Herbal Medicinal Drinks and Patent

Jakarta as the state capital and metropolitan city with 9 million inhabitants (12 million during the day) represents a big market for consumer goods. The growing market in Jakarta is reflected by continuous constructions of modern malls, besides those of smaller shops and traditional markets.  

Such a growth certainly attracts many informal traders from outside Jakarta. Among those, there is a unique traditional sale which is of our interest here i.e. herbal medicinal drink.  If you walk along the roads mainly in the outskirt of Jakarta, sometime you may see a woman with traditional Javanese costumes carrying a basket containing bottles of various herbal drinks in her back. The saleswomen are usually quite good looking selected on purpose to attract the customers. It is similar to the sale of areca nuts in Taipei, where you can meet beautiful girls wearing mini-skirts selling the nuts displayed along the road to attract the car drivers to stop by.

This mode of traditional herbal sale is common in most cities, especially those in Java. The herbal medicinal drinks that the women carry composes of various mixtures of ginger, cardamom, turmeric, galingale, and their kinds, and noni fruit.   

Traditional herbal drinks are very long time popular to many, but not limited to, Javanese people.  Anybody can get such drinks easily because they are marketed daily from door to door, thanks to the saleswomen,  mostly from Central Java, who cover the need of their customers.

Usually, they have created good communications with their customers so there is practically no problem with the product sales. Despite the medical development and productions of new medicines, daily consumption of those products is still high especially among middle-class families and below. 

Many people believe that consuming herbal drinks might improve their health condition and cure various diseases. Miss Indonesia Qori Sandrioriva from Aceh said that she was accustomed to herbal medicines and used them to improve her beauty as well as cure the diseases such a cold and headache. Some customers from both sexes fanatically consume herbal drinks, as they believe that their sexual performance can be much better after a certain period of herbal consumption.

Either directly or indirectly, the business of herbal drinks helps to reduce unemployment. Those include any related activities such as farmers who cultivate medicinal plants; the breeders of bees and local hens producing honey and eggs; lest to forget, women who market the drinks from door to in various cities in Java. 

These herbal medicines started to be produced in large scales in the early 1960s. Some of those now become big pharmaceutical companies which modernize their herbal process and export some of their products. The products can be consumed instantly in the form of capsules or sachets which contents are consumed by putting in a glass of hot water. This obviously competes and in some degree threatens the traditional home-made herbal medicines and their saleswomen. 

Patented in Foreign Countries

The drinks are the Indonesian product for centuries. However, there is no special documented recipe being used in producing them uniformly. Each producer has its own recipe handed down from generation to generation. This unfortunate situation makes traditional herbal medicine home-made become vulnerable as they are not protected by patent or property rights.  People think that there is no need to patent traditional and Indonesian original products. 

Therefore, people were amazed, when just recently certain products made of cardamon (Curcuma xanthorrhiza) was patented in America. It was not clear what the patent for, whether it deals with certain extraction process or wider scope. The question is, from then on, should people in Indonesia have to get permission when they produce traditional herbal medicines which have been patented by some other countries? 

Last year, President SBY reminded that Indonesia had great potency in herbal business and people in the world dubbed Indonesia the Mega Biodiversity. When he and the first lady visited the R & D Institute of Medicinal Plants of the Health Ministry in Tawangmangu, Central Java, he gave remark that we have a duty to do research for making a breakthrough to find herbal medicines to cure the diseases difficult to treat such as AIDS and cancer.  

Now, as the issue of the herbal medicine patent arises, the government and its institutions such as the R & D Institute of Medicinal Plants, Indonesian Science Institute (LIPI) or other academic institutions should urgently address these grave issues which may hamper the progress of herbal medicine’s development in Indonesia. 

Istiqlal Mosque and Barack Obama

At the northeast of the National Monument (Monas) Square, in the front of Pertamina - the Oil and Gas state company - building, we can see a big edifice stands on the site measuring by 12 hectares, the Istiqlal Mosque.  Istiqlal is the biggest and most splendor mosque in Southeast Asia, the second biggest in the world after the Masjidil Haram Mosque in Mecca.

The mosque can accommodate around 100,000 people inside. The number of prayers can be even bigger especially when Islamic people celebrate religious events such as Idul Fitri and Idul Adha. The world “istiqlal” is taken from Arabic meaning “independence”, for which Islamic people want to show their thankfulness to God the Almighty for the Indonesian independence in 1945.  

