First Lady Ani Yudhoyono Pledges to Buy More Batik From Cirebon

Jakarta Globe, February 09, 2010

Women inspect batik from Cirebon in a store in Bandung. (Antara Photo)

Indonesian First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and the wives of government ministers made a pledge to spend more money on Cirebon batik during a visit to workshops on Tuesday.

The first lady made the promise in front of 250 batik craftsmen and craftswomen in the West Java town.

“We didn’t come here only because of our love for batik, but also because we want to strengthen Cirebon’s economy as well as West Java’s. God willing, we will spend what we have to develop Cirebon,” Ani said.

Ani went to Cirebon with an entourage of more than 200 people, including ministers’ wives from the first and second United Indonesia cabinets, wives of Suharto era ministers, as well as a number of spouses of foreign ambassadors. They traveled to Cirebon by train from Jakarta.

Ani also invited the wives of the owners of the nation’s television stations.

“These are the bosses’ wives. Hopefully they have fat pockets,” she said.

The first lady said the women wanted to promote West Java batik, which often gained less recognition compared to that from Yogyakarta or Solo in Central Java.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik, who joined the entourage, said he hoped the ladies were serious about conserving batik.

“This is one of the most exciting tours I have had in 100 days. There are five train cars, a lot of ambassadors’ wives, ministers’ wives, businessmen’s wives. So if the ladies did not do any shopping, it means they only like to talk about batik conservation,” Jero said.