourse of issues and alternative interpretations were frowned upon. The social classroom functioned to curb knowledge of difference. Yet the root of conflicts and tension between differing groups were brewing silently in the background. After The New Order collapsed, this tension and conflict has reared its ugly head on plenty of occasions.
When I was little, I used to scribble a lot. I can’t see a white paper or a blank wall without the need to doodle something on it. My parents bless them, luckily allowed me to do just that at the expense of the living room. My drawing teacher though once rebuked me because I drew Superman and Batman on a class assignment. Although I was unhappy, I get back to the usual standard of scenery drawing in no time.
I certainly hope teachers nowadays are astute enough to let little children be as creative as they want to be. Many Tino Sidin, Affandi, Basuki Abdullah, or more could possibly emerge from amongst them.
