“At least, bah, we could only cut trees for two or three more years, and then what?” said Sarjono, who would later succeed Leonardus to become the head of KTM PPB in the second period with the title Pucuk.
“Pucuk! Pucuk! Pucuk!”
They shouted together, thumping the floor to exclaim the appointment of Sarjono as the head of the group
***
Around May 2012, I was startled by a phone ringing as I was deep in my sleep. Half conscious, perhaps still dreaming, I grabbed the phone from the table in the corner. is was 4 a.m. Washington, D.C., time.
“Good afternoon, Bang, nian Leo. Ahe kabar kitak (How are you doing)?” I heard a voice from the other end. I rubbed my eyes.
“Good afternoon, uh, good morning. It’s not even dawn yet here, hehe..”
“Gajah, maaf, maaf boh Bang. Kukira waktunya sama man ka’ diri. (Gosh, I apologize, Bang, I thought the time is the same as here.)” In Salako language, gajah, elephant in Indonesian, is an exclamation word.