Air Pollution

What is air pollution? It is the presence of substance that is not normally part of the atmosphere’s composition. The atmosphere is composed of approximately 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen. It also contains small amounts of other gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Any substance that is not part of this normal gaseous makeup is called a pollutant.
There is many kinds of air pollutants: smoke, dust, ash, pollen, various gases and other substances. Many of these come from sources other than man and his activities. They have always been present in the atmosphere. They come from activities of plants and animals and even from outer space called meteoric dust. These pollutants are seldom harmful. Indeed, they are often beneficial. Without atmosphere dust, for example, rain and show would never fall.
Nature easily handles her own forms of air pollution. Heavier pollutants soon settle out of the air. Rain one of nature’s most effective "antipollution devices", washes dust and other pollutants from the atmosphere.
Various natural cycles help maintain the atmosphere’s chemical balance. For example, animals and plants take oxygen from the air and release carbon dioxide. During photosynthesis, green plants remove carbon dioxide and give off water vapor and oxygen. Water vapor rises from the surfaces streams, lakes and seas. Excess water comes out of the atmosphere as dew, rain and snow.
Man’s activities threaten this natural system of checks and balances. Chimney, factories, airplanes and automobiles are discharging pollutants into the air at an ever-increasing rate. Many scientists fear that the cycles of the earth and the atmosphere may not to able to cope with this increased pollution.
Can air pollution kill you? There is little doubt that is at least a contributing factor in deaths from diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer. Evidence also indicates a strong relationship between air pollution and cardiovascular death, bronchitis, and all types of cancer. Death rates among elderly people or those who already have respiratory and hearth ailments increase sharply during periods of high air-pollution levels. Construction workers who inhale asbestos fibers may develop lung cancer.
In addition, we know that air pollutants irritate the eyes, throat and lungs, causing sore throats, coughing and so on. Children living in areas with high air-pollution levels have a greater incidence of asthma and eczema (a skin disease) than do children in less polluted areas.
Human beings are not the only living things harmed by air pollution. Many plants are also damaged. In fact, the effect on vegetation is often a clue to the existence of air pollutants that are not noticeable in other ways. Carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur compounds, metals, acid and ozone are serious treats to most vegetation. Plants absorb these pollutants through their leaves. The leaves may develop holes, become discolored. Eventually they may die. This may lead to the death of the entire plant.
(Adapted from The Book of Popular Science)

Myth of Ratu Kidul

Along time ago there was a famous king, by the name of King Mundingsari, who ruled the Kingdom of Pajajaran, West Java. He had a beautiful daughter, called Dyah Retno Suwedho.

The princess wanted to have greater power than her father, which incurred her father's displeasure. Therefore, he changed her daughter from a common human being into a spirit, ruling over the South-Sea. These were all the consequences of the curse uttered by the king: first, his daughter's power would be greater than his, but only there, in the South-Sea or Indian Ocean between Central and East Java; and second, later on the she would become the guardian of the kings of Java.

Ratu Kidul or the Queen of the South was extraordinarily beautiful, as beautiful as the fairy Wilutama, in the heavenly kingdom of the gods, and she was able to appear differently several times a day. Sometimes her face appeared old; at sunrise, she would appear as a maiden; at 9 a.m. as a bereaved widow; at 11 a.m. as a fairy at noon as Dewi Ngurawan, a goodess; and, exactly 12 o'clock as the Princes of Kediri. When the sun was setting in the west, she would look like Banowati, the Queen of Hastinapura; and, about 3 o'clock she would appear like Dewi Ratih, the goddess of love, and when in a blue mood she would appear like Dewi Kemuda.

The Queen of South was indeed more powerful than all genii or spirits, and she was able to change herself into a man as well as a woman. All spirits on the island of Java were submissive to her, except the King of he Spirits of Galuh. His name was Begawan Krendawahana, a Brahman at Guwatrusan. However, the bare fact was that the Queen of the South was spirit who had the appearance of a giantess as it was written in the History of Demak. At the time Sunan Kadilangu escorted Senopati to Kraton Kidul or Southern Place, he saw the Queen sleeping and snoring. Her body wa huge, with very large breasts, and, moreover, she was caked. Sunan Kadilangu advised Senopati was enchanted by her beauty, and made love to her, and even married her.