The Istiqlal Mosque structure is highly symbolic. The silver dome with the diameter of 45 meters symbolizes the Indonesian independence in 1945; the 12 pillars supporting the great dome, each with the height of 12 meters, stand for the date of 12 Rabiul Awal in the lunar calendar, the birthday of Prophet Mohammad.  The minaret with the height of 66,66 meters symbolizes the total verses of the Koran up to 6,666; another iron minaret with the height of 30 meters stands for the total 30 juz (chapters) of the Koran.

The idea of establishing a splendor mosque in Jakarta came into being when some Islamic scholars (ulemas) in 1953, namely KH Wahid Hasyim, the first Indonesian minister of religious affairs, together with other prominent scholars such as H. Agus Salim, Anwar Tjokroaminoto, and around 200 Islamic figures to establish Istiqlal Mosque Foundation as the vehicle to realize the idea.

The then president, Soekarno, supported the idea and he personally (maybe as the capacity of a civil engineer) became the head of a technical department for the construction of the building and the chairman of the jury for the competition to select the model and design of the mosque.

After a long judging process by studying the architectural design and its meaning based on the ideas of the participants, finally, on July 5, 1955, President Soekarno decided that the design with the title of “Lordship” by Frederich Silaban became the winner for the model of the Istiqlal Mosque.

Obama’s Visit

During his visit to Jakarta, Obama delivered a speech at the University of Indonesia which began with a simple statement uttered in Bahasa Indonesia: “Indonesia adalah bagian dari diri saya (Indonesia is a part of me)”. It was obvious that his life as a child in Jakarta gave a deep impression to him and built up parts of his character. As he grew up, he deeply appreciated the way of life and the basic philosophy adopted by the country where he lived as a little boy.  

His time in Jakarta helped him to appreciate the common humanity of all people around the world. He appreciated this and drew from his experience as a little boy living in Indonesia. He learned from the school that the country is made of thousands of islands, hundreds of languages, and people from scores of regions and ethnic groups.  

More importantly, he learned from his step-father, who like most Indonesians was raised as a Moslem, that all religions were worthy of respect. He understands that his step-father reflected the spirit of religious tolerance that is enshrined in the Indonesian constitution, and that remains one of the country’s defining and inspiring characteristics.

So much were the reasons why he wanted to visit in the first place the Istiqlal Mosque, which was still under construction when he was in Jakarta as a little boy, as the symbolic gesture of his determination to establish religious tolerance. "Religion is fundamental to the Indonesian story. Indonesia is steeped in spirituality, a place where people worship God in many different ways. Such is the Indonesia spirit. Such is the message of Indonesia's inclusive philosophy, Pancasila," Obama said. 

As president, his obsession to establish the inter-religion tolerance in the world was expressed in several of his speeches such as in Cairo and Istanbul, especially on the issues of Palestinians-Israel conflicts. Obama has made as a priority to begin to repair the relationship between the United States and Moslem communities around the world, the beginning that creates a path for both to move beyond the differences.   

As an American, it seemed that Obama has followed closely the situation in Indonesia.  As his speech at the University of Indonesia was coincidentally delivered on November 10th, the National Hero Day of Indonesia, he did not miss to mention the Indonesians struggle for independence. "The message of the Indonesian who have advanced the democratic story, from those who fought in the battle of Surabaya 55 years ago to the students who rallied peacefully for democracy in the 1990s and to leaders who have embraced the peaceful transition of power. It will be the rights of citizens that will stick together the "Nusantara" that stretches from Sabang to Merauke," such as Obama's comprehensive understanding of Indonesian history.  

He further remarked that Indonesia has charted its own course through a democratic transformation from the rule of an iron fist to the rule of the people. He believed that the foundation of Indonesia’s example to the world among other the spirit of tolerance written into the constitution and "Bhineka Tunggal Ika" - unity in diversity - similar to American national motto's: "E Pluribus Unum", will make Indonesia play an important role in the 21st century.

Barack Obama, Welcome Home

Jakarta people are very proud of their then city's little resident who now becomes the most powerful man on the planet. Indonesia and, Jakarta particularly, will welcome Barack Obama, the president of the United States, who will visit Indonesia in the coming days. The visit will surely tighten the relationship between the two countries especially when the guest president is so familiar with Indonesia.

