A LETTER OF IMPRESSION
FROM EVELYNE HAUPT AUSTRALIA

Recently I had the opportunity to visit Semarang, the Capital City of the Province of Jawa tengah Indonesia. Semarang, which coincidentally is the Sister City of Brisbane, is a progressive city, full of hardworking people who trade extensively in the goods produced by themselves.

I have been visiting Indonesia many times before either as a tourist or a student and must say that the two weeks I spent in Semarang were the most rewarding and stimulating so far.

Besides taking language classes at SEMARANG 2000, Mrs. Tina Prasetyo's Language Center, I was able to meet and talk to people of all walks of life. I saw their workplaces, and their places of entertainment.

The program arranged by the teachers for the two weeks was absolutely packed with interesting encounters and impressions. There were some outstanding examples of social aspects of life about which I had no previous knowledge.

One of those was a visit to a Pusekesmas, a people health center, which caters adequately for the health needs of the less well off in society. The center emlpoys 1 doctor, 2 mid wives, I nurse, 1 chemist, 2 laboratory assistants, and 2 clerks. It is visited by an average of 100 people a day, who are treated free of charge for most of their ailments. The midwives check the progress of pregnancy of young mothers to be on a regular basis. The doctor also provides health and nutrition education sessions for pregnant women based on a booklet issued by the state Health Department and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The health center is mainly government funded with some minor private donations from overseas. The whole set up was very impressive, the staff skilled and enthusiastic.

Another interesting visit was to a maternity clinic run by a Catholic order of nuns, who are financially supported by their Dutch and German Sisters overseas and by the Catholic church of Semarang. They also maintain an orphanage, where babies of unmarried mothers, who give birth at the clinic, can be cared for if there is no other suitable solution.

The amazing fact is that it never takes long for babies to be adopted by childless couples or even families who have already children. Indonesians simply love children above all else. The authorities take adoption procedures very seriously and screen prospective parents thoroughly in order to ensure the future wellbeing of the child.

Apart from those social aspects the economy of Semarang seems to functions as well as ever. Many people are working in factories that produce a huge range of herbal medicines. There is a widespread acceptance of traditional medicine among the population in general. People usually take those products for minor ailments like cough, fever, upset stomach, skin irritation and headache. The majority of village people go first to a traditional healer who is perfectly able to decide whether the complaint can be treated with herbal medicines or whether the person should see a doctor at a neighborhood health center.

At one of those factories I saw the production line with its gleaming, highly technologically advanced machines which extract, blend and fill mixtures into blisterpacks or produce pills.

Another important factor of life in Semarang is food production, which expresses itself in the choice of eating places. They are a unique feature of the city as I have never seen anywhere else in Indonesia. There are restaurants and food stalls for every income group. The food stalls open in the evening roads and public parks where one can have a healthy meal for 50 cents. If you can afford to spend a bit more you will find many restaurants where you can have a tasty evening meal for about 2,50 dollars. No wonder, eating places are always packed and one has the impression that the whole population goes out for their evening meal.

I hope this account has given you an interesting and different glimpse into life of an Indonesian city which, by the way, has a population in excess of 2 millions. The western media in many respects quite different to the negative picture usually painted my experience.

Buderim 3 May 2000
Evelyne Haupt