Up to now, it is believed that the Queen of the South has always been close to the kings of Java. For example, during the coronation of Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X in 1989 some of the guests who attended the ceremony had seen her. It was said that she wore a transparent green "Kebaya" with a red inner cloth, a kind of long torso, and that she was very beautiful. She was said to present right among the guests.

The Southeast, The Land of Changes

The southeastern region is changing more rapidly than any other part of the United States – not because the land is new, but because the area’s old, exhausted land is being given new life.

The problem of the Southeast area bet illustrated by a story that goes back a decade before the turn of the century. The tale describes the funeral of a poor man. “They cut through solid marble to make his grave and yet the little marble tombstone they put above him was from Vermont. They buried him in the hearth of a pine forest, and yet his pine coffin came from Ohio. The South didn’t supply anything for that funeral except the body and the hole in the ground”.

A modern Southerner commented on this story: “We have added too little human skill to our raw materials”.

As both this comment and the fable both suggest, geography itself has been kind to the Southeast. The region is blessed with plentiful rainfall and mild climate. On most of its farmlands, crops can be grown without frost at least six moths of the year. A transportation artery, the Mississippi River and its southern branches, runs through the heart of the area, and other rivers are found near its coast. Crops grow easily in its soil, which is brown on the coastal plain, red on the low hillsides, and black in east Texas. The mountains contribute coal, waterpower, and rich valleys. Being abundant with subtropical fruits characterizes much of the Florida peninsula. And to have the States of Louisiana and Texas is an advantage for the Southeast because there lie some of the nation’s largest oil fields. Fisheries, forest, and minerals are other things that make the region naturally rich.

It is perhaps due to this favorable nature of the land the people feel they do not have to build any industries to help their economy.

However since the end of World War II, there has been a great upturn in the region’s economic fortunes. What people see there after many years’ absence is astonishing improvements: new roads, bridges and factories: new schools, hospitals and community centers.

Today, the Southeast is experiencing a surge of industrial development, although average income and standard of living remain lower than any other region of the nation. However, economist predict that in the next decade the standard of living will rise substantially with the increase in population, jobs and industry attracted by the relatively lower cost of land, energy and labor. Industries ranging from solar research to chemical technology are moving to the Southeast for example, creating blue and white-collar jobs, gas stations, and TV-repair shops. Only four percent of southern workers remain employed by agriculture. Yet the South’s extensive woodlands, rich farmlands and agrarian heritage give Southerners a sense of tradition, history and regional identification that remains resistance to the encroaching values of modern industrial society.

(From Earl N. Mittleman’s An Outline of American Geography)


 

Bedaya and Srimpi

Bedaya and Srimpi, the Java dances, which are usually performed by girls, are feudal in spirit. Both had exixted before Surakarta and Yogyakarta styles came into existence. They probably dated back to the 16th century. In official ceremonies the bedaya dances usually carry the articles of the royal ceremony. These two dances have been preserved both in the courts of Surakarta including Mangkunegaran, and Yogyakarta including Pakualaman and have become the pride of both courts. It is noteworthy, however there is an essential difference in style between the two dances.

The bedaya is a woman's dance without a dialogue performed by nine female dancers. The background of the non-dialogue dances is a legendary event performed with such symbolic movements that the laymen can not easily understand. Examples of famous bedayas are the Bedaya Ketawang, Bedaya Semang, Bedaya Bedah Madiun and Bedaya Arjunawiwaha. The Bedaya Ketawang was created by Sulatan Agung, king of Mataram in the first of the 17th century. The Bedaya Ketawang describe the myth of the meeting between Sultan Agung and Ratu Rara Kidul or Queen of the South Sea. According to a Javanese legend, Sultan Agung, the greatest king of Mataram, united himself in a holy union with the myth cal Ratu Rara Kidul, the ruler of the South Sea. This meeting resulted in a close family bond between all the succeeding kings of Mataram and Ratu Kidul. On special occasions, such as in wars, the king of Mataram might ask the help of the invisible army of Ratu Rara Kidul.

After Mataram kingdom was divided into Surakarta and Yogyakarta, King Hamengku Buwono II created another bedaya dance resembling the Bedaya Ketawang called Bedaya Semang at the end of the 18th century. Since then, however the Yogyakarta court has no longer performed the Bedaya Ketawang.