The little Obama was formerly a pupil of Menteng Dalam Elementary School in Jakarta. Obama came to Indonesia in 1967 together with his mother Ann Durham and his step-father L. Soetoro. His step-father met with his mother by mid of the 1960s and married her after the latter divorced with his former husband in 1963 when Obama was just 2 years old.

He was enrolled at the first-grade pupil of Menteng Dalam School in 1968 under the name of Barry Soetoro, as an Indonesian citizen born in Hawaii. He ended his study at the elementary school only until the 3^rd grade as he had to leave the country to his birthplace in Hawaii in 1971.

Known as a smart pupil, he once composed an article and read his dream in front of the class on his aspiration to become a president. It was not clear whether he wanted to become the president of Indonesia or the country where he was born.  But one thing for sure, his dream came true when he was inaugurated as the 44^th American president on December 20, 2008. 

Bakso and Nasi Goreng

After staying at Menteng Dalam, the little Barry and the whole family removed to a rented house in 1970 belonged to retired military personnel, at Jalan Amir Hamzah No 22. The house today is preserved as the Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo has declared it into Jakarta’s cultural inheritance. Many people including foreigners wanted to buy the house at a much higher price after Obama became the American president.

The little Barry had a lot of friends and loved to get along with the environment where he lived. This created a strong emotional bond with his fellow mates, teachers, and neighboring children. He has been accustomed to Indonesian food especially bakso (meatballs), nasi goreng (fried rice), and rambutan, a hairy fruit which tree grows up easily in Jakarta.

 

The strong memory related to the taste of the meals has made him still long for them. We sincerely hope that during his visit to Indonesia, His Excellency will have a chance to taste bakso and nasi goreng.

Selamat datang Mr. President!

Mangrove Forest, Jakarta City Lungs

Jakarta as the capital and metropolitan city has the advantage of having a location in the coastal area. Most of the coastal areas originally consisted of marsh and mangrove forest. The old ex-Batavia city was expanded from surrounding the old harbor in the north southward. But in the course of the time, most people seemed to prefer living in hinterland rather than the coastal area. They were receding from the old ex-Batavia coastal areas and developing the residential area in the southern part of the city. The old area was almost abandoned leaving the old buildings and infrastructure almost untouched, in which the slum areas grew in the surrounding of the old harbor. 

However, this situation has changed after the  Ancol Dreamland park was developed in the 1980s, when some properties and residential areas started to be developed nearby the park as the areas became no longer “remote”. 

Several large residential areas, among other  Pantai Indah Kapuk  (PIK), were developed after the issuance of Presidential Decree No. 52/1995 on the reclamation of the coastal area. Under this decree, the developers were given the permit to re-claim 800 hectares of the mangrove areas to be the site of a residential area. The reclamation had caused public protest and certain NGOs and noted figures sued the city government at the state administrative court. The protest, however, did not stop the reclamation and the building construction. 

The decree gave effect to the reduction of the mangrove forest along the bay of Jakarta which was originally part of the city lung. This disadvantage of losing the city greenery area was compensated with other areas in Sukabumi and Seribu Islands which, alas, were far from the original forest site. 

The decrease in the mangrove forest resulted in many problems. The ecosystem of the area became seriously hampered, the abrasion of coastal areas was intensified, many houses of the fishermen and the toll road connecting the city with the international airport were frequently inundated.

To cope with those problems, the City Government launched the program to plant 3 million mangrove seedlings along with the swampy lands in the north coast of 35 kilometers long to make green belt at those flood-prone areas. One of the mangrove forests which has been preserved so far was Muara Angke. It is now the sanctuary of 90 special birds, some of which are vulnerable to the extinction. The place becomes safer for those species to stay and become the exemplary model for the reforestation.

Just recently, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo together with the delegation consisting of governors and mayors from different countries attending the Asian-European Meeting (ASEM) planted 5000 mangrove seedlings at the Kapuk Indah mangrove forest.  As a symbolic gesture, the Jakarta governor accompanied by Berlin and Vientiane city mayors planted the mangrove seedling demonstrating the participant governors’  commitment for the preservation of the environment and implementation of sustainable development. 

Die Herren Gouverneure ich danke Ihnen sehr!