BY ALEXANDER MERING
“In Dayak tradition, it is the young people who must learn from the elders. This is the first time that the elders willingly want to learn from their children in an organized manner.”
Riko stood under a jackfruit tree, gazing vacantly into the sky. Turns out the “ship” did not drop anything today, not even a piece of plain cookie. is despite him and six other boys shouting their hearts out until the shadow of the airplane completely disappeared beneath the clouds. ey call the plane kapal terbang (ying ship).
“Kapal minta’ koeh, kapal minta’ koeh, kapal minta’ koeh!”
(“Ship give us cookie! Ship give us cookie! Ship give us cookie!”)
Some of the boys were still shouting in a cacophony of highs and lows. A moment later, the cacophony stopped and there was but the sound of marble balls rolling in the dusty yellow dirt road of Kampung Loncek.
No one cared what date it was. None of the village elders knew that the 28th of October is a sacred date for the Indonesian nation. Besides, what importance does an uncharted village have for a nation as big as Indonesia?