In addition to these two bedayas, there is another bedaya dance called Bedaya Bedah Mediun, which depicts the suppression of the rebellion launched by the regent of Madiun against the king of Mataram. Still another bedaya dance is the Bedaya Arjunawiwaha picturing the marriage between Arjuna and the nymph Suprabha.

Another women's dance of the court is the srimpi dance performed by four girls. This dance describes a battle between two important female warriors, the protagonists and two other being the antagonists. There is no dialogue in this srimpi dance and the story is drawn from the Islamic period. There is srimpi dance, which depicts a battle between two princes in the Menak strory, i.e. Princess Sirtufilaleli and Princess Sudarawerti. There is also another srimpi dance, which is performed not by four but by five girls, and describes not a fight, but a love scene. Another Srimpi dance called Renggawati dance describes the way in which Princes Renggawati catches a Meliwis Putih bird, the personification of her lover, King Anglingdarma.

The srimpi dance named after gending or melody accompanying them. For instance, Srimpi Pandelori is a dance, which is accompanied by gending Pandelori.

Like in the bedaya dance, the movements in the srimpi dance are so symbolic and refined that it is difficult for the common people to understand. The number of the srimpi dancers symbolizes the four points of compass north, south, east and west.
At present, neither the bedaya nor the srimpi dance is popular among the public. But, they are still maintained especially by Surakarta and Yogyakarta choreographers.

Borobudur and the Borobudur Tourist Park

One destination which attracts tourists to Magelang area is Borobudur temple, the largest and most beautiful monument in Indonesia. It is situated in the village of Borobudur, in the regency of Magelang, Central Java. At first sight Borobudur resembles a hill designed and constructed of stone the midst of a natural mountain range. Kedu plateau, where Borobudur is located, is famous for fertility. This plateau lies in the heart of the island of Java, enclosed by mountains and ranges of hills.

The mountain surrounding Borobudur temple is Menoreh, which stretches from east to west, forming the boundary between Kedu and Yogyakarta. The top of the Menoreh range on the southern flank, when observed from the temple, resembles the nose, lips, and chin of a supine figure. According to a local folk tale, the man reclining there on the peak of the Menoreh Mountain is believed to be Gunadharma, the architect and builder of temple, who has been watching over his creation throughout centuries.

Borobudur and its surrounding create an atmosphere of peace, tranquility and security. It can be visited throughout the year and is easily accessible by public transportation, such as buses, taxis, and minibuses from Semarang, about 95 km away, as well as from Yogyakarta, 42 km away.

The temple is located within the area of Borobudur Tourist Park. The Park has an area of eighty five hectares to accommodate the growing number of tourist and to perpetuate the green natural surroundings of Borobudur temple. It was officially opened by President Suharto on February 23, 1983. it comprises not only a wide grassy area, but also the shade trees and decorative plants. It is also provided with general public facilities, namely a parking lot, souvenir shops, eating stands, and rest rooms. The trees planted there include coconut (cocos nucifera), "bodhi" (ficus religiosa), "cempaka" (michelia champaca), and "tanjung" (mimusop elengei). There are also a variety of shrubs and flower plants such as gardenia (gardenia augusta), "kemuning" (murraya paniculate), "kenanga" (cananga odorata), and jasmine (jasminum sambac).

Borobudur Tourist Park has an archeological museum as well as centres for research, reconstruction, and tourist information. In the museum one can obtain information on a series of pictures of Borobudur since its rediscovery in 1814. The Research Centre is provided with such facilities as a seminar hall and a guest house, while the Reconstruction Centre with a laboratory and workshops. Data concerning the Park can be obtained at the Tourist Information Centre.

The people of this region are friendly and industrious. They make a living as farmers by cultivating rice, tobacco, corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, soy beans, small green peas, and peanuts. They also grow coffee, coconuts, vanilla, and cotton, and breed chicken, water buffaloes, sheep, cows, and goats. Daily communication is carried out in Indonesian or their vernacular, Javanese. However, tourists may hire guides who speak a number of foreign languages such as English, French, Dutch and German.

(Adapted from Indonesia: Mystery of Borobudur. Jakrta: Directorate General of Tourism, Republic of Indonesia)